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Dishes with a great deal of their
repertoire. In an evening, the
band might play “I Saw Her
Standing There,” “I’m Looking
Through You,” “I’ll Be Back,”
“If I Fell” and “No Reply.” The
guitar solo in “Day Tripper” of
ten leads up to Falcone’s ver
sion of the drum solo from “The
End.” After Falcone gives his
drums a good working out,
Raycraft goes into the guitar so
los. The Dishes’ killer version of
“I Am the Walrus,” a song the
Beatles never performed live, is
usually held for the final encore.
Malone takes the lead vocals
while Raycraft plays a 1953
Gibson lap steel guitar. John,
Paul, George and Ringo would
be proud.
The Dishes also play music
from other Texas artists like
Daniel Johnston, Herschel
Berry, Joe “King” Carrasco and
David Bean.
Aside from covers, the
Dishes play several originals,
mostly written by Raycraft with
some help from Malone.
There’s “Beep Beep!,” a tune
about Houston traffic, “Around
You,” a Beatlesque number
featuring Donaho on lead vo
cals, “Things Are Stressful,” an
ode to the rat race set to a reg
gae beat, and “Girls With Glass
es,” a ballad about bespec
tacled beauties. The Dishes’
most popular number, how
ever, is “The Night I Dreamed I
Was Elvis.”
“The Night I Dreamed I Was
Elvis” began its life as a chord
progression that Malone
dreamed up for a David Bean
title during 1984, when Bean
was doing shows with the
Dishes during a split with his
own band, the Judy’s. Each
night Raycraft ad libs a story
about a dream he had after eat
ing a mayonnaise pizza late one
night. In the dream, Raycraft
finds he has gained a couple of
hundred pounds and his hair
has grown into a large greasy
pompadour. He is trapped in
Graceland with nothing to wear
but rhinestone-studded leather
suits. Priscilla keeps trying to
stuff peanut butter and banana
sandwiches down his throat.
The crowd usually goes crazy
and participates in the call and
response chorus.
The Dishes’ fans are a de
voted lot. A group of Texas
A&M students is almost always
around to do the Dishes when
ever the band plays Bryan or
College Station. Ben Barnett, a
senior biochemistry major from
Groves, Kent Hutson, a senior
biology major from Houston,
and Tim Howard, a former stu
dent who occasionally comes
back to town for a Dishes’
show, began dragging their
friends to the clubs where the
band was playing in the fall of
1984. This group was inspired,
Barnett says, to bring a pizza to
the band when they heard the
band’s version of the classic
blues tune, “Hey Joe. ”
Raycraft took “Hey Joe,” a
song about a man plotting to
shoot his unfaithful wife, and
changed it to a song about a
man plotting to buy a pizza.
During one performance of
“Hey Joe,” Barnett presented
an empty pizza box (since the
club didn’t allow outside food to
be brought in) to Raycraft. Ray
craft used the box as a slide for
his guitar. The pizza box be
came a • tradition and, in true
Aggie fashion, Barnett and
friends always bring a pizza box
to the show. The Barnett bunch
also bring presents for the rest
of the band. Malone receives a
cigar, Falcone receives a candy
bar and Donaho receives flow
ers.
At Huntsville, a group of fans
that Raycraft calls the “Shoe
People,” also has a traditional
way of doing the Dishes. The
Shoe People, Raycraft says,
take off their shoes and line
them up at the front of the
stage. The Shoe People, who
even have T-shirts that proclaim
their membership in this elite
group, spend the evening danc
ing in their socks.
For the past four years, the
Dishes have picked up a large
group of fans across the state.
The band plays Houston, Cor
pus Christi, Bryan, College Sta
tion, Huntsville, San Antonio,
Dallas, Fort Worth, Nacog
doches and Austin about once a
month. Playing and taking care
of business are a full-time job
for the Dishes.
There is a “fifth Dish,”
See “Dishespage 12
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