The Family Dogg

{{Short description|British vocal group}} {{Use British English|date=December 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = The Family Dogg | image = Family Dogs Aktuil-047-1970.jpg | caption = | image_size = | background = group_or_band | origin = England | genre = Rock, pop | years_active = 1966–1976<ref name="AMG"/> | label = | associated_acts = | past_members = [[Albert Hammond]] [[Steve Rowland (record producer)|Steve Rowland]] [[Mike Hazlewood]] Christine Holmes Doreen De Veuve Pam "Zooey" Quinn Kevin Lamb [[Ireen Sheer]] Sue Lynn Sherri Lynn Pat Arnold }}

'''The Family Dogg''' were a British [[vocal group]], noted for their [[harmony vocals]]. They are best known for their debut album, ''[[A Way of Life (The Family Dogg album)|A Way of Life]]'', and the subsequent single of the same name.

==Career== The idea was born when the Anglo-American singers of the Spanish groups, Los Flaps and Diamond Boys, [[Albert Hammond]] and [[Steve Rowland (record producer)|Steve Rowland]] met for the first time at a concert in [[Madrid]] in 1964.<ref name="AMG">{{cite web|author=Mark Deming |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-family-dogg-mn0001174080/biography |title=The Family Dogg | Biography |publisher=AllMusic |accessdate=23 July 2014}}</ref> In 1966, the Family Dogg was formed in England with the participation of the singers [[Mike Hazlewood]] and Pam Zooey Quinn.<ref name="Larkin60">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=1997|edition=First|isbn=0-7535-0149-X|page=190}}</ref> The debut album, ''[[A Way of Life (The Family Dogg album)|A Way of Life]]'' was released in 1969, and the title track scored a number 6 hit in the [[UK Singles Chart]].<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book| first= David| last= Roberts| year= 2006| title= British Hit Singles & Albums| edition= 19th| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London| isbn= 1-904994-10-5| page= 195}}</ref> [[Jimmy Page]], [[John Bonham]] and [[John Paul Jones (musician)|John Paul Jones]] of [[Led Zeppelin]] were guest musicians on this album, along with [[Elton John]].<ref name="AMG"/>

In 1970, the group was renamed 'Steve Rowland and the Family Dogg'.<ref name="AMG"/> During April–June 1970, they had a number 1 hit in the [[Netherlands]] with the song "[[Sympathy (Rare Bird song)|Sympathy]]", previously recorded by the group [[Rare Bird]] in 1969.<ref name="AMG"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/search.asp?todo=notfound|title=Dutch Charts|website=Dutchcharts.nl}}</ref> In 1972, Steve Rowland released a last Family Dogg album, ''The View from Rowland's Head'', with guest musicians [[Chris Spedding]] on guitar and [[Ireen Sheer]] as singer. This album had two pressings, one in the UK and one in the US. Between the two, were included six cover songs that were written by [[Sixto Diaz Rodriguez]].<ref name="AMG"/> Five of them were previously recorded on Rodriguez's album, ''[[Cold Fact]]''. The sixth, "Advice To Smokey Robinson", was never recorded by Rodriguez.

The Family Dogg also released the singles "Family Dog" / "The Storm" in 1967 (the latter is a song originally written by the [[Bee Gees]] in Australia) on the [[MGM Records|MGM]] label, and "Silly Grin" / "Couldn't Help It", and "Brown Eyed Girl" / "Let It Rain" in 1968;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/14129at |title=The Family Dogg – Brown Eyed Girl / Let It Rain – Hansa – Germany – 14 129 AT |publisher=45cat |access-date=23 July 2014}}</ref> on the [[Fontana Records|Fontana]] label.

Their final release in 1976 was a cover version of "Uptown Uptempo Woman".<ref name="AMG"/>

Christine Holmes (AKA Christine Authors, her husband J. J. Barrie's real surname) had earlier recorded seven solo singles between 1964 and 1971 which were released on the [[Mercury Records|Mercury]] and [[Polydor Records|Polydor]] labels, and had appeared as a presenter on the [[BBC]] children's show ''[[Crackerjack (TV series)|Crackerjack]]'' in 1966–69. On 31 December 1974, she appeared on UK television singing on the ''[[Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club]]'', introduced by [[Bernard Manning]]. Her stage name at that time was Kristine Sparkle, under which she recorded five singles and an album (''Image'') for the [[Decca Records|Decca]] label. She went on to co-write and record "[[Devil Woman (Cliff Richard song)|Devil Woman]]" with [[Terry Britten]], which became a 1976 top 10 hit for [[Cliff Richard]], and released a further seven singles and an album (''I'm a Song''), under the name Kristine, on the [[United Artists Records|United Artists]] and husband [[J. J. Barrie]]'s Power Exchange labels.

