Hello to ALL crazy rockers!!

ENGLISH LANGUAGE:
*PACIFICTION RECORDS:

The Dogs, who formed in 1968, are from Lansing, Michigan, which is 80 miles west of Detroit. Loren Molinare went to the same high school as Magic Johnson, Everett High School (of Magic Johnson fame) in Lansing, Michigan, where he graduated in 1970. Loren was a fan of Rock and Roll, was into politics, and the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society). Loren played all through Junior High with Art Phelps. With Loren (on guitar) and Art (on drums), in 10th grade they put out an advertisement for a bassist in Lansing, Michigan in 1968. Mary Kay applied to join the band, and they started practicing in the basement of Loren's house. Mary was one of the only female R&R bassists in the Detroit/Michigan rock scene, other than Suzi Quatro, who played bass with the Pleasure Seekers. The Detroit sound made Loren and The Dogs who and what they are. However, The Dogs were also a punk backlash to the counter-culture of the Motor City.

In the late 60’s and early 70’s, rock music become the conducive median that pulled together, bonded, inspired and empowered millions of youth to take on a system that had in their eyes become unjust. The Dogs were among those bands, who fought on the front lines of the revolution in support of MC5 and their manager John Sinclair, the SDS, the White Panthers and so on. The Dogs thought John Sinclair was the high priest of their society, “the high society” and the whole Detroit scene. The Dogs reflect this culture in their high energy songs, which offer impassioned pleas to stop corporate destruction, end the wars of greed, and to expose the ills of society. John Sinclair was concerned with the politics of Michigan, and before John Lennon had penned "John Sinclair" in 1971 as a protest against the political imprisonment of former MC5 manager John Sinclair, The Dogs had written their own classic rallying cry in 1970 titled, “John Rock and Roll Sinclair”. When John Sinclair was arrested and went to jail in late 1969, there were benefits to raise money for the legal defence fund. The Dogs wanted to be a part of that, but, John's "Rainbow Party" people would never let the band play. Further, when John was finally released from prison, The Dogs thought John was turning into the people he had been fighting (the cops, politicians, and the feds). So, the lyrics for “John Rock and Roll Sinclair” were modified in the middle 70's as a challenge to John Sinclair as The Dogs John was "bad rappin’ the MC5", and the band thought, “[they] had to free his mind back to Rock and Roll.” But deep down inside The Dogs really liked him.


The Dogs opened for the MC5 twice. Once when Back In The USA came out, and in 1972 at the Grande Ballroom, one month before the MC5's final performance. Loren recalls: "Oh I remember well the first time I heard 'Kick Out The Jams' on WILS in Lansing, MI. It changed my life. The sound of the wigglin' guitars though Marshall stacks . . . it kicked my ass, never been quite the same. Excuse my writing style, I was to busy in HIGH SCHOOL writing MC5 on my notebooks to learn anything they were teaching me. But, the MC5 gave me the balls to pick up the guitar and start a band. The Dogs opened for the MC5 twice. We were totally MC5 fanatics and fans, and played the Crystal Lake Palladium with them in 1969 after 'Back in the USA' was released. What a killer show, there were hippies there, truck drivers, rednecks all coming together, which really broke down the barriers between different classes of people. The chicks in the front row were melting; it was as powerful as a freight train. The second show was at the Grande Ballroom Nov 10, 1972. We got the gig by loaning the MC5 our gear, fuck yeah, Wayne and Fred using my Marshall stacks. It was one of their last shows before they broke up. But anyway, they still had it; they kicked ass. We shared the dressing room with them; Rob, Dennis, and Wayne were real nice and helpful talking about some of the pitfalls of the business, because nobody else told us shit, so it was cool. Anyway the MC5 for the last 30 years has given me hope, as well as the best rock and roll on the plant. Thanks Rob, Fred, Wayne, Dennis, and Michael for 'Kickin’ out the Jams Motherfuckers!'"


Art Phelps played with The Dogs from 1968 to the beginning of 1971, and then he left the band. Ron Wood joined The Dogs the same year (not the same Ron Wood of Rolling Stones). Ron brought a real punk sense to The Dogs.

Following the demise of the revolution, The Dogs left Michigan to become cofounders of the punk movements in New York and L.A. The Dogs moved to NY in the beginning of 1974. The Detroit rock scene was changing with regard to the style of music being played, and the number of places rock bands could play had been decreasing. So, the band decided to go to NY to try and get a contract with a record company. The Dogs played with Television at Max's Kansas City among others. The word "PUNK" had yet to be used to describe the bands/scene. 

