Lost/Forgotten Album #392

[Jon]

Who? Donnie Iris

When? 1981

Album Title? King Cool

Didn't his previous album have one of the greatest driving songs of all time? Yes

It appears that he's smoking on that album cover. Isn't that bad? Nope. It's cool. 

Allmusic.com Review? Yes.

The 1981 follow-up to Donnie Iris' debut, King Cool proved to be the commercial and critical peak for Iris and his band the Cruisers. The same cast returned from the first record with Mark Avsec again playing a pivotal role.

King Cool toned down some of the New Wave leanings of Back on the Streets and concentrated more on a classic rock sound yielded rewarding results. Three singles charted from King Cool including the melodic "Sweet Merilee," which featured some lovely harmonies. Two songs managed to go Top 40; the rollicking, percussion-driven "Love Is Like a Rock" and "My Girl," their biggest hit reaching number 25, which opted for a doo wop feel. Iris is a belter, vocally, and it worked to good effect on other infectious tracks like "The Promise," the punchy "Pretender," and the mid-tempo ballad "The Last to Know." King Cool managed to break no new ground, but served as a loving homage to crunchy, singalong rock.

King Cool

1. Sweet Merilee
2. The Promise
3. Pretender
4. Love Is Like A Rock
5. That's the Way Love Ought To Be
6. My Girl
7. Broken Promises
8. King Cool
9. Color Me Blue
10. The Last To Know

Availability: Thiswas released along with "Back On The Streets" on one CD back in 2008 by American Beat Records and is long OOP with a used copy going for around $75 and new around $120. I don't believe American Beat exists any longer, but you can visit their My Space page?

[RJhog (Admin)]

Ah! Leah is one of my all-time favorite songs.  But that is neither here nor there since it's not on this album.  I only recognize one song by title, and that is Love Is Like A Rock.  I always thought that was a pretty good song.

Sweet Merilee immediately jumps out at me.  It has a great sound and is just totally groovy.  I do not remember hearing this song at all.  Track two is more melodic goodness.  This sucker is off to a great start.

Through track five, there is really no let up.   And I really love the high pitched vocals near the end, really reminiscent of Ah! Leah.

My Girl sounds like a Huey Lewis & The News song.  I also hear some of Ah! Leah in Broken Promises, but not necessarily in a good way.  It's not a bad song, but probably the weakest so far.

Dang, King Cool is a terrific song.  I mean really terrific.  

Color Me Blue isn't memorable at all, and I haven't made up my mind on the closer.

Overall, this is terrific.  I'd like to have it, but not at the available prices.  I'll have to check the used CD store next time I'm in there.  Fine post!

[Yngve J. Chapleen]

Before we dive in, let's talk about that cover. If the 14 years old me saw this in the Rock section, he would wait till the clerk turns away and he would slip it in the Folk bin. He would not let this dork crap up the Rock 'N' Roll style. That was then, now I don't care about the covers. Well, I still think Rodney Matthews should be doing every Cover for every album, but the lack of his involvement will not make me do things I might or might not regret.

So who is this dude sporting a girls name like it's no ones business?
Beside that Christmas album you posted (which was good enough to convey the spirit of the season, but did not prompt further investigate) I know nothing about him. Quick educational break later and I'm still no wiser. So he was part of Wild Cherry, but not the line-up which created "Play That Funky Music White Boy". We're back to square one.

That's OK. I can absorb it like it's 1981.
And it's off to a bad start. After those first three forgettable songs, I was expecting this to be a galore of fillers. Surprisingly, it wasn't. The next four songs picked up few points. Not enough to sell the album to me back then, nor nowadays, but enough to keep me interested. Sadly, the last three songs dipped low again. This explains why the album or the artist remained unknown to me after all this years. Come think of it, this album will miserably fail the scientifically proven method of presenting albums in a formula someone claims to be without a glitch. However, those middle pieces will warrant a future listen to the same artist, if that happens. If not, I won't loose any sleep over it.