| Released: 1985 (Underwhere Records) Produced by: Steve Ames |
| Side One | Side Two |
|---|---|
| Girls With Glasses Alright No Matter What I Do Beep Beep! |
Around You World Goes On Things Are Stressful Pipeline Walk Don't Run |
The Dishes were a short-lived power-pop/garage/party band from Houston. They are practically absent from the Internet, so if anybody has additional info on the band's history, please contact me or leave a message in the comment section. Now to the music:
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| Texas Monthly, December 1985, p. 192 |
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| The Rice Thresher (Rice Univ), January 23, 1987, p. 10 |
Sadly, I never got see the band live. However, I found a copy of the cassette and I'm glad I did because it contains two additional tracks, covers of surf rock classics "Pipeline" and "Walk Don't Run." As an added bonus, the band autographed the j-card:
I'm guessing the tape was originally purchased at one of the group's live shows. I bought it on the eBay.
- Girls with Glasses: This was recorded in Houston? It sounds more like the retro SoCal pop of the early '80s (Go-Go's, Josie Cotton, Bonnie Hayes) with a bouncy bass line underneath the Farfisa organ.
- Alright: I'm not much of a fan of the verse, but dadgummit that's a catchy hook in the chorus. Earworm for days.
- No Matter What I Do: The band does its best Nick Lowe imitation and I have to say they do a heckuva job with it.
- Beep Beep!: They pseudo-car horn noises get annoying quickly in this one. At least the lyrics are funny.
- Around You: Fantastic power pop song with vocals from Barbara.
- World Goes On: Like "Alright" on side one, this doesn't have a good verse but hella chorus.
- Things Are Stressful: A pseudo-reggae pop song with hilarious lyrics.
- Pipeline: Fairly straight ahead cover of the surf rock classic. Probably a favorite at live shows.
- Walk Don't Run: See above.
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Too bad you didn't see them live. They put on a great show.
ReplyDeleteI saw "The Dishes" several times in Houston and in Bryan when I was a student at Texas A&M in the 80s. They were a fun band, a really friendly bunch too. Jimmy was funny. His best bit was personifying Elvis and craving pocket mayonnaise pizzas. I have an autographed copy of their "Hot Diggity Dog" album I purchased at one of their shows. They did a lot of 60s covers, Beatles and some surf type stuff. Their last song was usually Dickie singing "I am the walrus". Great memories. Here is a youtube url to a show I believe I was at! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiEF6RZrbko
ReplyDeleteNot sure if my previous comment posted, but this url has recorded one of their live shows in Houston. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiEF6RZrbko
ReplyDeleteUsed to catch their shows at a little club in Huntville, TX (Touch of Texas). Was always great!
ReplyDeleteThe Dishes were a highly sought party band at Rice in the 80s, and their live performances always outshone the few recordings I heard. They routinely did a cover of "Baby Elephant Walk", and Jimmy Raycraft's guitar work on it was a thing to behold.
ReplyDelete