The Dragons were a rock band based in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

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 ...

, that released seven albums between 1991 and 2005. The band was notably fronted by singer/guitarist Mario Escovedo, whose musical family also includes

Alejandro Escovedo Alejandro Escovedo (born January 10, 1951) is an American rock musician, songwriter, and singer, who has been recording and touring since the late 1970s. His primary instrument is the guitar. He has played in various rock genres, including punk ...

Pete Escovedo Peter Michael Escovedo (born July 13, 1935 in Pittsburg, California) is an American percussionist. "Pete Escovedo Biography & Awards" With his two brothers, Pete formed Escovedo Bros Latin Jazz Sextet, before Carlos Santana hired Pete and Coke ...

, Javier Escovedo ( The Zeros),

Coke Escovedo Joseph Thomas "Coke" Escovedo (April 30, 1941 – July 13, 1986) was an American percussionist, who came from a prominent musical family including five musician brothers and his niece, Sheila E. He played in various genres, including R&B, ja ...

, Paris Escovedo (the son of Coke Escovedo) and

Sheila E Sheila Cecilia Escovedo (born December 12, 1957) better known under the stage name Sheila E., is an American percussionist and singer. She began her career in the mid-1970s as a percussionist and singer for The George Duke Band. After leaving t ...

. Other members of The Dragons included Ken Horne (lead guitar), Steve Rodriguez (bass guitar) and Jarrod Lucas (drums). The band played a combination of glam, garage and punk rock, similar to

New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved much commercial succe ...

and

Hanoi Rocks Hanoi Rocks was a Finnish rock band formed in 1979. They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and they were also popular in Japan. The band broke up in June 1985 after drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley died in a drunk driving acciden ...

. Before starting The Dragons, both Escovedo and Rodriguez had played together in a local San Diego band called M-80. The Dragons formed in 1991 and later that year performed at the first of their 11 appearances at

South by Southwest 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 Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

. The band released an eponymous vinyl album in 1992 for the Spanish label Imposible Records. A year later they followed with a single for Poptone Records that brought them a lot of local radio exposure. In 1996, The Dragons recorded "Painkiller" for Scam-O-Rama records. Two years later in The Dragons signed a deal with Junk Records and released "Cheers to Me", "R.L.F." and "Kamikaze" in three consecutive years. The band followed that with a Japanese-only release "The Dragons." In 2003, The Dragons signed with Gearhead Records and released "Sin Salvation." Over the years, the band toured nationally both on the club circuit and as opening act for major bands. The band also filmed a music video for the song "Red Fox Room" directed by Mark Habegger. After 13 years and seven albums, the band announced it was parting ways in November 2005. Guitarist Horne moved back to his native Japan, and in 2008 joined

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

. The Dragons have since reformed with guest lead guitarists for a few one-off shows from time to time. Escovedo has since formed a new band called the Mario Escovedo Xperience (MEX for short) that plays music more akin to

Los Lobos Los Lobos (, Spanish for "the Wolves") are an American rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional music such as cumbia, ...

and the

Texas Tornados Texas Tornados is a Tejano supergroup, composed of some of country music's biggest artists who modernized the Tex-Mex style including Flaco Jiménez, Augie Meyers, Doug Sahm, and Freddy Fender. Its music is a fusion of conjunto (German and Norte ...

than the hard rock of The Dragons. Bass guitarist Steve Rodriguez died on July 21, 2015, aged 48.

Discography

Albums *1992 - "The Dragons" (Imposible Records) *1996 - "Pain Killer" (Scam-O-Rama Records) *1998 - "Cheers to Me" (Junk Records) *1999 - "Rock Like Fuck" (Junk Records) *2000 - "Live at the Casbah" (Junk Records) *2003 - "Sin Salvation" (Gearhead Records) *2004 - "Rock n Roll Kamikaze" (Gearhead Records) Singles *2000 - "Woah Yeah!" b/w "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" (Gearhead Records) *2004 - "Dirty Bomb" b/w "Save A Smile" (Gearhead Records) Compilations *1996 - "Red Fox Room" - ''Keep The Beat'' (Hairball 8) *2000 - "C'mon!", "Long Way To Go" - ''Welcome To Gearhead Country'' (Gearhead Records)

External links

This band's show doesn't have to go on; Breaking Up – The Dragons

The Dragons
– Amplify SD
Ex-Dragon Escovedo carries on family tradition

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dragons, The Rock music groups from California Musical groups from San Diego