The Dogs D'amour

The Dogs D'Amour are a British hard rock band formed in London in 1983. Their sound is described through hard rock, glam rock and sleaze rock, with a bluesy edge. The group has had many line-ups over the years, with Tyla, born Timothy Taylor, the central figure throughout much of its history.

Origins and early line-ups

The band develops out of The Bordello Boys, formed in late 1982 by Tyla, who had previously been in Kitsch. An American vocalist staying in England at the time, Ned Christie, whose real name is Robert Stoddard, joins the project, gives the band its name, and co-writes many early songs with Tyla. The early line-up also includes guitarist Nick Halls, bassist Karl Watson and drummer Bam.

During this period the band plays around fifty live shows and records two sessions. The second session later appears on the bootleg 7-inch EP Blame It On Us, while its lead track, “Teenage”, a cover of Kitsch’s “Teenager of the Week”, is officially released on the 1983 glam-punk compilation Trash On Delivery. These recordings lead to a record deal with Kumibeat Records in Finland.

First album and line-up changes

Before the band records its first album, Christie leaves in late 1983 over musical differences with Tyla and later returns to the United States, where he joins L.A. Guns as guitarist and backing vocalist. He is also tied to another project with Bam called On The Wire. With the exception of Tyla and Watson, the rest of the line-up departs at this point.

Tyla then takes over lead vocals as well as guitar and records The State We’re In in early 1984. Dave Kusworth and Paul Hornby join on guitar and drums. Hornby has previously been a founding member of The Quireboys earlier that year.

The following year the band returns from Finland to England and supports Johnny Thunders on tour for Que Sera, Sera. Original drummer Bam returns, Jo “Dog” Almeida replaces Kusworth on guitar after Kusworth leaves to form Jacobites with Nikki Sudden, and the band signs with Watanabe in Japan, although no material is released through that label.

Further changes follow: Watson leaves, Mark Duncan briefly joins on bass, and then Swiss bassist Mark Drax takes part in a Paris tour.

Classic line-up and chart success

By 1987 the band has a more stable bass player, Steve James, and what becomes the classic line-up: Tyla, Jo “Dog” Almeida, Bam and Steve James. This version signs to China Records in 1988.

Their second album, In the Dynamite Jet Saloon, is released in 1988 and introduces the band more widely in the UK. It includes the singles “The Kid From Kensington”, “I Don’t Want You To Go” and “How Come It Never Rains?”, each of which reaches the UK Singles Chart top 100.

The band follows this with A Graveyard of Empty Bottles in 1989, which becomes its highest-charting album, reaching number 16 in the UK Albums Chart. In the same year it tours with Mick Ronson and Ian Hunter. Later in 1989 the band releases Errol Flynn in the UK, issued as King of the Thieves in the United States, and that album reaches number 22 in the UK. It includes “Satellite Kid”, the band’s most successful single and best-known song.

A further album, Straight??!!, appears in 1990, by which point the group begins to fall apart. Following a split with his wife, Tyla brings an end to a live show in Los Angeles by slashing himself with a broken glass bottle, requiring 30 stitches. After this breakup, Bam joins The Wildhearts and Tyla writes a poetry book.

Reunions and later activity

The band reunites a year later with a new line-up. Jo Almeida does not return, so Darrell Bath of The Crybabys joins on guitar. In 1993 the band records ...More Unchartered Heights of Disgrace, which charts well and receives favourable reviews. The album includes a cover of the Small Faces song “All or Nothing”.

By 1994 the band has split again. The last release connected with this line-up is Tyla’s solo album The Life And Times Of A Ballad Monger, which is issued under his own name but features all the Dogs D’Amour members from the 1992 line-up.

In 2000 the group reunites briefly with Tyla, Jo “Dog” Almeida, Bam and Share Pedersen of Vixen, who is Bam’s wife. That year they release Happy Ever After and a fan-club-only set titled Seconds. Bam and Pedersen then leave and perform as Bubble.

Tyla later moves to Barcelona and continues with a solo career, releasing several albums under his own name during the 2000s. He also issues two albums under The Dogs D’Amour name, When Bastards Go To Hell and Let Sleeping Dogs..., as well as the live album Unleashed. These releases are largely solo recordings in practice, with Tyla playing most instruments and his then-wife Yella on backing vocals, although Darrell Bath contributes a guest guitar solo to the title track of When Bastards Go To Hell.

He also performs as Tyla & the Dogs and releases Bloody Hell Fire under that name, with The Yo-Yo’s serving as his backing band on the UK tour. In 2011 he releases In the Dynamite Jet Saloon MMX.

In 2013 a classic-line-up Dogs D’Amour show is announced in London’s Borderline club to raise funds for former drummer Paul Hornby, with a second Borderline date and other UK and Spain shows added after the first sells out. Tyla later states that he will not appear again under the Dogs D’Amour name.

In 2018 Tyla forms a new version of the band without Jo Dog, Steve James or Bam, under the name Tyla’s Dogs D’amour. This version continues to release studio and live albums.