Liked some of his/their stuff back in the early 90's, notably their quasi-hardcore sorta stuff ("Hate Your Friends"), the LOVEY album and their odd covers ("Luka," "Mrs.Robinson"). Evan Dando -- though a bit of a dippy pretty boy -- certainly exuded promise at certain points. Then he just sorta shrivelled up! What happened?
In any event, I just read a pair of books about the Manson murders (Vince Bugliosi's "Helter Skelter" and Tommy Udo's entirely suspect-but-still-entertaining "Charles Manson: Music Mayhem Murder" and Udo points out that Dando was quasi-obsessed with ol' Charlie....cribbing various lyrical passages from Charlie's songs, alluding to various bits of Manson lore/ephemera and namechecking him and other Manson Family members & victims in interviews. Dusted off my copy of LOVEY, and I'll be damned...it's all there.
That shouldn't factor into your decision, but just thought I'd throw it out there.
And lastly.....who's this Ray character that it's such a shame about?
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 3 October 2002 16:41 (twenty-three years ago)
― dk, Thursday, 3 October 2002 16:45 (twenty-three years ago)
I do Ray, it's a very very good album. Other than that, I don't think I've heard anything from them.
― My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Thursday, 3 October 2002 18:32 (twenty-three years ago)
― Charlie (Charlie), Thursday, 3 October 2002 21:33 (twenty-three years ago)
― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Thursday, 3 October 2002 22:12 (twenty-three years ago)
― paul cox (paul cox), Thursday, 3 October 2002 22:19 (twenty-three years ago)
― simon 803 (simon 803), Thursday, 3 October 2002 22:24 (twenty-three years ago)
Classic, for sure. Light-hearted grungey power-pop excellence all the way. Should I bother investing in any of their other stuff while I'm at it?
― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Thursday, 3 October 2002 22:35 (twenty-three years ago)
"Hate Your Friends", "Creator", and "Lick" are amazing.
― donut bitch (donut), Thursday, 3 October 2002 23:03 (twenty-three years ago)
― Chris Ott, Friday, 4 October 2002 02:58 (twenty-three years ago)
― james devon, Friday, 4 October 2002 10:37 (twenty-three years ago)
― dek1, Friday, 4 October 2002 12:19 (twenty-three years ago)
― David Gunnip, Friday, 4 October 2002 15:39 (twenty-three years ago)
I do Ray
*falls out of chair giggling like a little schoolgirl*
― Daniel_Rf, Friday, 4 October 2002 21:16 (twenty-three years ago)
― My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Saturday, 5 October 2002 00:06 (twenty-three years ago)
― daria gray (daria gray), Saturday, 5 October 2002 04:14 (twenty-three years ago)
― baboon, Saturday, 5 October 2002 09:07 (twenty-three years ago)
― bert, Sunday, 6 October 2002 15:28 (twenty-three years ago)
― Nick Mirov (nick), Sunday, 6 October 2002 21:37 (twenty-three years ago)
― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Sunday, 6 October 2002 22:32 (twenty-three years ago)
― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Sunday, 6 October 2002 22:35 (twenty-three years ago)
― james devon, Monday, 7 October 2002 00:09 (twenty-three years ago)
― Sean (Sean), Monday, 7 October 2002 00:35 (twenty-three years ago)
― Aaron A., Monday, 7 October 2002 02:16 (twenty-three years ago)
― Kiwi, Monday, 7 October 2002 08:13 (twenty-three years ago)
No doubt this has been mentioned elsewhere on ILM (although I couldn't find it). The following is from an article in the Melbourne Times (May 12, 2004) on the Tote's 21st birthday celebrations:
For Richie Ramone, the celebration would be even more special ... if the Ask For Ray sign, which hung in the bar for more than a decade, could come home.
"The sign goes back as far as the days when Evan Dando lived here," Ramone says. "It was a big joke among the locals. Everyone was Ray.. The Lemonheads even did a song about it - It's a Shame About Ray."
― wombatX (wombatX), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 23:05 (twenty-one years ago)
Lovey has always been by far my least favourite album, too many dodgy rock tracks (The Door, Lil Seed, Ballarat.) Stove is a good song but sounds a lot better slowed down and acoustic, Half the Time is among Dando's best work and really stands out a mile on this album. A lot of people cite this as an 'inbetween' album and I think that's maybe why I dislike it.
