The Dictators: Just Another CD-Collection (Renewed & RESTORED)

Formed in 1974, N.Y.C.'s Dictators were one of the finest and most influential proto-punk bands to walk the earth. Alternately reveling in and satirizing the wanton excesses of a Rock & Roll lifestyle and lowbrow culture (e.g., wrestling, TV, fast food), the Dictators, whose worldview was defined by bassist/keyboardist and former fanzine publisher (Teenage Wasteland Gazette) Andy (occasionally Adny) Shernoff and renegade rock critic/theorist Richard Meltzer, played loud, fast rock & roll fueled by a love of '60s American garage rock, British Invasion pop, and the sonic onslaught of the Who. Driven by the guitar barrage of Scott "Top Ten" Kempner and Ross "the Boss" Funichello and fronted by indefatigable ex-roadie and wrestler Handsome Dick Manitoba (aka Richard Blum), it seemed that nothing stood in the way of the Dictators and mega-popularity. But that's not what happened. There were complications with record companies, personnel changes (one-time bassist Mark Mendoza left for Twisted Sister; original drummer Stu Boy King was replaced by Richie Teeter), radio hated them, critical response was lukewarm, and lots of audiences didn't get the jokes; supporters remained loyal and vociferous (especially Meltzer), but it didn't turn into anything tangible. Ironically, what didn't help at all was the rise of the New York punk scene, which only diverted attention away from them and onto bands they influenced (e.g., the Ramones). They did manage to release three fine albums, but after 1978's Bloodbrothers was greeted with public apathy, the group's members began moving in different directions.

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The Dictators: Just Another CD-Collection (Renewed & RESTORED)

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Kempner put together the Del-Lords and the Little Kings and recorded as a solo act. Ross the Boss spent a few years in the goofy, macho heavy metal band Manowar and later joined Shernoff and Manitoba in the punk/metal combo Manitoba's Wild Kingdom. And Shernoff worked as a producer. However, as Shernoff put it, "the Dictators never broke up. Sure there were occasional gaps of a few years between some shows (we had lives to lead) but deep in our hearts and souls we always knew we were Dictators. We couldn't escape it even when we tried". With this in mind, the band got together to play a handful of shows in 1980, one of which was recorded for the cassette-only album Fuck 'Em If They Can't Take A Joke, which was later reissued as New York, New York. The band hit the road again in 1991, and began heading out on a semi-regular basis after that. In 2001, the Dictators made their abandoned retirement official and recorded a new album, D.F.F.D., which ranked with the band's finest work in the studio. More touring followed, and a live album recorded at two shows in support of D.F.F.D., Viva Dictators!, came out in 2005.

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The Dictators: Just Another CD-Collection (Renewed & RESTORED)

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In 1975, when punk rock and heavy metal were two opposing camps who barely who acknowledged each other's existence, The Dictators' first album, Go Girl Crazy!, found New York's finest trying to bring both sides together in a brave, prescient, and (at least at the time) futile gesture. The band's "smart guys who like dumb stuff" humor, junk-culture reference points, and '60s cheeze rock covers ("California Sun" and "I Got You Babe" on one album) would seem tailor made for the crowd at CBGB digging the Ramones and the Dead Boys, but their sludgy and stripped down hard rock (and Ross "The Boss" Funichello's neo-metal guitar solos) were something else altogether. And at a time when the arena rock audience had not yet embraced the less-than-subtle humor and theatrics of Sparks or Cheap Trick, the Dictators' ahead-of-their-time enthusiasm for wrestling, White Castle hamburgers, and television confused more kids than it converted. Heard today, the album is a hoot and a half; if the tempos could often stand to be a bit livelier, Adny Shernoff's songs are still great (especially the absurdly anthemic "Two Tub Man", "I Live for Cars and Girls", and "Weekend"), the jokes still register (while the contemporary Political Correctness brigade might blanch at "Back to Africa" or "Master Race Rock", they're merely absurd in the Mad Magazine tradition), and "secret weapon" Handsome Dick Manitoba was truly a find. Dozens of groups borrowed wholesale from Go Girl Crazy! later on down the line, but the original is still the greatest … and the funniest.

