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WILD DOGS-PT 2 - MAN'S BEST FRIEND BEAUTY OR BEAST?

Man's Best Friend , the second Wild Dogs album it was suggested Mike Varney would produce and attempt to sell the band to a major label as was the case with Icon and WASP
re arranging songs re writing most of the lyrics, bringing in back up singer Pete Marino from Le mans with Derek Frigo
to add harmonies being "signed " to a major label took precedence .Guitarist Jeff Mark had become a potent force and influence in the guitar community and the layering and orchestrational techniques he employed were evident in many songs on MBF. a more controlled and precise style came to the surface Def Leppard was the hot band of the day and the labels wanted clones.
Drums and vocals dominated the mix.and a lag between releases slowed the momentum they had built
with the fisrt album accused of "selling out" by the magazines who supported the group early on and Mettallica and Slayer were drawing a line down the playground splintering the scene. The 6 song Doggy Style demo was mopre raw than the finished album and distributed via the die hard fans until Mans Best Friend was issued .Between the first album and Mans Best Friend Johnny Z of metal forces offered the band a deal. a move that might have brought the innovative group back online with a more powerful sound but they stayed with Shrapnel and beganthe production 8 weeks in northern california at Prairie Sun Studios sharing the place with Greg Rollie who was recording a solo record after leaving Journey.
the studio is located on an old dairy farm complete with horses and chickens and hippie girls supplying all the
local "vegetation" the first night the band arrived they took residence in one of the visitor houses and just as everyone had fallen asleep the converted chicken coop started to shake and make a horrible sound. Bass player Danny Kurth looked out the window to see a huge black animal which turned out to be a friendly old horse scratching himself on the outside wall.
while staying in Califiornia the group played a few live shows with LAAZ ROCKET in the surrounding towns
one night they partied/jammed with Commander Cody and a famous reggae band who was touring the country from Jamaica and staying at the studio . the album was nearly done and the rest of the band went home while singer Matt Mccourt did the vocal tracks the results were on pitch and clearly audible lyrics The band returned form Portland for the Photo shoot that would be the cover of the album, a Doeberman Pincher tearing the arm off a dead and bloody man with a baseball bat . Security dogs inc supplied the trained animals for the shoot at Pat Johnsons studio in Oakland Ca.for the cover shot. Pat had hundreds of photos of Jimi Hendrix and the whole 60's San Francisco scene. real rock history and one of the famous photographers of the period. The backdrop covered in fake blood was used 3 days before for Boy George and his Time magazine shoot. all this in one of the toughest neighborhoods in the city,only in B movies and starsky and hutch re runs featuring the lowest of low life will you find such a seedy and sour location. and 4 white guys in spandex extracted whistles hoots and cat calls from the locals who
lined the street hangin out in doorways. The guy on the cover suffered a nasty bite during the shoot and was taken to a nearby hospital which if the neighborhood was any indication he may have been better off taking his chances and driving 60 miles north! With the cover shot finished, the album ready to mix all that was left was a wrap party with the studio residents who, true to the bay area's long standing reputation as the capital of psychedelia slipped us some powerful mushroom tea, the kind Alice in Wonderland may have sipped we felt the effects all night while driving back to Oregon " a most memorably colorful night of jamming with the reggae band and laughing until it hurt
a great way to complete an album all had high hopes for and return to our homestate and the rain for the winter and changes to the band Intent on being prepared for the next album the band imnmediatley began to write and record songs at powerhouse studios
Rank and File and The Vulture were produced and rank n file became a syaple of the live show
when no major deal was struck the album was released on shrapnel .the blame pointed at Mccourt's wild image and a secret search for a new vocalist was underway, or an opportunity for Jeff Mark to take control now that the group was established it was at a meeting with new manager and Journey LD Ken Mednick that the band broke the news that John Tejeda would be their new singer while Matt stood by ignored by all. Tthe next day Mccourt started Evil Genius with guitarist Kip Doran and wrote most of what became Dr Mastermind in the next month
