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Dr. Hook

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Musicians

The Resume

    (1968-1985)
    Formed in Union City, New Jersey
    Started as 'Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show'
    Original members:
    Dennis Locorriere - vocals
    Ray Sawyer - vocals
    George Cummings - lead/steel guitars
    Billy Francis - keyboards
    John 'Jay' David - drums
    Jance Garfat - bass
    Rik Elswit - guitar
    Recorded 'Sylvia's Mother,' 'Cover of the Rolling Stone,' 'Roland the Roodie and Gertrude the Groupie,' 'The Ballad of Lucy Jordan,' 'Only Sixteen,' 'A Little Bit More,' 'Walk Right In,' 'I Don't Want to Be Alone Tonight,' 'Sharing the Night Together,' 'All the Time in the World,' 'When You're in Love With a Beautiful Woman,' 'Storms Never Last,' 'Better Love Next Time,' 'Sexy Eyes,' 'In Over My Head,' 'Girls Can Get It,' 'Years from Now' and 'Baby Makes Her Blues Jeans Talk'

Why they might be annoying:

    Sawyer brought 3 bandmates from his group Chocolate Papers to help form the new band.
    Drummer Popeye Phillips quit before they ever recorded an album.
    They were originally going to call themselves Captain Hook from Disney's 'Peter Pan' (because of Sawyer's eye patch).
    Shortly after singing about how they never got their smiling faces on the 'Cover of the Rolling Stone' magazine, the publication relented and put them on, but it was a caricature rather than a photo.
    Drummer David quit in 1973 and was replaced by John Wolters.
    They toured constantly but spent all their money on partying - their 4th album was titled 'Belly Up.'
    They filed for bankruptcy in 1974 and their 5th album was aptly titled 'Bankrupt.'
    The 'Medicine Show' part of their name (a drug reference) was dropped in 1975 at the insistence of their new record company Capitol.
    Cummings quit the band in 1976.
    Sawyer quit in 1980 (musical direction was sighted).
    After breaking up, Sawyer went back on the road in the '90s as 'Dr. Hook featuring Ray Sawyer' (he had to license the name from Locorrier).
    Locorriere has since released a few solo albums and toured, promoting himself as 'the voice of Dr. Hook.'

Why they might not be annoying:

    Sawyer's trademark cowboy hat and eye patch were to cover horrific injuries he sustained in a car wreck in 1967.
    They began their career playing gigs in some of the roughest bars in the Union City area, playing mostly country music out of fear for their lives.
    They sang the soundtrack for the Dustin Hoffman movie 'Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? (1971).'
    'Sylvia's Mother,' a parody of teen-heartbreak weepers, flopped when first released, then was re-released and became the band's first million-seller and Top Five hit in the summer of 1972.
    Their 2nd album was titled (appropriately enough) 'Sloppy Seconds.'
    Part of their early stage show included monologues done as fictional characters, surreal banter and impersonating their own opening acts.
    After 11 years the band finally earned their first gold album, 1979's 'Pleasure & Pain.'
    Elswit had to leave the band for a year after developing cancer (1979-80).
    After their break-up, Locorriere became a sought after session and touring vocalist, backing Randy Travis in 1989.
    Wolters died of cancer in 1997.

Credit: Scar Tactics


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 15 Votes: 26.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 19 Votes: 15.79% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 28 Votes: 35.71% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 88 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 11 Votes: 18.18% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 19 Votes: 26.32% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 63 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 77 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 53 Votes: 32.08% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 115 Votes: 47.83% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 25 Votes: 48.00% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 24 Votes: 41.67% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 33 Votes: 51.52% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 118 Votes: 58.47% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 121 Votes: 66.12% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 245 Votes: 69.80% Annoying