He played keyboards in his bedroom and, together with friend Bob Davis (later Chuck Wagon), created a type of music that Phillips describes as "autism rock", similar to Devo, though not as good.

[12] Surprisingly, it was not hanging out with Pop that pushed Lee into joining the nascent punk scene but, rather, the experience of going with eventual Dickies bassist Billy Club (Bill Remar) to see The Damned on their first American tour that proved most influential.

Prior to deciding on a punk rock direction, Lee had begun to learn guitar at the urging of friend Kevin DuBrow,[13] with the ambition of becoming a Ritchie Blackmore–like virtuoso.

His teacher, Hufsteter, suggested that playing punk was a more practical idea and, by way of convincing, provided Lee with his initial introduction to the music of the Ramones.

"[10] Wagon's death, and drug issues among surviving members, slowed down the Dickies initial momentum considerably starting the 1980s, with John Hewlett being fired as manager and the A&M contract expiring during this period.

in a concert special entitled Punks and Poseurs: A Journey Through the Los Angeles Underground, which also featured interviews with fans, as well as figures like Pleasant Gehman and Iris Berry.

and NJ, to California, to the U.K.[34] Among the bands that the Dickies shared bills with between 1985 and 1987 are Red Hot Chili Peppers, Janes Addiction, Faith No More, Guns N' Roses, Ramones, X, T.S.O.L., Thelonious Monster, Dead Milkmen, and Murphy's Law.

It was produced by Ron Hitchcock, and was the debut of drummer Cliff Martinez who had recently played with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Weirdos, and Captain Beefheart.

This resulted from a misunderstood joke from the Dickies camp, often repeated (it was a stock answer to a frequent question), saying the multi-platinum selling Green Day should support their forebears by "passing the hat" at a stadium gig to fund a punk rock retirement home.

[61][62] A reviewer for a November 1998 Dickies concert in Hartford, Connecticut, suggested that most attendees were old school punks wearing "vintage leather jackets" and "buttons that could be artifacts at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame".

The writer quotes Leonard Phillips as sarcastically indicating his willingness to court a younger crowd by rebranding the Dickies as an "alternative" punk rock band.

Jack Rabid, noting that the Dickies had a long history of recording covers, some of which are "terrific", gave this release a very favorable review, writing that although the latest batch were more reverent and less humorous than some previous efforts, it was "still frickin' great and a lot of fun.

Called "Fiend Fest", it was headlined by the Misfits, and, besides the Dickies, also featured The Damned, Agnostic Front, D.I., Marky Ramone, Dez from Black Flag, and Japanese band Balzac.

The Dickies are also in the 2006 documentary Too Tough to Die: A Tribute to Johnny Ramone, along with X, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joan Jett, Rob Zombie, and others.

The Dickies perform "You Drive Me Ape (You Big Gorilla)" and the Ramones song "Today Your Love (Tomorrow the World)", and in interview footage, they talk about their shared history with the New York band.

Enoch Hain (born Robert Frederick Orin Lansing, Jr.), Dickies guitarist for a period stretching from the late 1980s into the mid 1990s,[74] died on July 25, 2009, from complications arising from pneumonia.

[75] And original drummer Karlos Kabellero (born Carlos Cabellero), who gave the band its name and was one of its songwriters during his tenure, died on September 22, 2009, from heart-related problems.

[79] The Dickies live dates in 2013 included Rob Zombie's Great American Nightmare fest in Los Angeles,[80] and supporting the Damned in Birmingham, England.

[83][13] Secret Records released Banana Splits (2016), which is the title of both a DVD and a CD documenting a 2002 Dickies concert in England, featuring a guest performance from Michael "Olga" Algar of Toy Dolls.

An incident occurred on July 25, their final day with Warped, which caused the band to become the center of a controversy, to the extent that an LA Weekly writer characterized it as "tearing apart the hardcore music community right now".

[91] While performing, Phillips was targeted by a sign-holding friend of feminist band War on Women, who protested his "sexist", humorous, politically incorrect stage banter.

As a result, some in the punk scene denounced the Dickies,[92] while others, including Noodles of the Offspring, Buzz Osborne, Ben Weasel, the Dwarves, and Jesse Hughes of Eagles of Death Metal, voiced their support for the band.

[91][93][94][95][96] In May 2018, the Dickies, along with the Hollywood Chamber Orchestra, played the theme to Killer Klowns From Outer Space live at the sold-out Montalbán Theatre, during the 30th-anniversary screening of that film.

[97] Other activity in 2018 included Oakland's "Burger Boogaloo" festival alongside Devo, the Damned, the Dwarves, host John Waters, and many others,[98] and two runs of tour dates supported by the Queers.

[10] Elaborating on their distinction from the angrier, angstier bands, some of whom had gritty upbringings, Lee points out that at the Dawn of the Dickies' career, he was living with his parents in the San Fernando Valley with a swimming pool, preoccupied with waterslides and television shows, finding not much to complain about.

[11] Many of the Dickies lyrics concern Southern California culture, rife with references and in-jokes; examples include songs like "Waterslide", "I'm A Chollo", "Manny, Moe, and Jack", Stukas Over Disneyland, and "(I'm Stuck in a Pagoda with) Tricia Toyota".

"[111] The Dickies are also known for recording many fast-paced punk covers of classic rock songs, including The Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin," The Quick's "Pretty Please Me", Black Sabbath's "Paranoid," The Monkees' "She," Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction," The Isley Brothers' "Nobody But Me," The Left Banke's "Pretty Ballerina," The Cowsills' "Hair", "Sound of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel, Led Zeppelin's "Communication Breakdown", The Germs "Golden Boys", as well as the covers album, Dogs from the Hare That Bit Us.

[119] Metal Storm's biography of the Bad Brains also lists the Dickies, along with Dead Boys, Black Sabbath, and the Sex Pistols as being among the band's influences.

[120] Jack Rabid, writing for AllMusic wrote, perhaps hyperbolically, that the Dickies' cover of "paranoid" by Sabbath "basically inspired the Bad Brains to form!

[124] Ian MacKaye recounted an anecdote to a reporter from Salon about listening to a mix tape an acquaintance made, while in a car traveling to a Ramones concert, in 1979.