Formation and bassist
Dan Schmid played together in several Eugene punk bands prior to forming the Daddies. Following his high school graduation in 1981,
Steve Perry left his hometown of
Binghamton, New York, for
Eugene, Oregon, to pursue
track and field and a
chemistry degree at the
University of Oregon. A
punk rock devotee since adolescence, Perry soon became engrossed in Eugene's underground music scene, where he eventually met and befriended musician and fellow University student
Dan Schmid. Sharing similar musical ambitions and a mutual disinterest in school, the pair agreed to drop out of college together and start a band, forming the punk trio The Jazz Greats in 1983, which evolved into the
Paisley Underground-styled
garage rock group Saint Huck, which lasted from 1984 to 1987. As the rise of
grunge began to phase punk and hardcore out of the Northwest underground by the late 1980s, Perry set out to start a band that stood in defiant contrast to the shoegazing attitude of
alternative rock, showcasing high energy dance music and
Zappa-esque theatricality in an attempt to create something that an audience would react to viscerally instead of passively. Recruiting a
horn section led by alto saxophonist
Brooks Brown, Perry and Schmid formed their latest band Mr. Wiggles – named so after a
Parliament song – in November 1988, playing their first show in
Springfield as part of a
benefit concert for workers of the Nicolai door manufacturing plant, who were then engaged in a
union strike. "My conception of punk", Perry told
The Rocket, "was doing whatever the hell you wanted as long as it had vitality and wasn't overly stupid ... something exploratory and experimental", citing influence from genre-bending bands such as
The Clash and the
Meat Puppets.
Early years (1989–1993) In 1989, the title of Mr. Wiggles was retired when the band switched to a new name, "
Cherry Poppin' Daddies", derived from
jive slang the members had overheard on a vintage
race record. The band played their first show as the Cherry Poppin' Daddies at the
W.O.W. Hall in Eugene on March 31. Nonetheless, by the end of 1989, the Daddies had built a strong and loyal following within Eugene's
counterculture, frequently selling out show and gathering critical acclaim." The Daddies recorded their first
demo cassette 4 From On High in July 1989, which included four tracks of
funk rock and punk-influenced swing. The cassette sold over 1,000 copies in the Eugene and Portland areas, enabling the band to self-produce their debut LP
Ferociously Stoned, released the following year. Fusing punk rock and jazz horns with funk grooves,
Ferociously Stoned drew favorable critical comparisons to contemporaries
Faith No More and the
Red Hot Chili Peppers while also becoming a regional best seller. The album set a record for advance sales in Eugene's record stores and remained for over a year on
The Rocket's Northwest Top Twenty list. The album helped expand the Daddies' Northwestern touring reach to as far as Alaska and Los Angeles by 1992.
Controversies and censorship Cherry Poppin' Daddies' early performances often included flamboyant costumes,
go-go dancers, phallic stage scenery, prop-heavy skits, or choreographed dance numbers. Perry—then performing under his
mad scientist stage persona of "MC Large Drink"—would regularly engage in absurdist
shock rock stunts, such as mock
crucifixion and
flag burning. One of the band's stage props was known as the "Dildorado" or "The Dildozer", a riding lawnmower modified to look like a human penis that mimicked
ejaculation by shooting colorful fluids from its tip. '', satirizing the controversy surrounding the band's name. The band attracted controversy from
Feminist groups, who condemned the band's performances as pornographic, citing their name and sexually charged lyricism as a promotion of
sexism and
misogyny. Perry disputed such claims, defending the controversial elements as misinterpreted satire. In what
Eugene Weekly called "the most hotly discussed topic in the local music scene" and "the Eugene flash point for the growing national debate on
censorship [and]
free speech", the Daddies experienced controversy which nearly ended their burgeoning career. The Daddies' concerts routinely became sites of organized
picketing and, on one occasion, a
bomb threat. The band members themselves were frequent recipients of
hate mail, threats and physical harassment: once, Perry claimed, an irate protester threw a cup of hot coffee in his face as he was walking down the street. As the Daddies retired the theatrical elements from their later live shows, the controversies surrounding the band waned and they returned to using their full name everywhere. Some minor complaints resurfaced during their mainstream success in the late 1990s.
