Dogs – "Boy" (1980)

Girl, you’re got mournful eyes

They are eyes that paralyze

And they are eyes that mesmerize me, too

Most of the music that I heard on Steven Lorber’s “Mystic Eyes” radio show back in 1980 was by American or British bands.

But Steven played a fair number of records by Dutch, French, and German groups, too – including today’s featured song, which was recorded by a French garage/punk band called the Dogs in 1980.

Dogs frontman Dominique Laboubée

The Dogs formed in Rouen – the French city where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake – in 1973.  The band took its name from the Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog.”

Allmusic described the Dogs as a “treasured cult band,” but none of the dozen or so albums that the group released were big sellers.

In 2002, the Dogs travelled to the U.S. for its first American tour.  The band’s frontman and songwriter, Dominique Laboubée, collapsed during their first concert – which took place in Worcester, MA – and was taken to a local hospital.  The 45-year-old Laboubée was diagnosed with cancer, and died two weeks later.

Click here to listen to “Boy,” which was released on the Dogs’ second studio album, Walking Shadows, in 1980.