Slaughter And The Dogs

Slaughter And The Dogs (Murder And The Cats) were from the notoriously tough Manchester suburb of Wythenshawe (once the skinhead capital of the North) and formed when Wayne Barrett (vocals) and Mike Rossi got together at Sharston High School in 1974. Drummer, Brian (Mad Muffett) Grantham was acquired on a bus! Bassist Howard ‘Zip’ Bates joined them in late 1975 (though its rumoured they tried out Peter Hook but rejected him). For a while they were a two guitar band with Mike Day aka Spider but he left due to musical differences (he liked prog rock including Camel!)

The unusual name for the band came from Wayne who came up with it whilst lying in bed prior to their first gig…. a mixture of Diamond Dogs by Bowie and Slaughter on 5th Avenue By Mick Ronson…hence Slaughter And The Dogs! They were going to be called Wayne Barrett and The Mime Troupe!

Managed by Mike’s brother Ray, they did the usual rounds in local clubs and working men’s clubs doing covers of Lou Reed and Bowie and started writing their own numbers. Going from strength to strength and picking up good press, they found themselves at the forefront of an emerging Manchester punk scene along with Buzzcocks and The Drones mirroring the London scene. Wild Ram who were later to become The Nosebleeds were also friends and they will feature in this story.

They blagged their way onto the famous bill of the Lesser Free Trade Hall gig in 1976 with The Sex Pistols and Buzzcocks and managed to get themselves as second on the bill and first on some posters advertising the event and missing out Buzzcocks! They came on stage with long hair, satin, guitar poses a la Ronson etc and were hammered by the press and audience.

Wayne Barrett We really deserved the slagging we got when we first started, but I think its gone on a bit long, we should given the chance to show what we can do. Shy Talk 2, Manchester Fanzine

But after seeing The Sex Pistols look and sound and after taking to heart the criticisms, they were astute to enough to see which way the wind was blowing as they cut their hair (Wayne dyed his green), changed their clothes and took on the new style like so many other bands of the time.

Glen Matlock I liked them…I thought they were a fun kind of band. I didn’t consider them to be a punk band although they got involved in that ‘coz that was what was going on at the time.

Tony Wilson They probably had a little bit too much Bowie and a little too much Mick Ronson but nevertheless they were good. Quotes I was There, David Nolan

Support also came from one Rob Gretton who created the fanzine Manchester Rains devoted to the band. He’d seen them in early 1976 and had been attracted to their sound and energy. Rob would go onto manage them and help finance their first single. He would also manage Joy Division and New Order and co found the Hacienda.

Listening to their earliest recording demos like Its Alright and Edgar Allen Poe that were released on DJM in 1979 they sound like glammed up gothic heavy metal with EAP in particular an extended heavy guitar workout. Soon songs were shortened and toughened up.

On Malcom McLaren’s (Sex Pistols manager) advice they set of for London and the Roxy Club. Mike Rossi “The aim after the Free Trade hall thing was for us to try and hit London.”

Their gigging schedule grew heavier and they were soon playing at leading London punk venues like The Roxy and Vortex as well as others like the Marquee and Nashville. Live they were quite a sight with Wayne in schoolteacher robes and his predilection for talc in the absence of smoke generators! The Roxy Club gave the band their first recording break when they appeared on its top 20 live album with two songs Boston Babies and Runaway. They also appear in Don Letts’ Punk Rock Movie filmed at the Roxy

This led to a one off classic punk anthem single Cranked Up Really High/The Bitch (Rabid 1977) which in turn led to the band being signed by Decca joining Cock Sparra on their punk roster. Three singles followed in quick succession. The classic football hooligan song Where Have All The Boot Boys Gone/You’re a Bore (1977), a cover version Quick Joey Small/Come On Back (1978 with Mick Ronson their hero), and Dame To Blame/Johnny T (1978). However disillusionment at poor sales and Decca’s ability to promote the band and delaying the release of the album recorded in late 1977, caused them to split in June days before Do It Dog Style (1978) was released in July.

