Stan Lee (musician)

The Dickies are an American punk rock band formed in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, in 1977. One of the longest tenured punk rock bands, they have been in continuous existence for over 40 years. They have consistently balanced catchy melodies, harmony vocals,
and pop music, pop song structures, with a speedy punk guitar attack. This musical approach is paired with a humorous style and has been labelled "pop-punk" or "bubble-gum punk". The band have sometimes been referred to as "the clown princes of punk".

History

Formation and early years (1977–1979)

Eventual Dickies vocalist Leonard Graves Phillips was a self-described celibate, "introverted character" in the period following high school. He played keyboards in his bedroom and, together with friend Bob Davis (later Chuck Wagon), created a type of music that Phillips describes as "autism rock", similar to Devo, though not as good. Another friend of Phillips was Steve Hufsteter, a former junior high school and high school class mate. The latter figure was the guitarist and main songwriter for local power pop band the Quick, and was giving guitar lessons to Stan Lee (born Stan Sobol). Although Hufsteter thought highly of Phillips' keyboard playing, it was his opinion that Phillips becoming vocalist for the band Lee was starting would be good for his friend's social well being. Phillips intentionally sabotaged his first audition, but realizing his mistake, aggressively entreated Lee for another chance. That audition was successful. Singing for the Dickies had its intended effect for Phillips, causing him to break out of his shell, and improving his confidence with women.

As a teenager, Stan Lee was a drug buddy of Iggy Pop, once accepting the well known "leopard" jacket that the latter wore in the Stooges as payment for heroin. Surprisingly, it was not hanging out with Iggy Pop that pushed Lee into joining the nascent punk scene, but rather it was the experience of going with eventual Dickies bassist Billy Club (Bill Remar) to see The Damned on their first American tour that proved most influential. Exposure to the music of the Ramones and the Weirdos was seminal as well. Prior to deciding on a punk rock direction, Lee had begun to learn guitar, at the urging of friend Kevin DuBrow, with the ambition of becoming a Ritchie Blackmore-like virtuoso. His teacher, Huffsteter, suggested that playing punk was a more practical idea, and by way of convincing, provided Lee with his initial introduction to the music of the Ramones. Lee and Club rounded out their initial punk band lineup with Phillips, multi-instrumentalist Chuck Wagon, and drummer Karlos Kaballero (Carlos Caballero), who came up with the name "Dickies" (Lee preferred "the Imbeciles"), and the band made their live debut at the Whisky a Go Go in September 1977. The Dickies were among the first punk rock bands to emerge from Los Angeles. They were the first California punk band to appear on network television (C.P.O. Sharkey), and the first California punk band to be signed to a major record label (A&M Records).

The book ''Going Underground: American Punk Rock 1979–1989'' describes the Dickies in the context of the early L.A. punk scene. Its author contends that the Dickies were "the best musicians on the scene and made good use of their talents". Also described is an early gig at the Masque in 1977. An opening band was so incompetent that "some punks turned a fire hose on them". The Dickies came out next, looking like "normal suburban nerds". The band "erupted in a tight, jackhammer, speed-of-light assault" of "ferocious... goofball comedy punk" which inspired manic punk rock dancing ("bodies carooming off each other"). The author claims that the Dickies' subsequent record contract caused jealousy among other bands, some of whom would say that the Dickies were only in it for money. This belief is contrasted with the Dickies actual stated primary goal of being written about in Slash (fanzine).

The band's A&M record deal came about after that label sacked the Sex Pistols, one of two labels to do so in what manager Malcolm McLaren would later describe as "the Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle", wherein that band would behave poorly, and be booted off a label while keeping the signing money. The label wanted a replacement punk band that was more manageable (or at least less notorious), and sent a representative to see the Dickies on the set of C.P.O. Sharky. This was followed up by a showcase at the Whisky, and some assertive bluster by Stan Lee, which, along with the enthusiastic efforts of true-believing manager John Hewlett (who also managed Sparks), led to the Dickies landing the record deal. The two albums that the band recorded for the label, The Incredible Shrinking Dickies (1979) and Dawn of the Dickies (1979) are influential, well regarded early punk records, and were modestly successful commercially (the former peaked at #18 on the UK album charts).

