One of the main tenets of the heavy metal fashion ethic is that hairstyles make the band. Take, for example, Jon Bon Jovi and his frosted shag or Slash (of Guns 'n' Roses fame) and his hide-and-seek do. "Hair is image," sums up Bryan Zimmerman, guitarist for the Lehigh Valley quintet Dirty Blond.
Asked to ruminate further on the big hair/big rock connection, members of the heavy metal group collapse in laughter. "Go ask Stefon," says lead guitarist Jerry Pandell, whose row home along Allentown's Meadow Street doubles as the band's rehearsal space.
If the truth be told, 18-year-old bassist Stefon Pizzuto takes his share of fashion risks. "Stefon's been through more hair changes than I've been through cigarettes," says Zimmerman, his own longish locks flaring around his face in a halo of silver and black fuzz.
"First, Stefon got a really bad perm, then he bleached his hair," teases Zimmerman. "Finally, he just cut it off. Now it's short on top and long in the back. . . . We make him wear a bandana when he's onstage."
"And a wig," adds Pandell, the group's resident wise guy. "And a hat."
Mercifully - for Stefon's sake - there's more to Dirty Blond than illustrious locks. Following in the footsteps of such lite-metal ambassadors as Cinderella and Bon Jovi, members of the Allentown outfit - which performs Tuesday night at DJ's Pub - play hard rock as mission, not meal ticket.
Pandell dashes off lean guitar riffs that spin and reel. Bassist Pizzuto, drummer Keith Mathias and guitarist Zimmerman back him up with a spry combination of fury and finesse. And Mike Stanley's vocals - pleading on the love songs, triumphant on the rockers - add fervor and passion to the fray.
Best of all, the band's second cassette, the soon-to-be-released "Dirtier Than Ever," provides ample evidence of musical maturation. To wit: "Little Rock," which parades slice-and-dice refrains, a strutting bass line and a propulsive drum beat and "Dreaming," an acoustic-tinged love song with a big, fat hook.
"This one is a lot more vibrant, crisper and cleaner," says Pandell of the group's second cassette. "We worked longer and harder writing the songs and working in the studio."
A bop-'til-you-drop attitude and a history of camaraderie has kept Dirty Blond driving onward and upward. The quintet's nucleus - Pandell and Mathias - began playing together while students at Saucon Valley High School. Calling themselves Dry Run, the teens recruited Zimmerman through a newspaper advertisement.
As it turned out, Dry Run was just that. After four years, Mathias dropped out to join another group. Several bass players and drummers came and went. Finally, in 1987, a new line-up solidified. Pizzuto was signed on to play bass; Mathias re-joined and brought along a friend, vocalist Mike Stanley, who replaced the departing Mike Krycia. Presto - Dirty Blond was unbottled.
According to Pandell, it was hardly a case of instant karma. "I couldn't stand Mike just from talking to him on the phone," says the auburn-haired guitarist. "I remember calling him up on a Friday. I said, 'Can I meet you and give you a copy of our tape?' And he said, "No way, man. I've got a party to go to tonight.' I thought I don't need this. Then he told me he liked the Grateful Dead. That just about did it."
But Pandell came around and Stanley was hired just in time to lend his vocals to the group's first cassette, which so far has sold more than 400 copies. An auspicious debut, the tape makes up in musical strength what it lacks in lyrical inventiveness.
As Zimmerman tells it, sales from the cassette and revenues from the band's twice-a-week gigs aren't enough to put food on the table. To support themselves, band members are still tied down to day jobs.
Pandell works for his dad at Bride's Bakery. Zimmerman, a part-time student at Allentown Business College, is, by his own description, "the head honcho of hammers at Allen Hardware." Stanley works for a construction firm. Pizzuto is a student at Temple University. And Mathias toils at Unclaimed Salvage and Freight. (Alternate bassist Mike Edwards, who substitutes for Pizzuto when he's unavailable, is also an Unclaimed Freight employee.)
For the sake of survival, the group occasionally (and reluctantly) agrees to perform a set's worth of covers, jetting off versions of heavy metal hits for local club audiences. "When we play a place like the Trade Union (in Easton), we're supposed to be a cover band," says Stanley. "But, when we play the Empire (in Philadelphia), we're supposed to be an original band. You've got to stay flexible; do what sells; play the game."
Lately, the group is toning down its androgynous image. Spandex has given way to leather and denim - what Pandell describes as "the hometown look."
"The whole glam thing just gets on my nerves anymore," says Zimmerman. "If you want to be a musician, I think you should just get up and play music, not be a circus act. . . . "
"I'd never been in a band before (Dirty Blond)," adds Stanley. "I used to think you had to wear eye liner and funny clothes. I didn't know. Then we started seeing bands like Winger and Metallica, who went out there and just played and had a good time."
"Along the way, we decided, 'We just want to be ourselves,' " says Zimmerman.
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Dirty Blond will play Tuesday night, and next Friday night and May 27 at DJ's Pub, Lehigh Shopping Center, Union Boulevard, Bethlehem. For information about performances and Dirty Blond's "Dirtier Than Ever" cassette, call 266-1797.
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Amy Longsdorf is a free-lance writer on entertainment for The Morning Call
http://articles.mcall.com/1989-05-19/fe ... metal-hair