| Cellarful of Noise | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 1985 [1] | |||
| Genre | Pop-rock, Synthpop | |||
| Length | 38:01 | |||
| Label | CBS Associated Records | |||
| Producer | Kevin Valentine, Mark Avsec | |||
| Cellarful of Noise chronology | ||||
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Cellarful of Noise is the debut studio album from 1980s pop-rock act Cellarful of Noise, a solo project of Mark Avsec of Donnie Iris fame. The album was released in June 1985.
In 1984, Avsec had spare time to begin working in his home studio in Twinsburg on demos which he began recording in winter 1984. The 40-50 songs he wrote had not been intended for a solo project, but were demos for Donnie Iris and the Cruisers. [2] However, after being offered a solo album deal with CBS Records, Avsec selected ten of his recordings for a solo project under the moniker Cellarful of Noise. Cruisers' former drummer Kevin Valentine helped produce the record. [3] In a 1988 interview with AOR Basement, Avsec revealed how the project came to be released by CBS: "I had some spare time and I was really just experimenting in my basement with an eight-track and some midi-equipment. My manager, Mike Belkin, shopped the tapes and CBS put it out, virtually as it was - although it was really just me messing around. Right after it came out, though, I wanted to get more serious about it and make a better sounding record." [4] [5]
In a 1985 interview with Scene magazine, Avsec said: "It's just a little hobby, I always like to be busy doing something. I've got an eight-track studio in my basement, and one day I was talking to Mike Belkin and I told him I'd like to try writing some songs. I didn't really feel like getting involved with another artist or anything like that. I've done a lot of that. I just felt I needed to be by myself. I wanted to be able to write lots of songs without having to try to write certain kinds of songs." Speaking of Kevin Valentine, he said: "Kevin's pretty talented in that area [production]. He has always been more than a drummer. He's got good ears and he knows what to play. He thinks of the record as a whole. I'm the artist working on the thing, and then he can come in there, and I really need his input and opinion. And he can co-produce the album, which is what happened. I basically did all the vocals, keys and bass. We weren't exactly dealing with state of the art equipment, but we got into the spirit." The other musician to work on the album was Alan Greene, who like Valentine, was part of the band The Innocents at the time. [3]
The album's only single, "I'd Walk the Line", was released in America by CBS and in the Netherlands by Epic. [6] The B-Side was the album track "Something Goin' On with Us". [7] It was released on both 7" and 12" vinyl, with the latter version adding a third track; "Easier Said than Done", also from the album. [8] After releasing the album, Avsec said there were no plans for any live gigs to support it, though a video for the single was put forward as a possible option. This never came to fruition. [3] Avsec and Iris maintained that Donnie Iris and the Cruisers was still their main focus, and that they wanted to continue to release new albums with the band. The band released No Muss...No Fuss in 1985 and returned to the studio again in 1986 to record a new album Cruise Control; however, a lawsuit with the band's former label MCA resulted in the shelving of the album. Later, the band's label HME went out of business and the band became an unsigned act. Avsec then began work on the second Cellarful of Noise album Magnificent Obsession, which featured Iris' involvement. Released in 1988, the album produced a moderately successful single, "Samantha (What You Gonna Do)". [9]
The album was recorded and mixed within Avsec's basement studio "The Cellar", in Twinsburg, Ohio. It was mastered by Jack Skinner at Sterling Sound in New York. [10]
The album was released on vinyl and cassette only, in America via CBS Associated Records, and on vinyl in the Netherlands via Epic Records. [11] In America the album was also manufactured and distributed by the CBS label. To date it has not been released on CD, and has remained out-of-print since its original release. [12]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I'd Walk the Line" | Mark Avsec | 3:18 |
| 2. | "Can't Squeeze Blood from Rock" | Avsec | 4:31 |
| 3. | "The Price of Love" | Avsec | 4:47 |
| 4. | "Everyday I Fall in Love with Someone" | Avsec | 2:56 |
| 5. | "You'll Never Break My Heart Again" | Avsec | 3:46 |
| 6. | "Something Goin' On with Us" | Avsec | 4:07 |
| 7. | "Heartwrecker" | Avsec | 3:54 |
| 8. | "Easier Said than Done" | Avsec | 3:59 |
| 9. | "Gonna Act Like a Man" | Avsec | 3:48 |
| 10. | "Can't Put a Leash on Love" | Avsec | 3:41 |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Billboard | favorable [13] |
| Cash Box | favorable [14] |
| The Toledo Blade | favorable [15] |
