Moonrocker – Dog Detachment
Moonrocker – Dog Detachment (Brian, Terry & Alan Armstrong, but no Neil)
Best Kept Secrets by Dog Detachment
The year was MCMLXXXIII (okay so I was too lazy to translate the Roman numerals on the back of my copy of ‘The Last Laugh’, Dog Detachment’s debut album) and punk rock was on its way out, but no one bothered to inform Dog Detachment, and just as well otherwise we would not have had their angry, yet tuneful songs to enjoy.
The band had been around for a couple of years, playing at first simply as Dog, later adding the Detachment. They eventually signed to David Gresham’s record label and released the sublime ‘The Last Laugh’ which still stands as one of the great SA punk albums of all time.
The song starts with a cacophony of jungle noises, screams and an ominous humming guitar. From this, an echo-y, angry guitar emerges and soon you are into the venom-filled diatribe against disco music with a thrashy punk beat.
Unlike some punk bands, Dog Detachment managed to hold a tune and they do so to great effect on this essential South African track.
Where to find it:
The Last Laugh (1983) David Gresham Productions, NGC 1052
Best Kept Secrets (bonus MP3 on CD) (2001) Retrofresh, freshcd115
Lyrics:
I am fighting for survival
I am fighting for my life
I am fighting the forces of evil
The dreaded disco death, their programmed pallid flesh
The enemy
Blast-off
Mission time again, the countdown at 10, and counting
We’re going to fight for what we believe in
Outnumbered, but we know we’ll win tonight
So join the force, if you want to be a Moontrooper
So join the force if you want to be a startrooper
So join the force if you want to be a Moonrocker tonight!
I see some cretins crawl across my screen
But they don’t stand a chance
Invincible firepower, superior speed
They shake in fear
But I don’t hear
I exterminate
Fighting – we gain the upper hand, an invisible band of warriors
Justice has been done – we beat the disco scum
But there’ll be more
The reggae rot and the head banging hordes must die
(Written by Dog Detachment)
Video:
1001 South African Songs You Must Hear Before You Go Deaf 
and lance!!!