Zoot Suit Riot

This song is swingin' fun, but there is a deeper and very serious meaning to it. The Zoot Suit Riots began in Los Angeles in 1943, triggered by conflict between the American servicemen stationed in Southern California and the Los Angeles Mexican-American community. Tensions had been building since the 1942 murder of a Latino man named Jose Diaz, a case referred to as the Sleepy Lagoon murder case. The riots took place when swing music was the hot sound and everyone was doing the jitterbug. Cherry Poppin' Daddies made that connection with this song. In a Songfacts interview with Cherry Poppin' Daddies lead singer Steve Perry, he explained: "I wrote it inspired by the Zoot Suit Riots. I guess it seemed like a Pachuco rallying cry that could double as a dance anthem for those of us interested in swing music and culture at a time when nobody else was. It was an expression of a proud marginalism. That's not that deep, but there you go."

"Zoot Suit Riot" helped kickstart the swing revival instigated by the 1996 film Swingers. Released in 1997, it got airplay on MTV and the Los Angeles radio station KROQ, but didn't take off until 1998 when the iconic Gap commercial featuring Brian Setzer's version of Louis Prima's "Jump, Jive an' Wail" turned the swing revival into a full-fledged craze. The album Zoot Suit Riot: The Swingin' Hits of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies went on to sell over 2 million copies.

Like many bands that came to be labeled "swing," the Cherry Poppin' Daddies were more of an alt-punk band with pop sensibilities. From Portland, Oregon, they bucked the Pacific Northwest grunge trend of the early '90s but got their big break when labels went feverishly looking for swing bands the same way they gobbled up "alternative" acts just a few years earlier. They got a record deal and great promotion for the Swingin' Hits album, but had to stick to a pretty tight format when they had broader musical interests, including ska. When Songfacts asked Perry if "Zoot Suit Riot" was a blessing or a curse, he replied: "It was a blessing. I didn't have to go to get a box of food at the church poverty outreach anymore. No more blocks of government cheese."