Album Cover Art

Let's continue our look at the Gigwise.com list of the top 50 dirtiest and sexiest album covers (as compiled by their staff- Gigwise comments in quotes):

31. Wild Cherry: ‘Wild Cherry’ "Perhaps one of the most sexually suggestive fruits out there, the cherry, was used to great effect on this 1976 sleeve. Subtlety is the name of the game on a sleeve showing a pair of plump red female lips about to devour the cherry. The mind does indeed boggle."

Wild Cherry was a funk/rock band which had a huge hit in 1976 with the funk song "Play That Funky Music"

Rob Parissi (lead vocals & guitar) was raised in the tough, diverse steel mill town of Mingo Junction, Ohio . Parissi graduated from Mingo High School in 1968. Rob formed his first band in 1970 in Steubenville, Ohio, one mile north of Mingo Junction along the Ohio River. The band's name "Wild Cherry" was taken from a box of cough drops while Rob was recuperating from a brief hospital stay. The band played the Ohio Valley region, the West Virginia panhandle, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

"Play That Funky Music" became a huge hit when released in 1976, peaking at number one on both the Billboard R&B and pop charts. Both the single and Wild Cherry's self-titled debut album went platinum. The band was named Best Pop Group of the Year by Billboard, and received an American Music Award for Top R&B Single of the Year, as well as a pair of Grammy nominations for Best New Vocal Group and Best R&B Performance by a Group or Duo that year, adding to their success. "I Feel Sanctified" was also released as a single form the first album.

Their 1977 album, "Electrified Funk" and 1978 album "I Love My Music" did not produce any top 20 hits, while their 1979 album "Only the Wild Survive" didn't produce a top 100 single.

U.S. billboard chart placements for singles from their 3 other albums:

Baby Don't You Know (1977; peaked at #43)
Hot To Trot (1977; peaked at #95)
Hold On (1977; peaked at #61)
I Love My Music (1978; peaked at #69).
"Hot to Trot" was a minor followup hit in some non U.S. markets.

The original lineup included:

Ben DiFabbio - Drums, Lead and background vocals - From Mingo Junction, Ohio Louie Osso - Guitar, Lead and background vocals- From Steubenville, Ohio Larry Brown - Bass, Lead and background vocals - From Weirton, West Virginia Larry Mader - Keyboards, Lead and background vocals - From East Springfield, Ohio Rob Parissi -