Now This Is Rock N Roll!

RIP: Dickie Hammond

Besides being a completely awesome band, my love of Leatherface probably had a little to do with the challenge in finding albums that would go on to be my favorites even 20 years later. Mush criminally turned up in the cheap bins due to poor US distribution and promotion. After that, it took some mailorder from Round Flat, Vaccum Records, Bottleneck Distribution and a US roadtrip to complete my Leatherface collection.

When I found out that 3 of the members had been in another hardcore band previously, I then set out to find all of those records. I was expecting HDQ to be, you know, just some old hardcore band. But they turned into one of my favorites as soon as I heard You Suck. I hadn't heard that kind of guitar work on a hardcore album since Dag Nasty.

And like Brian Baker, Dickie Hammond became one of my favorite guitarists and I followed him to any band he joined. I don't know what it is about British punk guitarists, but they have a certain sound that I've never heard from a US punk band. That sound of multiple chords in one. Dickie had that sound and damned if I wasn't a sucker for it every time.

Dickie's era of Leatherface remains one of the most consistently awesome periods of any band. Like most fans, Mush is still my favorite, but everything else he played on comes in a close second. Some of the guitar interplay on The Last almost makes me cry at how cool it sounds.

I've linked a few YouTubes highlighting his career over the years. Just to be in one of these bands would be a proud feat.