The Dickies

Original American punk band, The Dickies formed in 1977 in San Fernando Valley, California, with Leonard Graves Phillips (vocals, keyboards), Stan Lee (guitar), Chuck Wagon (born Bob Davis, keyboards, saxophone, guitar), Billy Club (bass) and Karlos Kaballero (drums). Pioneers of humorous punk-pop, they made a name for themselves with their dazzling, offbeat covers of 1960s-1970s tunes, signing to A&M Records in 1978, becoming the first Californian punk band to join a major label and appear on TV's C.P.O. Sharkey. Their debut album, The Incredible Shrinking Dickies (February 1979), reached #18ᵉ in the UK charts and included hit singles such as their cover of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid " (#45 in the UK). Released in October 1979, the second album Dawn of the Dickies delivers the hits "Banana Splits (Tra La La Song)" (No. 7) and their cover of "Nights in White Satin" (No. 39). After this dazzling debut, several albums followed: Stukas Over Disneyland (1983), Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988, cult soundtrack), Second Coming (1989), then Idjit Savant (1995). 2001 saw the release of their sixth studio album, All This and Puppet Stew (2001). After numerous personnel changes, some involuntary, with the deaths of Chuck Wagon in 1981, Jonathan Melvoin in 1996, then guitarist Enoch Hain and Karlos Kaballero in 2009, The Dickies now comprise founding members Phillips and Lee, plus Eddie Tatar (bass), Adam Gomez (drums) and Ben Seelig (guitar).