finetune artist: Cherry Poppin' Daddies

This Eugene, Oregon, USA eight-piece were formed by vocalist and songwriter Steve Perry (b. 8 October 1963) in 1989, after the one-time punk rocker had grown tired of the grunge sound overcoming north-western USA. The Cherry Poppin' Daddies certainly offered a departure from musical norms of the period. "My mother had bought me The Smithsonian Collection Of Classic Jazz. I got it for my birthday early in life, and I listened to it all the time . . . around the late 80s I had the idea " what if I fused punk and swing? What would that sound like? "Cos I didn't want to do what everybody else was doing." He managed to recruit similar-minded musicians around him, including Dan Schmid (bass), Jason Moss (guitar), Tim Donahue (drums), Dana Heitman (trumpet), Sean Flannery (tenor saxophone), Ian Early (alto and baritone saxophone), and Dustin Lanker (keyboards). Attracting an audience would take much more effort, but the band eventually rose to prominence during California's late 90s fascination with all things ska. In truth, the band's sound owed more to jive and swing than punk and rocksteady, but it was a heady brew, nevertheless, best sampled on the single "Zoot Suit Riot'. A minor hit in 1998, it also served as the title track to the band's debut album for Mojo Records, which entered the Billboard album chart at number 17 in August. The song was inspired by the renowned 1943 incident when white servicemen entered Los Angeles' ghettos in mobs to attack Hispanics. Cherry Poppin" Daddies had released three independent albums between 1990 and 1995 on their own Space Age Bachelor Pad Records prior to this, with the best of the swing tracks compiled on their major label debut. The follow-up Soul Caddy was the last album to feature Lanker and Schmid, who left to form the Visible Men.

Listen to Cherry Poppin' Daddies at Finetune.

Zoot Suit Riot
Dr. Bones
Ding-Dong Daddy Of The D-Car Line
Cherry Poppin' Daddy Strut
Brown Derby Jump