Kids on the Street
Encyclopedia
Kids on the Street is the third studio album by American band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies
, released in 1996
on Space Age Bachelor Pad Records.
bands. As such, the Daddies' next album would inevitably stray from the brass-heavy swing and funk
that had characterized their first two releases in favor of further exploration into punk and ska.
With lead singer Steve Perry
now assuming a role as rhythm guitarist, Kids on the Street predominantly features guitar-driven ska and punk, occasionally touching upon outside genres such as Southern rock
("Luther Lane"), western swing
("Silver-Tongued Devil") and jazz
("Here Comes the Snake"). Perry has stated that the abundance of straightforward rock and punk songs on the album in place of the manic eclecticism of their previous records was partially due to his playing guitar on the album, as he describes his guitar ability as "limited".
shortly after its release, the album sold 25,000 in its first week, charting on The Rocket's
Retail Sales Top Twenty for over seven months and eventually making its way onto Rolling Stone's
Alternative Chart. The ska tracks "Don Quixote", "Cosa Nostra" and "Say It To My Face" found their way onto many independent third wave ska compilation albums, including Beloved Records' "Ska: The Third Wave" box set and volume one of Vegas Records' "Hey Brother, Can You Spare Some Ska?"
Two reviews in Eugene's
The Register-Guard
both gave Kids on the Street a warm reception: one reviewer called the album a "great CD" that was "suitable for just hanging out and doing homework" to and for "long, boring car trips". Another reviewer, while claiming that the album occasionally branched into "the monotony of 'alternative'
", notes that it "definitely would be possible to derive pleasure from listening to this CD. The music is wonderful!"
Despite the total absence of the swing sound that the Daddies would soon become internationally known for, Kids on the Street is often considered by fans of the band to be their best album, something which has been acknowledged by the Daddies themselves.
Additional musicians
Production
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...
, released in 1996
1996 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1996.-January:* January – At the trial of two American teenagers, Nicholaus McDonald and Brian Bassett, for the murder of Bassett's parents and young brother, defense lawyers attempt to lay the blame for the murders on the fact...
on Space Age Bachelor Pad Records.
Overview
By 1996, the Cherry Poppin' Daddies had emerged as a staple of the West Coast's third wave ska scene, almost exclusively touring with ska and ska punkSka punk
Ska punk is a fusion music genre that combines ska and punk rock. It achieved its highest level of commercial success in the United States in the late 1990s. Ska-core is a subgenre of ska punk, blending ska with hardcore punk.The characteristics of ska punk vary, due to the fusion of contrasting...
bands. As such, the Daddies' next album would inevitably stray from the brass-heavy swing 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...
that had characterized their first two releases in favor of further exploration into punk and ska.
With lead singer 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:...
now assuming a role as rhythm guitarist, Kids on the Street predominantly features guitar-driven ska and punk, occasionally touching upon outside genres such as Southern rock
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...
("Luther Lane"), western swing
Western swing
Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands...
("Silver-Tongued Devil") and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
("Here Comes the Snake"). Perry has stated that the abundance of straightforward rock and punk songs on the album in place of the manic eclecticism of their previous records was partially due to his playing guitar on the album, as he describes his guitar ability as "limited".
Release and response
Released in the midst of the American ska revival that had begun to reach its commercial peak in 1996, Kids on the Street wound up becoming the Daddies' most successful album at the time. Having been picked up for distribution by Caroline RecordsCaroline Records
Caroline Records started out as a subsidiary of Richard Branson's Virgin Records label during the early to mid 1970s. The label originally specialized in putting out budget price LPs by mainly progressive rock and jazz artists generally not considered to have a great deal of 'mainstream' or...
shortly after its release, the album sold 25,000 in its first week, charting on The Rocket's
The Rocket (newspaper)
The Rocket was a free biweekly newspaper serving the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, published from 1979–2000. The newspaper's chief purpose was to document local music. This focus distinguished it from other area weeklies such as the Seattle Weekly and the Willamette Week, which...
Retail Sales Top Twenty for over seven months and eventually making its way onto Rolling Stone's
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
Alternative Chart. The ska tracks "Don Quixote", "Cosa Nostra" and "Say It To My Face" found their way onto many independent third wave ska compilation albums, including Beloved Records' "Ska: The Third Wave" box set and volume one of Vegas Records' "Hey Brother, Can You Spare Some Ska?"
Two reviews in Eugene's
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
The Register-Guard
The Register-Guard
The Register-Guard is a daily newspaper published in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It was formed in a 1930 merger of two Eugene papers, the Eugene Daily Guard and the Morning Register. The paper serves the Eugene-Springfield area, as well as the Oregon Coast, Umpqua River Valley, and surrounding...
both gave Kids on the Street a warm reception: one reviewer called the album a "great CD" that was "suitable for just hanging out and doing homework" to and for "long, boring car trips". Another reviewer, while claiming that the album occasionally branched into "the monotony of 'alternative'
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
", notes that it "definitely would be possible to derive pleasure from listening to this CD. The music is wonderful!"
Despite the total absence of the swing sound that the Daddies would soon become internationally known for, Kids on the Street is often considered by fans of the band to be their best album, something which has been acknowledged by the Daddies themselves.
Track listing
Alternative versions
- "Here Comes the Snake", the only Kids on the Street track that appeared on the Daddies' 1997 compilation Zoot Suit RiotZoot Suit Riot (album)Zoot Suit Riot: The Swingin' Hits of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies is a compilation album by American ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released on March 18, 1997 on Space Age Bachelor Pad Records....
, was re-recorded and released as a single in 1998, featuring a faster tempo, additional trumpet and a more prominent thereminThereminThe theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
. - "Irish Whiskey" was re-recorded for the Daddies' 2000 album Soul CaddySoul CaddySoul 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:...
, omitting the horns.
Credits
Cherry Poppin' Daddies- 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:...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, 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... - 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:...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Chris Azorr – 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...
- 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...
, tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate... - 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:...
– lead 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... - 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...
- Rex Trimm – 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...
- Adam GlogauerAdam GlogauerAdam Glogauer was born in Costa Mesa, California and is best known as the singer-songwriter of Forever Darling....
– 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 ....
Additional musicians
- Adrian Baxter – tenor saxophone on tracks 2, 4 - 5, 10 - 11, 13 - 15
- John Fohl – guitar, lap steel guitarLap steel guitarThe lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
on tracks 11, 14 - Sean Oldham – drums on tracks 4 - 5, 7, 11 - 14
- Jason Palmer – drums on tracks 2, 10
- James Phillips – alto saxophone on track 8
Production
- All songs engineered and mixed by Bill Barnett at Gung Ho Studios in EugeneEugene, OregonEugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
, OregonOregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern... - Additional engineering by Dana Heitman