Dirty Looks es una banda de hard rock de San Francisco, Estados Unidos.
El vocalista y guitarrista Henrik Ostergaard y el bajista Jimmy Chartley viajaron a San Francisco para formar Dirty Looks en 1984. Boyd Baker se uniría a ellos un año después.
La banda inicialmente constaba de Paul Lidel (guitarra), Jack Pyers (bajo) y Gene Barnett (batería). El resultado fue el disco Cool From The Wire, que logró ubicarse en las listas de la Billboard. El video de la canción 'Oh Ruby' obtuvo buena rotación en el canal MTV.
Para el disco siguiente, se presentaron algunos conflictos con el productor Beau Hill, por lo que las grabaciones originales de Turn Of The Screw fueron borradas, sin embargo, la nueva grabación del disco se convirtió en su más exitosa producción, escalando aún más en las listas Billboard.
En 1993 se produce la primera ruptura de la agrupación, que un año después, Ostergaard reformaría para grabar el disco Chewing on the Bit, al igual que dos producciones más en 1996.
Dirty Looks - Dirty Looks [EP] 1984
TRACKLIST
The song "Tell Me" is a definite stand out and a lost gem.
Vocals/Guitar:Henrik Ostergaard
Guitar:Scot T. Garcia
Bass:Paul Stage
Drums:Paul Anthony 'Buck' Dulle
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Dirty Looks - Dirty Looks 1985
Dirty Looks (1985 - Axe Killer Front Cover)
This is the Axe Killer Records re-released version of the self-titled LP. Track listing and
credits are the same on both releases. 'Get Ready' was re-worked as 'Last Call Sally' for
the Rumbledog album.
TRACKLIST
Dirty Looks (1984 Sticky Front Cover)
This was made while Henrik had his band in San Francisco. Tracks 1,4,5 and 9 turned up again
on 'In Your Face'. This was re-released in 1985 by Axe Killer Records in France. 'Get Ready'
was re-worked as 'Last Call Sally' for the Rumbledog album.
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Dirty Looks - In Your Face 1986
TRACKLIST
This one was recorded back in PA. Here we have tracks 2,4,6,8,9 and 10 resurfacing on the 'I
Want More' album and 2,4,5,6 and 9 eventually making it onto the 'Cool From the Wire' album.
I was surprised that some of the other tracks didn't show up on later albums, espcially
'She's a Rocker', 'On Your Back', and 'Undercover'.
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Dirty Looks - I Want More 1987
TRACKLIST
This one was released by the French label 'Storm'. Most of these songs made it onto 'Cool
From the Wire', although track 1 didn't find its way to the public again until 1995 (Rip it
Out). Again, I'm surprised 'Undercover' didn't end up on a later release.
Back cover has Jack Pyers last name spelled 'Pyres' and Paul Lidels last name spelled
'Liedel'.
When I first heard this , I was surprised at how good the album sounded..
These versions have a rougher / heavier edge than the ones that made it onto 'Cool from the
Wire'
Per Gene Barnett, the back cover picture of Paul Lidel is actually a picture of the guitar
player Paul replaced, Chris Bensch
Per Chris Bensch, on that same picture of Chris is actually A.D. Adams on drums (with the
sweat band).
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Dirty Looks - Cool From The Wire 1988
TRACKLIST
01. Cool From The Wire
02. It's Not The Way You Rock
03. Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You
04. Oh,Ruby
05. Tokyo
06. Wastin' My Time
07. Put A Spell On You
08. No Brains Child
09. Get It Right
10. It's A Bitch
11. Get Off
'Get off' was the only track to make it from the very first album to this one.
MTV video was made for 'Oh Ruby'.
'Wastin' my time', 'Cool From the Wire', and 'Oh,Ruby' were released as singles
'It's Not the Way You Rock' was featured on the 'Johnny Be Good' Soundtrack
Made it to 134 on the Billboard album charts.
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Dirty Looks - Turn Of The Screw 1989
TRACKLIST
01. Turn Of The Screw (Who's Screwing You)
02. Nobody Rides For Free
03. C'mon Frenchie
04. Take What Ya Get
05. Hot Flash Jelly Roll
06. Always A Loser
07. L.A. Anna
08. Slammin' To The Big Beat
09. Love Screams
10. Go Away
11. Have Some Balls
The original sessions for this album were done with Beau Hill producing and Chris Caffery
joining to do some guitar work. Apparently, the band sacked Mr. Hill and went with Jon
Janson to provide a 'harder edge' and by that time, Chris was back in Savatage.
If anyone has a copy of or heard the original sessions, please email me. I'd like to know
how much different these were and was the track listing any different?
-- update from Mr. Barnett himself: "HUGE difference from what we put out with Jon Janson.
Beau is great at what he does, but he tried to make Dirty Looks sound like something it
wasn't. Way too polished, with these incredible backing vocals that we would've had to
sample live and that wasn't ever going to happen"
Videos were made for 'Nobody Rides For Free' and 'Go Away'. 'Nobody rides' being their
biggest video, staying in MTV's Hard 30 countdown for quite awhile.