The Dickies had a string of successful singles in the UK, twice making the top 40. They had a Top 10 single with their speedy punk cover of the theme song to a children's show with "Banana Splits (Tra La La Song)" in 1979, and reached the top 40 again with their cover of "Nights in White Satin" (1979). Their punk rendition of "Silent Night" charted at #47 in December 1978, while their cover of "Paranoid" peaked at #45, in 1979. The band, which has claimed to have sold "a million singles" in England, credits their popularity in that country to being perceived as a "teeny pop" punk band that appealed to the younger siblings of punk rockers.

Their career off to a fast start, the Dickies would tour Europe 5 times between 1978 and 1980, pausing to play Top of the Pops on May 3, 1979.

Post A&M (1980–1989)

Guitarist/keyboardist/saxophonist/drummer Chuck Wagon (born Bob Davis) released a solo recording, more synth pop than punk rock, entitled "Rock 'N' Roll Won't Go Away" (A&M, 1979). Wagon, who was known for his energetic and entertaining antics at Dickies shows (such as running in a circle around his keyboard, or wearing an afro wig while playing saxophone), has been said to have become troubled over time, and dissatisfied with punk rock and the Dickies. He left the band at one point, planning to pursue his solo career, but reunited with the Dickies for a number of concerts. He committed suicide, shooting himself at his parents' home after a Dickies show, and died in a hospital the next day, on June 28, 1981. The LA Times has called this event "the most sobering moment in Dickies history."

Wagon's death, and drug issues among surviving members, slowed down the Dickies initial momentum considerably starting the 1980s, with John Hewlett being fired as manager and the A&M contract expiring during this period. However, Phillips and Lee have kept the band playing and recording, at times sporadically, at other times more actively, until the present day, achieving venerable, "pop punk godfather" status along the way.

During lulls between activity, the band would occasionally play locally around L.A. to earn a paycheck. But steadier work would come, supported by concerts on both US coasts (and occasionally in between), the UK, and elsewhere. In addition to work on several motion pictures, the band would, over time, record albums for labels like PVC Records (Stukas Over Disneyland), ''Restless Brand Records'' (Killer Klowns from Outer Space), Enigma Records (Second Coming), Triple X Records ( Idjit Savant and ''Dogs from the Hare that Bit Us'') and Fat Wreck Chords (All This and Puppet Stew).

After having had their first two albums released within a 9-month span, there was a nearly four-year gap before the release of ''Stukas Over Disneyland'' (1983). The influential punk zine Maximum Rocknroll published an enthusiastic review of this album, with writer Steve Spinali asserting that "The Dickies' first vinyl in almost four years ranks up there near their previous funnypunk triumphs. Most of the eight songs here veer toward amphetamine pop, with irresistible layered choruses to boot.... buoyant and entertaining as hell!"

On March 5, 1985, the Dickies were one of a number of California punk bands to play a very unexpected benefit show; other bands on the bill included the Circle Jerks, the Vandals, and D.I. The show's beneficiaries were the Cypress College Republicans. Stan Lee and Keith Morris from the Jerks both stated that they were doing it out of fondness for the other bands on the bill, and because it was a paying gig (despite being a benefit). Both denied having political motivations for doing the show, and in fact wished for their respective bands to not be associated with politics. As to the show's organizers, one stated that there was a motivation to show their fellow college Republicans that punk was nothing to be afraid of, and to encourage them to have fun, since after all “(the college is in) Orange County, a predominantly conservative area, and a lot of punks come from conservative families.... (and) a lot of them think Orange County is good."

