THE STAPLE SINGERS -Freedom Highway (1965) funknroll 2008-12-01 | (formerly, "NINA SIMONE- Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood") Wrestling for the soul of America. I grew up in the South and Midwest during the civil rights years and their aftermath. It challenged everything about my world and changed my perception of life. Not a single day passes where the lessons learned are not effecting my perceptions, my outlook, or my aspirations. What is right now comes from their paths, what is wrong is from where any of us have lost the way. It's on each of us to make it better for each other. Selflessness brings us into the better angels of our nature. This is my psalm of love to my heroes, the bravest of the brave. The PBS series, EYES ON THE PRIZE, has become available again. To me, it is the single greatest and most relevent thing ever shown on television. Check it out and be heartened by the bittersweet struggle for the very soul of America. Peace. See also: GLORIA JONES- "TAINTED LOVE" (1964) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSehtaY6k1U JENNY & THE RASCALS- "YOU TOLD ME A LIE" (1965) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDK3Qy4pBSc MARGO GURYAN- "LOVE" (1968) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAkY-1n_2qs NINA SIMONE -"REVOLUTION" (1969) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqfWM6npGG0 THE SHE TRINITY -"CLIMB THAT TREE" (1970) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phEkHHBZ4BQ ROTARY CONNECTION-"I AM THE BLACK GOLD OF THE SUN" (1971) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DR_NMtBEj4 SWEET LINDA DIVINE -"I'LL SAY IT AGAIN" (1970) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FPaFrfegug BIRTHA -"FREE SPIRIT" (1972) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SonFKwygT-I (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made nonprofit video solely to promote the artists and the history.) tym stevens
JANE BOWMAN -Mad Mama (1961) funknroll 2009-12-13 | Supergirls of the 40's and 50's! (sequel to "PEGGY LEE -"Why Don't You Do Right?") Like Rosie The Riveter, women heroes blossomed in the 40's before being almost erased in the 50's. But they rallied back at the end as the 60's dawned... This issue: The mysterious RAMONA PATENAUDE, one of the few women artists who bucked the old boy comics system; the self-evident villain QUEEN OF EVIL (1941); Wonder Womans' frenemy The CHEETAH (43); scorching FLAME GIRL and WILDFIRE (41); Captain America's sidekick GOLDEN GIRL (47); the retroactive GHOST GIRL and villain WARRIOR WOMAN (77); Airboy's frenemy VALKYRIE (43); the kinky BLACK ANGEL and her nemesis BARONESS BLOOD (41); the aerodynamic SKY GIRL (44); Moon Girl's bane, SATANA (47): the West's wild FLAMEHAIR; the original Rose & THE THORN (47); cowgrrrl THE BLACK PHANTOM (54); supreme jungle queen SHEENA (37); from space, TARA The Pirate Queen (47), MYSTA Of The Moon (45), and FUTURA (46); the tundran raider ROSE Of The Yukon (48); the first, brief SUPERGIRL (49); Dollman's dreamhouse DOLLGIRL (51); the Phillipines' own wondrous woman, DARNA (50); Simon & Kirby's teenage TOMBOY (54); African-Amercan writer/ artist JACKIE ORMES and her TORCHY strip (50); the grand dame WONDER WOMAN transitioned into the Silver Age (58); Lois Lane again became a SUPERWOMAN (51); the original BATWOMAN, Kathy Kane (56); the 30th Century's own SATURN GIRL (58); Adam Strange and ALANNA of Rann (58); the first AQUAGIRL (59); crashing the mile high club for boys, LADY BLACKHAWK (59); LANA LANG gained brief powers (59), while Superboy meets ungrateful discrimination when magic makes him a girl (60); and finally, the Maid Of Steel herself, SUPERGIRL (59)! See also: BENNY GOODMAN/ PEGGY LEE-"Why Don't You Do Right?" (1942) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYul52hVKnI DOTTY ANDERSON -"There's a Jungle Out There" (195?) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjF_jCMeq8E THE KANE TRIPLETS- "Mission Impossible" (1968) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfes3VTT2bU ALICE SHIELDS -"Study For Voice and Tape" (1968) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vTRZPLyKX0 ISIS -"April Fool" (1974) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIFiuIV67u0 ENNIO MORRICONE/ EDDA DELL'ORSO-"Faccia a Faccia" (1967) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vweUUymYJeE (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. This nonprofit fan-made video is solely to promote awareness and interest in the characters.)
INTL. SWEETHEARTS of RHYTHM- Swing Shift (1944) funknroll 2009-12-07 | (*This is not a pro-war video, it is a pro-women video.) During World War II, women ran America. They built the planes, ships, and equipment to win the war. They built the economy that pulled the country out of the Depression and then emerge as a new Superpower. For the first time they were integrated into the work force, the military, and the society. But they were expected to give all that up at the war's end. Having tasted freedom, many Americans refused to surrender for themselves what they had been fighting for abroad. The Civil Rights movement, the farm rights activism of Cesar Chavez, the Counterculture, Stonewall, the American Indian Movement, and Feminism are the children of that democratic spirit of freedom for all. INTERNATIONAL SWEETHEARTS OF RHYTHM: With so many men gone to war, all-female groups finally got some spotlight in the War years: like The All-Star Girl Orchestra, The Darlings Of Rhythm, Ina Ray Hutton and Her Melodears, and The International Sweethearts Of Rhythm. The cosmopolitan ISR band included Latina, Asian, Euro-Am., African-Am., Indian and Puerto Rican members. The rhythms of Swing music presaged Rock'n'Roll and the horns, Funk. Now kiss your grandma with some deep respect! See also: BIRTHA -"Free Spirit" (1972) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SonFKwygT-I SWEET LINDA DIVINE -"I'll Say It Again" (1970) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FPaFrfegug Book and CD!: http://budsartbooks.com/prod.cfm/pc/TKEH/cid/23 http://www.amazon.com/Take-Off-Bk-CD-American-ebook/dp/B002ZFGJMG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260148534&sr=8-1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Sweethearts_of_Rhythm http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Licks-International-Sweethearts-Rhythm/dp/B000CPWCTU/ref=pd_sim_b_3 http://www.amazon.com/Swing-Shift-All-Girl-Bands-1940s/dp/0822324857
WONDER WOMAN! -I Wanna Be Free (1957) funknroll 2009-08-28 | The Golden Age of WONDER WOMAN! Wonder Woman was created in 1941 by the psychologist who invented the lie detector, WILLIAM MOULTON MARSTON. He saw a danger of the popularity of Superman being misused to imprint young kids with the sad old untruths of 'Male=hard=strength' versus 'Female=soft=weak'. So he created an amazon activist stronger than anyone. Though she wasn't the first female heroine, she's definitely the greatest, and all progress in female heroes leads from her. Less heralded is the amazing style and sophistication of artist H.G. PETER who did all of her art from 1941 to 1958. His art nouveau grace and serpentine lines are entirely unique, innovative, and timeless. While other neglected 40's stylists like Jack Cole, C.C. Beck, and Dick Sprang have got their due lately, Peter seems written off. Yet his bold use of clear-line graphics is as important as similar stylists acclaimed later; such as Herge, Hugo Pratt, Alex Toth, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Trina Robbins, Melinda Gebbie, P. Craig Russell, Michael Golden, Julie Doucet, Daniel Torres, Charles Burns, Mike Allred, Marjane Sartrapi, Megan Rose Gedris, or Tara McPherson. Even less heralded are his studio of female assistants: Helen Schrepens and unknown background inkers; Louise Marston and Marjorie Wilkes on lettering; and sometime co-author Joyce Murchison also deserve more scholarship and due. (Attn: Trina Robbins or Roy Thomas!) Marston's hero touted love during the jingoism of war, encouraged women to stand up for themselves, took down every bully and fool, spoke clearly against prejudice and sexism, and broke every bond put on her. During the wartime era of Rosie the Riveter, this had massive effect on young people. in 1973, avid fan Gloria Steinem would jolt DC Comics to revitalize the amazon back to greatness, put her on the first cover of MS. magazine, and compiled a book of the greatest 40's stories that is the clear blueprint for the TV series in 1976, starring the brilliant Lynda Carter. DC Comics will make affordable 1940's reprints available again in March, 2010: http://www.amazon.com/Wonder-Woman-Chronicles-Vol/dp/1401226442/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251416900&sr=8-1 See also: http://www.amazon.com/Wonder-Woman-Complete-History-Daniels/dp/0811842339/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251416972&sr=1-7 THE SONG: Evelyn Harlene & Casey Clark's Band released "I Wanna Be Free" as a 45 rpm single on July 15, 1957, on Sage Records. (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made nonprofit video to promote the artists and their works.)
STORMY GAYLE -Flipsville (1959) funknroll 2009-03-03 | THE BEAT GENERATION, creators of us all! The prosperity after WWII threatened to make America a state of capitalist conformity, based on the war machine and Madison Avenue. But Rosie-the-Riveters, integrated soldiers, blacklisted artisans and politicos, civil rights and anti-nuclear activists, and amped musicians, artists, and writers had new ideas. Rebellion was growing everywhere in the 1950's. The Beat Generation writers took on the government, the military, homophobes, segregationists, sexism, greed, censors, the police, academia, and the media. They won; they sparked the 1960's, protest folk, stand-up satirists, activist Rock, anarcho-Punk, Slam poetry, and literary outlaws. They are the Big Bang of every modern rebel. Our liberators: Woodie Guthrie, populist folk rebel (see Dylan, Strummer, Springsteen, Bragg, Shocked); Swing Jazz mutated into abstract Bebop, with Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and George Shearing, with his integrated band; abstract expressionist Jackson Pollack; Marlon Brando in "The Wild One", and James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause"; the Beat's Holy Trinity, JACK KEROUAC, ALLEN GINSBERG, and WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS; their catalyst, the manic NEAL CASSADY; his wife, author CAROLYN CASSADY ("Off The Road"); Jack's crucial text "ON THE ROAD" was an international bohemian manifesto; Ginsberg's "HOWL" took on all of society, and the censors in court; the British "Ban The Bomb" movement first waged peace against the war machine; Burrough's "JUNKIE", "QUEER", and especially "NAKED LUNCH" turned literature inside out; poet LEROI JONES (later, Amiri Baraka) took on all comers; poet LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI opened CITY LIGHTS Bookstore, the capitol of Beat and rebel literature; conservatives, paranoid about Communism, labeled it all "Beatnik" after Sputnik; Rock'n'Roll broadened the rebel palette with artists like RITCHIE VALENS, WANDA JACKSON, and CHUCK BERRY; less-sung but as crucial were Beat writers like MARY FABILLI, DIANE diPRIMA, ANNE WALDMAN, and later Jack's daughter JAN KEROUAC (see also: Elise Cowen, Hettie Jones, Joanne Kyger, Ruth Weiss, Lenore Kandel, Ann Charters); former secretary BETTIE PAGE liberated sensuality; meanwhile, "Beatnik" stereotypes littered paperbacks, movies, TV, and editorials;// This literate rebellion opened the 60's with acolytes such as the spirtual son of Kerouac and Guthrie, BOB DYLAN; the conceptual comedian and social assassin LENNY BRUCE; and author KEN KESEY ("ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST") whose bus 'Further' was driven across America by Kerouc's running partner, Neal Cassady. STORMY GAYLE co-wrote this finger-snapping number sometime in the Rock'n'Roll explosion of the late 50's. If you know more, please let me know! Check out: -"On the Road", "The Subterraneans", "Dharma Bums", "Visions of Cody", Jack Kerouac. -"Howl", "Kaddish", Allen Ginsberg. -"Queer", "Naked Lunch", "Cities of the Red Night", William S. Burroughs. -"Literary Outlaw: The Life and Times of William S. Burroughs", Ted Morgan. -"The Autobiography of LeRoi Jones", Amiri Baraka. -"Women of the Beat Generation", Brenda Knight. -"The Holy Goof: A Biography of Neal Cassady", William Plummer. -"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", "Demon Box", "The Further Inquiry", Ken Kesey. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Beat_Generation http://www.citylights.com Documentaries: -"The Source", (1999) ***** -"Gang of Souls: A Generation of Beat Poets", (1989) -"The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg", (2006) Films: -"Heart Beat", (1980). -"The Last Time I Committed Suicide", (1997). -"Luz del MUndo", (2007). -"Beat Angel: The Spirit of Kerouac", (2006) -"Murder Never Skips a... Beat". -"Naked Lunch", (1991). Tags: JackKerouac OnTheRoad BeatGeneration BeatWriters AllenGinsberg WilliamBurroughs NakedLunch Cronenberg SlamPoetry LyricistRap UndergroundHipHop SocialProtest LennyBruce CeorgeCarlin RichardPryor BillHicks KathyGriffin (All rights reserved by copyright owners. Fan-made nonprofit video made to promote the artists and works.)
