Back On The Streets



Digitally remastered and expanded edition includes live bonus tracks. 12 page full-color booklet with 3,000 word essay.

Don't be fooled by his look. Funny how rock music can hand success to a musician virtually overnight whilst other times it can take an eternity to achieve the same results. In 1980, Donnie's ship came sailing home with his debut solo album Back On The Streets and in particular the hit single 'Ah! Leah!'.

It was a classic song very much the sound of an era being somewhat pop but also resolutely rough and tough rock. It was also notice-able for it's huge wall of multilayered vocals consisting, some say, of approximately seventy overdubs giving it an instantly recognizable sound. Although Iris had been around the block a few times, the Cruisers were a project conceived to merge perfectly written and performed power pop with a classic early eighties sound.

Teaming up with partner Mark Avsec, the duo were co-conspirators of a sound that struck an immediate chord with radio and live audiences helping to position Donnie as a bright young thing amongst an exciting wave of new performers such as Loverboy, The Cars, and The Knack. Donnie's vocal style and the songs are surprisingly evocative of classic doo-wop set against a tougher '80s hard rock backdrop with stinging guitars and a powerful rhythm section blasting it into a new dimension.

Do not under any circumstances miss out on 'Too Young To Love', 'Joking' and the brilliantly arranged 'You're Only Dreaming' with it's layers of multi part harmonies and a brilliantly affected vocal from Donnie. This is indeed an album that just keeps on giving with every repeated spin.

Amazon USA
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B094V4G36G/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B094V4G36G/?tag=imwan-21

---

King Cool



Digitally remastered and expanded edition includes live bonus track. 12 page full-color booklet with 2500 word essay.

Second album from Donnie Iris (And The Cruisers) picking up momentum where his debut album left off. The surprise hit single of 'Ah! Leah!' from the previous year's Back On The Streets album positioned Donnie as a name to watch and, true to form, he did not fail to deliver on his promise.

Once again, the compositions are brilliantly executed allowing him and partner in crime Mark Avsec to craft a selection of unique and melodically stunning tracks which set the Cruisers apart from the competition. Once again, the trademark sound of lush multi-layered vocals permeates all of the songs evoking comparisons to (but not copying) the glorious doo-wop and blue-eyed soul with close harmonies and arrangements that truly catapult the tracks into the stratosphere.

Of course, Donnie's lead vocals are fabulously addictive, leaving no stone unturned in crafting exquisite detail and courting accolades from every corner of the musical spectrum. All this was conceived during and after a particularly harrowing plagiarism lawsuit firmly dismissed without merit but dragging on for months in the courts. Despite the aggravation and disturbance of the court action Donnie and the band, concocted a terrific collection of songs including the brilliant title track, 'That's The Way Love Ought To Be' and 'Broken Promises'. Each track is sprinkled with oodles of overdubbed vocal harmonies further defining Donnie's trademark sound at a time when uniformity was busily dumbing down the scene.

Amazon USA
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B094Z6ZBC5/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B094Z6ZBC5/?tag=imwan-21

---

The High And The Mighty



Digitally remastered and expanded edition includes live bonus track. 12 page full-color booklet with 2,500 word essay.

Despite chalking up a bona fide hit single with 'Ah Leah!', and an exceptional debut album, Donnie Iris And The Cruisers career had not exactly exploded to superstar status. This despite a distinctly excellent follow-up album, King Cool, rammed with potential hit singles that were presented in a luscious style with hints of classic old school rock but blessed with a smooth AOR sheen.

Not shrinking from their duty, MCA gave Donnie And The Cruisers their blessing to advance to a third album, the aptly titled The High And The Mighty a record that brought Donnie and the band's music more into focus than ever. Recorded, once again, at a local studio in Pennsylvania, the album continued to mine their musical path with ease. But it wasn't without hiccups as at one point they noticed that the master tape was beginning to shred in the tape machine.

This was due to a manufacturing fault so confronted by the horror of losing their recorded work the band moved to a New York studio with the technology to fix the problem. Thankfully, all was not lost and the record was completed without further issue. The bottom line was that the music and songwriting had not suffered. Indeed, the album remains another essential brick in the Cruisers wall of excellence.

Amazon USA
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0952RYH29/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0952RYH29/?tag=imwan-21

---

Fortune 410



Digitally remastered and expanded edition includes live bonus track. 12 page full-color booklet with 2,000 word essay.

