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Unsung Forum » Imperial dogs - California protopunk |
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Stevo 5369 posts |
Edited Nov 24, 2009, 19:33
Nov 24, 2009, 14:02
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Just got the new Ugly Things through the door yesterday, solidly good read so far. It contains an article on The Imperial Dogs a long Beach based proto-punk band who've just released a live dvd fortuitously recorded at the time. http://www.theimperialdogs.com/ is their website/blog and contains links to reviews of that dvd plus a couple of embedded videos taken from the set, as well as a link for buying the thing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKFyJPKC3_o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su101Rb7Qp4 are the clips embedded on the page linked to above in larger size. Think i might just take the plunge and order this, do sound pretty great. Unfortunately looks like the compi lp or cd is out of print, it was from '89 after all. Stevo
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Stevo 5369 posts |
Nov 28, 2009, 10:25
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probably shouldn't be surprised at the lack of recognition of this band, not sure I'd heard of them before I read that article, though I think I'd read the review of the compi lp. But this dvd sounds very intriguing. would love the sudden discovery of parallel recordings from other scenes of similar bands. cleveland with Electric Eels, RFTT or early Ubu; or Hamilton Ontario with Simply Saucer. Get the vague idea that if time travel were to be discovered you'd get an intermittent flood of similar items being discovered as 'collector finds'. One can but dream. Stevo Np New York Dolls Max's 74 dvd Bad Girl (still compiling dvds for London trip)
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zphage 2275 posts |
Nov 28, 2009, 15:54
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Some info, per TG, friend of the band, and worked on DVD: During the near terminally boring mid-70's there were several bands world wide who were waving the punk flag; even though punk had not been invented yet. Cleveland had Rocket From The Tombs who became Pere Ubu and The Dead Boys, New York had the (pre Television) Neon Boys, Australia's The Saints were making noise. Recently there have been CD releases of recently unearthed tapes by the likes of Debris (from Oklahoma) and Death (from Detroit) and probably others whom I'm forgetting. Most were following in the footsteps the Velvet Underground, The MC5, The Stooges, The New York Dolls. They all put their own spin on things and helped to usher in the whole Punk/New Wave thang. Here in L.A. we had The Imperial Dogs. They played a total of (I think) five gigs. There was no place for a band playing original songs to perform in those days. What few clubs existed were showcasing touring bands, singer/songwriters or were offering stage plays (The Rocky Horror Show, etc.). The Imperial Dogs managed to play Gazarri's on Sunset once, Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco twice, a hall party at a rented building and a gig at Long Beach (CA) State College on October 30, 1974. That last gig was set up by a friend of the band who was a student there and was videotaped on some long obsolete form of video camera/system by the A/V Department. Over the years I would bring up the tape and try to convince the former lead singer of the band (Don Waller - later a rock critic, etc. known to some of the local L.A. types around these parts) to find a way to transfer the tape to VHS and, more recently, DVD. It was cost prohibitive and just far enough down on the list of things to do to not get done. Well, it's been transferred and has been released. The Imperial Dogs Live! in Long Beach (October 30, 1974) is an amazing document. While all of the bands listed above (and the Imperial Dogs) have had vinyl/CD releases over the years, this is the first filmed document of a band in that time period, sporting those influences, actually doing their thing. It is Black & White and Mono and absolutely kicks ass. The band (Paul Therrio - guitar, Bill Willett - drums, Tim Hilger - bass and the aforementioned Don Waller) can flat play. The songwriting (by Don Waller and Paul Therrio) is first class. The performance itself is way better than I remembered or could have hoped for. While they were certainly influenced by the above mentioned bands they also were fans of The Kinks, The Move, The Rolling Stones, Girl Groups and 50's/60's rock and roll, in general.
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MC 494 posts |
Nov 28, 2009, 18:02
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Nice piece on the Dogs - check Iggy in the audience: http://www.i94bar.com/ints/imperialdogs.html
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Lawrence 7995 posts |
Edited Nov 28, 2009, 18:11
Nov 28, 2009, 18:11
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LOL! They actually had their own "barf bag". That's funny. That DVD is something giantleech will want to grab a bunch of copies of and sell for astronomical prices, I'm sure...
