Monday, June 8, 2009

Bringin’ the ‘80s back

By Sarah Poulton

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Ronnie Riccadonna is the spitting image of Tommy Lee, dances like Axl Rose and has the stage presence of David Lee Roth.

So when Dizzy Whore releases its debut album, “Desperate Side of Rock n Roll” at the Boom Room Friday, anyone who ever had a soft spot for ‘80s hair metal will appreciate this show.

This will be Dizzy Whore’s first advertised show with their current line-up. The band consists of Riccadonna, vocals; Mike Underwood, guitar and backup vocals; Paul Sheehan, bass, backup vocals and harmonica; and Grand Fury’s Jake Luther, drums, backup vocals.

Riccadonna says he and Underwood began writing songs together about eight years ago, but they just now got a full lineup together: “The songs have been around, we just waited to release them,” Riccadonna says.

“Some of [the songs] are new,” Underwood says. “If they’re older songs, there’s a new take on them. There’s something different.”

The band is doing CD releases throughout the region. They say they’re starting with the Boom Room, then heading to The Cove at Geneva-on-the-Lake June 20. From there, they say they’re going on to tackle the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge July 9, The Roc Bar in Cleveland July 20 and wrap things up at Barleys Aug. 14.

“We’re trying to just get it out there so it’s available all the time,” Riccadonna says. “You can’t get the whole world there in one night.”

Riccadonna says shows for the release are still being booked.

The band also hopes to play with as many different bands as possible. Genre aside, Dizzy Whore says that they want to play with any band who likes to have a good time and is willing to work and promote a show as hard as they do.

“For some reason, we fit in with the glam metal and rock from the ‘80s,” Sheehan says.

Dizzy Whore began recording “Desperate Side” last summer at Soul Crow Studios in Mineral Ridge. Riccadonna says owner Sean Ewing, vocalist and guitarist for Grand Fury, recorded and mixed the album. You can pick it up at any Dizzy Whore show for $10, or at Sheehan’s music store, The Disc Junkie, in Sharon, Pa.

In the future, they’re looking into adding a comedic aspect to their stage show. Riccadonna’s brother, Mark Riccadonna, is a professional comedian, so they have a personal tie to the profession.

“We have a connection with comedy,” Riccadonna says. “Not that we’re a comedic band, but we do some funny shit.”

Like name the band Dizzy Whore.

“A guy who used to run a bar that I used to work at, he actually called someone that as he was kicking them out the door,” Riccadonna says. “You hear the name once and you won’t forget it. It’s right on the edge of, ‘Can you print that?’”

Dizzy Whore combines their glam influences of L.A. Guns, Cinderella and Motley Crue, with the classic and alternative rock styles of Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith and Stone Temple Pilots to form a sound reminiscent of the ‘80s with a twinge of garage punk and blues.

“We keep being pigeon-holed into being cock rock or glam rock,” Riccadonna says. “We may be as fun as that, but don’t have nearly the hairspray.”

“We’re trying to make music fun again,” Luther says. “I want to sing about good times and partying. I miss that.”

Keeping true to their roots, Dizzy Whore is dedicated to bringing back guitar solos and ballads. “Desperate Side” features a guitar solo in nearly every song while “No Emotion” and “Dust and Regrets” could be in the running for the upcoming edition of “Monster Ballads.”

“If the solo can take you away from the song and make sense, I like it,” Luther says.