Dirty Looks was formed in 1985 in the San Francisco bay area. After independently releasing an EP on Sticky Records and opening shows for several national acts, they found themselves with a management/production deal. The band hit the studio and recorded their first full length, self-titled album which was released on the French label, Axe Killer Records. Although they were getting nominal airplay on San Francisco's largest radio stations, the band broke up and reformed in Harrisburg, PA. In 1986, they released their second full length album, INYOURFACE, on Mirror Records while simultaneously releasing I Want More on Axe Killer. The song Oh, Ruby, from INYOURFACE, began to receive airplay from Z-ROCK (a massive rock station in Dallas, TX) and its affiliates. Requests poured in for the song and major labels such as EMI, Electra, Chrysalis, and Atlantic came calling. In 1987 the band signed to Atlantic Records and EMI Publishing and released their first major label album, Cool From The Wire in 1988. Produced by Max Norman (Ozzy Osbourne, Megadeth, Lynch Mob), it is still regarded by many as one of the best hard rock albums of its time. Twenty years later, Cool From The Wire continues to sell online and in record stores all across the globe. (So, if this CD has yet to be added to your collection, you can click here to purchase it from Amazon.com). After an extensive (and successful) international tour, the band was ready to get back in the studio and start recording their follow up. The President of Atlantic Records and the higher-ups of their new management team Hard To Handle (AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Emerson Lake and Palmer) thought that it would benefit the band if they hired a producer who had current albums on the Billboard charts. Beau Hill (Ratt, Warrant, Winger) was hired to record the album but the band felt that he wasn't capturing the street sound that they were looking for. The Hill sessions were scrapped and John Jansen (Britny Fox, Faster Pussycat, Cinderella) was brought in to produce Turn Of The Screw, which was released in 1989. After the album dropped, the band hit the road on another vigorous tour. In 1991, while they were out supporting Turn Of The Screw, the band released an album of b-sides, Bootlegs, on Roadrunner Records. It was also around this time that the band hooked up with the infamous David Krebs (Aerosmith, Scorpions, Def Lepperd) who offered them a lucrative production deal. With the powerful Krebs on their side, the band went back into the studio with Max Norman and recorded Five Easy Pieces in 1992, which was their first release on their new label, Sony/Columbia. The album sold well and warranted a fourth major label release, Chewing On The Bit, which Max Norman also had his hands on. The album dropped in 1994 and the band found themselves back out on the road. During that same year, they released One Bad Leg, their third release on the Sony/Columbia label. With grunge rock taking over the market, Dirty Looks went back to the indie label, Mirror Records, to release Rip It Out in 1996. Later that year the band released Slave To The Machine on Sony. With the changing climate of the music scene, the release sold moderately...prompting the current band members to branch off into different directions and pursue other projects. The new CD, Gasoline, will be available exclusively at cdbaby on August 31st!!!!
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