The band moved back to Detroit once, and then went to Florida in 1975. Due to the popularity of disco, The Dogs got shut out of venues because they played too loud and fast. As a punk band, The Dogs got a good response. However, this situation wasn't good for the band. Ron Wood left at this point. Mary, Loren and the roadie moved to LA to try and land a recording contract. Half a year later, Ron came back to the band, and at the end of 1975, The Dogs started again.

In the beginning of the L.A. time, there were no live houses letting bands play that didn't have contracts. As a result, The Dogs became friends with The Motels and The Pop, forming the alliance known as Radio Free Hollywood, under which they organized and played their own live shows. The bands were not called "Punk" by the media, but were called "New Wave". This was one interesting point about The Dogs; they were the band that came before "Punk", and carried over the roots of Michigan R&R, like MC5, Stooges, Amboy Dukes and Bob Seger, so The Dogs could be accepted by the audiences of mainstream bands like Van Halen or AC/DC. Their sound has a midwest Detroit rockish back beat, and they could play their instruments fine, so they succeeded in filling the gap between hard rock fans and punk fans.

The Dogs went to England the late 70's, and put together a UK, Ireland tour in 1978. However, when the band returned to LA there were no places to play. The Dogs' song, “Younger Point Of View,” was released in 1978 by Rhino Records for the “Saturday Night Pogo” compilation record.

The band broke up and each tried to make new bands and get record contracts, but were unsuccessful. Punk fans had their doubts, and said The Dogs didin't sound "Punk" enough, and mainstream fans felt they sounded too "Punk". The Dogs seemed to be caught in the middle. However, The Dogs' "Fed Up" and "Slash Your Face" are recognized as seminal songs of the punk era. Furthermore, Spin magazine voted “Slash Your Face” as one of the Top 10 punk rock songs of all time.

In the mid 80's, Loren started a new band with Mary and drummer Tony Mattucci, called Attack, and got a chance to sign with a record company, which fell through. They joined many projects after that without "The Dogs" title. The last recording in the 80's as The Dogs was "Dog In The Cathouse" in 1987. At that time Loren was also a member of another band called Little Caesar, which had a contract with Geffen Records in L.A. Little Caesar released three albums on Geffen, and continued until about 1991. After Little Caesar, Loren joined Texas Terri & The Stiff Ones, which is the band of his friend and the "Queen of Punk", Texas Terri, who Loren wrote songs and performed with. Mary Kay started the band Kanary about that time. The 90's went like that . . . and during that time The Dogs started becoming more well known, which they began to notice. From about the time they stopped performing as "The Dogs", their early singles started to be sold in the underground scenes of Europe and Japan for several hundreds of dollars each due to a base of fans made up of mid 70's to late 70's Detroit type punk fans. Due to this activity, a new generation discovered The Dogs.

Loren received a communication from Lee Joseph from Dionysus Records in 1999 about releasing the compilation album (Fed Up), and the band agreed to do that. Loren comments on the "Fed Up" recordings: "The whole Mabuhay recording came about because of Lou Bramy, who was not only our manager, but, also managed Journey and the Y&T. Lou was a San Francisco kingpin manager type. He rented the Record Plant 24 track mobile unit, which sat outside for two nights of recording. The 'Mab' was the first New Wave and Punk club in San Francisco and was managed by Dirk Dirkson, a funny guy who looked like a middle aged school teacher, very smart, and a smart ass. He liked the [The Dogs], and the crowds were into spitting and throwing popcorn and beer cans at us. I remember dodging stuff. The first song was “Sleaze City,” which was about L.A., how people come here with all of their dreams, and how the city has a way of making those 'dreams fade like a pair of jeans'.” "Fed Up" was released in 2000, and was a great success, so the band decided to make a new album with new songs, and made "Suburban Nightmare", also released on Dionysus Records. Ron Wood came back to LA to play with The Dogs at the LA Shake Down, as well as some other places.

The Dogs have three drummers for the band. The official drummer of The Dogs is Ron Wood. They also have Tony Matteucci and Ken Mundy in LA. Which ever drummer can make the schedule, will play. When Ron is in jail or has a problem getting a visa, another drummer takes the field. Ron is the official drummer of The Dogs. The other drummers love Ron, so the band keeps playing as "The Dogs" when Ron can't play. For the Japan Tour of 2007, Ron couldn't get a visa, so Tony Matteucci, who played in The Dogs in 1987, went to Japan as The Dogs' drummer.

