The Party Starts Now!!: Handsome Dick Manitoba Turns 70
The proto-punk icon gives us a birthday update in this new interview
Is there life after the Dictators?
Yes! says Handsome Dick Manitoba, who was the frontman and frequent lead singer for many years in the proto-punk New York band.
There’s life in the Dictators, too, as they carry on under bandleader guitarist-bassist-singer-songwriter Andy Shernoff’s tutelage. For years, Manitoba was, in many ways, the outspoken, public face of the band. The Dictators’ special sauce was a merge of Shernoff’s lyrics and melodies and Manitoba’s aggressive persona, cutting jokes and gruff vocals.
Then came trouble. More on that later. But suffice to say, there have been major schisms between Manitoba and Shernoff. The Dictators, which included lead guitarist Ross the Boss and the late rhythm guitarist Scott Kempner, always presented themselves as a gang of like-minded pals, bonded by a love of hard rock, comedy, pro wrestling.
Their second album was called Bloodbrothers. For years that title seemed most apropos. But, decades later, it became a case of bad blood and, for fans of the band, unavoidable cutting irony. Same applies to the title of their 2001 reunion album D.F.F.D., standing for Dictators Forever Forever Dictators.
Now …
“In certain ways, not including the very very beginning, maybe the first decade after that, it’s all better than it’s ever been,” Manitoba says, over the phone as his 70th birthday (January 29) approaches. He’s just back from California after recording two vocal tracks, half the new songs his new band has put together.
What has he gained and lost at 70?
“You know what, I honestly don’t think I lost a lot with age except certain physical ailments, which is like bone problems and my knees. What I gained and what I like is I give less of a shit about what I used to give so much shit about. Other people’s opinions.”
“In the strangest of ways, I have this little philosophy,” Manitoba continues. “When things get bad or feel bad, take it easy because something around the corner might be great and what happened to me was a blessing. The group of people that have come into my life, they’re all extremely talented musicians, one. Alex Kane [of Life, Sex & Death, ex-Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg], is an extremely talented songwriter, and along with the three musicians, I have booking people and lawyers and one of them is a judge. And they take care of us! They love us, take us in the studio for free, pay for everything. We did 10 dates, have seven more coming up in Texas and we’re working on a bunch of dates in Europe.”
His bandmates, which he found in found in San Francisco are guitarist Craig Behrhorst (Ruffians, ex-Two-Bit Thief), bassist Michael Butler (ex-Exodus and ex-Jet Boy) and drummer Scotty Slam (ex-Circus of Power and The Stoning).
Manitoba: “What I’m getting from these group of people I never got from the Dictators, because you-know-who had to run everything, take over everything, and then Ross followed in his footsteps. They said ‘Richard had to take over in the studio, he’s anti, he’s no good for creativity.’ These guys are like ‘He’s so creative at what he does.’ I basically got love, dignity, respect, a pat on the back. Everything a person needs to be the best version of themselves which I never got with the Dictators because of you-know-who.”
Manitoba envisions the set being six or seven Dictators songs, three or four songs he and Kane have written and three or four covers.
VIDEO: Manitoba’s Wild Kingdom “The Party Starts Now!!”
Manitoba’s post-Dictators life has not been without music making or controversy. He formed Manitoba’s Wild Kingdom back in 1986, later a band called Manitoba, which in 2012 rebranded itself as The Dictators NYC. (It included Ross the Boss.)
“The Dictators NYC, that band was fantastic and we got more people and made more money than we ever did [as the Dictators],” says Manitoba. It was all Dictators material, plus covers from bands they all long loved, the Flamin’ Groovies (“Slow Death”), the MC5 (“Kick Out the Jams”) and the Stooges (“Search and Destroy”).
This did not please Shernoff one bit and lawsuits or threats took the Dictators NYC off the market. Ross the Boss jumped ship back to Shernoff’s re-formed Dictators, which now included former Blue Oyster Cult drummer Albert Bouchard and singer Keith Roth.
In a story I wrote in 2022 about the re-formed Dictators, Shernoff was hesitant to discuss Manitoba, saying, “I don’t want to talk about Manitoba because making him look bad doesn’t make me look good. Richard had a lot of problems, and it interfered with the music and the interplay in the band. He put himself in a bad place with me. [If he were in the band] he’d impose something, some neuroses, some ego, some narcissism.”
Reached for comment, Manitoba emailed, “Andy Shernoff is a nothing to me. He means nothing. His opinion means nothing.”
These days, Manitoba is a little more sanguine. “When we started out, I loved Andy as a friend, but it went awry. A great rock ‘n’ roll band has somebody on writing songs on the chalkboard, handing it to the band and saying, ‘Hey, take it out to the people and kick ass and sell it.’ And for 30-something years, I was the main guy at the front of the stage who kicked ass. Andy does what he does very well; I do what I do very well.”
Manitoba’s take: “I’m the front man, I’m the exciting guy. I’m that guy for all those years. I run into giant rock stars and movie stars and they know who I am. I don’t know how, but Handsome Dick Manitoba is a name that’s gotten out there over the years.”
And he is a doting dad. “I am very involved with my son, who’s the main thing in my life,” he says. That’d be Jake Manitoba, a U.S. Marine, the offspring of Manitoba and his ex-wife Zoe Hansen. I don’t think I’ve talked with Manitoba at all over the past 20 years without him pridefully talking about Jake, who lived with him for five years when Hansen moved to Los Angeles and married writer Jerry Stahl.
Manitoba released a solo LP, Born in the Bronx, in 2019. Meanwhile, he’d established a parallel career as a DJ on Little Steven’s Underground Garage channel on Sirius/XM for 14 years. That went down the tubes in 2018.
“I drew a Jewish star on the desk of a girl who was Palestinian,” Manitoba says, “and they immediately fired me forever. I said I’m sorry, I’m apologize, I’ll never bother you again. I was friends with Little Steven for 40 years. The last few years he was getting angry at certain things, but my feeling is that I fucked up enough so he didn’t want me in his organization. He’s the type of guy who cuts your throat and never forgives or goes back. And he closed up my bar [Manitoba’s, at 99 Avenue B, Manhattan] which he owned more of than I did. No job, no bar, no nothing. I got more bad dreams about Steven van Zandt than about anybody. I just feel it’s my fault. He’s the boss, I fucked up the greatest job. I would be a 70-year-old making really good money, but I’m not.
“What do I do? Quit? No. Form a band, get out there, try to make money and push it.”
“You know what? One day maybe I’ll write a book before I go,” Manitoba muses. “I’m gonna say everything I would say in a psychologist’s office and I don’t care what you think of me, I care what I think of me. I’d rather die like that than die holding things in, rather than be the proper-acting person you think I should be. I got that and I’m very excited about my life.”
- A Decade Without Prince - April 21, 2026
- Rob Hirst Was the Engine of Midnight Oil - January 23, 2026
- The Spectre of Phil Spector - January 16, 2026
You May Also Like
-
January 15, 2020 -
May 9, 2019 -
May 13, 2020
