The Dickies
The Dickies are an American punk rock band formed in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, in 1977. One of the longest tenured punk rock bands, they have been in continuous existence for over 40 years. They have consistently balanced catchy melodies, harmony vocals, and pop song structures, with a speedy punk guitar attack. This musical approach is paired with a humorous style and has been labelled "pop-punk" or "bubble-gum punk". The band have sometimes been referred to as "the clown princes of punk".
History
Formation and early years (1977–1979)
Eventual Dickies vocalist Leonard Graves Phillips was a self-described celibate, "introverted character" in the period following high school. He played keyboards in his bedroom and, together with friend Bob Davis, created a type of music that Phillips describes as "autism rock", similar to Devo, though not as good. Another friend of Phillips was Steve Hufsteter, a former junior high school and high school classmate. The latter figure was the guitarist and main songwriter for local power pop band the Quick and was giving guitar lessons to Stan Lee. Although Hufsteter thought highly of Phillips' keyboard playing, it was his opinion that Phillips becoming vocalist for the band Lee was starting would be good for his friend's social well-being. Phillips intentionally sabotaged his first audition but, realizing his mistake, aggressively entreated Lee for another chance. That audition was successful. Singing for the Dickies had its intended effect for Phillips, causing him to break out of his shell and improving his confidence with women.As a teenager, Stan Lee was a drug buddy of Iggy Pop, once accepting Pop's well-known "leopard" jacket that the latter wore in the Stooges as payment for heroin. Surprisingly, it was not hanging out with Pop that pushed Lee into joining the nascent punk scene but, rather, the experience of going with eventual Dickies bassist Billy Club to see the Damned on their first American tour that proved most influential. Exposure to the music of the Ramones and the Weirdos was seminal as well. Prior to deciding on a punk rock direction, Lee had begun to learn guitar at the urging of friend Kevin DuBrow, with the ambition of becoming a Ritchie Blackmore–like virtuoso. His teacher, Hufsteter, suggested that playing punk was a more practical idea and, by way of convincing, provided Lee with his initial introduction to the music of the Ramones. Lee and Club rounded out their initial punk band lineup with Phillips, multi-instrumentalist Chuck Wagon, and drummer Karlos Kaballero, who came up with the name "Dickies", and the band made their live debut at the Whisky a Go Go in December 1977. The Dickies were among the first punk rock bands to emerge from Los Angeles. They were the first California punk band to appear on network television, and the first California punk band to be signed to a major record label.
The book Going Underground: American Punk Rock 1979–1989 describes the Dickies in the context of the early L.A. punk scene. Its author contends that the Dickies were "the best musicians on the scene and made good use of their talents". Also described is an early gig at the Masque in 1977. The opening band was so incompetent that "some punks turned a fire hose on them". The Dickies came out next, looking like "normal suburban nerds". The band "erupted in a tight, jackhammer, speed-of-light assault" of "ferocious... goofball comedy punk" which inspired manic punk rock dancing. The author claims that the Dickies' subsequent record contract caused jealousy among other bands, some of whom would say the Dickies were only in it for money. This belief is contrasted with the Dickies' actual stated primary goal of being written about in Slash.
The band's A&M record deal came about after that label sacked the Sex Pistols, one of two labels to do so in what manager Malcolm McLaren would later describe as "the Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle", wherein that band would behave poorly and get booted off a label while keeping the signing money. The label wanted a replacement punk band that was more manageable, and sent a representative to see the Dickies on the set of C.P.O. Sharkey. This was followed up by a showcase at the Whisky and some assertive bluster by Stan Lee, which, along with the enthusiastic efforts of true-believing manager John Hewlett, led to the Dickies landing the record deal. The two albums the band recorded for the label, The Incredible Shrinking Dickies and Dawn of the Dickies are influential, well-regarded early punk records, and were modestly successful commercially.
The Dickies had a string of successful singles in the UK, twice making the top 40. They had a Top 10 single with their speedy punk cover of the theme song to a children's show with "Banana Splits " in 1979 and reached the top 40 again with their cover of "Nights in White Satin". Their punk rendition of "Silent Night" charted at #47 in December 1978, while their cover of "Paranoid" peaked at #45, in 1979. The band, which has claimed to have sold "a million singles" in England, credits their popularity in that country to being perceived as a "teeny pop" punk band that appealed to the younger siblings of punk rockers.
Their career off to a fast start, the Dickies would tour Europe five times between 1978 and 1980, pausing to play Top of the Pops on May 3, 1979.
