While appeared as a bootleg some time ago, this Perris Records fresh edition of CHERRY St. album ”Twisted, Rude & Sticky Sweet” is the first official release of the band’s very first recordings. This is a limited 500 CD silver pressing featuring 11 tracks that the band recorded before getting signed to JRS/BMG in 1993.
After it was discovered that someone in Russia was selling a bootleg CD with a version of these recordings on eBay for $140.00, Perris Records decided to release the tracks with improved sound quality. The bootleg consisted of low quality audio taken off old cassette tapes sold by the band years earlier.
For this release on Perris, the first six tracks were taken off the master DAT tapes. Tracks 7 through 11 were recorded in smaller studios as pre-production and were never intended for sale. Anthony Focx, whose credits include Ace Frehley, Buckcherry & Night Ranger, mastered all 11 tracks on this CD.
Cherry St. was formed in California by Michigan natives Tom ‘Monroe’ Mathers & Don ‘Spinner’ Korbecki in 1989 after recruiting Chris Van Dahl on vocals and Todd “Taz” Anthony on guitar also from Michigan.
Within a year, Cherry St. released a three-song cassette distributed by Important / Relativity that sold over 8,000 units worldwide. MTV also featured Cherry St. on the “Pay To Play” segment with members of Guns N’ Roses, Bang Tango and Warrant.
Jaimie Scott on bass guitar and Marc Razzle on drums were brought in right after releasing the three-song tape to start headlining Gazzari’s, Whisky, Troubadour and the Roxy on the Hollywood Strip. Legendary Bill Gazzari presented Cherry St. the first colored star for Gazzari’s. Many bands like Bang Tango, Razzle (now Lit) also received stars.
In 1990, Cherry St. was offered to tour Texas and soon after the great response from packed shows and hundreds of fans showing up to the instore meet and greets. More tours were booked in 29 states from Boston, Florida and all the way to Hawaii and sharing the bill with such bands as Dangerous Toys, Foreigner, Warrant, April Wine, Vince Neil, Slaughter, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Sweet F.A.
Cherry St. achieved many goals such as being the only unsigned band to have Music Plus Chain stores feature 24″ x 36″ full color poster’s and flats in all the stores in southern California to promote their three-song tape. Many Tower Records also featured the full color posters and flats in stores around CA.
Also in 1990, Cherry St. recorded a home video with many fans and celebrities and featuring the first video “The Walk’ with cameos like Bon Jovi, Sam Kinison (RIP), Tracii Guns, Jani Lane (RIP), Bret Michaels, CC Deville and Lemmy (RIP).
The tracks featured on “Twisted, Rude & Sticky Sweet” were recorded between 1989-1991 featuring additional musicians that were part of Cherry St. at the time before consolidating the line-up for the first official album of the band, the 1992’s self-titled.
Cherry St. original sound here is rawer than the melodic approach developed later, this is sweaty Sunset Strip glammy hard rock with lots of attitude. A real representation of the late Eighties rock n’ roll Californian scene.
Highly Recommended
1 Hell Raiser
2 Lickety Split
3 The Walk
4 Comes Around, Goes Around
5 Soft And Slow
6 Push & Shove
7 Spinner
8 Now in Darkness
9 Nasty Reputation
10 Say You Love Me
11 Come & Get It
Cherry St. – Twisted, Rude & Sticky Sweet 2023 Perris Records Remaster, MP3+FLAC
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