Blow ’em away With a birdshot shotgun But it's all ok What you gonna do? Time will come and tell the tale What you gonna say? Turn around Look at what you’ve done Blow ’em away In a smoking township But it's all ok

These subversive lyrics were sung in the 1989 song “Secrets” by Dog Detachment frontman Brian Wylde, better known today by his given name and job title, Telkom chief operating officer Brian Armstrong.

Brian Currin, proprietor of the South African Rock Encyclopedia, ranks Dog Detachment 11th on his list of top 40 rock legends. The list was started in July 2001 and last received an update in June 2008.

According to Currin’s time capsule of SA rock, Dog Detachment was formed in Johannesburg in 1980 under the name “DOG”, with their early sound heavily influenced by punk.

By the time Dog Detachment released their first album, “The Last Laugh,” their sound had changed significantly.

Among the songs on the album was “Straightjacket” (embedded above), which saw Armstrong shredding a facemelting solo on his Flying V while his partners in crime belted out defiance to The Man:

They say they’ll make me a human being But I know they won’t succeed ’Cos I don’t wanna be just like them All filled with lust and greed

The Last Laugh was named after a track on the album, which apparently takes a jab at naysayers who predicted the band would never release an LP.

Martin Baillie, who would later become known as the host of Telly Fun Quiz on SABC, interviewed the lads of Dog Detachment shortly after the release of The Last Laugh (embedded above).

A young Brian Armstrong already showed a deft hand with the media, deflecting a direct question about whether “The Last Laugh” was a dig at the record industry.

“Well it could be taken that way if you want to, yes,” Armstrong responded with a smile.

He followed up the deflection with an answer, though. “There were a few people that said we would never get an LP out, and we did it our own way. We feel it was the last laugh in a lot of respects.”

Dog Detachment followed up The Last Laugh with two more albums: Fathoms of Fire in 1985, and Barriers in 1989.

According to a write-up dated July 2001 by Andrew Rees on The SA Rock Encyclopedia, the delay between Fathoms and Barriers was in part due to three of the members, including Brian, being conscripted to do their 2 year stint in the army.

Dog Detachment gigged and recorded for almost a decade and apparently never officially disbanded. However, work commitments became the priority as they knew they wouldn’t be able to earn a decent living playing their music, Rees wrote.

Fast-forward another 20-odd years and vinyl LPs are already back in vogue with music aficionados after being supplanted by CDs in the 90’s, and the MP3 in the 00’s.

We’ve gone from dialling up to BBSes, to dialling up to Internet service providers, to always-on Internet.

And Brian Armstrong, once the front-man for a rebellious alternative rock outfit from Johannesburg, is COO of Telkom South Africa.

May he inject the cool he once represented in the 80’s into a company which, to put it mildly, is considered somewhat “uncool”.

For those who may not have heard about Armstrong before today, here he is at the 2013 MyBroadband conference talking about the future of broadband in South Africa.

More on Telkom and articles including Brian Armstrong

Capped DSL Bundles from Afrihost

Big plans for Telkom ADSL

South Africa’s high speed broadband shocker

Where you can get Telkom 40Mbps VDSL, 100Mbps FTTH

The hidden obstacle to offer fibre broadband in SA