The Dicks

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The Dicks also refer to the former WWE tag team of Chad and James Dick

The Dicks are a band considered influential in introducing the sound of hardcore punk, particularly in their home state of Texas.

Formed in Austin in 1980, the members were Gary Floyd, Buxf Parrot, Pat Deason and Glen Taylor. Their first single Dicks Hate The Police, released in 1980, brought them much attention (it was later covered by Mudhoney) and is now regarded as a classic hardcore record. They often played with fellow Texans Big Boys and in 1981 released a split album entitled Live At Raul's with them (outtakes from the same recording session were released as a limited edition double-7" set more than 10 years later). They also played with MDC, whose independent record label R Radical Records released some of their later recordings. As a style of music, hardcore punk seemed to spring up in various cities at the same time, and it is these three bands which are credited with its conception in Texas. After a few years Floyd relocated to San Francisco and, with new members Tim Carroll, Sebastian Fuchs, and Lynn Perko (formerly of all-women band The Wrecks), a second version of The Dicks began recording and playing. The LP Kill From The Heart was released in 1983 on SST Records and These People followed in 1985 on Alternative Tentacles.

As a politically radical band they did not shy from controversy. Singer Gary Floyd was one of a handful of openly gay musicians in the hardcore scene. His songs "Saturday Night at the Bookstore" and "Off Duty Sailor" address issues of homophobia and sexual identity. The Queercore band Limp Wrist pays homage to Floyd and Randy Turner from the Big Boys, as well as Joshua Plague of Mukilteo Fairies and Behead The Prophet, No Lord Shall Live, as pioneers in this respect on their 2004 song "Ode".

Gary Floyd later started the hard blues rock band Sister Double Happiness in San Francisco in the late 1980s. After that band ended he formed and primarily played in Europe with The Gary Floyd Band; an overview of this material, "Backdoor Preacher Man," is available in the United States. Toward the late 1990s, Floyd played in Black Kali Ma, who released an album on Alternative Tentacles Records. Floyd is now in a band called the Buddha Brothers. Buxf Parrot and Pat Deason, of the original Dicks, play in the Austin, TX neo-bluegrass band Shootin' Pains.

In 2004 and 2005, the Dicks played a series of reunion concerts in Austin and beyond. The lineup for the shows consisted of the original Dicks, with the exception of Glen Taylor, who had died in 1997. His role was filled by Brian Magee. At the Austin show, the band was joined in singing "Wheelchair Epidemic" by David Yow, whose band the Jesus Lizard had covered the song on multiple records and who made the song a staple of their live act.

Discography

Hate The Police 7" - R Radical Records, 1980
Live At Raul's Lp (Split With The Big Boys) - Rat Race Records, 1980
Kill From The Heart Lp - SST Records, 1983
"Gilbeau" - Cottage Cheese from the Lips of Death Compilation- Ward 9 Records, 1983
Peace? 7" - R Radical Records, 1984
"I Hope You Get Drafted" - P.E.A.C.E. compliation - R Radical Records, 1984
"Legacy of Man" - Rat Music for Rat People Compilation Vol. 2 - CD Presents, Ltd, 1984
These People Lp - Alternative Tentacles, 1985
Live At Raul's 2x7" (Split With The Big Boys) - Selfless Records, 1992
Hog 7" - Delta Pop Music, 2006
Ten Inches 10" - Delta Pop Music, 2006
Dicks Live CD "Hungry Butt" - The HotBox Review Label, 2006