~ Mark Deming, all media guide

Tracklist:

01. The Next Big Thing
02. I Got You Babe
03. Back To Africa
04. Master Race Rock
05. Teengenerate
06. California Sun
07. Two Tub Man
08. Weekend
09. (I Live For) Cars And Girls

all songs composed by Andy Shernoff except "2" by S. Bono, & "6" by M. Levy/H. Glover


Produced by Murray Krugman & Sandy Pearlman
Engineered by Tim Geelan. Recorded at CBS Studios, New York
Mixed by Ed Sprigg at The Record Plant, NY & Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis
Mastered ay The Cutting Room, NY by Greg Calbi.
additional keyboards on "5 & 9" by Alan Glover

• Andy "Adny" Shernoff - lead vocals, bass guitar
• Ross "The Boss" Funicello – lead guitar, background vocals
• Scott "Top Ten" Kempner - rhythm guitar
• Stu Boy King – drums, percussion
• Richard "Handsome Dick" Manitoba - occasional lead vocals

Originally Released: March 1975
CD-Release Date: "December 29, 1990"
Format: Original Recording Reissued
Label: CBS / Epic Records
Catalog No.: EK 33348-2



Frustrated by the lack of sales, the band broke up for a few months in late 1975, but reconvened in early 1976, with bassist Mark "The Animal" Mendoza replacing Shernoff. After a few months Shernoff was persuaded to return to the group as the group's keyboardist. This line-up soon secured a contract with Asylum Records (at least partly due to the notoriety the group had developed following a well-publicized brawl between Manitoba and Wayne County) and released their second album, Manifest Destiny, in 1977. The album - again produced by Pearlman and Krugman - is usually considered the weakest of the group's first three albums, and featured a considerably more mainstream sound. The band resisted playing songs from Manifest Destiny for several years because the album had not been re-released on CD.

Although this record has the reputation of being the weakest Dictators album, because of it's obvious more mainstream sound and approach, this is still no reason to skip this album over. Producers Sandy Pearlman and Murray Krugman saw the nascent Blue Oyster Cult sound in the Dictators' voice and made "Manifest Destiny" parallel the early BOC discs. This album is so different from their previous album, the classic "Go Girl Crazy", that you would swear it's a completely different band (actually, they just added one new member, got a new drummer and shuffled roles a bit). But if it's a sellout, every band should wish they could sell out this well. The reason it's considered a sellout is that after the dismal sales of GGC, songwriter Adny Shernoff decided that the Dictator's brand of rock'n'roll humor was too sophisticated for the average dumb heavy metal fan, so he proceeded to write an album of great songs with intentionally trite lyrics. Note the "intentionally" – most bands who write trite lyrics (such as Loverboy and Foreigner from that era) write them because they can't do any better. That couldn't be further from the truth here – Adny was (and is) an amazingly clever lyricist. So what do you get? "Exposed" is a great pop song that reminds me of the Outfield (who came along much later). "Heartache" is a terrific power ballad. "Disease" is a fantastic dark heavy metal song with a large dose of the Dics brand of humor. This is not a sell out album by any means as even when this band tries to sound commercial, they still remain the Dictators. The record isn't without it's highlights though, as four songs found here go on to become stone cold classics.

~ taken from customers review at amazon.com

So what do you say about a great band's worst album? After the Dictators often-inspired debut album, The Dictators Go Girl Crazy!, went over the heads of the record-buying public and landed with a thud (punk not having given its blend of oddball humor and big guitars a context just yet), they were dropped by their record label and, after signing with Elektra, played things a bit "safer" with their follow-up, 1977's Manifest Destiny. Songwriter and idea man Andy Shernoff moved from bass to keyboards, with Mark "The Animal" Mendoza picking up the four string and Handsome Dick Manitoba advancing from "secret weapon" to periodic lead vocalist (though Shernoff was still doing most of the singing). And Shernoff toned down his goofball world view and taste for high-energy riffage on several tunes, most on notably half-baked would-be arena rockers "Stepping Out" and "Exposed", and ill-advised heartbroken pop tunes "Sleepin' With the T.V. On" (nowhere near as good as its title) and the ludicrous "Hey Boys". The album's four good songs handily point out just how far wrong the other five went; "Disease" features a hilarious spoken introduction from Manitoba that justifies the album's existence all by its lonesome, and the disc ends with a superb hat trick – "Science Gone Too Far" and "Young, Fast, Scientific" are stone classic Dictators performances, and the closing cover of the Stooges' "Search and Destroy" is inspired. While the 2004 CD reissue of Manifest Destiny doesn't add any bonus material to the album, at least now you can easily program out the filler and get to the four slabs of top-shelf Dictators lurking among the dross, proving there may be a good reason for digital technology after all.