DOTTY ANDERSON -Theres a Jungle Out There (195?) funknroll 2009-02-04 | THE JUNGLE GIRLS! Colonialist Fantasy or Hedonist Revolutionaries? Orientalism Redux or Griot Grrrrls? Male Cheesecake or Amazon Transgressor? I'll let you sort out your own feelings about it. I like the unashamed goddess, one with nature and protective of it, fighting colonialists and land grabbers. Though jungle comics were sadly rife with stereotyped African natives, some creators -like legendary African-American artist Matt Baker (Sheena, Phantom Lady) - drew them as humans with dignity and respect (0:40). There's also an eco-consciousness to jungle heroes that more than speaks to our times, also. This is is a swing through those positives. The first Jungle Girl archetype was Rima, from the 1904 novel "Green Mansions". In 1914, JANE PORTER met Tarzan (aka, Lord Greystoke) in Edgar Rice Burrough's "Tarzan of the Apes". Jane and later her daughter-in-law Meriem snubbed 'civilization' to live half-naked, free, and fierce in the wilderness. Jane was immortalized on screen by actor MAUREEN O'SULLIVAN. Burrough's short story "Jungle Girl" inspired the adventurer NYOKA, in movie serials and comics. Wiil ("The Spirit") Eisner then created the quintessential jungle queen in SHEENA, a leopard-bikinied warrior who could take on anything ('37). Sheena became a TV show starring the bold bombshell IRISH McCALLA ('56). The very first costumed superheroine was the creepy and vengeful FANTOMAH Of The Jungle ('40). A wildfire of women followed, including JANN Of The Jungle, RULAH The Jungle Goddess (shown unhanding the octopus), LORNA Of The Jungle, TIGER GIRL (and her whip), the other TIGER GIRL (on her tiger), and safaristas WONDER WOMAN and LOIS LANE. And who could forget BETTIE PAGE in her leopard leotard? Jungle Girls still run strong today. Sheena spawned Marvel Comics' SHANNA The She-Devil ('73), the Tanya Roberts movie ('85), and the Gena Lee Nolin series (2000). Cavewoman ('93) and Jungle Girl (2007) prowl todays comics. While the jungle girls have always been disproportionately peach, Alan Moore flipped the script with the regal Dhalua and Tesla Strong in TOM STRONG comics ('99). Wonder Woman met her proud maple sister Nubia in '73. And Vixen ('78) of the Justice League and Storm of the X-Men ('74) are African-born superheroines. Singer DOTTY ANDERSON is a mystery to me. If anyone has deeper info, please let me know! Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_girl_(stock_character) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Porter_(Tarzan) (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made nonprofit video made solely to promote the works.)
LOU & GINNY -Do I Do Right? (1958) funknroll 2009-02-02 | The Bad Girls of the golden age of Pulp Horror! While too often women in sci-fi and horror pulp fiction were damsels in distress, there were also plenty who savored walking on the weird side; Satanas, witch queens, sorceresses, mummy mias, phantasmas, beast women, water-breathers, and levitatrixes. (Yes, I made that word up.) From the 30's to the '50's, many rebel women got their vicarous kicks reading about these unapologetic and dark damsels of the disturbed. They haunted the pages of classic mags like AMAZING STORIES and STARTLING STORIES, many of whose iconic covers were painted by Margaret Brundage (0:34) and Virgil Finlay (1:42). The ageless grandmothers of Goth Grrrls, Psychobilly fillies, and Suicidegirls have come for you! It's too late to run. LOU & GINNY was singer Virginia Charland of Minneapolis/ St. Paul, backed by guitarist Louella Mae Marier and Terry Meil on drums. It was released on 45 as HEP 2141 on Sept. 22, 1958. *(special thanks to 'J0KERtm' for extra info!) See also: ENNIO MORRICONE/ EDDA DELL'ORSO-"Faccia A Faccia" (1967) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vweUUymYJeE http://beta.reveillemag.com/columns/pop-circumstance-do-i-do-right-lou-ginny (All rights reserved by copyright owners. Fan-made nonprofit video made solely to promote the works.)
Women In Art: Art BY Women! funknroll 2009-01-19 | The actual Art "OF" Women! The popular "Women In Art" morphing video (by Eggman913/Philip Scott Johnson) examines how women are often the subject of art; here's a history balancing that out with the art that women also make. In order, with pieces listed by year: Hildegard of Bingen (1100s); Sofanisba Anguisola (1559); Lavinia Fontana (late 1500's); Rachel Ruysch (after 1700); Artemesia Gentileschi (1620); Elisabetta Sirani (1664); Judith Leyster (1600's); Luisa Ignacia Roldan (mid 1600's); Rosalba Carriera (1715); Angelica Kauffmann (1785); Marie-Louise-Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun (1797); Marie Guillaume Behorst (1800); Edmonia Lewis (1872); Lady Elizabeth Butler (1874); Eva Gonzalez (1874); Mary Cassatt (1879); Marie Bashkirtseff (1884); Camille Claudel (1892); Sonia Terk Delauney (1914); Helen M. Turner (1915); Romaine Brooks (1924); Claude Cahun (1928); Georgia O'Keefe (1930); Malvina Hoffmann (1933); Meret Oppenheim (1936); Leonora Carrington (1936); Lois Mailou Jones (1938); Kathe Kollwitz (1938); Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1938); Suzanne Valadon (1939); Frida Kahlo (1948); Lee Krasner (1958); Lee Bontecou (1961); Joan Mitchell (1962); Hannah Hoch (1933/1963); Marisol (1964); Yoko Ono (1966); Niki de Saint Phalle (1967); Faith Ringgold (1967); Eva Hesse (1970); May Stevens (1970); Sandy Orgel (1972); Judy Chicago (1974-79); Audrey Flack (1977); Yolanda M. Lopez (1978); Alice Neel (1978); Judith Baca (1979); Louise Bourgeois (1982); Barbara Kruger (1982); Magdalena Abakanowicz (1985); Alison Saar (1985); Bridget Riley (1986); Ester Hernandez (1988); Sandy Skogland (1991); Judith Schaechter (1991); Cindy Sherman (1990's); Jenny Saville (1996); Kara Walker (1997); Shirin Neshat (1999). (Watch with "Annotations" on for more information.) Dedicated to professors Caitlin Mitchell-Dayton and Anna Novakov. The music is "O vis Aetenitatis" (O Force of Immortality), by Hildegard of Bingen. HILDEGARD Von BINGEN (1098-1179) was a mystic abbess who wrote poetry, converted her frequent visions to artwork, and invented opera with her choral works. Recommended CD: "Celestial Harmonies: Responseries and Antiphons", Hildegard von bingen/ performed by Oxford Camerata & Jeremy Summerly (Naxos, 8.557983) http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.557983 See also: "Women In Art" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUDIoN-_Hxs Check out: "Women Artists", Nancy G. Heller "Women, Art, and Society", Whitney Chadwick "The Power of Feminist Art", Norma Broude & Mary D. Garrard "Suffragettes to She-Devils", Liz McQuiston "The Guerilla Girls' Bedside Companion To the History of Western Art", The Guerilla Girls (All rights reserved by the artists. Fan-made nonprofit video made solely to promote the creators.)
BESSIE SMITH -Youve Got To Give Me Some (1928) funknroll 2009-01-19 | The Art of LOVE! Love's the best thing there is. Here's 1000 years of international art to prove it. It's all hugs and kisses in this video, and who could possibly have problems with that? As proof that love is a human family affair, here are sculptures from India, Tibet, France, and Tahiti; prints from China, Persia, and Japan; and paintings, film stills, and photos from France, Spain, India, Russia, Germany, and Mexico. Testifying to love's sacredness are artistic greats like Hiroshige, Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso, Tamara de Lempicka, the Manasse Studio, Marguerite Gerard, Salvadore Dali, Egon Schiele, Gustave Courbert, Jean Cocteau, and Auguste Rodin. BESSIE SMITH was "the empress of the Blues". In the music's infancy it was women like her who actually broke it through to the mainstream and propelled its popularity. Bessie and friends like Ma Rainey, Lucille Bogan, and Gladys Bently expressed their sensuality boldly and without barriers or apologies to prudes. She was the forerunner for women like Mae West, Bettie Page, Janis Joplin, Betty Davis, Millie Jackson, Grace Jones, Madonna, Lil' Kim, and Peaches. See also: BETTY DAVIS -"They Say I'm Different" (1974) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWTt1biOZX4 (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made nonprofit video made solely to promote the artists, and more love and tolerance in the world.)
BENNY GOODMAN/ PEGGY LEE-Why Dont You Do Right? (1942) funknroll 2009-01-08 | The Superheroines of the 1940's! (Dedicated to Christine S, and to Trina Robbins!) Women ran America during WWII; comic superheroines personified their spirit and their dreams. Here they come:// Pulp mystery woman THE DOMINO LADY (1936); the first and terrifying superheroine, FANTOMAH (1940); Ma Hunkel, the hilarious original RED TORNADO; tough detective THE WOMAN IN RED; Will Eisner's friend of The Spirit, LADY LUCK; Batman's better half, Selina Kyle, THE CATWOMAN (costume, 46); female creator Tarpe Mill's panther-clad MISS FURY (41); stuntwoman and judo expert THE BLACK CAT; Lois Lane in one of her many superhero guises; the Queen of them all, Princess Diana, WONDER WOMAN; the freedom fighter THE PHANTOM LADY; Canadian NELVANA Of The Northern Lights, and her later postage stamp; The Cat-Man and Kitten, teen wildcat; web-spinner THE SPIDER QUEEN; stinging puncher THE SILVER SCORPION; straight-shooting Bulletman and BULLETGIRL; Hawkman and HAWKGIRL of the Justice Society of America; that 'socko' LADY FAIRPLAY (42); ephemeral INVISIBLE SCARLET O'NEIL (43); MARY MARVEL, the steel-smashing sweetheart sister of Captain Marvel (42);// the original MISS AMERICA of Quality Comics (41); and the second MISS AMERICA of Timely Comics (43); followed by other WWII hellions MISS VICTORY, singin' and swingin' PAT PATRIOT, evil's knell LIBERTY BELLE (42), YANKEE GIRL (45), the international GIRL COMMANDOS led by WAR NURSE (42), and aviatrix BLACK VENUS (44); // and post-War sheroes like fast and brash MISS MASQUE (46); teen-scenester PATSY WALKER, who later became HELLCAT in 1976; Stan Lee's THE BLONDE PHANTOM; shining SUN GIRL; beaming MOON GIRL; goddess VENUS; Namor the Sub-Mariner's cousin, NAMORA The Sea Queen; the original and eternal BLACK CANARY (47);// and retroactive heroines like SPITFIRE of The Invaders super-team (76), Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie's erotic COBWEB (99), LUNA MOTH from Michael Chabon's Pulitzer-winning novel "The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" (2000), and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's SILK SPECTRE I (85), who will be played by Carla Gugino in the new WATCHMEN film (2009). Today's sheroes exist from these, and many of them are still here for us to enjoy! See also: HELEN HUMES -"Jet Propelled Papa" (1949) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXT1mLz6_V8 CONNEE ALLEN -"Rocket 69" (1951) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GpFB6vXkmg BONNIE LOU -"Friction Heat" (1958) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4IIRzqesXA BILLY JO SPEARS-"Get Behind Me Satan and Push" (1970) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5K0cNY7YVI THE KANE TRIPLETS- MISSION IMPOSSIBLE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfes3VTT2bU ALICE SHIELDS -"STUDY FOR VOICE AND TAPE" (1968) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vTRZPLyKX0 ISIS -APRIL FOOL (1974) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIFiuIV67u0 ENNIO MORRICONE/ EDDA DELL'ORSO-"FACCIA A FACCIA" (1967) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vweUUymYJeE Check out: http://www.trinarobbins.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_superheroines http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_comics http://www.superheroeslives.com/indexsuperheroines.htm (All rights reserved by copyright owners. Fan-made nonprofit video made solely to promote the artists and works.)
