Pavlov's Dog is a 1970s
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
/
AOR band formed in
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
, in 1972. The name is a reference to the animal(s) used by
Ivan Pavlov
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (, ; 27 February 1936) was a Russian and Soviet experimental neurologist and physiologist known for his discovery of classical conditioning through his experiments with dogs. Pavlov also conducted significant research on ...
in his experimentation into
classical conditioning
Classical conditioning (also respondent conditioning and Pavlovian conditioning) is a behavioral procedure in which a biologically potent Stimulus (physiology), stimulus (e.g. food, a puff of air on the eye, a potential rival) is paired with a n ...
.
History
Early years and split
Pavlov's Dog was composed originally of vocalist David Surkamp, guitarist Steve Levin, keyboardists David Hamilton and Doug Rayburn, bassist Rick Stockton, drummer Mike Safron, and violinist Siegfried Carver (born Richard Nadler). Levin left the band during their inaugural year and was replaced by Steve Scorfina (formerly of
REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon (originally stylized as R.E.O. Speedwagon), or simply REO, was an American Rock music, rock band from Champaign, Illinois. Formed in 1967, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial suc ...
). Carver departed the band following the release of the band's debut album ''
Pampered Menial''. ''Pampered Menial'' was briefly released in 1975 on
ABC Records
ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels bef ...
but then quickly re-issued by
. The result was that two versions appeared in stores at roughly the same time. The album was produced by
Sandy Pearlman
Samuel Clarke "Sandy" Pearlman (August 5, 1943 – July 26, 2016) was an American music producer, artist manager, music journalist and critic, professor, poet, songwriter, and record company executive. He was best known for founding, writing for, ...
and
Murray Krugman, who had found success earlier in the decade producing
Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American rock band formed on Long Island, New York, in the hamlet of Stony Brook, in 1967.
They have sold 25 million records worldwide, including 7 million in the United States. ...
.
For their second album ''
At the Sound of the Bell'' (1976), Tom Nickeson was added to the line-up on guitar; he switched to keyboards following the departure of Hamilton. A raft of guest artists contributed to the album, including jazz saxophonist
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as a performer and composer, received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in ...
and
Roxy Music
Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry (lead vocals/keyboards/principal songwriter) and Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson (bass). By the time the band recorded their Roxy Music (album), first albu ...
's
Andy Mackay.
Bill Bruford
William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording and tou ...
played the drums on this album, due to the absence of Safron, and when Safron did not receive a promised credit on the album sleeve, he departed the band permanently and was replaced by Kirk Sarkisian. This line-up of the band remained until their dissolution in 1977.
The band recorded a third album in 1977, but due to poor sales of the first two albums, Columbia refused to release it, hastening the band's split. The third album appeared as a bootleg in the 1980s, a limited edition pressed from stolen master tapes. It was released under the name ''The St. Louis Hounds'', without Pavlov's Dog being credited on the sleeve. The third album finally was titled ''
Has Anyone Here Seen Sigfried?'', remastered, appended with 10 bonus tracks of unreleased material from the 1970s, and released legally in 2007 by German label Rockville Music. The German label TRC bootlegged the album, under the title ''Third'', but this version does not include the bonus tracks.
When the band split up in the late 1970s, Surkamp was rumored to be dead, although in fact he was working with
Ian Matthews on a band named Hi-Fi. While living in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, this group was successful on the club scene and recorded a 5-track live 12" EP in 1981 entitled ''Hi-Fi Demonstration Record'', a studio album in 1983 entitled ''Moods for Mallards'', and a Christmas single "It's Almost Christmas". Records were released on the First American label and distribution was mostly limited to the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...
. Label owner Jerry Dennon got into legal trouble with the US Justice Department as part of a master tape tax shelter scam. He pled guilty to tax fraud in May 1985, while continuing to proclaim his innocence.
