The Dazzlers – The Dazzlers
Rockhouse Records – LP 8310 [1983]
Get Away Of My Brain – Country Stress – Bear Cat -. Day Dream – Whistle Bait – Indianapolis – Cat Man _ Gun In Head – Ride On – Susie Q – Her Love Rubbed Off – All Night Long – Street Fight – Switch Off Sun
Shortly after the release of their single, the Bopkats changed their name to the Dazzlers, not to be assimilated to the wave of copycats that appeared following the Stray Cats’ sudden success. Michel Thonney (ex-manager of Gene Vincent) noticed them and introduced them to Rockhouse records, giving them a recording contract. They then recorded their only album, which was released in 1983.
The sound mixes Rockabilly and Garage with a Psychobilly influence like the first Meteors or Ricochets. One can also find wild Rock’n’roll (a frenzied cover of Whistle Bait, Bearcat), an instrumental (Indianapolis) in the lineage of Hot Rods songs from the Del-Fi label, sound effects included, a cover of Cat Man all in tension, and more neo-rockabilly oriented songs like Gun In Head. Their cover of Perkins’ Her Love Rubbed Off has nothing to envy what the Cramps will do of this song on Stay Sick. The bassist also plays the saxophone on Street Fight, a slow and menacing track. The Dazzlers had everything to succeed, an almost perfect album, an incredible stage presence (watch the videos on youtube), but unfortunately, the group did not realize all these hopes. Perhaps they were too honest. We can only regret that, when any lousy band that played with a double-bass in the 1980s (no name please) is being reissued, the Dazzlers remain a hidden treasure. The Dazzlers are still too little known, whereas they should have been bigger than the Beatles.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis
