The Standells are a Los Angeles punk/garage rock group that was formed in 1962. The original line-up was Larry Tamblyn (organ/vocals), Tony Valentino (guitar), Gary Lane (bass) and Gary Leeds (drums). Leeds was later replaced by former Mouseketeer Dick Dodd, who not only played drums but also handled lead vocal chores as well. The band began its ...
Although the band's biggest hit was 1966's "Dirty Water", a song about Boston, Massachusetts--and was in fact in 1997 declared the "official victory anthem" of the Boston Red Sox baseball team--none of the band members were from Boston, and in fact none had ever even been to Boston when they recorded the song. It was written by their producer, Ed Cobb, who had visited Boston once and had been beaten and robbed while walking on a bridge over the Charles River.