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scott kempner

  • top ten scott kempnerThe reformed Dictators have announjced the sad news that Scott "Top Ten" Kempner is being forced to retire due to ill-health.

    The band made the announcement on Facebook overnight, saying the rhythm guitarist and member of the Del-Lords has early stage dementia:

    The Dictators are sad to announce that our brother Scott Kempner will be leaving the band due to health reasons. Scott has been diagnosed with early stage dementia, We spoke to him yesterday and he wants everyone to know he is feeling fine. 
     
    Our relationship with Scott goes back 50 years. The band was a shared vision and Scott’s sense of rock and roll history and our place in it along with his arrangement and songwriting skills kept us on the right course over the years. We will be forever grateful. 
     
    As many of you know, The Dictators recently reformed, Scott’s enthusiasm played a major role in our decision to make music again. We will miss his contributions in the future.

  • dont-fade-awayWhatever happened to Andy Shernoff? He might have turned his back on his old band but the Dictators’ main songwriter is alive and well enough to be charting his own solo musical course these days. This is his debut solo EP from 2012 and there’s a lot to like about it.

  • dictators 2024 keith blueNew Dictator Keith Roth flanked by (from left) Andy Shernoff, Albert Bouchard and Ross The Boss.  

    As far as reformations go, it was a longshot at best. We speak not of Oasis, but the much more seminal and important Dictators,out of New York City, who all and sundry figured had drawn their last collective breath after some bitter internal fallings-out.

    The May 2020 announcement that the Dictators were reassembling - sans longtime frontman Handsome Dick Manitoba) - caught the world unaware. Before the first single, “Let’s Get The Band Back Together”, hit the Interwebs, it seemed similarly implausible that the new line-up was recording.

    A new album, the plain language-titled “The Dictators” will be released online and on CD in September, with vinyl to follow in October. Which leads us to ask: How did punk rock’s original misfits and premier proto-punk influences find their way to being a band again?

    Co-founder and songwriter Andy Shernoffgives us all the answers, live and on the line thanks to the wonders of Zoom…

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