Wild Cherry Steubenville, Ohio 1970-80 Wild Cherry started as a straight rock band, playing Ohio style melodic hard rock with proto power pop influences. They cut a couple records on their own, before getting signed to Terry Knight's Brown Bag label. These records did not have much impact, and the band broke up for a while. In 1975 or thereabouts original Wild Cherry leader Rob Parissi recruited some musicians from the Pittsburgh area, and started a new Wild Cherry. This band tried to crack the rock clubs, but in the time since the original band's breakup, musical tastes, and clubs, were changing to more dance music. Parissi wrote a song from experience called "Play that Funky Music", and in doing so, the band followed their lead and became a funk/disco/dance band. Review: Hailing from Pittsburgh, Wild Cherry were more of a rock/funk outfit, though they will always be synonymous with disco, thanks to their trademark party jam "Play That Funky Music." Released in 1976, the song hit No. 1 on both the pop and R&B charts, earning them a pair of platinum plaques, Billboard awards and Grammy nominations. Unfortunately, despite that song's enormous success, the group never had another hit. Four more albums followed, but nobody seemed to notice or care. Wild Cherry split up in 1979, though they live on through their lone smash, still a crowd favorite in clubs, weddings and parties to this day. Members: Allen Wentz, Mark Avsec, Robert Parissi, Bryan Bassett, Ronald Beitle, Dominic Ierace

Wild Cherry Discography