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Dirty Looks - Bootlegs 1991
TRACKLIST
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Dirty Looks - Five Easy Pieces 1992
TRACKLIST
01. Blue Tequila
02. Getting Over
03. Only Tomorrow
04. Liquid Crush
05. Let It Rain
06. Five Easy Pieces
07. Gas House Sally
08. Back To Marseilles
09. The Last Forever
10. Hard In The Middle
11. Give It Back (Thru Your Head)
12. Violence In Blue
13. Cardiac Arrest
Video released for the title-song 'Five Easy Pieces' was shot in New York City at the end of
1992. It was played as the last video of the night on MTV headbanger's ball on Memorial Day
of '93 (the only time MTV aired it(!)). Shortly afterwards Jim Harris left and Gene Barnett
filled in for the rest of the tour.
Blue Tequila was the first single released.
The band Harpo (who Jack Pyers and Brian Perry previously played in) had a song called "Gas
House Alley" (totally different though).
Japanese release contains live versions of "Oh Ruby" and "Cool from the Wire" (same versions
later included on "One Bad Leg").
Cassette version has a different track order
Only Tomorrow and The Last Forever were first recorded for the 'Bootlegs' album. 'Cardiac
Arrest' was also on 'Rumbledog'
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Dirty Looks - Chewing On The Bit 1994
TRACKLIST
01. This Way
02. Love Train
03. Chewing On The Bit
04. Falling Down
05. You Can't Take It Back
06. Trip The Light
07. Dead, White & Blue
08. Killing Time
09. My Shallow Grave
10. Last Cigarette
11. Encore
Dirty Looks reformed with only Henrik staying on board at this point. Brian Perry went on to
'Bubble' and eventually 'Prong'(!) and Paul Lidel joined 'Dangerous Toys'.
The CD lists the last song as just 'encore', but the cassette version lists the song as
'King Snake' (only on the cassette itself, not on the cover or credits, oddly enough)
I don't know if Alex Kane was an 'official' member, but I listed him as such anyway. He
actually went on to join up with Brian Perry in 'Bubble' as well
I believe this came out before 'One Bad Leg' (both came out in '94) since I saw this one in
stores first
Different versions of 'Love Train' and 'Trip the Lite' were first recorded for the
'Rumbledog' album.
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Dirty Looks - One Bad Leg 1994
TRACKLIST
01. One Bad Leg
02. Hello It's Me
03. Point Of View
04. Loveless
05. Lamb's Breath
06. YMI
07. Anyway You Want
08. Raining In The Sun
09. Oh Ruby (Live)
10. Cool From The Wire (Live)
About 1/3 (not sure which third) and the 2 live tracks were recorded by the 'Five Easy
Pieces' line-up of Henrik, Paul, Brian, and Jim as outtakes from those sessions. Dave Naro
plays bass on "Loveless" and "Anyway You Want" (uncredited). Other than that, no credits are
listed.
'Loveless' was previously on 'Bootlegs' (same version)
Track order is a bit different than the Music For Nations re-release
"Hello It's Me" is a re-work of "Stone in My Eye" (Rumbledog)
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Dirty Looks - Rip It Out! 1996
TRACKLIST
01. Open Wide
02. Something In You
03. Rite Of Way
04. Eye In The Sky
05. Therapeutic Drinking
06. Too Much For Granted
07. I Want More
08. Half As Much
Not sure when all of these songs were recorded as 2 drummers, 2 bassists and Paul Lidel are
listed on the credits. 'I Want More' was originally recorded on the (you guessed it) 'I Want
More' album.
Alternate version of 'Too Much For Granted' ended up on the 'Slave' album as 'Murder for
Money'
It appears that some of these were tracks that Paul Lidel and Steve McConnell played on
originally but were re-worked for this release.
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Dirty Looks - Slave To The Machine 1996
TRACKLIST
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Dirty Looks - Live In San Diego 2005
TRACKLIST
1. Intro / Blue Tequila
2. It's Not the Way You Rock
3. This Way
4. Turn of the Screw
5. Five Easy Pieces
6. Trip the Light / Nobody Rides For Free
7. Cool From the Wire
8. Oh,Ruby
The sound quality on this recording is top-notch and professionally put together. I've heard some of their bootlegs that sound like they were recorded with a tin can and a string. Well, this ain't one of those... The stand-out tracks on this one are "Turn of the screw" and "Nobody rides for free" as this recording breathes new life into those originals and dare I say they sound even better on this disc than what was relased on the Turn of the Screw album. It would be nice to hear some other tracks from that album as they were meant to heard (Go Away, L.A. Anna, etc). More live quality releases like this one would be welcomed indeed.
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Dirty Looks - Gasoline 2007
TRACKLIST
01. Doesn't Count The Juice
02. 2nd Chance (Didn't Take It)
03. See You In The Morning
04. Through Your Eyes
05. If The World Stopped Spinning
06. Over Me
07. Stick Around
08. "I Am That I Am"
09. Everythings Gonna Be Alright
10. New White Naked
11. Trick Of The Moon
2007 saw the return of one of the best sleaze bands ever, Dirty Looks. Hard rock fans will be hard pressed to find more satisfying CDs than Cool From The Wire, Turn Of The Screw or Five Easy Pieces. Those albums represented Dirty Looks at their creative peak, but that was fifteen years ago. So the question is, can these cult legends regain their former glory with Gasoline, or will it be a muddled mess like some of their later release?
