With his rock-star-ready looks and Steve Mariott by-way-of Rod Stewart vocals, Paliselli had - in the parlance of the day - what it took. To begin with, there was no question Artful Dodger had a dynamic front man in Billy Paliselli. The Paliselli family home, it was obvious they were onto something.
And with that, the classic lineup - Paliselli on vocals, Herrewig on lead guitar, Cox on rhythm guitar, Cooper on bass, and Brigida on drums - was born.Įven in the early, dues-paying stages of the band's career, holding rehearsals in the basement of On the suggestion of Herrewig's girlfriend, they abandoned the name Brat and The year was 1972, and cousins Steve Cooper and Billy Paliselli were busy gigging in a FairfaxĬombo known as Badge, while Steve Brigida, Gary Cox and Gary Herrewig were marking time in another local outfit, Homestead.Įventually, these five would manage to hook up and become - for a time, anyway - Brat.Īs sometimes happens, Brat discovered they were co-opting a name which was already taken byĪnother band. Originally, the band that would become Artful Dodger were five Fairfax, VA locals who got their start, like so many hopefuls, playing on the regional band scene. Together on three further occasions before the The-Greatest-Band-That-Almost-Made-It called it a day. In truth, following that evening's show, the members of Artful Dodger would only manage to play I can't imagine playing with anybody else." He's serious, of course, and his words catch the others off-guard.īut if there was a time to say these things, perhaps this was it. , the band's lead singer and resident cut-up, takes a sudden left turn, telling Szubski, "These are myīrothers these are my closest friends. York's legendary Record Plant studios, The Rolling Stones and a case of mistaken identity, Billy Paliselli That is, when she can get their attention.Īfter a particularly riotous story involving an Artful Dodger recording session in Studio B at New He's our mouthpiece") manages - more or less - to interview the band members. In-jokes and One-For-All, All-For-One camaraderie ("We'd like to defer this question to Steve Cooper. Reunited for the first time in a decade, and clearly excited to be playing together again, Artful Dodger sit down with VidMag correspondent Agatha Szubski who, amid the band's customary hijinks, There's a lovely moment during a 1991 interview with Fairfax, VA power pop legends Artfulĭodger, backstage at Cleveland, Ohio's Agora Ballroom. Robert Christgau, The Village Voice, October 1976 Lot a bands around CBGB's will spend their lives wishing they could have gotten it "Conceivably these kids could turn into teen heroes everybody can be proud of. Nevertheless, power pop fans owe it to themselves to seek out Artful Dodger, if only for "Wayside.Perfect Sound Forever: Artful Dodger, the band's historyįorever : The Ballad of Artful Dodger Story by Ed Turner Guide by Peter Lindblad Reproducing the back cover was OK, but the credits should also have been re-typeset on the blank inside fold. The Artful Dodger CD reissue liner notes are virtually unreadable since they simply reproduce the original LP's back cover. The relaxed rockabilly of "New York City" is a surprising but effective finale. "Waiting Place" is the most sophisticated song on the album from an arrangement standpoint and it often settles into a slow, funky groove. "Silver and Gold" manages to combine touches of blues, country, and pure pop into the power pop formula. "It's Over" and "Follow Me" slather on catchy vocals and electric and acoustic guitar parts.
Crispy, melodic guitar work from Gary Herrewig and Gary Cox, integral bass parts from Steve Cooper, effective drumming from Steve Brigida and superb vocals from Billy Paliselli add up to a great lost classic.
"Wayside" is brilliant and it's a travesty that it wasn't a smash hit. The fact that Artful Dodger and Honor Among Thieves were reissued on CD in 1997 by Pendulum Entertainment Group (through Sony Music) confirms that the band had a big enough cult following - particularly in Cleveland - to warrant dusting them off.
The band was probably most popular in Cleveland, where some songs still received regular rock radio airplay 25 years later. Perhaps Artful Dodger was ahead of its time, considering that producer Jack Douglas wouldn't helm Cheap Trick's acclaimed debut for two more years.
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Unfortunately, the quintet, which originally formed in Virginia, never even cracked the Billboard album charts with its four releases. Artful Dodger's self-titled 1975 debut album is high-quality power pop.
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