The Dickies

The Dickies were the clown princes of L.A. punk, not to mention surprisingly long-standing veterans of the scene. In fact, by the new millennium, they'd become the oldest surviving punk band still recording new material. In contrast to the snotty, intentionally offensive humor of many comically inclined punk bands, the Dickies were most often goofy, inspired mostly by trashy movies and other pop culture camp, especially on their 1979 debut, The Incredible Shrinking Dickies. Their covers were just as ridiculous as their originals, transforming arena rock anthems ("Nights in White Satin") and bubblegum pop chestnuts alike ("The Tra-La-La Song") into loud, speed-blur punk-pop -- suggesting the Ramones crossed with L.A. hardcore -- that was their musical stock in trade. As the band got older, their music slowed down little by little, as on 1989's Second Coming, but their sound and their sense of humor stayed largely the same, and they were an avowed influence on new-school punkers like Green Day and the Offspring. From 2000 onward, studio recordings from the Dickies were rare, but touring and live albums kept their name alive, and a pair of singles, 2021's A Gary Glitter Getaway and 2022's Blink 183, confirmed they still had new tricks to share.

Inspired by the first wave of punk coming out of New York and London, the Dickies were formed in 1977 in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles. Their initial lineup consisted of cartoon-voiced lead singer Leonard Graves Phillips, guitarist Stan Lee (both of whom would remain constant throughout the band's myriad personnel shifts), keyboardist/saxophonist/guitarist Chuck Wagon (b. Bob Davis), bassist Billy Club (b. Bill Remar), and drummer Karlos Kaballero (b. Carlos Caballero). Already local scenesters, the majority of the band had some connection with the Quick, either as friends or roadies, and started out mostly as a cover band and an amusing diversion for its members. They started playing around the burgeoning L.A. punk scene within a few weeks of forming, and quickly earned a following with their zany live show, which featured outlandish costumes, puppets, and a midget roadie.

On the strength of their demo tape, the Dickies became the first L.A. punk band to score a major-label deal in 1978, when they signed with A&M. That year they issued their debut single, which featured their warp-speed cover of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" and the originals "Hideous" and "You Drive Me Ape (You Big Gorilla)"; the latter reigned as their signature song for many years afterward. In early 1979, the group's debut album, The Incredible Shrinking Dickies, was released to significant sales in the U.K., where their cover of the "Banana Splits" cartoon theme song became a Top Five hit. By the end of the year, the Dickies were able to put together a follow-up, Dawn of the Dickies, which featured the fan favorites "Attack of the Mole Men" and "Manny, Moe and Jack," plus a jokey, rocked-up cover of the Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin."

In 1980, the Dickies released a single version of "Gigantor," the theme from a Japanese cartoon series. By the end of the year, the increasingly volatile Chuck Wagon had left the band; sadly, he shot and killed himself in June 1981. Stunned, the rest of the Dickies went on hiatus, during which much of the original lineup drifted out of the group. Late that year, Phillips and Lee returned with a new version of the Dickies, which included guitarist Steve Hufstetter (ex-Quick), bassist Lorenzo "Laurie" Buhne, and drummer Jerry Angel; Hufstetter was soon replaced by Scott Sindon. This lineup recorded half of the material on the 1983 mini-LP Stukas Over Disneyland, the other half of which dated from 1980 sessions with the late Chuck Wagon replacing Kaballero on drums and Sindon on second guitar.

A lengthy hiatus from recording ensued, as Phillips and Lee struggled to keep a steady line-up together just for touring purposes. A new group featuring second guitarist Glen Laughlin, ex-Weirdos drummer Nickey Beat, and founding bassist Billy Club was on the road by the end of 1983. Beat was replaced by Rex Roberts in early 1984, and when Laughlin broke his hand in a car accident later that year, Steve Fryette signed on; around the same time, Jerry Angel and Laurie Buhne returned as the rhythm section. By 1985, Laughlin had recovered and returned as the bassist, teaming with new drummer Cliff Martinez. In 1986, ROIR issued the live compilation We Aren't the World, which featured concert recordings from throughout the Dickies' existence, as well as their original demo tape.

In 1988, the Dickies regrouped for a return to the studio, specifically to record the title theme for the low-budget sci-fi/horror comedy Killer Klowns from Outer Space. By this time, their lineup included Phillips, Lee, second guitarist Enoch Hain, and a Buhne-Martinez rhythm section. The Killer Klowns project turned into a five-song EP -- issued by Restless -- that also included a cover of "Eep Opp Ork (Uh, Uh)," a rockabilly tune once featured in an episode of The Jetsons. The EP brought the Dickies back to underground prominence, and 1989 brought their first full-length album of new material in six years, Second Coming. In the meantime, A&M issued a retrospective of their earlier work called Great Dictations: The Definitive Dickies Collection. A second live album, Locked 'n' Loaded, followed in 1990 on Taang!

Another lengthy hiatus followed, however, during which time rumors about the band's drug problems began to circulate. The Dickies didn't resurface again until 1993, when they issued the three-song EP Road Kill. Not long after, bands like Green Day and the Offspring brought punk-pop to the top of the charts, shining a spotlight on the Dickies as an influence. Renewed interest in the band led to a new album, Idjit Savant, which appeared on Triple X in 1995. It featured contributions from the previous Dickies lineup, as well as Glen Laughlin, bassist Charlie Alexander, and Smashing Pumpkins cohort Jonathan Melvoin on drums. Phillips and Lee subsequently assembled a more permanent lineup featuring second guitarist Little Dave Teague, bassist Rick Dasher, and drummer Travis Johnson. Always known for their tongue-in-cheek covers, the band put together its first all-covers album, Dogs from the Hare That Bit Us, for Triple X in 1998. They subsequently signed with Fat Mike's Fat Wreck Chords indie punk label, debuting with the single "My Pop the Cop." The full-length All This and Puppet Stew followed in 2001. Punk Singles Collection appeared in June of 2002 on the U.K.-based Spectrum, while Live in London showed up three months later.

The Dickies continued to play regularly on the West Coast and occasionally toured further East, with Phillips and Lee anchoring the various lineups, but they seldom went into the recording studio, and the 2001 single for Fat Wreck Chords, "Free Willy," would be their last studio release for close to two decades. A variety of live albums documenting various points in their history would keep fans occupied, including Go Banana's (from a 2002 U.K. tour – the same concert appears on Banana Splits and Best Of Live), 1977: A Night That Will Live in Infamy (from an appearance at L.A.'s Whisky A-Go-Go that prompted A&M to sign the band), Live When They Were Five: City Gardens 1982 (recorded at the iconic New Jersey punk venue), and Live in Winnipeg 1982. In 2010, the group re-recorded three of their most popular covers for a single – "Banana Splits (The Tra-La-La Song)," "Paranoid," and "Nights in White Satin." Monkey from the British punk outfit the Adicts teamed with the Dickies to cut a 2019 single, "I Dig Go-Go Girls" b/w "The Dreaded Pigasaurus." The single featured the Dickies lineup of Phillips, Lee, guitarist Ben David Seelig, bassist Eddie Tartar, and drummer Adam Gomez. The same edition of the group would bring out another single in 2021, "A Gary Glitter Getaway" backed with a cover of the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand." A 2022 single featured two archival recordings from the group's vaults. "Blink 183" was a pop-punk parody recorded but not released during their tenure with Fat Wreck Chords, and a cover of Elvis Costello's "Clean Money" was an outtake from the Dogs from the Hare That Bit Us sessions. ~ Steve Huey & Mark Deming, Rovi