HELEN HUMES -Jet Propelled Papa (1949) funknroll 2008-12-23 | The tough girls of Golden Age science fiction! Whether it's with a raygun, sword, dirk, battleax, spear, whip, or bare hands, these high octane hellcats will knock you into another world! Other worlds: CONNEE ALLEN -"Rocket 69" (1951) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GpFB6vXkmg BONNIE LOU -"Friction Heat" (1958) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4IIRzqesXA THE KANE TRIPLETS- MISSION IMPOSSIBLE (1968) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfes3VTT2bU ALICE SHIELDS -"STUDY FOR VOICE AND TAPE" (1968) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vTRZPLyKX0 ISIS -APRIL FOOL (1974) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIFiuIV67u0 ENNIO MORRICONE/ EDDA DELL'ORSO-"FACCIA A FACCIA" (1967) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vweUUymYJeE (All rights reserved by copyright owners. Fan-made, nonprofit video made as free promotion for the artists.)
CONNEE ALLEN -Rocket 69 (1951) funknroll 2008-12-23 | The astronaughty girls of Golden Age science fiction! Hot rockets, black holes, horsehead nebulas, heavenly bodies, out-of-body experiences, celestial spheres, astral projections, comet tails, otherworldly vibrations, first contacts, transcendental portals, planets colliding, digital interfaces, cosmopolitania, wormholes, megacosms, silvery moons, docking bays, unexplored spaces, and big bangs. Connee Allen, backed by Todd Rhodes & His Toddlers, belts out a cosmic answer to "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats (which was arguably the first Rock'n'roll song). Other worlds: HELEN HUMES -"Jet Propelled Papa" (1949) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXT1mLz6_V8 BONNIE LOU -"Friction Heat" (1958) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4IIRzqesXA THE KANE TRIPLETS- MISSION IMPOSSIBLE (1968) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfes3VTT2bU ALICE SHIELDS -"STUDY FOR VOICE AND TAPE" (1968) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vTRZPLyKX0 ISIS -APRIL FOOL (1974) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIFiuIV67u0 ENNIO MORRICONE/ EDDA DELL'ORSO-"FACCIA A FACCIA" (1967) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vweUUymYJeE (All rights reserved by copyright owners. Fan-made, nonprofit video made as free promotion for the artists.)
BONNIE LOU -Friction Heat (1958) funknroll 2008-12-23 | The explorer girls of Golden Age science fiction! The Girl Of The Future takes on reptiles, robots, dinosaurs, aliens, and steep craters in her blast-off to a hot date! Bonnie Lou is backed by Lew Douglas, His Orchestra & Chorus. Other worlds: HELEN HUMES -"Jet Propelled Papa" (1949) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXT1mLz6_V8 CONNEE ALLEN -"Rocket 69" (1951) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GpFB6vXkmg THE KANE TRIPLETS- MISSION IMPOSSIBLE (1968) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfes3VTT2bU ALICE SHIELDS -"STUDY FOR VOICE AND TAPE" (1968) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vTRZPLyKX0 ISIS -APRIL FOOL (1974) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIFiuIV67u0 ENNIO MORRICONE/ EDDA DELL'ORSO-"FACCIA A FACCIA" (1967) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vweUUymYJeE (All rights reserved by copyright owners. Fan-made, nonprofit video made as free promotion for the artists.)
BILLIE JO SPEARS-Get Behind Me Satan and Push (1968) funknroll 2008-12-18 | "Look out, woman/ Dynamite's comin'! I'm mad like hornet, yellin' 'Darnit!'/ Get behind me, Satan, and push!" Billie Jo recorded this honkytonk/ rockabilly blazer in 1968. To celebrate this Country hellion, here's a tribute to early 20th Century cowgirls. From the original western bad girl Annie Oakley, to Western pulp magazines like "Cowgirl Romances" and "Lariat", to comics like "Women Outlaws", to films like "Zorro's Black Whip" and "Woman They Almost Lynched", to Elvgren pin-ups, to you with love. See also: LORRIE & LARRY COLLINS- "MERCY" (1958) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGKgTRQwl_E JANIS MARTIN- "BANG BANG" (1958) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez5g5V2awuM LAVERN BAKER- "VOODOO VOODOO" (1958) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn1Adf4cfyE JOYCE GREEN- "BLACK CADILLAC" (1959) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBhp1Wn-4mA BETTY DAVIS -"They Say I'm Different" (1974) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWTt1biOZX4 NIKKI & THE CORVETTES-"Girls Like Me/ Let's Go" (1980) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-Rqq__e4o8 Show some lariat love to these sites: http://www.wantedcowgirls.com/Home.html http://cowgirlsmarts.com http://www.cowgirl.net/halloffame.aspx http://home.att.ne.jp/star/lady_gun/female/western.html (Japanese site; hit the numbers below English titles for photos) http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/westweb/pages/women.html#Links (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made nonprofit video to promote the artists.)
BETTY DAVIS -They Say Im Different (1974) funknroll 2008-12-11 | The Women and Men of BLUES! Here are the folks Betty pays tribute to in her song, plus many more: W.C. HANDY, "Father of the Blues"; BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON ("Bo Weevil Blues") ; caberet star FLORENCE MILLS; slide king ELMORE JAMES ("The Sky Is Crying"); MEMPHIS MINNIE ("When the Levee Breaks"); LUCILLE BOGAN; JOHN LEE HOOKER ("Boom Boom", "Boogie Chillen"); IDA COX; ELIZABETH HEGAMIN; B.B. KING ("The Thrill Is Gone"); JIMMY REED ("Big Boss Man", "Bright Lights, Big City"); LIZZE MILES; BERTHA "CHIPPIE" HILL; BIG MAMA THORNTON ("Hound Dog"); LIGHTNIN' HOPKINS ("Mojo Hand"); HOWLIN' WOLF ("Spoonful", "Back Door Man", "Smokestack Lightning"); ALBERT KING ("Born Under a Bad Sign"); CHUCK BERRY, king of Rock'n'Roll; VICTORIA SPIVEY, a mentor to Bob Dylan; singer and actor ETHEL WATERS; T-BONE WALKER, forerunner to Chuck Berry; MUDDY WATERS, with harpist Little Walter ("You Need Love", "Hootchie Cootchie Man", "I Just Want To Make Love To You", "You Shook Me All Night Long"); LEADBELLY Ledbetter ("Where Did You Sleep Last Night"); SONNY TERRY and BROWNIE McGHEE; SON HOUSE ("John the Revelator", "Death Letter"); FREDDIE KING ("Hide Away"); BESSIE SMITH, Empress of the Blues ("Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out"); MAMIE SMITH; CLARA SMITH; BO DIDDLEY ("Who Do You Love"); ELIZABETH COTTON ("Freight Train"); out-and-proud GLADYS BENTLY; backbone of Chess Records, songwriter and bassist WILLIE DIXON (Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters); LITTLE RICHARD ("Tutti Frutti", "Lucille"); ROBERT JOHNSON ("Crossroads", "Sweet Home Chicago"); gospel guitar dynamo SISTER ROSETTA THARPE ("Up Above My Head"); BIG JOE TURNER ("Shake Rattle and Roll"); SIPPIE WALLACE, mentor to Bonnie Raitt; ALBERTA HUNTER; MA RAINEY ("C.C. Rider"); J.B. LENOIR ("Mama, Talk To Your Daughter"); KOKO TAYLOR ("Wang Dang Doodle"); and ETTA BAKER. See also: BETTY DAVIS- "F.U.N.K." (1975) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHsSIoBcTt8 BETTY DAVIS- "F.U.N.K." (2.0) (1975) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNcohPUr1PI BETTY DAVIS-"SHUT OFF THE LIGHT" (1975) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GWikmANtgM BETTY DAVIS- "NASTY GAL" (1975) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDvvQq4leoo BETTY DAVIS- "HE WAS A BIG FREAK" (1974) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQgWYeoIbts Buy Betty Davis CDs at: http://www.lightintheattic.net/releases/bettydavis Betty Davis: vocals Cordell Dudley: lead guitar Larry Johnson: bass Tony Vaughn: acoustic piano Mike Clark: drums Jimmy Godwin: rhythm and solo guitar Debbie Burrell, Elaine Clark, Trudy Perkins: singers (All rights reserved by copyright owners. Fanmade non-profit video made solely to promote the artist.) tym stevens
ODETTA -Paths of Victory (1965) funknroll 2008-12-05 | Bob Dylan's classic song sung by his hero, Odetta! "Trails of troubles, Roads of battles, Paths of victory, We shall walk." There is no trouble we can't face, no hardship we can't endure, no evil we can't defeat. We always have. This is about people who transcended by their own force of will. The Anti-Slavery Movement, with John Brown, Harriett Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln; the Chinese imigrants who built America's transcontinetnal Railroad; the waves of world citizens who came through Ellis Island for a new life; the liberation of India by Mohandas Gandhi; the Japanese Americans who were interned in prison camps during WWII; the victims of the wretched Nazi regime; the Civil Rights Movement with Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King & Malcom X, and their daughters Attallah and Yolanda; Cesar Chavez and the migrant farm workers and immigation struggles; the heavyweight champion of them all, Muhammad Ali; the killing of the Native Americans and rebirth as the 70's American Indian Movement; women's equality with Alice Paul, the Equal Rights Amendment, Secretary of State Clinton, and First Lady Michelle Obama; the fall of Communism in Russia; the struggle for democracy in China; the fall of the Berlin Wall; the end of Apartheid from Stephen Biko to Nelson Mandela; equal rights for sexual preference with Harvey Milk; and the new President of the United States, Barack Obama. ODETTA was a pwerful folk singer who inspired Bob Dylan and Joan Baez to take up protest. Bob was ecstatic when his hero recorded an album of his songs, including this one. Listnhe to anything she made and be moved. See also: THE STAPLE SINGERS -"Freedom Highway" (1965) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7_b_jyRVRc GLORIA JONES- "TAINTED LOVE" (1964) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSehta... JENNY & THE RASCALS- "YOU TOLD ME A LIE" (1965) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDK3Qy... MARGO GURYAN- "LOVE" (1968) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAkY-1... NINA SIMONE -"REVOLUTION" (1969) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqfWM6... THE SHE TRINITY -"CLIMB THAT TREE" (1970) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phEkHH... ROTARY CONNECTION-"I AM THE BLACK GOLD OF THE SUN" (1971) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DR_NM... SWEET LINDA DIVINE -"I'LL SAY IT AGAIN" (1970) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FPaFr... BIRTHA -"FREE SPIRIT" (1972) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SonFKw... (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made nonprofit video solely to promote the artists and the history.) tym stevens
