Diamond Light Boogie
Encyclopedia
"Diamond Light Boogie" is a song by American
band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies
on their 2000 album Soul Caddy
. It was the first and only single released off Soul Caddy and the Daddies' fourth and final single to be released by Mojo Records
.
", the band became vocal by the end of the decade about what they saw as a career pigeonholing
due to media representation of the Daddies as just a "swing band" at the exclusion of the punk
, ska
and funk
material that had comprised much of their albums. As such, Soul Caddy marked a progression of the Daddies' sound into new stylistic territory, drawing from the rock and pop of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
"Diamond Light Boogie" was written as the album's lead single, a rock song intended to introduce the Daddies' "true" sound to a wider audience as well as bridge the gap between their swing-based fans and their non-swing music. The song is composed as a fusion
of glam rock
and jump swing
, boasting a guitar riff-driven melody in the vein of bands like T. Rex
and set against the rhythmic backbeat and horns common of swing. Said songwriter Steve Perry
of the track:
Production of the single was supervised by legendary glam rock producer Tony Visconti
, while backing vocals were provided by Mark Volman
of The Turtles
.
Lyrically, "Diamond Light Boogie" reflects America's transition into the 21st century: the narrator, though warmly welcoming the arrival of a new era, bids farewell to the past with reluctance, fondly recalling the innocence and naiveté of the twentieth century, though assuring the listener that everything will be all right in the end.
, in a negative review, extensively criticized the album for being derivative of other artists, citing "Diamond Light Boogie" as being "ripped straight from The Soup Dragons
' catalog".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies
Cherry Poppin' Daddies
The Cherry Poppin' Daddies are an American band established in Eugene, Oregon, in 1989. Formed by Steve Perry and Dan Schmid , the band has experienced many membership changes over the years, with only Perry, Schmid and Dana Heitman currently remaining from the original line-up.The Daddies' music...
on their 2000 album Soul Caddy
Soul Caddy
Soul Caddy is the fourth studio album, fifth chronologically, by American band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released on October 3, 2000 by Mojo Records.-Album overview:...
. It was the first and only single released off Soul Caddy and the Daddies' fourth and final single to be released by Mojo Records
Mojo Records
Mojo Records was a California-based record label founded in 1995 by producer Jay Rifkin. It became a joint venture with Universal Music Group in 1996 and then sold to the Zomba Group in 2001, who placed it under their subsidiary Jive Records...
.
Music and lyrics
Despite the international success the Cherry Poppin' Daddies had experienced with their 1998 swing-influenced single "Zoot Suit RiotZoot Suit Riot (song)
"Zoot Suit Riot" is a song by American ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies. It was written and composed by Steve Perry as a bonus track for the band's all-swing compilation album of the same name, and thus follows a musical style similar to 1940s jump swing."Zoot Suit Riot" is often cited as...
", the band became vocal by the end of the decade about what they saw as a career pigeonholing
Pigeonholing
Pigeonholing is a term used to describe processes that attempt to classify disparate entities into a small number of categories ....
due to media representation of the Daddies as just a "swing band" at the exclusion of the punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
and funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
material that had comprised much of their albums. As such, Soul Caddy marked a progression of the Daddies' sound into new stylistic territory, drawing from the rock and pop of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
"Diamond Light Boogie" was written as the album's lead single, a rock song intended to introduce the Daddies' "true" sound to a wider audience as well as bridge the gap between their swing-based fans and their non-swing music. The song is composed as a fusion
Fusion (music)
A fusion genre is music that combines two or more styles. For example, rock and roll originally developed as a fusion of blues, gospel and country music. The main characteristics of fusion genres are variations in tempo, rhythm, i a sometimes the use of long musical "journeys" that can be divided...
of glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
and jump swing
Jump blues
Jump blues is an up-tempo blues usually played by small groups and featuring horns. It was very popular in the 1940s, and the movement was a precursor to the arrival of rhythm and blues and rock and roll...
, boasting a guitar riff-driven melody in the vein of bands like T. Rex
T. Rex (band)
T. Rex were a British rock band, formed in 1967 by singer/songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan. The band formed as Tyrannosaurus Rex, releasing four folk albums under the name...
and set against the rhythmic backbeat and horns common of swing. Said songwriter Steve Perry
Steve Perry (Oregon musician)
Stephen Henry Perry is an American musician, best known for being the lead singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist for the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he is the founding member.-Early life:...
of the track:
Production of the single was supervised by legendary glam rock producer Tony Visconti
Tony Visconti
Anthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer and sometimes a musician or singer.Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers; his lengthiest involvement with any artist is with David Bowie: intermittently from Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity to 2003's Reality, Visconti...
