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Posted on 11/30/2013 10:18:23 AM PST by a fool in paradise
Lead singer and drummer for the ’60s garage rockers the Standells, has passed away. He was 68 years old.
Dodd, who came to fame via the Standells’ big hit, ‘Dirty Water’ in 1966, had been battling stage four cancer. His illness was only recently announced via his Facebook page, and a Go Fund Me page was set up. A posting recently stated, “The doctors have found two places in Dick’s brain. Right now, they aren’t going to worry about it. The tumor in his esophagus will be treated with chemo directly into the tumor. He won’t be able to eat, so he will have a feeding tube. His spirits, however, remain upbeat.”
Though they only had one Top 40 hit, the Standells have long been considered gararge rock royalty among fans with countless classics like ‘Why Pick On Me?,’ ‘Try It,’ ‘Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White’ and the theme song from the movie ‘Riot On Sunset Strip,’ in which the band appeared. Despite the ‘Boston, you’re my home’ lyrics in ‘Dirty Water,’ Dodd was California born-and-bred. He was an original member of surf rockers the Bel-Airs, and as a child, was a Mickey Mouse Club Mouseketeer.
‘Dirty Water,’ which hit No. 11 on the Billboard charts in the summer of 1966 has had a long life outside of the band, and been covered by countless acts. It has become the official victory song of the Boston Red Sox due to its references to the city, and the band has actually performed at several Red Sox games.
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Oh wow. I just youtubed the song. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard the whole song before, but I know the song’s openin from a dozen different commercials/tv shows, etc. Just a monster riff. Great tune, too!
RIP, Mr. Dodd.
May he rest in peace, in the great garage in the sky
thuggers, buggers or something else?
I think that is John Fleck on the right (who was in the early version of Love and got a songwriting credit on their song I Can’t Explain, not to be confused with the Who’s song Can’t Explain; John also wrote the early Floyd-ish All Fall Down oddly enough when PF was also on Tower).
John was later in the early version of War.
Louie Louie...
The Standells were also banned for “Try It”.
Chuckle. You just told us something about your age. I used to listen to that in my bedroom on a little 8 transistor AM radio. IIRC it was WLOF in Orlando.
"RIP Dick!!!!As fate would have it, the Standells were all together, not performing, but enjoying the evening (a rare event) when we received the news that Dick Dodd had passed away at the age of 68. There’s also a metaphor in his departing on Black Friday. Dick always had a wry sense of humor.
Unknown until recently, Dick had been suffering from esophageal cancer for quite some time.
Because we were in a nightclub, I was only able to fire off a quick announcement via cell phone on the Standells Facebook page.
I’ve known Dick since he was about 20 years old. The first time we met was when he walked into P.J.’s nightclub to audition for the Standells. He had a tough job to fill; we desperately needed a drummer who could sing, as we were about two weeks away from recording our first record album. Until that time, I had done all of the lead singing, and I need someone else to share the load. As soon as Dick sat behind the drums and began sing and play, I knew we had found the right person! Not only did he knock our socks off, but survived some very lame jokes about his being a former Mouseketeer.
The album, “The Standells in Person at P.J.s” came off without a hitch. Dick even managed to sing a couple of songs on it. As time went on, Dick gradually assumed more and more of the lead singing. When we signed with Greengrass Productions (Ed Cobb’s company), Dick was chosen as the lead singer on our first record “Dirty Water”/ “Rari”. After that, he did most of the lead singing. I never regretted it.
Dick was an incredible talent, both as a drummer and singer! In addition, Dick was a very kind and gentle person, always there for his friends when they needed him, and on a number of occasions giving gifts to associates. He also was very caring to his friends.
Last year during my bout with prostate cancer, he called me every week offering words of comfort. I understand that he did the same for many of his friends. The attached photo is one of Dick’s favorites; it’s a split shot showing Dick during the '60s, and as he was earlier this year. Dick is survived by his wife Janie and daughter Nicole. He passed away at 10:00 pm Friday evening, appropriately with drumsticks in his hands.
Rest in peace Dick. We miss you, but know that you’re in a better place!"
- Larry Tamblyn (on keyboards)
muggers
Johnny “Fleck” Fleckenstein - bass guitar (1965–1966)
That was typical back on those days as the copy was generally written by some old fart with a typewriter who couldn't give a hoot about some long-haired "rock and roll" band.
There’s a great outtake of Casey Kasem starting to read off the names of the members of U2 in their early days, and he gives up saying “WHO CARES?” “They don’t mean diddley squat!!!”.
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