Ross The Boss - 1975
The story of the Dictators begins with the guys meeting at the party house Ross lived in near the State University of New Paltz. Ross was in his first band, Total Crudd, when he and Andy Shernoff decided to start a band of their own.

Handsome Dick Manitoba started off moving gear for them before he climbed up on stage one day and sang a song driving the crowd wild and accidentally proving that he was just the frontman the band needed.

They played lots of shows in the NYC area and made a reputation for themselves as cocky loudmouths who poked fun at other bands. This was the beginning of punk rock.

The Dictators at White Castle
"Yeah, the Dictators. The band that embodied all the elements of junk culture (when it wasn't cool) and threw it right back in the public's and the perplexed critics' faces. A band that helped put a bit of the fun back in rock 'n' roll when it was becoming way too serious, obviously ahead of its time and, while influential on many underground bands (as well as better-known acts), never really getting the credit they deserved. Well, fuck 'em if they can't take a joke."-- Suburban Voice Fanzine #26

As one of the pet projects of Sandy Pearlman of Blue Oyster Cult fame, The Dictators became the first punk rock band to get a record contract, although the term 'Punk Rock' would be coined later by fans of the genre. Ross always thought of himself as playing "Rock and Roll".

The Dictators 2002

After three albums, all the guys in the band had taken on other projects. They would occasionally come back together play shows, which led to the infamous live album "F**k 'Em if They Can't Take a Joke". Originally distributed on cassette, this album solidified the band's position as a cult classic in musical history.

The band's occasional get-togethers always led to more shows, tours, and eventually another studio album in 2001 which yielded the band's biggest hit song ever "Who Will Save Rock and Roll". Today, the members of The Dictators all do their own thing and they all come back together again whenever the time is right.

They'll be the first to tell you the Dictators never broke up, and therefore can't do "reunions". They are the Dictators Forever, Forever Dictators: DFFD.


The Dictators headline the last Friday and Saturday CBGBs was open


In October 2006, the band headlined two special shows the last weekend CBGBs was open. They have the honor of having been the last punk rock band ever to play at this historic venue.

They set off for Spain in November 2008; Their first tour in six years all together as The Dictators. They were well received and they enjoyed the experience and most likely will come together again sometime in the future.

"The Dictators, a New York institution since 1974, were -- and are -- one of these bands that got screwed by poor timing. Making the scene when the New York Dolls were crapping out as trash-rock saviors and being just a little too instrumentally savvy to completely fit in with the CBGB punks that they are always lumped in with, the 'Tators weren't `too much too soon' or even too little too late. They were outcasts in a scene of outcasts..." -- RollingStone.com