THE DOGS
It's been 40 years since The Dogs left Michigan playing Detroit style punk rock ala "slash you face" during a time when the country was at war, unemployment reached double digits, and the need for real rocknroll anarchy was at an all time high...
Not much has changed, except the years of excess and living a rocknroll lifestyle has only made The Dogs stronger and wiser and even more dedicated to doing what they know best.
Raging out of the legendary Motor City rock scene of the '70s, which spawned such musical touchstones as the Stooges, MC5, Amboy Dukes, The Dogs packed all the feral energy and cultural angst of that era into their live shows and an enduring set of recordings.
Now they're back, and rocking harder than just about any band -- young or otherwise -- that dares to call themselves punks.
Formed in 1969 in Lansing, Michigan, the trio of "Loren Dog" Molinare (guitar and vocals), "Mary Kay" Dryer (bass), and Ron Wood (drums), channeled the pummeling power of Detroit rock and Chuck Berry inspired riffs into tough tunes with a pissed-off social conscience. Perhaps best known for their classic breakout single, "John Rock Roll Sinclair," released in 1976 at the dawn of the punk explosion and named for the leader of the militant White Panther Party and manager of the MC5, the band followed up with the searing "Slash Your Face" in '78.
Spin Magazine has hailed "Slash Your Face" as one of the top 10 punk rock songs of all time. Many of The Dogs best known compositions, including "Fed Up," "Slave to Fashion," "Younger Point of View," and "Years Gone By," stands as cutting social observations that are as relevant today as they were decades ago. Commented Molinare in a 1999 interview, "Those kinds of songs are social observations about how corporate thinking stinks because people’s needs are second to the almighty dollar, or how certain political mindsets are repressive and offensive to humans. I mean, the master race kind of thing just never fucking stops, so we wrote about a lot of human injustices."
The Dogs opened for such acts as the MC5, Ramones, Television, Dictators, AC/ DC, Kiss, and Van Halen, and became one of the seminal LA punk bands of the era after locating there in the mid '70s following a stint in New York. They disbanded soon after returning from a '78-'79 tour of England, finding that hair metal had taken over the scene and punk was no longer welcome. But history always repeats itself, and, as Molinare says, "the band wasn't ahead of its time so much as timeless."
With the 2001 release of the "Fed Up" compilation on Dionysus Records, which they answered in 2003 with a set of new material entitled "Suburban Nightmare,"
The Dogs were encouraged to hit the stage once again. 2007 saw the release of "The Dogs Tribute... Doggy Style," a 26-band, 2-CD package from Future Now Records that also features several historic, unreleased tracks from The Dogs. The band embarked on a tour of Japan last year, and has been playing well-received West Coast shows with founding members Molinare and Kay along with their former '80s-lineup drummer Tony Matteucci as well as drummer Ken Mundy, both filling in on the occasion when the rebellious Wood "is in trouble with the man!" A live DVD, "Purity Not Perfection,"is out now out Bermuda Mohawk Productions, and a new CD and live dates in the US, Europe, and Japan are slated for 2009 -- the year that will mark The Dogs' 40th anniversary. Timeless is indeed the right word.
