Dirty Looks (band)
Encyclopedia
Dirty Looks was a American
hard rock
band from San Francisco, California
.
cover
-band Crossfire, the Danish
born vocalist/guitarist Henrik Ostergaard and fellow Crossfire band-mate and bassist Jimmy Chartley traveled to San Francisco to form Dirty Looks in 1984. Fellow Crossfire bandmate Boyd Baker joined them a year later.
While in California and upon their return home to Philadelphia, the group had a revolving door membership, yet released an EP
and three independent
album
s before Atlantic Records
offered them a recording contract
. For their major label
debut, Dirty Looks consisted of Paul Lidel (guitar), Jack Pyers (bass) and Gene Barnett (drums). The resulting album, Cool From The Wire, entered the Billboard
chart
, while getting substantial airplay on MTV
for their video
for the song "Oh Ruby".
For the follow-up album, there were conflicts with their original record producer
Beau Hill, and the original recordings for Turn Of The Screw were scrapped, but the re-worked album would be the group's most successful release reaching higher on the Billboard chart.
Their album of outtakes, Bootlegs was released in 1991, then the group broke up in 1993 following the release of Five Easy Pieces with Ostergaard forming Rumbledog, Lidel hooking up with Dangerous Toys
(and later Broken Teeth and Adrenaline Factor, his current project) and bassist Brian Perry resurfacing in Jake E. Lee's Wicked Alliance, and Prong.
Ostergaard began recording under the Dirty Looks moniker again in 1994, to record the Chewing On The Bit album. Then he worked with Rumbledog again, releasing an album in 1995 with bassist Jassen Wilber, drummer Ron Sutton, guitarist Mike Ondrusek and guitarist Mike Smith. Ostergaard put out two releases as Dirty Looks in 1996.
With the personnel above, minus Ondrusek and adding singer Gabriel Scott Robison, Ostergaard took a back seat in the vocal department and formed the Burning Orange project who released an album splitting up in 1996. After that, Ostergaard retired from the music industry to focus on family life. In early 2007, Ostergaard nearly died from alcohol poisoning.
According to their Myspace page, Dirty Looks reformed in 2007, and released a new album, Gasoline. Two more studio
albums were released in 2008; Superdeluxe and California Free Ride.
At the end of 2009 Dirty Looks signed with the Nashville, Tennessee
based label, FNA Records. In 2010 they re-released three albums.
On February 5, 2010, bassist Greg Pianka was stabbed to death in a bar brawl.
Henrik Ostergaard died, at the age of 47, on January 27, 2011. The Erie County, Pennsylvania
coroner stated that he had died of liver failure
while under hospice care. He was survived by his two sons, Henrik Jr. and Elliott.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band from San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
History
Originally from the Erie, PennsylvaniaErie, Pennsylvania
Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...
cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
-band Crossfire, the Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
born vocalist/guitarist Henrik Ostergaard and fellow Crossfire band-mate and bassist Jimmy Chartley traveled to San Francisco to form Dirty Looks in 1984. Fellow Crossfire bandmate Boyd Baker joined them a year later.
While in California and upon their return home to Philadelphia, the group had a revolving door membership, yet released an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
and three independent
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s before Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
offered them a recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
. For their major label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
debut, Dirty Looks consisted of Paul Lidel (guitar), Jack Pyers (bass) and Gene Barnett (drums). The resulting album, Cool From The Wire, entered the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
, while getting substantial airplay on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
for their video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for the song "Oh Ruby".
For the follow-up album, there were conflicts with their original record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Beau Hill, and the original recordings for Turn Of The Screw were scrapped, but the re-worked album would be the group's most successful release reaching higher on the Billboard chart.
Their album of outtakes, Bootlegs was released in 1991, then the group broke up in 1993 following the release of Five Easy Pieces with Ostergaard forming Rumbledog, Lidel hooking up with Dangerous Toys
Dangerous Toys
Dangerous Toys is an Austin, Texas-based hard rock band with often humorous lyrics. Founded in 1987, Dangerous Toys put out four full-length albums and one live album before unofficially disbanding at the turn of the millennium....
(and later Broken Teeth and Adrenaline Factor, his current project) and bassist Brian Perry resurfacing in Jake E. Lee's Wicked Alliance, and Prong.
Ostergaard began recording under the Dirty Looks moniker again in 1994, to record the Chewing On The Bit album. Then he worked with Rumbledog again, releasing an album in 1995 with bassist Jassen Wilber, drummer Ron Sutton, guitarist Mike Ondrusek and guitarist Mike Smith. Ostergaard put out two releases as Dirty Looks in 1996.
With the personnel above, minus Ondrusek and adding singer Gabriel Scott Robison, Ostergaard took a back seat in the vocal department and formed the Burning Orange project who released an album splitting up in 1996. After that, Ostergaard retired from the music industry to focus on family life. In early 2007, Ostergaard nearly died from alcohol poisoning.
According to their Myspace page, Dirty Looks reformed in 2007, and released a new album, Gasoline. Two more studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
albums were released in 2008; Superdeluxe and California Free Ride.
At the end of 2009 Dirty Looks signed with the Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
based label, FNA Records. In 2010 they re-released three albums.
On February 5, 2010, bassist Greg Pianka was stabbed to death in a bar brawl.
Henrik Ostergaard died, at the age of 47, on January 27, 2011. The Erie County, Pennsylvania
Erie County, Pennsylvania
Erie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 280,566. Its county seat is the City of Erie.- Geography :...
coroner stated that he had died of liver failure
Liver failure
Acute liver failure is the appearance of severe complications rapidly after the first signs of liver disease , and indicates that the liver has sustained severe damage . The complications are hepatic encephalopathy and impaired protein synthesis...
while under hospice care. He was survived by his two sons, Henrik Jr. and Elliott.
Discography
- Dirty Looks EP (1984)
- Dirty Looks (1984)
- In Your Face (1986)
- I Want More (1987)
- Cool From The Wire (1988)
- Turn Of The Screw (1989)
- Bootlegs (1991)
- Five Easy Pieces (1992)
- Chewing On The Bit (1994)
- One Bad Leg (1994)
- Rip It Out! (1996)
- Slave To The Machine (1996)
- Gasoline (2007)
- Superdeluxe (2008)
- California Free Ride (2008)
- Slave To The Machine - re-issue remastered (2009)
- The Worst Of Dirty Looks (2009)
- Dirty Looks EP - re-issue remastered (2010)
- In Your Face - re-issue remastered (2010)
- I Want More - re-issue remastered (2010)
- I.C.U. (2010)
External links
- http://www.dirtylookseurope.com official European site
- http://www.dirtylooksmusic.com official American site
- http://www.perrisrecords.com "Perris Records"
- http://www.fnarecords.net FNA Records
- http://dirtylooksband.niceboard.net official forum/message board and chatroom of the band
- http://www.myspace.com/dirtylooksmusic
- http://www.myspace.com/dirtylookseurope
- Sleaze Roxx Biography Page and Videos
- http://cdbaby.com/cd/dirtylooks