Dirty Looks was an American rock band from

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, United States, formed in 1977. They are best known for the songs "Let Go" and "Tailing You", which were minor hits. Both videos were in rotation in the early days of

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Background

Dirty Looks was formed in 1977 and began playing cover songs before writing a set of gritty pop songs inspired by the 1960s. The band consisted of singer/guitarist Patrick Barnes, drummer Peter Parker, and bassist Marco Sin. The band released two albums for

Stiff Records Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London, England, by Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007. Established at the outset of the punk rock boom, Stiff ...

in the UK ( Epic Records in the US), ''Dirty Looks'' and ''Turn It Up'', along with several singles. Their debut album was Stiff's biggest album release in the United States, selling over 100,000 copies in 1980. ''Turn It Up'' was originally produced and mixed by Nick Garvey (of

The Motors The Motors were a British pub rock band formed in London in 1977 by former Ducks Deluxe members Nick Garvey and Andy McMaster together with guitarist Rob Hendry (who was replaced in May 1977 by Bram Tchaikovsky) and drummer Ricky Slaughter. ...

), Epic Records decided they did not like the edgy approach and wanted a more mainstream sound. The band was discovered by Squeeze bassist John Bentley at

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

in New York. Bentley brought then

Grand Funk Railroad Grand Funk Railroad (often shortened to Grand Funk) is an American rock band formed in 1968 in Flint, Michigan, by Mark Farner (vocals, guitar), Don Brewer (drums, vocals), and Mel Schacher (bass). The band achieved peak popularity and succes ...

manager Andy Cavaliere to the band's next show and he made the band sign a napkin promising to appear in his office the next day. Their first album; ''Dirty Looks'' was first released in America and the band launched the record by appearing unannounced outside the New York offices of

EPIC Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

on a flat-bed truck complete with PA, drums etc., and a film crew. 52nd street became filled with lunch-time office workers all grooving to the band and a bunch of New York cops from the local precinct trying to fight their way through the crowd to stop the disturbance. The result was an arrest and a fifteen-minute movie of three Dirty Looks tracks. In 1980, Dirty Looks came to the UK for the In the Son Of Stiff tour. With four other Stiff acts, Dirty Looks played 11 countries in 70 days and played 61 gigs. In Milan, they headlined in front of 6,000 fans and witnessed a fatal stabbing outside the concert hall. They are best known for the songs "Let Go" and "Tailing You", which were minor hits. Both videos were in rotation in the early days of

. By now Dirty Looks had released three singles: "Lie To Me", "Let Go" and "Tailing You". In 1983, the group prepared demos for an unreleased third album, called 'Unsung Heroes'. Four tracks from it were included on ''12 O'Clock High'', an Italian career retrospective compilation, in 2002. Bassist Marco Sin (born Marcus Robert Weissmann) died in 1995, following a lengthy history of substance abuse. In February 2014, drummer Peter Parker (Minucci) worked with Omaha band, Naive Filter, to record two Dirty Looks originals; "Love Crimes" and "Kiss of Death".

Discography

Albums

* 1980: ''Dirty Looks'' * 1981: ''Turn It Up''

References

External links

Stiff Records - Dirty Looks

Trouser Press

Pop Matters
{{Authority control 1977 establishments in New York City American power pop groups Musical groups established in 1977 Musical groups from Staten Island Rock music groups from New York (state)