The Dicks
Encyclopedia
The Dicks are an American punk rock
band from Austin, Texas
, originally formed in 1980. They initially disbanded in 1986 before reforming in 2004. The Dicks are considered influential in introducing the sound of hardcore punk
and incorporating blues rock influences into their sound.
The band went through two distinct incarnations in the early 1980s, changing its lineup when singer Gary Floyd moved from Austin to San Francisco in 1983. A version of its original lineup was revived when the band reunited in 2004. As a political band with socialist lyrics during the Reagan era
, they did not shy from controversy. Floyd was one of a handful of openly
gay
musicians in the 1980s punk scene.
in 1980 by Gary Floyd, Buxf Parrot, Pat Deason and Glen Taylor. Their first single "Dicks Hate The Police", released in 1980, brought them much attention and is now regarded as a classic hardcore punk record. In the song Gary Floyd sings from the perspective of a policeman who abuses his power by going after minorities and taking his anger out on civilians.
The Dicks often played shows with fellow pioneering Texas hardcore bands MDC
and the Big Boys
; the Dicks' full-length debut was a split album with the Big Boys entitled Live at Raul's Club
. The Dicks were unique for their era in that some of their songs, such as "Saturday Night at the Bookstore" and "Off Duty Sailor", addressed issues of homophobia
and sexual identity
.
In 1983, Floyd left Texas for San Francisco and, with new members Tim Carroll, Sebastian Fuchs, and Lynn Perko (formerly of all-women band
The Wrecks), a second version of The Dicks began recording and playing. The LP Kill From The Heart was released in 1983 on SST Records
and These People followed in 1985 on Alternative Tentacles
. The group disbanded in 1986, although occasional one-off reunion shows featuring the Austin lineup occurred through the '80s and '90s.
ended their 1984 album Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac
with the cowpunk
anthem "Gary Floyd" in tribute to The Dicks' bandleader.
The Dicks saw a resurgence in popularity at the onset of the grunge
craze when Sub Pop Records released a cover of "Dicks Hate The Police" by Seattle band Mudhoney
. Soon after, Chicago
noise rock
ers The Jesus Lizard
(three fourths of whom were also from Austin, Texas
, released their cover version of The Dicks' "Wheelchair Epidemic".
On their 2004 song "Ode", queercore
band Limp Wrist
paid homage to Gary Floyd, Randy Turner
from the Big Boys, and many others, as people who confronted homophobia in the 1980s punk scene by being openly gay in a largely homophobic countercultural movement.
in San Francisco in 1986. After that band ended he formed and primarily played in Europe
with The Gary Floyd Band; an overview of this material, "Backdoor Preacher Man", is available in the United States. Toward the late 1990s, Floyd played in Black Kali Ma, who released an album on Alternative Tentacles Records. Floyd is now in a band called the Buddha Brothers. Buxf Parrot and Pat Deason, of the original Dicks, play in the Austin, TX neo-bluegrass band Shootin' Pains. Perko went on to join Imperial Teen
. Parrot and Deason played in Trouser Trout and Parrot and Taylor also played in Pretty Mouth.
Since 2004, the Dicks have played a series of reunion concerts in Austin and elsewhere. The lineup for the shows consists of the original Dicks, with the exception of Glen Taylor, who died in 1997. His role has been filled by three other Austin guitarist
s: Mark Kenyon, Brian McGee, and Davy Jones. At the 2009 Austin Music Awards show, Jesus Lizard singer David Yow
joined the band onstage for "Wheelchair Epidemic". At the same show, The Dicks were inducted into the Texas Music Hall of Fame.
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band from Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, originally formed in 1980. They initially disbanded in 1986 before reforming in 2004. The Dicks are considered influential in introducing the sound of hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
and incorporating blues rock influences into their sound.
The band went through two distinct incarnations in the early 1980s, changing its lineup when singer Gary Floyd moved from Austin to San Francisco in 1983. A version of its original lineup was revived when the band reunited in 2004. As a political band with socialist lyrics during the Reagan era
Reagan Administration
The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989....
, they did not shy from controversy. Floyd was one of a handful of openly
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
gay
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
musicians in the 1980s punk scene.
Early history
The Dicks were formed in AustinAustin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
in 1980 by Gary Floyd, Buxf Parrot, Pat Deason and Glen Taylor. Their first single "Dicks Hate The Police", released in 1980, brought them much attention and is now regarded as a classic hardcore punk record. In the song Gary Floyd sings from the perspective of a policeman who abuses his power by going after minorities and taking his anger out on civilians.
