Take a look at a quick list of 'Best Albums' from 1987 and you quickly get a sense of the musical mood of the year: the Joshua Tree by U2; Appetite For Destruction by Guns N' Roses; Sign 'O' The Times by Prince; You're Living All Over Me by Dinosaur Jr.; Document by R.E.M.; Sister by Sonic Youth; Darklands by The Jesus And Mary Chain; Diesel And Dust by Midnight Oil; Come On Pilgrim by Pixies; and Pleased To Meet Me by The Replacements. It's not a stretch at all to plunk the Sidewinders Cuacha! right amongst those records -- both in terms of quality and 'sound'. The Sidewinders formed in the spring of 1985. The group released Cuacha! in 1987 (and again in 1988), and subsequently signed to RCA/Mammoth Records, with whom they released two full-length albums, 1989's Witchdoctor and 1990's Auntie Ramos' Pool Hall. Witchdoctor cracked the lower echelons of the Billboard 200 on the strength of two rock radio hits. The band scored exposure on MTV and VH1 and embarked on a worldwide tour. But the Sidewinders were soon sidelined due to legal problems stemming from a challenge over the band's name. As the Sand Rubies, they released an album on Polydor/Atlas in 1993 (at one point, Pearl Jam served as their opening act). However, the strain of the legal tussle led the Sand Rubies to dissolve during a tour in 1993 -- just as two other Arizona rock bands, Gin Blossoms and The Refreshments, attracted mainstream attention. First-time reissue of this 1987 sleeper rural rock classic.
