The Dickies Di Piazia's Long Beach California 2nd May 2003

 Here's an almost home turf, anniversary gig from The Dickies playing on this day back in 2003.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-6aGX5rxo2L

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-wXtlWYKw0K

20 From '82 (18) The Dickies 9.30 Club Washington DC 5th February 1982

 

Here's another from '82 from Los Angeles' Dickies. Now in the process of winding up with the planned release of a final album, I am looking forward to seeing the band back in the UK for some farewell shows. Singer, Leonard Graves Phillips, is writing a book which promises to be good. It would be great to get another perspective on those early support tours.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-cd4WGhXnvy

01. Fan Mail
02. Bach Piano Solo
03. She’s A Hunchback
04. Jim Bowie
05. Shadow Man
06. (Stuck In A Pagoda With) Tricia Toyota
07. Curb Job
08. Manny, Moe And Jack
09. Gigantor
10. Paranoid

The Dickies Live oat MORC Studios 12th July 2020

Thanks to the Dickies! A great live set with a full band.... the first for me since January!

20 From '84 (10) The Dickies Fender's Ballroom Long Beach CA 31st October 1984

And another from 1984....... Oh no! It's The Dickies! Run for your lives children.

FLAC: https://we.tl/FcKWhPAReb

Artwork: https://we.tl/YGVrDf06rh

01. Nobody But Me
02. Nights In White Satin
03. You Drive Me Ape (You Big Gorilla)
04. Pretty Please Me Walk Like An Egg
05. Doggy Doo
06. Tricia Toyota
07. Fan Mail
08. She’s A Hunchback
09. Saga Of Jim Bowie
10. Curb Job
11. Manny, Moe And Jack
12. Paranoid
13. Munster’s Theme/Monster Mash
14. Banana Splits

A One Off Missive by The DDL (Dickies Defence League)

'The Most Dangerous Band in America!' screamed one banner headline in the on-going, and most unexpected, punk rock furore surrounding veteran L.A. punk band The Dickies. This weekend the band enjoyed a brief respite from the controversy with a trip to the UK. I will not regurgitate the background here (just google The Dickes and it is there). Part of the discussion revolves around a concept of safe spaces at gigs. I was curious as to just what this meant, so I looked it up. The idea of safe spaces originated the UK in the educational arena and this I understand. It was intended to be a clear statement that in educational institutions that adopted the 'safe space' policy harassment based upon an individual's sexual orientation would not be tolerated. In the US, the concept is more closely aligned to the right of women to be free of sexual harassment. All fine by me. The thing that I question here whether or not a gig is an appropriate place to create such safe spaces.

Mates Chris and Laura at the Underworld

7th July 2017.

Compare and contrast. Attendance at schools is compulsory and whilst the vast majority of school kids are diligently going about the business of gaining a good education with which they can make a meaningful contribution to society in the years to come, a minority are arseholes who diligently behave in such a way as to make the lives of some a misery (my own kids have for many years had to contend with Nazi comments - they are one quarter German!. In this context, vulnerable children certainly deserve the protection that the safe space concept can offer. This is a very different scenario to a gig, an event attended by choice. The idea of safe spaces here makes little sense to me. In fact it seems to me to be another step towards the trend to abdicate the individual from personal responsibility in terms of one's own safety. At the front of a gig there will forever be a handful of sad, opportunist individuals who think that they can get away with groping someone. This is of course completely repugnant behavior and whilst I am not a violent person I have had it out with individuals who I have seen doing this. But, but, if a gig gets ugly or threatening, the most obvious thing to do is to move away to the sanctuary of an designated safe space. I have always found that the back of the hall or the bar serves this purpose very well.

Let me put this in terms of threats that I have faced (never having been groped at a gig). Over the years I have been to quite a few gigs where politically fueled violence has erupted in the crowd. In each and every case I have not protested my right to enjoy the gig unmolested by fascists.... I have always had the good sense to get the hell out of the way. I would consider this to be a case of taking personal responsibility for my safety. If we were to be accepting of the introduction of safe spaces at punk gigs (or any gigs for that mater) at what point do we draw the line..... tube carriages segregated along gender lines (for surely some of the highest incidences of sexual assault occur on crowded trains)?

