'Riot' strikes chord with swing fans, propels band into new direction

The Cherry Poppin' Daddies made a name for themselves as swingers. Now, the band wants fans to know they're capable of much more.

On their next album -- slated for release in the fall -- they'll showcase the other kinds of music they do in concert -- western, jazz, Motown. They'll remove the backbeat to their swing things and, says lead singer Steve Perry, introduce a sleeker, less "psychedelic" sound.

The swing thing? "It's just what happened to sell," Perry says.

Early fans were so hot for the stuff they often asked merchandise people which Daddies album had the most swing. Because they didn't want to buy all three of the self-produced efforts, they usually held back.

"What you should do," the Daddies' manager said, "is put it all on one record."

Enter: "Zoot Suit Riot," the Eugene, Ore., band's first national release. Filled with swing songs from the three albums, "it went flying out the door," Perry says. "It was a blessing. The old career took off" and the Daddies became known as a swing band.

In concert, though, audiences get a more diverse picture. The eight-man band does all the rock, ska and jazz stuff that earned it the eclectic brand.

For the Daddies, specific definitions can be a real curse. "Generally, the rock press hates us," Perry explains. "They don't know anything about swing, so they like to lump us in with Brian Setzer and the Squirrel Nut Zippers. They don't allow the bands to have their individual personalities. To them, we're all just the same.

"What irks me is you spend your life doing something and people don't even bother to listen to the record."

Success in spite of the critics has always been a Daddies' hallmark.

Born in alternative music's breeding ground, the band was doing something no one else in the Pacific Northwest dared -- buck the irony trend.

"We were really uncool," Perry says of the early years. "And that's why it worked for us."

The Daddies played dance music -- in front of a rock audience. "It was our way of saying, "Screw you.' I think our music was really a correction to what their viewpoint was. I don't like irony and a lot of that alternative stuff was just fake."

Into the punk movement as a teen-ager, Perry has always liked the humorous side of music. Although he tried the format himself, he found he enjoyed dancing on stage more than the average metalhead.

"I like music with a groove...and I gravitated toward that." In time, he says, his musical tastes evolved. "I'm not a noun. I'm a verb. It's all a process."

That a 5'8", 130-pound guy can gyrate like a top interests people and gives the Cherry Poppin' Daddies its identity.

"Shocking people is not my forte," Perry says, even though some of his lyrics border on the risque. Instead, he prefers to be as inclusive as possible. As a result, the Daddies have appeal that stretches from kids to seniors.

Example? The band was asked to perform with both the Boston Pops and the World Wrestling Federation. "It makes no sense at all," Perry says of the invitations. But the band accepted because the members wanted to be thought of in broad terms.

Defining the eight as anything too specific is just plain "icky," Perry says. "It's kind of like a corporate ogre thing. I like the idea that the WWF and the Boston Pops want us."

Putting the Daddies in a category and selling them only as that, however, rankles. "I want to reach a larger demographic. I want to be able to try many different things. We only have like 70 years of life. Who wants to spend 70 years trying to impress their neighbors?"

Swing strikes a chord, Perry says, because it doesn't suggest anything too serious.

"It implies you might have a good time. You can go out and swing dance with somebody and you don't have to go to bed with them."

The media, he adds, have scared couples so much they can't really date without commitment. "There have to be strings attached. But swing says you can just talk to one another, step on the other person's feet and have fun."

Conversely, rock "tries to be tough. It's very cold. It's not cool."

If the Daddies can bring their feel-good mood to rock and other forms of music, the days of grunge depression could be over.

"People think you've got to have this magic formula to succeed," Perry says. "But if it's good, people will like it."

Now, he says, it's just a matter of convincing swing addicts there's more to a musical wardrobe than one Zoot Suit.

[Sidebar caption: Steve Perry considers himself the Imelda Marcos of bands. He has so many pairs of shoes (the Daddies have an endorsement deal with Stacey Adams shoes), he doesn't know where to put them. "Instead of being a heroin addict," he says, "I'm shoe addict."]

DETAILS

Who: Cherry Poppin' Daddies

When: 8 p.m. Monday

Where: DakotaDome, Vermillion, S.D.

Details: Eight-man swing band that soared on the basis of "Zoot Suit Riot." Now putting the finishing touches on its second national album (fifth overall), it hopes to introduce fans to a mix of Motown, glitter rock and early '70s music. "It's a mod record,'' says lead singer Steve Perry. "It sounds like 1965." The album will be out some time in the fall.

Also in the band: Jason Moss, guitar; Daniel Schmid, bass; Tim Donahue, drums; Dana Heitman, trumpet; Sean Flannery, tenor sax; Ian Early, baritone and alto sax; and John Goetchius, keyboards.