Ray is classic, classic, classic. I also think Creator and Lick are really strong. Car Button Cloth was an initial disapointment but for me has held up surprisingly well.
― wombatX (wombatX), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 23:17 (twenty-one years ago)
A few months ago I caught Dando playing with Tim Rogers and had the unfortunate luck to see Evan up close at the bar. He looked extremely fucking haggard. They must take a lot of care with the photos these days.
The drugs don't seem to have affected his voice any though.
― The Velvet Overlord (The Velvet Overlord), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 23:35 (twenty-one years ago)
― wombatX (wombatX), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 23:44 (twenty-one years ago)
The series of shows with Rogers wasnt a good idea as he suffered by comparison.
― The Velvet Overlord (The Velvet Overlord), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 23:51 (twenty-one years ago)
― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Sunday, 26 September 2004 06:18 (twenty-one years ago)
― AaronHz (AaronHz), Sunday, 26 September 2004 15:53 (twenty-one years ago)
― johnny z (johnny z), Sunday, 26 September 2004 17:20 (twenty-one years ago)
― AaronHz (AaronHz), Sunday, 26 September 2004 17:59 (twenty-one years ago)
― johnny z (johnny z), Sunday, 26 September 2004 18:02 (twenty-one years ago)
― AaronHz (AaronHz), Sunday, 26 September 2004 18:03 (twenty-one years ago)
Oh man, who is "james devon"? I'm gonna hunt him down and feed him to the sasquatches that I DJ outdoor raves for.
― AaronHz (AaronHz), Sunday, 26 September 2004 18:08 (twenty-one years ago)
Missed your chance, his solo tour of the States last year had Juliana in those very capacities! (plus Murph from Dino Jr on drums. and possibly someone on second guitar, but I'm just guessing because he used a guitarist on the following Oz jaunt)
― kit brash (kit brash), Monday, 27 September 2004 01:09 (twenty-one years ago)
― wombatX (wombatX), Monday, 27 September 2004 01:43 (twenty-one years ago)
― kit brash (kit brash), Monday, 27 September 2004 02:29 (twenty-one years ago)
― wombatX (wombatX), Monday, 27 September 2004 02:41 (twenty-one years ago)
Tom and Andy Calvert played solo sets supporting Sam Shinazzi a few weeks ago, and got up to all play together at the end. On Missing You, Andy went into the crowd to try and offer Al the tambourine he was drumming on, to general amusement.
next month = this weekend for you, no?
― kit brash (kit brash), Monday, 27 September 2004 03:19 (twenty-one years ago)
― kit brash (kit brash), Monday, 27 September 2004 03:20 (twenty-one years ago)
― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Monday, 27 September 2004 04:18 (twenty-one years ago)
whenever it's just dando alone, or dando and a band of two lessers, it's never as good.
"into your arms," which none of the above had a hand in writing but which the dando-plus-various-aussies lineup made their own, is just plain pure pop classic.
― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 27 September 2004 04:23 (twenty-one years ago)
― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 27 September 2004 04:29 (twenty-one years ago)
― Magic City (ano ano), Monday, 27 September 2004 04:31 (twenty-one years ago)
Great moment was during Evan's acoustic gig at the Corner in 2002, Tom Morgan and cohorts came on for the encore and ran through a few electric versions of early 'Heads stuff.
Yep, 7th, 8th and 9th for the Smudge gigs. May not make it to the one at the Espy though.
(x-post)
― wombatX (wombatX), Monday, 27 September 2004 04:33 (twenty-one years ago)
― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Monday, 27 September 2004 04:33 (twenty-one years ago)
yup, that's an evan/eugene song and indeed it's a great one.
wombat, please tell smudge (and, while you're at it, sneeze) to come to the u.s. for crissakes. i've been trying to tell them myself but they don't listen.
― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 27 September 2004 04:36 (twenty-one years ago)
how do i shot rep 1 function
― Marmot (marmotwolof), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 05:04 (nineteen years ago)
― Huey in Melbourne (Huey in Melbourne), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 05:25 (nineteen years ago)
"28th August 2006The forthcoming Lemonheads single Become The Enemy got its first UK radio play today, on BBC 6 Music."
