Dennis was the lead singer of
Doctor Hook and the Medicine Show, in the 1960s and 1970s. He was born in New Jersey
in 1949. He was always interested
in drawing and in music and in the 1960’s he began to play professionally. He met with Ray Sawyer, who together with a couple
of other Southern-born musicians had been in a band called the Chocolate Papers.
They had played gigs in the South and
round the Mid-west but relocated to New York.
They formed a new band, and unable to think of a name, when told by a
bar manager than they had to have one, they came up with “Doctor Hook and the Medicine
Show”. Dr Hook was a reference to Ray
Sawyer who had an eyepatch due to losing his eye in a motor accident…(like Captain Hook). Like most
musicians at the time, they worked very hard, toured a lot of the time and
coped with the stress of long hours of travel as best they could.
Ray played various instruments
and sang, with a country kind of voice. However
Dennis, who played bass, had an exceptional voice with a tremulous melodic quality. He began to sing lead on most songs, with Ray
backing him. Billy Francis another Southerner
played keyboards and also had a fine voice.
Other members were Jon Wolters who played drums (replaced Jay David) and
George Cummings and Rik Elswit.
The band appeared in a film,
singing songs written by the amazing songsmith and poet Shel Silverstein and
their career began to take off from there.
Shel’s irreverent lyrics, and their own lively bantering and antics on stage
made them extremely popular. He wrote most of the songs for their first 2
albums. Dennis' big hit was Sylvia's Mother... which was hugely popular...
Ray had a hit with Cover of the Rolling Stone, also by Shel, which poked fun at the fact that the band had not yet appeared on the cover of "Rolling Stone." The BBC didnt want to play it because it used the name of a commercial magazine...and later when they did appear on the cover, it was in caricature....
Ray had a hit with Cover of the Rolling Stone, also by Shel, which poked fun at the fact that the band had not yet appeared on the cover of "Rolling Stone." The BBC didnt want to play it because it used the name of a commercial magazine...and later when they did appear on the cover, it was in caricature....
However they had financial problems, and ended
up declaring bankruptcy. They moved from
the more outrageous songs of Silverstein to pop ballads which were a great commercial
success.
Ray left the band to sing on his own and to settle in Nashville and write songs... and the band continued without him, until the 1980s when they did a farewell tour.
Later Dennis pursued a solo career and wrote his own songs and eventually relocated to the UK. A few years ago, I was lucky enough to see Dennis playing live in London. He was singing as a solo artist with no backing band and his voice was as good as ever. He bantered with the audience and made lively jokes and remarks. He went through many of his old songs and some new ones, and was always ready to do requests for songs. He was also very charming when we met him afterwards. I hope I’ll be able to see him again some time.
Ray left the band to sing on his own and to settle in Nashville and write songs... and the band continued without him, until the 1980s when they did a farewell tour.
Later Dennis pursued a solo career and wrote his own songs and eventually relocated to the UK. A few years ago, I was lucky enough to see Dennis playing live in London. He was singing as a solo artist with no backing band and his voice was as good as ever. He bantered with the audience and made lively jokes and remarks. He went through many of his old songs and some new ones, and was always ready to do requests for songs. He was also very charming when we met him afterwards. I hope I’ll be able to see him again some time.
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