Somebody Else's Dream: Dakota, The Buoys & "Timothy" • Collector's Item
2021 marks the 50th anniversary of “Timothy,” a song banned by radio stations and labeled “the worst song ever recorded”— with lyrics that eerily paralleled the real-life Sheppton mining disaster. Written by playwright Rupert Holmes, “Timothy” launched the career of The Buoys, who later performed at the legendary Whisky a Go Go, Stone Balloon, and the Satsop River Festival in front of 150,000 fans. The Buoys toured the Netherlands, got hustled in a pool game with Sly Stone—before his massive ten-mile traffic jam, hung out with Blue Oyster Cult—before their Kingston Armory riot, received a lecture on libertarianism from musical genius Frank Zappa, and were mentored by Delaney Bramlett—before cocaine ruined his life.
Morphing into Dakota and produced by Chicago’s Danny Seraphine and Rufus’s Hawk Wolinski, the band played on the same stage as the Beach Boys during the U.S. Bicentennial Celebration. They were invited to join Freddie Mercury and Queen on a sold-out 35-city tour ending in a three-day, standing-room-only, Madison Square Garden concert. Here is the story of an AOR band who, despite the infamous “Dakota Curse,” achieved acclaim in Europe, Korea, and Japan. Their extraordinary saga depicts a cautionary tale of substance abuse, the pitfalls of fame, and the actual price of the rock and roll fantasy.