National touring and independent success (1994–1996) Throughout the early 1990s, the Daddies continued to remain a reliably popular and profitable draw in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California club circuit. Despite earning critical accolades from the local music press, including winning
SF Weeklys title of "Best Unsigned Band" in 1994, the Daddies struggled to achieve wider recognition and distribution. Following a number of changes in their member and managerial lineups, the group embarked on their first national tour in the fall of 1994, which was highlighted by a set at the
CMJ Music Marathon festival and convention in New York City. Described by Perry as "an
idea album" While Perry has retrospectively cited
Rapid City Muscle Car as his personal favorite Daddies album, he revealed in a 1995 interview with the
Los Angeles Times that the album sold "okay" but ultimately didn't surpass sales of
Ferociously Stoned. As the band gradually built fanbases and markets around the country, they began attracting interest from several high-profile record labels, among which reportedly included
Hollywood Records and producers including
Roy Thomas Baker and
Terry Ellis. In a similar mindset, not wishing to be pigeon-holed into any specific scene or genre, Perry at first refused to tour with ska bands, though after a highly successful and well-received tour with
Fresno ska band
Let's Go Bowling, he acquiesced, and the Daddies eventually carved out a lucrative niche within the national ska scene, forming regular touring partnerships with the likes of
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones,
Reel Big Fish and
Less Than Jake. While the mainstream's growing focus on punk and ska by the mid-1990s presented the Daddies with further commercial opportunities, Perry still insisted foremost on maintaining complete creative control of the band.
Zoot Suit Riot and major label years (1997–1999) have remained the band's two constant fixtures since their formation. By late 1996, ska had broken through into the American mainstream as one of the most popular forms of alternative music, catapulting such major label bands as Reel Big Fish and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones into the national spotlight. The Daddies, however, without the support of a record label, were ultimately left on the fringes of commercial visibility. Although
Kids on the Street had sold well for an independent release, the band had continuing difficulty securing press and distribution outside of the Northwest, while the pressure of full-time touring was inevitably becoming both a personal and financial strain on the members. The Daddies experienced at least fifteen lineup changes from 1996 to 1997, including the departure of original keyboardist Chris Azorr and co-founder Dan Schmid, leaving only Perry and trumpeter
Dana Heitman as the sole remnants of the original lineup. Although the Daddies had occasionally played shows with notable swing revival bands like
Royal Crown Revue, they were not largely associated with the scene or subculture; when fans regularly began approaching the band's merchandise table asking which of their albums contained the most swing songs, the Daddies realized they lacked an album fully representing their swing side, prompting the band's manager to convince them to compile all of their swing songs onto one CD until they could afford to make a new album, using their available finances to record several bonus tracks for inclusion. The result, ''
Zoot Suit Riot: The Swingin' Hits of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, became an unexpectedly popular item as the band went on tour, reportedly selling as many as 4,000 copies a week through their Northwest distributors. By mid-1998, the Daddies had emerged as one of the most successful bands of the swing revival: after climbing to number one on Billboard'
s Top Heatseekers, Zoot Suit Riot
became the first album of the swing revival to crack the Top 40 on the Billboard'' 200, peaking at number 17 and spending an ultimate total of 53 weeks on the charts. In June 1998, the album had sold 500,000 copies in the United States, going on to surpass sales of 1.4 million by August. Suddenly finding themselves in hot demand, the Daddies immediately started touring again. Spending the majority of 1998 and 1999 on the road, the band were now playing close to 300 shows a year, carrying out both headlining and supporting tours of the United States while traveling internationally as one of the headliners on the 1998
Warped Tour beside
Rancid,
NOFX and
Bad Religion. Although the Daddies were experiencing commercial success under the guise of swing revivalists, having been declared the "leaders" of the movement by
Rolling Stone, the band openly contested being labeled a
retro act at the exclusion of their dominant ska and punk influences and modernist lyricism. noting elsewhere "I can't fully take us out of the retro classification, but we harp on the fact that we're contemporary music". At one point, the Daddies attempted to arrange a tour with
Primus which never materialized; said Perry, "I know there are people who come to our shows who'd like nothing more than for us to play swing 24/7 ... 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". During the height of the Daddies' popularity, Perry found the band's mainstream notoriety was causing an alienating effect on his personal life, claiming it to have negatively changed his relationships with friends and even subjected him to occasional heckling from strangers who recognized him in public. He would later recall, "It's a total cliché, but [fame] doesn't make you happy. There's a lot missing. Success has given people the right to yell at me on the street, but I don't really feel like it's given me any dignity". Already feeling burnt out from the Daddies' constant touring, Perry's frustration was only exacerbated by the media's persistent dismissal of the Daddies as a retro novelty act, though he later claimed to have felt pressured to maintain the image due to audience and media expectations. When the band began to face criticism and accusations of
selling out from their Northwest fanbase, the Daddies fought to further push themselves away from their mainstream typecasting: in a 1999 interview, responding to their place in the swing scene, Perry retorted "[we'll] unapologetically play ska right in the face of people who want to hear swing".
