The Cherry Drops – Making the Youth Relive the Beauty of Traditional Music
Traditional music has played a significant role in everyone’s life as a source of pleasure and enjoyment. Despite the huge popularity of international music, traditional music is still more important due to its adherence to the traditional aspects of a country or a generation. Music is different in every culture but they all have one thing in common and that is their way to celebrate cultural traditions.
Like any other music genre, power pop music has the power to build a positive atmosphere and connects people instantly. It is one of the most enduring subgenres within rock ‘n’ roll, with catchy hooks and recognizable guitar riffs. Even though its origin emerged in the 1960s, many young artists are influenced by its power till today.
Inspired by the old music genres, The Cherry Drops band was created in 2011 by Vern Shank and Josh Cobb. Shank is also the owner and creator of Pyramid Productions, a multimedia entertainment company providing various facets of the music and entertainment industries since 1988.
The Cherry Drops’ music is based on American power pop and garage rock music. The name of the band was encouraged by 1960’s and 1970’s bands, mainly Strawberry Alarm Clock, Raspberries, and The Lemon Pipers.
The band started its journey by playing covers of first-generation garage rock songs including, the Syndicate of Sound’s 1966 monster classic “Little Girl,” “Raspberries,” “I Wanna Be with You,” and The Sweet’s “Wig-Wam Bam.” Soon, they released their original material, with the 14-song debut album Everything’s Groovy, containing songs, “Pop, Pop (‘Til You Drop),” “Outta Sight” inspired by Stevie Wonder’s, “Uptight (Everything’s Alright),” Dean Martin’s “Let the Good Times In,” Johnny Rivers, The Plimsouls, Elvis Costello, and The Attractions’ “Pump It Up,” “Love is a Groovy Thing,” and “Melvin’s on the Make,” inspired by Marvin Gaye’s “Can I Get a Witness.”
The band has drawn inspiration from the surf, power pop, glam rock, and punk/new wave genres, with its main influence being the ‘60s and the ‘70s popular bands, such as The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Archies, The Lovin Spoonful, The Grass Roots, The Raspberries, and The Buckinghams.
Their first album Everything’s Groovy gave the world an all-time hit underground garage song “Outta’ Sight” while the second album, Life is a Bowl of Cherry Drops, amazed the world with its second underground garage hit, “Far Out.” Both songs were praised by musician Stevie Van Zandt of the Bruce Springsteen band and featured on his syndicated radio show Little Steven’s Underground Garage. The band’s “Outta Sight” broke the records as this retro-powered pop song took the youth back to the 60’s with its beach-party style and the Archie’s-styled cartoon album cover. With over 1.2 million listeners in North America alone and reaching out to 151 countries, the song “Outta Sight” became the trend-breaking song of rock music. The band’s other albums include, Life Is a Bowl of Cherry Drops (2015) and Good to the Last Drop (2018).
Mike Baron AKA Bloody Red Barron on his show Pop Geek Heaven said, “The Cherry Drops wear their power pop hearts on their sleeves and there’s a lot of technique here between the main players Vern Shank and Joshua Cobb. Ferocious guitars as heard on “Melvin’s on the Make”. Also, big credits for even naming a song “Schlemiel, Schlimazel, Hasenpfeffer Incorporated.” “Pop, Pop,” “Outta’ Sight,” and “Cutie Patootie” sound like what a bunch of good musicians might play at a neighborhood jam session, songs with changes everybody knows. Technically speaking, “I Wanna Be with You” is the best song on the album. More credit for resurrecting the Syndicate of Sound’s “Little Girl.” “Summertime Is a State of Mine” sounds exactly like it should, a warm Beach Boys pastiche.
The music of The Cherry Drops is so familiar yet so new that it is hard to find a genre to classify them. The band stands out as one of the most creative and unique creation of all times.
About the Author
Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.
