Donnie Iris
(born February 28, 1943) is an American rock musician known for his work with The Jaggerz and Wild Cherry during the 1970s, and for his solo albums during the 1980s. He was responsible for writing the #2 Billboard
hit "The Rapper" with the Jaggerz, and was a member of Wild Cherry after the group had a #1 hit with "Play That Funky Music." After releasing five solo albums in the 1980s with many charting singles, Iris continues to release new material and tour in the Ohio River Valley area.
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DONNIE IRIS TICKETS
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Biography
Born Dominic Ierace in
Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, 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. Donnie learned how to sing from his Mother and then from Tony Bennett and Marvin Gaye. A self-taught
guitarist, he formed Donnie & the Donnells while in college.
[1]
1970s
He first came to national prominence as the lead singer of the group
The Jaggerz, which became famous for its #2 hit "
The Rapper", written by Iris. After the Jaggerz broke up, Iris toured with
Wild Cherry, whose 1976 hit "
Play That Funky Music" had made them a hot property into the end of the decade. It was during this period that he became acquainted with his future partner
Mark Avsec, now playing keyboards for Wild Cherry. Unfortunately, Wild Cherry was unable to duplicate their previous success and disbanded by the end of the decade. Becoming good friends, Donnie and Mark decided to form a project together and the two began writing songs. Their first release saw the disco-influenced single "Bring on the Eighties" backed by the cover song "
Because of You" in 1979, however it failed to garner attention. Iris and Avsec decided to go in a harder direction for their next release and returned to the studio with guitarist
Marty Lee Hoenes, bassist
Albritton McClain and drummer
Kevin Valentine, who at the time was in the band
Breathless with Avsec, to record his first full length album. This line-up would remain the same for the next five years.
1980s
Iris' first album,
Back on the Streets
, was released in July 1980 on the small
Cleveland, Ohio-based Midwest Records.
[2] With the track "
Ah! Leah!" receiving airplay in Boston, Cleveland and Pittsburgh,
MCA Records took notice and quickly signed Iris to a five album deal and re-released the album nationally in October. The first single "Ah! Leah!" peaked at #29 on the
Billboard Hot 100 in February 1981 and became one of the most frequently played
AOR tracks of the year, and the album reached #57 on the
Billboard 200. In addition, the band launched a national tour to promote the album and its follow-up during the summer of 1981.
[3]
The follow-up album,
King Cool
, credited to Donnie Iris and the Cruisers, was released in August 1981 and garnered the band more
AOR success, with "
Love Is Like a Rock" reaching #9 on Billboard's
Top Tracks chart. In addition, he gained the nickname
King Cool
from this album in the later part of his career. However, the album itself charted less successfully, at #84. After the long tour promoting their two previous albums, the band continued songwriting and in the fall of 1982 released
The High and the Mighty
. The album contained the single "
Tough World", but only charted at #180, marking a decline in his success, but the band still was determined to release new material.
Their next album one year later,
Fortune 410
, contained the hit single "
Do You Compute?", which was used by their label
MCA and the computer company
Atari to form a
cross-marketing promotion. Because the promotional partnership was secured prior to release of the album, it was possible to use the Atari 1200 XL Home Computer in poster photography, as well as in the video clip for "Do You Compute?", which aired on
MTV. The title of the album is a reference to the trademark glasses Iris wears,
Fortune 410s.
[4] The combination of marketing and the promotion for its hit single allowed the album to chart higher than its predecessor. The next album,
No Muss...No Fuss
, continued the trend two years later in 1985, by charting at #115 with the single "
Injured in the Game of Love". Both of these albums were more critically acclaimed than
The High and the Mighty
.
In 1985, just prior to the release of
No Muss...No Fuss
, the band began to split into different directions. Drummer
Kevin Valentine and bassist
Albritton McClain left to join a new group,
The Innocent, among whose members included future
Nine Inch Nails main man
Trent Reznor. That same year, keyboardist
Mark Avsec, also a longtime friend of Iris, released a solo project under the moniker
Cellarful of Noise. Even after releasing the
eponymous debut album that same year, however, the two maintained that Donnie Iris and the Cruisers was still their main focus, and that they wanted to continue to release new albums with the band and its new line-up.
[5] The band returned to the studio in 1986 and recorded a new album titled
Cruise Control
, however, a lawsuit with the band's former label MCA resulted in the shelving of that album pending the resolution of that lawsuit. It still not been released as of 2007 although some material is thought to have been released on subsequent releases. Since the band seemed to have hit a road block, Iris partnered with Avsec on the second Cellarful of Noise album,
Magnificent Obsession
, which was released in 1988.
1990s
Donnie Iris and the Cruisers returned to the studio in 1992 to release their first album containing new material since 1985. Titled
Out of the Blue
, the album was a compilation album containing older hits and new material. It failed to have any impact on the charts, however. Still, the band toured throughout the rest of the year around
Pennsylvania and
Ohio, and attracted newer and younger fans from the area.
[6] The band released another album the following year,
Footsoldier in the Moonlight
. At this point, the band underwent yet another line-up change as bassist
Scott Williamson and drummer
Tommy Rich departed the group, and were replaced by Scott Alan and Steve McConnell respectively.
