"There's a time in life for Hoagy Carmichael. There's a time in life for Claude Debussy. There's a time in life for Jerry Lee Lewis. There's a time in life for Destiny's Child. All these things have their moment." ~Elvis Costello
Two things distinguished Pittsburgh legend Donnie Iris, who passed away today at 83 after battling bladder cancer.
The first was great rock pop songs, often co-written with keyboardist Mark Avsec, and distinguished by the interplay of contrapuntal vocal parts that evoked Eric Carmen’s hormone-fueled hits with the Raspberries.
And the second was the greatest scream in rock and roll.
Both hallmarks are on full display in this 1981 performance of “That’s the Way Love Ought to Be”.
Thanks to songs like “Love is Like a Rock”. “My Girl”, and of course “Ah! Leah!”, Iris, whose hit making career dated back to 1970’s “The Rapper” with the Jaggerz, was a Pittsburgh treasure.
Donnie Iris: “That’s the Way Love Ought to Be” (1981)
Pittsburgh legend Donnie Iris was effectively a one-hit wonder twice–although the story is a bit more complicated.
The writer and singer of the Jaggerz’ sole, idiosyncratic 1970 hit “The Rapper”, he later joined Ohio funk band Wild Cherry, though his tenure came after their one megahit, “Play That Funky Music”.
From his first solo album, 1980’s Back On the Streets, came Iris’ most enduring solo hit, “Ah! Leah!”. Interestingly, it wasn’t quite his highest-charting hit, but sometimes chart performance doesn’t tell the whole story. Despite the appreciation locals show for much of his catalog, “Ah! Leah!” is the biggest reason a national audience knows the name of Pittsburgh’s beloved “Dohnie”.
Having said that, after 1981’s King Cool, which was just loaded with pop rock bangers, things, uh, cooled.
Though he never again cracked the top 100 with an album release, Back On the Streets and King Cool are both essential, and full of the retro pop vibe and call and answer song structure which were the specialty of Iris and songwriting partner Mark Avsec.
Even as an octogenarian the bespectacled belter still boasts one of the great high-register wails in the game and still plays his hits in mostly local concert appearances. He’s deservedly a Pittsburgh institution.
Donnie Iris had four Top 40 singles in his career, including one as front man of one-hit wonders the Jaggerz (1970 chestnut “The Rapper”).
Although “Sweet Merilee” was not one of those Top 40 singles (stalling at #80) in this writer’s opinion there weren’t many tunes of its era that top it.
This song has everything. Bumpin’ bassline, great harmonies, a top notch guitar solo, and fiery vocals by one of pop’s underrated belters.
In Pittsburgh Donnie Iris is a god. And while I’m not typically taken by the hype when it comes to local acts, he’s the exception. Iris’ first two solo albums, 1980’s Back On the Streets and King Cool, its follow-up in ’81, deserve wider recognition. Both albums are crammed with earworm pop rock co-written by Iris and keyboardist Mark Avsec.
Iris unfortunately failed to hang on to a major label deal, perhaps due to his breaking into the youth-dominated New Wave era as a guy of relatively advanced age. And the Iris-Avsec writing partnership cooled off too. But for a span of two years and two albums, few produced better pop rock.
Here’s a nearly forgotten song that was quite a big local hit in Pittsburgh, though it only charted nationally at #69. It was written and sung by Mark Avsec, who was a member not only of Donnie Iris’ Cruisers but also of Wild Cherry (“Play That Funky Music”).
If this one sounds like a Donnie Iris song, there’s good reason: Avsec co-wrote all of Iris’ biggest hits, including “My Girl”, “Love Is Like a Rock” and “Ah! Leah!”. His other band, Cellarful of Noise, released two albums.
“Samantha” is in my opinion the second-best pop song about an abortion, number one being ELO’s “Livin’ Thing”. (I’d rank Ben Folds’ “Brick” third, ’cause I have to–it’s the only other one I know.)
