Artist description rotating collective of Dada surrealist musicians from the West Midlands of England

Music Style Surreal Dada progressive psychedelic jazz punk

Musical Influences George Formby, Julian Cope, King Crimson, Captain Beefheart, The Fall, The Beach Boys

Similar Artists Bonzo Dog (doh dah) Band

Artist History formed in 1986 Dog Food have been playing live around the UK ever since in rock venues, Swimming Baths, Schools for the Blind and Old Peoples Homes

Group Members Mr Simon J Vincent Dr Jest Magick Temple Dolly Pond ...and many others at various times

Instruments Vocals, Organ, Guitars, Bass, Trumpet, Drums

Albums Remasters 1989 - 1992, Peacocks, Cheap Import, Pink is the New Purple, Pop-A-Doodle-Don't, Dog Food Fail To Conquer The Universe, Robot Monster, 10th Anniversary, Inflatables, Cakefinder General, Swim Like A Chimney Smoke Like A Fish, Turkey Lurkey Should Have Known Better, Yoyo

Press Reviews REVIEWS Excerpt from mail, from Lord Litter- producer of the Eurowide Marabu Network. Feb 1998 "...LITTER loves DOG FOOD...as long as he can listen to it 'n doesn't have to eat it! You produce that kind of music that made me an UK music maniac centuries ago...thought it all died...thought it was all murdered by SMITH-ism...OASIS-ism...CLUB-ism etc etc etc... DOG FOOD is really a wild, unique mixture of Bonzo Dog Band - Fall - Ian Dury - Captain Sensible - very early Pink Floyd - early Sparks...well, covering the grey area in between...no copy...grooovvvyyy!!! Airplay...and general LITTER promotion guaranteed!! ..." Rejection letter from Mick Magic at Music & Elsewhere - specialists in uncommercial/underground music (Feb 1998) er...it's different, isn't it? I really don't know quite what to say. Perhaps I could recommend a good psychiatrist. What are you all on?? Where can I buy some??? Not at all surprised that EMI haven't been camping on your doormat. To be honest, your stuff's a bit whacko even by Underground standards. I really don't think we could do anything with your kind of material. The effect it had on us was that we all ended up staring at each other and salivating. We resent having to wipe it all off the new carpet. Let's see if we can point you in the right direction...Care in the Community. Excerpt of review of the Songwriter's Cafe, at The Factotum & Firkin in The Beat Summer Special, 1997, by J Kennedy – ...and then there was DOG FOOD. Christ, they've been going since the Cod Club. More of a dog's dinner back then, but now, well...There's a guy with a twin necked Gibson, who seemed to play about three notes, and those after the others have finished the song. The act is very funny - a barmey burlesque and cod caberet that fair took one's heart back to Bonzo Dog days. Love the ironing board for a keyboard stand, guys; anarchic motifs, crazy! Review of gig 100, at the Catapult Club, Jug of Ale, Birmingham, 22-12-94, in Brum Beat, by Christine Barnes When the world finally turns upside down and inside out, Dog Food's Simon Vincent will be proclaimed world leader and number one sex symbol, and that won't be a day too soon! The band's incredible blend of George Formby on acid humour and Banana Splits presentation is so utterly off the wall that it's impossible not to like them. Led from the front, by superlative 60's influenced organ playing, Vincent's madcap outfit swerve from the Monkees to the Kinks in an instant, before they lose control of the horse-cart, and crash into the back of a Jimmy Smith instrumental. It's almost as if they've found a hundred songbooks from 1967, torn them up, and then glued them back together at random. If they ever make a record, it will be awful. Nothing less than a TV series will do them justice, and *when* this happens, not if, they'll be major stars in the USA and Moseley will never see their like again. review in Brum Beat of the 'Demise of the Executive Parambulator' album launch party and showcase at the Old Rep Theatre, Birmingham, by Adam Bostock - excerpt ...The penultimate slot was filled by Dog Food, who fall into the "What the fuck?" category. This jolly five-piece raised a few smiles with some quirky pop songs (eg. 'Plastic Moon', 'I've got a Brand New Bike'), that make They Might Be Giants seem half serious. The frontman parped away on his keyboard whilst doing his best, in terms of stage presence, to be Buster Bloodvessel, Doc Cox and Vic Reeves all at the same time. Great band for a stag-night piss up... Melody Maker review, of Hare and Hounds gig in Birmingham, 02-03-91, by DJSmith As nutty and as ignored as Syd Barrett in these tough old nineties, More genuinely warped than David Lynch and hot on the heels of Brian Clough, Dog Food are the kind of band who wear hats and biro decorated lab coats, and pull faces live on stage. They play a suicidally unhip twitbeat, nursery rhymes and music hall snippets colliding head on, with a suspiciously un-comic flirtatiousness. The sheer bloody randomness of Simon Vincent's words, that 7" tongue, those manic backing la-la-la-la's - the overall effect is unnerving; a window opening onto a natural-fried child's vision of leering nightmare normality. Yet, over the collapsing guitar and snare shuffle, Simon plays keyboards like a dream, effortlessly