THE CLEVELAND POPS ORCHESTRA (2002)

"LIVE AT THE POPS" USA CD
(Pops Records / independent release)

"Celebrating 10 Years of Music: Live At The Pops" is the full title of the Cleveland Pops Orchestra's second album, released in 2002 to mark the orchestra's 10th anniversary. For fans of pops orchestras, this is an exciting compilation of music taken from live performances.

For Ian Hunter fans it is Paul Ferguson's arrangements of music from the Drew Carey Show, including "Cleveland Rocks" which is most interesting. The CD is available from the orchestra website.

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TRIVIA ALERT! In episode 23 of season 9 (aired 1 September 2004) of the Drew Carey Show, a Cleveland Pops Orchestra version of "Cleveland Rocks" is used as the theme song, while the cast members act out in the style of the Dallas theme.

FOREPLAY (1999)

"unreleased demo" USA CD

Foreplay was a three-piece rock band formed by Cam Sayre (bass, vocals), Mark Shrider (guitar, vocals) and Jim Gove (drums). Their 1999 demo included two Ian Hunter songs, "Once Bitten Twice Shy" and "Cleveland Rocks", both recorded live in the studio in their hometown of Tiffin, OH.

METAL SHOP (2002)

"HOLE PATROL" USA CD
(private release)

This Los Angeles band started out as Metal Kitty in 2000, were renamed Metal Shop first, then Metal Skool, before settling for Steel Panther in 2008. They were still Metal Shop when they recorded "Cleveland Rocks" as the theme song in episode 2 of season 8 of the Drew Carey show.

The band members are Ralph Saenz (vocals), Russ Parrish (guitar), Travis Haley (bass) and Ray Luzier (drums). "Cleveland Rocks" remained unreleased until 2005 when it was included on the re-issue of Metal Shop's debut album "Hole Patrol", originally released in 2003.

The 2005 re-issue was credited to Metal Skool and "Cleveland Rocks" replaced the last track "Metal Shop" since they had changed name in-between. In good metal tradition the song title is actually spelled "Cleveland Roxx" on the cover. The band had actually made a cameo appearance on the Drew Carey Show episode which featured their version of the song (aired 16 September 2002).

MS ROEJ (2003)

"demo recordings" mp3 download
(private release)

Swedish cover band MS Roej recorded "Ace of Spades" (Motorhead), "Living In America" (The Sounds) and "Cleveland Rocks" in the summer of 2003. The songs are available for download from their website. But they list "Cleveland Rocks" as a Presidents of the USA song!

THE PRESIDENTS OF THE U.S.A. (1998)

"PURE FROSTING" USA CD
(Columbia CK 69201)

The Presidents of the United States of America were formed in Seattle in 1993 by Chris Ballew, Dave Dederer and Jason Finn, but they had broken up when "Pure Frosting" was released in 2008. This was their third and final album and contained a fine mix of new songs, covers and demos.

One of the songs on the album was their cover of "Cleveland Rocks" which had been chosen as the theme song for season 3 of the Drew Carey Show in 1997 (and was used for the rest of the series).

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"CLEVELAND ROCKS! MUSIC FROM THE DREW CAREY SHOW" USA CD
(Rhino R2 75342)

This 1998 soundtrack album contains a nice balance of performances lifted from the show, some by Drew Carey and other cast members, including "High Hopes", "Mandy", "God Bless America", "Working in the Coal Mine", and songs that have featured heavily in the show.

The Presidents of the United States of America cover of "Cleveland Rocks" is the first track on this album and Ian Hunter's original version closes the album. The album also features songs by Bachman Turner Overdrive, Iggy Pop, Francis Lai, and Joe Walsh with Little Richard.

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TRIVIA ALERT! In episode 6 of season 6 (aired 15 November 2000), the Go-Gos make a cameo appearance on the Drew Carey Show. Drew asks them what they think of Cleveland, just as they're about to leave. They then start to sing the theme song for the show!