Started in 1984 by manager Colonel Galaxy, as a pure Punk project, with the Colonel picking all the members. Initial line-up was Mark Norton (The Ramrods), Jerry Vile (Boners), Bootsey X (the Lovemasters), Mike McFeaters (What Jane Shared) and Art Lyzak (Mutants).

In 1985, Niagara (from Destroy All Monsters) was invited to join the band, and by 1991, her partner in DAM (and Stooges guitarist) Ron Asheton also joined full-time. DC always had a changing lineup - like a Vaudeville punk review - but a hardened down unit soon evolved, and toured across the U.S., Canada and then Australia. Musicians like Scott Asheton (the Stooges), Cheetah Chrome (Dead Boys) and Jim Carroll also played with the group.

The group released 4 albums: "The Greatest Show in Detroit", "Welcome to Show Business", "Dark Carnival... Live Bait", and "The Last Great Ride" (on Sympathy For The Record Industry). Another album called "Dark Carnival... Live and Dead" was recorded in New York on Halloween '97, but was not issued until 2003, as part of "Niagara... Beyond the Pale").

By 1998 they had disbanded.