~ Mark Deming, all media guide

Tracklist:

01. Exposed
02. Heartache
03. Sleepin' With The TV On
04. Disease
05. Hey Boys
06. Steppin' Out
07. Science Gone Too Far!
08. Young, Fast, Scientific
09. Search & Destroy

all songs composed by Andy Shernoff except "5" by Kempner/Shernoff/Dick Destiny
& "4" intro by Shernoff/Manitoba, lyrics by Shernoff.


Produced by Murray Krugman & Sandy Pearlman
Engineered by John Jansen. Recorded at The Record Plant, NY.

• Andy "Adny" Shernoff - keyboards, lead & background vocals
• Ross "The Boss" Funicello – lead guitar, 12-string guitar
• Scott "Top Ten" Kempner - rhythm guitar
• Richard "Handsome Dick" Manitoba - lead vocals
• Ritchie Teeter – drums, lead & background vocals
• Mark "The Animal" Mendoza – bass guitar

Originally Released: 1977
CD-Release Date: September 21, 2004
Format: Original Recording Reissued
Label: Wounded Bird Records
Catalog No.: WOU 1109-2



Some people have described The Dictators as a cross between punk rock & heavy metal. Whatever they are, they took the scene by storm in the late 70's with three hard driving albums. Bloodbrothers, their third release, is considered by many to be their best. It was originally released on the Asylum label in 1978.

This was the Dictators' third album, and their second for Elektra/Asylum. The band was energized after returning from a tour of England and being embraced by the emerging punk rock audience over there. As a result, almost 90 percent of this album was recorded live and, as such, stands as a good example of what the band sounded like on a good night. "Faster & Louder", and the kickoff track, feature an unannounced guest appearance from Bruce Springsteen on backing vocals, while "Baby, Let's Twist" features guitar work far more sophisticated than the title would lead you to believe. The band may have still been trying to cast themselves as the next logical extension of the MC5 and the Stooges, but Andy Shernoff's songwriting (especially on tunes like "No Tomorrow", "Stay With Me", and "Borneo Jimmy") shows infinitely more craft than mere Motor City knockoffs. The playing is self-assured and solid, the production is simple, raw, and direct. In many ways, this is the Dictators' rockingest and most musical album.

~ Cub Koda, all media guide

Tracklist:

01. Faster & Louder
02. Baby Let's Twist
03. No Tomorrow
04. The Minnesota Strip
05. Stay With Me
06. I Stand Tall
07. Borneo Jimmy
08. What It Is
09. Slow Death

all songs composed by Andy Shernoff except "8" by Kempner/Shernoff, & "9" by Jordan/Loney


Produced by Murray Krugman & Sandy Pearlman. Recorded at The Record Plant, NY.
Re-mastered by Paul Angelli.

• "Handsome Dick" Manitoba - lead vocals
• "Adny" Shernoff - bass, keyboards, vocals
• "Ross The Boss" – lead guitar, vocals
• "Top Ten" Kempner - rhythm guitar, vocals
• Ritchie Teeter – drums, vocals

Originally Released: 1978
CD-Release Date: November 10, 1998
Format: Original Recording Remastered
Label: Dictators Multimedia
Catalog No.: DFFD-001



So, now we have the original ROIR's cassette remastered for CD, plus three live bonus tracks selected and mastered by Andy Shernoff from an early '80's performance at the Ritz in NYC. The 'Tators Ruled and Now Rule Again!

New York, New York is a CD reissue of the 1981 Dictators live album Live: Fuck 'Em If They Can't Take a Joke with three bonus tracks, among them the favorite "Master Race Rock". In his new liner notes, bassist/vocalist/songwriter Adny (or Andy) Shernoff takes issue with Richard Meltzer's original liner notes, denying that the recording, made on February 11, 1981 (the bonus tracks are from "the early '80s"), represented a reunion show since the Dictators, despite appearances, had not broken up even though "there were occasional gaps of a few years between some shows". In this case, it had been three years since the Dictators had been active, but it only took the opening chords of "Next Big Thing" to establish the band's claim to being a major influence on the Ramones and thus on the entire punk/new wave movement of the second half of the '70s. By 1981, punk had been just about absorbed into mainstream pop/rock, but the Dictators returned to their unique blend of hard rock and humor (the latter an element missing from most punk), at least for one night, adding Velvet Underground and Stooges songs to their repertoire. ROIR issued the result on cassette for a fitting coda to the band's career, and years later the album sounds as raucous as ever and at least a little bit improved sonically, though the sound quality is still nothing to write home about.

