“The Jules Whites?” Nah. “The Preston Blacks?” Nah.

On this day in 1982, the 4 prodigal sons of the Unholy Trinity of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Chuck Berry made their public debut with their first-ever show at Bottom’s Up in NYC.

They had spent months wood-shedding their sound, and after flirting with “Night Train” as a band name, settled on “The Del-Lords” in tribute to the director of The Three Stooges shorts. Who knew that 28 years later they would still be omitting the slow ones and hitting the fast ones?

Del-Lords

The set list from that first night:

1. Club Song
2. Paramour
3. Folsom Prison Blues
4. Joanne
5. Jumping in the Night
6. Bartender Blues
7. Love Among the Ruins
8. Hand to Mouth
9. Drug Deal
10. Double Life

— Salvi C.

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The Dictators Finally Make the Big League

(aka “Someone at Fox Has Surprisingly Tremendous Taste in Music”)

The Dictators’ version of “California Sun” from Every Day Is Saturday provides the soundtrack to this Fox promo for the upcoming Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Anaheim:

— DFFD123

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11 Years Ago Today … We Wish YouTube Existed

Reprint courtesy of TheDictators.com:

Manitoba’s, New York City
June 18, 1999
Review by DFFD123
Another day, another birthday, another birthday show, another brief appearance by the Dictators. This time the birthday boy was East Village musician Tom Clark, a friend of the ‘Tators who opened for them at CBGBs a couple of years ago. The Dictators started their set, well, as Manitoba’s Wild Kingdom. In Top Ten’s absence, Ross, Andy, HDM and J.P. performed “The Party Starts Now” and “Had It Coming,” followed by “Sonic Reducer.” And Clark got the ultimate present when he was invited onstage to play rhythm guitar on “Baby, Let’s Twist,” “Stay With Me” and a rollicking version of “California Sun.”

— DFFD123

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Filed under Adny, Archive, HDM, Live, Live Review, Ross the Boss, Thunderbolt

Reminder: Andy in Philly on Friday, NYC’s Bowery on Saturday

More tour info at the Andy Shernoff Appreciation Society.

Bowery Flyer

— DFFD123

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Giants Walked — Andy Talks

Andy ShernoffAndy Shernoff is currently in Canada with his “When Giants Walked the Earth: A Musical Memoir” solo tour — Thursday was Toronto. Next up: London, Ontario (Friday), and Hamilton, Ontario (Saturday). Details.

Get caught up on all the latest press on the show, which he just took south to Tennessee and will soon be bringing to several places in the Northeast:

GoMemphis.com: Rock pioneer Andy Shernoff kindles music and memories

Nashville Scene: A lesson in the history of rock ‘n’ roll according to Andy Shernoff

Über Röck: Andy Shernoff – The Dictators/Master Plan: Interview Exclusive

Everyone’s Wrong and I’m Right: Andy Shernoff Breaks His Silence

Join the Andy Shernoff Appreciation Society on Facebook.

If you see any other relevant new links out there, please let us know in the comments!

— DFFD123

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Movie Review: ‘Jabberwalk’ — Brillig, It Twasn’t

Jabberwalk movie posterI love bad movies. Stupid story, bad acting, lack of continuity, zippers showing on the monster’s costume: To me, these are all assets, as long as the movie itself is entertaining. A good bad movie is much more enjoyable than a bad good movie.

On the surface, 1976’s “Jabberwalk,” AKA “This Is America,” an ITM (International Talent Marketing) production, has all the ingredients for a classic bad movie. The film is a series of vignettes about the American Way, with footage of NYC from its grimiest era, female wrassling (featuring the Fabulous Moolah), demolition derby, geriatric prostitution rings, junk food addictions, drive-in churches and other assorted weirdness. There’s plenty of nudity and explosions, and, most importantly, it has a few seconds of priceless footage of the Dictators circa 1975. This thing should rock, right? So how come it’s such a stinker???

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YouTube Tuesday: Putting the ‘Wow’ in Bilbao

You know what sucks? When you put off doing something pretty special ’cause it’s slightly inconvenient — you don’t have quite enough vacation time at your stupid job, or you’re a little low on cash — so you say to yourself, “Next time. I’ll do it next time.” My “next times” include attending a performance of the legendary Les Paul at Iridium, which he did EVERY DAMNED MONDAY for eons while I lived within walking distance (d’oh!); and seeing James Brown in person, which I should have done several times over since he always played the club right across from my office, but no, the last time it was, like, 85 bucks, so when did I finally see him? WHEN HE WAS LYING IN A COFFIN IN HARLEM (D’OH!).

And it was always the stupid job, the stupid cash keeping me from traveling to witness the Dictators knock ’em dead in the rock’n’roll mecca of Spain (d’oh?). But thanks to tipster Esther Lecanda and the fine camera work by YouTube hero Rock & Roll First Line (see all his great uploads here), I can at least pretend to not have missed out on that last “next” time, as long as I blow up these Rocktober ’08 vids from Bilbao’s Kafe Antzokia, squint a little and turn up the speakers. Gracias, fellas!

Enjoy, the rest of you — and carpe diem.

“Avenue A” (featuring the kindest, gentlest ejection of a stage crasher anywhere, ever)

Click through for three more rockin’ vids.

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‘Tators Tracker: From Stage to (Computer) Screen

David Jo & AdnyWe’ve stumbled across lots of news bits to share, which means it’s time for another edition of ‘Tators Tracker. Here goes:

* HDM, Andy and J.P. have all taken part in a new Joey Ramone solo album. More info as we get it.

* Andy’s heading out on tour with the can’t-miss “When Giants Walked the Earth: A Musical Memoir” show. First stop: a guest appearance at tonight’s Carla Rhodes show in Brooklyn, then a very special opening slot for David Jo at New Jersey’s Brighton Bar tomorrow night (more info). During the next few weeks, he’ll hit Tennessee, Canada, Pennsylvania, NYC, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Details here.

* A new Ross the Boss audio interview has been posted at Blabbermouth.net.

* Scott Kempner gets listed among some pretty heady company by the legendary Dion DiMucci.

* Cool photos of Thunderbolt Patterson at the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash are posted here.

* Time Out offers a sweet portrait of family life at Chez Manitoba; plus, HDM merits another Page Six mention, just by showing up: NYPost.com.

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Filed under 'Tators Tracker, Adny, HDM, Interview, Live, Photos, Ross the Boss, Thunderbolt, Top Ten