Once, maybe twice in a lifetime, you'll have a friend that you consider your brother. That was me and Dave. Dave was about 7 years older than me, but we were thick as theives. Inseperable. Dave was a musician, and I thought I was, so we hung out together all the time and went to clubs to see live music every chance we got. One of the bands that we'd never miss was "The Dishes".

Jimmy Raycraft, Dickie Malone, Barbara Donaho, and Pete Falcone were second only to The Judy's in the "party music" category. And, there's a close tie there as well. David sang for The Dishes while The Judy's were on hiatus in the mid 80's, and Barbara Donaho, The Dishes' keyboardist later went on to play with The judy's in their later days.

There are tons and tons of stories I could tell about Dave and I at The Dishes concerts, but instead of boring you by reliving those days at "Wunsche Brothers" and "Party on the Plaza", I'll just state that "Hot Diggety Dog" remains one of those albums that can put a smile on my face no matter how crappy of a mood I may be in.

About a year after Hot Diggety Dog was released, The Dishes went back into the studio to record another album. "Midnight Pizza Party" is rumored to have contained some of the greatest Dishes songs ever. "The Night I Dreamed I Was Elvis" (co-written by David Bean), "Speeding Motorcycle" (a Daniel Johnston cover tune) an original track that flip-flopped between The Dishes and The Judy's style on which David sang half the vocals, and many other gems were never released to the public. Yes, The Dishes broke up just a couple of weeks before "Midnight Pizza Party" was to be released, and it's a crying shame.

A couple of years ago, I was given a copy of "Midnight Pizza Party" by a gentleman who used to be associated with the band. Under conditions of anonymity, he gave me my long-awaited third-generation copy of this ultra-rare classic. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Malone wrote me and offered to sell me a copy for $200.

Speaking of Mr. Malone...

Legend has is that Dickie Malone has a room in the back of his house that's filled floor to ceiling with guitars and coveted music paraphernalia. In Dickie's "back room" you'll supposedly find demo recordings of The Dishes with David Bean singing lead vocal, home videos of The Dishes and The Judy's in concert, and yes, the coveted master tapes of "Midnight Pizza Party".

Any information that can confirm or deny the existence of Dickie's "back room" would be greatly appreciated.

UPDATE: An old computer acquaintance who plays for the band "Molly and the Ringwalds" recently relayed the following message which was posted to their web site by a former co-worker of Dickie's:

Yeah, the Dishes made a video and I actually saw it again in Dickie Malone's "Chamber of Horrors" aka his "office" behind Satellite. The video was really good. Oh, yes, what about the Judy's video with the TV? He had that one too. He's kind of a bastard about letting anyone enjoy that stuff besides him.

Here's another band about which little is known. One of my brother's friends came back from a concert with an album from a band called "Z-Rocks". Apparently, the band was throwing the albums into the audience from the stage, and Leslie, my brother's friend, got one. He tucked it away not thinking much of it, and I later discovered it in his record collection.

I know absolutely nothing about this band. I don't know who they played with, where they are now, or if they ever did any other recordings. All I know is that it took about a week for my friends and I to fall in love with this stereotypical 80's band with their skinny ties, sleeveless tee shirts, and wrap around sunglasses.

UPDATE: AUGUST, 2007: Z-ROCKS HAS RE-RELEASED THEIR ORIGINAL LP AS WELL AS THEIR NEVER-BEFORE RELEASED 2ND ALBUM. THESE ARE NOW AVAILABLE ON CD! CLICK HERE AND BUY IT RIGHT NOW! YOU'LL LOVE IT!
http://cdbaby.com/cd/zrocksband

Originally billed as "Rob and The Banks", I caught the band "The Banks" at a benefit concert held by Public News for radio station KTRU at a place called "The Red Lion Inn". This little irish pub over by the Astrodome hosted some of the greatest live music in town. I should also note that this benefit concert was my first and only personal exposure to the Beans Barton "Bi-Bulb", which from what I gather, lives on to this day!

I went to the concert to see the headliners, The Dishes, but was floored when The Banks took the stage. They were one of those bands that absolutely rocked the house in concert, but sucked total ass in their recordings. Nevertheless, I bought a few of their records hoping that their recorded material might some day live up to their great live shows. It never did.

Even today, close to 15 years after their debut, those in Christian "alternative" music circles still speak of a quaint little band from Houston called Blind Teeth Victory Band. They were four dudes from Aldine, Texas with hearts (and balls) the size of Montana. To meet their leader, Delbert Nave, was to meet humility personified. He was a wonderfully meek, quiet, gentle, loving guy. Yet he wrote songs that were the lyrical equivalent to fingernails on a chalkboard.

Oh, the music sucked too, but that only added to the charm. Much like the modern day appeal of Chicago's Wesley Willis, Blind Teeth Victory Band made music that people loved because it was so incredibly bad. Their first project, Preston Moneaux, was musically just as poor as Kill A Baby, but lyrically only had half the calories.

"Kill A Baby Save A Dog" stated this boldly on the back cover:

In this day and age when Christian artists are not permitted by the major record labels to make a statement unless it doesn't say anything, we have put together these songs on abortion because we felt they needed to be done. Let it be known that this record is not sponsored by any pro-life organization, but is solely one group voicing their beliefs. We regret that we have to sing songs about abortion, and I pray that this album becomes quickly obsolete."

Keep im mind, these guys were not clinic-torching hatemongers. It was more like Mr. Rogers had abandoned his "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood" for these choice lines:

"Well you don't have to keep your baby,
Don't you know man you can get rid of it
Just put on your Sunday bonnet,
And take a stroll down to your local clinic
Where they'll give you cotton for your ears
So you don't have to hear the screams and the tears
Of your little baby...
As they rip it...
From your womb...

If you can believe it, the next verse gets even worse when the singer finds aborted babies in the trash and proceeds to vomit after his discovery. This stuff has to be heard to be believed. What a horribly wonderful album!