Back in 1980, the Sheepshead Bay gang was fully immersed in all things Rush and Sabbath, so I was taken by surprise when my friend Mike, a guitarist in one of the bands I'd been jamming around with said, "I want to cover this new Donnie Iris song, 'Ah Leah'." I had no idea what he was talking about or where he had heard it, but when I tracked it down, I knew exactly why Mike wanted to play it on guitar.
By his second record, Iris became an MTV star with "Love Is Like A Rock," a fun song, but there were better on the "King Cool" record. I loved that record and played it to death and then finally got tickets to see Donnie Iris & The Cruisers at The Ritz. I thought this then and I still think it now, it was one of the best shows I had ever seen. Iris was a showman, and he showed off his four octave vocal range a number of times during that 90 minute set. As a bonus, I caught the drummer's sticks.
Now, it's 1989, Iris released a few more records, each less impressive than the one before, and he basically fell off the radar, except in his hometown of Pittsburgh. Labor Day Weekend, three buddies and I decided to take a road trip. We bought tickets to the Stones' opening night of the "Steel Wheels tour at Veterans Stadium in Philly and tickets for Frank Sinatra at the MGM Grand in Atlantic City. But in between those two shows, we spent the day and night on South Street.
We decided to walk into a bar for some drinks. We opened the door to a room just slightly bigger than a freight elevator. It was wall to wall people, and as luck would have it, on the small stage, kicking some rock and roll butt, was Donnie Iris & The Cruisers. I went bananas! My friends thought I was insane, and maybe I was for getting that excited. They had never heard of Donnie Iris, or "Ah Leah" or "Love Is Like A Rock." Finally, I saw a bit of life in my friend Rob's eyes when I said "He also wrote 'The Rapper.'" "The Jaggerz?" I love that song!" "The Rapper" was how I convinced the guys to hang around for the music. And Iris, did indeed, play "The Rapper."
Donnie Iris also did a short stint with Wild Cherry, famous for "Play That Funky Music."
Iris was 83 and passed after dealing with bladder cancer. It's only a shock to me because I just saw a clip of Iris at a college football game in Pittsburgh just last week and he seemed to have the same energy he did back in 1981.
Give his first two records "Back On The Streets" and "King Cool" some time. There is greatness on both.
6 comments:
Even though Ah Leah got the airplay, I thought it was, at best, the third best song on Back on the Streets. I preferred Agnes and Back on the Streets. Agnes has a nice combination of New Wave and old rock that works for me.
"Agnes," "Joking," "You're Only Dreaming"--all killer.
Iris always reminded me of Cub Koda, both irrepressible.
Love today’s cover. Susan Cowsill and Vickie Peterson on a fav Richard Thompson song. The Drifters were a woefully neglected treat.
That was me.
I could be having the crappiest day but hearing Ah Leah always got me going. RIP Donnie. A life well lived.
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