“Zoot Suit Riot” by Cherry Poppin’ Daddies
This song is named after an actual historical event known as the Zoot Suit Riots which occurred in Los Angeles during the summer of 1943. This was concurrent with America being heavily involved in World War II. that reality did contribute to part of the rationale behind this conflict on the part of the American servicemen who were involved.
But it has been ascertained that the Riots, in essence, were race-based. The victims were primarily Mexicans (who favored zoot suits). The aggressors were more or less the Caucasian powers that be.
Now you’re not going to get all of that backstory from the lyrics of this song. There are certain discernible references contained herein, such as the “two sailors” mentioned in the first verse being presented as if they’re out to assault someone. As implied, this someone would be a wearer of a zoot suit.
There’s also an interesting line found in the second pre-chorus where it is implied that such individuals, i.e. the serviceman, may have actually started this beef with the Mexicans in the name of, most simply put, stealing their women.
But for a listener to fully appreciate this song beyond its acoustic qualities, one would need to research the actual Riots as well as perhaps other incidents that surrounded it, such as what is known as the Sleepy Lagoon murder of 1942.
Takeaway
All in all, this piece does an effective job of implying what appears to be its main point, that sometimes people can be persecuted – let’s say even in a country as liberal as America – for something as ultimately-inconsequential as their style of dress. Indeed up until now, most of us probably never knew that at least in one major city for a period of time, young men, both African-American and Hispanic actually, were attacked basically on the grounds of rockin’ zoot suits.
Cherry Poppin’ Daddies
The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies are a band from Oregon. They are classified as specializing in the genres of ska and swing. It doesn’t appear that they have been awfully successful throughout the years. However, they have obviously garnered a dedicated fandom. For instance, they’ve put out eight studio albums between 1990 and 2016. During this time, they also released a couple of compilations and EPs.
Despite this, the only hit song in their discography is “Zoot Suit Riot”.
Facts about “Zoot Suit Riot”
The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies released “Zoot Suit Riot” via Mojo Records in 1997. This track can be found on “Zoot Suit Riot: The Swinging’ Hits of the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies”. This project holds the distinction of being the band’s first compilation album. It is also their all-around best outing. It even achieved RIAA double-platinum status.
As for the song itself, it appeared on the Billboard Hot 100. It however, fared more impressively on the Adult Top 40 and Modern Rock Tracks lists. In both of the latter cases, it broke their top 20.
This song was written and produced by Steve Perry. Steve has served as the frontman of Cherry Poppin’ Daddies since day one. The other member of the crew who holds the same distinction is trumpeter Dana Heitman.
The original music video to this song was directed by one Isaac Camner. Then in 1998, after “Zoot Suit Riot” began blowing up, Cherry Poppin’ Daddies filmed another video for it. The second video was directed by Gregory Dark.
The latter version of the video, which was a hit on MTV, did earn the band a VMA nomination in 1998. The nomination was in the category of Best New Artist in a Video. The award ultimately went to Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn“.
“Zoot Suit Riot” has been featured in the 1998 slasher film “Urban Legend”.
The Zoot Suit Riots of 1943
The series of conflicts which took place between June 3 and June 8, 1943, in Los Angeles, California came to be known as the Zoot Suit Riots. At the time, California was among the wartime industrial cities that encountered a number of race-related riots.
During the riots, American servicemen who had been stationed in Southern California, together with white Angelenos, attacked and stripped Latino and Mexican American youths who had been wearing zoot suits.
As the US entered the Second World War, the war production board began to regulate the manufacture of men’s suits. They ultimately forbade the manufacture of wide-cut zoot suits and full dresses to cut back on fabric usage. The continued wearing of these suits during this time was viewed by the servicemen and sailors as a deliberate flouting of the rationing regulations and a symbol of delinquency.
The coverage of the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial and the media’s negative portrayal of Mexican-American youth was also a contributing factor to the hostility.
On June 4, 1943, 200 sailors arranged a convoy of at least 20 cabs swooped into East Los Angeles and assaulted a group of young zoot suit wearers with clubs. They stripped them of their suits and burned the suits. They continued to do the same with any zoot suit wearer they came across. In the end, over 150 people had sustained injuries, while more than 500 Latino civilians were arrested.