( http://www.evandando.co.uk )
― StanM (StanM), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 05:38 (nineteen years ago)
― Marmot (marmotwolof), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 05:45 (nineteen years ago)
― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 06:02 (nineteen years ago)
OBLIVION
― timmy tannin (pompous), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 06:09 (nineteen years ago)
― Marmot (marmotwolof), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 06:13 (nineteen years ago)
― StanM (StanM), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 06:35 (nineteen years ago)
― Marmot (marmotwolof), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 06:38 (nineteen years ago)
― kit brash (kit brash), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 12:48 (nineteen years ago)
damn 'rudderless' kicks copious amounts of ass. catchy, well crafted, and somehow moving all at the same time. makes me want to get my guitar out and write some similarly styled tunes.
― Charlie Howard (the sphinx), Thursday, 8 February 2007 08:05 (nineteen years ago)
― Marmot (marmotwolof), Thursday, 8 February 2007 22:02 (nineteen years ago)
― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Friday, 9 February 2007 12:55 (nineteen years ago)
― Sir Echo (Sir Echo), Friday, 9 February 2007 16:48 (nineteen years ago)
it's like OK it's pretty but duh, why wouldn't it be
i used to like it but not really my cup o tea.
― Surmounter (rra123), Friday, 9 February 2007 16:50 (nineteen years ago)
The new one is not the greatest thing, but it's got a few pretty terrific songs on it, and if you happen to be fond of Dando, there's just something pleasant and charming about hearing him back at it.
― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 9 February 2007 18:22 (nineteen years ago)
― So weit wie knock-kneed (kenan), Friday, 9 February 2007 18:25 (nineteen years ago)
― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 9 February 2007 18:35 (nineteen years ago)
the new album from last year is half good. Kind of like the entire catalog.
― don weiner (don weiner), Friday, 9 February 2007 18:37 (nineteen years ago)
― Phil Knight (PhilK), Friday, 9 February 2007 20:36 (nineteen years ago)
― Marmot (marmotwolof), Friday, 9 February 2007 21:52 (nineteen years ago)
NOT classic.
― Saxby D. Elder (Saxby D. Elder), Friday, 9 February 2007 23:27 (nineteen years ago)
I brought him up over here a few months back:The Lemonheads new album The Lemonheads
― Marmot (marmotwolof), Friday, 9 February 2007 23:47 (nineteen years ago)
http://gulfport.craigslist.org/cto/1921015857.html
― del griffith, Friday, 27 August 2010 16:52 (fifteen years ago)
With the announcement of a new, grittier, Lemonheads album on the horizon, Fire Records will be reissuing the band's first three albums Hate Your Friends (1987), Creator (1988) and Lick (1989), which showcase the band's early punk rock roots. Fans are rejoicing over the news that Evan Dando will be reuniting with original co-songwriter Ben Deily for the new album, which will doubtless see a return to a rawer, more noisy sound and sees Ryan Adams on production duties. Dando and Deily were co-conspirators for the first three Lemonheads albums, which saw them in full punk rock mode and sounding like an entirely different band from the subsequent commercially successful major label releases. The three albums chart the course of the band from noise punk pranksters, to international pop stars as they evolved from Deily's Lemonheads to Dando's Lemonheads.
Fans are rejoicing over the news that Evan Dando will be reuniting with original co-songwriter Ben Deily for the new album, which will doubtless see a return to a rawer, more noisy sound and sees Ryan Adams on production duties. Dando and Deily were co-conspirators for the first three Lemonheads albums, which saw them in full punk rock mode and sounding like an entirely different band from the subsequent commercially successful major label releases. The three albums chart the course of the band from noise punk pranksters, to international pop stars as they evolved from Deily's Lemonheads to Dando's Lemonheads.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 20 September 2012 14:27 (thirteen years ago)
weird time to do this when he's also touring as a duo w/ Juliana
― ┐(´ー`)┌ (sic), Thursday, 20 September 2012 21:51 (thirteen years ago)
Curious about the result of all that.