DELIA DERBYSHIRE- The Wizards Laboratory (1972) funknroll 2008-04-27 | The Women of ELECTRONIC MUSIC! From the 30's to the 70's! Before synthesizers, electronic music was honed the hard way in universities, by splicing tape loops, distorting sounds, endless dubbing, and blind instinct. Here are the timeless women of future music who created our present... Since the 1930's, CLARA ROCKMORE was the master of the notoriously difficult Theremin, and later championed by synthesizer-creator Bob Moog; LOUIS & BEBE BARRON created the first all-electronic score for the film "FORBIDDEN PLANET" (1957), using oscillated sounds and tape loops; //STUDIO d'ASSAI (Paris): Danish ELSE MARIE PADE studied under musique concrete founder Pierre Schaeffer, becoming a noted composer; ELAINE RADIGUE used the Buchla and Arp synthesizers in her work, heavily influenced by Buddhist meditation, and records now with laptop improv group The Lappetites; MICHELE BOKANOWSKI has composed for film, televison, and theatre; //BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP (London): ...was created and directed by DAPHNE ORAM, inventor and sonic pioneer; she was followed by DELIA DERBYSHIRE, who brought Ron Grainer's "DR. WHO" theme to brilliant, eerie life with her studio wizardry; MADDALENA FAGANDINI co-created the proto-Techno single "Time Beat/ Waltz In Space" (1962) with young producer George Martin under the alias 'Ray Cathode'; GLYNIS JONES produced some of the Workshop's classic albums like "Out Of This World" (1976); ELIZABETH PARKER scored many BBC shows including "BLAKE'S 7", and was the person to see the Workshop out in its 1998 finale; //Fluxus performance artist YOKO ONO expanded John Lennon's mind and range with electronic music, musique concrete, and 'happening' experiments; //COLUMBIA-PRINCETON ELECTRONIC MUSIC CENTER (New York): A premiere focal point for international composers since the 50's, including composer and Associate Director PRIL SMILEY; ALICE SHIELDS combined her operatic voice and poetry with the revolutionary synthesizers of the late 60's and early 70's; teacher DARIA SEMEGEN wrote traditional classical music as well as electronic; WENDY CARLOS had massive mainstream success with the all-synth "Switched On Bach", before writing groundbreaking film scores for "A CLOCKWORK ORANGE," "THE SHINING" and 'TRON"; nearby at Bell Labs, LAURIE SPIEGEL spearheaded computer graphics and software design as well as new music; maverick ANNETTE PEACOCK went from Free Jazz piano to the first synthesizers, threading her early 70's raps and rock with freeform electronics; //Argentinian BEATRIZ FERREYRA, who also studied with Schaeffer, is an esteemed composer and teacher; //SAN FRANCISCO TAPE MUSIC CENTER: The crucial West Coast electronic center, including Morton Subotnick, Terry Riley, Steve Reich and PAULINE OLIVEROS in 1962; it moved across the Bay to become the... //CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY MUSIC (Mills College, Oakland, CA): Oliveros was the first Director, perfecting her signal processing system for live performance; student and now Co-Director MAGGI PAYNE trailblazed video imagery and record engineering along with her music; alum CYNTHIA WEBSTER played in the early synth band Triode, founded electro mag SYNAPSE, and now runs Cyndustries designing software for electronic music, such as the Zeroscillator. Their innovations led to Progressiv Rock, Krautrock, New Wave, Coldwave, Darkwave, Electro Funk, Industrial, Techno, and Electroclash. Their fringe future music is now the soundtrack of today. DELIA DERBYSHIRE: This song is from a 1972 LP called "Electrosonic", collecting music library pieces Delia scored for use in TV shows. It was recently issued on CD, as was "Oramics" by Daphne Oram: http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=89395 http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=35793 See also: ALICE SHIELDS -"STUDY FOR VOICE AND TAPE" (1968) http://youtube.com/watch?v=4vTRZPLyKX0 MALARIA! -"Your Turn To Run" (1982) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUTS9r8DGPw http://www.cyndustries.com/woman.cfm http://www.newyorkwomencomposers.org/index.php4?v=n http://www.aliceshields.com http://www.imtheone.net/annettepeacock/intro.html http://whitefiles.org/rwg/index.htm (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made nonprofit video solely to promote the artists.) tym stevens
MALARIA! -Your Turn To Run (1982) funknroll 2008-04-27 | The Women of 80's ELECTRO! Coldwave, Darkwave, Synthpop, Industrial! As synthesizers got smaller and cheaper through the 70's, 'future music' went from acedemia to the street. Punk, PostPunk, Funk, and HipHop artists brought attitude and new styles into the pop vocabulary throughout the 80's that forged the music of today. Here are many women from the first Electro rock era... Intro: CLARA ROCKMORE, DELIA DERBYSHIRE, BOB MOOG, KRAFTWERK. //Industrial shocktroops THROBBING GRISTLE (Sheffield '75), which split into CHRIS & COSEY (81), Psychic TV, and Coil; I'M SO HOLLOW, Jane Wilson (Sheffield 78); FLYING LIZARDS, Deborah Evans and Patti Palladin (London 78); HUMAN LEAGUE, Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley (Sheffield 77); INDIANS IN MOSCOW, Adele Nozedor (London 82); // NEUE DEUTSCHE WELLE (New German Wave)/ DARKWAVE: Die TODLICHE DORIS, Kathe Kruse and Tabea Blumenschein (Berlin 81); the MALARIA epidemic: Gudrun Gut was in the early EINSTURZENDE NEUBAUTEN (80), then MANIA D with Bettina Koster and Beate Bartel, Bartel formed LIASONS DANGEREUSES while Gut and Koster became MALARIA! (81), then Gut and Bartel did MATADOR; IDEAL, Annette Humpe (80); PROPAGANDA (83); // COLDWAVE, France: KaS PRODUCT, Mona Soyoc (80), MATHEMATIQUES MODERNES, Edwige Braun-Belmore (80); BAROQUE BORDELLO (81), OPERA MULTI STEEL, Catherine Marie (83); EXCES NOCTURNE, Ariane (86); ASYLUM PARTY, Thierry Sobézyk (85); COLDREAMS (86), TANIT, Elsa Drezner (85); DEUX, Cati Tete (81); //synthwave EURYTHMICS, with stellar Annie Lennox (London 81); PostPunk PINK INDUSTRY, Jayne Casey (Liverpool 82); pop chameleon ANNE CLARK (London 82); ambient goth DEAD CAN DANCE, Lisa Gerrard (Melbourne 81); DENIS & DENIS, Marina Perazić and Edi Kraljić (Croatia 84); electro performance artist LAURIE ANDERSON (New York 79); NEW ORDER rechanneling ElectroFunk rechanneling Krautrock, Gillian Gilbert (Manchester 81); dream wave COCTEAU TWINS, Elizabeth Fraser (Scotland 79); darkwave The HONEYMOON KILLERS, Veronique Vincent (Belgium 77); all-female BELABORIS named for Legosi and Karloff (Finland 82); // INDUSTRIAL: BLACK TAPE FOR A BLUE GIRL, various (US 86); SPK, with many female vocalists (Sydney 78); MARCH VIOLETS, Rosie Garland (Leeds 83); multimedia artist Diana Rogerson was in agit-artists FISTF_CK, Nurse With Wound, and as Chrystal Belle Scrodd (London 80); Indu-rock SISTERS OF MERCY, ubiquitous Patricia Morrison (86); fetish Indu with SLEEP CHAMBER and schlock-shock offshoot WOMEN OF THE SS, varied vocalists; experimental The SWANS, Jarboe (86); Die FORM, Elaine P. (France 77); folk wave SOPOR AETERNUS & The Ensemble of Shadows, Anna-Varney Cantodea (Frankfurt 89); electro dance fetishists LORDS OF ACID, Jade 4 U/ Nikkie Van Lierop (Belgium 88); ATTRITION, Julia Niblock (Coventry 80); and BDSM with The GENITORTURERS, disciplined by Gen (Orlando 90). These women ushered in KMFDM, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, Republica, Portishead, Miranda Sex Garden, Rasputina, Ladytron, Death Ride 69, Le Tigre, Chicks On Speed, Lesbians On Ecstasy, Anna Oxygen, Robots In Disguise, Meg Lee Chin, Autonervous, Women Of Sodom, Kirlian Camera, Nocturne, Collide, Angelspit, and Zombie Girl. See also: DELIA DERBYSHIRE- "The Wizards Laboratory" (1972) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9AkSI_UbIE ALICE SHIELDS -"STUDY FOR VOICE AND TAPE" (1968) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vTRZPLyKX0 MALARIA!: http://www.myspace.com/malariaberlin http://www.myspace.com/ggut http://www.youtube.com/gudrungut http://www.myspace.com/bettinakoster http://www.myspace.com/bartelbeate http://www.myspace.com/matadorberlin http://www.myspace.com/autonervous (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made nonprofit video solely to promote the artists.) tym stevens
THE DANCE -Do-DaDa (1980) funknroll 2008-04-12 | THE DANCE -"Do-DaDa" (1980) The women of 80's Alternative Dance music! Rock'n'Roll started as dance music, from a euphemism for sex. Disco was another variation of trying to keep that roll in the hips. When mainstream success began dumbing it down in the late 70's, many acts rescued the primal pulse by rethinking how to make great dance music... //Disco: DONNA SUMMER and Georgio Moroder; BONEY M; SYLVESTER; CLOUT; GINA X; CHRISMA/KRISMA; //SKA Revival: THE SELECTER w/ Pauline Black; The BODYSNATCHERS who became The BELLE STARS; // World-Dub: THE SLITS; //Mutant Disco: PIGBAG; The DANCE w/ Eugenie Diserio, LIZZY MERCIER DESCLOUX, E.S.G., The BLOODS, MAXIMUM JOY, BUSH TETRAS, The MO-DETTES, PULSALLAMA, CRISTINA, and DOMINATRIX; SHANNON; GRACE JONES; //Alt-Dance: DANIELLE DAX; The ART OF NOISE; NEW AGE STEPPERS w/ Ari Up and Neneh Cherry; Little ANNIE ANXIETY Bandez; SIX SED RED; DISLOCATION DANCE; TOTO COELO; SHAZORK; //World Dance: The CREATURES w/ Siouxsie Sioux; ALLEZ ALLEZ w/ Sarah Osborne; MONSOON w/ Sheila Chandra; AMAZULU; Lisa DALBELLO; BIG PIG w/ Sherine Abeyratne; //Alt-Dance II: EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL w/ Tracey Thorn; PIZZICATO 5 w/ Maki Nomiya; LES RITA MITSOUKO w/ Catherine Ringer; SAINT ETIENNE w/ Sarah Cracknell; ALASKA y DINARAMA; MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT w/ Cinderella Pussy and Pepper Somerset; PARIS ANGELS w/ Jane Gill; and DEEE-LITE w/ Lady Miss Kier. These acts were the throughline from Disco to Eurodisco, Synthpop, Hi -NRG, House, Techno, Drum'n'Bass, Jungle, Turntablism, Trance, Ambient, Chillout, and Electronica. From them come Happy Mondays, Flippers Guitar, Stereolab, Bjork, Morcheeba, Portishead, Tricky, Lords of Acid, Basement Jaxx, Current 93, Republica, Garbage, Renegade Soundwave, Daft Punk, No Doubt, Le Tigre, The GO! Team, Chicks On Speed, Lesbians On Ecstasy, Scissor Sisters, and Ibiza culture. THE DANCE were part of the 1978-84 New York music renaissance, where all styles collided and created the next two decades of sound/fashion/film culture. Learn much more at: http://www.myspace.com/thedancenyc http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XP8ILA/ref=dm_sp_alb?ie=UTF8&qid=1207939064&sr=8-5 http://www.souljazzrecords.co.uk/releases/?id=104 70s FUNK: BETTY DAVIS -"F.U.N.K. (2.0)" (1975) http://youtube.com/watch?v=oNcohPUr1PI&feature=related More 70s FUNK: YVONNE FAIR-"FUNKY MUSIC SHO' NUFF TURNS ME ON" (1975) http://youtube.com/watch?v=8PjbLgIJZho&feature=related 80s FUNK: MATERIAL & NONA HENDRYX -"BUSTING OUT" (1980) (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made nonprofit video made solely to promote the artists.) tym stevens
