The Dickies
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| The Dickies | ||
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 The picture cover of the Dickies' 1979 Banana Splits (Tra La La Song) UK single
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | Orange County, California, USA | |
| Genre(s) | Punk rock[1] |
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| Years active | 1977 - present | |
| Website | thedickies.com | |
| Members | ||
| Leonard Graves Phillips Stan Lee Little Dave Teague Rick Dasher Travis Johnson |
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The Dickies were amongst the first punk rock bands to emerge from Los Angeles, the first California punk band to appear on network television and the first California punk band to be signed to a major record label (instead of an independent label.)
The Dickies' style was campy and humorous with obvious influences from The Ramones (for whom they sometimes opened). They were popular in the UK, and had a Top 10 hit single with "Banana Splits (Tra La La Song)" in 1979. Many of their lyrics were about aspects of Southern California life not easily comprehensible by those unfamiliar with the region, in songs like "Waterslide", "I'm A Chollo", "Manny, Moe and Jack", and "(I'm Stuck in a Pagoda with) Tricia Toyota", which is about a local TV news anchorwoman. They were also known for recording several fast-paced punk covers of classic rock songs including "Nights in White Satin", "Paranoid", and "Eve of Destruction".
Drug problems slowed them down considerably in the 1980s, but they have continued playing and recording sporadically to the present day. In 1988 they wrote and performed the theme music for the movie Killer Klowns from Outer Space.
Contents |
[edit] Singles
- "Silent Night" (1978) - UK #47
- "Eve Of Destruction" (1978)
- "Give It Back" (1978)
- "Banana Splits (Tra La La Song)" (1979) - UK #7
- "Paranoid" (1979) - UK #45
- "Nights In White Satin" (1979) - UK #39
- "Manny, Moe And Jack" (1979)
- "Fan Mail" (1980) - UK #57
- "Gigantor" (1980) - UK #72
- "Killer Klowns" (1986)
- "Just Say Yes" (1994)
- "Roadkill" (1994)
- "Make It So" (1996)
- "My Pop The Cop" (1998)
- "Free Willy" (2001)
[edit] Albums
- The Incredible Shrinking Dickies (1979)
- Dawn of the Dickies (1979)
- Stukas Over Disneyland (1983)
- Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988)
- Great Dictations (1989) - Compilation
- Second Coming (1989)
- Locked 'N' Loaded Live In London (1991) - Live album
- Idjit Savant (1994)
- All This and Puppet Stew (2001)
[edit] Reference
- Guinness Book of British Hit Singles 7th Edition - 1988
[edit] Audio samples
- The Dickies - Waterslide excerpt (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- An excerpt from Waterslide
- Problems listening to the file? See media help.
- The Dickies - Killer Klowns excerpt (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- An excerpt from Killer Klowns
- Problems listening to the file? See media help.