― Evan, Thursday, 20 September 2012 22:49 (thirteen years ago)
i've caught myself blasting their entire discog this week. have always loved the weird "connection" dando makes in these painfully simple songs that's almost hard to describe. like a sad rumpled dog laying on the carpet asking for attention
what a charmer
― hackshaw, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 05:18 (ten years ago)
Lovey is the work by which all the others should be measured. (All other Lemonheads albums, anyway)― paul cox (paul cox), Thursday, October 3, 2002 6:19 PM (12 years ago)
― paul cox (paul cox), Thursday, October 3, 2002 6:19 PM (12 years ago)
This has to have been one of the earliest posts I ever made to ilm. (Still hold that same opinion btw.)
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 05:22 (ten years ago)
Lick above all else
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 15 July 2015 05:25 (ten years ago)
here i am outside your house at 3amtryna think you out of bed
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 15 July 2015 05:26 (ten years ago)
he wonders why
the in-dig-oooo guy
― hackshaw, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 05:35 (ten years ago)
Enjoying the new one. Think I like “Togetherness Is All I’m After” and “In the Margin” most right now
― Duane Barry, Sunday, 2 November 2025 01:18 (six months ago)
I whistle at your sillechoes cross the street instead
also: Rat Velvet!
― Psychocandy Apple Grey (Pyschocandles), Sunday, 2 November 2025 22:54 (six months ago)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kujJeD21qFs
― Eric Blore Is President (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 21 January 2026 19:23 (three months ago)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMb0B9fQaq0
― Eric Blore Is President (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 21 January 2026 19:25 (three months ago)
Performing at Lucinda's tonight
― Eric Blore Is President (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 21 January 2026 19:26 (three months ago)
Sending out DMs of himself masturbating
https://tonyortega.substack.com/p/ugh-lemonheads-frontman-evan-dando?r=2uoi8u&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
― chr1sb3singer, Thursday, 12 February 2026 20:20 (two months ago)
jfc yuck
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 12 February 2026 20:31 (two months ago)
From the story underneath about Bijou Phillips:
(We’re also going to point out the link between our two stories today, because if we don’t certainly some of our readers will: Bijou claimed that she lost her virginity at 15 to Evan Dando when he was 27 or 28, for what it’s worth.)
― Who's going to stop 200 balloons? Nobody! (President Keyes), Thursday, 12 February 2026 21:21 (two months ago)
Jeez, when he said he was cleaning himself up, this wasn’t what I had in mind. What a wreck of a human being.
― Dan Worsley, Friday, 13 February 2026 17:25 (two months ago)
Fucking gross
― Abby Gore (Neanderthal), Friday, 13 February 2026 21:26 (two months ago)
“Evan Dando has long struggled with mental health issues dating back to his childhood. He’s been admitted to a local hospital where he’s receiving comprehensive help from experienced doctors and mental health professionals.”
Ah yes, blame mental health, because he's the victim after all.
― Abby Gore (Neanderthal), Friday, 13 February 2026 21:28 (two months ago)
Do you put "sent vids of me jacking to strangers" on the intake form?
― chr1sb3singer, Friday, 13 February 2026 22:09 (two months ago)
He was giving off the vibe of someone who should be admitted to hospital when I saw him play last year
― PaulTMA, Friday, 13 February 2026 22:10 (two months ago)
"Our reader said that his wife was dealing with being sent unsolicited, unwanted videos from Evan Dando, the founder and frontman of 90s alternative-rock mainstays The Lemonheads, and those videos depict him masturbating. They were both grossed out by it, angry, and weren’t sure what to do about it."
So they had two choices:a) Call the cops and give them the videob) Send the video to some obscure blog
Very odd...
― riveter (strangeangel), Tuesday, 17 February 2026 23:39 (two months ago)
Ah right, the cops, who notoriously are helpful with sexual crimes
― Abby Gore (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 17 February 2026 23:44 (two months ago)
My girlfriend once got sent dick pics for hours one night. Called the cops who basically made it clear they didn't gaf or care about discovering who it was. Which it took me only one hour to solve using Google and Facebook.
So the choice was more like, hmm, do i share it w/ the cops who all giggle about it after i hang up, or share it with a blog and get the bad behavior exposed broadly so he actually stops doing it to people
Gee, which one would I choose
― Abby Gore (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 17 February 2026 23:50 (two months ago)
valuable new posters eight posts in 12.5 years tbf
― uploading this content requires perseveration (sic), Wednesday, 18 February 2026 04:11 (two months ago)
Did notice that
― Abby Gore (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 18 February 2026 04:12 (two months ago)