Also involved was a split between the 2 key band members Wayne and Mick

Mick Rossi Our egos were getting bigger… Wayne had met this French girl. Wayne went back to London and he fucked off – gone. Woke up one morning and he’s gone away. Wayne and I had this rivalry. We were both guilty. Naivety played a massive part in the split.

The split is short-lived before the strangest version of the band comes together featuring Billy Duffy on guitar and Morrisey on vocals (bringing Motown influence!) on vocals in September 1978. Both had been in the last incarnation of The Nosebleeds. This lasted till October when they audition in London with another record company and fail.

Mick Rossi Morrisey was very shy, very introvert. We recorded four songs with him but it just didn’t work out.

This morphs into a brief attempt as the Studio Sweethearts featuring Billy Duffy (ex Nosebleeds and later to reappear in The Cult) and Phil Rowland (ex Eater) along with Bates and Rossi released one single I Believe/It Isn’t Me on DJM to total silence. Unable to get gigs, and realising there was a market still for Slaughter (DJM had also released I’m Alright just before), the band reformed in mid 1979 with Phil Rowland on drums, and released the raucous Ready Now / Runaway (DJM 1979). It was short lived. Wayne Barrett then left again and Ed Banger (ex Nosebleeds – how incestuous is this getting?) was drafted in. There we leave it as the story goes out of our time frame.

Like many bands of the time, that coincided with punk, they had the energy and modified their look. But as punk and musical tastes changed they faced the dilemma of what direction next and adding in not getting commercial success meant the band cracked. It’s somewhat ironic that a band that was predominantly glam and became punkier are seen as the godfathers of Oi/Street punk on the strength of the single Where Have All The Boot Boys Gone and regularly feature on that style of compilation.

Signing to Decca was a bad move in hindsight as like Cock Sparrer and Adam And The Ants, Slaughter got nowhere.

Decca was in decline and no longer a major player. They were also out of touch and Decca made some classic mistakes. When picture covers were all the rage in punk they released their last 2 singles without one, whereas issues abroad came with some fine covers.

Zip Bates Some people might see them as a boring old fart company but at the same time just look at some of the bands that started with Decca – Lizzy, Stones, Bowie – they’ve had a lot of bands that via Decca have really developed. That’s what we want to do. They also concentrate on one band. Sounds Interview. 24.9.77

Cranked Up Really High/The Bitch (Rabid May 1977)

“Exciting and invigorating, that’s how I see the track. It was put down in one take. We didn’t know musically what we were doing, but it was fired with passion and aggression.” Mick Rossi Mojo 2001

“This is the second excellent 45 to emerge from Manchester…The vocals on this single are incredible. ‘My God you’re a bitch!’. Fast loud, mean and f***ing good. This is better than their contribution to the Roxy album…” Septic Ears fanzine June 1977

Where Have All The Boot Boys Gone/You’re a Bore (Decca September 1977)

Worthy successor to ‘Cranked’. Hyperspeed playing and riffing with some of the strangest lyrics I’ve heard in a cautionary tale of skinheads, gangs and violence as related by Wayne.

Wearing boots and short hair cuts.
We will kick you in the gut,
But no luck they’ve all grown up.
They drink tea from a cup.
Some get married and settle down.
Others they leave for a foreign town.
Fighting gangs every night.
We use sticks hit ’em in the Kite.

Where have all the boot boys gone ?
It looks like I’m the only one.
The one!

Dame To Blame/Johnny T (Decca November 1977)

Great track. Punky, glammy, superb hooky chorus with a tinge of sixties harmonies and a guitar solo with a wah wah. Of course it sank without a trace.

May be too much for the punks and not enough for the rockers. B side, Johnny T, horrendous in a bad rock’n’roll attempt and allegedly about a certain hero Mr Johnny Thunders.

Quick Joey Small / Come On Back (February 1978 Decca)

Aggressive uptempo version of this old chestnut from 1969 by Kasenatz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus and featuring their hero and producer Mick Ronson.

You know Slaughter could easily have been Sweet or Mud. Three singles in six months and not a sniff of success. Because of this the band said enough is enough and split just before releasing their album.

