"Diamond Light Boogie" is a song by American band the

Cherry Poppin' Daddies The Cherry Poppin' Daddies are an American swing and ska band established in Eugene, Oregon, in 1989. Formed by singer-songwriter Steve Perry and bassist Dan Schmid, the band has experienced numerous personnel changes over the course of its 30 ...

on their 2000 album ''

Soul Caddy ''Soul Caddy'' is the fourth studio album by American band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released on October 3, 2000 by Mojo Records. Written and recorded after the multi-platinum success of their 1997 compilation ''Zoot Suit Riot (album), Zoot Sui ...

''. It was the first and only single released off ''Soul Caddy'' and the Daddies' fourth and final single to be released by

Mojo Records Mojo Records was a California-based record label founded in 1995 by producer Jay Rifkin. It became a joint venture with Universal Records in 1996 and then sold to the Zomba Group in 2001, who placed it under their subsidiary Jive Records. ...

Overview

Music and lyrics

Following the international success the Cherry Poppin' Daddies had experienced with their 1997

swing music Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. The name derived from its emphasis on the off-beat, or nominally weaker beat. Swing bands ...

compilation ''

Zoot Suit Riot The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots that took place from June 3–8, 1943 in Los Angeles, California, United States, involving American servicemen stationed in Southern California and young Latino and Mexican American city resident ...

'', the band had begun to feel dismayed over their media image as a "retro swing band" at the exclusion of the dominant

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

and punk influences which made up much of their recorded material. As such, the band's follow-up studio album ''Soul Caddy'' would find the band moving away from swing music and into newer stylistic territory, drawing primarily from the rock and pop of the late 1960s and early 1970s. "Diamond Light Boogie" was written as the album's leading single, a rock song that songwriter Steve Perry intended to help introduce a wider audience to a better perspective of the Daddies' music as well as attempt to bridge the gap between their swing-oriented fanbase and their non-swing music. The song is composed as a fusion of glam rock and jump swing, featuring the rhythmic backbeat and horn section common of swing music set against

T. Rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' liv ...

-influenced guitar riffs. Said Perry of the track: To help lend a vintage authenticity to the song's production, the Daddies enlisted supervision from legendary glam rock producer

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

, as well as featuring Mark Volman, formerly of The Turtles and the Mothers of Invention, to provide backing vocals.

Release and reception

Despite allowing the Daddies creative control over the writing and production of ''Soul Caddy'', Mojo Records harbored ambivalent feelings over the album's largely rock-oriented musical direction and did little to promote either the album or its single, at one point releasing the latter without the Daddies' name on it, allegedly due to hesitancy over releasing a rock song from a band most widely known for swing music.duBrowa, Corey
'Dropping In'
''

Oregon Quarterly The ''Oregon Quarterly'' is an American alumni magazine published by the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineate ...

''. 2008 Neither ''Soul Caddy'' nor "Diamond Light Boogie" met with any commercial success, but the single nevertheless received moderate critical attention.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, having given ''Soul Caddy'' a very positive review, described the song's glam styling and "sassy songwriting" as the epitome of the album's "musical excitement", while ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', in a negative review, extensively criticized the album for being derivative of other artists, describing "Diamond Light Boogie" as being "ripped straight from

The Soup Dragons ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

' catalog".Greenlee, Steve. ''Soul Caddy'' review, ''

'', February 15, 2001.

Formats and track listing

Personnel

* Steve Perry -

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Dan Schmid Daniel Joseph Schmid (born November 22, 1962) is an American musician, known for his work as the bassist and co-founder of the ska-swing music, swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies. Schmid was also part of the rock duo the Visible Men, and has w ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Jason Moss -

* Dana Heitman -

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

*Sean Flannery -

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...

*Ian Early -

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

*Tim Donahue -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Dustin Lanker Dustin Ross Lanker (born October 7, 1976) is an American keyboardist, known for his work as a member of the ska- swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies and the ska punk band the Mad Caddies, as well as the singer-songwriter for the rock trio The ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Additional musicians

Johnny Goetchius John "JG" Goetchius is an American keyboardist, best known for his work with Boston ska-core band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Career Born and raised in Massachusetts, Goetchius played keys for a number of Boston bands throughout the 1980s and ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

* Mark Volman - backing vocals

Production

*Produced by Steve Perry and

Jack Joseph Puig Jack Joseph Puig is an American audio engineer, A&R executive, and record producer. He has worked with Tonic, Hole, Jellyfish, The Black Crowes, John Mayer, Weezer, Fiona Apple, Roger Hodgson, Taxiride, Green Day, Counting Crows, No Doubt, Klaxo ...

*Additional production by

and Anders Hanssen *Mixed by Jack Joseph Puig

References

{{authority control 2000 singles Cherry Poppin' Daddies songs Glam rock songs 2000 songs Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti