The DFFD Blog

by Salvi C. | December 17, 2009 · 1:02 am

Fingers and Steel, Baby! Our Picks for the Top 10 Ross the Boss Solos

CBGB, New York City, Dec. 5, 2003

We here at DFFD are used to doing impossible things every day. Yesterday, we made a dodo egg omelet for breakfast. Today, we attempt something even more ridiculous: We’re rating the top 10 Ross the Boss solos. What’s that you say? “Outrageous!! It can’t be done!! It’s like going to the Louvre, and declaring this Da Vinci is way better than that Da Vinci over there!’” Well, pooh-pooh and hubba hubba, we laugh at your concerns, bwahaha. We’re doing it anyway.

Ground rules:

1. Dictators + MWK material only. The “best solos in Manowar” post will have to wait for another writer on another day. Fans of Shakin’ Street, Heyday or the Spinatras will also have to wait for their time to shine.

2. Since no 2 RTB solos are ever the same, we’re restricting things to studio or live albums, otherwise we’ll be here all week. Maybe you have time to go through 100 bootleg versions of “Two Tub Man” to find the best one, but I sure don’t.

3. No technical jibber-jabber is allowed. It either rocks or it doesn’t rock.

Without any further ado, show us where you live, Ross:

Continue reading →

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Filed under Lists, Ross the Boss

Tagged as guitar, guitar solos, Lists, Music

by DFFD123 | December 16, 2009 · 4:40 pm

Del-Lords: Whole Lotta Somethin’ Goin’ On

As Scott promised last month, major activity is ramping up in Del-Lords World, hot on the heels of expanded reissues of their entire back catalog.

They’ve just launched a new official website, http://del-lords.com, in which they confirm work on a new recording and tease the denizens of Spain with hopes of a tour in 2010.

Our hero, meanwhile, rallies the troops on his hot-off-the-press Top Ten Blog:

“A new Del-Lords record. These are all new songs, featuring, you guessed it, two guitars, bass and drums, and a whole lot of vocalizing from one and all. We are not reinventing the Rock’n’Roll wheel, for it is round enough. Just some good solid pitching, alert defense, timely hitting and smart base running, as always. A combination that has worked since the damn thing was invented, and shows no sign of breaking down yet.”

Enjoy the rest here: Top Ten Blog.

— DFFD123

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Filed under Internets, Top Ten

Tagged as Music, Website

by DFFD123 | December 15, 2009 · 12:46 pm

‘Tators Tracker: Media Giants Edition

C’mon, let’s rock ‘n’ roll with the Dictators — four of whom hit the radio waves this week:

Wednesday (12/16), 2 p.m. ET: Thunderbolt Patterson joins host Lou Molinaro live on Indi101 FM in Hamilton, Ontario, and simulcast online at http://indifm.ca. Featuring cuts from Thunderbolt’s The LP Is Dead.

Thursday (12/17), 8-11 p.m. ET: Ross the Boss guests on the Internet-based show Metal Meltdown.

Archived from Sunday, 12/13: Andy talks wine and song on the Mr. Cutlets Show.

And, last but not least, for your daily entertainment:

Weekdays, 8 p.m-midnight ET: The Handsome Dick Manitoba Program, on Sirius Satellite Radio, Underground Garage, Channel 25.

For a look at radio host HDM at work, check out this video clip of him interviewing Iggy Pop — the only man we dare not mock for rocking mandals.

[Edited to add: Congrats on that Hall of Fame thing, Iggy!]

— DFFD123

Trivial Pursuit Gone Too Far?

From the RPM version of the Trivial Pursuit board game, circa 1985:

Next page: The answer!

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Talking to the Animal

My esteemed colleague Salvi C. brought this illuminating interview with former Dictators bassist, and current Twisted Sister, Mark “the Animal” Mendoza to my attention. From the Twisted Sister website, the article — of indeterminate age — features a wealth of nuggets from possibly the only person on the planet who refers to Andy Shernoff as “the keyboard player.”

On hearing The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! for the first time:

“I listened to it and thought it was the worst crap I ever heard! And I said that there’s no way I’m playing in this band. I’m sorry. I’m just not playing this crap.”

On how he impacted the band:

“When I joined the Dictators I kind of changed their style of music. All of a sudden these guys had to play pretty hard to keep up with me. It was like all of a sudden ‘super charging’ the band.”

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Filed under Interview, Mark the Animal

Tagged as Interview, Music

by DFFD123 | December 8, 2009 · 12:56 pm

YouTube Tuesday: “A Veritable Punk Rock Aria!”

For you this YouTube Tuesday: A masterful performance of “Master Race Rock,” recorded live at NYC’s late, lamented Coney Island High on Dec. 12, 1997. Thanks to Boulevard07 for having the foresight and gumption to upload it to YouTube and Twitter user @netmeg for proving that something with a lame name like Twitter can be used in cool ways.

Continue reading →

6 Comments

Filed under Adny, Dictators Assembled, HDM, Live, Ross the Boss, Thunderbolt, Top Ten, Video, YouTube Tuesday

Tagged as Music, Video, YouTube

by DFFD123 | December 7, 2009 · 12:51 am

The Dictators Holiday Gift Guide 2009

Because the DFFD Blog exists to serve you, the Dictators fan — and because nothing says “yuletide cheer” quite like the music of the Dictators — we want to help you fill your stockings with the latest in ‘Tators entertainment this holiday season.

If you made your way here, and actually stayed, chances are that you already have all of the Dictators studio and live albums and, most likely, a choice vinyl single or eight.

But if you haven’t yet picked up their latest — the odds ‘n’ sods album Every Day Is Saturday, released in January 2008 — go ahead now. We’ll wait. (You can thank us later.)

Amazon.com (U.S.)
Amazon.co.uk
iTunes

Now get one for your mom. (She can thank us later, too.)

The Dictators may not be making music together of late (bad), but its individual members have at least been keeping busy creatively (very, very good). Which leaves us, the fans, with — at least! — five times the material to keep track of in the quest to complete our collections (good and bad). And, let’s face it, not all this stuff is available at your local Wal-Mart, so you can probably use a little direction.

Without further ado, we offer you the Dictators Holiday Gift Guide 2009:

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Filed under Adny, Dictators Assembled, HDM, Ross the Boss, Thunderbolt, Top Ten

Tagged as Christmas, Holidays, Music, New Music, Shopping

by Salvi C. | December 6, 2009 · 2:45 pm

Ross Le Boss et Shakin’ Street: Zee Albums

In 1979 and 1980, the period between the end of the Dictators’ original reign and the birth of Manowar, Ross the Boss did yeoman duty as the guitar god for the French band Shakin’ Street. It’s time to give them a fresh listen.

The logical starting point is their self-titled 1980 album on Columbia. Singer Fabienne’s English as a Second Language vocals don’t always work, and there are points where the material doesn’t keep up with the playing. But RTB is killer throughout, and there are high points tune-wise, with “Solid as a Rock,” “No Time To Lose,” “So Fine” and especially “Susie Wong.” “Susie Wong” is easily the best thing here, a beautiful tune with a nicely structured arrangement that winds its way to RTB’s best bits on the LP, where he’s sympathetic and muscular all at once. It’s simply a great song, and one of the best non-Dics things he’s ever played on. The highs more than compensate for the lows here, and overall this is a pretty solid album. Continue reading →