The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 803

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Number 803 - Th' Dudes

Number 803

Th' Dudes

"That Look In Your Eyes"

(1979)
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Genre:Rock

"The national success of the Th' Dudes came about through a combination of genuine talent and clever marketing and, at the height of their popularity, the group acted and demanded to be treated like stars. For a while they were, but few groups have come tumbling down as fast as the Th' Dudes, leaving behind a trail of bad debts and bad manners.Peter Urlich, Dave Dobbyn and Ian Morris were all school friends at Sacred Heart College and on leaving school they all shared the dream of entering the world of rock n roll."

"Th' Dudes began rehearsing in the summer of 1975/1976 and made their debut at Crofts nightclub. In September 1976, they were a late entry in the Battle Of the Bands contest, but proved successful by taking out first prize. They gradually built up a reputation as THE hard-rocking band for your club social or school ball."

"Their debut album 'Right First Time' was released in June 1979. To promote it, the group took to the road with a recently imported Cerwin-Vega sound system, in order to show how it should be done. To handle all the gear, they had the largest full-time road crew in the country. This was certainly doing it in style."

"The ANZ Bank sponsored a series of "lunchtime concerts" at high schools throughout the country. This brought Th' Dudes sound right to the fans they wanted to reach, and audience reaction was wild."

"A record contract was negotiated with Eldred Stebbing and in the beginning of 1979 came their debut single, 'Be Mine Tonight', written and sung by Dave Dobbyn, backed with 'That Look In Your Eyes'. The entire year was taken up with a gruelling touring schedule. It was a life style fit for stars, full of booze, drugs and groupies. They made a controversial move on Anzac Day, when at the last minute they pulled out of a concert at the Wellington Opera House, claiming the sound system wasn't up to their standard. The two support acts, Rough Justice and the Wide Mouthed Frogs, didn't see a problem and carried on. Th' Dudes lost more than a few Wellington fans that day and the backlash had begun."

"Although they had officially disbanded, they went back into the recording studio to complete their second album, 'Where Are The Boys?', which was released in July 1980, along with the single 'Bliss'/'On The Rox'."

"Peter Urlich went overseas and later returned as a night club operator. Bruce Hambling disappeared from the scene. Lez White played with other bands, notably the Legionnaires. Ian Morris concentrated on being a recording engineer, later returning to the scene in a later version of DD Smash. Dave Dobbyn of course went on to a very successful solo career and also formed DD Smash."

For more Dudes see Number 861, Number 583 & MM Vol 2 #139

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (Where exactly is New Zealand again?) and the Album ranked at Number (We cant seem to find it on the Australian map)

This song has a crowbarred rating of 63.7 out of 108 pts