Pavlov's Dog

Pavlov's Dog emerged as an artsy hard rock ensemble that bridged progressive textures and heavy metal textures much as Rush had during its formative period. The group likewise featured vocalist David Surkamp, whose piercing high register served as the decisive element that listeners either embraced or rejected outright. Beyond a devoted niche audience, most listeners opted for rejection, yet across subsequent decades the band has continued to surface as an intriguing discovery among devotees of overlooked American arena rock.

The band coalesced in St. Louis during 1972 from the remnants of the local cover outfit High on a Small Hill. Surkamp, previously of the minor folk-rock project Touch, handled vocals and guitar while joining forces with lead guitarist Steve Scorfina, keyboardist David Hamilton, Mellotron and flute specialist Doug Rayburn, bassist Rick Stockton, drummer Mike Safron, and strings expert Siegfried Carver (born Richard Nadler). Carver contributed violin, viola, and a distinctive hybrid creation called the vitar, whose tone evoked the bowed-guitar approach of Eddie Phillips in the 1960s freakbeat act the Creation. The resulting blend of flute, Mellotron, violin, and Scorfina’s guitar flourishes prompted occasional parallels to the David Cross-era King Crimson lineup, although Pavlov’s Dog maintained a more direct and less convoluted overall approach.

Steady growth across the Midwestern club scene prompted a 1975 deal with ABC-Dunhill Records, reportedly secured with a then-record advance of 650,000 dollars, though that figure may have reflected press-release exaggeration. The group tracked its debut album, Pampered Menial, only to depart ABC-Dunhill almost immediately for Columbia Records. Consequently the album appeared nearly simultaneously on both imprints, each edition bearing identical artwork and the same song sequence.

Tom Nickeson stepped in for David Hamilton while the band recorded its follow-up, 1976’s At the Sound of the Bell. After the subsequent tour, Carver exited, prompting the provisional working title “Whatever Became of Siegfried?” for the next project. Columbia ultimately released the group following the disappointing sales of At the Sound of the Bell, and the finished recordings later circulated on bootlegs frequently titled The St. Louis Hounds. In 1994 the German label TRC issued the material on CD under the name Third, although its artwork openly appropriated the sleeve of Rick Springfield’s million-selling Working Class Dog.

Pavlov’s Dog disbanded in 1978. Surkamp and Rayburn briefly revived the name in the late 1980s with an otherwise fresh roster, resulting in the 1990 release Lost in America. Surkamp has since maintained a schedule of solo performances throughout the St. Louis region.