So back to The Dickies. I have heard what Leonard said to the protester, it was wrong and as the man said himself 'it wasn't my proudest moment', but faced with some serious allegations, not least predatory sexual behaviour towards minors.... I guess one can loose it in such an outburst. I would say this, I have been seeing The Dickies since 1990 when they made a their first return to the UK in over a decade. Since then I have seen them many, many times and I have never been offended by them because I understand the music, the props, the humour, everything about their hugely entertaining sets. Last year I took my kids to see them in Bristol. At the time my daughter was 14 years old. Never did I have any second thoughts about the suitability taking her to such a gig.

On this tour with echoes of the Pistols shambolic 'Anarchy Tour' forty years ago, UK gigs started to get cancelled in response to what was being said on social media..... gigs in Leicester and Norwich were axed.

As many commentators on this issue have already said, rock 'n' roll, let alone punk rock, has been obsessed with sex since Bill Haley first stepped on stage and no aspect of human sexuality has escaped its attention....... Gary Puckett and the Union Gap anyone! I trust that Leonard and Co can quickly put this behind them and continue doing what they have been doing to the delight of thousands of fans for the last forty years.

Adrian, Gunta and Stan Lee

7th July 2017.

The Dickies The Fleece Bristol 2016

Sadly, I do not have a recording of this gig. I say sadly since it was one of the most notable gigs of my year. This visit to the fair city of Bristol doubled up as the family holiday of the year, a stay-cation as the young ones like to say (but no cheaper for certain!). The timing was such that our Saturday night happened to coincide with The Dickies being in Bristol, playing at the marvelous Fleece venue in the centre of town.

Now, in The Dickies we have a band that Gunta and I have talked up to the kids for years (they are now 15 and 18 but had yet to see them). Of the very many gigs I have been to, The Dickies are the only one of maybe two bands I have ever seen (on very many occasions) that have never put in a lacklustre performance. So as far as Rudi and Ramona were concerned our reputations were somewhat on the line that night. It therefore came as a real blow to learn not 24 hours ahead of the gig that the band would be Lenoardless, as the singer had landed himself a stay in Luton Hospital. The band however, with Leonard's blessing, made the courageous decision to press ahead with the remaining dates. Courageous indeed as Mr Graves-Phillips is a front man with a presence, not to mention a veritable arsenal of props from inflatable dolls to puppet penis and balls arrangement (otherwise known as Stuart).

Guitarist Stan Lee was ambling around the venue when he arrived and immediately won valuable brownie points with the kids when, midway through a conversation about his singer's condition, his attention was drawn to his phone alerted to the presence of a nearby pokemon... I really don't get it but it went down well with the kids!

Come showtime, the band exhorted the willing audience to help them along and merch man Ian was first out of the blocks. Dressed as the main man in the 'Where's Wally?' books he did a great job. Thereafter the set ran pretty much as expected with a host of local heroes 'doing their bit for The Dickies'. Including a man who we thought had a passing resemblance to Bryan Ferry! The gig was a complete success as far as I am concerned and the kids were not disappointed either. Having seen them so many times now, it was a privilege to be present at something that was just that bit different and all the more memorable for that.

I had never before seen then play 'Breaking The Law', a truly dreadful song by Judas Priest, but plausible once given The Dickies make-over or perhaps I should say, going-over.

As I said, I have no audio of these Summer European dates, but here are a couple of recordings from New York, with Leonard back at the helm, steering the ship, in his own inimitable style. Over two nights the band treated the audiences to full renditions of their first to A&M albums, 'The Incredible Shrinking Dickies' and 'Dawn Of The Dickies'.