The answer to that question is a bit of both. The songs are here, vocalist Henrik Ostergaard sounds the exact same as he did so many years ago, and the production still leaves something to be desired. There really is no excuse for a poor production job in this day and age, as even talentless hacks sitting behind their computer can use programs to make their crap sound somewhat respectable. But if you can get past the substandard production and mix then Gasoline might be exactly what you were looking for from the band.
"Doesn't Count The Juice", "2nd Chance (Didn't Take It)", and "If The World Stopped Spinning" all bring back memories of Dirty Looks' greatness, and the later sounds like it was ripped straight from the Cool From The Wire recording sessions. The only song that is a complete letdown is "Over Me", which is just a mess of sound. Guitarist Paul Lidel is back in the fold and he has always had a knack for recreating AC/DC inspired riffs and also making an appearance is his former Broken Teeth bandmate Jason McMaster.
If you plan on shelling out some cash for this disc, make sure you pick up the Perris Records reissue, because the bonus tracks are two of the better songs here. I'm happy that Dirty Looks is back, as they have always been one of my favorites. I just hope that next time Henrik and company get a producer that can clean up these songs a bit, that alone would have turned Gasoline from a good CD to a great one.
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Dirty Looks - Superdeluxe 2008
TRACKLIST
01. Bring Me Down
02. A Million Miles
03. Wide Glide
04. Dead Movie Star
05. Forever
06. Fast Ride
07. Blue Light
08. Not Enough
09. Thin Red Line
10. Steppin' Stone
The one thing that has plagued Dirty Looks for what seems like an eternity has finally been corrected (aside from a couple of tracks), and that is a subpar production. Personally I'm not a fan of a slick production, but Dirty Looks' last few releases have been on the opposite side of the spectrum from slick, they have been muddy to say the least. With Superdeluxe that problem is finally fixed and makes for a much better listening experience.
Superdeluxe is the band's second release in mere months and this time they have three classic members back with the return of drummer Jack Pyers. And right from the beginning of "A Million Miles" you can see what a great addition he is. Vocalist Henrik Ostergaard's voice is still in excellent shape as he slurs his words like a drunken sailor, he hasn't lost his touch after over twenty years of screaming out cult classics. Also, one can't review a Dirty Looks CD without mentioning guitarist Paul Lidel, who has always had a knack for laying down AC/DC sounding riffs without being limited to three chords.
A band like Dirty Looks is always going to be judge by their vast catalogue of material, so I'll briefly play along. I'd be lying if I told you that Superdeluxe was as good as Cool From The Wire or Five Easy Pieces. But with that being said, this CD is arguably the group's best work since 1992. The result is an album that falls somewhere in the middle of Dirty Looks albums, not their best and far from their worst.
Songs such as "Bring Me Down", "A Million Miles", "Dead Movie Star", and my personal favorite "Blue Light" will be excellent additions to the Dirty Looks live repertoire. All the songs are hard rocking and have a heavy crunch to them, two qualities that have always made me a fan of this band.
It's about time Dirty Looks gave one of their albums a proper production, as it makes a world of difference for the listener. Now I can officially say that Dirty Looks is back rocking like only they know how.
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Dirty Looks - California Free Ride 2008
TRACKLIST
01. California Free Ride
02. Look In The Mirror
03. Burning Rain
04. Only Child
05. Under My Skin
06. Strong Man
07. Come To My Party
08. Shake
09. Brass Bed
10. Clear Thoughts
11. Trip The Light
Ever since returning from hibernation a couple of years back, Dirty Looks mainman Henrik Ostergaard has been a man possessed. California Free Ride is the band's second release this year, following on the heels of the 'return-to-form' Superdeluxe. Has Henrik been bitten by the creativity bug, or have these songs been in the works since he first disappeared in the mid-90's? I'm guessing the latter, because no matter how much I try and get into this CD it always feels like Superdeluxe leftovers.
As usual, Henrik's distinctive Bon Scott inspired vocals are the focal point, and of course he sounds exactly as he always has, singing with conviction and his trademark drunken slur. If you've never experienced Dirty Looks before I suggest you check out "Under My Skin" (one of the better songs on this release). I think this song offers a perfect introduction to the masterful insanity that Henrik Ostergaard has always offered, as when he stops the song and starts mumbling incoherently I can't help but smile.
There are some cool tunes included here, but Dirty Looks' past has set the bar so high that I'm beginning to wonder if they can ever match their earlier greatness. One thing that might sell California Free Ride to hard rock fans is the heaviness of the entire CD. This is arguably the band's hardest rocking album to date, as they seem to have replaced some of the AC/DC riffage with a hard crunch, likely due to the departure of underrated guitarist Paul Lidel. With that being said, the songs don't come across as instantly memorable as classics like "Oh Ruby", "Blue Tequila" and "Nobody Rides For Free".
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