Wild Cherry – The Best off Music

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”. Rob Parissi (lead vocals and guitar) was raised in the steel-mill town of Mingo Junction, Ohio. He graduated from Mingo High School in 1968 and formed the band Wild Cherry in 1970 in Steubenville, Ohio. The band’s name, ‘Wild Cherry’, was taken from a box of cough drops. The band played the Ohio Valley region, the Northern West Virginia panhandle, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The original lineup included Ben Difabbio (drums and vocals) and Louie Osso (guitar and vocals) from Steubenville, Larry Brown (bass and vocals) from Weirton, West Virginia, Larry Mader (keyboard and vocals) from East Springfield, Ohio, and Ron Vallera (guitar and background vocals) from Steubenville, Ohio). Over time, the band members changed; Osso, Brown, Mader, and Vallera left the band and were replaced by Parissi’s cousin, Coogie Stoddart (guitar and vocals), and Joe Buchmelter (bass). Buchmelter was soon replaced by Bucky Lusk. See for more.