Zoot Suit Riot had sold over two million copies in the United States by the time the swing revival's mainstream popularity had declined, finally slipping off the charts in January 2000. Drawing from the rock and pop of the 1960s and 1970s,
Soul Caddy interwove swing and ska with
glam rock,
soul,
psychedelic pop,
folk and funk. Despite allowing the Daddies creative control over its production, Mojo's response to
Soul Caddy was considered tepid at best. With virtually no publicity behind it,
Soul Caddy was quietly released in October 2000. Met by a public largely unaware of the Daddies' eclectic background,
Soul Caddy was received negatively by both fans and critics, one of the more prevalent criticisms being its lack of swing tracks. Some reviewers chastised the band for what was being seen as an abandonment of their swing "roots" in favor of a trendier sound, while a few criticized the Daddies' entire musical aesthetic —
UGO's
Hip Online stated bluntly, "covering five or six genres on one album is just insane". The
Los Angeles Daily News placed
Soul Caddy on their list of the 10 worst albums of 2000, the reviewer wondering what made a swing band "think it could get away with an album of recycled psychedelic pop". Despite some moderate critical praise including a glowing review from
AllMusic, who called the album's "impressively surprising" array of sounds "refreshing coming from a band who was assumed to be generic retro swing",
Soul Caddy failed to achieve the chart success or commercial attention of its predecessor. The Daddies' accompanying national tour fared just as poorly, showing a marked decline in attendance while audiences reacted unfavorably towards the band's decreased focus on playing swing music. The Daddies were released from Mojo shortly thereafter, though guitarist
Jason Moss would later comment that the band were kicked "to the curb" after
Soul Caddys poor commercial performance.
Hiatus and limited touring (2001–2006) , pictured here playing with the Daddies, continued as the pop duo
The Visible Men during the Daddies' hiatus. With nearly a decade of full-time band activity come to a rest, the Daddies parted ways to pursue other musical endeavors, remaining active in various local bands. Most notably, Perry and Moss started the theatrical
glam punk group
White Hot Odyssey, releasing an album on
Jive Records in 2004 before disbanding the following year, while Schmid and keyboardist
Dustin Lanker formed the piano rock trio
The Visible Men, recording two studio albums and touring extensively until their own disbandment in 2007. Around this time, Schmid also toured as bassist for
Pixies frontman
Black Francis band, recording on his 2007 album
Bluefinger as well as recording on
Pete Yorns Francis-produced
self-titled album in 2010. Lanker later joined California ska punk band the
Mad Caddies as a touring member, eventually becoming a permanent member in 2013. Drummer Tim Donahue, after a stint with The Visible Men, worked as a
session musician, recording on albums for artists including
TobyMac and
Shawn McDonald and playing in
Yngwie Malmsteens band for his 2001 European tour. Over the next few years, all Daddies activity was put on further hold as the members returned to their family lives and full-time jobs, while Perry chose to resume his education at the University of Oregon, graduating in 2004 with a
B.S. in
molecular biology.
