Dick Dodd, who sang and played drums for the Standells and achieved fame for the classic Boston-centric hit “Dirty Water”, died on Friday at the age of 68.
Dodd was born in Hermosa Beach, California and got his start as a mouseketeer on The Mickey Mouse Club, but joined the Standells in 1964 and helped create “Dirty Water” as a “tribute” to the famously disgusting Charles River.
The song technically satirizes characteristics of Boston that outsiders might view negatively, like polluted water supplies. But it has long been embraced by the city as a victory lap song for sports teams, in particular the Red Sox.
Its main riff is iconic in garage rock and classic rock, and the refrain “Love that dirty water…Boston you’re my home!” is perhaps the most famous use of the city’s name in all of popular music.
Dodd had been battling stage four cancer and passed at an Orange County hospital, according to the Los Angeles Times.
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