Reformation and return to music
In 1990, Surkamp and Rayburn reformed the band and recorded ''Lost in America'' for US label Telectro Records, which was re-released worldwide by Rockville Music in 2007, after TRC had also bootlegged it in the late 1990s. Scorfina performed on some of the sessions for this album.
On June 26, 2004, a reunion concert featuring Surkamp, Safron, Rayburn, Stockton, Hamilton, and Scorfina took place in St. Louis, and in 2005 Surkamp and Safron reformed the band with Surkamp's wife, Sara, on vocals and guitar, Ray Schulte on lead guitar, Royal Robbins on keyboards, Tim Duggen on bass, and Andrea Young on violin. This line-up toured Europe annually in 2005 and 2006, playing the 2006
Arrow Rock Festival in the Netherlands in front of 54,000 people.
After the 2006 tour, Schulte, Robbins and Duggen were replaced, and the new line-up was then: David Surkamp (vocals and guitar), Mike Safron (drums), Sara Surkamp (vocals and guitar), "Bongo" Bill Costello (mellotron), Bill Franco (lead guitar), David Karns (bass), Michael McElvain (keyboards) and Andrea Young (violin). This line-up played two tours in 2007, including the first tours in Greece and Crete in March 2007, and then touring Europe in the summer of 2007 playing venues such as Spirit of 66 in Verviers, BE as well as headlining both the Burg Herzberg Festival in 2007 (25,000 people). This coincided with the 2007 release of a solo album by Surkamp, ''Dancing on the Edge of a Teacup'', by Rockville Music. The Burg Herzberg performance had also been filmed and recorded, but has not been released in any but bootlegged formats.
In 2008, David Karns, Bill Franco, Michael McElvain and Andrea Young were unable to return due to previous commitments (Karns and Franco playing with Anthony Gomes, Young playing with the Reverse Cowgirls and McElvain finishing his graduate music studies). To fill the spots, the Surkamps hired Phil Gomez (keyboards), Randy Hetlage (lead guitar), Abbie Hainz Steiling (violin), and saw the return of Rayburn, playing bass. This lineup again toured throughout Europe in 2008 playing many venues as well as the Woodstock Festival in Dornstadt (Germany) in 2008 (5,000 people).
In 2009 Doug Rayburn was unable to return, and Rick Steiling was brought in on bass. Also not returning were Phil Gomez and Randy Hetlage. Bill Franco was asked back on lead guitar and Nick Schlueter was brought in to handle keyboards and mellotron parts, reducing the lineup to seven members. This lineup toured Europe from 2009 through 2012, playing its most extensive tours to date including the band's first dates in the U.K. and the Fiesta City Festival in Verviers, BE in 2012, sharing the stage with the legendary Blues Brothers Band (Steve Cropper, "Blue"
Lou Marini
Louis Eugene Marini Jr. (born May 13, 1945), known as "Blue Lou" Marini, is an American saxophonist, arranger, and composer. He is best known for his work in jazz, rock, blues, and soul music, as well as his association with The Blues Brother ...
, Donald "Duck" Dunn, et al.). During this time, Pavlov's Dog recorded two shows in 2009 (Augsberg and Karlsruhe, the latter filmed), with the Augsberg show being released for the album ''
Live and Unleashed''. Also released was the studio album ''
Echo & Boo'' in 2010.
Bill Franco exited the band in May 2013, and after auditions, Amanda McCoy was brought in on lead guitar. Pavlov's Dog again toured Europe in 2013, backing a re-release of ''Has Anyone Here Seen Sigfried?'' with the addition of live bonus tracks of the band with the lineups from 2007, 2011 and 2012. There was no Pavlov's Dog tour in 2014, though David and Sara Surkamp went on a brief solo acoustic tour in the U.K. and Germany. During this time, Nick Schlueter exited the band, and after auditions, Nathan Jatcko was brought in on keyboards for the 2015 tour through Europe.