Susquehanna and return to independent label (2006–2009) Following four years of relative inactivity as the band maintained their relaxed touring pace, Perry began writing material for a new Daddies album in early 2006, claiming to have come to the realization of a cathartic reliance on songwriting. In an April 2006 radio interview, he confirmed that the band was in preparation to record a new studio album, noting that the music would cover new territory for the Daddies, drawing heavily on
tropical elements. Throughout the fall of 2006, the band carried out several small tours throughout the United States, where much of this new material was debuted. played with the band from 1992 to 2010, serving the longest tenure of any non-original member. Self-produced and recorded in Eugene during the summer of 2007, the Daddies' fifth album,
Susquehanna, was released via
digital download exclusively through the band's website in February 2008, receiving a limited CD release several months later. Taking the shape of a narrative concept album which Perry detailed as a portrait of "various relationships in decay",
Susquehanna featured prominent strains of
Latin and
Caribbean-influenced music, incorporating flourishes of
flamenco,
Latin rock and
reggae into the band's traditional fare of swing and ska. While its low-profile
DIY release went mostly unnoticed by the mainstream media, response from internet-based publications ranged from mixed to positive, with reviewers once again polarized over the album's eclectic blend of genres. The Daddies embarked on another full-length tour in support of
Susquehanna in mid-2008, followed by a headline tour of Europe, their first visit to the continent since 1998. In July 2009, the Daddies announced having signed to independent label
Rock Ridge Music for the release and national distribution of two albums, a re-issue of
Susquehanna and ''
Skaboy JFK: The Skankin' Hits of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies'', a compilation of the band's ska material culled from their first five albums. Perry explained that fans had been suggesting the concept of a ska collection for years, and that such an album might help show a different side of the Daddies than the "swing band" persona they're generally recognized for.
White Teeth, Black Thoughts (2010–2013) Shortly after the release of
Skaboy JFK, Perry already began announcing plans for the Daddies' next studio album, revealing the band would be returning to swing music for their first all-swing album since
Zoot Suit Riot. Initial production on the album, titled
White Teeth, Black Thoughts, began in March 2011, though lasted infrequently throughout the year as the Daddies continued to carry out several more successful international tours, including two separate sold-out tours of Australia in 2011 and 2012. During this time, the band experienced major changes within their touring lineup after longtime keyboardist Dustin Lanker departed the group in 2012, prompting the Daddies to decide to continue touring without a live keyboardist. Several months later, trombonist Joe Freuen was added to the band, marking the first time the Daddies had ever included a full-time trombone player in their official lineup. , traditionally a trio of trumpet and alto and tenor saxophones, became a quartet with the addition of trombonist Joe Freuen in 2012. In mid-2012, Perry finally elaborated on the production status of the new album, revealing that the band had written enough material to release
White Teeth, Black Thoughts as a
double album, consisting of the main all-swing album and a bonus disc of "
Americana"-influenced rock songs in styles including
rockabilly,
country,
bluegrass and
western swing, the latter disc featuring guest appearances from accordionist
Buckwheat Zydeco on a
zydeco song and former
Captain Beefheart guitarist
Zoot Horn Rollo on a
psychobilly track. On June 20, 2012, the Daddies launched a
PledgeMusic campaign to help finance the final stages of the album's production, successfully reaching its target on August 14 and continuing to collect pledges into the following year, ultimately raising 133% of its goal. Preceded by the release of two singles and music videos for the songs "
I Love American Music" and "The Babooch",
White Teeth, Black Thoughts was released independently on Space Age Bachelor Pad Records on July 16, 2013. Following the low-key DIY release and promotion of
Susquehanna and
Skaboy JFK, the Daddies worked to heavily publicize
White Teeth, Black Thoughts, receiving coverage by major news outlets including
Billboard and
USA Today, while the band later appeared on the
Fox-owned
KTTV program
Good Day L.A. to perform "I Love American Music", their first major television appearance since the 1990s. Despite not experiencing any chart success, the album received generally positive critical reviews, and the Daddies carried out a brief fifteen-city tour of the United States during the summer. In January 2014, it was announced that the
Eugene Ballet had collaborated with the Daddies for production entitled
Zoot Suit Riot, a dance show set to the music of and featuring live accompaniment from the band, featuring choreographed dance routines set to thirteen of the Daddies' songs, ranging from their biggest swing hits to their lesser-known rock, pop and psychedelic songs.
Zoot Suit Riot played at Eugene's
Hult Center for the Performing Arts on April 12 and 13, 2014.
