Slaughter & the Dogs

Slaughter and the Dogs are an English punk rock band, formed in 1975 in Wythenshawe, Manchester, and were one of the first English punk bands to sign with a major label. Their original line-up consisted of singer Wayne Barrett, guitarist Mick Rossi, drummer Brian "Mad Muffet" Grantham and bassist Howard "Zip" Bates. Barrett and Rossi have led the band through various reformations with different lineups, including Mark Reback (drums) and Dam Graziano (bass), Noel Kay (drums) and JP Thollet (bass) amongst others.

Slaughter and the Dogs
Slaughter and the Dogs 2020/21
Background information
OriginWythenshawe, Manchester, England
GenresPunk rock, oi!, glam punk, hard rock
Years active1975–1979, 1979–1981, 1996–current
LabelsRabid Records, Decca, TJM Records, DJM, Thrush Records, Damaged Goods, Link Records, Receiver Records, Captain Oi! Records, Taang!, Dodgy Items, Castle Music, TKO Records, Amsterdamned, Cleopatra Records
Associated actsEater, the Nosebleeds
Websiteinstagram.com/waynob1
MembersWayne Barrett-McGrath
Varou Jan
Kris Banel
Aksel Boursier
Sofiène Yahiaoui
Past membersBrian "Mad Muffet" Grantham
Howard "Zip" Bates
Phil Rowland
Nigel Mead
Noel Kay
Jean Pierre Thollet
Dan Graziano
Mark Reback
Mick Rossi
Ed Garrity

History

Slaughter and the Dogs was founded in 1975 and the band name is a mix of Slaughter on 10th Avenue and Diamond Dogs, two of the band's favorite albums. They were one of the first punk rock bands in North West England. They supported the Sex Pistols at their gig at Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall on 20 July 1976.[1] This concert, more than any other single event, spawned Manchester's punk scene,[2] which was concentrated around the Electric Circus Club.[3]

The band befriended Rob Gretton, later to manage Joy Division, and with his financial help, became the first band to release a single on Manchester’s independent record label Rabid Records.[4] This debut single, "Cranked Up Really High", was released in June 1977 and is considered a punk rock classic, appearing in Mojo's list of the top 100 punk rock singles of all time.[5] It was also included on Streets, which has been described as an "essential" compilation album of early UK punk bands from a variety of independent record labels.[6]

The band were frequent visitors to London, and became one of the pioneering punk bands that played live in the first few months of the Roxy. They played their first concert there in January 1977, supported by the Adverts.[7] They headlined twice in February and once in March of the same year, supported by Johnny Moped. In April, they were supported by the Lurkers.[7] Their live renditions of "Runaway" and "Boston Babies" were included on the Harvest Records compilation album Live at the Roxy WC2.

After signing to Decca, the band released the popular "Where Have All the Boot Boys Gone?" single in late 1977, followed by "Dame to Blame" and "Quick Joey Small". Their debut album, Do It Dog Style, was issued in May 1978.

Barrett left the band for the first time after the March 1979 four-song EP "It's Alright".

Morrissey briefly replaced Barrett and recorded four songs with the band and they auditioned for a record deal in London. After the audition fell through, Slaughter & the Dogs became Studio Sweethearts, without Morrissey.[8]

Wayne Barrett reformed Slaughter and the Dogs (including Mick Rossi and new drummer Phil Rowland, formerly of Eater),[9] later in 1979 for one more single, the band's first on DJM Records. "You're Ready Now" was a cover version of Frankie Valli's 1966 solo single.

At the end of 1979, Barrett stopped the band for a second time, and Ed Garrity (of the Nosebleeds) replaced Barrett as frontman, and released the album Bite Back in 1980, as well as several singles from that album, and did a successful UK tour.

Barrett and Rossi reformed the band to headline the Holidays in the Sun Festival in 1996 with the addition of bass player Nigel Mead and drummer Noel Kay. Bassist Jean Pierre Thollet later replaced Mead. Barrett and Rossi continued to record and tour as Slaughter & the Dogs until 2019.

Slaughter And The Dogs released the Beware Of... studio album in October 2001 on Captain Oi! Records.[10]

In 2006, "Cranked Up Really High" was featured on North by North West: Liverpool & Manchester from Punk to Post-punk and Beyond (Korova), a three-disc box set compiled by Paul Morley that served as an overview of the punk, new wave and post-punk scene in those two cities.

In 2015, the band announced a one-off 40th anniversary show, "Back to the Start", featuring the original line-up of Barrett, Rossi, Bates and Grantham. Held at the Ruby Lounge in Manchester on 9 October 2015, it was filmed for later DVD release.[11]

In 2016, the band recorded the album Vicious in Los Angeles with a new rhythm section of Mark Reback (drums) and Dan Graziano (bass) and subsequently toured Japan in May 2016 and Europe in February and March 2017. It was released by Cleopatra Records on 16 September 2016 to rave reviews, including a 9-out-of-10 rating by Vive Le Rock magazine.[12][13] Cleopatra issued a live album, Tokyo Dogs, in 2017.[14]

On 9 February 2017, Slaughter & the Dogs embarked on a seven-week European tour, playing 33 shows in 10 countries.[15]

On 5 August 2018, Slaughter & the Dogs headlined the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool, England.[16] and then embarked on a successful two-week UK tour surrounding the festival date.[17]