a few months later the band asked Matt to "fill in" for the new singer who hadn't shown up for a 5 day tour with Yngwie and Talas. at the gigs he did in Seattle fans showed up with "MILD DOGS SUCK signs and ones that read MATT IS GOD They did the Rising Force tour and sounded better than ever but it wasnt to last.
Returning to oregon for a show at their homebase the starry night (cap1350) Matt was informed by Mednick that he had been permanently replaced by Michael Furlong who would be doing the new record. Trying to avoid a conflict,and fearing the unpredicatable the rest of the band chose not to tell Matt that he was out ,despite repeated inquiry. so . a rather immature scheme of giving the band a dose of its own medicine,was hatched. a dozen or so close accomplices of Matt were in on the prank , instead of going to the mic to sing after a lenghty and showstopping instrumental intro complete with fog and many flashing lights and the usal concert fare Matt takes it on the toes and steps not up to the mic but out the door to an awaiting car and went home. the plan called for these accomplices to go up to the shrewd club owner (who is now in prison for murder for killing a ticket scalping employee) and hassle him about getting their money back, all the while the band keeps pounding out the first song with no singer, by the 3rd song they started asking audience members to join them which they did all night.
Soon after Michale Furlong joined the band, Dan Kurth was replaced by Enemy bassist Rick Bartell and Reign of Terror was recorded. a month later, Matt Mccourt recorded Dr Mastermind with Deen at Prairie Sun studios who was thern recruited by Mike Varney and Tony Macalpine and moved to the S.F.area Many attempts have been made to organise a reunion that have fallen flat due to conflicting schedules but a wealth of recorded material has been archived and made available via www.usmetal.com
Where are they now?....
Deen Castronovo is currently a full time member of super groups Journey and has toured with Ozzy, Bad English,HardlinePaul Rodgers, Voscoe Rossi,and has appeared on more records than we can mention and an influence to drums in the same capacity as Hendrix contributed to guitar, sharing his talent close up at clinics and exhibitons around the globe for years and is considered one of the world's top drummers and is an influence to an entire generation.
Jeff MarkGuitarist Jeff Mark has been producing since the 80's and owns Powerhouse Studio and is "so busy that we didn't have time to do any of our own material." in 1999 Jeff released a well recieved Progressive 4 song ep titled Zoomlens with Gary Moore/Captain Beyond vocalist Willie Dee and also works as a touring pro sound engineer Jeff's Guitar prowess was the fuel that ignited the whole deal with a space age sound and state of the art gear and custom guitars he was able to produce spine chilling effects and lighting fast runs that werent based in blues or classical a style magazines called all his own today he is experimenting with 7 string guitars, alternate tunings, and tribal rythms set to metal.
Matthew T. McCourt is the owner of "the world's smallest record label" usmetal records and produces a music tv show
that has featured videos he has produced live of Dio, Motorhead, GWAR,mudvayne, Dokken Great White and more for 12 years including the 1998-1999 lineup that appeared with the aforementioned groups and yielded 2 albums worth of material and a live cd "live at the Roseland Matt has also appeared on albums by Mayhem,Jester's Moon, SINN,Meathook, and 4 Mentors Church Of El Duce cds and records regularly with Bryce Van Patten
Danny Kurth is an executive at a financial firm in Portland Oregon specialising in real estate aquisiton and has been recording whenever the wild dogs get together and is featured on "out for Blood" a compilation of unreleased demo recordings throughout the years by the mans best friend lineup..Danny was known for his homeade spiked arm bands and chain gear whichearned the name terror gear the use of nails, chain, door knockers ,copper razor blades ,were all fair game for accesories Kurth was also the songwriter for the tunes that got the band noticed first and some that appear on Reign of Terror. his sound was 100% METAL and very daring for a bassist at that time as a teen he was a member of Jet which eventually evolved into Black n Blue. Jet was the envy of every young player in town the only band in Portland who ventured to LA for showcases at age 16, they had the groupie/playmate girlfriends in makeup and heels and lived by the KISS school of showmanship. the most unsung of The Wild Dogs but deserves more recognition for bringing a unique swing to Van Halen based metal music

 

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