Cover albums and Zoot Suit Riot: 20th Anniversary Edition (2014–2018) During the initial writing and recording period of
White Teeth, Black Thoughts, the Daddies began playing select shows billed as "The Cherry Poppin' Daddies Salute the Music of the
Rat Pack", playing an equal mix of the band's own swing songs as well as covers of songs popularized by the "Rat Pack" of
Frank Sinatra,
Dean Martin and
Sammy Davis, Jr. In a July 2013 interview with
Billboard magazine, Perry revealed that the band had concurrently recorded a
tribute album featuring these songs and would be releasing it after touring behind
White Teeth, Black Thoughts. The following December, Perry expressed plans on the Daddies' official
Facebook page to further explore the band's swing and jazz influences with another cover album, this time centered on the hot jazz of the
Cotton Club era of the 1920s and 1930s. Production on what would eventually be entitled
The Boop-A-Doo began in Spring 2015 in Eugene, utilizing vintage recording techniques as well as the use of pre-1940s instruments to achieve an authentic jazz-era sound.
The Boop-A-Doo was released on January 22, 2016, promoted by a music video for the 1930
Eubie Blake/
Andy Razaf song "That Lindy Hop", directed by Perry. Initially, the Daddies announced that
Please Return the Evening and
The Boop-A-Doo would comprise two parts of a planned trilogy of cover albums designed to showcase the band's swing and jazz influences. Although Perry revealed in a November 2016 interview that the Daddies' third volume of cover songs would focus on either
western swing or a
Babs Gonzales/"
beatnik"-style
bebop, a third album did not come to fruition. During this period, Perry was also occupied with the task of remixing and remastering the Daddies'
Zoot Suit Riot compilation, having re-obtained the rights from Jive Records in 2014. Speaking on the project, he lamented that production of
Zoot Suit Riot had been rushed and that only first takes had been used, noting that there could have been "2 or 3 more" takes of the songs "if we had known the future back in 1996", noting "after 25 years [of the band], I would like to make the record sound a little better".
Zoot Suit Riot: The 20th Anniversary Edition was released on CD and vinyl on January 13, 2017, featuring five bonus live tracks recorded during the band's 1998 tours. In promotion of the album's re-release, the Daddies played select dates throughout the country, performing the album in its entirety.
Bigger Life (2019–present) While the Daddies dedicated most of the 2010s to playing and recording swing and jazz music, Perry first revealed in a 2014 interview with
The Huffington Post that he had started writing new non-swing songs for the next original Daddies album, describing his ambitions of making a "
psychobilly/
Zappa/
American Idiot/
R. Crumb type record that paints a picture of the American socio political scene", emphasizing his desire to experiment with rockabilly and
roots rock. Production on the album began in late 2017, and on May 8, 2018, Perry announced on Twitter that the mixing process had begun on the finished product, now titled
Bigger Life. On March 12, 2019, the Daddies premiered the first single and music video from
Bigger Life on their YouTube channel, a ska punk song entitled "Gym Rat", later followed by two additional singles and music videos for the songs "Diesel PunX", a rockabilly-styled song influenced by the science fiction sub-genre of
dieselpunk, and the
Celtic punk/
folk punk-influenced "Yankee Pride".
Bigger Life was released on CD and vinyl on June 14, which was celebrated with a show at Eugene's W.O.W. Hall the same day, where the Daddies debuted a new stage show focusing exclusively on the band's repertoire of ska and ska-punk songs, a set they continued to perform at select shows and festivals, including the 2019 Victoria Ska Fest. The Daddies had been scheduled to perform as part of the Supernova International Ska Festival located in Virginia in June 2020, though the festival was ultimately canceled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. On January 31, 2020, the Daddies released the standalone single "Faux Nice, Mock Fancy", a glam rock-styled song recorded during the
Bigger Life sessions. In a Facebook post announcing the single, Perry detailed that he planned to release various unreleased songs as singles throughout the year as he started work on new material. This started with the single and video release of "Platform Shoes", another glam rock-styled song from the deluxe edition of
White Teeth, Black Thoughts, in mid-March and a cover of Canadian rock band
The Kings 1980 hit "Switchin' to Glide" in mid-May. In an October 2022 interview, Perry revealed that he had spent much of the pandemic writing three albums worth of original material, including an all-swing album, a ska-pop-funk album and a psychobilly album. On July 13, 2023, the Daddies premiered the first single from an upcoming untitled album, "Lowdown Appreciator". On November 30, the band premiered another new single, "Kings of Swing", which was accompanied by the unveiling of the new album's title -
At the Pink Rat, its album art and a projected release date of July 26, 2024. ==Musical style and lyricism==