This Ain't The Summer Of Love

This live performance of the Imperial Dogs' original version of "This Ain't The Summer Of Love" is taken from the band's new DVD, Live! At Long Beach (October 30, 1974), which is available for purchase directly from this site. (See details at top left.)

Written by vocalist Don Waller and guitarist Paul Therrio, the Imperial Dogs' original version first surfaced as the A-side of the band's posthumous 1978 single on Back Door Man Records, which wasn't released until after the song was recorded -- in a radically revamped version that retained only the hookline ("This ain't the Garden of Eden/This ain't the Summer of Love") and none of the original music -- by NYC-based metal-masters the Blue Oyster Cult on their platinum-plus 1976 Agents Of Fortune LP.

Incidentally, the Imperial Dogs' original version also appears on their Unchained Maladies: Live! 1974-75 album, which was issued by Australian indie Dog Meat Records in 1989.

Meanwhile ... the B.O.C.'s version has inspired a 1986 single by Swedish garage-rockers the Nomads (recording under the in-jokey pseudonym the Screamin' Dizbusters) and a 1988 Bucketful Of Brains flexi-disc by Australian neo-punkadelic outfit the U.V.'s. It's also been covered by British eccentrics Current 93 on their 1988 Swastikas For Noddy album, by L.A. rock-grrrls L7 on the 1997 soundtrack album to I Know What You Did Last Summer and by L.A. shock-rockers Lizzy Borden on their 2000's Deal With The Devil album. (The song's chorus was also interpolated by Seattle grunge pioneers Green River into into their 1988 re-recording of "Swallow My Pride.")

Note: Owing to the song's length, this videoclip is presented as an MP4 file. The actual DVD was created by transferring the original half-inch, open-reel, black & white, mono videotape into the MPEG2 format, which should provide a superior audio and video experience. To view a full-screen version of this clip, go to YouTube.

Since every ballad should have a rockin' B-side, here's the Imperial Dogs' original composition, "Midnite Dog" ... . (Also available in full-screen version at YouTube.)

Daily Breeze: 'Imperial Dogs: Live!' DVD Shows Band's Raw Power!

"Rude, loud and focused on its mission to wake up the youth of America from the complacency of the post-hippie era, the Imperial Dogs were a trailblazing band in all senses of the word. Especially the 'blazing' part" ... "The band rips through its songs with a ferocity that appears to stun most of the listless crowd" ... "A fascinating look at a band that had already lived the rebelliousness of the punk rock explosion years before it became a reality," says Sam Gnerre, writing about the Imperial Dogs' Live! In Long Beach (October 30, 1974) DVD here at the Daily Breeze website as well as in the July 8 issue of the South Bay-based daily newspaper.

Fang Mail, Pt. 16

Thought we'd share more "fang mail" from people who've actually purchased the Imperial Dogs' Live! At Long Beach (October 30, 1974) DVD.

"This is explosive!" writes Thomas Walls of Lake Worth, Florida, adding, "I first got the Imperial Dogs album on Dog Meat back in the early-'90s. I must've stolen a line or two from that record and used it onstage with the Creepy T's: "We're gonna put our poodles in your noodles!"

"And Bobby Load of South Florida's infamous punk band Load saw the album at my house once and had me draw a skull-and-crossbones in magic marker on his chest for their reunion show in Ft. Lauderdale.

"I always thought the Imperial Dogs were so great because they made seriously good music without taking themselves so seriously. And I was a huge Blue Oyster Cult fan since high school, so the 'This Ain't The Summer Of Love' story intrigued me. So naturally when I started to listen to things other than oldies or classic rock, I became a Stooges and Radio Birdman fan. And when I found the Imperial Dogs, it was whoa, geez, this is where it's at."

Proto-Punk Legend/Former Debris Frontman Chuck Ivey Meets The Imperial Dogs!

"I loved the Imperial Dogs video!! Fantastic sounds and show!" says Chuck Ivey, bassist/vocalist/songwriter for Chickasha, Oklahoma-based Debris, whose 1976 indie album Static Disposal is now recognized as a futomic explosion of true-blue flame proto-punk (as evidenced by its 2007 deluxe extended reissue on Anopheles Records).

"Wish we could've been with you back then," Ivey continues." Seems like you had a lot of the same creative forces going. We all would've had a blast together I am sure."

Having actually witnessed Chuck play bass alongside fellow Oklahoma refugees guitarist Pat Garrett and drummer KK Barrett when the Randoms performed at the now-legendary Masque Benefit, held at the Elks Lodge, MacArthur Park, Los Angeles on February 25, 1978 -- and immortalized on the Dicks Fight Banks Hate volume of the Live At The Masque series of three CDs that was issued by Year One Records in 1996 -- Imperial Dogs frontman Don Waller can only concur ...

Fang Mail, Pt. 15

Thought we'd share some more "fang mail" from people who've actually purchased the Imperial Dogs Live! In Long Beach (October 30, 1974) DVD. Kim Maki, a longtime Detroit mover 'n' shaker who blogs here, succinctly says: "It's fascinating!"

Fang Mail, Pt. 14

Thought we'd share some more "fang mail" from people who've actually purchased the Imperial Dogs' Live! In Long Beach (October 30, 1974) DVD. Jeremy Cargile of Reno, Nevada writes: "Y'all were cer-tain-ly uh top-flight, nonpareil rock 'n' roll band followin' the family tradition of the heavyweight underground forebearers (the Stooges, the MC5, the Blue Oyster Cult, Blue Cheer, mebbe Brain Capers -era Mott The Hoople, et al.) and all the high-energy rock 'n' roll that preceded it (the Who, the early Kinks, the mid-period Rolling Stones, and summa the more energized garage bands).

"I'll def give ya smokin' the Clap, but a lotta the proto-punk touchstones aren't easily compared. Yer most def on par, or exceeding the more straight material by Rocket From The Tombs and Simply Saucer, but they pulled more from the mutant and freak-rock tradition ta these ears. Both are all-time fave-raves for me. I'd say y'all were closer as apprentices approximatin' yer masters, but the way those bands 'failed' is tryin' the same is kinda what made 'em."

Fang Mail, Pt. 13

Thought we'd share some more "fang mail" from people who've actually purchased the Imperial Dogs' Live! In Long Beach (October 30, 1974) DVD. Mitch Schneider -- founder/head honcho of the long-running, L.A.-based MSO publicity firm -- writes: "You guys were ahead of your time! Love the onstage comments about urging the crowd to burn the Carole King 'Tapestry' album and shooting methadrine into granola! Smart, nasty, glam-into-punk fireworks -- and I love the Mott 'Rock And Roll Queen' cover!"