Fang Mail, Pt. 21

Thought we'd share some more "fang mail" from folks who've actually purchased the Imperial Dogs' Live! In Long Beach (October 30, 1974) DVD:

"For the first time on DVD, a completely electrifying proto-punk group who made their first appearance in the '70s. They were on the scene a while during that period without having had the chance to record an LP. Which is very sad, because the potential was there. This was proto-punk in the same vein as the DOLLS/STOOGES/BLUE OYSTER CULT/DICTATORS with a volley of super titles," writes Arsene Obscene leader Francois Ibanez on the Rock In Nice message board here.

"Obviously, you won't listen to this using the latest sound technology," Ibanez continues. "The guy shot the film -- in trashy black and white -- from 100 meters behind the audience, which didn't move the entire hour. I imagine that in 1974 the crowd had to be a bit blase. The film dwells for five minutes on some girl's doughy butt -- the only person moving -- oscillating between the songs as in a trance.

"The sound quality is still strangely 'almost' acceptable, and the band give their all, especially the singer with his pants kissing his pubic hair a la Iggy. There's a pathetic, albeit intentionally humorous, side to all this, which adds an aspect of the beautiful loser. A good, though forgotten, group."

Special thanks to original Back Door Man staffer/South Bay homegirl D.D. Faye for the French-to-English translation.

"The Imperial Dogs Foresaw Punk In Style, Songs & Sound"

"The Imperial Dogs were a hard-edged, confrontational, raw rock band that foresaw punk in their manner of dress (leather-clad biker trash cum a glammed-out, street/Sunset Strip look: shirtless with dog collars, furry pants, face make-up, and skull-and-crossbones drawn on their chests), song subjects (a menacing kiss-off to the hippie '60s titled 'This Aint The Summer Of Love'), influences (Iggy & The Stooges, the MC5, the Velvet Underground, the New York Dolls), and sound (high-energy, guttural, street-tough and wild)" ...

"Their songs were tight hard-rockers with tough subject matter, full of hellacious rebellion and energy. 'Midnite Dog,' '13 Sons Of Satan,' Amphetamine Superman,' and 'Rock 'N' Roll Overdose' serve as a good idea of where these guys were coming from" ...

"Track down the Imperial Dogs' Live! In Long Beach (October 30, 1974) DVD the next time you're saddling up for a night of drunken debauchery and howling at the moon."

All this is just the tip o' the tongue-bath that proto-punk aficionado Nick Myers gives "crazed, L.A. rock 'n' roll combo" the Imperial Dogs here.

Fang Mail, Pt. 20

Thought we'd share some more "fang mail" from people who've actually purchased the Imperial Dogs Live! In Long Beach (October 30, 1974) DVD:

"I can't believe you guys didn't get more recognition!" writes Scott Taylor from England. "It makes me wonder why bands like the Sex Pistols and the Damned gained so much infamy when the Imperial Dogs were being loud and challenging years before! The Imperial Dogs have become a big influence on our band -- we intend to cover one of your songs soon -- and have inspired us to give a big 'FUCK YOU' to the wishy-washy popular bands in our native Derbyshire and beyond! Thanks for your piece of history!"

Fang Mail, Pt. 19

Thought we'd share some more "fang mail" from folks who've actually purchased the Imperial Dogs' Live! In Long Beach (October 30, 1974) DVD.

"You did the Midnite Dog imperially, indeed," writes longtime music journalist/author Don Snowden from Valencia, Spain. "Good thing 'An Evening Of Sex, Violence And Public Outrage" (as promised on the flyer for the gig) was held in the Multi-Purpose Room, but then I guess that's why they built one of 'em ... I presume Don Waller passed on the name of his tailor to (Cramps frontman) Lux Interior."

Imperial Dogs Unleash Two New Video Clips: 'Just Kids' And 'Intensity 21.5'

On November 11, 1974, the Imperial Dogs performed live! at Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco before a packed house of Hollywood glitterati, including the band's spiritual godfather, Iggy Pop.

To celebrate the 36th anniversary of this footnote in rock history, we've
uploaded two new video clips,which can either be viewed below or here and here.

The first, "Just Kids," features the Imperial Dogs emphasizing the power in "power-pop." (Pop group, are ya?)



The second, "Intensity 21.5," is the sonic result of the Imperial Dogs' experiments in better living through chemistry. (The title is an oblique reference to the density of lead, the heaviest of metals.)



Both of these clips are taken from the Imperial Dogs Live! In Long Beach (October 30, 1974) DVD, which sports superior audio and video quality than these low-res versions and is available directly from this site. (Details can be found in the left-hand column on the first page).

Stupefaction's Before & After Series Spotlights The Imperial Dogs & The Blue Oyster Cult (& L7 & Lizzy Borden)

The latest installment in the Stupefaction blog's ongoing "before and after" series (found here) spotlights the Imperial Dogs' original version of "This Ain't The Summer Of Love" -- taken from the Live! In Long Beach (October 30, 1974) DVD -- alongside subsequent recordings by the Blue Oyster Cult, L7, and Lizzy Borden, all of which are taken from various Youtube postings.

And ... as almost everyone reading this sentence already knows, "This Ain't The Summer Of Love" has also been recorded by the Nomads (as the Screamin' Dizbusters), the U.V.'s, and Current 93 as well as interpolated into Green River's second version of "Swallow My Pride."

Spatziba: Imperial Dogs Rediscovered!

"Found my Imperial Dogs LP Unchained Maladies on the Dog Meat label and it blew my head off again," writes Simonk here on the Spatziba site.

"I loves me some of that Detroit guitar thang: Stooges, MC5, Mitch Ryder, Rationals, Sonic's Rendevous Band, and the likes," continues Simonk. "So when I was first exposed to the Imperial Dogs I was hooked. I knew there was a posthumous 7" in '78 and the LP on Dog Meat. Then I found this stuff on youtube from a recently released Live! In Long Beach (October 30, 1974) DVD and wow ... I mean WOW!!!

"I need to get this DVD, as any fan of rock and, of course, roll, will need to. There's not really much 'round now that gets close to this!"