MATERIAL & NONA HENDRYX -Busting Out (1980) funknroll 2008-04-11 | The mutant history of 80's FUNK! Funk is hybrid. In the 60s it evolved from mambo, funky soul, psychedelic rock, free jazz, protest poetry. In the 70's it permeated fusion jazz, afrobeat, chicano rock, film scores, TV themes, N'awlins gumbo, german electronica, eurodisco, reggae dub, postpunk. Into the 80's it mutated through many more changes... //Groove Funk: A TASTE OF HONEY; INSTANT FUNK; BRIDES OF FUNKENSTEIN and PARLET; JUNIE MORRISON; RICK JAMES and TEENA MARIE; MARY JANE GIRLS; SLAVE; ZAPP and ROGER; XAVIER; GAP BAND; KLYMAXX; //PostPunk Funk: GANG OF FOUR; 23 SKIDOO; A CERTAIN RATIO; MEDIUM MEDIUM; TALKING HEADS, BRIAN ENO & DAVID BYRNE, The TOM TOM CLUB, and JERRY HARRISON; JAMES CHANCE & The CONTORTIONS; DEFUNKT; KONK; MAXIMUM JOY; WAS (NOT WAS); GRACE JONES; LIQUID LIQUID; E.S.G.; //HIP HOP: AFRIKA BAMBAATAA & The SOULSONIC FORCE; GRANDMASTER FLASH & The FURIOUS 5; POSITIVE FORCE; FUNKY 4 + 1; US GIRLS; //AVANT FUNK: RONALD SHANNON JACKSON; MATERIAL and BILL LASWELL; HERBIE HANCOCK and GRANDMIXER D.ST.; TIME ZONE (Afrika Bambaataa & John Lydon); SHANGO; SLY & ROBBIE; //PURPLE FUNK: PRINCE, VANITY 6, THE TIME, APOLLONIA 6, WENDY & LISA, THE FAMILY, SHEILA E(scovedo), and JESSE JOHNSON & SLY STONE; /Our heroine, NONA HENDRYX; //P-FUNK Redux: GEORGE CLINTON, THOMAS DOLBY, SLY FOX, JIMMY G. & The TACKHEADS, MICO WAVE, GENERAL KANE, MENACE, BOOTSY COLLINS, and INC. THANG BAND; //GO-GO FUNK: CHUCK BROWN & The SOUL SEARCHERS, TROUBLE FUNK, E.U. (Experience Unlimited), MASS EXTENSION, and the film "GOOD TO GO"; //AVANT FUNK II: Adrian Sherwood with KEITH LEBLANC, TACKHEAD/ Gary Clail, FATS COMET/ Doug Wimbish, and MAFFIA/ Mark Stewart; PETER GABRIEL; JEAN PAUL BOURELLY; RYUICHI SAKAMOTO; //GROOVE FUNK Redux: CAMEO; MADAME X; TERENCE TRENT D'ARBY; JANE CHILD; //PUNK FUNK: The BIG BOYS; RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS; FISHBONE; ROYAL CRESCENT MOB; LIVING COLOUR; fIREHOSE; BIG CHIEF; URBAN DANCE SQUAD; 24-7 SPYZ; LENNY KRAVITZ; //RAP Redux: PUBLIC ENEMY; SALT & PEPA; ERIC B. & RAKIM; M.C. LYTE; GETTOVETTS with Rammellzee; MS. MELODIE; The BEASTIE BOYS; MONIE LOVE; DIGITAL UNDERGROUND; MAMADO & SHE; NENEH CHERRY; and The BOO-YAA TRIBE. These acts led to Jungle Brothers/De La Soul/Tribe Called Quest, Meshell Ndegeocello, Primus, Luscious Jackson, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Infectious Grooves, Dag, Jamiroquai, Fatboy Slim, DJ Shadow, Moby, Black Star, Outkast, Gnarls Barkely, Nikka Costa, Yohimbe Brothers, Medeski Martin & Wood, Galactic, Soulive, Mofro, Antibalas, and Robert Randolph. NONA HENDRYX followed her success with Labelle by exploring funk-rock styles with the Talking Heads, Material, and her own albums. The new Labelle reunion album will be produced by Lenny Kravitz. http://www.nonahendryx.com/main.html 70s FUNK: BETTY DAVIS -"F.U.N.K. (2.0)" (1975) http://youtube.com/watch?v=oNcohPUr1PI&feature=related More 70s FUNK: YVONNE FAIR-"FUNKY MUSIC SHO' NUFF TURNS ME ON" (1975) http://youtube.com/watch?v=8PjbLgIJZho&feature=related 80s Alternative Dance: THE DANCE -"Do-DaDa" (1980) http://youtube.com/watch?v=PLbkQQvS_08 (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made nonprofit video made solely to promote the artists.) tym stevens
NIKKI & THE CORVETTES-Girls Like Me/ Lets Go (1980) funknroll 2008-03-28 | The Women of 80's RETRO, Part 1! From Rockabilly to Beat Music! See Part 2: THE BROOD-"I Need You There/ I'll Put You Down" (1988) http://youtube.com/watch?v=19f7LegF--0 The 70's youth was haunted by their 50's and 60's youth. From Pub Rock to Punk, The Runaways to The Ramones, rock'n'roll and leather returned. In between Punk and New Wave, revivalists created a sort of 'Nuevo Retro', reinventing the sounds of their youth for the future. NIKKI & The CORVETTES (Detroit '80) keyed up Chuck Berry rock'n'roll; VENUS & THE RAZORBLADES' (L.A. 77) punk pop w/ Nikki Razorblade (red), and rockabilly-filly DYAN DIAMOND (79); JOAN JETT channeled Chuck (LA 76); RACHEL SWEET swung the pelvis (Akron 78); folkie JOAN ARMATRADING rewired rockabilly and rock styles (Birmingham, UK 77); psychobilly THE CRAMPS w/ Poison Ivy and Candy del Mar (Sacramento 76); deathrock 45 GRAVE w/ Dinah Cancer (LA 79); ICI PARIS w/ Marie Al Kah Raz, and Anicée Alvina (Paris 79); garage-abilly with The ZANTEES (Brooklyn 78) and The A-BONES (84), w/ drummer Miriam Linna; rock'n'girl-group -haunted SHEENA & The ROKKETS (Japan 79); German rockabillies The ACE CATS (82); proud revivalists The DEAD BEATS w/ leader Suzy May (US/UK 85); trash rock TEXAS TERRI BOMB (Austin 84) started out with The Killer Crows; moving into roots revival now with the cow punk of TEXACALA JONES & The HORSE HEADS (Austin 82); cowpunk supergroup SCREAMIN' SIRENS w/ Rosie Flores (LA 84); roots rock LONE JUSTICE w/ Maria McKee (LA 82); the folk rock of The TEXTONES w/ Carla Olson and Kathy Valentine (LA 79); k.d. lang retooled classic country (Alberta 87); lastly, leading us into retro Power Pop with The PRETENDERS w/ Chrissie Hynde; girl group punks The B-GIRLS (Toronto 80); pop rock with The ORCHIDS (Hollywood 80) in the wake of The Runaways; jangle-billy TIGER LILY w/ Laura Molina (LA 82); The DELMONTES w/ Julie Hepburn and Bernice Simpson (Edinburgh 79); power punk HOLLY & The ITALIANS w/ Holly Beth Vincent (LA 78); punk pop JANE AIRE & The BELVEDERES (Akron 78); olde-folke inflected rock from ROBIN LANE & The CHARTBUSTERS (Boston 80); mod wave NERVOUS REX w/ Trixie A. Baum, Diane Athey, and Miriam Linna (NY 80); SUZY SAXON & The ANGLOS (Richmond, VA 84); and timeless garage pop with The CATHOLIC GIRLS (Springfield, NJ 82). NIKKI & The CORVETTES were Nikki Corvette with backup from Lori Jeri and Sally Dee. Fueled on the MC5 and The Stooges in Detroit, Nikki hit NYC as Punk was first exploding. The classic 1980 self-titled LP blends 50's Rock, sassy girl group, bubble gum pop melodies, punk's edge, and lots of unbridled lust. In their song, "Gimme My Radio," The Donnas sang, "I wanna be like Nikki Corvette." Nikki is on a fab comeback right now with new music and world tours. These women ensured classic rock styles would not fade away. Because of them we now have The Donnas, The Raveonettes, Broadzilla, Kay Lenz, Rosie Flores, The Black Stripe, Marti Brom, Candye Kane, Neko Case, The Deadutantes, The Horror Pops, The Formaldebrides, Reverse Cowgirl, Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, Betty Blowtorch, and the explosion of Varla culture. Check out: http://www.myspace.com/nikkiandthecorvettes http://www.rockabillygirls.com http://www.myspace.com/theblackstripepjhiggins http://www.pbs.org/itvs/welcometotheclub LORRIE & LARRY COLLINS- MERCY (1958) http://youtube.com/watch?v=hGKgTRQwl_E LAVERN BAKER- VOODOO VOODOO (1958) http://youtube.com/watch?v=vn1Adf4cfyE (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made nonprofit video to promote the artists.) tym stevens
THE DOLL -TRASH (1978) funknroll 2008-03-04 | The Women of NEW WAVE, Part 1! See Part 2: FAMILY FODDER -"Debbie Harry" (1980) http://youtube.com/watch?v=C2WIHjVH1BA Here are many of the women in the first tide of New Wave, before MTV. Without them, there would be no Missing Persons, Berlin, Romeo Void, Madonna... SLAPP HAPPY w/ Dagmar Krausse (Germany, 72); BLONDIE w/ Debbie Harry, the template (NYC, 75); SANDII & The SUNSETZ (Japan, 79); 2 PLUS 1 (a.k.a., DWA) w/ Jeden (Warszawa, 71); THE DOLL w/ Marion "Baby Doll" Valentine (London, 77); THE COMATEENS w/ Lyn Bird (NYC, 78); THE B-52's w/ Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson (Athens, GA, 77); CHI-PIG w/ Sue Schmidt and Deborah Smith (Akron, 79); THE PHOTOS w/ Wendy Wu (Worcestershire, 80); NINA HAGEN (Berlin, 77); LENE LOVICH (Detroit/London,78); POLY STYRENE (London, 79); BAERCHEN Und Die MILCHBUBIS (Hannover, 80); LILLI BERLIN (Berlin, 80); THE STRIPES, whose Nena Kirner left for NENA (Hagen,79); X-MAL DEUTSCHLAND (Hamburg, 80); AFTER DINNER w/ Haco (Japan, 81); THE PLASTICS w/ Chica Sato (Japan, 79); KANDEGGINA GANG (Italy, 80) which launched solo star JO SQUILLO (81); TOYAH WILCOX (Birmingham, 79); postpunk duo FAMILY FODDER w/ Dominique Levillain (Europe, 80); EDITH NYLON w/ Mylène Khaski (France, 79); NINI RAVIOLETTE (France, 80); ALESIA COSMOS w/ Marie-Berthe Servier (France, 83); 1st FUTUROLOGISCHER CONGRESS w/ Marion Deussing and Petra Mikolajczak (Berlin, 82); THE PASSIONS w/ guitar/vocals Barbara Gogan (London, 78); from punks Pink Champagne came all-female TANT STRUL (Stockholm, 81); all-female OSTRO 430 (Norway, 79); MINIMAL COMPACT w/ Malka Spigel (Israel, 81); THE TOURISTS w/ Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart before Eurythmics (London, 79); collage artist Linder Sterling led postpunk duo LUDUS (Manchester, 81); ANNABEL LAMB (Surrey, 83); female trio GEISHA who were of course from Finland (83); CAN CAN w/ Anne Grete Preus (Norway, 83); out-and-kinky ROUGH TRADE w/ Carole Pope (Canada, 75); VISIBLE TARGETS (Seattle, 79); and gothic ALASKA y Los PEGAMOIDES (Madrid, 82) from which came ANA CURRA. These are the mothers of Bjork, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Lesbians On Ecstasy, Le Tigre, Robots In Disguise, Metric, The Sounds, Polysics, and Peaches. THE DOLL was an English New Wave combo led by guitarist Marion "Baby Doll" Valentine. Their initial hard-charging singles earned them airplay and a single LP deal, but they disbanded by 1981. "Trash" is the B-Side gem on the "Don't Tango With My Heart" single. (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made non-profit video to promote awareness of the artists.) tym stevens
