Donnie Iris hails from Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.  Singing had always been a part of his life, even at the age of five when his mother used to accompany him at the piano. His talents brought him to the attention of the famous Paul Whiteman, who invited the young Iris to appear on his national radio talent show.  The boy took first prize--a brand new refrigerator--and kept it in his garage filled with beer.

He was only nine years old and it seemed that he had accomplished all there was to accomplish at his young age.  Adhering to an all to familiar stereotype, he fell prey to the pressures of money, fame, and the desire to gain some meaning out of it all.  He suffered through two broken marriages and a chronic alcohol problem before he faced an even more frightening crisis: puberty.  It was the straw that broke the camel's back and the 11 year old Iris suffered a nervous breakdown.  Some of the material on his debut album, notably "Shock Treatment" and "Too Young Too Love," are directly related to these early experiences.

Two things saved the young Iris from a path of certain self-destruction: the advent of rock n' roll and his first eye examination.  Armed with a guitar and a new pair of glasses, Donnie Iris faced the world with courage and hope.  He prompty formed a group, Donnie and the Donnells, honing his chops and learning how to control an audience in the process.  But it was only until he formed The Jaggerz in the late '60s that his destiny began to unfold before the waiting world.  "The Rapper," written and sung by Donnie, became a number one single and earned him a gold record.

Iris' past experiences had taught him a lesson after all.  While the other members of the group prudently invested their money in savings certificates and mutual funds, Iris bought two gerbils and watched them multiply.  Soon Iris tripled his money and with his extra dough started a chic line of gerbil clothing.  The great Beaver Falls overflowed in 1974 and the subsequent flood destroyed his basement and drowned his animals.  The rest of the group had bought homes and color
televisions and their minds were poisoned.  Victims of the middle class, their rock n' roll days were over.

Iris needed cash and took a gig with a rhythm and blues group, Wild Cherry.  He performed with the band on their last album and toured the country before thousands of people.  Hearing their deafening applause gave Iris the strength and determination to step out into the limelight and give it one final shot before he died.

BACK ON THE STREETS, Donnie Iris' first solo album is on MCA Records.  Significantly, it was recorded in Beaver Falls, only a few short blocks away from his flood-soaked home on 3rd Avenue.  Even more significanly, the title announces Donnie's return to the business and to the streets of middle America in a no holds barred, naked account of his soul.

"Agnes" and "She's So Wild" are two hot rockers, written in honor of Iris' first wife: Agnes Iris Evans.  The playing is electrifying and urgent, the vocals layered to a silky precision.  The album is a classic example of beauty and the beast:  tough, instrumental outbursts and desperate lead vocals encased in a commercially marketable frame of slick, sweet harmonies--all sung by Iris himself. Perhaps the greatest example of this occurs on the song "Ah! Leah!"--written with love for Donnie's second wife, Leah Iris Jones, and with whom he still has a pleasant and fulfilling relationship.  On this cut Donnie's background vocals were tracked no less than 60 times and the end result goes beyond the confines of this typewriter.

To hear BACK ON THE STREETS is to love it.  It's honest rock n' roll music done with a new twist.  Thank God for the flood.  Thank God he never received the contact lenses he ordered.  Thank God he's back on the streets.

(Taken from MCA Records bio sheet - 10/80)