The Dogs Tribute Album "Doggy Style" was released in 2007. Loren tells the story on how that came about:

"I knew Detroit Jack through Wayne Kramer's bassist (Paul Ill) around 1996. After some phone calls, we become penpals. I didn't know he was such a big fan of The Dogs then, but after I knew it I started giving him rare Dogs recordings or something else, and we became friends. After "Fed Up" came out, he flew to LA and videotaped The Dogs live shows at the Bigfoot Lodge in 2000 and the Garage in 2001. He lives in Tokyo and knew a lot of Japanese punk bands, as well as bands from the U.S., New Zealand and Australia, so he decided to make a tribute album. I and the other members of The Dogs were gob smacked to hear such great versions of our songs . . . and while Jack was making tribute, I noticed I had the unreleased recordings of 'LA Time', which was recorded in the rehearsal studio in the mid 70's; and, with the young Dogs, 'John Rock and Roll Sinclair' and 'Motor City Fever' recorded at Michigan State University in 1971. I was so happy that Jack put those songs on the tribute album."

From the canines of the Dog Man himself (Loren Molinare), "Those were the best audiences The Dogs have ever played for!", in reference to the December 14, 15 & 16 2007 shows at Heaven's Door, Red Cloth and Jam respectively. The pandemonium that ensued refreshed the memories of those lucky punters who took part in the near riot on The Stooges Fuji Rock stage last summer. Their Detroit brethren The Dogs didn't disappoint, by offering up their own riot, Doggy Style, which left Beat Caravan bass player Shooji with a broken foot, my good friend Ryotaro with a near broken hand (ask the drunk guy if he remembers starting a fight in the mosh), and another crazed pogo popper who was left with two hands full of his $500 dollar spectacles.
Opening with Motor City Fever (of which a 1971 recording was released for the first time on the Future Now Records' tribute (BUY "Doggy Style" HERE!!) reminded the 150 plus Red Cloth audience where the band hails from. The power punk trio consisted of Loren (G/Vo), Mary Kay (B/BVo) and Tony Matteucci (the bands drummer from the Dog In The Cathouse days filling in for original bad boy drummer Ron Wood, who, as Loren announced to the crowd, 'U.S. immigration would not allow out of the country").
It was instant pump and go from the first chords of Are You A Boy, Or Are You A Girl, the Barbarians' tune that The Dogs revved-up in the early seventies on the streets of Lansing, Michigan, while playing during the March 1971 student protest that shutdown Michigan State University, and at which a lesbian leader hurled the incendiary oration referring to The Dogs as "Cock Rock" provocateurs!
Like the MC5, with whom they played at the Grande Ballroom, The Dogs' politics is as important as their music. As witness to the testimonial, when the band launched into Fed Up, a mass of snarling smirks with raised fists beat the call to arms. Little did they realize that the revolution had just begun as each fist turned into exploding firebombs at the first hint of Slash Your Face!
Going back to 1967, Loren brought to Japan a true 1960's punk classic, Beatin' The Floor, the first song written by the discontent sixteen year old, which hadn't been played in over 30 years. As if that weren't enough, they followed with a brand new tune You Can't Catch Me, which witnessed great fanfare. The surprise motivator of the shows was Tuff Enuff, a true punk classic that led the 70's punk rock procession into the history books and all three nights' audiences into slamfests!
The instant responses to the mere introductions of the song titles prove that the Japanese fans have been well weaned on The Dogs classic tunes. Spurting out the words Younger Point Of View brought massive cheers, wagging tails and garage hungry Pavlovian tongues.
With the release of Doggy Style . . . The Dogs Tribute, The Dogs are gaining the respect they always deserved as seminal Detroit rockers. As we have seen the rising interest in other Detroit legends The Stooges, MC5, Sonics Rendezvous, and so on, The Dogs are being viewed more and more as brothers in arms who survived the John 'Rock and Roll' Sinclair revolution, moved on to being founding members of 70's punk revolution, and who continue today, fighting the good fight with eternal vigilance. Detroit Jack

DOGGY STYLE: THE DOGS TRIBUTE - Various Artists (Future Now)
The tribute record thing has probably been way overdone and the first reaction to this Japanese release was to ask if we really needed a double CD set toasting a band that landed on the '70s Detroit scene riding its second wave who made a modest impact posthumously. The answer is "Yes", of course, or you wouldn't be reading this review and the line-up of enlightened acts queuing to kick 'em out on this one (Powder Monkeys, The Gimmies, Jackie and the Cedrics, The BellRays) is stellar because The Dogs are/were worth making a fuss about.

