Album Notes

Sardonic, cynical, satirical, brazen, bloated self-depreciating "hutzpah", these Bronx Fonzies were the first band to capture the Coney Island- Nathan's Hot Dog- junk kitsch- pavement stick ball-, Lower East Side NYC bravado (false!) - based on what? Pure self-adulation and giant balls (filled with hot air). They were full of "fuck 'em if they can't take a joke" and now, after 25 years, they are still together and playing out today now more than ever - and to larger crowds.
On February 11, 1981, John Hanti and I (we were booking the Club 80's on the Upper East Side) traveled with a two track Dokorder to a live Dictators reunion to record the band. Neither of us really knew what we were doing - but the results were fabulous, the band cooked and ROIR cassette A102, The Dictators Live - Fuck 'Em If They Can't Take a Joke was born - and quickly released. It was a big success and helped launch the young ROIR cassette label in the small (then) indie community and, according to Cashbox Magazine (June 1990), helped "elevate the Dictators to mythical status."
So, now we have the original cassette remastered for CD, plus three live bonus tracks selected and mastered by Andy Shernoff from an early '80's performance at the Ritz in NYC.- Neil Cooper (Founder ROIR)

"A missing link between suburban metal and urban punk." Rolling Stone Album Guide

"Formed in 1974, NYC's Dictators were one of the first and most influential proto-punk bands to walk the earth. (This cassette) is a fine document of the Dictator's feral power and endless charm as a live act...these guys are having fun." All Music Guide to Rock

"The posthumous '81 live tape is great, a naive masterpiece of self-indulgence. These "smartasses" proved that regular kids could make the major label record (as if there was an alternative in 1975). An inspirational role to the generation that followed them." Trouser Press

" (The Dictators) helped establish the new rock 'n roll of the '70's and '80's. They pre-dated the Ramones and Sex Pistols by two years." Guinness Who's Who of Indie New Wave

"Bronx urban populism - like ROIR's tape Fuck 'Em If They Can't Take A Joke - playing as if their careers still hung in the balance." (Ira Robbins) - Village Voice

"This live tape captures the spirit of this band, A great understanding of the trashiness that is in the best rock and roll." Billboard (Recommended LP) 10/17/81

"Twelve forearm jabs of brute simplicity for a world of unnecessary refinement, if they indeed can't take a joke." NME UK

"A huge spirited live greatest hits collection with boisterous stage banter by Handsome Dick Manitoba." Maximum Rock n' Roll

"Ugly motherfuckers with an attitude problem that would make Saddam Hussein seem like a reasonable geezer." Kerrang UK

"A superb live testament to a great rock n' roll band." OP

"One of the most rabble-rousing outfits to ever stalk the planet." New York Rocker

"One of the loudest, fastest, most aggressive and angriest bands of them all." Cashbox

"The Dictators are one of the monster bands of all time. Long before the Beastie Boys, they were there posin' at the White Castle as a heavy metal joke, a bunch of punks before there was punk with all the subtlety of a body slam - loud, obnoxious and fun." Maximum Rock n' Roll

"The first great white hope for punk supremacy." Richard Meltzer

"ROIR is a great idea. Cassette-only, wow! The Dictators' cassette is by far their best - buy this!" Ear Of The Kat

"If you're a fan, this should be on your Xmas list. Another great package from ROIR. I can't recommend it highly enough." (Al) - Flipside

"Knocking their brains out with a maximum of brilliance. A killer cassette and not available on vinyl." The Aquarian

The 10 Best of 1981:

#10 - Dictators Fuck 'Em If They Can't Take A Joke
Our first cassette-only selection. Rock will never die as long as bands like this are around
to give it a quick kick in the pants. Trouser Press Best of Issue - Year End 1981

"The Dictators (1976) slotted early into the 'fuck art let's rock' niche. They represent the bridge between the New York Dolls and the Ramones, adapting a stance which can be seen to compile elements of both."

"We were like punk, we wore leather jackets, wise-guy know-it-alls. We were certainly anti-glitter." Andy Shernoff

Both above from From The Velvets to the Voidoids, A Pre-Punk History for a Post-Punk World by Clinton Heylin, Penguin Books