With three albums under his belt, Donnie Iris and the band were feeling pressure to deliver a knockout punch. MCA had stood by him through thick and thin - and let's face it, most of it was pretty thin - but there was a belief that he was just one song away from making a major breakthrough.

Of course, musically the band had never been more on top of their game, crafting songs that in another time and place really ought to have propelled them to bigger success. For Fortune 410, it was decided to move from their local studio in Pennsylvania to record in Cleveland, Ohio, closer to the home of main songwriter/keyboard player Mark Avsec. Fortune 410 is their most concise and enjoyable album. It was also a record that saw the band embrace computer technology but not in a wacky experimental way.

The sound became more processed but still retained an edge of perfect pure pop, with some of their most expressive vocals and songs, like 'Stagedoor Johnny', 'I'm A User', 'Do You Compute' and the insanely catchy 'Cry (If you Want To)', paving the way for a tidal wave of praise from fans. And the album title? Well, that was the style of Donnie's black horn-rimmed glasses... The same, in fact, as Buddy Holly's!

Amazon USA
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0954RPYM8/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0954RPYM8/?tag=imwan-21

Have these ever had a legit release on CD until now?

I love this man's music and he was one of the kings of Power Pop.

I am very excited about these finally becoming available.

I heard that the 3rd and 4th CD's have never been on that platform.




So, my question......... should I get these? Why? I own the 20th Century Masters best-of. Is that enough?

Thanks for this info, Pete. I'm very excited about these as I had been hoping they would be released on CD at some point. I have one on LP and mediocre digital copies of the others. Hopefully they all sound good. Like Mark, my only Donnie Iris CD is that "20th Century Masters" compilation. It's a great primer but there's more to enjoy on each of those albums. I still can't believe he was a member of Wild Cherry at one point.

The first two have been on CD, Razor & Tie, IIRC

Can’t believe they tried to hype that first album without mentioning “Agnes”. Overlooked gem.

this is awesome news. Growing up in the Pittsburgh area, he was (and is) part of the musical landscape too.

Apparently there have been supply issues with these CDs at normal retail outlets like Amazon so I opted to order them directly from Rock Candy's website. They're offering a good price on the 4-disc bundle with free shipping to the U.S., and they shipped less than 24 hours after I processed the payment. Now I suspect it will be several weeks before they arrive, but they'll be worth the wait.

In the first post, all four Amazon USA links are showing as in stock (with plenty of third party offers too).

anyone else remember when CD's were first released (new or reissue) they were $9.99 for a week or 2? then they would go up to $11.99?

what has been happening lately?

Oops, what I meant to write was that the Amazon prices for each disc increased by about $4 after I found out about them, and all other regular retail sites seem to be out of stock or only have one or two of them. The total for the bundle from Rock Candy was about $15-$20 less than what Amazon would have cost, so I had to go with them. Sorry I had to skip AmazWAN this time.

I believe these are imports, so the pricing is going to be inflated.

The one time I ordered direct from Rock Candy (3 months ago) , they got here really fast.
A week and a bit IIRC.
Can’t remember the value on the stamp but it was pretty high, they didn’t cheap out.

I agree. He's one of those (mostly) unsung heroes.

I also love his Stratocaster with a Telecaster neck. This is long before there was a Fender Custom Shop so it's an interesting mod to have made. Jimi Hendrix had one back in the late 60's and Eric Clapton had a Tele with a Strat neck - they'd swapped the necks on their guitars themselves for some reason. There was a recent re-issue of the Clapton one (he played it at the Hyde Park concert with Blind Faith in 1969).

Pittsburgh legend.

Before the pandemic, they scheduled a 70th birthday celebration show for him at a venue bigger than he usually plays around here. Sold out. So they added another. Sold out. Added a third, and I believe that sold out as well.

When we saw Billy Gardell here a few years ago, he brought Donnie out to sing with an upcoming Pittsburgh band.

That's awesome to know. Thank you.

I'm glad he's a legend in his hometown.

I got my bundle of these CDs from Rock Candy on Wednesday, a week after they were shipped from the UK. The packaging for all of them is really nice (with my only complaint being the lack of lyrics, but that's s minor quibble) and the sound quality is excellent. Very happy to have them on CD.