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Dirty Looks formed in San Fransisco in 1985 when Danish-born Henrik Ostergaard, who had tired of playing in a cover band in Pennsylvania, arrived in the Bay Area intent on forming his own band and recording original material. The band’s first self-titled album was released by a French label called Axe Killer Records. Apparently disillusioned with the San Fransisco scene the band relocated back to Pennsylvania in 1986 and recorded a second album called INYOURFACE. That record and its single “Oh Ruby” got the attention of the major labels and in 1987 the band signed with Atlantic Records, who released the band’s Max Norman produced major label debut, Cool From The Wire, in 1988. They got a little airplay on MTV and flirted with the Billboard charts but the album (now a cult classic) wound up in the cut-out bin. Undeterred the band soon entered the studio with producer of the moment Beau Hill to record the follow-up but were dissatisfied with the results and started over with a new producer, John Jansen, who had produced Britny Fox’s hit debut the previous year.
Dirty Looks were one of several bands of the era (Rhino Bucket, Dangerous Toys, Johnny Crash, Nevada Beach, etc) that displayed a rather obvious AC/DC influence, but the band’s second record for Atlantic, Turn of the Screw, is quite impressive in its own right. The album opens with the raucous title track, “Turn of the Screw.” It’s Aerosmith meets AC/DC. The song is immaculately put together.
