![]() So we put together the ‘Slash Your Face’ EP, which was recorded live on the Record Plant mobile truck in San Francisco at a punk club called the Mabuhay Gardens. Then, we had the opportunity to tour the UK in 1978 and ’79, and we needed a record to promote on the UK tour. “We had been playing great shows in LA, opening for AC/DC, The Ramones and Van Halen. “It was pretty exciting times being in The Dogs,” Molinare recalled about that era of his long career. The band’s earliest days date back to mid-1968, so The Dogs had been around for a solid decade prior to the release of the signature song on the “Slash Your Face” EP, which also includes the anthemic “Fed Up” and a loud-an-snotty cover of “Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?” By October 1978, the record was pressed up and ready to sell. Also, as a band, we started to be shunned by the punk rock scenesters for being too mainstream a la Journey or REO Speedwagon - which is funny since we were so influenced by the MC5 and The Stooges.” “For me, I was sensing the pressure of elitist social political racist thinking, of anyone or anybody thinking they are better than his brother or sister. ![]() “The song was inspired by the evolving punk scene in 1976/77 and the alienation we were feeling in a few ways,” Molinare said. It was at High Time Studio, the band’s headquarters where “Slash Your Face” first took shape and Molinare hashed out the commanding riff and bold lyrics. Loren Molinare, guitarist and vocalist of The Dogs, wrote the notorious title track in late 1977, at age 25, after the trio, which also comprised bassist Mary Kay with drummer Ron Wood, relocated from Michigan to Hollywood. In 2019, Almost Ready Records pressed up yet another reissue of the still-beloved “Slash Your Face” EP. As for proper releases, in 2001, Dionysus Records released the comprehensive “Fed Up” LP compilation. But also, having tracks included on notable bootleg compilations, like “Killed by Death: Rare Punk 77-82” and “Bloodstains Across California,” have only bolstered the Lansing trio’s cult following. Over the years, aside from periodic hiatuses, the long-running Dogs have stayed quite active playing gigs across the map. The track has an added burning vigor that nods to their Motor City inspirations, while simultaneously going off the rails in a totally new direction. The menacing song certainly echoes back to Iggy Pop and Wayne Kramer-style rock ’n roll, but it’s amped up with something extra. The Dogs may have formed in the late ’60s, at the height of the electrifying Detroit rock scene that birthed The Stooges, MC5 and Bob Seger, but the band of Lansing natives are best known for its 1978 punk-rock classic: “Slash Your Face.” ![]()
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