Tyla Dogs D’amour: The Songs & Stories Behind Them preview Bannermans Bar 4 August.
This year the leader of Dogs D’Amour Tyla J. Pallas celebrated 40 years of the band. Next Friday he will appear at Bannerman’s Bar to perform some much-loved hits such as How Come It Never Rains, Satellite Kid and Errol Flynn while telling the stories behind his poetic rum-soaked ballads.
They include many colourful anecdotes such as the time he broke Rod Stewart’s favourite mike or when the singer turned down Hollywood star Liza Minelli for a drink. What about the time Guns N’ Roses front-man Axl Rose was beaten up and thrown out of one of his gigs? Although Tyla, originally from Wolverhampton has lived around the world in cities such as Barcelona, L. A and London he now considers Edinburgh home after moving to the capital several summers ago.
“I came here and fell in love with a lass eight years ago”, he explained.
“I have a brilliant view of the Castle where we live and have lots of pictures of Edinburgh around before it got built up. I know a bit of the history, there’s nothing like this place.”
Tyla is known for his artwork, songwriting and the band’s wild image that saw the Dogs compared to the likes of the Faces, the Rolling Stones and Guns N’ Roses. While the latter was known as ‘the most dangerous band in the world’ Axl Rose was thrown out of a Dogs D’Amour gig after a fight with the band’s crew.
“We were playing at the Club With No Name in L.A, and there was an altercation with our roadie John who was a big fan of Guns N’ Roses and he got into a fight with Axl and had him thrown out. I’ve since had contact with Duff and Slash in the band, with Guns N’ Roses on tour I wonder when Axl is going to give us a crack, (at supporting).”
Dogs D’Amour’s 1988 album In The Dynamite Jet Saloon has become something of a cult classic. While the Dogs were often lumped in with the hard metal bands of the time, their music had more in common with early blues and country & western fused and glam rock.
“Growing up I was listening to things like Slim Whitman and Johnny Cash while my mum was getting Sunday lunch ready, I loved Top of the Pops but I don’t recall seeing David Bowie on there as a lot of people did at the time.” The band would appear on the iconic show back at the end of the 1980s.
“We went in at Number 12 in the midweek chart. We were miming all day and the stage manager came over and said: ‘You look a right mess, here’s £500 each, go and get yourselves an outfit. We all spent the money on one item, I wore a black drape that was fashionable at the time and this white shirt with a long tail. I said to my mum; what do you think? She said: ‘You might have tucked your shirt in’. I remember this woman with a clipboard trying to introduce me to this American lady with blonde hair, I said something like: ‘Not today, thanks’. It turned out to be Liza Minelli. I don’t know if it was the blonde hair but for some reason, I never caught on.”
While it is unlikely the classic late 1980s line-up of the band will reunite, “it’s all about money and logistics, some of the ex-band live in America” there’s plenty to keep Tyla busy. He recently charted again with the Balladmongrels and is currently working on classical versions of the Dogs’ back catalogue. How Come It Never Rains, recently found its way onto the soundtrack of the sucessfull HBO superhero series Peacemaker. “The songs and melodies are strong, it’s great I’ve had some tracks used on Peacemaker; I’m looking forward to going on the road and telling the stories behind them.”
Tyla’s Dogs D’Amour The Songs and the Stories Behind Them 4 August at Bannermans