FLAC: https://we.tl/5wvHpSpLUo

01. Overture

02. Give It Back

03. Poodle Party

04. Paranoid

05. She

06. Shadow Man

07. Mental Ward

08. Eve Of Destruction

09. You Drive My Ape You Big Gorilla

10. Waterslide

11. Walk Like An Egg

12. Curb Job

13. Shake & Bake

14. Rondo (The Midgets Revenge)

15. (Break)

16. Hideous

17. I'm OK, You're OK

18. Welcome To The Diamond Mine

19. Golden Boys

20. Toxic Avenger

21. See My Way

22. Got It At The Store

23. Pretty Ballerina 

24. If Stuart Could Talk 

25. Gigantor 

26. (Encore Break) 

27. Nobody But Me

28. Banana Splits

FLAC: https://we.tl/aLHjM94thE

01. Overture

02. Where Did His Eye Go

03. Fan Mail

04. Manny, Moe And Jack

05. Infidel Zombie

06. I'm A Chollo

07. Nights In White Satin

08. I'm Stuck In A Pagoda With Tricia Toyota

09. I've Got A Splitting Hedachi

10. Attack Of The Mole Men

11. She Loves Me Not

12. (Break)

13. Rosemary

14. Howdy Doody In The Woodshed/Paranoid

15. Welcome To The Diamond Mine

16. Golden Boys 

17. Toxic Avenger

18. See My Way

19. Got It At The Store

20. Oh Boy!

21. Pretty Ballerina 

22. If Stuart Could Talk 

23. Gigantor 

24. (Encore) Nobody But Me

25. Eve Of Destruction

26. Banana Splits 

20 From '83(2) The Dickies Winnipeg Canada 15th December 1983

Now I know that I have a tendency to bleat on about how wonderful I think The Dickies are and that they are the only band that I have seen many times over not to have done a dud gig.... but it's all true.

Moreover, to see a man well advanced into his 50's, sporting bright orange trousers, leaping in to the crowd as he did at Camden's Underworld a few years ago in defence of Stuart, his puppet penis still warms the heart!

I remember getting this recording way back in the '80's from a lovely guy called Ali Mayhew from High Heaton in Newcastle, if memory serves, who I was in contact with for a couple of years through the pages of Strangled.

So, here's a great soundboard recording of said Dickies.

FLAC: http://rapidshare.com/files/7492454/The%20Dickies%20Winnipeg151283FLAC.zip

MP3: http://rapidshare.com/files/3103764529/The%20Dickies%20Winnipeg151283MP3.zip

01. Nights In White Satin
02. You Drive Me Ape (You Big Gorilla)
03. Pretty Please Me
04. The Sound of Silence
05. Poodle Party (Doggy Doo)
06. Solitary Confinement
07. (I'm Stuck in a Pagoda With) Tricia Toyota
08. Leonard Speaks
09. If Stuart Could Talk
10. Fan Mail
11. She's A Hunchback
12. Bach Solo
13. Curb Job
14. Manny, Moe & Jack
15. Gigantor
16. Paranoid (Power Cuts Out)
17. Paranoid
18. The Eve Of Destruction
19. Banana Splits

The Damned and The Dickies At The Roundhouse 15th December 2012

I was seriously looking forward to this gig, not least because the Dickies are one of my favourite bands and they had landed the support slot. For this I was very pleased. The Dickies are a bit like the Subs in that they play a lot and whilst the '80s did not see them play these shores, since 1990 they have been over to to the UK almost every year. On these tours that have played pubs and clubs (which whilst ideal for the punter can I assume be a bit of a drag for a touring band). A prestigious support slot then that saw them playing a series of major UK venues would have been most welcome I reckon.

The Dickies

The Roundhouse, London

15th December 2012

Opening with 'Silent Night' (and why not, it's the only time they can play it after all!), The Dickies motored through their set with gusto. All the favourites were there (along with associated props) which are an expected part of a Dickies set. At the end there was a treat in store in the form of a real rarity that is 'Rondo (The Midget's Revenge) an instrumental from the band's first album 'The Incredible Shrinking Dickies'. In summary, the Dickies could not have been a better opener, preparing the ground well for the main event.

