Dust - "Dust" 1971 / "Hard Attack" 1972

Dust was formed in 1969 by Richie Wise and two teenagers, Kenny Aaronson (later of Derringer and HSAS fame) and Marc Bell (a.k.a. Marky Ramone). The trio's producer and manager, Kenny Kerner, also wrote the band's lyrics. Their eponymous debut album was released on Kama Sutra records in 1971, followed by a sophomore release Hard Attack on the same label the following year, which sharpened the band's edge and intensified the band's approach, thus it became the more sought after of the pair by collectors interested in the roots of American metal.

At the dawn of the 70's, hard rock and early heavy metal were almost completely dominated by British innovators. Dust was one of the few American bands to try picking up the gauntlet, playing a progressive brand of proto-metal that was explicitly indebted to their British contemporaries.
Dust didn't last long, nor did they get up to much touring: "No, we didn't get far", says Richie, "and I think, if we'd stayed together, I think we would have gone a lot further. But in the Midwest, there was, for some reason, the radio stations there, and some of the cities, like St. Louis, started to play us -- I guess they really like that kind of rock sound. And I guess they did for many years after that, because they broke a lot of the heavy bands in the Midwest. Kiss, who I later on produced, broke in the Midwest. Detroit, places like that. I remember us playing with Alice Cooper, Uriah Heep, King Crimson, Cactus."

Although Wise began writing material for a third album, the band dissolved due to lack of promotion and Wise's growing disinterest in producing.
While the group only released two album's, the band gained interest in collectors of early heavy metal. Both albums were reissued on April 16, 2013 together as a combined CD set titled Hard Attack/Dust, as well as on vinyl on August 20 for Record Store Day.

Wise and Kerner went into production for Kiss, among others, producing their first two albums.
Bell's next project after Dust was Estus. He played on their 1973 eponymous album. In the mid 70's, he joined Richard Hell and the Voidiods, playing on their seminal Blank Generation L.P. In 1978, he replaced Thomas Erdelyi in the Ramones, assuming the name Marky Ramone.
(Potions of this article written by Steve Huey - Allmusic)