The Dicks often played shows with fellow pioneering Texas hardcore bands MDC
MDC (band)
MDC is an American hardcore punk band formed in Austin, Texas in 1979. The band were subsequently based in San Francisco, California, and are currently based in Portland, Oregon. MDC originally formed as The Stains before changing their name...
and the Big Boys
Big Boys (band)
The Big Boys were a pioneering band who are credited with helping introduce the new style of hardcore punk that became popular in the 1980s.-History:...
; the Dicks' full-length debut was a split album with the Big Boys entitled Live at Raul's Club
Live at Raul's Club
Live At Raul's is an album by The Big Boys and The Dicks. In 1992, Selfless Records issued a double 7" called Live at Raul's Club featuring 6 songs from this record along with 2 previously unreleased live songs.-The Big Boys:...
. The Dicks were unique for their era in that some of their songs, such as "Saturday Night at the Bookstore" and "Off Duty Sailor", addressed issues of homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
and sexual identity
Sexual identity
Sexual identity is a term that, like sex, has two distinctively different meanings. One describes an identity roughly based on sexual orientation, the other an identity based on sexual characteristics, which is not socially based but based on biology, a concept related to, but different from,...
.
In 1983, Floyd left Texas for San Francisco and, with new members Tim Carroll, Sebastian Fuchs, and Lynn Perko (formerly of all-women band
All-women band
An all-female band is a musical group composed of female musicians exclusively. A distinction is made here with a girl group, in which the members are solely vocalists, though this terminology is not universally followed.-1920s-1940s:In the Jazz Age and during the 1930s, "all-girl" bands such as...
The Wrecks), a second version of The Dicks began recording and playing. The LP Kill From The Heart was released in 1983 on SST Records
SST Records
SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was initially called Solid State Transmitters through which Ginn sold electronics equipment...
and These People followed in 1985 on Alternative Tentacles
Alternative Tentacles
Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label originally based in San Francisco, California and was established in 1979. It was originally used as the label name by the Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single "California Über Alles", and after realizing the potential for an independent...
. The group disbanded in 1986, although occasional one-off reunion shows featuring the Austin lineup occurred through the '80s and '90s.
Influence on other artists
Austin's legendary Butthole SurfersButthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers is an American alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second...
ended their 1984 album Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac
Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac
Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac is the first full-length studio album by American punk band Butthole Surfers, released in December 1984 by Touch and Go Records and Fundamental Records. All songs were written and produced by the Butthole Surfers....
with the cowpunk
Cowpunk
Cowpunk or Country punk is a subgenre of punk rock and New Wave that began in the UK and California in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It combines punk rock or New Wave with country music, folk music, and blues in sound, subject matter, attitude, and style...
anthem "Gary Floyd" in tribute to The Dicks' bandleader.
The Dicks saw a resurgence in popularity at the onset of the grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
craze when Sub Pop Records released a cover of "Dicks Hate The Police" by Seattle band Mudhoney
Mudhoney
Mudhoney is an American alternative rock band. Formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988 following the demise of Green River, Mudhoney's members are vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison, and drummer Dan Peters. Original bassist Matt Lukin left the...
. Soon after, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
noise rock
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
ers The Jesus Lizard
The Jesus Lizard
The Jesus Lizard was an American alternative rock and noise rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas. They were "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground…[who] turned out a series of independent records filled with scathing, disembowelling, guitar-driven pseudo-industrial...
(three fourths of whom were also from Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, released their cover version of The Dicks' "Wheelchair Epidemic".
On their 2004 song "Ode", queercore
Queercore
Queercore is a cultural and social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of punk. It is distinguished by being discontent with society in general and its rejection of the disapproval of the gay, bisexual, and lesbian communities and their "oppressive agenda"...
band Limp Wrist
Limp Wrist
Limp Wrist is an American hardcore punk band featuring members of Los Crudos, Hail Mary, Devoid of Faith, and Kill the Man Who Questions. Playing short, fast hardcore punk-styled music, the band touches upon themes concerning the LGBT community in their live performances and lyrics. They identify...
paid homage to Gary Floyd, Randy Turner
Randy Turner
Randy J. "Biscuit" Turner was an American punk singer and artist. He was born in Gladewater, Texas. He was the lead singer for the seminal hardcore punk band Big Boys, formed in Austin in the 1970s....
from the Big Boys, and many others, as people who confronted homophobia in the 1980s punk scene by being openly gay in a largely homophobic countercultural movement.
