The Story of Donnie Iris and The Cruisers

Donnie Iris and the Cruisers are the best-kept secret from the golden age of FM radio. The band of brothers have been gigging continuously since 1979, when they began recording Back on the Streets, the album featuring the Top 40 hit ''Ah! Leah!" This encyclopedic, painstakingly researched oral history captures surprising untold details from the Cruisers' rise, fall, and rebirth as an iconic Steel City institution. Before and after the Cruisers' seven Billboard Hot 100 singles, the players had distinguished careers in the musical major leagues. Iris wrote the chart-topping single "The Rapper" with the Jaggerz in 1969. The Cruisers' 1980s string of major-label albums represent just one part of their long and varied careers on and off the stage. For the first time, Donnie, bandmates, friends, and fans recount 50 years of life in the show-business middle class. From the 1960s to the 21st century, the epic saga features episodes about collaborations with the Jaggerz, Gamble and Huff, Wild Cherry, Breathless, Kiss, Bon Jovi, The Pulse, Carlos Santana, Cellarful of Noise, Sonny Geraci, Wolfman Jack, LaFlavour, Fair Warning, a young Trent Reznor, B.E. Taylor, the James Gang, and more. This unprecedented look at the life and times of Donnie Iris features a beat-by-beat review of the Cruisers' songs, albums, and tours. Other colorful chapters include an inside account of WDVE's influential Dawnie Iris comedy skits and the longest retrospective of the Jaggerz, once billed as "Pittsburgh's no. 1 band for 10 years."