FAMILY FODDER -DEBBIE HARRY (1980) funknroll 2008-03-04 | The Women of New Wave, Part 2! See part 1: THE DOLL -"TRASH" (1978) http://youtube.com/watch?v=mf5Mw-ow7Xw Here's the second wave of New Wave, when MTV broke it through to the mainstream and rewrote modern pop music. The mod clothes and keyboard power pop of Blondie set the template, along with Debbie Harry's rock'n'roll spin on Marilyn Monroe. BLONDIE w/ Debbie Harry (NYC, 75); Kim Wilde (London, 81); MISSING PERSONS w/ Dale Bozzio (LA,80); BERLIN w/ Terri Nunn (LA,79); ALTERED IMAGES w/ Clare Grogan (Glasgow, 79); postpunk duo FAMILY FODDER w/ Dominique Levillain (Europe, 80); THE GO-GO'S (LA, 78); BOW WOW WOW w/ Anabella Lwin (London, 80); punker HAZEL O'CONNOR (Coventry, 80); art pop diva KATE BUSH (Kent, UK, 78); THE PRETENDERS w/ Chrissie Hynde (Akron/London, 78); PAT BENATAR (Brooklyn, 78); NENA w/ Nena Kerner (Hagen, 81); TONI BASIL (Philadelphia, 82); SCANDAL w/ Patty Smyth (NYC, 81); THE MOTELS w/ Martha Davis (LA, 78); THE WAITRESSES w/ Tracy Wormworth and Patty Donahue (Kent, OH, 81); MARTHA & The MUFFINS (Toronto, 79); ROMEO VOID w/ Debora Iyall (San Francisco, 79); GRACE JONES (Jamaica, 77); EURYTHMICS w/ Annie Lennox (London, 80); BLUE ANGEL (NYC, 80) which unleashed CYNDI LAUPER (83); DONNA SUMMER (Boston, 76); THOMPSON TWINS w/ Alannah Currie (London, 77); Wendy & Lisa from PRINCE & The REVOLUTION (Minneapolis, 84); Debbie's heir apparent MADONNA (Detroit, 82); TIL TUESDAY w/ Aimee Mann (Boston, 85); soul sisters Aretha Franklin & Annie Lennox; TINA TURNER in "MAD MAX III: BEYOND THUNDERDOME" (85); THE BANGLES (LA, 81); DIVINYLS w/ Christina Amphlett (Sydney, 80); ANIMOTION w/ Astrid Plane (USA, 83); BANANARAMA (London, 79); GIRLS NEXT DOOR who led to AMERICAN GIRLS, featuring m.v.p. Brie Howard (Fanny) (LA, 86); Blondie-redux TRANSVISION VAMP w/ Wendy James (London, 88); Bjork and THE SUGARCUBES (Iceland, 86); and GOODBYE MR. MACKENZIE w/ Shirley Manson (before Garbage) (Edinburgh, 84). They are the mothers of Garbage, The Cardigans, The Sounds, Pink, Gwen Stefani, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Le Tigre, Mary J. Blige, Meshell Ndegeocello, The Gossip, Metric, Polysics, Gravy Train, and Peaches. FAMILY FODDER was a postpunk collective centered around Alig Pearce, with Dominique Levillain singing. Of all their eclectic works, it's her "Debbie Harry" they're remembered for, with its obsessive idol worship and crazed lines blurring homage and satire. (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made non-profit video to promote awareness of the artists.) tym stevens
TOZIBABE -MOJA PRAZNINA / LUTKE (1985/86) funknroll 2008-02-22 | The Women of 1980's PUNK, Part 2! Women of 70's PUNK: "X-RAY SPEX THE DAY THE WORLD TURNED DAY-GLO (1978)" http://youtube.com/watch?v=XhUBYogYRuM Women of 1980's PUNK, Part !: KLEENEX -"KRIMI/ YOU" (1979) http://youtube.com/watch?v=5G-o5ih_UYw Women of PostPunk: "LiLiPUT -EISIGER WIND (1981)" http://youtube.com/watch?v=ocBJt6Xz0iI GAYE ADVERT, LYDIA LUNCH, WENDY O. WILLIAMS, & KIM GORDON count us in. Then it's THE SICK THINGS with Charlie (London,77); MARY MONDAY & Her BITCHES (San Francisco,77); all-female BACKSTAGE PASS (LA,77); SMARTPILE (Bath,77); metal-punk HELEN WHEELS (NYC,77); UNIPLUX w/ Denise Humphreys, and Gli INCESTI w/ Antonella (Italy,77); CELIA & The MUTATIONS (alias The Stranglers) (London,77); No Wave's DNA w/ Ikue Mori (NYC,78); SUICIDE SQUAD w/ Annie Barret (Sydney,78); The Lewd w/ bass Olga De Volga (San Fran,78); The BASTARDS w/ Sandro Sursock, and the GLUEAMS (Bern,78); SHEENA & The ROKKETS (Japan,78); a Swedish tsunami with Cathrine Fanden and VACUM, mostly-female USCH, and all-female LIVIN' SACRIFICE, EXTREN EXEM, PINK CHAMPAGNE, and MOGEL (Stockholm,79); all-femme The DISHRAGS (Vancouver,79); The FASTBACKS (Seattle,79); ANDROIDS OF MU (London,80); A-HEADS w/ Mel (Wessex,81); LOST CHERREES w/ Beverly Abbott and two others (Surrey,81); all-women The BRAPHSMEARS (81), where SADO-NATION got singers Leesa Nation and Mish Bondage (Portland,79); The ELECTRIC DEADS w/ Bibi Blomstrom (Denmark,81); teen NASTY FACTS fronted by Cheryl Boyze (NYC,81); RUBELLA BALLET led by the Minx sisters (London,79); an Anarcho Punk march of YOUTH IN ASIA w/ Kyah Byatta (London,81), CHUMBAWAMBA w/ Alice Nutter and more (Leeds,82), HAGAR THE WOMB w/ many women (London,80), and HAINE BRIGADE w/ Alexa (Lyon,81); drummer Lyndsay McLennan and ATTAK (Derbyshire,82); todo-femea PostPunk with As MERCENARIAS (San Paulo,82); SIN 34 w/ Julie Lanfeld (LA,82); Michelle and BRIGANDAGE (London,82); all-lady CHIN CHIN (Swiss, 84); very anti-Fascist IV REICH (Spain,84); all-grrrl G.A.S.H. (Girls Against Sexual Hype) from Melbourne (85); grungy funksters FETCHIN BONES fronted by Hope Nicholls (N. Carolina, 85); a Deathrock ball with punk supergroup CASTRATION SQUAD (81), Eva O of SUPER HEROINES (81) who went on to CHRISTIAN DEATH (w/ Gitane Demone) and SHADOW PROJECT, and BONE ORCHARD w/ McGee (London, 83); all-girl RASZEBRAE (LA,85); drummer Matsumura w/ The COMES, whose singer Chitose led all-woman KYAH (Japan,85); mostly-female NOG WATT (Denmark,85); female hardcore trio TOZIBABE (Slovenia, 85); lunatic BUTTHOLE SURFERS w/ drummer Teresa Nervosa (San Antonio,81); art assassins TRAGIC MULATTO (San Fran,84), and all-female Grunge pioneers DICKLESS (Seattle, 89). These women paved the present for Bikini Kill, Riot Grrrl, K Records, Breeders, L7, Tribe 8, Queercore, Hothead Paisan, Babes In Toyland, Hole, PJ Harvey, Diamanda Galas, Lords Of Acid, Genitorturers, Aeon Flux, Elastica, Skunk Anansie, Afro Punk, LadyFest, Donnas, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sahara Hotnights, Kills, HorrorPops, Suicide Girls, Girl Monster, and half the young women on MySpace! Check out: Women of 1970's Punk http://www.comnet.ca/~rina http://www.punk77.co.uk/punkettes/features.htm http://www.geocities.com/punkettes80s http://www.alicebag.com/mainindex.html http://rateyourmusic.com/~Goregirl http://www.panx.net/punkgirl http://www.myspace.com/girlsongprimerradio AFRO-PUNK http://youtube.com/watch?v=5uXCvbIcg58 http://youtube.com/watch?v=WYgqzWjkuWA (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made video to promote the artists.) tym stevens
KLEENEX -KRIMI / YOU (1979) funknroll 2008-02-10 | The Women of 1980's PUNK, Part 1! Still more 70's, plus many 80's disciples up to the dawn of Riot Grrrl. First is VIVIENNE WESTWOOD, co-instigator behind the Sex Pistols; JORDAN, her SEX shop runner, and SOO CATWOMAN who set the radical styles of the future ('76, London); DESTROY ALL MONSTERS, w/ artist Niagara (73, Detroit); THE REZILLOS/REVILLOS, w/ Fay Fife and Gale Warning (77, Edinburgh); GINGER COYOTE, creator of fanzine PUNK GLOBE (77, San Fran); THE LILLETTES with Barb Dwyer (Brighton); THE CURSE, Canada's first female Punk band (77, Toronto); THE INNOCENTS toured with The Slits (77, London); THE CICHLIDS' raw rocking pop (79, Florida); ESSENTIAL LOGIC w/ Lora Logic (78, London); AUNT SALLY, No Wave w/ singer Phew (78, Japan); KLEENEX, greats who become the greater LiLiPUT (79, Zurich); MARTHA HULL & THE STEADY JOBS (82, Wash. DC); PostPunkers GIRLS AT OUR BEST w/ Judy Evans (79, Leeds); anarchopunks CRASS w/ Eve Libertine and Joy De Vivre (77, Essex) and comrades POISON GIRLS w/ Vi Subversa (76, Brighton); L.A.'s led in by VIOLENCE GIRL, w/ Alice Bag (77), THE CONTROLLERS w/ drummer Mad Dog (77), their buddies THE GERMS w/ Pat Smear (Nirvana) and Lorna Doom; revolutionaries UXA w/ De De Troit (78), psychobillies THE CRAMPS w/ guitarist Poison Ivy (76) deathrock's 45 GRAVE w/ Dinah Cancer (79), LEGAL WEAPON w/ belter Kat Arthur (81) and omni-punk PATRICIA MORRISON, who graced The Bags, The Gun Club, Sisters Of Mercy, and The Damned!; Romi Mori replaced her in deathrockers GUN CLUB (81); San Francisco's VKTMS w/ Nyna Napalm (77), Penelope Houston and THE AVENGERS (77), VS. w/ Olga DeVolga (77), garage trio THE CONTRACTIONS (79); performance artist JOANNA WENT w/ Kerry McBride's guitars (paint) (81); then hardcore with RED SCARE's Bobbi Brat (83, LA); Oi from THE GYMSLIPS (82, London) and Jo Ball's THE EXPELLED (81, Leeds); hard punk Helen Hill and THE VIOLATORS (79, Manchester); Kira Roessler of BLACK FLAG (77, LA); Beki Bondage commands VICE SQUAD (78, Bristol); Wendy O. Williams chainsaws cars with THE PLASMATICS (77, New York); small films exposed Punk to the world, like Trini Alvorado and Robin Johnson in TIMES SQUARE (80); Hazel O'Connor in BREAKING GLASS (80) clearly inspired Pris (Daryl Hannah) in BLADE RUNNER (82); Diane Lane's female trio rocked LADIES AND GENTLEMEN...THE FABULOUS STAINS (81); Penelope Spheeris' SUBURBIA (84); Susan Seidelman's SMITHEREEENS (81); supervillain Ursa (Sarah Douglas) put the kink in SUPERMAN II (filmed in London during Siouxsie's rise) (81); X-MEN's Storm punked out (83); lovers Maggie and Hopey rocked indie comic LOVE & ROCKETS (81); TANK GIRL invaded '88; global punk with Germany's XMAL DEUTSCHLAND (80) and HANS-A-PLAST (78); Spain's LAS VULPESS (83) and S/M sex trio DESECHABLES w/ singer Tere (81); snotty ACTION PACT w/ George Cheex (81, London); perfect pop punk SHONEN KNIFE (81, Tokyo); Kim Gordon's No Wave SONIC YOUTH (81, NY); PUSSY GALORE's Julia Cafritz (86, NY); fun theatre HOLY SISTERS OF THE GAGA DADA (86, LA); sharp Indie MECCA NORMAL w/ Jean Smith (85, Vancouver); BARBIE ARMY (Chicago, 87); Lydia Lunch trysted in STINKFIST (87, NY), then with Kim Gordon in trio HARRY CREWS (89); fanzine activism by FIFTH COLUMN inspired both Queercore and Grrrl (85,Toronto); hardcore FIRE PARTY (86, Wash. DC); raw trio SCRAWL (85, Columbus); Jarboe corroded THE SWANS' (86,NY); crucial Grrrl pioneers FRIGHTWIG, whose T-shirt Cobain wore at "Nirvana Unplugged" (84, SF); and ANTI-SCRUNTI FACTION (84, Boulder), whose Leslie Mah (spikes) went on to forge Queercore with TRIBE 8 . These women paved the present for Bikini Kill, Riot Grrrl, K Records, Breeders, L7, Tribe 8, Queercore, Hothead Paisan, Babes In Toyland, Hole, PJ Harvey, Diamanda Galas, Lords Of Acid, Genitorturers, Aeon Flux, Elastica, Skunk Anansie, Afro Punk, LadyFest, Donnas, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sahara Hotnights, Kills, HorrorPops, Suicide Girls, Girl Monster, and half the young women on MySpace! All of KLEENEX / LiLiPUT's music is on a cheap double CD!: http://www.buyolympia.com/killrockstars/Item=krs373 Check out: Women of 1970's Punk http://www.comnet.ca/~rina http://www.geocities.com/punkettes80s http://www.punk77.co.uk/punkettes/features.htm http://www.alicebag.com/mainindex.html http://www.panx.net/punkgirl http://www.myspace.com/girlsongprimerradio AFRO-PUNK http://youtube.com/watch?v=5uXCvbIcg58 http://youtube.com/watch?v=WYgqzWjkuWA (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made video to promote the artists.) tym stevens
