The band was formed in 1962 by lead singer/organist Larry Tamblyn and guitarist Tony Valentino. The Standells' first hit single was Dirty Water, which reached #11 on the Billboard charts on June 11, 1966.
Other hits included Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White, Why Pick On Me, Riot On Sunset Strip (about the 1966 riots resulting from police attacks on hippies), and Try It.
Singer/drummer Dick Dodd, founding drummer of The Bel Airs, who joined the group in 1964 and sang the lead on "Dirty Water", was a former Mouseketeer, and singer/keyboardist Larry Tamblyn, who sang the lead on many of the other Standells songs, is the brother of actor Russ Tamblyn and uncle of Amber Tamblyn, star of Joan of Arcadia. Dodd replaced original drummer Gary Leeds, who went on to fame as Gary Walker of The Walker Brothers. In 1967 John Fleckenstein (formerly of the group Love), joined the Standells. The group appeared in several low budget films of the 1960s, including "Get Yourself a College Girl" and cult classic "Riot on Sunset Strip", in which they performed the movie's title song. Lowell George, who would go on to play with Little Feat, briefly played guitar in the Standells prior to their breakup in 1969.
The Standells also made an appearance on the 1964-1966 television sitcom The Munsters in the episode "Far Out Munster". The band was an integral part of the show, and performed the songs "Come On and Ringo" and The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand." Furthermore, the group appeared on the television 1964-1965 sitcom The Bing Crosby Show, in the episode "Bugged by the Love Bugs", portraying the fictional rock group of the same name. They performed the songs "Someday You'll Cry" and "Come Here".
Despite the lyrics of "Dirty Water", which states, "Boston, you're my home." The Standells are not from Massachusetts. However, in 2007 the Massachusetts General Court officially decreed "Dirty Water" to be the "Official Victory Song of the Boston Red Sox" . Since 2004, the Standells have attended most every World Series at Fenway Park, including the final winning game in 2013. "Dirty Water" was written by their producer Ed Cobb. It is played after every home victory by the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins.
Dodd and Valentino left the Standells in 2009. Dick Dodd passed away in 2013.
The Standells still are actively performing today, and have been receiving 'rave reviews' from music critics. They recently headlined in 2013 at the Adams Ave. St. Fair, San Diego, CA, and the Ponderosa Stomp, New Orleans, Lousiana. Original Members Larry Tamblyn and John Fleck are still in the group, along with co-lead singer Mark Adrian and drummer Greg Burnham. The group has recently released a new album Bump on GRA Records. They been booked on an extensive East Coast tour from April - May, 2014. Learn more about the Standells by visiting http://www.standells-official.com and http://www.facebook.com/Standells
Riot On Sunset Strip
The Standells Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm not on a stay home trip tonight
Long hair seems to be the main attraction
But the heat is causin' all the action
Bright lights everywhere
Pretty girls with long blond hair
But somehow the people they don't care.
To buggy cause you got long hair
Even the parents are beginning to scare
Because of the sirens
On the streets
That used to be neat
But now it's just a place for black and white cars to race
It's causing a riot
It's causing a riot!
Yeah
Bright lights everywhere
Pretty girls with long blond hair
But somehow the people they don't care.
It just doesn't seem fair
To buggy cause you got long hair
Even the parents are beginning to scare
Because of the sirens
Out on the streets
That used to be neat
But now it's just a place for black and white cars to race
It's causing a riot
It's causing a riot!
Yeah! It's causing a riot
It's causing a riot!
Everywhere people running around
Riots everywhere
Pushing pushing pushing everywhere down pushing around
The lyrics to The Standells' song "Riot On Sunset Strip" paint a picture of the chaotic and violent environment that existed on Sunset Strip in the mid-1960s. The singer of the song (presumably one of the "long-haired" youths who gathered on the strip) is eager to go out and join in the excitement, despite the danger posed by police and the community at large. The verses describe the scene with a mix of fascination and disgust, highlighting the contrast between the glamorous facade of the strip and the ugly reality of the riots. The lyrics also suggest a sense of injustice, as the singer and their peers are persecuted simply for their appearance.