Upon release, Billboard wrote: "Mark Avsec is the driving force behind this pop/rock project, which recalls Iris' robust style in its tight arrangements, dramatic vocal style and solid writing, aimed at mainstream." [13] Richard Paton of The Toledo Blade stated: "The name suggests post-punk mayhem, but in fact this is an album of tightly crafted power pop and rock with more catchy hooks than a fisherman's hat. The hooks get you from the opening track, "I'd Walk the Line," while other songs such as the tougher "Heartwrecker," have an almost anthemic quality. On "Easier Said than Done" the rock is wrapped in lush harmony. The album suffers somewhat from a lack of variety, but the energy it exudes is contagious." [15]
Cash Box commented: "With a vocal and melodic approach reminiscent of Frankie Valli, Cellarful of Noise comes up with a promising debut. The one man band combines elements of modern sonics, upbeat rhythms and singable melodies." [14] Steve "Spaz" Schnee of AllMusic spoke of the album in a retrospective write-up of the Cellarful of Noise's biography: "This keyboard-based album featured many of Avsec's production trademarks and great vocals, though the sound was a bit muddy and thin. With a little help from Cruisers' Marty Lee and Kevin Valentine, this was more or less a one-man affair and an album filled with great melodies and plenty of heart, sweat, and tears. Unfortunately, the album didn't set the charts on fire, Iris and the Cruisers were on hold, and Avsec quietly disappeared into the musical wilderness." [9]
Donnie Iris is an American rock musician known for his work with the Jaggerz and Wild Cherry during the 1970s, and for his solo career beginning in the 1980s with his band, the Cruisers. He wrote the #2 Billboard hit, "The Rapper", with the Jaggerz in 1970 and was a member of Wild Cherry after the group had a #1 hit with "Play That Funky Music." He also achieved fame as a solo artist in the early 1980s with the #29 hit "Ah! Leah!" and the #37 hit "Love Is Like a Rock."
Wild Cherry was an American funk rock band formed in Mingo Junction, Ohio, in 1970 that was best known for its song "Play That Funky Music".
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King Cool is the second album by Donnie Iris, released in 1981.
The High and the Mighty is the third album by American rock singer Donnie Iris, released in 1982.
No Muss...No Fuss is the fifth studio album by American rock singer Donnie Iris, released in 1985.
The Jaggerz are an American rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They came to national attention with their single "The Rapper" which was released on the Kama Sutra label. "The Rapper" was No. 1 in the Record World Charts and No. 2 in the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1970. Having sold over one million copies, the recording received a gold record awarded by the R.I.A.A..
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Live! At Nick's Fat City is the first live album by American rock singer Donnie Iris, released in 1998. Nick's Fat City is a now defunct nightclub that was located in Pittsburgh in the South Side Flats neighborhood.
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Ellwood City is the tenth studio album by American rock singer Donnie Iris, released in 2006.
Cellarful of Noise was a 1980s rock band featuring Mark Avsec and Kevin Valentine, both members of Donnie Iris and the Cruisers. They released two albums. They also had one song hit the Billboard Hot 100, "Samantha ," which peaked at #69 in April 1988. They named themselves after Beatles manager Brian Epstein's biography of the same name.
"She Don't Know Me" is a single by American rock band Bon Jovi. It was the second single from their self-titled debut album Bon Jovi (1984). It was written by Mark Avsec and charted at #48 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Ah! Live! is the second live album by American rock singer Donnie Iris, released in 2009. Except for one studio recording, all of the songs were recorded at live concerts in Kittanning and Erie, Pennsylvania. The album's name comes from Donnie's first hit single, "Ah! Leah!" It is his fifteenth solo album.
You Can't Really Miss Me If I Never Go Away is the first EP by Donnie Iris, released in 2008.
Live at Blossom is the first live concert video by Donnie Iris, recorded and originally released in 1981. The concert was recorded at Blossom Music Center, when the band opened for the Michael Stanley Band.
Ah! Leluiah! is the eleventh studio album and the first Christmas album by American rock singer Donnie Iris, released on November 18, 2010. The project was first announced by keyboardist/songwriter/producer/legalist Mark Avsec in February 2010 in an interview with Cleveland Scene.
Magnificent Obsession is the second and final studio album from 1980s pop-rock act Cellarful of Noise, a solo project of Mark Avsec of Donnie Iris fame. The album was released in March 1988, with some of the tracks featuring Donnie Iris on vocals.
