THE
DICTATORS
BLOODBROTHERS
WOUNDED BIRD 2005
Bloodbrothers
was the first Dictators album I ever owned. I was in high school
and picked it up for a couple of bucks in a rather un-savvy but
inexpensive Texas used book and record store. I will plea guilty
right now - while I had heard of The Dictators, I didn’t really
know who they were - I was drawn in by the cover. And what a cover!
Totally Warriors – the band stands gang-like, , and
leather-jacketed in a dark fenced-in basketball court. After I heard
it I wasn’t so sure – I guess it was a bit too middle
of the road for my taste at that point.
A couple of
years passed and, like a lot of folks, I became more interested
in them from a historical perspective and decided to give ‘em
another try. In the early 1990s I saw their live reunion tour and
they put on one of the better rock shows of the time. I actually
DJ-ed at the thing and, the little punk that I was, played one of
their bootlegs to see if I could get ‘em going. Well not only
were the band cool, but Handsome Dick, Andy Shernoff, and Ross the
Boss signed the thing for me (Dick even explained that it was his
hand on his girlfriend’s blue jean clad ass on the cover)
– I guarantee you wouldn’t have seen the same behavior
from the Doobie Brothers, particularly after the way they chastised
Rerun – but that’s a whole other story. The point here
is that I came to appreciate the straight-ahead mid-tempo rock of
the Dictators and this became my favorite of their records.
So there’s
good news for you poor schlumps who couldn’t get your hands
on the vinyl because of the hording of a handful of fat greedy collectors
that don’t even play their records - Wounded Bird just released
the whole shebang on CD.
Go Girl
Crazy!, because of a couple of standards, and the fact that
it is pretty damn fun, is typically considered their best. And then
there’s Manifest Destiny… But yeah, Bloodbrothers
“Stands Tall” above the others in that it’s better
produced, rocks harder, and dangit – the songs are there (hats
off to Andy Shernoff). Even by 1978, The Dictators had more to do
with the New York Dolls, MC5 (Back in the USA), or the Flamin’
Groovies than the punk going on at the time – and that’s
a good thing. Here you even find a cover of the Groovies and a guest
appearance by “The Boss” – not Ross, but Springstein.
But speaking of Ross, the dual guitars of Ross the Boss and Top
Ten are in the Smith/Kramer tradition while the rhythm section of
Andy Shernoff and Stu Boy King lay down solid rock. This is also
Handsome Dick Manitoba’s finest hour – featuring his
best singing and strongest vocal melodies.
This time the
Bronx boys don’t fool around - having, for the most part,
abandoned fun themes in favor of more serious subjects. Before you
get your dose of urban realism though, you must have at least two
party anthems. One of their all-time hardest rockers, “Faster
and Louder” and, one of the best guitar songs of the punk
period, “Baby Let’s Twist.” Then “No Tomorrow”
and “Minnesota Strip” are hard as their street oriented
subject matter. “Stay With Me” might just be my favorite
Dictators song mostly because 1) it’s perfect and 2) Manitoba,
like Jolson, is best when he’s on one knee begging. “I
Stand Tall,” a piece of lame nationalism, is the only thing
here that really stinks – but maybe they’ll be able
to use it for the Olympics or something. “Borneo Jimmy”
is one of the best – a tribute to Richard Meltzer. “What
It Is” gets funky. And it all ends up with a blistering cover
of the Flamin’ Groovies’ “Slow Death.”
If you like
your rock hard, straightforward, melodic, and anthemic, or if you
are thinking of starting a 1970s New York blue-collar gang - this
is a great place to start. Bloodbrothers – come out
to play
©
New York Night Train , 2005
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