Post-Dicks projects and reunion
Gary Floyd later started Sister Double HappinessSister Double Happiness
Sister Double Happiness was an alternative blues-rock band that existed from 1986 until 1995, formed in San Francisco, CA, United States.-History:...
in San Francisco in 1986. After that band ended he formed and primarily played in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
with The Gary Floyd Band; an overview of this material, "Backdoor Preacher Man", is available in the United States. Toward the late 1990s, Floyd played in Black Kali Ma, who released an album on Alternative Tentacles Records. Floyd is now in a band called the Buddha Brothers. Buxf Parrot and Pat Deason, of the original Dicks, play in the Austin, TX neo-bluegrass band Shootin' Pains. Perko went on to join Imperial Teen
Imperial Teen
Imperial Teen is a San Francisco-based indie pop group made up of Roddy Bottum primarily on guitar/vocals, Will Schwartz primarily on guitar/vocals, Lynn Truell primarily on drums and backing vocals, and Jone Stebbins primarily on bass and backing...
. Parrot and Deason played in Trouser Trout and Parrot and Taylor also played in Pretty Mouth.
Since 2004, the Dicks have played a series of reunion concerts in Austin and elsewhere. The lineup for the shows consists of the original Dicks, with the exception of Glen Taylor, who died in 1997. His role has been filled by three other Austin guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
s: Mark Kenyon, Brian McGee, and Davy Jones. At the 2009 Austin Music Awards show, Jesus Lizard singer David Yow
David Yow
David Yow is an American musician born in Las Vegas, Nevada and best known as the vocalist for the noise rock bands Scratch Acid and The Jesus Lizard.-Biography:...
joined the band onstage for "Wheelchair Epidemic". At the same show, The Dicks were inducted into the Texas Music Hall of Fame.
Present members
- Gary Floyd – vocals (1980–1986, 2004–present)
- Buxf Parrott – bass, guitar, vocals (1980–1983, 2004–present)
- Pat Deason – drums (1980–1983, 2004–present)
- Mark Kenyon – guitar (2004–present)
- Davy Jones – guitar (2005–present)
Former members
- Glen Taylor (deceased) – guitar, bass (1980–1983)
- Tim Carroll – guitar (1983–1986)
- Lynn Perko – drums (1983–1986)
- Sebastian Fuchs – bass, vocals (1983–1986)
- Debbie Gordon – manager (1982–1986)
- Brian Magee – guitar (2004–2005)
Albums
- Live at Raul's ClubLive at Raul's ClubLive At Raul's is an album by The Big Boys and The Dicks. In 1992, Selfless Records issued a double 7" called Live at Raul's Club featuring 6 songs from this record along with 2 previously unreleased live songs.-The Big Boys:...
LP (1980), Rat Race – Split with The Big Boys - Kill from the HeartKill from the HeartKill from the Heart is an album by the American hardcore punk band The Dicks. Widely considered a classic of the genre, it was the band's first full-length album and the last to feature the group's original Texas-based line up. The album finds the band mixing its hardcore punk style with blues...
LP (1983), SST RecordsSST RecordsSST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was initially called Solid State Transmitters through which Ginn sold electronics equipment... - These PeopleThese PeopleThese People is the second and last studio album by the American punk band The Dicks, released in 1985 on Alternative Tentacles. By the time this record was recorded, The Dicks had changed half of their lineup, and relocated from Texas to San Francisco....
LP (1985), Alternative TentaclesAlternative TentaclesAlternative Tentacles is an independent record label originally based in San Francisco, California and was established in 1979. It was originally used as the label name by the Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single "California Über Alles", and after realizing the potential for an independent... - 1980-1986 CD (1997), Alternative Tentacles – compilation of out of print material
- Dicks Live! Hungry Butt (2006), Hot Box Review
- Ten InchesTen InchesTen Inches is a live album by The Dicks. It was recorded in 1980 at the "Punk Prom" and features original line up of the band....
10" (2006), Delta Pop Music
Singles
- "Hate The PoliceHate the Police"Hate the Police" is the debut release and 7" single from the American hardcore punk band The Dicks, released in 1980.The record was released on the band's own Radical Records imprint ....
" 7" (1980), R Radical Records - "Peace?Peace?"Peace?" is a single from the hardcore punk band The Dicks released in 1984....
" 7" (1984), R Radical Records - Live At Raul's 2x7" (1992), Selfless Records - split With The Big Boys
- Hog 7" (2006), Delta Pop Music
Compilation appearances
- "Gilbeau" on Cottage Cheese from the Lips of Death (1983), Ward 9 Records
- "I Hope You Get Drafted" on P.E.A.C.E./WarP.E.A.C.E./WarP.E.A.C.E./War is a compilation double album first released in 1984 by R Radical Records, the label run by MDC's Dave Dictor, in association with the San Francisco Bay Area punk fanzine Maximum RocknRoll...
(1984), R Radical Records - "Legacy of Man" on Rat Music for Rat People Vol. 2 (1984), CD Presents, Ltd
External links
- The Dicks on Myspace
- A biography of THE DICKS at Kill From the Heart
- Suburban Voice Interview - Gary Floyd interview from 1998
- Piece on the cultural importance of the Dicks from NewYorkNightTrain.com