Not Exactly Ulysses, But Cherry Poppin' Daddies Entertain Anyway
by Todd Peterson of LasVegasWeekly.com
February 20, 1999

The Cherry Poppin' Daddies know a thing or two about music fads. The sharp-dressed, eight-piece group from Eugene, Oregon has seen a few come and go. Consider their inception in 1989. That year another relatively inexperienced and unknown band released a debut album. Nirvana's Bleach didn't set the world on fire (that would come later). The Daddies were there to see grunge come and go. They'd witness the rise and meteoric fall of alternative radio, as well as the music community's 24-hour bout with an electronica virus. And eventually they'd see a resurgence of ska that in turn would fuel a full-blown fascination with swing. They knew they were on the cusp of something big. Founded and led by Steve Perry (vocals, guitar), CPD went through some growth spurts of their own before hitting it big with their fourth album, Zoot Suit Riot. Perry has called swing a "cultural war," a battle against shoe-gazing, angst-ridden artists. The four new tunes and ten previously released songs on Zoot Suit are entirely swing, unlike their previous albums that distilled tastes as varied as ska and psychedelia. The Daddies, who'll have The Joint (at the Hard Rock Casino) hoppin' and boppin' on Oct. 10, have recently been on the European leg of the Warped tour. Perry took a time-out after a show in Spain to give lasvegasweekly a call.

1. You've said you view the rise of swing music as a type of cultural war, a battle against shoe-gazing, angst-ridden artists. But aren't your lyrics somewhat brooding?

STEVE PERRY: They're not brooding from the first-person perspective. They're a story. I prefer story songs--third person to first person. I'm a really big fan of the Kinks, or The Who, as opposed to the Beatles or Jimi Hendrix. Not that there is anything wrong with their visions, but I was always a fan of stories.

2. What connection does the band have to the title Zoot Suit Riot?

STEVE PERRY: What I was trying to say was not so much a political statement per se. What I was trying to get at was that I prefer people who are different and think differently, à la the sailors who go after the different-looking people as opposed to the ones who have the creativity to wear the zoot suits. That's not exactly Ulysses. Sometimes subject matter like that totally lends itself to swing.

3. You've said you don't want to see people buy into the retro-swing thing and then see it become outdated and clichéd. But don't you think that by the very nature of the music business everything does have a shelf life?

STEVE PERRY: Yeah, I think it does. But within the shelf life that swing has, I don't want it to become a mockery. What is it going to be remembered for? I'd rather have it be not a bunch of cover bands. A bunch of dance, cover swing songs in 1998. It'd be great if something could evolve out of it. That's merely what I'm saying. It's healthier for people to try and write new music than it is to try and capitalize on some sort of a nostalgia craze.

4. Initially there was a lot of controversy surrounding your name, but the more well known you become, the less of an issue it is. Why is that?

STEVE PERRY: I think it's sort of like the Butthole Surfers. When you say it a bunch of times, who cares after awhile. When we came out people conveniently used "daddy" not as the pejorative or slang term that it was, but as in "father," changing our meaning of it. I like the name having that possible hint to it because it makes it a little more edgy I guess.

5. Were you surprised at the success of Zoot Suit Riot?

STEVE PERRY: I was completely surprised. This record was made at a friend's house. I think a record on the charts (the artist) spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on it, and it sounds great. Just on that level I didn't think that this one was made with those kinds of standards.

6. It sounds like it could have been made in a studio with big bucks.

STEVE PERRY: That's amazing 'cause there are a lot of mistakes in it, and I hear them all. A lot of the other bands in this genre, their records sound much more professional. Maybe that's to their detriment in some way. I just didn't expect it.

7. You guys have been working on some new material. Is the next record going to be strictly a swing record, or are you going to mix things up?

STEVE PERRY: I think we're going to mix it up some. I'm not going to go hog wild like I used to. I think what I'm going to do is take some of my main influences and gently put them in. It'll be primarily a swing record, and maybe the definitions of what I call swing will be broadened a little bit. I'm interested in Western swing a little bit; I want to do some of that. I'm really interested in soul music as well, zydeco, early mod stuff like Small Faces and The Who, Yardbirds and that kind of stuff.

8. In the rise of this neo-swing movement you want to take the Daddies in some specific direction. You don't want to be imitative.

STEVE PERRY: Yeah. It's been weird on this tour because I can sort of see where it's going. I'm flattered we're part of something that's conceivably part of '90s pop history. But at the same time I don't want to be some complacent dude with his little swing fiefdom. I just need to take it to a different level and try some other stuff. Ideally what we're going to do at the end of the day when we put the record together is pick the best songs, regardless of what genre they're in, and make an interesting record.

9. How do the logistics of having an eight-person band on the road work?

STEVE PERRY: God, you've got me. A lot of it has to do with the fact that we're not exactly a democracy. It's more like a republic. Because if everybody talks at once it's just dissonant. Everybody realizes that that's the way it has to work. We all have to live together, so you can't pee on the toilet seat. It's not about girls or money or anything like that. It's about music, and it's always been that way.

Back to Articles