It’s Alright / Edgar Allen Poe / Twist And Turn /UFO (TJM May 1979)

Slaughter reformed in 1979 and signed to DJM, arguably the Manchester equivalent of Decca (check out the fortunes of labelmates Satans Rats, Skrewdiver & Rikki & The Last Days On Earth)

First release was these early demos from late 1976. The playing and quality is high. Its Alright sounds mighty similar in sound and style to Hawkwind’s Kerb Crawler! Not bad though pick is the more heavy metallish Edgar Allen Poe

Ready Now / Runaway (November 1979 DJM)

Following the damp squib that was the Studio Sweethearts and the short lived version of the band featuring Billy Duffy and Morrisey (!) the Dogs came roaring (barking?) back with this call to stomp your feet and shout at the moon. Great single complete with a studio version of Runaway last heard of on the Roxy Album. Crap cover for the single though. Unfortunately another damp squib and Wayne was off again and the Dogs as we knew them were no more till Ed Banger of friends Wild Ram/Nosebleeds joined.

Do It Dog Style (Decca June 1978)

It’s fair to say the album did not get favourable reviews not least because it felt dated.

Ian Penman’s NME one is reproduced in full below

UNFORTUNATELY, A posthumous debut album. Quite something, not even the anti-Christ (Sex Pistols) managed to pull that off.But it is a rather sad,inevitably obvious affair. A pink tombstone. An obscene epitaph.Slaughter and The Dogs always seemed to be struggling to keep their head ‘above water, despite the brash leering. Two songs together on side-two encapsulate: “Keep On Trying” and “We Don’t Care”. They were always trying, enjoying it I guess and really I don’t suppose they do care, now that it has fizzled But does anyone else? As I said, they always seem to have been the archetypal doomed-to-fail, semi-detached. Unable, unwilling, or perhaps destined, they never kept abreast of the meteoric custom-chimges of the quote-punk-unquote demi-monde. Lacking the sophistry and petit-proletariat sulks perpetrated by their immediate peers, lacking the paraphernalia of a decent record company/management behind them to prod or to purify, they were never anything more than ragged, never anything less than endearingly, optimistically vulgar.

Contrast them with very close contemporaries(geographically, historically) Buzzcocks: the canyon, savage one this, between Identity and Identi-Kite The failure to resolve initial enthusiasms, the naive and insolent sense of ‘pop’ and perhaps, the rage into something ‘attractive’ (however perverse).Imprecise, unpalatable, albeit well-intentioned, they scream/scramble away into oblivion. Perhaps to be remembered in years to come with the same twisted affection we reserve for curios like ? And The Mysterions and other such fossils dredged up from a by-gone age by chance bulldozers.

A case might almost be made for Slaughter and The Dogs, even if it is also a casket.They could be the only ‘real q-punks-u’. They were,laboriously it seems, a round peg in the proverbial square. Uh, the Decca record label? For a debut/commemorative album they deserve better than “Do It Dog Style’s” conscientiously awful sleeve, one destined to repulse rather than attract sales. (Look again to Buzzcocks.) Am I missing some point?

Their music came out of the Reed-Bowie as Ziggy-Ronson adulation experience, later the “I’m Bored You’re Boring, I’m Sick You’re Sickening etc.” epiphany and was, the routine disease, peppered with the graceless savoir-fast of last year’s morons -— The Ramones (boys from New Yack, New Tack).”Where Have All The Boot Boys Gone” sounds like a diesel engine corroding in motion, Sham 69 stuff, not that it kindles fond memory or the like in me. “Victims Of The Vampire” -“Boston Babies” and “I’m Mad” all flounder for the reasons inherent in their titles: bit like reading The Victor, or The Hotspur. “Quick Joey Small” features Ronson the cameo guitar, more ripping-tearing through comic-strip/ITV life. Never ‘dumb’ or ‘trashy’ (I cough here), never the ‘intellect’ evinced by people like Rezillos, Ramones, Table, and soon The Soft Boys. Slaughter and ‘Ihe Dogs weren’t lucid enough to be ludicrous.

