Author Archives: Salvi C.

by Salvi C. | November 15, 2012 · 7:06 am

Eric’s in the Mud, and He’s Got No Shoes!!

Courtesy of the Roubick Archives

Here’s a great-looking poster from a gig that never actually happened. The Dictators were on their way to this show when they were mistaken for a then-prevalent German terrorist faction called the Baader-Meinhof group. If you’re wondering how a bunch of greasy, long-haired musicians paying the dinner fare with foreign cash could be mistaken for a bunch of murderers, then here’s the short answer — Mark the Animal.

The guys were held captive for hours, on their knees in the mud, with helicopters overhead and machine guns in their faces, until they finally convinced the authorities it was a case of mistaken identity.  

The entire incident was immortalized, virtually word for word, in the band’s final 1978/1979 recording of “Too Much Fun.” TMF ranks as one of the very best “lost” Dictators tracks, and it featured a one-time line-up of Scott on all guitars, RTB on bass, Andy on keys, Rich Teeter on drums, Clarence Clemons on sax, and Tish + Snooky on backing vocals. The track was started in the summer of 1978, and finally finished up in early 1979 to serve a solo demo for HDM. The “Lonesome” Dick demos were meant to showcase HDM as a potential soul man a la the Wicked Pickett, while the rest of the band planned on soldiering on as the Rhythm Dukes, but it was never to be.

  Look for “Too Much Fun” to be included on “Every Day Is Saturday Vol. 2,” currently scheduled for a fall 2027 release.

— Salvi C.

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by Salvi C. | November 9, 2012 · 6:02 pm

Malarkey in the UK!!  

This week in 1977 found the Dictators at the mid-point of their first-ever European tour. In support of the Stranglers, who were the biggest band in England at the time, the guys were stuck in the dreaded opening slot for most of the tour.  

Opening acts here in the US of A are met with disdain and indifference. Opening acts in the UK were literally spat upon, which invariably was met with physical threats from either Scott or Mark. It’s a safe bet that the waiting rooms at local dentist offices were standing room only when our guys were done distributing the hurt.

  The tour wasn’t all phlegm and broken teeth. Seeing the CIash and Generation X enthrall their audiences led our guys to transition from their alignment with the heavy metal dinosaurs (looking at you, Heep) to the younger, sharper, stripped down sound of the new wave. The now-classic “Bloodbrothers” sound — no frills, all thrills — was conceived right here.
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Filed under Dictators Assembled, Live, The Cincotta Archives

by Salvi C. | November 2, 2012 · 9:39 am

Dueling Tributes!!

  If you’re one of the many Spanish fans of the Dictators, but were unable to make it to a Manitoba show on their recent tour, Chaqueteros will be doing a tribute set at Atiza in Madrid.

  Then hop in your personal jet, and get to Fresno, where Manifest Destiny will be doing a set at the Starline. If the band is half as good as their posters, then I want to go to there.

— Salvi C.

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Filed under Cool covers, Live

by Salvi C. | October 23, 2012 · 9:31 am

The Terror of Middletown

October 1999: The WMBR concert report for the week ended with “Oh yes, there’s a Dictators show in Middletown, Rhode Island, on Saturday.” What better excuse could there have been for a road trip! After checking the map to find out just where the hell Middletown was, we hit the road, and finally stopped for info at a 7-11 on Rte 138, which was really the only way in or out of this podunk. The very helpful girl behind the counter said, “Well, I never heard of your band, but the only place they could be playing is Sebastian’s. Take a right, go behind the Ames, and you can’t miss it.”

To me and anyone from Massachusetts, “behind the Ames” was either where the dumpsters were stored, or where the homeless set up. But we weren’t in Mass. any more, Dorothy, and behind this Ames, sure enough, stood Sebastian’s, a bowling alley/billiards/nightclub, the entertainment mecca of southern RI.

The first thing we noticed when we walked in was that there was a drunken dwarf staggering around the place. Or maybe he was the last of the Oompa Loompas. In any case, the little person, who we shall refer to as Stumpy from here on in, was falling down drunk, and staggered from table to table, at one point literally resting his head on our table while exclaiming “Yer purty!” to my date for the night.
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by Salvi C. | October 18, 2012 · 10:24 am

Coney Island High 10/18/96

(click to enlarge)

Today marks the anny of the Dictators’ first-ever appearance at Coney Island High. CIH was the short-lived punk rock clubhouse on St. Mark’s Place in NYC, and was a precursor to the Bowery Electric.

  This date was the Dictators’ only U.S. show for the year. They were fresh home from 2-plus weeks of kicking it in Spain and Sweden. There’s an excellent, full-length video of this show that hasn’t yet migrated to YouTube, and it shows our guys to have been in excellent form for this show. RTB was wearing his Marvin the Martian shirt, HDM was sporting the ponytail, and Frankie Funaro featured a brand-spanking new “Manifest Destiny” era logo on the bass drum.

  Set list:
• 1. New York, New York
• 2. Haircut and Attitude
• 3. Master Race Rock
• 4. I Want You Tonight
• 5. Faster And Louder
• 6. Baby Let’s Twist
• 7. I Am Right
• 8. Call Me Animal
• 9. The Party Starts Now
• 10. I Stand Tall
• 11. Weekend
• 12. Science Gone Too Far
• 13. You Had It Coming
• 14. Search and Destroy
• 15. Next Big Thing
• 16. Stay With Me
• 17. Sonic Reducer
• 18. Two Tub Man
• 19. Minnesota Strip
• 20. California Sun

— Salvi C.

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by Salvi C. | October 9, 2012 · 10:30 am

‘Don’t Fade Away’

The debut CD from Andy Shernoff has hit the streets! “Don’t Fade Away” is a 4-song EP, released by CD Baby. Extended plays have a curious history of being the red-headed stepson of records. Halfway between a 45 and an LP, they usually served as ways to get the public to buy the same old for a 3rd time. Andy explodes tradition here, with 4 brand-new songs, in 4 different styles. These tunes, along with another batch that’s scheduled to hit the streets next spring, were recorded in the fall of 2011 in Springfield, MO, with the country’s greatest bar band, the Skeletons, acting as back-up. The Skeletons have always served them up fast and short, firm believers in the SWAT team approach of “get in, get out, and don’t give the audience time to get bored.” This EP adheres to that concept, with the whole shebang clocking in at an economical 12:09.

Batting lead-off is “Let’s Get the Band Back Together,” which is one of the funniest things Andy has been part of since “The Dictators Go Girl Crazy.” It’s very glam and catchy, with a call and response of “Come on!” that is total ear candy. I’m thinking the over/under for feather boas in the accompanying video will be 3.
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Filed under Adny, Music Review

by Salvi C. | September 20, 2012 · 10:17 pm

A Little Bit of History

The historic Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, recently reopened for music. What better way to celebrate, Dictators style, than to share these fantastic pictures from their only ever appearance there. These shots are from February 2, 1974, the second Dictators show. God, were we ever that young?

We have about a dozen of these that we’ll share in future posts. These pictures are the property of Ross Friedman, and are not to be re-posted without his permission.

— Salvi C.