Live footage of the Dickies in concert was aired on MTV in 1985, as they were co-featured along with G.B.H. in a concert special entitled ''Punks and Poseurs: A Journey Through the Los Angeles Underground'', which also featured interviews with fans, as well as figures like Pleasant Gehman and Iris Berry.

In 1986, cassette-only label ROIR released a Dickies live compilation entitled ''We Aren't the World''. It contains performances from 7 different Dickies concerts, ranging in vintage from 1977 to 1985, and from regions ranging from NY (C.B.G.B.) and NJ, to California, to the U.K.

Among the bands that the Dickies shared bills with between 1985 and 1987 are Red Hot Chili Peppers, Janes Addiction, Faith No More, Guns N' Roses, Ramones, X, T.S.O.L., Thelonious Monster, Dead Milkmen, and Murphy's Law.

In 1988, the Dickies wrote and performed the theme song for the cult classic horror film Killer Klowns from Outer Space, which also became the title track for a Dickies ep released that year. It was produced by Ron Hitchcock, and was the debut of drummer Cliff Martinez who had recently played with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Weirdos, and Captain Beefheart. Martinez played with the Dickies from 1988 to 1994, and on albums such as Second Coming, Locked N' Loaded Live in London, and Idjit Savant.

Also in 1988, The Dickies appeared in the comedic motion picture 18 Again!, starring George Burns. In the movie, Burns' 81 year old character switches consciousnesses/souls with his 18-year-old grandson. In one scene, the octogenarian-turned-teenager accompanies a teenaged girl to a punk club, where the Dickies perform "You drive me ape (you big gorilla)". The whole song is performed, at times in the foreground, at times in the background. Closeups of Phillips wearing an ape mask (as is his penchant during live performances of the song), and Tarzan-like rope swinging by the singer, are featured.

A gap of 5 years between studio albums number 3 and 4 having elapsed (notwithstanding the ''Killer Klowns'' EP), a writer at the Los Angeles Times was led to connect the title of their 1989 long player, ''Second Coming'', to the band's "comeback status". The writer noted that this album had some Beatles-like melodicism and some "art-rock aspirations", while retaining the Dickies' characteristic punk "silliness". The writer also noted that the Dickies would be undertaking a national tour supporting the release.

The close of the decade saw the third Dickies-involved motion picture. In the opening minutes of the 1989 skateboard drama ''Gleaming the Cube'', starring Christian Slater, Slater's character Brian is seen flying in a small airplane over Disneyland, along with 4 friends and the pilot, when the 5 skaters sing a line from the chorus of "Stukas over Disneyland". The song, which the characters would later listen to in a bedroom, is also featured on the soundtrack.

During the pop punk revival (1990–1999)

The Dickies toured Europe in 1990 for the first time in a decade. Upon their arrival on the continent, meeting fans provided evidence to band members of their enduring popularity despite their ten year absence. They have returned regularly since then, including participation in multi-band punk rock festivals.

In 1990, the Dickies wrote another theme song for a motion picture. This time it was for Lucas Reiner's time travel comedy film '' Spirit of 76'', which stars David Cassidy, Leif Garrett, Devo, and Red Kross.

1991 saw the release of another live Dickies album, this one entitled ''Live In London - Locked 'N' Loaded'', put out by German label ''Rebel Rec.'' It was recorded at ''the Dome'' in London on October 11, 1990.

On June 4, 1993 the Dickies headlined a one day festival called the ''Milwaukee Mega Jam''. Other acts on the bill included Green Day (a half year before the release of their breakthrough Dookie album), Agent Orange, and the Didjits. Also in 1993, the band released a 3 song EP entitled ''Road Kill'' on Triple X Records.