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imperialdog01 2 posts |
Feb 27, 2010, 01:22
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Don Waller here. Who the bleep is giantleech? Tell him to go to theimperialdogs.com (And the same goes for the rest of you.) BTW, the 1989 Unchained Maladies LP on Dog Meat out of Australia was NOT a compilation. 'Twas simply created from two live tapes of the band. One from our first gig as the Imperial Dogs (at Gazarri's), the other from a practice session at our converted garage in Carson, California. And ... if there was live (non-synched) video footage of Rocket From The Tombs, Radio Birdman, the Ramones, all the UK punk bands (Pistols, Clash, Damned, etc.) or any of the L.A. punk bands (Germs, Weirdos, Black Flag, etc.) -- all of which we predate, by the way -- doncha think we would've heard about/seen it already?
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Lawrence 7995 posts |
Feb 27, 2010, 03:12
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< Who the bleep is giantleech? You don't wanna know. Some obnoxious right-wing troll/record dealer who hasn't come back since making himself look like a racist fool (who he probably was...) Well anyways it doesn't concern me whether or not you've heard of the groups compared to yourselves -- your music is cool by my book... :)
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Stevo 5369 posts |
Edited Feb 27, 2010, 11:08
Feb 27, 2010, 11:05
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imperialdog01 wrote: And ... if there was live (non-synched) video footage of Rocket From The Tombs, Radio Birdman, the Ramones, all the UK punk bands (Pistols, Clash, Damned, etc.) or any of the L.A. punk bands (Germs, Weirdos, Black Flag, etc.) -- all of which we predate, by the way -- doncha think we would've heard about/seen it already? Wasn't yours sitting in a closet for the 36years since? When I said I'd love to see it I meant I'd love to see it, not that there was much likelihood. though could see the possibility of similar recordings being done in an art scene like that in Cleveland. There does seem to be a lot of footage turning up on the torrent sites from contemporary tv shows etc which has been very interesting. I've still got to get around to buying your dvd, which I've been meaning to do since posting the initial message. Thought I might be able to pick it up in the Rough Trade shop in London but the counterstaff I asked hadn't heard of it. Might be a good place to have a few copies if you want to go that route. They normally have been pretty great with obscurities etc or maybe better phrased as unknown/unsung artefacts. Looking forward to seeing this so will order shortly. Stevo BTW I did get hold of some Radio Birdman stuff over Xmas that a friend had recieved in trade years back. Live at Paddington Town Hall in presumably 77, plus some early 80s Australian retrospectives. Also got a very rough copy of The Saints live at Paddington, which was Radio Birdman's home turf
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imperialdog01 2 posts |
Feb 28, 2010, 04:14
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Yeah, well, we'd probably all love to see such things resurface, but the likelihood is slim. And, yeah, Cleveland had more of an art scene back then. But the lack of any such footage having surfaced to date would indicate that there really isn't any or someone would have capitalized on it already. Not many people had access to whatever sort of video equipment that Bob Gruen used to film the New York Dolls for what would become that "All Dolled Up" movie. Yeah, it's interesting that things have turned up via local TV shows, but that stuff is generally later or lip-synched. And almost no bands were doing anything that could even be considered proto-punk prior to 1975 ... I'm sure those vintage live tapes of Radio Birdman -- an outfit to which the Imperial Dogs are always compared -- are fascinating. (Parenthetically, I'm supposed to meet up with Deniz Tek when he comes to L.A. in May.) Rough Trade in London was clueless, eh? (Bleep) me. Do they not carry the Ugly Things 'zine? Clear Spot out of the Netherlands supposedly put the Imperial Dogs DVD on their one-sheet -- and you'd think they'd service Rough Trade -- but they've yet to get back to me with an order. Heh. One of the main reasons that particular videotape sat in my closet for 35 years was that once I'd left the world of performing behind, I devoted all my time and energy to being a writer and I never talked/wrote about my past. Very very few people even knew I'd ever been been a performer. And ... there were a lot of bad memories associated with that time (and that particular tape) for me. Heh. AND ... most importantly, the technology had yet to progress to the point where the actual tape could be dragged kicking 'n' screaming into the modern world (at a reasonable price) and could be brought to market via the Internet. Plus, of course, there needed to be a resurgence of interest in all things "proto-punk." So, not to sound like too much of a huckster, you and anyone else reading this board are hereby advised to just buy the got-damn thing direct from theimperialdogs.com (You will not be disappointed.) Like I always say sometimes, "We put all those other so-called 'proto-punk' bands in a pipe and SMOKE 'em!"
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MC 494 posts |
Mar 09, 2010, 23:23
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Don, I see you posted on the Hounds Blog that your brother recorded the Stooges a number of times at the Whisky in 1973. Was just wondering if and of these were unreleased or better quality than what is released? Leading to my next question - do you have any plans to release these?
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