Dirt

Dirt were a Lower Mainland rock band who made one single. In 1990 they released Ripoff through 3 Minute Mile Records, catalogue TMM-001, with Dave Spicer as executive producer and John Clark as music co-ordinator. The record carried a contact address through Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, then home to campus radio station CJIV.

The band put colourful names on the sleeve. Davey Dave sang and played rhythm guitar, Bhagwan Mickey Skull played lead, Diamond Doug Smith handled bass and backing vocals, and Jennifer Orme played drums. The three songs were cut between Mushroom Studios and Profile Sound, with Tilde Fiorda engineering 'Ripoff' and 'Move On Up' and Cecil English engineering 'Clouds Obscured.' Davey wrote the title track, Smith wrote 'Clouds Obscured,' and Mickey and Smith wrote 'Move On Up.'

Ripoff appeared in several coloured-vinyl variants, including pink-purple marbled, clear blue, yellow and off-white, and it played at two speeds: 'Ripoff' at 45 RPM on the A-side and the two B-side songs squeezed onto the flip at 33⅓. Gary Davies took the cover photograph, with further photography by Kelly Wood, Jean Thompson drew the Dirt logo, and Dougalingus did the layout.

In the March 29, 1991 issue of CMJ New Music Report, the American college radio trade paper, Ripoff appeared at No. 15 on the Top Import Releases chart.

-Robert Williston