The Dogs D'Amour are a British bluesey hard rock band formed in 1983 in Lon… Read Full Bio ↴The Dogs D'Amour are a British bluesey hard rock band formed in 1983 in London. Over the years the band has had various line-ups, the only constant being American-born vocalist Tyla (born Timothy Taylor).

The origins of the band can be traced to The Bordello Boys, formed in late 1982 by Tyla (born Timothy Taylor), formerly of Kitsch. An American vocalist who was staying in England at the time, Ned Christie (real name Robert Stoddard), was brought into the project and he gave the band the name, The Dogs D'Amour, and co-wrote many early songs with Tyla. Guitarist Nick Halls, bass guitarist Karl Watson and drummer Bam completed the line-up.

The Dogs D'Amour played around fifty live shows during this era and recorded on two separate sessions, the second set of which was later released on the bootleg 7" EP, Blame It On Us whilst its lead track, Teenage (a cover of Kitsch's Teenager of the Week) was officially released on the 1983 glam-punk compilation, Trash On Delivery. On the strength of these tracks, the band was signed to a record deal with Kumibeat Records from Finland. However, shortly before the band was scheduled to record its first album, problems began to spring up and Christie left the band in late 1983 because of musical differences with guitarist Tyla. He subsequently joined L.A. Guns as guitarist and backing vocalist upon moving back to America and reverting to his real name.

Another reason for the split was that Christie had recently started another band with Bam called On The Wire and had his own recording commitments scheduled with that band, around the same time that the Dogs D'Amour were due to record their own first album. The entire line-up with the exception of Tyla and Watson left the band during this time.

The State We're In: Tyla rebuilds the band -

Tyla took over on lead vocals (while still playing guitar) to replace Ned Christie and recorded the band's first album, The State We're In, in early 1984. Dave Kusworth and Paul Hornby were brought in on guitar and drums respectively. Hornby had been a founding member of another London band, The Quireboys, earlier in the year.

The following year, the band returned from Finland to England and supported Johnny Thunders who was touring for the Que Sera, Sera album at the time. Original Dogs' drummer Bam came back to replace Hornby, and Jo "Dog" Almeida took over from Kusworth on guitar when he left to form Jacobites with Nikki Sudden.

The Dogs D'Amour then signed a contract with a Japanese label Watanabe, but did not release any material with them. More changes came during this period when, bass guitarist Karl Watson left and was replaced by Mark Duncan. However, Duncan's stay in the band was only very brief and he gave way for Swiss bass guitarist Mark Drax for a tour in Paris, France.

The classic era: late 1980s, early 1990s -

A more permanent bass guitarist was recruited by 1987. Steve James was part of what would be known as the "classic" Dogs line-up which also included Tyla, Jo "Dog" Almeida and Bam. This line-up signed a record deal with China Records in 1988.

The band released its second album In The Dynamite Jet Saloon in 1988. Essentially, this is the album which first introduced the British general public to the band. It contained singles such as "The Kid From Kensington", "I Don't Want You To Go" and "How Come It Never Rains?", all of which reached the UK Singles Chart top 100.

Unlike the four year gap between their first and second albums, the Dogs became more prolific, releasing their third studio album A Graveyard of Empty Bottles in 1989. This album proved to be the highest charting recording of their career, reaching #16 on the UK Albums Chart. During this year, the band toured with Mick Ronson and Ian Hunter.

Also in 1989, the Dogs released their fourth album, known as Errol Flynn in the United Kingdom, but King of the Thieves in the United States. Again, this album charted well in the Dogs' home country, reaching #22. It included what is their most successful single, and perhaps best-known song, "Satellite Kid".

Another album appeared in 1990 named Straight??!!, but around this time the Dogs had started to fall apart. Tyla had recently split with his wife and the band imploded, live onstage, in Los Angeles. Tyla slashed his own body with a broken glass bottle and brought an end to the band. He needed 30 stitches for the wound.

With the group disbanded, Bam Bam joined The Wildhearts and Tyla wrote a poetry book. A year later, the Dogs D'Amour reunited with a new line-up. Jo Almeida, however, decided not to return to the band as guitarist and so Darrell Bath of The Crybabys was brought in to replace him. In 1993, the band recorded a new album, ...More Unchartered Heights of Disgrace. It charted well and received favourable reviews. One of the singles from the album was a cover of the Small Faces song "All or Nothing".

By 1994, the Dogs D'Amour had broken up again. The final act of this line-up was the recording of Tyla's solo album The Life And Times Of A Ballad Monger. Although this album was released in the name of Tyla, it includes all of the Dogs D'Amour members from the 1992 line-up.

