Slaughter and the Dogs -

Slaughter and the Dogs were an English rock band from Wythenshawe, formed in 1975 at the forefront of punk. On July 20, 1976, they played a watershed triple-bill with the Buzzcocks and The Sex Pistols at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall, heralding the city’s musical renaissance.

During 1977, Slaughter and the Dogs placed two songs (“Runaway,” “Boston Babies”) on The Roxy London WC2 (Jan – Apr 77) — a document of various bands that played the first 100 days of London venue the Roxy — and initiated punk-press Rabid Records with their debut single “Cranked Up Really High,” also included on the multi-artist compilation Streets.

Signed to Decca, they released multiple singles and the 1978 album Do It Dog Style, comprised of pogo-pulse ditties and space-rock anthems. After a standalone EP on TJM, they shortened their name to Slaughter for the 1980 DJM release Bite Back.

Members: Mick Rossi (guitar, vocals), Howard “Zip” Bates (bass, 1975-81), Wayne Barrett (vocals, 1975-79, 1979, 1991-present), Mad Muffet (drums, 1975-79), Mike Day (guitar, 1975-76), Billy Duffy (guitar, 1979), Phil Rowland (drums, 1979-81), Eddie Garrity [aka Ed Banger] (vocals, 1979-81), Noel Kay [Noël Kapoudjian] (drums, 1991-2016), Nigel Mead (bass, 1991-?), J. P. Thollet (bass), Mark Reback (drums), Dan Graziano (bass)

Background

Slaughter and the Dogs formed in 1975 in Wythenshawe, Manchester, when singer Wayne Barrett and guitarist Mick Rossi, friends from Sharston High School, teamed with lead guitarist Mike “Spider” Day, bassist Howard “Zip” Bates, and drummer Brian “Mad Muffet” Grantham.

Barrett first experimented on piano and played double-bass in the Sharston school orchestra. He bonded with Rossi over their shared interest in David Bowie. They met Grantham on a local bus. Their name combined the prefix of the 1974 solo debut by Ziggy guitarist Mick Ronson (Slaughter on 10th Avenue) with the suffix of Bowie’s concurrent release, Diamond Dogs.

Slaughter and the Dogs made their live debut in March 1975 at Greenbrow Social Club in Newall Green, Wythenshawe. Mick Rossi’s brother Ray managed the group as local appearances brought audiences from the surrounding estate.

On July 20, 1976, Slaughter and the Dogs supported the Sex Pistols at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall. Local rivals the Buzzcocks debuted that night after members Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto orchestrated an earlier Pistols Free Trade show on June 4, a night that galvanized area talent. Day played the July show, then left the lineup as Barrett, Rossi, Bates, and Grantham continued as a quartet.

Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren encouraged Slaughter and the Dogs to pursue dates on the London club circuit. Between January and August 1977, they played nine shows at the Roxy on double-bills with The Adverts, The Police, Johnny Moped, and The Lurkers. Two Slaughter numbers (“Runaway,” “Boston Babies”) appear on The Roxy London WC2, an EMI document of the Covent Garden scene.

Manchester promoter Rob Gretton, who ran the Slaughter and the Dogs fan club, contributed £200 toward their first single. Stranglers soundman Martin Hannett (as Martin Zero) produced “Cranked Up Really High,” issued by Rabid Records in May 1977 (b/w “The Bitch”). Sales of the Rabid release led Decca to sign Slaughter and the Dogs to a three-year worldwide agreement that summer. The quartet entered album sessions with producer Nick Tauber in late 1977 for Do It Dog Style.

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