In my story about the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, I neglected to mention all the musicians in the group, because there's just so damn many of 'em. So, before we begin, let's meet--from Eugene, Oregon--the Cherry Poppin' Daddies! (Cheers, applause.) Dan Schmid on bass! Tim Donahue on drums! Jason Moss on lead guitar! Dana Heitman on trumpet! Sean Flannery on tenor saxophone! Ian Early on alto and tenor saxophones! Dustin Lanker on keyboards! And the straw that stirs the drink, Steve Perry on guitar and vocals! Give it up! (Rapturous applause.)

Since we last visited our heroes, the Cherry Poppin' Daddies have achieved career lift-off. Their full-length collection of swing-time favorites, Zoot Suit Riot, has stormed up the Billboard charts (at press time, it had moved up to No. 53), with the title track getting that treasured heavy rotation all over the place (No. 16 on the modern rock charts). Barbara Walters was recently seen on national television dancing with Mickey Mouse while the Daddies provided the sexy accompaniment (I've had peyote spirit quests that were less hallucinatory than that particular episode). The gigs are bigger--the band is set for both the American and European legs of the Van's Warped Tour. The reviews are positive--including a juicy bit in the New York Times. And the folks at the record company, Mojo, are positively ecstatic.

So, Steve Perry, what's your beef? "I give a lot more interviews now," the always chatty singer begins. "I've had some journalists try and paint the band into a corner. It's like they want us to assume the swing identity to the point where we're like at the forefront of this 'New Swing Movement.'

"I try and tell them that while we do play a lot of swing music live, it's not the entire focus of the band. We have three albums out that have funk songs, ska songs, country songs.... The ultimate vision of the band is to just continue to ply our craft, as opposed to marketing ourselves as the 'New Swing Sensation' or whatever. I like wearing a suit and tie and everything, but it's not a uniform."

As usual, the Cherry Poppin' Daddies avoid the path of least resistance and choose instead to hack their way through the jungle, earning acceptance with sweat and determination rather than simply milking a trend, even when it's proven a financially rewarding one. Perhaps it's genetic. Why not simply select a band name that won't piss off so many people? Why choose hippie haven Eugene, Oregon as a base of operations? Why play dance music when heavy guitar, navel-gazing introspection is the order of the day? Why listen to Blues Traveler? (The last question isn't rhetorical. I'd seriously like an answer.)

While the band, and particularly Perry, has always prided itself on recording intelligent and eclectic albums, it's through its frenetic live shows that the band reels in the fans--the same fans who provided it with the clue it needed to unlock the door to "the next level." "Our manager, Howard Libes, works the merchandising tables at our shows," Perry says. "And he told me that the people who come up to buy our albums usually want to know which ones have the most swing stuff on them. So Howard convinced me to put a collection of our swing songs together, and after that, things really took off." Score one for the smart manager.

The question is, can the Daddies expand on an audience who may want to dance, but not necessarily listen? Steve Perry is a musical scholar with a streak of enthusiasm for wildly different kinds of music, from Duke Ellington to the Yardbirds. What will the fans think of a trip to the college of musical knowledge? "I know there are people who come to our shows who'd like nothing more than for us to play swing 24-7, and have that be the end of it," Perry says sensibly. "But if we throw in some ska or some heavier groove things...it weeds out the people who want to keep us in the swing bag. There are plenty of bands who want to be swing bands and swing bands only. We're trying to find the audience who'll let us write songs and just be who we are."

Yet (to paraphrase Lou Reed) the public can be a cruel mistress. In a cultural landscape where attention spans grow shorter than Gary Coleman, it may not be wise to stylistically rock the boat now that success seems imminent. Perry insists that the audiences, for the most part, have reacted positively to doses of non-swing material, and it's the media who remain rigid. "The media really tries to square it up and make it a tighter package," he says with some amusement. "They ask me these questions like, 'What does it take to become a potential swinger?,' and crazy shit like that. In other words, how does a consumer buy into this culture? We're not about that. I find that whole concept horrific!

"The record company could care less. They haven't tried to clean us up, or sanitize us for your protection. They say, 'Play music. Do what you do.' It's the press who keeps trying to tell us what camp we belong to."

Ah, yes. The old journalistic circle jerk. The arts editor writes a big story about how the New Swing Movement is sweeping the nation, so the fashion editor can write about the resurgence of wide lapels and pointy shoes and the crusty old editor can write a scathing Op-Ed piece about the loose morals of these New Swingers. If there's no story, invent one. "I've literally talked to a reporter for hours and had them call me up the next day and tell me, 'We're not happy with what we got yesterday. Can you just say this, this and this?' They've made up their minds what the story is before the interview starts! Is the reporter hanging out with swing people every night at shows all across the country? No, but I am! Why not fucking listen to me? The media is busy trying to figure out a movement and also how to sell it. I guess it's not sexy enough to say we're taking swing and jazz and other things and shaking them all together to try and create something different that we feel good about.

"I never thought I'd have a problem with the press. I figured they were the smart people. They're well-read. They're educated. They can be critical and analytical."

Let me see if I can augur the reaction to Mr. Perry's latest tirade. Perhaps something along the lines of, "Christ on a bike! This guy is always bitching about something! Look pal, if you're tired of playing rock star, try gutting salmon for a living! Yada, yada, yada...." If I can pick up the gauntlet for a minute, I'd like to point out that a content artist is no artist at all. Contentment means complacency and that's just a frog-jump from stagnation. What has gotten Steve Perry's undies in a bundle, kids, is not the music or the fashions or the atmosphere associated with swing itself. It's from trying to deal with some square's inability (see the Daddies' song "Mr. White Keys") to comprehend the challenge of a band that won't bend over and let the cultural marketing boys do their stuff. In Consumerland, people who won't play ball are branded misfits and troublemakers. Nothing new for this group. "I know full well that the reason this particular album has been so successful is its easy marketability," Perry concedes.

In his own seasoned and level-headed fashion, Perry correctly views the band's success as a means to an end: Educate as well as entertain. Develop a following that will gladly gobble up the zesty and varied picnic that the Daddies lay out, dismissing the narrow-minded and faint-hearted who have issues with the madcap blending of jazz, funk, ska, country, metal, Dixieland, power-lounge, etc. The ideal audience must be carefully cultivated and that takes time and patience. "I'm probably going to be on the bus all year," he says. "Before we left on this tour we were in the studio for two months and recorded 15 new songs that I'm pretty excited about. The next album [due later this year] will be about 80 percent swing, with some other things, too. It's not going to be a complete walk away from swing. I'm not tired of the music. I still really like playing it. Out of all the stuff we do, we do swing the best.

"I see the band as a two-pronged thing: There's our live set, which has a lot to do with swing and ska and energetic dance music. Then there's our album-making machine, which is more about the listening experience. I like that idea. We try and split the difference: Remain true to what we do, but slowly inject some of our eclecticism into the mix." And what might that be?

"I've been listening to some country swing, English mod R&B, Small Faces, stuff like that," Perry notes. So perhaps in a year or two we'll be swimming in stories about the New Mod Movement or the comeback of string ties.