In addition to whatever personal issues the Dickies had to cope with in the middle part of their career, there was also the commercial challenge of the decline of the original punk scene, replaced by post punk, college rock, underground hardcore punk, and, eventually, alternative rock, none of which provided the Dickies with a suitable milieu. Therefore, the profile of the band was uplifted with the rise of California pop punk in the 1990s, with successful bands like the Offspring and Green Day citing the Dickies as an influence. Leonard Phillips noted in a 1994 interview that "We are being recognized in a mainstream way again."

One outgrowth of the revived attention given the Dickies, and attempts by interviewers to connect them to the current scene, was a minor feud with Green Day. This resulted from a misunderstood joke from the Dickies camp, often repeated (it was a stock answer to a frequent question), saying the multi-platinum selling Green Day should support their forbears by "passing the hat" at a stadium gig to fund a punk rock retirement home. One shortened version of this idea had Stan Lee saying "they should just write us a check", which was interpreted as Green Day ripping the Dickies off. This led to salty quotes from the former band directed at the Dickies in an issue of ''Guitar World'', which Leonard Phillips describes as being " WWF" style: the Dickies are "the most bitter old bastards", who are "just another Ramones rip-off". Apparently it blew over, as Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt would attend Dickies shows after this, and was friendly in his interactions with them.

By the time of ''Idjit Savant'' (1994), the Dickies had released their third consecutive album which followed a prolonged recording hiatus, at least with respect to studio LPs. About this state of affairs, Leonard Phillips told the Chicago Tribune "every few years, it's me and Stan against the world with three new faces behind us." Axl Rosenberg of MetalSucks wrote of ''Idjit Savant'' that it is "one of the best pop-punk albums of all time", superior to American Idiot. He also noted that it was recorded during a time of dour grunge and angry nu metal music, and called the Dickies album possibly "the feel good album of the 90’s". The Dickies toured with Gwar in the fall of '94 supporting this release.

The holiday compilation ''Punk Rock Xmas'' (1995) by Rhino Entertainment includes the Dickies version of "Silent Night". Other artists on the collection include Ramones, The Damned, Fear, and Stiff Little Fingers. A compilation that the Dickies were "conspicuously" absent from, however, was Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits (1996). This compilation featured alternative and punk bands covering songs from cartoons. Entertainment Weekly labeled the Dickies "the kings of the genre", and noted they had already covered three of the album's songs; a fourth, "Spider-Man", the theme song for a comic character which is a frequent visual motif of Stan Lee's guitars and stage apparel, went to a band the Dickies shared many concert bills with- the Ramones.

Jonathan Melvoin, who played drums on ''Idjit Savant'', died of a heroin overdose on July 12, 1996 in New York, aged 34, while on tour playing keyboards for the Smashing Pumpkins.

A reviewer for a November 1998 Dickies concert in Hartford, Connecticut suggested that most attendees were old school punks wearing "vintage leather jackets" and "buttons that could be artifacts at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame". The writer quotes Leonard Phillips as sarcastically indicating his willingness to court a younger crowd by rebranding the Dickies as an "alternative" punk rock band.

The Dickies closed out the decade by recording an all-covers album, ''Dogs From the Hare That Bit Us''. Jack Rabid, noting that the Dickies had a long history of recording covers, some of which are "terrific", gave this release a very favorable review, writing that although the latest batch were more reverent and less humorous than some previous efforts, it was "still frickin' great and a lot of fun."

Turn of the century (2000–2009)

Stan Lee negotiated the band's ''Fat Wreck Chords'' deal by fibbing to label owner Fat Mike, a Dickies fan who had, in 1996, obtained a 4 song demo the Dickies had recorded. Neither Lee nor Leonard Phillips had heard of the label head/NOFX front man, but were filled in by a member of the Dickies camp. Lee claimed that he had "an album's worth of material" ready to record, when in fact the band actually only had the 4 songs. Following this claim, a deal was agreed upon, but the L.P. was delayed by the amount of time it took to come up with and record an appropriate amount of material. The resulting record found a prominent fan in Milo Aukerman. The scientist/Descendents front man has stated that ''All This and Puppet Stew'' gave him encouragement to continue playing into advancing middle age. "I was just extremely impressed with how they put out a great record t that age It definitely set the kernel in my mind that you could be in your late 40s and still put out a record that full-on brought the punk rock from start to finish."