GIRLSCHOOL -20th CENTURY BOY (1983) funknroll 2008-02-10 | The Women of 1980's Hard Rock and Heavy Metal! For Paisley... Counting us in are 70's pioneers SHOCKING BLUE, BIRTHA, PATTI QUATRO, and THE RUNAWAYS...; then it's the hard rock and leather of WICKED LADY (1974, Netherlands); the versatile power-belter INGA RUMPF (Frumpy, Atlantis) (71, Germany); hard rocking 1994 with Karen Lawrence (78, L.A.); the funk-rockers, MOTHER'S FINEST w/ Joyce Kennedy, whose metal "Iron Age" album is overlooked (76, Atlanta); GIRLSCHOOL (78, London) usher in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with their mates Motorhead; PAT BENATAR crossed tough rock into the pop charts (79, Brooklyn); the "Rock'n'Roll Women" of CHEETAH, with Lyndsay and Chrissie Hammond (77, Melbourne); former-Runaways JOAN JETT, and LITA FORD (76, LA) who both had overdue success in the 80's; drummer Roxy Patrucci propelled MADAM X (80, Detroit) and VIXEN (80, St. Paul); melodic hard rockers 5X with Carmen Maki (81, Japan); the infamously kinky BITCH with Betsy Bitch (Weiss) (81, LA); ...not to be confused with Chicago's all-female BITCH, who morphed into TOUGH LOVE (83), and then ROMANTIC FLOWER (89); every teen metalhead's pin-up, LEE AARON (82, Ontario); Girlschool's younger sisters in the Wave, the teen ROCK GODDESS (82, London); PRECIOUS METAL (83, LA); the pop-metal of MARI HAMADA (83, Japan); the Kerrang-approved heaviosity of LEATHER ANGEL (82, LA) who then became JADED LADY (85); Julliard multi-instrumentalist and mildly theatrical THE GREAT KAT (86, Long Island); HELLION with occult queen Ann Boleyn (82, LA); hard WARLOCK fronted by esteemed siren Doro Pesch (82, Germany); melodic rockers ROSY VISTA (83, Germany); the massively successful SHOW-YA starring heartthrob Keiko Terada (84, Japan); the initially speed metal MISSDEMEANOR (85, New York); Roberta Morgana Delaude cast her dark magic through the bands HURTFUL BRIDE and MORGANA (85, Italy); the thrash metal of MEANSTREAK (85, NY); sleazy pop metal PRINCESS PANG with Jeni Foster (85, Sweden/US); thrash metalers ICE AGE (88, Sweden); hard rock ZED YAGO with Jutta Weinhold (85, Germany); tough rock BLACKLACE with feiry Maryann Scandiffio (84, NY); trash glam SMASHED GLADYS with lyricist/ glam doll Sally Cato (84, Toronto); rough and sexy ORIGINAL SIN (86, Long Island); thrash activists DETENTE whose Dawn Crosby went on to front Fear Of God (84, San Francisco); HOLY MOSES with satanic-throated Sabina Classen (86, Germany); hard rockers SARAYA led by Sandi Saraya (87, New Jersey); heavy metal ANASHI (87, Sweden); pop chart metal FEMME FATALE with Lorraine Lewis (87, Albuquerque); hard rock VOLVOX which launched Sebnem Ferah (88, Turkey); heavy metal PHANTOM BLUE (89, LA); Michael Jackson depended on virtuoso JENNIFER BATTEN for a decade (88); metal WARBRIDE led by Lori Lindstruth (89, LA); Leather Leone sang for MALIBU BARBI (86, San Francisco), then CHASTAIN, and her own LEATHER (89); gravel-voiced guitarist Sharon Bascovsky led death metal DERKETA (88, Pittsburgh); and the almighty L7 blendered Metal and Punk, in advance of Grunge and Riot Grrrl around the corner. The Runaways took the brunt of sexist nonsense in the late 70's as 'the first female Hard Rock band', but the 80's exploded with their influence. Women were rocking as hard as anyone all around the globe. Their hardwon visibility and range created the path for Babes In Toyland, 7 year Bitch, Hole, Tribe 8, Arch Enemy, Crisis, Drain sth, Skunk Anansie, Betty Blowtorch, Kittie, Acid King, Bottom, The Bellrays, Wicked Wisdom, My Ruin, Lacuna Coil, Crucified Barbara, Gallhammer, and the other half of young women on MySpace who aren't Punk rockers! GIRLSCHOOL is the world's longest-running all-female hard rock band, celebrating three decades now. They show their Glam Rock roots in this cover of T-Rex's "20th Century Boy", slipping in Marc Bolan's quote of Chuck Berry's "Little Queenie" at the end. (It's also been done by Siouxsie & the Banshees, and Drain sth.) This is dedicated to the memory of guitarist Kelly Johnson, who recently left us. Check out: METAL MAIDENS http://www.metalmaidens.com/home.htm http://www.myspace.com/metalmaidenszine BLOOD SISTERS http://kzsu.stanford.edu/~hannah/index.html http://kzsu.stanford.edu/~hannah/links.html ENDEMONIADA http://groups.myspace.com/endemoniada http://www.geocities.com/svipdaag/grrls/grrls4.html http://www.drink.to/thewomenofmetal http://www.amazon.com/Female-Heavy-Metal-Artists/lm/R1MPJKYVR15XPA http://www.amazon.com/Chicks-who-rule-metal/lm/21AKZ9R9SC6FN/ref=cm_lmt_fvlm_f_4_rlrsrs0 (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made video to promote the artists.) tym stevens
RITA CHAO & The Quests/ NANCY SIT -HANKY PANKY (1967) funknroll 2007-11-10 | Love and Let Love! "All You Need Is Love" meant empathy, intimacy, support, selflessness, and spiritual solidarity. These are the tonics to alienation, segregation, hostility, selfishness, and existential emptiness. The expression of love is a sacred act and a spiritual pact. It may be fleeting, maybe only a cherished moment, or perhaps as deep as life is long. But the selfless act of giving of ourselves for another's benefit lifts us into the better angels of our nature. Hate only degrades and destroys. Love nourishes the individual soul and the human species. Without it, we will not survive. 'Love is love and Hate ain't'; it can't be legislated, leveled, or lynched. Let no one put it asunder. This is a tribute to love; it's stirrings, it's courtship, its consumation, its playful dynamics and trusts, its gameplaying, its limitless range. Love is the antidote to all harm; it is the pulsebeat of the human race. Along the way, supporting evidence is given by the Greek poet Sappho; Pompeii murals; 1000-year-old Indian temples; Chinese paintings; Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints; 16th-to-20th century Western paintings by artists Charles Mengin, the School of Fountainebleau, Francis Boucher, Gustav Courbet, Dante Rosetti, Charles Boutibonne, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Aubrey Beardsley, Alphonse Mucha, Franz von Bayros, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Gerda Wegener, Claude Cahun, Hannah Hoch, Marie Laurencin, Hannah "Gluck" Gluckstein, Tamara de Lempicka, Maxfield Parrish, Christian Schad, the Manasse studio, Hans Bellmer, Karel Tiege, Frida Kahlo, William Soare, H. G. Peter, Robert Maguire, Abdul Mati Klarwein, Tom Wesselmann, and Guido Crepax; historical photos; Bettie Page and the fetish scene; Jazz and Rock album covers; ambivilent 50's and 60's paperbacks; authors Radclyffe Hall, Virgina Woolf, Djuna Barnes, Anne Bannon, Valerie Solanas, Rita Mae Brown, and Joanna Russ; films like BARBARELLA, BLOW-UP, BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, VAMPYROS LESBOS, and BABA YAGA; sensual publications; fashion models; The Daughters of Bilitis; and -ultimately- the Feminist and the Gay Movements. RITA CHAO was a 1960's Singapore pop star who was often backed by the fabulous guitar combo, The QUESTS. The opening 13 seconds here are among the best Rock intros ever, first with the clanging guitar and then the pounding shuffle drums. A DJ would be a fool to miss it. (Ahem.) She often interpreted the hits of the day. "Hanky Panky" was sung straight on with no gender change; this probably unintentional progression anticipates Joan Jett's similar bold move on another Tommy James & The Shondells song, "Crimson and Clover", by fifteen years. Following it we have compatriot NANCY SIT's version in Chinese, which hints at how Beat Music and Garage Rock knew no boundaries the world over. For more info, check out these sites: http://www.myspace.com/singaporesixties http://www.myspace.com/nancysit http://www.myspace.com/ritachaomusic http://www.hemisphere.nl/voorraad/Various%20Artist%20Girls%20In%20The%20Garage,%20Vol%20%209%20LP.htm http://www.myspace.com/girlgaragemayhem http://www.sappho.com/index.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesbian (All rights reserved. Fan-made video to promote awareness and compassion.) tym stevens
ROTARY CONNECTION-I AM THE BLACK GOLD OF THE SUN (1971) funknroll 2007-11-10 | "Soul Sisters triumphant!": From Psychedelia to Funk, 1967-1975. The human race started from Africa. When drought hit, around 24 members of the Bushmen tribe set out into the unknown for food. The global journey of their generations seeded the entire planet over the next 50,000 years. These two dozen Africans created every one of us. We are all family, we've just forgotten it. In the 1950's, sparked by Rosa Parks, the Civil Rights movement challenged segregation. The resulting 60's Counterculture meant to free the mind, body, and spirit from any shackles. They embraced the tribal and the communal, the future and each other. The late 60's-early 70's was a golden age of connection and exploration opening the possibilities that created the best in the world we now live in. This is a story of our shared jouney we shouldn't forget. Here are many Soul Sisters who paved our path: LT. UHURA opened the future on "Star Trek"; the tribal Rock musical HAIR personified the re-evolution, which also gave us Melba Moore, Donna Summer, Leata Galloway, Marsha Hunt, Ben Vereen, Phillip Michael Thomas, and many more; all-inclusive music groups like BOOKER T & THE MG's, SLY & THE FAMILY STONE, ROTARY CONNECTION, JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE, The Loading Zone, Santana, and The Chambers Brothers; new world couples like Jimi Hendrix and Devon Wilson, Brian Jones and Donyale Luna; activist singers like NINA SIMONE; Native American and African clothes and hairstyles were reborn; this opened the door for MIRIAM MAKEBA and other World Musics into the mainstream; MARSHA "Brown Sugar" HUNT set the template for Betty Davis and the next decade of Funk Rock women; MILES and BETTY DAVIS stirred Funk and Psychedelia into the Fusion Jazz of "Bitches Brew"; by '69, the Fashion industry was opened by JOLIE JONES, NAOMI SIMS, DONYALE LUNA, Carole La Brie, Beverly Johnson, Jane Kennedy, and African ELIZABETH OF TORO; as Feminism dawned in the early 70's, ELAINE BROWN took command of the generally sexist Black Panther Party while ANGELA DAVIS fought The Man; modern poet/authors like NIKI GIOVANNI, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker inspired waves of new students; the new archetype of 'Soul Sister', with brains, class, style, and attitude, took its first proud strut; this modern amazon ruled the screens with actors like PAM GRIER, TAMARA DOBSON, CAROL SPEED (cutest eyes ever!), THERESA GRAVES, Vonetta McGhee, Jeane Belle, and Gloria Hendry; and in the comics with Wonder Woman's sister, NUBIA, and feiry STORM of the X-MEN. These women created: bohemian musicians like Ruth Copeland, Funkadelic, Joyce Kennedy (Mothers Finest), Parlet and Brides Of Funkenstein, Grace Jones, Prince & the Revolution, Public Enemy, the Native Tongues rappers, Lenny Kravitz, Cree Summer, Nenah Cherry, Me'Shell Ndegeocello, Dionne Farris, Skin (Skunk Anansie), Erykah Badu, The Roots, Joi, Kelis, India Arie, Joss Stone, Corinne Bailey Rae, and Nikka Costa; World musicians like Osibisa, Fela, King Sunny Ade, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Mahotella Queens, Zap Mama, Cesaria Evora, Angelique Kidjo, and Antibalas; models like Naomi Campbell, Iman, Waris Dalie, and Alek Wek; activists like bell hooks, Sister Souljah, and Pam The Funkstress (The Coup); tough actors like Gina Torres (FIREFLY/ SERENITY), Halle Barry (CATWOMAN, X-MEN), and Jada Pinkett Smith (THE MATRIX); and superheroines like Vixen, Misty Knight, Monica Rambeau (Captain Marvel), and Natasha Irons (Steel). About ROTARY CONNECTION: The Chess label parlayed modern blues (Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf) and Rock'n'roll (Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley) in the 50's. Young heir Marshall Chess stirred them into the psychedelic 60's with the RC. It combined a rock group with soul singers, all arranged by the radical Charles Stepney with jazz changes, operatic chorales, electronic dissonance, and sweeping strings. It also introduced Minnie Riperton, who went on to glory with "Loving You" later. Though Minnie has sadly passed, her daughter Maya Rudolph is a shining star on "Saturday Night Live". Stepney went on to arrange the great hits of Earth Wind & Fire. And Nuyorican Soul made "Black Gold" a modern standard with their 1997 remix hit. Who is the black gold of the sun? We all are. Check out: http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey http://press.princeton.edu/quotes/q7442.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_Connection http://www.myspace.com/therotaryconnection http://www.myspace.com/charlesstepney (All rights reserved. Fan-made video to promote the artist and awareness.) tym stevens
