Artful Dodger (US band)

Artful Dodger
Origin	Fairfax, Virginia, United States
Genres	Rock, power pop
Years active	1973–1982 1991 2005–present
Labels	Columbia, Ariola, Red Rooster
Members	Steve Brigida Steve Cooper Gary Herrewig Billy Paliselli Peter Bonta
Past members	Gary Cox

Artful Dodger (formed in 1973 in Fairfax, Virginia) are an American power pop rock band, noted for their tight rock compositions, deft lyricism, vocal harmonies, and live shows. The group was heavily influenced by The Beatles, Faces, and The Rolling Stones and drew frequent comparisons to Raspberries. Artful Dodger's studio releases received high critical praise, but the band was unable to penetrate the charts.

Originally called Brat, Artful Dodger was formed in 1973 in Fairfax, Virginia, out of the remains of two local bands, Homestead and Badge. Creatively, the key members were Gary Herrewig (guitar) and Billy Paliselli (vocals), who wrote most of the songs as a team, and Gary Cox (guitar and vocals), who also wrote songs (usually by himself). Steve Cooper (bass) and Steve Brigida (drums) formed the rhythm section. Brigida was an ideal foil for the band's songs, combining the steady time-keeping of Charlie Watts with the flash of Keith Moon. The group's first release was a self-produced single, "Not Quite Right", which never made it onto an LP, with "Long Time Away" as the B-side. The original bass player, Robb Michael Inglis, split with the group during contract negotiations in 1974. Management & the group paid him to release his tracks and essentially disappeared him from the group's history. His bass tracks are featured on Brat, "Not Quite Right", the original 45 release B-side," Long Time Away" and the first album release of "New York City". Steve Cooper was chosen as his replacement. "Long Time Away" was re-recorded for their first album with an increased tempo and more pop feeling. Armed with a demo tape, Gary Cox traveled to New York City in search of a record deal and received an offer from the Leber-Krebs management firm, whose biggest act was Aerosmith. They were signed to Columbia Records and paired with Aerosmith producer Jack Douglas. After being forced to choose a new name (another Brat had prior claim), Artful Dodger released their self-titled debut album in September 1975. Produced with a refreshing lack of clutter by Jack Douglas (Aerosmith, Alice Cooper), Artful Dodger was a near-masterpiece that combined the best aspects of hard rock and Beatles-derived pop. "Wayside" has become the acknowledged classic, but the rest of the album, particularly the explosive "Think Think" and Cox's ballad, "Silver and Gold," is outstanding. Reportedly, the label's choice of the latter song as the album's lead single (not to mention a stunning lack of sales) was the beginning of a rift between Cox and the rest of the band. This didn't seem to make much of a difference, however, on the next album, Honor Among Thieves, which expanded upon the band's mastery of classic pop with a harder edge and more accomplished performances. Co-produced by Douglas and Eddie Leonetti, the album featured the power ballad "Scream" as the single.

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