- The Standells are a Los Angeles punk/garage rock group that was formed in 1962. The original line-up was Larry Tamblyn (organ/vocals), Tony Valentino (guitar), Gary Lane (bass) and Gary Leeds (drums). Leeds was later replaced by former Mouseketeer Dick Dodd, who not only played drums but also handled lead vocal chores as well.
The band began its career doing gigs in various L.A. clubs in the early 1960s. They recorded albums and singles for such labels as Liberty, Vee Jay and MGM, and popped up in the silly Get Yourself a College Girl (1964). They scored a substantial success with the tough-'n'-snarly "Dirty Water," which peaked at #11 on the Billboard pop charts on June 11, 1966. The group's follow-up songs include the incisive "Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White," the bitter "Why Pick on Me," the racy "Try It" (banned from many radio stations because of its suggestive lyrics), the bluesy "Have You Ever Spent the Night in Jail," the ferocious "Barracuda" and the atypically gentle and melodic "Animal Girl." The Standells are prominently featured in the groovy American-International Pictures hippie exploitation classic Riot on Sunset Strip (1967), singing the terrific opening credits theme song. In addition, they made a memorable guest appearance on _"The Munsters" (1964) {Far Out Munsters (#1.26)_.
The band proved to be a key influence on the punk rock music movement of the 1970s and 1980s. The hardcore band Minor Threat covered "Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White" while The Inmates did their own rendition of "Dirty Water." In 1999 several band members got back together to do a live show at the Cavestomp festival. They also reunited to perform at both the second game of the 2004 World Series and the first game of the 2007 American League Division Series at Fenway Park.- IMDb Mini Biography By: woodyanders (qv's & corrections by A. Nonymous)
- Although the band's biggest hit was 1966's "Dirty Water", a song about Boston, Massachusetts--and was in fact in 1997 declared the "official victory anthem" of the Boston Red Sox baseball team--none of the band members were from Boston, and in fact none had ever even been to Boston when they recorded the song. It was written by their producer, Ed Cobb, who had visited Boston once and had been beaten and robbed while walking on a bridge over the Charles River.
- Organist Larry Tamblyn is the brother of Russ Tamblyn.
- Band members were guitarist Tony Valentino, organist Larry Tamblyn, Gary Lane on bass, who was replaced in 1967 by John Fleckenstein. Original drummer Gary Leeds was later replaced by former Mouseketeer Dick Dodd. Lowell George also briefly played with them shortly before the band broke up.
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