BOOK

A searing punk memoir by an American original rebelling against conformity, complacency, and conservatism with his iconic band, MDC.

From the time Dave Dictor was young, he knew he was a little different than the all-American kids around him. Radicalized politically while in high school, inspired to seize opportunities by his hard-working parents, and intrigued with gender fluidity, Dictor moved to Austin, and connected with local misfits and anti-establishment rock'n'rollers. He began penning songs that influenced American punk rock for decades.

MDC always has been in the vanguard of social struggles, confronting homophobia in punk rock during the early 1980s; invading America's heartland at sweltering Rock Against Reagan shows; protesting the Pope's visit to San Francisco in 1987; in 1993 they were the first touring US punk band to reach a volatile Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Dictor's narrative is a raw portrait of an American underground folk-hero who stood on the barricades advocating social justice and spreading punk's promise to a global audience. Part poet, renegade, satirist, and lover, he is an authentic, homegrown character carrying the progressive punk fight into the twenty-first century.

Dave Dictor is singer, lyricist, and founding member of legendary American punk band MDC (Millions of Dead Cops). Since 1979, Dictor has toured throughout the world with MDC, releasing more than nine albums with MDC that sold more than 125,000 copies. MDC continues to tour, playing over sixty concerts each year. Dictor's MDC song, "John Wayne Was a Nazi," was featured in the best-selling video game Grand Theft Auto 5. He appeared in the film American Hardcore and resides in Portland, Oregon.

Praise for Dave Dictor & MDC: Memoir of a Damaged Civilization
“Long before ‘Cop Killer’ and ‘Straight Outta Compton’ there was MDC. Hands down one of the most controversial, heat-seeking bands in Hardcore, or...well...EVER. No one was neutral – least of all the police. For those who might take for granted there was always this underground Punk Scene, with places to play in every town, this is a must read. What it really took to build your scene, and the sheer guts of the people who laid their asses on the line, this should be a real eye-opener.” — Jello Biafra
“Dave Dictor taught me everything I know about balls, humility, getting through borders with a van full of dirty punks, and introducing the support act. On tour in Europe, kids yelled in the mic every word about loving chickens or hating John Wayne, and his dominatrix girlfriend joined Tribe 8 onstage, getting us banned in Hamburg by German feminists. MDC went to countries no other band would dare, risking arrest in order to bring real revolution to the truly oppressed. He has always searched out the outsiders in a scene of outsiders. Dave Dictor doesn’t just sing punk, he lives it. This is his saga.”
— Lynn Breedlove, Tribe 8
“Dave Dictor is somebody you can really count on. He is that rare breed that has not wavered over time, he has stuck to his beliefs, the kind of person that’s out to make a better world.” — Joe Shithead Keithley, DOA
“I knew Dave Dictor, the singer from MDC, and I used to crash in his room when he was on tour. The place was called the Rathouse. Everyone had a fanzine, everyone was in a band. My parents were either very brave or very stupid for letting me hang out with all these interesting, sexually diverse, drug- happy people.” — Tre Cool, Green Day
“1982’s Millions of Dead Cops album represented a milestone in radical politics and music. If Jello Biafra was hardcore’s fiery Abbie Hoffman, MDC’s Dave Dictor served as its cross-dressing Che Guevara.”
— Steven Blush, American Hardcore
“When I first met Dave, there was an immediate recognition of a lifetime friendship. No matter if we were punk rock singers or cowboys on the range... that friendship would have been there, is there. I love the guy.”
— Gary Floyd, The Dicks / Sister Double Happiness / Black Kali Ma
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“Dave Dictor was one of most furious, provocative and important front men in the original hardcore scene. He called his band ‘Millions of Dead Cops,’ and had the intelligence and fearlessness to back it up.”
— Vic Bondi, Articles of Faith
“A pioneer in championing gay rights in the early days of punk, Dave has always been on the cutting edge of relevant issues and to this day he continues to inspire punk fans young and old. Essential reading for any punk enthusiast.”
— Kieran Plunkett, The Restarts
“Dave MDC is a force multiplier. It is the bridge builders that help the scene and our communities, actively countering infighting, divisiveness, and injustice, not to mention just plain mean people being bullies. In a time when ‘political’ hardcore bands weren’t very trendy at all, and ‘punker-than-thou’ was a tiresome poser pastime, he helped thousands of us punks and misfits navigate the punk scene, slam dancing, stage diving and joyfully overriding junkie nihilism and the neo-Nazi skinhead movement with hard hitting conscious lyrics and dealing with shit that matters. The 1982 MDC album was a huge milestone. Everything in my life is divided into either before that fateful day I first picked it up (at the Ratcage record store in NYC’s Lower East Side) and afterwards. Because of that record, I was able to connect with him and ended up touring with him on our Rock Against Reagan tour. Dave introduced us to the Dicks, the Crucifucks, Dead Kennedys, and Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (DRI), all of whom either toured with us or played at our shows throughout 48 states of the USA.” — Alan “audiogrouch” Thompson, sound engineer,
co-producer of Rock Against Racism NYC & Rock Against Reagan