by Richie Unterberger
D.B.L.I.T.Y. recorded some respectable material with debts to power pop, Midwestern and British '70s hard rock, glam, and roots rock in the mid- to late '70s that didn't find release at the time, although a CD compilation of recordings came out nearly three decades later. The group had a youthful wit, slightly but not overbearingly snide attitude, and way with reasonably good hooks that deserved a better fate, breaking up in part because of their resistance to music business overtures to make their sound more mainstream. The band was formed in Allentown, PA, in the mid-'70s, D.B.L.I.T.Y. being an acronym for "Dress British Look Irish Think Yiddish." The four members all adopted pseudonyms reflecting their irreverence, singer/guitarist Greg McCoy becoming Iggy Norant, bassist Dave Peifley taking the name Arro Gant, lead guitarist Andrew Benton Green mutating to Obby Noxious, and Terry Lee Gross just opting for the relatively innocuous T.L. Gross. Although they did some sessions in both Pennsylvania and Hollywood, no record deal was forthcoming in Los Angeles, the group being unwilling to change their style into something more in line with the contemporary trends that labels wanted to follow. After D.B.L.I.T.Y. broke up, Green eventually went on to work with John Cale as an associate producer, sound technician, and member of Cale's band. Peifley became a record store owner and also issued material from the 1960s and 1970s by numerous bands from the Allentown and Lehigh Valley area on CD. ALL MUSIC GUIDE