In the summer of 1994, original members Albritton McClain and Kevin Valentine temporarily reunited with Iris, Avsec and Hoenes to record the first album of all new material by the original line-up in nearly 10 years. During recording, the band performed one reunion show together at
Conneaut Lake. The album
Poletown
would see release in 1997 and was notable for its shift in style to a mature blues influenced sound.
[who?]
In 1998, the band released their first live album. A collection of tracks played at Nick's Fat City, a popular
Pittsburgh nightclub,
Live! At Nick's Fat City
was the first to feature bass guitarist Paul Goll who had been touring with the band since 1995 along with drummer Tommy Rich. 1999 saw the release of an Iris collaborative project entitled
Together Alone
. After
Alone
, which featured a softer side of Iris's vocals, the band took a break from releasing new material but continued to perform regularly through the decade.
2000s
The first true compilation album by the band was released in 2001,
The Best of Donnie Iris
. In 2004, the band celebrated its 25th anniversary with a new album,
25 Years
, and performed live at the
Chevrolet Amphitheatre in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for 4,000 people. This concert was known for featuring a four drummer lineup of current and previous drummers for the band;
Kevin Valentine, Tommy Rich, Brice Foster and
Mark Avsec's daughter Danna Avsec, who was the guest drummer.
[7] Since then, the band has used a three drummer line-up for several concerts.
The band's 2006 album,
Ellwood City
, is a tribute to Iris' hometown,
Ellwood City, Pennsylvania.
[8] June 17 2006 was recognized throughout
Lawrence County, Pennsylvania as
Donnie Iris Day
by Ellwood City Executive Council President Glenn Jones and
Mayor Roy P. Meehan.
In recent years, Iris received special commendations and awards from
United States Congresswoman Melissa Hart and
Pennsylvania state representative Frank LaGrotta.
Now a grandfather, Iris is still making music, and has unreleased material he hopes to make available. He currently works for Sail Mortgage in Wexford, PA.
[9]
Discography
Albums
- Back on the Streets
(1980) #57 US
- King Cool
(1981) #84 US
- The High and the Mighty
(1982) #180 US
- Fortune 410
(1983) #127 US
- No Muss...No Fuss
(1985) #115 US
- Out of the Blue
(1992)
- Footsoldier in the Moonlight
(1993)
- Poletown
(1997)
- Live! At Nick's Fat City
(1998)
- Together Alone
(1999)
- 25 Years
(2004)
- Ellwood City
(2006)
- Ah! Live!
(2009)
Singles
Year
| Single
| Peak positions
|
U.S.
| U.S. Mainstream Rock
|
1981
| "Ah! Leah!"
| 29
| 19
|
"I Can't Hear You"
| -
| 47
|
"Sweet Merilee"
| 80
| 31
|
1982
| "Love Is Like a Rock"
| 37
| 9
|
"My Girl"
| 25
| -
|
"Tough World"
| 57
| 26
|
"The High and the Mighty"
| -
| 39
|
1983
| "Do You Compute?"
| 64
| 20
|
1985
| "Injured in the Game of Love"
| 91
| 28
|
Donnie Iris and the Cruisers members
Main line-up
(1980-1985)
|
- Donnie Iris - lead vocals, guitar
- Mark Avsec - keyboards, background vocals
- Marty Lee Hoenes - guitars and background vocals
- Albritton McClain - bass guitar and background vocals
- Kevin Valentine - drums
|
(1985-1992)
|
- Donnie Iris - lead vocals, guitar
- Mark Avsec - keyboards, background vocals
- Marty Lee Hoenes - guitars
- Scott Williamson - bass guitar
- Tommy Rich - drums
|
(1992-1993)
|
- Donnie Iris - lead vocals, guitar
- Mark Avsec - keyboards, background vocals
- Marty Lee Hoenes - guitars
- Scott Alan - bass guitar
- Steve McConnell - drums
|
(1994-2003)
|
- Donnie Iris - lead vocals, guitar
- Mark Avsec - keyboards, background vocals
- Marty Lee Hoenes - guitars
- Paul Goll - bass guitar
- Tommy Rich - drums
|
(2003-2007)
|
- Donnie Iris - lead vocals, guitar
- Mark Avsec - keyboards, background vocals
- Marty Lee Hoenes - guitars
- Paul Goll - bass guitar
- Brice Foster - drums
- Kevin Valentine - drums
|
(2008-present)
|
- Donnie Iris - lead vocals, guitar
- Mark Avsec - keyboards, background vocals
- Marty Lee Hoenes - guitars
- Paul Goll - bass guitar
- Kevin Valentine - drums
- Mark Tirabassi - drums*
|
- Mark Tirabassi is the occasional drummer when Kevin Valentine is unavailable.
References
- The Official Home of Donnie Iris and The Cruisers
- The Unofficial Donnie Iris Site - Articles
- allmusic ((( Donnie Iris > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))
- The Unofficial Donnie Iris Site - Articles
- The Unofficial Donnie Iris Site - Articles
- The Unofficial Donnie Iris Site - Articles
- The Official Home of Donnie Iris and The Cruisers
- The Unofficial Donnie Iris Site - Articles
- The Unofficial Donnie Iris Site - Articles