, while backing vocals were provided by Mark Volman
Mark Volman
Mark Volman is an American rock and roll singer, best known as a founding member of the 1960s band The Turtles. At times during his career he has used the pseudonym "The Phlorescent Leech"...
of The Turtles
The Turtles
The Turtles are an American rock group led by vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman. The band became notable for several Top 40 hits beginning with its cover version of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" in 1965...
.
Lyrically, "Diamond Light Boogie" reflects America's transition into the 21st century: the narrator, though warmly welcoming the arrival of a new era, bids farewell to the past with reluctance, fondly recalling the innocence and naiveté of the twentieth century, though assuring the listener that everything will be all right in the end.
Reception
Due to Mojo's poor response to Soul Caddy, the label did little to promote either the album or its single, at one point releasing the latter without the Daddies' name on it, allegedly due to hesitancy over releasing a rock single from a band more widely known as swing. Both Soul Caddy and "Diamond Light Boogie" ultimately failed to chart, but the single received moderate media attention, meeting to mixed reviews. Allmusic, having given Soul Caddy a positive review, described the song's glam styling and "sassy songwriting" as the epitome of the album's "musical excitement", while The Boston GlobeThe Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, in a negative review, extensively criticized the album for being derivative of other artists, citing "Diamond Light Boogie" as being "ripped straight from The Soup Dragons
The Soup Dragons
The Soup Dragons were a Scottish alternative rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Named after a character in the 1970s children's television show Clangers, the group is best known for its cover of the Rolling Stones' song "I'm Free."-History:...
' catalog".
Formats and track listing
Personnel
- Steve PerrySteve Perry (Oregon musician)Stephen Henry Perry is an American musician, best known for being the lead singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist for the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he is the founding member.-Early life:...
- lead vocals, guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together... - Dan SchmidDan SchmidDaniel Joseph Schmid is an American musician, known for his work as the bassist for the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he is a co-founder, and the piano rock trio The Visible Men.-Career:...
- bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Jason MossJason Moss (musician)Jason David Moss is an American musician, known for his work as the lead guitarist for the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he was a member from 1992 to 2010.-Early life:...
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Dana HeitmanDana HeitmanDana Conrad Heitman is an American musician, known for his work as the trumpeter for the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he has been a member since the band's inception.-Biography:...
- trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air... - Sean Flannery - tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet... - Ian Early - alto saxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
, bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet... - Tim DonahueTim Donahue (drummer)-Career:Born in Oswego, New York, Donahue was raised in Oregon, where he began playing drums professionally in the early 1980s, serving in numerous bands including Lucy Crank, Road Kill, Flash Back, Zoo Gang, RMS McConnel, AKA and Intensity. In mid-1997, he joined Eugene band the Cherry Poppin'...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Dustin LankerDustin LankerDustin Ross Lanker is an American keyboardist, known for his work as a member of the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, a touring member of the ska punk band the Mad Caddies and as the singer-songwriter for the piano rock trio The Visible Men.-Career:A pianist since childhood, Lanker...
- keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
Additional musicians
- Johnny Goetchius - backing vocals
- Mark VolmanMark VolmanMark Volman is an American rock and roll singer, best known as a founding member of the 1960s band The Turtles. At times during his career he has used the pseudonym "The Phlorescent Leech"...
- backing vocals
Production
- Produced by Steve Perry and Jack Joseph PuigJack Joseph PuigJack Joseph Puig is a Grammy Award-winning music engineer and producer with a long track record of successful productions, including the mid-1990s production of Tonic. Puig also worked with Hole, Jellyfish, The Black Crowes, John Mayer, Weezer, Fiona Apple, Green Day, The Counting Crows, No Doubt,...
- Additional production by Tony ViscontiTony ViscontiAnthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer and sometimes a musician or singer.Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers; his lengthiest involvement with any artist is with David Bowie: intermittently from Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity to 2003's Reality, Visconti...
and Anders Hanssen - Mixed by Jack Joseph Puig