The Dogs are an American three-piece

proto-punk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music played mostly by garage bands from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. The phrase is a retrospective label; the musicians involved were generally not originally associated wit ...

band formed in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

, United States, in 1968. They are noted for presaging the energy and sound of the later

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

genres. Originally formed by guitarist/vocalist Loren Molinare and bassist Mary Kay with drummer Ron Wood, and based in Lansing, The Dogs played with the rock and proto-punk bands of the time including

Amboy Dukes The Amboy Dukes were an American rock band formed in 1964 in Chicago, Illinois, and later based in Detroit, Michigan. They are best known for their only hit single, "Journey to the Center of the Mind". The band's name comes from the title of a ...

The Stooges The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave ...

MC5 MC5, also commonly called The MC5, is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The original line-up consisted of Rob Tyner (vocals) Wayne Kramer (guitar), Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), and Dennis ...

, and

The Up The Up (often styled as The UP) was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Detroit, Michigan in early 1967. Along with fellow proto-punk bands the MC5 and The Stooges, The Up served as a "house band" for the Grande Ballroom in Detroit. Career ...

. The band relocated to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

in 1973, and then to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1974 where they played with other bands of the glam and pre-punk scenes such as

KISS A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

The Dictators The Dictators are an American punk rock band formed in New York City in 1973. Critic John Dougan said that they were "one of the finest and most influential proto-punk bands to walk the earth." Origins The band was formed in 1972 by Andy "Ad ...

Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

, and The Stilettos (pre- Blondie). The band moved again to the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

in 1976, releasing their debut 7” "John Rock" on

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

’s Dynamic Recording label, and playing with hard rock bands such as

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

and

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

as well as new wave groups like

The Motels The Motels are an American new wave band from Berkeley, California, that is best known for the singles "Only the Lonely" and "Suddenly Last Summer", each of which peaked at No. 9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, in 1982 and 1983, respectively. In ...

and

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

. Moving to the UK in 1978, The Dogs toured Britain and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, in support of second 7” ''Slash Your Face'', self-released on the band’s own Detroit Records imprint that year. The band returned to the US in 1980 but went on hiatus in 1981 with the departure of their drummer; they reformed with new drummer Tony Matteucci in 1983, but went on hiatus again in 1989 when Molinaire joined Little Caesar. Interest in the band revived following the inclusion of their songs on the '' Killed By Death'' compilation series, with their records subsequently becoming collectors’ items. ''Slash Your Face'' was reissued and the ''Fed Up'' compilation released on Bacchus Archives in 2001. The band reformed and new material followed on Dionysus Records in 2003 in the form of debut album proper ''Suburban Nightmare''. The Dogs toured the Far East in 2007 and 2013 in support of a series of releases on Japanese label Future Now Records, beginning with double CD tribute ''Doggy Style'' featuring covers of Dogs tracks by local groups and notable

garage punk A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...

s such as

The Bellrays The Bellrays (also capitalized as The BellRays) is an American rock group that combines garage rock and punk with soul music, founded in Riverside, California in 1990 by vocalist Lisa Kekaula and guitarist Bob Vennum. They have been with severa ...

as well as unreleased Dogs material. The band played

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

festival in 2009 and 2014 and

NXNE North by Northeast (or NXNE) is an annual music and arts festival held each June in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The festival's main focus is live music, but it also includes an eSports gaming tournament, comedy, a conversations series, a flea marke ...

festival in 2009. Second album proper ''Hypersensitive'' was self-released in 2012 and a new EP ''Aint Going Nowhere'' in 2016.

Discography

Singles and EPs

*”John Rock”/"Younger Point of View" (Dynamic Recording/1976) *''Slash Your Face'' 7" EP (Detroit Records/1978) (Bacchus Archives/2001) (Last Laugh/2017) - "Slash Your Face"/"Fed Up"/"Are You A Boy Or A Girl?" *”Tough Enough”/"John Rock" (Brain Transplant/1998) *”Class of 1970”/"Rebel Rock" (Dionysus/2001) *''Ain’t Going Nowhere'' 7" EP (Smelvis Records/2016) - "Not Working For The CIA", "Call My Name", "Let's Go Baby" * ''Welcome to the Revolution'' Digi Single (Die Laughing/2020) *Split 7" with Glitter Trash (New Fortune) - "Something To Believe In" (with Jenna Talin)

Albums

*''Suburban Nightmare'' LP/CD (Dionysus/2003) *''Hypersensitive'' CD (Detroit/2012)

Compilations

*''Fed Up'' LP/CD (Bacchus Archives/2000) LP (Dionysus Records/2011) Cass. (Burger/2015) *''The Dogs Unleashed...Doggy Licks'' CD/DVD (Future Now/2013) - live recordings

Compilation appearances

*''Saturday Night Pogo'' (

Rhino A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

-1978) - "Younger Point Of View" *''Killed By Death: Rare Punk 77-82'' (Redrum-1988) - "Slash Your Face" (as Dogs) *''We're Desperate: The L.A. Scene (1976-79)'' (Rhino-1993) - "Younger Point Of View" *''Doggy Style'' 2XCD (Future Now-2007) - "LA Times (unreleased Live", "Motor City Theatre (unreleased Live)", "John Rock (unreleased Live) - The Dogs tribute album *''A Tale Of Rotten Orange'' (Orange Fight-2010) - "You Can't Catch Me" *''Tribute To Sonny Vincent'' 3XCD (Disturbed-2019) - "Call My Name" *''Internationale Top-Hits'' (

BASF BASF Societas Europaea, SE () is a German multinational corporation, multinational chemical company and the List of largest chemical producers, largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters is located in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The ...

) - "Imagine Me Imagine You"

References

External links

Official website 2008 interview 2016 interview Suburban Nightmare review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dogs, The Musical groups established in 1969 Protopunk groups Punk rock groups from Michigan