==Group members== ===Original line-up=== *[[Steve Rowland (record producer)|Steve Rowland]] – vocals, guitar, drums *[[Albert Hammond]] – vocals, guitar *[[Mike Hazlewood]] – vocals, guitar *Pam "Zooey" Quinn – vocals (1966 – August 1969) *Jane Harries – vocals (1966 – October 1967)

===Later members=== *Sue Avory – vocals (November 1967 – 1968) *Doreen De Veuve – vocals (1968 – June 1969) *Christine Holmes – vocals (June 1969 – 1970) *[[Ireen Sheer]] – vocals (September 1969 – 1971) *Sue Lynn – vocals (1971–1972) *Sherri Lynn [Brenda Pidduck] – vocals (1970) *Pat Arnold – vocals (session work)

==Discography== ===Albums=== *1969: ''[[A Way of Life (The Family Dogg album)|A Way of Life]]''<ref name="Larkin60"/> *1972: ''The View from Rowland's Head''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-family-dogg-mn0001174080/discography |title=The Family Dogg | Discography |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=23 July 2014}}</ref> *1983: ''Greatest Hits'' *1990: ''A View From Rowland's Head '' *2000: ''Sympathy'' *2014: ''A Way of Life Anthology 1967–1976''

===Singles=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! rowspan="2" |Year ! rowspan="2" |Single ! colspan="6" |Peak chart positions |- ![[Ultratop|BE (FLA)]] <ref>{{Cite web|title=ultratop.be - ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS|url=https://www.ultratop.be/nl/search.asp?search=family%20dogg&cat=s|access-date=2021-03-10|website=Ultratop.be}}</ref> ![[Ultratop|BE (WA)]] <ref>{{Cite web|title=ultratop.be - ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS|url=https://www.ultratop.be/fr/search.asp?search=family%20dogg&cat=s|access-date=2021-03-10|website=Ultratop.be}}</ref> ![[GfK Entertainment charts|GER]] <ref>{{Cite web|title=Suche - Offizielle Deutsche Charts|url=https://www.offiziellecharts.de/suche|access-date=2021-03-10|website=Offiziellecharts.de}}</ref> ![[Irish Recorded Music Association|IRE]] <ref>{{Cite web|title=The Irish Charts - All there is to know|url=http://irishcharts.ie/search/placement|access-date=2021-03-10|website=Irishcharts.ie}}</ref> ![[Dutch Single Top 100|NL]] <ref name="nl">{{cite web|title=Discographie Japan|url=http://dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Japan|accessdate=17 February 2013|publisher=Hung Medien|language=Dutch}}</ref> ![[UK Singles Chart|UK]] <ref>{{Cite web|title=FAMILY DOGG {{!}} full Official Chart History {{!}} Official Charts Company|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/13674/family-dogg/|access-date=2021-03-10|website=Officialcharts.com}}</ref> |- |1967 | align="left" |"The Storm" |— |— |— |— |— |— |- | rowspan="2" |1968 | align="left" |"Silly Grin" |— |— |— |— |— |— |- | align="left" |"Brown Eyed Girl" |— |— |— |— |— |— |- | rowspan="2" |1969 | align="left" |"A Way of Life" |— |— |38 |6 |8 |6 |- | align="left" |"[[Arizona (song)|Arizona]]" |— |— |— |— |Tip |— |- | rowspan="3" |1970 | align="left" |"[[Sympathy (Rare Bird song)|Sympathy]]" (as Steve Rowland and the Family Dogg) |10 |4 |— |— |1 |— |- | align="left" |"When Tomorrow Comes Tomorrow" |— |— |— |— |— |— |- | align="left" |"[[Love Minus Zero/No Limit]]" (Netherlands-only release) |— |— |— |— |— |— |- |1971 | align="left" |"Coat of Many Colours" |— |— |— |— |— |— |- | rowspan="2" |1972 | align="left" |"Sweet America" |— |— |— |— |— |— |- | align="left" |"Rikers Island" (as Steve Rowland and the Family Dogg; US-only release) |— |— |— |— |— |— |- |1976 | align="left" |"Uptown, Uptempo Woman" |— |— |— |— |— |— |- | colspan="8" style="font-size:8pt" |"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://alexgitlin.com/fd.html The Family Dogg] *{{Discogs artist|Family Dogg}} *[https://www.youtube.com/user/TheFamilyDogg YouTube channel]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Family Dogg, The}} [[Category:British vocal groups]] [[Category:Musical groups established in 1966]] [[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1976]] [[Category:Bell Records artists]]