Andy Shernoff was always the main creative force behind one of New York’s best bands ever, the Dictators. He wrote the material and sang the leads. In the royal line of succession for NYC bands in the ’70s, they came along right after the birth of the New York Dolls. Every bit as raw, noisy and in-your-face as the Dolls, there was one thing the Dictators didn’t share with David Johansen and Co.: their sense of fashion. Rather than climb on the glam bandwagon, the Dictators dressed in leather jackets, jeans and T-shirts and paved the way for the punk revolution of 1977. Shernoff is doing the solo thing these days, with a new single called “Are You Ready To Rapture?” He’ll also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with him.
Shernoff: I’ve been a Nick Lowe fan going back to his Brinsley Schwarz days. I’m one of the few Americans who actually saw Brinsley Schwarz play live. A few years ago, my buddy Tom Clark invited me to see Nick with him in a small bookstore. Alone with his guitar, he gave a performance that was more powerful than any of the knucklehead rock bands I had seen in the past 20 years. The man is over 60 and making the best music of his illustrious career. The experience changed my outlook, inspiring me to discard the Marshall amps and dig out the acoustic guitar.
2 replies on “Andy Shernoff Lives For: Nick Lowe”
f***in’ awesome!
Been a fan since Brinsley Schwartz days. Saw the band in what was probably their only Irish date in The State Cinema, Phibsboro, Dublin. Support was Frankie Miller, who didn’t make it from the pub across the road to the gig. They played the Silver Pistol album, must go and dig it out for a listen.