Pavlov's Dog
 Formed
in the early 70s in St Louis, Missouri, by David Surkamp and Mike
Safron from the remnants of a band called High On A Small Hill,
Pavlov's Dog were unlike anything else.
The band were fronted by the dirty angel vocals of Surkamp
(heard to great effect on Julia), with a background brew of
mellotrons, violins and skewed prog-pop-rock.
Signed to ABC/Dunhill, they received $600,000 for their first
album, Pampered Menial (1975) but were then traded to
Columbia Records for Poco.
As a result their debut LP emerged on two different labels with
two different covers on the same day!
Surkamp's unusual vocal delivery polarised public opinion and
sales were only a little short of catastrophic.
Their second album, At The Sound Of The Bell, was even
further out as producers Sandy Pearlman and Murray Krugman (famed
for their work with Blue Öyster Cult) introduced Yes drummer Bill
Bruford and added the High Wycombe Boys Choir to Valkerie.
Revered in the UK, at home in the States, Pavlov's Dog remained
a parochial affair and their third Columbia album, The St
Louis Hounds, was shelved. A fourth disc (Lost In America)
only appeared on a small local label.
Following an emotional farewell gig on a St Louis riverboat
called The Admiral, the band split due to diminishing
returns rather than the traditional 'musical differences' or drug
problems. In a nutshell, they were broke.
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