You won't find much written about these Dogs who, by the way, should not be confused with the French band of fthe same name. That they were Johnny-come-slightly-latelys to Motor City prominence was no fault of their own. The band members were in high school when the Stooges and the MC5 started strutting their alternately fucked-up and revolutionary stuff at the close of the '60s. The Motor City burned the year before The Dogs formed. They did play with the Five and graced the Grande stage with them around the time of "Back in the USA".

The Dogs recorded a scorching single tribute to you-know-who, "John Rock and Roll Sinclair" that actually pre-dated John Lennon's "Free John Sinclair" - and was a whole lot better song for mine. In raw energy terms this is proto-punk a good few years before the Pistols et al put their head above the parapet. Despite showing such support the band wasn't taken under the wing of the Trans Love Energy/White Panthers (by then wisely re-branding as the Rainbow Peoples Party). Later versions of the signature song were less lyrically charitable towards Sinclair who The Dogs adjudged to be turning into the people he'd been fighting against.

Of course lots had changed by the time Sinclair got out of stir. For one, smack had started laying the Michigan rock scene to waste. Venues were closing and the number of bands was contracting. The Dogs saw the writing and ended up relocating to Los Angeles, where they did a bit of playing with all the notable up-and-comers and then dissolved. A decade later they became popular among the Killed By Death series fans for "Slash Your Face", a raw ditty that doesn't mask its sentiment.

Their skinny studio-recorded legacy and some hot live stuff made it to CD on a Dionysus release ("Fed Up!") in 2000, but you'll find little written about them - David A. Carson's solid "Grit,Noise and Revolution" book doesn't devote a word - and they remain largely a cult item. Japan-based expat Michiganite "Detroit" Jack Waldron thought they deserved better when he heard about them in the '90s. He penned the liners for their Dionysus CD and is the man behind this tribute, as well as a December 2007 Far Eastern min-tour by the reformed Dogs.

I can't say I know all the bands involved well, most of whom come from Japan, but there aren't any stinkers among them. The late, great D4 from New Zealand get a couple of tracks and almost exceed the original version of "John Rock and Roll Sinclair". Jackie and the Cedrics' garagey "Rebel Rock" gets along well and The Gimmies sound better than I've heard them with a feedback-laden "Fed Up". Powder Monkeys reprise "Black Tea" ifrom their so-so posthumous "Outta Control Rock 'n' Roll" EP. To these biased ears they still sound like the best band to grace these discs but some of the other contenders run a viable second.

The Faceful sound tougher than badly-cooked steak and their ace female vocalist has a great time with The Barbarians' "Are You a Boy Or Are You a Girl?" which was a favoured Dogs cover of choice. Smash Your Face grapple with "Slash Your Face" and although I have no idea who they are, they come out on top. Another act that's tough enough.

The sound of Mach 55 bouncing off walls of divine feedback in the middle-eight of "Dogs in the Cathouse" instantly stamps them as something special and you'll lap up the guitar outro.

Turning to the second CD (and I'm playing in the dark here because my review copy didn't include what are said to voluminous liners) and Melt-Banana contribute "GST-483" which is a super distorto, vaguely psychedlic stomp with female vocals and non-cheesy synthesizers. The cooly-named Ed Woods sound like a heavy-duty version of the Cramps with a similarly chunky "Everything is Cool". BellRays devotees will need their version of "I'm Alive" even if they don't know the original and Texas Terri's typically raunchy "Oh Yeah" is a keeper. I'm not sure who's backing the lady on this one but they're righteously rocking. The song's a post-Dogs effort from mainman Lauren Dog.

Stupid Babies Go Mad is a wonderful band name and "I Want" sounds like hardcore Hard-Ons. Australian tourists from japan, King Bros, sit in a musical world of their own and their "Spooky Tricks" sounds like a punk rock Beefheart song.

These discs are all about guitars and you won't hear a more excessive use of them than the version of "Slither" by punks-gone-heavy Boris. The vocal is secondary as they plough through what sounds like a dirge initially but ends up as a distort fest, like Blue Cheer on sake. I had to take this one for a second spin immediately after the first listen to make sure it was as heavy as it seemed or my debilitating head cold hadn't returned. Thunderous stuff.

A trio of actual Dogs recordings fills out the second CD, with the previously unreleased "LA Times" and a fearsome if lo-fi and slightly boogified "John Rock and Roll" the picks. Pity that night's audience sounded so clueless but that's rock and roll.

Speaking of clueless, most will laugh at the Jimmy Swaggart rants that intersperse of the tuneage. Hard to believe anyone took that crap seriously, scarier to think some still do.

Japanese CDs more often than not come with a hefty price tag. This is a tribute worth the time of day and the cheapest way to track it down is online through Pacification BUY "Doggy Style" Here!! - The Barman