The Dictators “Manifest Destiny” 1977. Today, July 13th, is the birthday of Mark “The Animal” Mendoza (b. 1955) who plays bass on Manifest Destiny (he joined the band in ‘76, replacing Andy “Adny” Shernoff) and left The Dictators in 1978 to join Twisted Sister (Shernoff rejoined). Allmusic says of the band “N.Y.C.’s Dictators were one of the finest and most influential proto-punk bands to walk the earth. Alternately reveling in and satirizing the wanton excesses of a rock & roll lifestyle and lowbrow culture (e.g., wrestling, TV, fast food)…[they] played loud, fast rock & roll fueled by a love of ‘60s American garage rock, British Invasion pop, and the sonic onslaught of the Who.”

The Dictators are considered hard rock and proto-punk (appearing in the punk wing of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) but to my ears Manifest Destiny is 70′s cock rock: swagger, power guitar (and a couple of  power ballads for good measure: “Sleepin’ With the TV On” and “Hey Boys”) in the mode of the Stooges and New York Dolls, yet toured with the likes of Uriah Heep and Foreigner. “Steppin’ Out” and “Exposed” are “half-baked would-be arena rockers.” “Disease,” “Science Gone Too Far!” and their cover of the Stooges’ “Search & Destroy” are definitely the best tracks on the LP and as close to punk as this album gets.