Slaughter and The Dogs didn’t know why they were using the words, perhaps they didn’t even know why they were degenerates (?). They had, many people had, fun-while-it-lasted, as is usually said on occasions such as this. The world didn’t need, will it mourn? Unfortunately, I’ve got a headache and I’ll have to leave. I can never stay a wake

Ian Penman, 29.6.78, NME

Balancing it out with some Amazon review quotes

One of the all time classic punk albums combining anarchic punk, cutting New York Dolls style guitars meaningful lyrics (since you’ve been away)and even a touch of British teen humour (we don’t care) and 70’s punk style (Where Have All The Boot Boys Gone) mixed with the completely mad Victims of the Vampire & I’m Mad.

and

Apart from the opening track Where Have All The Boot Boys Gone, which is a slice of pure amphetamine yob punk, the rest of the album would happily sit in with anything The Sweet a British Glam Rock band had released 3 years prior to the Punk Rock explosion. It’s fast, raucous stomp along pop with a rather weird American accent from Wayne Barrett. It took a couple of listens but I really like it, file along with Eddie and The Hot rods rather than The Pistols.

Live At The Roxy (June 1977 EMI Harvest)

Wayne Barrett The punters loved it, in a kind of punkish way. I think, if my memory serves me well enough, we played three times there. It was the Pistols manager, who after playing with them in Manchester, said we should go down to London to play there.

It was the to-be icons who hung out there, and there was always the press lurking in the corners, waiting to get the scoop.

The other good thing was, you had the right to do what ever you wanted and you was sure after playing there, you get a fuck for the night, coz the place was full of bitches.

To be honest about it, it was a right shit hole, but it was the in place to play If you wanted to get the press. The cool thing about it was the DJ [Don Letts] who played dub all night. I thought his tweeters had blown on the PA system, but he told me later, that’s how Dub sounded!

We never recieved a penny on the royalties from the album. I don’t know how many it sold, but we got fuck all. The Roxy album was just another scam compilation. It didn’t really help as we had Rabid records at that time in Manchester. Although it became an all time classic. The Roxy Club WC2, Paul Marko

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Streets Compilation – Beggars Banquet (1977)

Slaughter And The Dogs featured on this much loved compilation called Street on the Beggars Banquet label that featured New Wave/punk acts and with a cover by Art Attacks singer Edwin Puncey aka Savage Pencil.

Rabid Dogs (Rabid November 1978)

GOOD NEWS first, Slaughter are in the process of reforming.
Now the maybe not so good news. Can they ever hope to recapture the level of energy and excitement displayed throughout these two sides of limited edition black vinyl? If you ever caught The Dogs, as we call them in the trade, you’ll no doubt be aware of the total chaos and disorder they frequently whipped up on stage with talcum powder everywhere and groups of shell-shocked zombies stretched out on top of each other front of stage. Slaughter gigs were not the sort of places you brought your baby sister to— not without ear-muffs.

This album captures the band’s madcap madness effectively, with the Dogs’ faves leaping out and grabbing you by the short and curlies before you’ve got time to say Punk Rock. They’re all here, ‘Where Have All The Boot Boys Gone’, ‘Victims Of The Vampire’, ‘Boston Babies’, all of them recorded at Belle View Manchester on July 9th this year taped by Dave Goodman and packaged by ‘sloppy opportunists,’ Rabid.

You can tell it’s live by the godawful playing but that’s the least of our worries, isn’t it? What you get is the familiar Dogs’ on-stage warmth and conscious (and often unconscious) humour, Mike Rossi terminating each song with his hallowed “Roight, tanx ladz, tanx velly moocha Magic. Straight into the next toon and the fever is back. It’s scooby-doo rock and roll trundling along frantically and perching you on the edge of your sweat stained seat as it just misses coming off the rails again and again. Aaaah !

Contact Rabid Records in sunny Manchester if you can’t get a fix, men, and remember, the slaughter in your life can be the labrador at your feet.
DAVE McCULLOUGH, Sounds 4.11.1978