dictators every day is saturday

Okay.  True story; this.  I’m in Red Eye Records, Sydney, cruising the racks.  Trying to find that new audio kick.  I chance upon this item.  Surely, I have every damn thing the Dictators ever released.  What is this thing?  A cursory glance at the back cover says it came out in 2008.  I reach for my mobile phone and jump to the I-94 Bar for the good word and there isn’t one to be had.  There is no frigging review.   Clearly, I had better rectify this situation.

It’s such an obvious idea it’s a wonder somebody didn’t do it years ago. In the ranks of proto-punk/high-energy rock and roll, New York City’s Dictators stand tall (pun intended) so why wouldn’t you compile 20 of their most lethal weapons on one convenient (Australia only) disc?

This album did not change my life. It affirmed it. When I was a pre-teen I was way into Pro Wrestling. That translated to automatic retard status among peers and adults. After all, it was fake, only an idiot would be so into it. And having Slade as my favorite band was not earning me any coolness points at school either.

And then, first darned rock mag I ever bought - either Circus or Circus Raves - there was a review by one Gordon Fletcher of this now-classic. Man, it sounded like everything I was looking for. I got the LP right away and was blown away by everything about it.

Most especially the songs of course, but also the graphics - just like my wrestling mags - and the fact that not only did they have wrestling promos on the record, they knew who Verne Gagne and Dick The Bruiser were. They really knew their stuff! Plus, like me, they were Jews from NYC.