''Spectrum Records'' released the 18 song compilation ''The Dickies – The Punk Singles Collection'' in 2002.

In the Summer of 2003 the Dickies were part of a package tour of classic punk bands. Called "Fiend Fest", it was headlined by the Misfits, and, besides the Dickies, also featured The Damned, Agnostic Front, D.I., Marky Ramone, Dez from Black Flag, and Japanese band Balzac.

The Dickies played the 2004 Ramones 30th Anniversary tribute concert in Los Angeles, which was filmed. The Dickies are also in the 2006 documentary ''Too Tough to Die: A Tribute to Johnny Ramone'', along with X, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joan Jett, Rob Zombie, and others. The film features footage from the 2004 concert, which was held in particular to honor the then seriously-ill Ramones guitarist. The Dickies perform "You Drive Me Ape (You Big Gorilla)" and the Ramones song "Today Your Love (Tomorrow the World)", and in interview footage, they talk about their shared history with the New York band. Another video release from this period is entitled ''The Dickies: An Evening With the Dickies'' (2005, Secret Films).

The Dickies played the 2007 Warped Tour, a North American punk rock festival, for the first time in what would be four consecutive years, and five years total.

Leonard Phillips provided guest vocals on the Vibrators' cover of "vibrator" by Motörhead, on the former band's ''Pure Punk'' album (2009).

The decade closed on two sour notes, as a pair of former Dickies died in the year 2009. Enoch Hain (born Robert Frederick Orin Lansing, Jr.), Dickies guitarist for a period stretching from the late 1980s into the mid 1990s, died on July 25, 2009 from complications arising from pneumonia. And original drummer Karlos Kabellero (born Carlos Cabellero), who gave the band its name and was one of its songwriters during his tenure, died on September 22, 2009 from heart-related problems.

Present day (2010–present)

In 2010, The Dickies hit cover of "Banana Splits" provides the soundtrack to a hyper-violent action scene in the superhero movie '' Kick Ass.''

The new decade found the Dickies on the road. Reviewing an August 2011 headlining concert in Bristol, England, a writer remarked on their enduring appeal in that country. The mix of young and older attendees was noted, and it was stated that the event had a "timeless" feel. Back in the U.S. for the 2012 Riot Fest in Chicago, the Dickies played the "after party", along with NOFX, Adicts, and the Casualties.

The Dickies live dates in 2013 included Rob Zombie's ''Great American Nightmare'' fest in Los Angeles, and supporting the Damned in Birmingham, England. Regarding the latter, an impressed reviewer suggested that the Dickies were "the perfect support act for the Damned", and praised the band for "having the balls" to play their "crunching take" on Black Sabbath's "paranoid" in that band's hometown. Other tour dates that year included concerts in the US northeast. The band continued to tour consistently through 2014 and 2015, including dates throughout North America, one of which was the 2015 Gwar B-Q, and also shows in Australia.

Secret Records released ''Banana Splits'' (2016), which is the title of both a DVD and a CD documenting a 2002 Dickies concert in England, featuring a guest performance from Michael "Olga" Algar of Toy Dolls. With respect to live performances from the calendar year 2016, the Dickies toured the US and Europe, and were part of the 2016 Rebellion Festival in the U.K. Unfortunately, Phillips became ill with gallstones during a ferry trip from the Netherlands, leading to a hospital visit and endangering the scheduled performances. With the singer's encouragement, the band performed the dates without him, in a "Dickies karaoke" format. Vocal duties were handled by fans, members of the band's entourage, and by guest punk notables, including members of The Rezillos, the Vibrators, Leftover Crack, the Exploited

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