The chorus repeats the phrase "it's causing a riot" multiple times, conveying the idea that the atmosphere of Sunset Strip was one of unrestrained chaos and violence. The repeated use of the word "everywhere" in the final lines of the song underscores the scope and intensity of the unrest, which seems to have engulfed the entire area.
As a whole, the lyrics to "Riot On Sunset Strip" are a powerful commentary on the social and political turmoil of the time, as well as a testament to the importance of music in reflecting and responding to that turmoil.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm going down to the strip tonight
I am leaving my house and heading towards Sunset Strip tonight
I'm not on a stay home trip tonight
I am not in the mood to stay at home tonight
Long hair seems to be the main attraction
People with long hair seem to be the center of attention
But the heat is causin' all the action
The hot weather is responsible for causing all the excitement
Bright lights everywhere
There are a lot of brightly lit signs and advertisements everywhere
Pretty girls with long blond hair
There are attractive girls with long blonde hair around
But somehow the people they don't care.
Despite the attractive girls, people don't seem to be enjoying themselves
It just doesn't seem fair
The situation doesn't seem just or reasonable
To buggy cause you got long hair
It's not fair to harass someone just because they have long hair
Even the parents are beginning to scare
Even parents are starting to feel uneasy and frightened
Because of the sirens
The sound of sirens is causing alarm
On the streets
In the public areas, on the roads
That used to be neat
The streets used to be well-kept, clean, and orderly
But now it's just a place for black and white cars to race
The streets have become a place where police cars race around
It's causing a riot
The police presence is causing chaos and unrest
Everywhere people running around
People are running around all over the place
Riots everywhere
There are widespread riots happening all around
Pushing pushing pushing everywhere down pushing around
People are shoving and pushing each other, causing chaos and disorder
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Emilo Tony Bellissimo, John Fleck
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jim Titus
The Standells were a '60s version of punk. They played at a noon concert at my high school in L.A. The Doors and the Jefferson Airplane were on the same bill. To go to the show, you had to sell a certain amount of chocolate bars. We were also seeing these same bands on the strip, on the weekends. It was big fun back then, just before Nixon and all the bad stuff that happened.
BeatlesBootlegs9
Sounds like one hell of a show
Cake AJPW
What about Count Five? I consider them the start of psychedelic rock. Love Psychotic Reaction. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers did a really good cover of it as well. 👍
Ecléctico Iconoclasta
Why should they be seen as "punk" anything? Punk is a genre of the mid late 70s. The punks should keep their beloved genre in the late 70s and 80s and not pretend everything before that rocked and was fun is "punk" or something. This is is mid 60s garage rock influenced by british mod rock bands. Punk is irrelevant to this
T.C. Bramblett
@Ecléctico Iconoclasta Clearly you don't know what you are talking about. Before 70's punk, this was called punk, implying that it was music made by "no-good punks". It was the media that tagged the later punk movement with the name, which eventually took off. The More You Know!
"During the 1960s, garage rock was not recognized as a distinct genre and had no specific name, but critical hindsight in the early 1970s—and especially the 1972 compilation album Nuggets—did much to define and memorialize the style. Between 1971 and 1973, certain American rock critics began to retroactively identify the music as a genre and for several years used the term "punk rock" to describe it, making it the first form of music to bear the description, predating the more familiar use of the term appropriated by the later punk rock movement that it influenced. The term "garage rock" gained favor amongst commentators and devotees during the 1980s. The style has also been referred to as "proto-punk" or in certain instances "frat rock"."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garage_rock
Cake AJPW
Great upload! Epic movie! The LSD scene had me laughing my ass off!! 😂
DracoRepto X
Proto Punk at its best.
Willy Bragg
Very fitting for 2020.
Memphis Rumbler
Riot in Santiago 2020. VENCEREMOS
John J. Sanchez
Fuzz guitars pretty girls blonde or brunette love it 😍❤️❤️❤️❤️