'Eve Of Destruction'

The Dickies at The Roundhouse

The Damned took to the stage to (as I was informed) John Barry's theme to '60s cult series 'The Persuaders' (incidentally favoured by The Specials on their last tour). Throughout the show they were accompanied by a projected backdrop which seems to be becoming the norm at gigs these days.

Musically, the band were tight throughout what was an adventurous set from the opener 'Under The Wheels' to the reintroduction of some real old favourites 'Rabid', 'Grimly Fiendish', White Rabbit' and 'Lovely Money' (together with a virtual appearance of the Bonzo's Viv Stanshall).

'Lovely Money'

The Damned

Later '(There Ain't No) Sanity Claus' and 'The Turkey Song' contributed to the festive theme of the night.

As ever, Captain fired off his 'pearls of wisdom' with fellow musicians Paul Weller and 'ole money bags Johnny Rotten' in his sights on this evening. And for his part, Dave whirled about the stage trying his damnedest to achieve a toreador effect but managing Spanish waiter!

The Damned pulled it off for sure with this tour.

Gunta & Adrian

The Roundhouse, 15th December 2012

The Damned On Tour In The UK With The Dickies

 

Not since The Damned co-headlined the Brixton Academy with The Ramones have I seen such a great gig pairing. Here we have the clown princes of punk representing both sides of the atlantic.

The Dickies' Stan Lee with Messers Vanian and Sensible

The Misfits Fiend Fest 2003

I have posted about The Dickies before but I'll say this again, they are the only band that I have seen on many occasions that have never delivered a bad gig. Every other band (without exception) have played at least one howler!

Good luck to The Dickies. I hope the two bands bring out the best in each other.

'Got It At The Store'

The Dickies

The Garage, London 16th July 2011

...... Just a though.... any chance of adding Ruts DC to the bill..... no.... oh well.

The Dickies, The Underworld, Camden, London 22nd July 2009

Saturday night sees the return of the Dickies to the London stage. If you are in London on the night or have yet to have the pleasure of an evening in the company of the Dickies then I really urge you to make the effort. The Dickies are the only band without exception that have never proved to be a disappointment on the many occasions that I have seen them live. Never a half-hearted show in all those times.

Their 'Clown Princes of Punk' label detracts from their obvious musicianship and the excellent quality of their original material. It's not just 'The Banana Splits' and 'Nights in White Satin' you know!

As a taster for Saturdays gig, here's a fantastic bit of footage from their last London appearance at the Underworld on 22nd July 2009. The clip, shot by my mate Chris Braund, requires some explanation.

This was the first night of a UK/European tour. The band play in their set a song called 'If Stuart Could Talk.... What Would He Say?'. In short it concerns the scenario where the lead singer's (Leonard) penis (Stuart) could have a dialogue with him about his conduct and treatment of his dick! In the song Stuart is a penis puppet that may or may not be controlled by Leonard. Come to the point in the set where Stuart makes his appearance, some twat in the audience gets a bit biosterous and takes it upon himself to take Stuart. Grabs are made and avoided by Stuart's owner and good humoured warnings are conveyed. This to no avail. Eventually the twat succeeds, with the upshot that Stuart's testicles are left hanging by a sinue.

It is at this point (and captured marvellously in the clip, see c. 3 minutes in) that an extremely knobbed-off (quite literally) Leonard launched into the audience to 'discuss' the problem with the twat.

Now, for a band known for the theatrical and visual elements of their shows, I understand Leonard's anger. But still to see a man in his 50's in orange slacks leap into a melee in the crowd to protect his penis tells me that punk will never really die and remains one of the funniest sights I have witnessed at a gig!!

If Stuart Could Talk

The Dickies

Camden Underworld 22nd July 2009

Stuart and Leonard in Happier Times