~ William Ruhlmann, all media guide

Tracklist:

01. Next Big Thing
02. Science Gone Too Far
03. Weekend
04. Rock And Roll Made A Man Out Of Me
05. Two-Tub Man
06. Moon Upstairs (Mott The Hoople cover)
07. Loyola
08. What Goes On (Velvet Underground cover)
09. New York New York
10. Search And Destroy (Stooges cover)
11. Borneo Jimmy
12. Minnesota Strip
13. Master Race Rock [Bonus track]
14. Baby Let's Twist [Bonus track]
15. Faster And Louder [Bonus track]

all songs written by Andy Shernoff except "6, 8, 10"


All songs recorded live to a two track Dokorder on February 11, 1981 at a night club performance, except bonus tracks, which are from a board tape from a live concert at the Ritz in early '80's. Bonus tracks mastered by Andy Shernoff at Sterling Sound 1998.

• "Handsome Dick" Manitoba - vocals
• "Adny" Shernoff - bass, vocals
• "Ross The Boss" – lead guitar
• "Top Ten" Kempner - rhythm guitar
• Ritchie Teeter – drums, vocals

Originally Released: 1981
Re-Release Date: October 27, 1998
Format: Original Recording Remastered
Label: ROIR, Inc.
Catalog No.: RUSCD 8247

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The Dictators: Just Another CD-Collection (Renewed & RESTORED)

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New York City is undoubtedly the toughest city in the world. The Dictators are the toughest band ever from New York City. What does this mean? You do the math. The Dictators' first proper new album in 23 years, D.F.F.D. (Dictators Forever Forever Dictators) is a non-stop barrage of spitfire precision rock. The material is, unbelievably, their best and most consistent ever for an album. Starting off with a mission statement, "Who Will Save Rock and Roll?", the tone is set. Following that is "I Am Right!", which features ferocious and locked in lead and rhythm playing courtesy of the always amazing Ross the Boss and Scott "Top Ten" Kempner, while Shernoff and J.P. Thunderbolt Patterson stoke the flames in the engine room. Unlike their punk rock brethren, musicianship is very high on the the Dictators list of priorities, and it shows – the playing here is nothing short of spectacular. On D.F.F.D., the Dictators play like an all-star team of rock & roll players. The guys get to vent on "Ave. A", a rock-solid rant against what the neighborhood, the Lower East Side, is becoming (bistros with men in tan pants and sweaters tied around their necks – spare me!). Frontman extrordinaire Handsome Dick Manitoba is the perfect singer for tunesmith Andy Shernoff's songs. Always street wise and never short of hysterical, Shernoff successfully manages to be funny without being a joke, and Manitoba delivers the message loudly and clearly. The album is varied as well. Songs like "What's Up With That?" and "Jim Gordon Blues" are on the poppy side, while "Channel Surfing" is a twangy instrumental. Mostly, though, it's the hellfire of songs like "Burn Baby Burn!!" and "Savage Beat" that make the point best. This is a fully realized CD that delivers the goods in a big, big way.

~ Geoff Ginsberg, all media guide

Tracklist:

01. Who Will Save Rock And Roll
02. I Am Right!
03. Pussy And Money
04. The Moronic Inferno
05. It's Alright
06. What's Up With That
07. The Savage Beat
08. In The Presence Of A New God
09. Avenue A
10. Channel Surfing
11. Jim Gordon Blues
12. Burn, Baby, Burn!!

all songs written by Andy Shernoff, except "12" AS with Ross Friedman.
and "3" by Andy Shernoff with David Rotter


Mostly Produced by Andy Shernoff
Mastered by Scott Hull at Classic Sound.

• "Handsome Dick" Manitoba - lead vocals
• "Adny" Shernoff - bass, vocals, backing vocals
• "Ross The Boss" – guitar
• "Scott Top Ten" Kempner - guitar
• J.P. "Thunderbolt" Patterson – drums, backing vocals

Release Date: October 30, 2001
Label: Dictators Multimedia
Catalog No.: DFFD-002