Pavlov's Dog
Encyclopedia
Pavlov's Dog is a 1970s progressive rock
/AOR band formed in St. Louis, Missouri
in 1972. Pavlov's Dog originally comprised David Surkamp, Mark Gahr on lead guitar, Mike Safron, Rick Stockton, David Hamilton, Doug Rayburn, and Siegfried Carver (born Richard Nadler). Mark Gahr left the band and was replaced by Steve Scorfina. On their second album At the Sound of the Bell (1976), Tom Nickeson was added to the line-up on guitar and he took over Hamilton's keyboard position after the album had been recorded as Hamilton left the band. Safron was still a member of the band but did not appear on the second album; former Yes
drummer Bill Bruford
played as a guest musician. Safron left in the aftermath of this, partially due to his failure to receive a promised credit on the album sleeve and the band's third album featured Kirk Sarkisian on drums.
The band's debut Pampered Menial
was briefly released in 1975 on ABC Records
but then quickly re-issued by Columbia Records
. The result was that both versions appeared in stores at nearly the same time, which may have confused the public. The album was produced by Sandy Pearlman
and Murray Krugman who had found success earlier in the decade producing Blue Öyster Cult
. Carver left the band after the release of Pampered Menial.
Their second album At the Sound of the Bell followed on Columbia in 1976. In addition to the personnel changes noted above, a raft of guest artists contributed to the album including jazz saxophonist Michael Brecker
and Roxy Music
's Andy MacKay
.
The band recorded a third album in 1977, but due to poor sales of the first two albums, Columbia refused to release it, hastening the band's split. The third album finally appeared as a bootleg in the 1980s, a limited edition pressed from stolen master tapes. It was released under the name The St. Louis Hounds, without Pavlov's Dog's name on the sleeve. The third album finally was released legally in 2007 by German label Rockville Music, titled Has Anyone Here Seen Siegfried?, remastered and including additional 10 bonus tracks of unreleased material from the 1970s. The German label TRC illegally bootlegged the album, with title Third, but this version does not include the bonus tracks.
David Surkamp's high-pitched and quickly wavering vibrato has been compared to that of Geddy Lee
of Rush
. When the band split up in the late 1970s, Surkamp was rumored to be dead, although in fact he was working with former Fairport Convention
member Ian Matthews
on a band named Hi-Fi. While living in Seattle the group was successful on the club scene and recorded a 5-track live 12" EP in 1981 entitled Hi-Fi Demonstration Record and a studio album in 1983 entitled Moods for Mallards. Both Hi-Fi records were released on First American Records and distribution was mostly limited to the Pacific Northwest
region. The small label self-destructed not long after when investors ran into tax trouble with the Internal Revenue Service
.
In 1990, a reformed version of the band, with only Surkamp and Rayburn from the original line-up along with some contribution from Scorfina, recorded Lost in America for US label Telectro Records, which was re-released worldwide by Rockville Music in 2007, after TRC also having illegally bootlegged it in the late 1990s.
On June 26, 2004, a reunion concert with the original lineup, except for Siegfried Carver, took place in St. Louis. A version of the band has since toured annually in Europe since 2005. Among other venues, they played the Arrow Rock Festival
in Holland 2006 in front of 54,000 people, as well as headlining both the Burg Herzberg Festival in 2007 (25,000 people) and the Woodstock Festival in 2008 (5,000 people).
In 2007 the solo album Dancing on the Edge of a Teacup by Pavlov's Dog's lead singer David Surkamp, was released by Rockville Music.
The band toured again late 2010 and released a new studio album (Echo & Boo).
Richard Nadler, the band's violinist (under the stage name Siegfried Carver), died on May 30, 2009. He was 60 years old.
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
/AOR band formed in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
in 1972. Pavlov's Dog originally comprised David Surkamp, Mark Gahr on lead guitar, Mike Safron, Rick Stockton, David Hamilton, Doug Rayburn, and Siegfried Carver (born Richard Nadler). Mark Gahr left the band and was replaced by Steve Scorfina. On their second album At the Sound of the Bell (1976), Tom Nickeson was added to the line-up on guitar and he took over Hamilton's keyboard position after the album had been recorded as Hamilton left the band. Safron was still a member of the band but did not appear on the second album; former Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
drummer Bill Bruford
Bill Bruford
William Scott "Bill" Bruford is an English drummer, percussionist, composer, producer, and record label owner. He was the original drummer for the progressive rock group Yes, from 1968-1972. Bruford has performed for numerous popular acts since the early 1970s, including a stint as touring...
played as a guest musician. Safron left in the aftermath of this, partially due to his failure to receive a promised credit on the album sleeve and the band's third album featured Kirk Sarkisian on drums.
The band's debut Pampered Menial
Pampered Menial
Pampered Menial is an album released in 1975 by progressive rock/AOR band, Pavlov's Dog.The album features the band's original line-up, comprising David Surkamp , Steve Scorfina , Mike Safron , Rick Stockton , David Hamilton , Doug Rayburn , and Siegfried Carver Pampered Menial is an album...
was briefly released in 1975 on ABC Records
ABC Records
ABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
but then quickly re-issued by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. The result was that both versions appeared in stores at nearly the same time, which may have confused the public. The album was produced by Sandy Pearlman
Sandy Pearlman
Sandy Pearlman is an American music producer, artist manager, professor, poet, songwriter, and once was a record company executive...
and Murray Krugman who had found success earlier in the decade producing Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult, often abbreviated BÖC, is an American rock band, most of whose members first came together in Long Island, NY in 1967 as the band Soft White Underbelly...