Activity in the 2000s -

In 2000, The Dogs D'Amour reunited for a short time with a line-up of Tyla, Jo "Dog" Almeida, Bam and Share Pedersen of Vixen (Bam's wife). They released an album Happy Ever After that year, along with a special fan club only release Seconds. Bam and Pederson then left the band and now play in their own act entitled Bubble.

Following the short-lived reunion, frontman Tyla moved to Barcelona, Spain, and focused on his solo career, releasing a number of albums in the 2000s under his own name. He also released two albums under the name The Dogs D'Amour, When Bastards Go To Hell and Let Sleeping Dogs..., in 2004 and 2005 respectively, along with the live album Unleashed. These, however, are essentially solo albums under a different title, as for the most part they just feature Tyla playing all instruments and his then-wife Yella on backing vocals with none of the past Dogs D'Amour members except for a guest guitar solo from Darrell Bath on When Bastards Go To Hell's title track.

Tyla toured the United States and the United Kingdom under the name Tyla & the Dogs and released the album Bloody Hell Fire under this moniker. The United Kingdom tour saw The Yo-Yo's (the band of Danny McCormack of The Wildhearts) as his backing band. In April 2011, Tyla released In the Dynamite Jet Saloon MMX.

In November 2012, The Dogs D'Amour show in the classic, original line-up was announced in London's Borderline club on 22 February 2013 to help raising funds for their long-time friend, and also former drummer of the band, Paul Hornby. After a quick sell out they added another show in Borderline on 23 February along with some other dates in UK and Spain. Shortly after the 2013 reunion, Tyla put out a statement declaring he would not be appearing again under the name Dogs D’amour.

In 2018, Tyla formed a new version of the band minus Jo Dog, Steve James and Bam, calling it "Tyla's Dogs D'amour." The line-up has since released several studio and live albums under this moniker.

Errol Flynn
The Dogs D'Amour Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You wanna be like Errol Flynn
Captain Blood was a whore
You wanna be like Gary Cooper
High on a horse
You wanna be like Lorne Chaney
Howlinґ at the moon
You wanna be like Baby Glass
Give me a kiss too soon, yeah

Woah, woah, woah
Hey, hey, yeah
Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, yeah
Well, I told you once
I told you twice
Told you before
Just `cause youґre the good guy
Donґt mean you gonna win them all, yeah
Woah, woah, woah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, waoh, yeah
Woah, woah, woah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay
Uuuh, I told you once
Told you twice
Told you before
Just `cause youґre the bad guy
Donґt mean you gonna loose `em all, yeah
Aaah, yeah
Oooh, yeah, yeah, yeah
Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, oh
Woah, woah, woah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, yeah
I told you once
I told you twice
Oh, yeah, Iґm the bad guy I win, yeah
Wham, wham, wham
Wham, wham, wham

Wham, wham, wham, wham, wham, wham, yeah
An you loose, sucker!

Overall Meaning

The Dogs D'Amour's song "Errol Flynn" is all about the false glamour of wanting to live life like some of Hollywood's most infamous stars. Errol Flynn and Lorne Chaney were both actors who, in their personal lives, were known for their wild ways of living. Gary Cooper, on the other hand, enjoyed a very successful career on screen playing the good guy, often portraying a cowboy on horseback. The reference to Baby Glass is unclear, but the line "give me a kiss too soon" suggests the idea of someone wanting to live life recklessly without considering the consequences.

The chorus of the song warns against the false illusion of being a hero or villain. The singer tells us that just because you are a good guy, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll win them all, and just because you're a bad guy, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll lose them all. In the end, it comes down to luck and circumstance. The song seems to be cautioning against the idea of wanting to live life recklessly and glamorizing the self-destructive behavior of Hollywood's most famous stars.

Line by Line Meaning

You wanna be like Errol Flynn
You aspire to be like Errol Flynn.

Captain Blood was a whore
You believe that Captain Blood was promiscuous.

You wanna be like Gary Cooper
You desire to be like Gary Cooper.

High on a horse
You want to feel powerful and respected while riding a horse.

You wanna be like Lorne Chaney
You wish to resemble Lorne Chaney.

Howlin' at the moon
You want to act wild and uninhibited, like a wolf howling at the moon.

You wanna be like Baby Glass
You idolize Baby Glass.

Give me a kiss too soon, yeah
You want to engage in physical intimacy with someone despite not yet having a true connection.

Well, I told you once
I have already warned you before.

I told you twice
I have already warned you twice.

Told you before
I have previously cautioned you.