Punk And Psych Greats Play Pacifica Birthday Party
By Dave Pehlilng
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Winters Tavern in Pacifica hosts a raging punk-rock birthday for local institution and Screaming Bloody Marys founder Dave Dalton that features Detroit legends the Dogs, Dalton and the latest line-up of his band, SF psych greats the Savage Resurrection and more.
Started in 1989 by guitarist/singer Dalton, Screaming Bloody Marys dished out a straight-ahead style of punk that mixed the influence of '70s British pioneers the Clash and the Buzzcocks along with horror-obsessed East Coast band the Misfits and more modern Bay Area acts like the Dwarves and Rancid. The group would issue a run of singles for a variety of labels before releasing its proper debut Get In, Get Off, Get Out in 1995 via Doctor Dream Records.
The band had some success, playing shows with such luminaries as Nirvana, the Ramones, Melvins, Mudhoney, Hole and Cheap Trick, but by late in the decade, fatigue from heavy touring and internal strife led the band to implode by the latter part of the decade. Dalton would move on to work with the group Cell Block 5, but there would be no more activity from the Screaming Bloody Marys until rumblings led to a reunion and the release of an updated version of the band's debut entitled Get Off, Get Out, Get More that featured a new line-up and new material to go along with re-recordings of classic songs. This 66th birthday party for Dalton will include a set from the guitarist playing with the current quartet featuring Danny Norwood on lead guitar, John Hansen on bass and Greg Langston on drums ahead of a headlining performance by the Dogs.
Following in the footsteps of Detroit's punk progenitors the MC5 and the Stooges, veteran LA-based band the Dogs have helped keep alive a sound that remains a cornerstone of modern rock music for much of the past 50 years. Founded in 1968 by Lansing, Michigan teenagers Loren Molinare (guitar), Mary Kay (bass) and Ron Wood (drums), the Dogs became mainstays on the fruitful Michigan rock scene, sharing stages with their heroes the MC5, the Amboy Dukes and later their guitarist Ted Nugent after he went solo.
The trio would relocate to Detroit proper in 1973, but a year later decided to pursue their rock and roll dreams in New York City, where the band became a vital part of another growing community of bands exploring the music that would evolve into punk rock. Playing with a fledgling Kiss and pioneering bands like the Dictators, Television and the Stillettos (the group that would eventually become Blondie) at such legendary venues as the Coventry, Max's Kansas City and CBGBs.
The Dogs would relocate again in 1976 to Los Angeles, making further progress in the music industry with the release of their first single "John Rock and Roll Sinclair" before landing a management deal that led to the band's first attempt at recording an album, the live taping of a performance at San Franciso's epicenter for punk, the Mabuhay Gardens, in 1977. While the planned full album would never materialize after they split from their managers, the group would self-release their Slash Your Face EP, unleashing one of the most ferocious blasts of early punk rock from the era with the title track.
The band made an abortive move to London that didn't pan out, despite a successful tour of the U.K. They returned to the States in 1980 before eventually going on hiatus in 1981. The band relaunched with a new drummer (current member Tony Matteucci) in 1983, but would take a more extended break when Molinare joined hard-rock band Little Caesar in 1989. By the turn of the millennium, the legend of the Dogs had only grown with the inclusion of "Slash Your Face" on the punk-rock rarities compilation Killed By Death and original copies of their EP exchanging hands for top dollar among collectors.
The interest prodded the trio to reunite in 2000. The Dogs have been active ever since, releasing compilations of early material as well as a pair of new albums and a number of singles. The threesomes continue to bash out their singular style of raw Detroit rock and roll for audiences around the world.
Despite still being based in Los Angeles, a full decade passed between visits to San Francisco until the band played the Knockout in San Francisco's Mission District last year. For this punk rock birthday party, the Dogz and the Screaming Bloody Marys will be joined at Winters Tavern Saturday by reunited San Francisco psychedelic rock band the Savage Resurrection (well regarded for their self-titled 1968 debut for Mercury Records that included the bracing single "Thing in 'E'") and local country-tinged punk outfit Amy Angel and the HellRaisers.
Dave Dalton 66th Birthday Party with the Dogs
Saturday, Nov. 2, 8 p.m. $8
Winters Tavern
