Steve James Jo "Dog" Almeida Bam Bam Ned Christie Nick Halls Karl Watson Dave Kusworth Paul Hornby Mark Drax Yella Mark Duncan Darrell Bath Tony Manno Nate Arling Adam Arling Rich Jones Neil Leyton Tom Spencer Share Ross Simon Hanson
The Dogs D'Amour are an English blueseyhard rock band formed in London in 1983. Over the years the band has had various line-ups, the only constant being vocalist Tyla.[1][2][3] Their music has been described as a mixture of the Rolling Stones, the Faces and glam punk.[4]
In 1991, the band broke up onstage, before reforming briefly in the early 1990s for the release of their sixth studio album More Unchartered Heights of Disgrace. After this, however, the most famous incarnation of the band ceased to exist. There was another brief reunion in 2000 and an album, but, throughout the 2000s, Tyla has been touring and releasing albums under the band name, which is vastly different from their older material.
In December 2012 the 'classic' line-up of Tyla, Jo 'Dog' Almeida, Steve James and Bam agreed to reform to play a series of benefit concerts for their long-time friend, and former bandmate, Paul Hornby, who was battling cancer. Hornby died on 7 July 2015.[6]
In January 2013, the band recorded an EP in Florida and announced live dates for the UK and Spain.
Style
The music of the Dogs D'Amour can be described as a mixture of The Rolling Stones and Faces-style blues rock and Hanoi Rocks-style glam punk. Unlike popular bands of the time, who often had misogynistic themes, the Dogs D'Amour relied more on romantic themes and a poetic lyrical style. Tyla was also a fan of Charles Bukowski, and many of his lyrics reflect Bukowski's prosaic style.[citation needed]
The Dogs' sound was firmly rooted in American blues music, and Jo Almeida's unique and distinctive slide guitar was reminiscent of blues masters like Lightnin' Hopkins and Charlie Patton. The Dogs began to show a strong country & western side on 1989's Errol Flynn (released as King Of The Thieves in the United States), a few years before alt-country came into vogue.[citation needed]
Biography
The origins of the band can be traced to The Bordello Boys,[7] formed in late 1982 by Tyla. An American vocalist who was staying in England at the time, Ned Christie (real name Robert Stoddard), was brought into the project and he gave the band the name The Dogs D'Amour, and co-wrote many early songs with Tyla. Guitarist Nick Halls, bass guitarist Karl Watson and drummer Bam completed the line-up.
The Dogs D'Amour played around fifty live shows during this era and recorded two separate recording session demos. On the strength of the demos, the band was signed to a record deal with Kumibeat Records from Finland. However, shortly before the band was scheduled to record their first album, Christie left the band in late 1983 because of musical differences with guitarist Tyla. Another reason for the split was that Christie had recently started another band with Bam called On The Wire and had his own recording commitments scheduled with that band, around the same time that the Dogs D'Amour were due to record their own first album. The entire line-up with the exception of Tyla and Watson left the band during this time.[8]
The State We're In: Tyla rebuilds the band
Tyla took over on lead vocals (while still playing guitar) to replace Ned Christie and recorded the band's first album, The State We're In, in early 1984.[8] Dave Kusworth from The Jacobites and Paul Hornby from The Gunslingers were both brought in on guitar and drums to round out the complete band line-up. Hornby had been a founding member of another London band, The Quireboys, earlier in the year.
The following year, the band returned from Finland to the UK and supported Johnny Thunders who was touring for the Que Sera, Sera album at the time. Original Dogs' drummer Bam came back to replace Hornby, and Jo "Dog" Almeida took over from Kusworth on guitar when he left to continue The Jacobites with Nikki Sudden.
The Dogs D'Amour then signed a contract with a Japanese label Watanabe, but did not release any material with them. More changes came during this period when, bass guitarist Karl Watson left and was replaced by Mark Duncan. However, Duncan's stay in the band was only brief and he gave way for the Swiss bass guitarist Mark Drax for a tour in Paris, France.
The classic era: late 1980s, early 1990s
A more permanent bass guitarist was recruited by 1987. Steve James was part of what would be known as the "classic" Dogs line-up which also included Tyla, Jo "Dog" Almeida and Bam. This line-up signed a record deal with China Records in 1988.[9]
The band released its second album In The Dynamite Jet Saloon in 1988.[8] Essentially, this is the album that introduced the British general public to the band. It contained singles such as "The Kid From Kensington", "I Don't Want You To Go" and "How Come It Never Rains?", all of which reached the UK Singles Chart.[5]
Unlike the four-year gap between their first and second albums, the Dogs became more prolific, releasing their acoustic mini-LP A Graveyard of Empty Bottles in 1989.[8] This album proved to be the highest charting recording of their career, reaching No. 16 on the UK Albums Chart.[5] During this year, the band toured with Mick Ronson and Ian Hunter.
With the group disbanded and in shambles in Los Angeles, Bam flew back to UK and joined The Wildhearts with Ginger, CJ and Danny. Meanwhile, Tyla wrote a book of poetry. A year later the Dogs D'Amour reunited with a new line-up. Jo Almeida decided not to return to the band as guitarist; Darrell Bath was brought in to replace him. In 1993, the band recorded a new album, ...More Unchartered Heights of Disgrace.[8] It charted well and received favourable reviews. One of the singles from the album was a cover of the Small Faces song "All or Nothing".
By 1994, the Dogs D'Amour had broken up again.[8] The final act of this line-up was the recording of Tyla's solo album The Life And Times Of A Ballad Monger. Although this album was released in the name of Tyla, it includes all of the Dogs D'Amour members from the 1993 line-up.
Activity in the 2000s
In 2000, The Dogs D'Amour reunited for a short time with a line-up of Tyla, Jo "Dog" Almeida, Bam, and Share Ross (Bam's wife and a member of Vixen). They released an album Happy Ever After that year, along with a special fan club only release Seconds. They did a tour of Europe and the UK, opening for Alice Cooper. Bam and Share then left the band and carried on touring and releasing music in their own act named Bubble.
In April 2011, Tyla released In the Dynamite Jet Saloon MMX.[10]
In November 2012, a Dogs D'Amour show with the classic line-up was announced at London's Borderline club on 22 February 2013, to help raise funds for their long-time friend and former drummer of the band, Paul Hornby.[11] After tickets quickly sold out, the band added another show at the Borderline in London on 23 February, along with some other dates across the UK and in Spain.[12][13] Shortly after the 2013 reunion, Tyla put out a statement declaring that he would not be appearing again under the name Dogs D'Amour.
In 2018, Tyla formed a new version of the band minus Jo Dog, Steve James and Bam, calling it "Tyla's Dogs D'Amour." This version of the band has since released several studio and live albums.
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