The Dickies

The Dickies
The Dickies performing on the 2010 Warped Tour
Background information
Origin	San Fernando Valley, California, United States
Genres	Punk rock
Years active	1977–present
Labels	A&M, Captain Oi, Triple X, Fat Wreck Chords, Restless Brand
Website	thedickies.com
Members
Leonard Graves Phillips Stan Lee Greg Hanna Dave Teague Travis Johnson Dylan Thomas

The Dickies are an American punk rock group formed in San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California, U.S. in 1977.

History

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 (A&M Records).

The Dickies' style is campy and humorous, influenced by The Ramones, for whom they sometimes opened in venues especially on the East coast, such as CBGB's in the Bowery of NYC and across the river in the "The Showplace" Dover NJ (1978), along with the Nerds, Nozon and featuring the Ramones. This Eastern blitz made them a punk band of national recogintion coming from the L.A. Scene.^{[citation needed]} The Dickies are popular in the United Kingdom, and had a Top 10 single with "Banana Splits (Tra La La Song)" in 1979. Many of their lyrics concern Southern California culture, rife with references and in-jokes; examples include songs like "Waterslide", "I'm A Cholo", "Manny, Moe, and Jack", and "(I'm Stuck in a Pagoda with) Tricia Toyota". They are also known for recording several fast-paced punk covers of classic rock songs, including the Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin", Black Sabbath's "Paranoid", The Monkees' "She", Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction", and the Isley Brothers' "Nobody but Me". They have also covered "Pretty Ballerina," a song by The Left Banke, as well as "Hair".

Drug problems slowed the Dickies down considerably in the 1980s, but they have continued playing and recording sporadically to the present day. Guitarist/keyboardist/saxophonist Chuck Wagon (born Bob Davis) committed suicide after a break-up with his girlfriend in June 1981. Jonathan Melvoin, who played drums on The Dickies album, Idjit Savant, died of a heroin overdose on July 12, 1996 in New York, aged 34, while on tour playing keyboards for the Smashing Pumpkins.^{[citation needed]} Original drummer Karlos Kabellero died on September 22, 2009 from heart related problems. One-time guitarist Enoch Hain (born Robert Lansing, Jr.) died on July 25, 2009 from complications arising from pneumonia.

In 1988, the Dickies wrote and performed the theme music for the horror film Killer Klowns from Outer Space which was the debut of drummer Cliff Martinez who had recently played with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Weirdos, and Captain Beefheart. Cliff would play with them from 1988 to 1994 on albums such as Second Coming, Locked N' Loaded Live in London, and idjit Savant.

In 1990, the Dickies wrote the theme song for Lucas Reiner's (son of actor/director Rob Reiner) comedy film Spirit of 76.

Singles

• "Paranoid" (1978) - UK #45
• "Eve of Destruction" (1978)
• "Give It Back" (1978)
• "Silent Night" (1978) - UK #47
• "Banana Splits (Tra La La Song)" (1979) - UK #7
• "Nights in White Satin" (1979) - UK #39
• "Manny, Moe And Jack" (1979)
• "Fan Mail" (1980) - UK #57
• "Gigantor" (1980) - UK #72
• "Killer Klowns" (1986)
• "Dummy Up" (1989)
• "Just Say Yes" (1990)
• "Roadkill" (1990)
• "Make It So" (1994)
• "Pretty Ballerina" (1995)
• "My Pop the Cop" (1998)
• "Free Willy" (2001)

Albums

• The Incredible Shrinking Dickies (1979)
• Dawn of the Dickies (1979)
• Stukas Over Disneyland (1983)
• We Aren't the World (1986)
• Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988)
• Great Dictations (1989) - (compilation)
• Second Coming (1989)
• Locked 'N' Loaded Live In London (1991) - (live album)
• Idjit Savant (1995)
• Dogs from the Hare that Bit Us (1998)
• Still Got Live Even If You Don't Want It (1999)
• All This and Puppet Stew (2001)
• Punk Singles Collection (2002)
• Live In London (2002) - (live album)
• Dickies Go Bananas! (2008) - (live album of a July 16, 2002 show at the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth)

Videos/DVDs

• Dickies Over Stukaland (1991) - Compilation of various Dickies' performances in Europe in 1990.
• The Best of Flipside#6 (1997) - Material originally recorded in 1985 in Los Angeles.
• Rocked 'N' Roaded (2000) - Compilation of various Dickies' performances in Japan in 2000.
• Peepshow (2002)
• World Shut Your Mouth (2003)
• An Evening with the Dickies (2004) - Dickies' show at Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms, July 16, 2002.

See also

• List of punk bands, 0–K
• List of bands from Los Angeles
• Music of California
• Timeline of punk rock
• Punk rock in California
• List of former A&M Records artists

External links

• The Dickies web site
• The Dickies at Allmusic
• The Dickies on Myspace