by | 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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by | October 5, 2012 · 8:22 pm

Manitoba in Madrid: The Videos

Manitoba El Sol Madrid

Thanks to the extremely good people who make the effort to post their videos at YouTube, we can all vicariously experience the thrill of seeing the guys from Manitoba thrilling the masses in Madrid. Gracias!

Here’s a little “Who Will Save Rock and Roll?” followed by “Faster & Louder” and “Two-Tub Man” — enjoy!

— DFFD123

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by | 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.

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by | August 25, 2012 · 8:44 am

Happy Birthday to The Dream!!

Photo courtesy of Dorothy Lee at Nuclearjackalope.com

We here at DFFD want to wish a happy birthday to the Bringer of Thunder, Dean “The Dream” Rispler!

— Salvi C.

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by | August 22, 2012 · 3:26 pm

Fantastisk Omgang af Fed Musik!

The Master Plan kicks off their summer vacation/European tour this coming Saturday, Aug. 25. They are a featured act at the annual Gutter Island Garage Rock Festival in Denmark. Here’s what we think is the promo info. Hell, it could be instructions on how to build a patio deck for all we know.

Gutter Island Garagerock Festival er en vigtig og uundværlig del af dansk festival tradition.

Det er den eneste festival, der udelukkende fokuserer på garagerocken og beslægtede genrer.
Festivalen har eksisteret siden 2000 og afholdes hvert andet år, næste gang i august 2012.

Læs videre, hvis du vil vide hvad nogle af dens trofaste fans har at sige om den.
Gutter Island er en drømme festival. Slet og ret. Skabt af lyst til rock, fællesskab og oplevelser i øjenhøjde.

Her kan publikum møde vandbærere, stjerner og legender – og musikere kan møde fans, festivalgæster og andre feriebørn fra storbyernes rockhuler.

På Gutter Island er der stort set lige så mange “ydende” som “nydende” deltagere. En festival der med afsæt i en sjælden ren blanding af entusiasme, knofedt og viljestyrke.

Et fremragende arbejde båret af stærke, dynamiske musikmiljøer – nu ikke bare i Danmark, men også i resten af Skandinavien
Givet er det at arrangementet er den største fuldtræffer, der endnu har ramt øens fort”.

Yderligere bands vil blive annonceret lidt senere og vil gøre årets program til en sand lækkerbidsken af rå, hæsblæsende og helt fantastisk omgang af fed musik!

— Salvi C.

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by | August 17, 2012 · 6:13 am

“Are You Talkin’ to ME?”

Today is Robert De Niro’s birthday, and what better way to pay a little respect to the man than by watching 3 minutes of his best work set to the sounds of 3 minutes of our guys’ best work?

— Salvi C.

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by | August 8, 2012 · 4:45 pm

400 Saturdays

We all get misty when we tell the “back in the day” stories about music. Maybe it’s a generational thing, or maybe it’s a natural reflection on how music is packaged and purchased now as opposed to 25 years ago, but it does seem like the whole buying experience was a lot more FUN back when it was a tactile event, as opposed to today’s purchases always being one click away. “400 Saturdays” is a new book, wonderfully compiled by Kim Johnson-Bair, that chronicles the lifelong quests and obsessions of 58 music fanatics.  

While those interviewed come from various backgrounds, there are many common threads that repeat when reading their stories. Music was an active part of their growing up years, so the passion was as much inbred as it was genetically passed on. More importantly, almost everyone interviewed makes mention of how the search was almost as import as the find, how buying and interacting with other musicaholics was just as cool as the actual listening to the records was.

The Dictators get many mentions as influences, which shouldn’t be a huge surprise, considering that two of this site’s regular contributors are amongst the interviewees. The whole thing is a fun read, and has assumed a position of honor in my reading room. It’s available at 400saturdays.com.

— Salvi C.

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by | July 27, 2012 · 2:26 pm

No Monitors? No Soundcheck? No Problem!

Photo courtesy of Natalie Bradt

“Monitors are for pu**ies!” declared the too-sexy-for-his-white-jeans HDM, as Manitoba blazed their way through a 40-minute greatest hits set at Wavestomp this past Sunday. This was the debut of Wavestomp, and judging from the size of the crowd and the level of good vibes, it’s destined to become an annual event.

The gig took place in the “ballroom” of Rocks Off concert cruise’s largest ship, The Princess, as it did laps around the Statue of Liberty. While the ship initially seemed like an odd venue, the unique layout — with the stairs serving as tiered seating and the upper deck doubling as a wrap-around balcony — actually made for a nice and compact auditorium feel.



This show was as close to a Dictators convention as we’ve had thus far, and the competition was intense for the coveted “who traveled the farthest” award. “Boston? Feh, plus your team sux. North Carolina? Now we’re talking! Wisconsin? Who has Google Maps, which one’s father away? Wait, Minneapolis?? I think we have a winner!”



I’m running out of adjectives with which to describe just how great this band sounds, and how much F-U-N fun these gigs are.

Set list from 7/22/12:
• 1. The Party Starts Now
• 2. Next Big Thing
• 3. Avenue A
• 4. Haircut and Attitude
• 5. Slow Death
• 6. Who Will Save Rock + Roll
• 7. New York, New York
• 8. Stay With Me

“Baby, Let’s Twist” and “American Beat” were cut at the line of scrimmage due to time constraints.

— Salvi C.

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