conjuring up improvised moods and low-tide surf instrumentals, from thin air. "Look at my funny head!" he says, plucking off his straw hat, to reveal shaven troughs of white scalp, as the drum minaret trundles into the curse of Dog Food. A dog's breakfast of visions and influences, maybe, but Dog Food are already teen martyrs, and they're heading your way, with a real pop pedigree, chum. Review of a gig at 'The Groove Cave', in WAH fanzine, 1990, by 'William' Dog Food's problem is that of the solo tap dancer on Opportunity Knocks; however talented they may be, there's absolutely no future for them. This won't bother Dog Food, or their vociferous followers, as they pursue their own entertaining route to nowhere. The world wants guitars, flares and hair, but Dog Food give you ironing boards, dressing gowns and straw hats. If songs about lobsters, custard and pineapples sound appealing, and you like your dog to be Bonzo rather than Crufts, then your local cult band awaits you. Not without a certain understated musical excellence, Dog Food nevertheless score heavily on the visual front, with larger than life front man Simon giving us some fluid hip gyrations, amongst other things. Very agile for such a big chap, Simon is definitely something of a cult in his own right. It's hard to pin down exactly what it is that Dog Food do, but they certainly do it very well. The uncomfortable feeling remains, however, that one sighting is enough. When the music stopped and the lights came on, Simon looked oddly like my mom's milkman. I bet neither of them have got much time for REM. Demo review from 'Glottal Stop!' fanzine, 1989 Oh yes! Dog Food by name, but fortunately not by nature - if that were the case it probably would have made quite a nasty mess in my cassette player, and probably wouldn't have sounded too hot either...as it is, it most definitely does - and no mistake! So - about Dog Food...the main force behind them seems to be one Mr.Simon, who is a bloody excellent lyricist and singer - listen to either of their demos without laughing at least once, and you're dead from the neck up, mate! 'Dobbin the Donkey Goes Shopping' is a sad tale of amnesia, but, fortunately, everyone lives happily ever after....'One Foot In The Grave And The Other In The Custard' is an epic tale of someone with one foot in the grave and the other in the custard...the best, however, is 'Volcano Love Penguin' all about those lager louts, sexist pigs, whatever you want to call them...apparently it was inspired by a trip home one night on the late bus, where Simon saw this couple snogging, and every so often, the bloke would take a bite out of a Big Mac, which is bad enough, but, believe it or not, this bloke was seen to pick his nose and then proceed to wipe it on her back...bleeuuurrrgghh...a great song as well, Dog Food being the first band I've ever heard to use twanging rulers on their recordings...and the old one-finger bar chord is back everyone! YEH! Well, what else can I tell you about them? Well, they've grown from a two piece to a six piece, with various members being added one by one over the years, which is quite interesting. They recently played a reggae festival and lasted about ten minutes before they were chucked off the stage. They are trying to get a record released some time next year. Hopefully, someone will release it for them, but if not they'll do it themselves. Something very disturbing was told to me by Simon, actually. Apparently, if all the guitarists in the world played an E chord at the same time, it would throw the earth off it's axis, thus plunging us all into a major catastrophe. Dog Food were actually considering doing a song called 'If All The Guitarists In The World Played An E Chord At The Same Time It Would Throw The Earth Off It's Axis', consisting only of an E chord and then one of those swanee whistles. Anyway, Dog Food produce tunes a-plenty, so don't think that it's just six people pratting around. There's some good songs here for you to sing along with to your hearts content. So there! Feature in Perturbed fanzine, by Peter Perturbed, 1988 I could intellectualise about Dog Food. I could tell you why they're important and so forth, but the nature of their music doesn't really lend itself to the self-indulgent prose I'm so fond of. To see Dog Food is to witness a spectacle - adults unleashing things that they'd usually be expected to keep to themselves. They make their audience HAPPY, and in the past few months their complete disrespect for musical structure and decorum has seen them become the hottest musical property in Birmingham and is taking them on to the verge of national acclaim, with the forthcoming release of their first single. Song titles include 'Dobbin the Donkey Goes Shopping', 'The Flaky Pastry Song' and 'Do Miracles Happen In Balsall Heath?'. The sound is reminiscent of Beefheart, Pianosaurus, Spike Milligan, Zappa and Python, with Mr.Simon's organ playing evoking all the 60's stuff that you just can't get enough of. They're not 'wacky', but they are very, very entertaining.

Additional Info I can see a man with a plastic hood. He knows...

Location Birmingham, West Midlands - United Kingdom

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