Post A&M (1980–1989)
/keyboardist/saxophonist/drummer Chuck Wagon released a solo recording, more synth pop than punk rock, entitled Rock 'N' Roll Won't Go Away. Wagon, who was known for his energetic and entertaining antics at Dickies shows, has been said to have become troubled over time, and dissatisfied with punk rock and the Dickies. He left the band at one point, planning to pursue his solo career, but reunited with the Dickies for a number of concerts. He committed suicide, shooting himself at his parents' home after a Dickies show, and died in a hospital the next day, on June 28, 1981. The Los Angeles Times has called this event "the most sobering moment in Dickies history."Wagon's death, and drug issues among surviving members, slowed down the Dickies initial momentum considerably starting the 1980s, with John Hewlett being fired as manager and the A&M contract expiring during this period. However, Phillips and Lee have kept the band playing and recording, at times sporadically, at other times more actively, until the present day, achieving venerable, "pop punk godfather" status along the way.
During lulls between activity, the band would occasionally play locally around L.A. to earn a paycheck. But steadier work would come, supported by concerts on both US coasts, the UK, and elsewhere. In addition to work on several motion pictures, the band recorded albums for PVC Records, Enigma Records, Triple X Records and Fat Wreck Chords.
After having had their first two albums released within a nine-month span, there was a nearly four-year gap to the release of Stukas Over Disneyland. The influential punk zine Maximum Rocknroll published an enthusiastic review of this album. Writer Steve Spinali asserted that "The Dickies' first vinyl in almost four years ranks up there near their previous funnypunk triumphs. Most of the eight songs here veer toward amphetamine pop, with irresistible layered choruses to boot.... buoyant and entertaining as hell!"
On March 5, 1985, the Dickies were one of a number of California punk bands to play a benefit show for the Cypress College Republicans. Other bands on the bill included the Circle Jerks, the Vandals, and D.I. Lee and Keith Morris from the Circle Jerks both stated that they were doing it out of fondness for the other bands on the bill, and because it was a paying gig. Both denied having political motivations for doing the show, and in fact wished for their respective bands to not be associated with politics. As to the show's organizers, one stated that there was a motivation to show their fellow college Republicans that punk was nothing to be afraid of, and to encourage them to have fun, since after all “ Orange County, a predominantly conservative area, and a lot of punks come from conservative families... a lot of them think Orange County is good."
Live footage of the Dickies in concert was aired on MTV in 1985, as they were co-featured along with G.B.H. in a concert special entitled Punks and Poseurs: A Journey Through the Los Angeles Underground, which also featured interviews with fans, as well as figures like Pleasant Gehman and Iris Berry.
In 1986, cassette-only label ROIR released a Dickies live compilation entitled We Aren't the World. It contains performances from 7 different Dickies concerts, ranging in vintage from 1977 to 1985, and from regions ranging from NY and NJ, to California, to the U.K.
Among the bands that the Dickies shared bills with between 1985 and 1987 are Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction, Faith No More, Guns N' Roses, Ramones, X, T.S.O.L., Thelonious Monster, Dead Milkmen, and Murphy's Law.
In 1988, the Dickies wrote and performed the theme song for the cult classic horror film Killer Klowns from Outer Space, which also became the title track for a Dickies EP released that year. It was produced by Ron Hitchcock, and was the debut of drummer Cliff Martinez who had recently played with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Weirdos, and Captain Beefheart. Martinez played with the Dickies from 1988 to 1994, and on the Second Coming, Locked N' Loaded Live in London, and Idjit Savant albums.
Also in 1988, the Dickies appeared in the comedic motion picture 18 Again!, starring George Burns. In the movie, Burns' 81-year-old character switches consciousnesses/souls with his 18-year-old grandson. In one scene, the octogenarian-turned-teenager accompanies a teenaged girl to a punk club, where the Dickies perform "You Drive Me Ape ". The whole song is performed, at times in the foreground, at times in the background. Closeups of Phillips wearing an ape mask, and Tarzan-like rope swinging by the singer, are featured.
A gap of five years between their third and fourth studio albums elapsed. A writer at the Los Angeles Times was led to connect the title of their 1989 long player, Second Coming, to the band's "comeback status". The writer noted that this album had some Beatles-like melodicism and some "art-rock aspirations", while retaining the Dickies' characteristic punk "silliness". The writer also noted that the Dickies would be undertaking a national tour supporting the release.
The close of the decade saw the third Dickies-involved motion picture. In the opening minutes of the 1989 skateboard drama Gleaming the Cube, starring Christian Slater, Slater's character Brian is seen flying in a small airplane over Disneyland, along with four friends and the pilot, when the five skaters sing a line from the chorus of "Stukas over Disneyland". The song, which the characters would later listen to in a bedroom, is also featured on the soundtrack.