Rapid City Muscle Car
Encyclopedia
Rapid City Muscle Car is the second studio album by American band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies
, released in 1994
on Space Age Bachelor Pad Records.
in which each track was composed as the total musical opposite of the last - "[whipping] the listener around as if he/she was...experiencing stylistic G-forces" - but remaining thematically coherent through interconnected lyricism following an abstract narrative
.
Delving into wider-reaching and more experimental territory than their punk rock
roots, the result is arguably the Daddies' most musically eclectic work. Building upon the band's then-standard repertoire of swing and funk
, Rapid City Muscle Car weaves between ska punk
, rockabilly
, country
, psychedelic rock
, big band
, heavy metal
and neo-lounge
. The album makes extensive use of outside instruments, adding acoustic guitar
s, accordion
s, clarinet
s and vibraphones in addition to the band's keyboards
and horn section
. A full big band orchestra is used on "Come Back to Me", a cover song taken from the 1965 Burton Lane
/Alan Jay Lerner
Broadway musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
.
, except where otherwise noted.
Additional musicians
The First Church of Sinatra
Featured on track 14:
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 1994
1994 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1994.-January–February:*January 25 – Alice in Chains release their Jar of Flies album which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first ever EP to do so....
on Space Age Bachelor Pad Records.
Overview
Rapid City Muscle Car was structured around the Daddies' desire to create a stylistic concept albumConcept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
in which each track was composed as the total musical opposite of the last - "[whipping] the listener around as if he/she was...experiencing stylistic G-forces" - but remaining thematically coherent through interconnected lyricism following an abstract narrative
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
.
Delving into wider-reaching and more experimental territory than their punk rock
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...
roots, the result is arguably the Daddies' most musically eclectic work. Building upon the band's then-standard repertoire of 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...
, Rapid City Muscle Car weaves between ska punk
Ska 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...
, rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
, country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
, big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
and neo-lounge
Lounge music
Lounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...
. The album makes extensive use of outside instruments, adding acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
s, accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
s, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s and vibraphones in addition to the band's keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A 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...
and horn section
Horn section
In music, a horn section can refer to several groups of musicians. It can refer to the musicians in a symphony orchestra who play the horn . In a British-style brass band it refers to the tenor horn players. In popular music, it can also refer to a small group of wind instrumentalists who augment a...
. A full big band orchestra is used on "Come Back to Me", a cover song taken from the 1965 Burton Lane
Burton Lane
Burton Lane was an American composer and lyricist. His most popular and successful work is the musical Finian's Rainbow, "the score for which Lane will always be most remembered."-Biography:...
/Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre for both the stage and on film...
Broadway musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever is a musical with music by Burton Lane and a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner based loosely on Berkeley Square, written in 1929 by John L. Balderston. It concerns a woman who has ESP and has been reincarnated...
.
Track listing
All songs composed by 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:...
, except where otherwise noted.
Previous availability
- The same recording of "The Ding-Dong Daddy of the D-Car Line" (then titled "Ding Dong Daddy") was first released on a 1992 7" entitled The Daddies.
Credits
Cherry Poppin' Daddies- Steve Perry – 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...
- Dang Oulette (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.... - 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... - 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...
- Brian West – 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 ....
, vibesVibraphoneThe vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration... - Adrian Baxter – 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... - 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...
Additional musicians
- Brooks BrownBrooks BrownBrooks Richard Brown is an American saxophonist, known for his work as a former member of the Eugene, Oregon band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he co-founded with Steve Perry and Dan Schmid.-Biography:...
– 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...
, clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed... - John Fohl – 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...
on track 4 - James Phillips – tenor saxophone on track 4
The First Church of Sinatra
Featured on track 14:
- Tim Allums – trumpet
- Mark Berney – trumpet
- Dave Van Handel – trombone
- Glenn Bonney – trombone
- Wayne Conkey – bass trombone
- Ross Warren – alto saxophone
- Tim Willcox – alto saxophone
- James Phillips – tenor saxophone
- Richard Coon – baritone saxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
Production
- Tracks 1 - 2, 4, 6 - 7, & 9 engineered and mixed by Bill Barnett at Gung Ho Studio in Eugene, OregonEugene, 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...
- Tracks 5, 8, 10, 12 - 15 engineered by Dana Heitman at Space Age Bachelor Pad Studio, mixed by Bill Barnett
- Track 3 recorded at Space Age Bachelor Pad Studio by Bob Levy
- Track 11 recorded at Dogfish by Drew Canulette