Lost/Forgotten Album #248

[Jon]

"Ah! Leah!" has been mentioned quite a few times over the years on this here site and FB, but nobody has taken the time to post a Donnie Iris album.

Until now!

There might be some people who wish this post would feature an album from his 80's output, but that's too easy. Well, kind of.

Other than this week's pick, the best of millenium collection (a must-buy if you don't have it) and a Christmas album, his albums are OOP. A few years ago, American Beat put out a two-fer featuring "Back On The Streets" and "King Cool", but that shortly went OOP and costs around $75 now. It is also missing one song from BOTS, but it's a minor quibble (unless you're a completist). I do have it, but posting that would have been too easy. 

Instead, this week's pick is the 2006 release from Donnie Iris And The Cruisers, "Ellwood City". Chances are there isn't one song on this album that you've heard before, so maybe that's why I chose it. Or, maybe I just wanted you to suffer because you really were hoping for BOTS and/or KC.

Donnie Iris was in his 60's when this album came out. Pretty amazing considering his voice sounds great and he still rocks. Sure, there's no "Ah! Leah!" here, but it is filled with some catchy tunes. 

And now, a brief history of Donnie Iris (courtesy of allmusic.com):

"He found fame as the lead singer of the Jaggerz (the one-hit wonder from 1970 responsible for the number two hit "The Rapper"), but Donny Iris returned to the pop charts in the early '80s several times as a solo act. Born Dominic Ierace in Beaver Falls, PA, Iris began singing at weddings at age five, and by eight was performing on local television and entering talent contests. When his voice changed, he took up the drums but later got back into singing while in high school. A self-taught guitarist, he formed Donnie & the Donnells while in college.

the Jaggerz, Iris' next band, were formed from the remains of several local bands. Though the band's big hit was "The Rapper," in actuality, the band began as an R&B revue. Outside of Pittsburgh, where songs like "Gotta Find My Way Back Home" and "(That's Why) Baby I Love You" (on Gambel Records) were radio favorites, this period did not bring much success to Iris or the band. Their next move was to Kama Sutra, where Iris' "The Rapper" was the first in a series of three hits the band enjoyed.

After the Jaggerz broke up, Iris toured with Wild Cherry, whose 1976 hit "Play That Funky Music" made them a hot property into the end of the decade. Unfortunately, Wild Cherry was another one-hit wonder, and Iris was out of a job by 1980.

That same year, Iris teamed up with keyboard player Mark Avsec (ex-Wild Cherry & Breathless) for the first in a series of good albums for MCA; the single "Ah! Leah!" hit number 29 that year, and six second-rank singles charted during the next five years. Avsec and Iris' collaboration proved to be a good thing in both the songwriting and artist/producer department during this time. By the time of 1993's Footsoldier in the Moonlight, though, Iris' talent as a songwriter had apparently dried up and he was relying entirely on Avsec originals."

Ellwood City

1. Little Black Dress
2. Soul Man
3. Let's Go
4. River Of Love
5. Just Go Tango
6. Rocque Fantastique
7. Ellwood City
8. Love Me With The Light On
9. No Rest For The Wicked
10. Love Messiah
11. You Got My Body (You Don't Got My Soul)
12. Tuesday Morning
13. Just Go Tango (Extended Mix)
14. With This Ring

Availability: New or used runs around $14.

[Scott]

14 songs!!??  This is gonna take forever to listen to!

[Jon]

Then don't listen to it. No big deal.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Panties wadded...

[Scott]

I will listen, you know its a moral imperative to complain about the number of tracks on a post.  No disrespect intended...  maybe... no really not...

I actually own The High and the Mighty on vinyl.  Tough World was a cool tune!  But Iris disappeared after that and so did my interest.  This will be a cool reconnect...

[RJhog (Admin)]

I'm a huge fan of Ah! Leah.  One of the best songs ever.  I'm familiar with a couple of other songs, but that's it.

I'll say right off the bat that the first song is bad ass!  High energy power pop.  But then he immediately covers a song that just doesn't work for me.  Bummer.  I had such high hopes.  Let's Go takes it's ques from U2.  Bass line and all.  Not bad, better than the cover.  It does drag on a bit.  

I get another blast of power pop with River Of Love.  I like power pop.  I could hear this being a really cool Smithereens song, so Scott will surely hate it.  Just Go Tango ventures back into U2 territory.  But despite that, I think I like this.   I guess that's Spanish.  Doesn't matter, it's cool.  I like the strings for sure.

Rocque Fantastique gets a little sleazy.  Some barroom boogie.  The bass tone and overall work on this track is slick. Gotta dig it.  Not crazy about his David Lee Roth style yelling.  And as much as I usually dislike spoken style vocals, the verses here really work.  

Must listen to the rest later, but only one bad song on this part.  The production is weak and sounds kind of cloudy but it may be a product of the ear phones I'm using (my four year old's ear phones are the only ones I have convenient). I'll listen to the rest with my good ear phones and see if there is a difference.

[RJhog (Admin)]

So I just finished this up, and I'll say that the production is fine.  It was definitely head phones.  

I don't think the second half of the album is as good as the first half, but I don't think it's bad.  Well, with the exception of the last track.  That is a throw away.  And I really didn't need an extra 4 and a half minutes of Just Go Tango.  

But Tuesday Morning was absolutely fantastic.  Easily the best song on the back half, if not the whole album. I might just pick this up.  I'll have to think about it for a while.  

You have ignited the spark that makes me wanna pick up some Donnie Iris and check it out. I guess I'd better get the one that has Ah! Leah first.  Great post.  This must be your all-star season.

[Jon]

If you really want that song and don't want to spend 25 bucks on "Back On The Streets", the best option is this. For one, the sound will be much better and you get a set of awesome Iris tunes.   

[Scott]

Even though I own an Iris release on vinyl, I only really remember 1 song from it.  Probably would get some memory back if I put it on, but not more than one or two more songs worth.

I like this, his songwriting is really solid.  His vocals are familiar, and the production was just OK.

Little Black Dress, Lets Go and River of Love are freaky good!  But I too didn't care for the cover of Soul Man, not sure why that was included, but...  If you're in the Iris' position  now, you probably do what you want!  

RJ's right though, the first half of the disc is really very good, but the second half was quirky cool beginning with Ellwood City (the tune).  I expected a bit more from a title track as this one just kind of droned on but it held my interest for some reason.  I suspect a repeated listen or two would make it a fine tune!  No Rest For The Wicked was quirky cool.  I dug the Cars-like geetar and the keyboard work was awesome, could've used more of it though.  The new-wavish keyboard on Love Messiah worked really nice with the church organ fills!

You Got My Body has a bad word in it and we didn't get warned!  The two bonus tracks were, eh...  With This Ring is kind of Righteous Brother sounding, until he sings anyway.  Not sure this tune was necessary since it doesn't really add value to the disc.  But then again, for guy in his position, he can do what he wants!

Jon continues a very cool run of great lost releases!  A top 5 will be difficult this year!