''The Pekin Tapes'', a collection of demos recorded in
Pekin, Illinois
Pekin ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tazewell County in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located on the Illinois River, Pekin is the largest city of Tazewell County and the second most populous municipality of the Peoria metropolitan area ...
, in 1973, was assembled from master tapes and released in 2014, also by Rockville Records. It was intended to be the band's official debut album until ABC made them record ''Pampered Menial''. The tapes were lost when the studio burned down, but surviving copies were discovered in a private inheritance.
Siegfried Carver died on May 30, 2009; he was 60 years old. Doug Rayburn died on September 21, 2012. Stockton died on February 17, 2015. Nathan Jatcko, the latter day keyboardist with the band, committed suicide on January 17, 2018. On January 31, 2021, the band announced the death of their former drummer and manager Manfred Ploetz. On October 3, 2022, the death of lead guitarist David Malachowski was announced. Subsequently, the "Hair of the Dog" 2022 fall tour which was to start in the same month in Europe, was postponed.
Band members
;Current members
* David Surkamp – vocals, guitar
(1972–1977, 1990, 2004, 2005–present)
* Sara Surkamp – vocals, guitar
(2005–present)
* Abbie (Hainz) Steiling – violin, mandolin
(2008–present)
* Rick Steiling – bass
(2009, 2011–present)
* Mark Maher – keyboards
(2018–present)
* Steve Bunck – drums
(2019–present)
;Former members
* Mike Safron – drums
(1972–1976, 2004, 2005–2014)
* Doug Rayburn – keyboards, flute, percussion, bass
(1972–1977, 1990, 2004, 2005–2008; died 2012)
* Rick Stockton – bass
(1972–1977, 2004; died 2015)
* David Hamilton – keyboards
(1972–1976, 2004, 2024)
* Siegfried Carver – violin, viola
(1972–1975; died 2009)
* Steve Levin – lead guitar
(1972)
* Steve Scorfina – lead guitar
(1972–1977, 2004)
* Tom Nickeson – keyboards, guitar
(1976-1977)
* Kirk Sarkisian – drums
(1976–1977)
* Ray Schulte – lead guitar
(2005–2006)
* Timothy Duggen – bass
(2005–2006)
* Andrea Young – violin
(2005–2007)
* Royal Robbins – keyboards
(2005–2006)
* "Bongo" Bill Costello – mellotron
(2006–2009)
* David Karns – bass
(2006–2007)
* Bill Franco – lead guitar
(2006–2007, 2009–2013)
* Michael McElvain – keyboards
(2007)
* Randy Hetlage – lead guitar
(2008)
* Nick Schlueter – keyboards
(2009–2013)
* Amanda McCoy – lead guitar
(2013–2017)
* Nathan Jatcko – keyboards
(2015–2018; died 2018)
* Manfred Ploetz – drums
(2010, 2013–2018; died 2021)
* David Malachowski – lead guitar
(2018–2022, died 2022)
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
Pampered Menial'' (1975) - AUS #23
[
* '' At the Sound of the Bell'' (1976) - AUS #37][
* '']Lost in America
''Lost in America'' is a 1985 American satirical road comedy film directed by Albert Brooks and co-written by Brooks with Monica Johnson. The film stars Brooks alongside Julie Hagerty as a married couple who decide to quit their jobs and tra ...
'' (1990)
* '' Has Anyone Here Seen Sigfried?'' ( bootlegged in 1977, officially released in 2007)
* '' Echo & Boo'' (2010)
* '' The Pekin Tapes'' (2014)
* '' Prodigal Dreamer'' (2018)
Live albums
* '' Live and Unleashed'' (2011)
* '' House Broken'' (2016, DVD/CD)
Compilations
* '' The Best of Pavlov's Dog'' (1995)
* '' Pavlov's Dog Essential Recordings 1974-2018'' (2024)
Singles
References
External links
*
Pavlov's Dog at the Borderline, London November 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pavlov's Dog (Band)
American progressive rock groups
Musical groups established in 1972
Musical groups from St. Louis