LEONARD GRAVES

Leonard Graves Phillips, co-founder and lifelong member of Californian punk icons The Dickies, is poised to reveal all about his 50 year career with the band, in a hefty, high-quality hardback autobiography.

Published on August 21, The Dickies And Me comprises some 50 chapters spread across 230+ pages, all packed with the extreme ups and down of one of the longest-running punk bands in existence ,as well as stories from Leonard’s turbulent life.

A riot of absurdist humor and thoughtful reflection, the story is accompanied by a host of incredible behind-the-scenes photos, and cartoon illustrations by the brilliant KRK Ryden who has collaborated with Devo and others.

It is half a century since Leonard, his friends Bob “Chuck Wagon” Davis and guitarist Stan Lee, plus bassist Billy Club and drummer Karlos Kaballero, first emerged as The Dickies – and swiftly became the first California punk band to appear on network TV and score a major record deal.

A lot of musicians, deals and music have passed through the ranks since those frenetic beginnings, but still The Dickies remain true to their original ideals, a breakneck good-times punk band that is as comfortable maiming rock’n’roll’s most sacred cows as it is quick firing out its own wild compositions.

Such recent singles as “ Gary Glitter Getaway,” “I Dig Go-Go Girls,” and last year’s blistered take on the David Cassidy smash “Cherish” are as resoundingly classic Dickies fare as any of the hits from their earliest years – “Nights In White Satin,” “Gigantor,, “Paranoid,” “Banana Splits.”

For 50 years, too, The Dickies’ influence upon the American punk scene has proven incalculable, as they first defined and then regularly reinvented what the music meant.

Leonard says, “Writing in autobiographical terms is like shining a flashlight around a vast, darkened warehouse, landing on significant moments that lead one through the labyrinth.”

“Much of the focus is on the original band (of which Stan Lee and I are the remaining members), its formation, and our halcyon days with A&M Records, especially in England.” However, it reaches out from there, he acknowledges, to chronicle “my life before, during, and (metaphysically speaking) after The Dickies.”

He writes of the music that inspired him to follow this course, recalling the first time he ever heard The Ramones (“on a local radio station in Los Angeles”), their “Blitzkrieg Bop” anthem scything through the airwaves as he and a friend were out driving.

The Dickies themselves were already up and running, although Leonard’s original intention was to lead a prog rock band. That changed as bands like The Quick and the UK’s visiting The Damned followed The Ramones into his heart. Then, as the local scene began embracing a sound that was as far from the American mainstream as it was possible to travel, so The Dickies pushed themselves to the front of the queue.

Even their first manager, John Hewlett – former bassist with English freakbeat heroes John’s Children – was checking out another band entirely the night he first saw The Dickies, but by the end of their set, he knew his evening was complete.

“From the moment I saw The Dickies, I thought they were great, they were everything I’ve ever looked for in a band. To me, they were what Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are to films, putting everything in and getting the most out again.” Anybody familiar with John’s Children’s own music and legend will recognize that as high praise indeed.

As for The Dickies’ legacy, Stan is unequivocal in his awareness of what the band means. “The Dickies were spawned as a direct answer to what punk rock was in 1977. Our influences were such bands as The Ramones, The Damned, and even the Buzzcocks. A common thread among us is that we were influenced by the ’60s and ’70s pop that came before us.

“In contrast, present-day punk bands draw mainly from a pre-existing punk well. Stan once said, “We’re a pop band masquerading as a punk band.” His statement has its merits, but it is not entirely true. We were and are a punk rock band in every respect. We just happen to be musical.”

And very, very entertaining!

BOOK: https://cleorecs.com/products/the-dickies-and-me-by-leonard-graves-phillips-hardback-book-7-vinyl

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