Slaughter & The Dogs

Slaughter & The Dogs

Slaughter & The Dogs is an English punk rock band that formed in the late 1970s in Manchester, England. They were one of the first UK punk bands to sign for a major label, Decca Records.

Formed in Wythenshawe, Manchester, Slaughter And The Dogs, a name that Wayne Barrett created in 1975 combining Diamond Dogs & Slaughter On 10th Ave, two of his favorite albums, were one of the firstpunk rock bands in North West England. They supported The Sex Pistols at their now-legendary gig at Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall on 20 July 1976. This concert, more than any other single event, spawned Manchester’s punk scene. That scene was concentrated around the Electric Circus club and gave encouragement to several bands, including Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias, Buzzcocks, John Cooper Clarke, The Distractions, John Dowie, The Drones, The Durutti Column, The Fall, The Freshies, Joy Division, Magazine, Ed Banger and The Nosebleeds, The Passage, as well as Slaughter & The Dogs. As one cultural commentator observed, "London had The Roxy, Manchester had the Electric Circus".

The band befriended Rob Gretton, later to manage Joy Division, and with his financial help became the first band to release a single on Manchester’s independent record label Rabid Records. In 2001, this debut single, "Cranked Up Really High" (originally released in June 1977), was included in Mojo magazine’s list of the top 100 punk rock singles of all time. It also appeared on Streets, which the trakMARX website describes as an "essential" compilation album of early UK punk bands from a variety of independent record labels. In 2006, "Cranked Up Really High" re-appeared on the Paul Morley compiled three-disc box set, North By North West: Liverpool & Manchester from Punk to Post-punk and beyond (Korova), an overview of the punk, new wave and post-punk scene in those two cities.

The band were frequent visitors to London, and became one of the pioneering punk bands that played live in the first few months of The Roxy. They played their first concert in January of the same year, supported by The Adverts. They headlined twice in February and once in March of some year, supported by Johnny Moped. In April of some year they were supported by The Lurkers. Their live renditions of "Runaway" and "Boston Babies" were included on the Harvest Records compilation album Live at the Roxy WC2.

After signing to Decca Records, the band released the "Where Have All The Boot Boys Gone?" in 1978. The same year, singer Wayne Barrett stopped the band and Slaughter And The Dogs became Slaughter they began rehearsing with new vocalist Steve Morrissey. Morrissey recorded four songs with them, but did not become a permanent part of the band. For a time, the band also included Billy Duffy who later achieved fame with The Cult. Slaughter & The Dog's first single on DJM Records was a cover version of "You're Ready Now", which took it origins from Frankie Valli's solo chart single of 1966.

The band shortened their name to Slaughter in the early 1980s, and drastically changed both their look and sound. They are not to be confused with other bands with the same name.

The band reformed to headline 'Holidays in the Sun' in 1996 with bass player Nigel Mead and drummer Noel Kay. The new line up with the French rhythm section of J. P. Thollet (bass) and Noel Kay (drums) continues to record, tour and headline music festivals.