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Let's get one thing straight - Eugene, Oregon's Cherry Poppin' Daddies are a band that swings, not simply a swing band and unlike many of the bands that have recently jumped on the swing bandwagon. Cherry Poppin' Daddies have been unabashedly swinging since 1989.
"We're not a retro thing," says band founder and frontman Steve Perry. "We could get involved in a nostalgic type of scene, but we don't want to do that. Swing has to be reinvented. Use the lyricism of the 1960's, use punk-rock energy, use the stuff that can't be denied and create a new thing...I guess we're like swing-core or something."
That the Daddies were conceived in the Pacific Northwest during grunge's heyday is evidence of Perry's penchant for carving his own path. A self-taught musician with a diverse spectrum of tastes, Perry sought to break with the then-prevailing grunge and shoegazing trends.
The Daddies' Mojo Records debut, Zoot Suit Riot, collects the best of the band's previous three independently released records and adds four new songs (including the title track) for an exciting 14-track introduction to one of America's most dynamic music ensembles.
Perry's vision of a contemporary swing/ska/rock hybrid, expands boundaries while it pays homage to a wide array of influences. From the Tin Pan Alley influenced riffs of "When I Change Your Mind" and the vampish "Shake Your Lovemaker" to the subversive R&B jump of "No Mercy For Swine," the Daddies' style and sound maps new swing directions. Then add Perry's slice-of-life lyrical observations (the sleazy character in "Mister White Keys," the unflinching portrait of "Drunk Daddy," or the street-level social critique of "Master And Slave") and the Cherry Poppin' Daddies reinvent modern swing in their own twisted image.
Which isn't to say Perry's eager to destroy swing's forefathers. An ardent fan of the swing and big-band era, Perry's favorites include Louis Prima, Fletcher Henderson, Count Basie and many others, and the Daddies were honored to recently receive a stamp of approval from American radio pioneer Jazzbo Collins. Collins, host of WNBC's "The Purple Grotto" in the 1950's, appeared in the original version of the "Zoot Suit Riot" video which received extensive airplay on MTV's 120 Minutes. The video for "Zoot Suit Riot" was recently redone - directed by Gregory Dark (Sublime).
Combing old-school flavor and visionary spark in its live performances, the band regularly appeals to - and challenges - audiences. While the Daddies have formed an allegiance with the burgeoning American ska movement, touring regularly with Mighty Bosstones, Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake and others, Perry hasn't let categories define his band's sound.
"We unapologetically play ska right in the face of people who want to hear swing, and we play third-wave ska," he says. "The thing that makes us different is we play sort of a third-wave swing. Except there's never been a swing wave, ever."
Could it be - to borrow the song title from Two-Tone ska heroes The Specials - that this is the "dawning of a new era?" With over 50,000 copies of Zoot Suit Riot sold and commercial radio airplay blossoming nationwide, for Cherry Poppin' Daddies, the future is now.
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Albums
| Year | Label | Title | |
| 1994 | Space Age Bachelor Pad Records | Rapid City Muscle Car | |
| 1994 | Space Age Bachelor Pad Records | Ferociously Stoned | |
| 1996 | Space Age Bachelor Pad Records | Kids On The Street | |
| 1997 | Universal Records | Zoot Suit Riot: The Swingin'... | |
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