The Dickies still play the hits

Los Angeles punk legend the Dickies are the seminal West Coast pop-punk band that laid the blueprint for punchy, catchy guitar rock that bears on influence on songs by everyone from Green Day, Screeching Weasel, and the Descendents to Ty Segall, Black Lips, and the late Jay Reatard. Founding guitarist Stan Lee and singer Leonard Graves Phillips are carrying on a 28-year legacy by sparking nightly sing-alongs of the band's comedic originals and sped-up cover songs at tour stops around the world.

??
Though the band recorded songs fairly consistently from 1978 to 2001, including the theme for the 1988 cult classic film Killer Klowns from Outer Space, the Dickies' legacy still rests on two of the first California punk albums issued by a major label, Incredible Shrinking Dickies and Dawn of the Dickies issued in 1979, both on A&M Records. That same year saw A&M release the band's best-known single, a cover of the Banana Splits Adventure Hour theme that was a top 10 hit in the U.K. and won over a new audience in 2010 after its inclusion on the Kick-Ass soundtrack.

??
The group was way ahead of the current vinyl boom's obsession with limited-run variants, as there were often colored vinyl versions of those early records. "Banana Splits," naturally, was available on yellow wax. This trend was such a strong selling point for Dickies' releases that Lee still second guesses a decision the band made regarding 1979 single "Manny, Moe and Jack," named after the three Pep Boys mascots. "We wanted it black like a tire," he said. "The label wanted us to use a different color, and that decision probably cost us a hit record."

??
Despite numerous personnel changes and punk's fluctuating popularity, the band never stopped touring. Its current lineup pairs Lee and Phillips with former D.I. bassist Edward Tater, guitarist Little Dave Teague, and drummer Adam Gomez.

??
According to Lee, there's a good reason why the 21st century Dickies prefer touring over recording. Prior to the official release of 2001's All This and Puppet Stew (Fat Wreck Records), he had a harrowing experience that opened his eyes to how the Internet was reshaping the music industry. "They sent me an advance box of 25 of the CDs 10 days before it came out," he says. "I called a friend and told him I was going to bring him the album. He said, 'Oh, this?' and held his phone to his speaker and I heard the thing coming over it. I thought, 'What the fuck? It's not out for two weeks!' He was like, 'What do you mean? It's all over the Internet.' From that point on, I knew it was all over. The record business as we knew it, I knew was done."

??
Without new albums or singles to promote, the Dickies stick to the group's best known songs when putting together set lists. "We don't do anything live that hasn't been heard because it's going to get recorded and put out on the Internet," he says. "Also, no one would know it anyway. Did people clap for 'Stairway to Heaven' before that was a hit?"

??
Recent tours have opened Lee's eyes to at least one positive created by the Internet. "The great thing that's happened from Spotify, Pandora, and things like this is 16-year-old kids showing up knowing the lyrics to our songs because the music is free," he says. "You could be listening to Pandora and dial up a Ramones song not knowing anything about the Dickies, and one of our songs plays because it's in the genre. It's definitely helping in filling up rooms with people, for sure."

??
Lee and Tater recently stopped in Atlanta for the Wrecking Ball kickoff on Fri., Aug. 7, performing Punk Rock Karaoke with guitarists Greg Hetson (Bad Religion, Circle Jerks), Eric Melvin (NOFX), and drummer Derek O'Brien (Social Distortion, The Adolescents). The five punk vets play live karaoke in cities across the country, with audience members handling lead vocals. "They asked me to do it because Eric from NOFX couldn't do a show," Lee says. "I just said, 'Do you do 'Sonic Reducer'?' They said yeah, so I was in. Then they handed me this fucking list of 100 songs, and I was like, 'Wait a minute. Maybe I'm not in!'"

??
Joining a live karaoke band that plays a lengthy list of punk rock standards turned Lee on to a lot of the music he helped inspire, as he admits he had never listened to fellow American punk pioneers like Misfits, Descendents, and Minor Threat beforehand. "We do Wire's '12xU' and a girl jumped up on stage and asked us if we can do the Minor Threat version," he says. "I was like, 'Minor Threat does a version of that?' I had no idea."

??
Like some of the younger faces in the Dickies and Punk Rock Karaoke crowds, Lee is in a wide-eyed phase of discovering time-tested sounds. "We were on some East Coast thoroughfare, and one of the guys starts blasting N.W.A.," he says. "I was like, 'What is this?' Now I use it to battle the screaming kids in the pool next door. I might even see the movie. I was driving down the street the other day and saw a billboard and was like, 'What, there's a movie? I didn't even know this group existed a month ago!'"

??
A busy touring schedule is worth it for Lee, especially when he gets to play timeless tunes audiences know by heart. Besides, there's still punk lifers and young Pandora listeners clamoring to see the Dickies play the hits. "It's still fun to plug your guitar in and pop a crowd," he says. "If it ceases to be fun, maybe I'll stop. But better gigs keep coming in. I was asked 20 minutes ago if we'll come to Panama."