- The Dogmatics
The Dogmatics were a
Boston, Massachusetts band, active in the 1980s.Band Biography
Peter, Paul and Jerry met each other in the first grade at St. Matthew's Catholic school in
Dorchester, Massachusetts . After eight years there, they all moved away from Dorchester to south shore suburbs during their high school years.Paul started a band with lifelong friend T.K, singer Skag, guitarist Sam Babbitt, and drummer Joey Olsen. They called themselves the Savage Beasties. This band would be the starting point for future bands. T.K eventually moved to Boston on Thayer St. where he co-founded "Spearhead Go" along with Barry Hall, B.C Kagan and Joey Olsen. This encouraged the movement of Paul to the Thayer St. loft along with his twin brother Pete. Paul, eager to pick up where the Beasties left off enlisted his brother and longtime friend Jerry Lehane to start a band in Boston. Their good friend Dan Shannon would play drums in this new band. The future Dogmatics would play their first and last show at their Thayer St. loft under the name "Guttersnipes". Not happy with the "Guttersnipes" as a band name Pete thought that "Dogmatics" was more appropriate. The Dogmatics played their first show at Cantones in 1981. They were honored to open on a Tuesday night for no money. They continued to play throughout Boston for the next year with drummer Dan Shannon who would leave the band for college. Squantum native Thomas Long, the 18 year old celebrated drummer would take over on sticks and the Dogs would be forever changed.
The Dogmatics would eventually end up playing anywhere they could get a gig in the United States. This did not deter them. In 1984 the Dogmatics would release their first and only single to date on their own label "Cat records": 'Gimme the Shakes' on the A-side and the
Eddie Cochran classic "20 Flite rock" on the B-side. In 1985 the Dogmatics signed with Homestead Records and released their first album "Thayer Street". "Everybody Does It" was hatched in June of 1986. "Teenager on drugs" was released on the "Mr. Beautiful" compilation. "Teenage girls" on the "Rock turns to Stone" complation. The Paul O'Halloran penned classic "It sure don't feel like Xmas time" was featured on the "Midnite Xmas Mess" compilation. In 1998 Shredder/Vagrant would release the Dogmatics 2 lps along with some previously unreleased tracks. The Dogmatics songs have been recorded by Boston's ownMighty Mighty Bosstones , New Orleans prankster'sDash Rip Rock , The Pussy Willows, Heap and Swedish garagepunk kings "The Locomotions".On October 23rd, 1986 Paul O'Halloran died in a tragic motorcycle accident. The Dogmatics have had numerous reunions since 1986 with brothers Johnny and Jimmy O'Halloran sharing the bass duties.
They can still be heard on
XM Radio and locally (to Boston) onMIT radioWMBR [http://wmbr.org/cgi-bin/boc?page=artist&key=Dogmatics at least once in a while]Side note: Singer/songwriter Jerry Lehane is the cousin of renowned crime fiction author
Dennis Lehane .Band Members
Peter O'Halloran
Paul O'Halloran - Bass
Jerry Lehane - Guitar, Vocals
Tommy Long - Drums
Dan Shannon(1981-1982) - Drums
John Goetchius(1986).Discography
1984 Single "Gimme the Shakes" and "20 Flite rock (
Eddie Cochran )" on the B-side.
1985 "Thayer Street" onHomestead Records (1983) (HMS 003)
1986 "Everybody Does It" onHomestead Records (1983) (HMS 049)
1998 "Dogmatics 1981-86" on [http://www.shreddingradio.com/sh.html Shredder] /VagrantExternal links
* [http://redsox1918.tripod.com/dogmatic.html the Dogmatics- Phils story]
* [http://www.myspace.com/dogmatics MySpace]
* [http://www.rockinboston.com/dogmatics.htm BRS review of "81-86" by Jim Moran]
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