Reviews
  • "A more consistent songwriting approach might have lengthened the Dogs' run, though their lack of airs ensured a winning team for a time. Any band cited by the disparate likes of New Order, the Stone Roses and Smiths' frontman Morrissey surely deserves another look".[18]
  • "More often mentioned for the big name connections rather than their actual music, Slaughter & the Dogs nevertheless remain one of the key players in the early punk scene."[19]
  • "Opinion on Slaughter is divided; glam chancers or punk? Who cares! What can't be denied is their songs are full of style, speed and tunes which coincided with punk and the Pistols. They deserved more but that's music for you ... Check 'em out on Don Letts 'Punk Movie' doing Cranked Up Really High."[20]
  • "Cranked Up Really High, Where Have All the Bootboys Gone? and You're Ready Now ... [are] their enduring punk classics."[21]
  • "Slaughter played with a rare conviction and power, soul-stirring napalm guitars that laid the groundwork for an entire generation of future punk minimalists."[22]

Discography

Studio albums

Singles
  • "Cranked Up Really High" / "The Bitch" (Rabid Records, June 1977)
  • "Where Have All the Boot Boys Gone?" / "You're a Bore" (Decca Records, September 1977)
  • "Dame to Blame" / "Johnny T" (Decca Records, November 1977)
  • "Quick Joey Small" / "Come on Back" (Decca Records, February 1978)
  • "It’s Alright" / "Edgar Allan Poe" / "Twist and Turn" / "UFO" (TJM Records, March 1979)
  • "You're Ready Now" / "Runaway" (DJM Records, November 1979)
  • "I Believe" / "It Isn't Me" as Studio Sweethearts (DJM Records, June 1979)
  • "East Side of Town" / "One by One" as Slaughter (DJM Records, February 1980)
  • "I'm the One" / "What’s Wrong Boy?" (Live) / "Hell in New York" as Slaughter (DJM Records, June 1980)
  • Half Alive E.P. ("Twist and Turn" / "Cranked Up Really High" / "Where Have All the Boot Boys Gone?") (Thrush Records, February 1983)
  • "Where Have All the Boot Boys Gone?" / "You’re a Bore" / "Johnny T" (Damaged Goods, 1988)
  • "Saturday Night Till Sunday Morning" (TKO Records, 2001)
  • "Situations" / "Quick Joey Small" (Brass City Boss Sounds, 2015)
  • "Manchester Boys" / "Where Have All The Boot Boys Gone" (Blighty Records, Nov 2020)

Live albums
  • Live Slaughter Rabid Dogs (Rabid Records, December 1978)
  • Live at the Factory (Thrush Records, 1981)
  • Where Have All the Boot Boys Gone? (Receiver Records, March 1994)
  • Live in Blackpool 1996 (Dodgy Items, 1997)
  • Barking Up the Right Tree (Amsterdamned, 1998)
  • Tokyo Dogs (Cleopatra Records, 2017)

Compilation albums
  • The Way We Were (Thrush Records, 1983)
  • The Slaughterhouse Tapes (Link Records, 1989) – studio outtakes, demos, and live recordings
  • Cranked Up Really High (Captain Oi! Records, 1995)
  • The Punk Singles Collection (Captain Oi! Records, 2000)
  • We Don't Care: Anthology (Castle Music, 2002)
  • Best of Slaughter & the Dogs (Taang Records, 2002)
  • A Dog Day Afternoon (TKO Records, 2003)

Compilation appearances
  • "Runaway" and "Boston Babies" on Live at the Roxy WC2 (Harvest Records, June 1977) No. 24 UK Albums Chart
  • "Cranked Up Really High" on Streets (Beggars Banquet Records, 1977)
  • "Where Have All the Bootboys Gone?" ("Cranked Up Really High" on later CD pressings) on the Oi! The Album (EMI, 1980)
  • "Cranked Up Really High" on the limited-edition box set of North by North West: Liverpool & Manchester from Punk to Post-Punk & Beyond 1976-1984 (Korova, 2006)
  • "Run Rudolph Run" on Punk Rock Christmas (Cleopatra Records, 2015)

See also

References
  1. Joynson, V. (2001) Up Yours! A Guide to UK Punk, New Wave & Early Post Punk, Borderline Productions, Wolverhampton, p. 344;
  2. Paul Morley. "Paul Morley on how the Manchester music scene changed for ever | Music". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  3. "the needle & the damage done". TrakMARX.com. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  4. "Rob Gretton bio". IanCurtis.org. Archived from the original on 20 April 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
  5. Mojo (October 2001). "100 Punk Scorchers", Issue 95, London;
  6. "Punk Rock... & Roll". TrakMARX.com. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  7. Thompson, D. (2000) Punk, Collector's Guide Publication, Ontario, Canada, p. 61 - 62
  8. Rogan, Johnny (1993). Morrissey & Marr: The Severed Alliance. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-3000-7.
  9. "Phil Rowland Discography". Discogs.com. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  10. O'Neill, Brian (16 October 2001). "Beware Of... - Slaughter & the Dogs | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  11. "SLAUGHTER AND THE DOGS (40TH ANNIVERSARY ORIGINAL LINE UP) I THE RUBY LOUNGE I FRI 9 OCT". Facebook. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  12. "Slaughter and the Dogs – Vicious (Vive Le Rock Review)". 7 September 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  13. Steve Huey "Slaughter & The Dogs - Discography" "AllMusic.com" Retrieved 30 October 2017
  14. "Slaughter & The Dogs – Tokyo Dogs (CD) – Cleopatra Records Store". Cleorecs.com. 25 August 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  15. "UK & European Tour Dates 2017 - Slaughter & The Dogs". Satd.band. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  16. "Line Up". Rebellionfestivals.com. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  17. "August 2018 UK Tour Dates - Slaughter & The Dogs". Satd.band. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. Strong, M.C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, Edinburgh, p. 147
  20. "Slaughter And The Dogs - Early Manchester punk, A Punk Rock History with Pictures". Punk77.co.uk. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  21. Larkin, C. (2002) 70s Music, Virgin Books, London, p. 404
  22. Thompson, D. (2000) Punk, Collector's Guide Publication, Ontario, Canada, p. 98
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