. Carver left the band after the release of Pampered Menial.
Their second album At the Sound of the Bell followed on Columbia in 1976. In addition to the personnel changes noted above, a raft of guest artists contributed to the album including jazz saxophonist Michael Brecker
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
and Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
's Andy MacKay
Andy Mackay
Andrew "Andy" Mackay is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founder member of the art-rock group Roxy Music....
.
The band recorded a third album in 1977, but due to poor sales of the first two albums, Columbia refused to release it, hastening the band's split. The third album finally appeared as a bootleg in the 1980s, a limited edition pressed from stolen master tapes. It was released under the name The St. Louis Hounds, without Pavlov's Dog's name on the sleeve. The third album finally was released legally in 2007 by German label Rockville Music, titled Has Anyone Here Seen Siegfried?, remastered and including additional 10 bonus tracks of unreleased material from the 1970s. The German label TRC illegally bootlegged the album, with title Third, but this version does not include the bonus tracks.
David Surkamp's high-pitched and quickly wavering vibrato has been compared to that of Geddy Lee
Geddy Lee
Gary Lee Weinrib, OC, better known as Geddy Lee , is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush...
of Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
. When the band split up in the late 1970s, Surkamp was rumored to be dead, although in fact he was working with former Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
member Ian Matthews
Iain Matthews
Iain Matthews is an English musician and songwriter. He was born Iain Matthew McDonald, in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. He was known in the 1960s first as Ian McDonald, then as the 1960s progressed, as Ian Matthews...
on a band named Hi-Fi. While living in Seattle the group was successful on the club scene and recorded a 5-track live 12" EP in 1981 entitled Hi-Fi Demonstration Record and a studio album in 1983 entitled Moods for Mallards. Both Hi-Fi records were released on First American Records and distribution was mostly limited to the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
region. The small label self-destructed not long after when investors ran into tax trouble with the Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
.
In 1990, a reformed version of the band, with only Surkamp and Rayburn from the original line-up along with some contribution from Scorfina, recorded Lost in America for US label Telectro Records, which was re-released worldwide by Rockville Music in 2007, after TRC also having illegally bootlegged it in the late 1990s.
On June 26, 2004, a reunion concert with the original lineup, except for Siegfried Carver, took place in St. Louis. A version of the band has since toured annually in Europe since 2005. Among other venues, they played the Arrow Rock Festival
Arrow Rock Festival
Arrow Rock Festival is a rock festival that takes place on a yearly basis since 2003 in the Netherlands. This festival presents mostly classic rock bands. The original location for the festival was Lichtenvoorde; until 2007 when the venue changed to Biddinghuizen. 2008 saw another location change,...
in Holland 2006 in front of 54,000 people, as well as headlining both the Burg Herzberg Festival in 2007 (25,000 people) and the Woodstock Festival in 2008 (5,000 people).
In 2007 the solo album Dancing on the Edge of a Teacup by Pavlov's Dog's lead singer David Surkamp, was released by Rockville Music.
The band toured again late 2010 and released a new studio album (Echo & Boo).
Richard Nadler, the band's violinist (under the stage name Siegfried Carver), died on May 30, 2009. He was 60 years old.
Band members
- David Surkamp - Vocals and guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
(1972–present) - Steve Scorfina - Lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
(1972–1977) - Mike Safron - Drums (1972–1975, 2005–present)
- Rick Stockton - Bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(1972–1977) - David Hamilton - KeyboardKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
(1972–1977) - Doug Rayburn - MellotronMellotronThe Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
and fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
(1972–2008) - Siegfried Carver - VitarVitar violinsThe Vi-tar was a musical instrument produced by the Exinde/Xinde Corporation in the early 1970s. Advertised as a cross between a violin and guitar, it was essentially a fiberglass bodied electric violin with some very advanced internal electronics for the time.-History:The Vi-Tar was designed and...
and various string instruments (1972–1974) - Kirk Sarkisian - Drums (1974–1977)
- Mark Gahr - Lead guitar (1972)
Present members
- David Surkamp - Vocals + Guitar
- Sara Surkamp - Vocals + Guitar
- Mike Safron - Drums + Vocals
- Bill Franco - Lead guitar
- Nick Schlueter - Keyboards
- Abbie Hainz Steiling - Violin
- Rick Steiling - Bass
Discography
- Pampered MenialPampered MenialPampered Menial is an album released in 1975 by progressive rock/AOR band, Pavlov's Dog.The album features the band's original line-up, comprising David Surkamp , Steve Scorfina , Mike Safron , Rick Stockton , David Hamilton , Doug Rayburn , and Siegfried Carver Pampered Menial is an album...
(1975) - At the Sound of the Bell (1976)
- Third (1977)
- Has Anyone Here Seen Siegfried? (Bootlegged in 1980, Officially released in 2007)
- Lost in America (1990)
- Echo & Boo (2010)
- "Live and Unleashed" (2010)