ISIS -DO THE FOOTBALL (1974) funknroll 2007-11-02 | "All-female Funk-Rock pioneers!" Carol MacDonald is doubly important in the history of Rock. First, in the mid-60's she was guitarist for GOLDIE & THE GINGERBREADS, the first all-female Rock band signed by a major label. They toured with The Rolling Stones and made a handful of prized singles. Secondly, in the 70's she led ISIS, a ferocious all-female Funk-Rock octet who could take on the best of them. ISIS burst out the gate soon after Fanny and Birtha had broken the barrier for all-female bands to make full albums. While those groups focused on blues-based Rock, ISIS was like a progressive octopus. Their first self-titled LP was overstuffed with stylistic ideas and the chops to pull them off. They were a match for anything Blood Sweat & Tears, Earth Wind & Fire, Chicago, or Parliament were putting out. They toured with Aerosmith, Kiss, ZZ Top, and Three Dog Night; made three very diverse albums; and got ignored by the Rock press and history. Time reveals just how important they were. The ISIS collective was a training ground for dozens of female musicians, who seeded the future. They established a range of skill and style that broadened their successors' horizons. Their shocking debut cover declared they owned their sexuality on their own terms. And Carol had the immense courage to come out openly as a lesbian and sing about it in her work. Thus, ISIS paved the way for the Womyns Music labels, ESG, The Tom Tom Club, Madonna, Wendy & Lisa, Melissa Etheridge, Me'Shell Ndegeocello, Ani Defranco, Joi, Le Tigre, and Peaches. That infamous cover was shot by Jon Stevens, whose work with silver body paint made him a rising star during the Glam era. ISIS created themselves as modern goddesses from a deep history, silver deities who could take on the soul and the cosmos. Their sprawling debut was produced by "Shadow" Morton (The Shangri-Las) who had just survived The New York Dolls. This song was written and sung by their steller bassist, Stella Bass; is it mocking of male touch sports, a rallying cry, a come-on, or really intimate footsies? You be the judge. And Suzi's lead guitar will take your head off! This is dedicated to the memory of Carol MacDonald, who passed away in March of 2007. Carol MacDonald: lead vocals, rhythm guitar, writer, arranger Ginger Bianco: drums, co-leader, co-founder, co-writer Suzi Ghezzi: lead guitar Stella Bass: bass, vocals, writer Nydia "Liberty" Mata: percussion, congas, bongos Lauren Draper: trumpet, French horn, vocals Lolly Bienenfield: trombone, vocals Jeanie Fineberg: tenor saxophone Learn more: http://www.itsaboutmusic.com/isis.html http://www.audiolunchbox.com/album?a=84522&z= http://www.audiolunchbox.com/album?a=84523 http://www.myspace.com/isishornrock See these other videos: ISIS -AIN'T NO BACKIN'UP NOW (1975) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqz79lz4tC8 ISIS -APRIL FOOL (1974) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIFiuIV67u0 (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made video to promote the artist.) tym stevens
ISIS-AINT NO BACKIN UP NOW (1975) funknroll 2007-11-02 | "All-female Funk-Rock pioneers return!" Carol MacDonald's ISIS had already kicked everyone's butts for range, chops, and sexual shock. They followed it up by getting even tighter in the pocket. This title track was from the second album, produced by legendary New Orleans maestro Allan Toussaint. Gone are the mercurial epics, honed back to greasy funk in three minute doses. It's a surprising discipline that recalls his work with The Meters. Any true Funk fan owes it themself to explore this secret classic album! The line-up on this was a ten-piece by now, expanding on the group who did the debut. Stella Bass is still prominent on bass and soulful vocals, with Carol sliding in her patented sassy grit and choppy rhythm guitar. Carol says 73 women passed through ISIS in seven years. She encouraged their training and their next opportunities. The line-up seen in this video is another set from 1976, seen in candid shots from a gig at the Galaxy Night Club in Hamilton Parish, Bermuda: Carol MacDonald: rhythm guitar, lead vocals Faith Fusillo: lead guitar, vocals Benita LaGattuta: bass Annie LaGattuta: drums Margo Lewis: keyboards, vocals Ellen: trumpet This video is dedicated to BENITA and ANNIE LAGATTUTA, whose personal photos enabled me to make it. Thanks again! (Annie says, "Check out Carol's pants! They were her prized possession- painted jeans- sometimes she would hold the microphone "low" to let the pants sing!") Learn more: http://www.itsaboutmusic.com/isis.html http://www.audiolunchbox.com/album?a=84522&z= http://www.audiolunchbox.com/album?a=84523 http://www.myspace.com/isishornrock See these other videos: ISIS -DO THE FOOTBALL (1974) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b84JRoEtXCQ ISIS -APRIL FOOL (1974) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIFiuIV67u0 (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made video to promote the artist.) tym stevens
THE RUNAWAYS-Cherry Bomb (1976) funknroll 2007-10-26 | If Fanny kicked open the door, The Runaways tore up the hotel room and outran the police. FANNY was the first all-female rock band signed by a major label to record full albums. There'd been many such bands in the 60's, but a timid industry consigned them to scarce 45's, at best. Their breakthrough in 1970 cracked the door for hard-rockin BIRTHA, the funk-rock tenpiece ISIS, and the glam leatherette, SUZI QUATRO. Joan Jett turned her excitement about Suzi into a game plan: an all-female band that would rock as hard as anyone. Sandy West punched out the drums, Jackie Fox stomped the bass quakes, Lita Ford quicksilvered lightning leads to Joan's terse rhythms, and Cherie Curry roared like a grudge. Their rhythms were tighter, their guitars more jagged, their attitude more toxic, their style more sexual than anyone had ever seen. And, most insanely, they were only 16 years old! They made great music against terrible odds. The sordid tale of their ascent and undoing is chronicled in the new film, THE RUNAWAYS, starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning. But the sheer power of their first three albums as a quintet shines undimmed. They took the door of opportunity and brought the wall down with it. It's because of The Runaways that we have Girlschool, Pat Benatar, 45 Grave, The Plasmatics, The Bangles, Phantom Blue, Lee Aaron, Mari Hamada, Rock Goddess, Shonen Knife, L7, Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Babes In Toyland, Drain sth, Super Junky Monkey, The Donnas, Betty Blowtorch, Bottom, Acid King, Sahara Hotnights, Kittie, and Peaches. And Cherie was proudly strutting that corset and lingerie like armor a decade before Madonna. So maybe you should actually put them in the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame, huh, Jann? Check out: http://www.therunaways.com http://www.myspace.com/neonangels http://www.sacreddogs.com http://www.myspace.com/neon_angels http://www.newwavephotos.com/Runaways.htm (All rights reserved by copyright owners. Fan-made video to promote the artist.) tym stevens
SHOCKING BLUE-HARLEY DAVIDSON/ GET IT ON (69/75) funknroll 2007-10-19 | "Real women ride!" The motorcycle and the open road have always been metaphors for freedom. Between Kerouac's "On the Road" and Persig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", the counterculture embraced that ideal and roared with it. Shocking Blue did two B-sides, "Harley Davidson" (1969) and "Get It On" (1975), that tread that path. For women, whose lives were locked up in farms or drawing rooms in the 1800's, the bicycle, the car, and the plane were transports of liberation in the 20th century. Amelia Earhart and black aviatrix Bessie Coleman opened up the skies. Linda Gudeau (The Motor Maids) and Louise Scherby (Women's International Motorcycle Association) scorched the tarmac. The cycle helped them to explore new gender roles, sensuality, self-reliance, equity, and the land in vaster vistas. This proud, rich heritage extends today from Motorcycle Clubs like the Amazon WMC and the Cycle Sisters, to the ultra-hellions, Dykes On Bikes. An open range is possibility, an open road is freedom. Included here are varied angles like: vintage cycle ads, motorcyle mamas galore, Betty Page and pin-up art, Luciana Paluzzi ("Thunderball"), mod scooters, the Shangri-La's, Batgirl, Marianne Faithfull, Bridget Bardot (who sang her own classic "Harley Davidson"), Ann Margaret, Crepax's "Valentina" comics, Francoise Hardy and "Pravda" -the pop art comic she inspired, Janis Joplin, hippie hedonism, Black Canary, biker grrrl movies like "Hell's Belles" vesus bike mag pin-ups, Betty Davis, and the Runaways. Everyone your mother warned you about or may have been! About SHOCKING BLUE: They started as a male rocking quartet in Holland who had the good fortune to replace their lead singer with Mariska Veres. Doe-eyed and direct, Mariska belted it out with the best of them. They broke through worldwide with the #1 smash, "Venus," in 1970. Time has borne out the depth of their work; their catalog is rich with strong melodies in varied styles which have given them a cult following. Artists as diverse as BANANARAMA ("Venus") to NIRVANA ("Love Buzz"), the PRODIGY ("Phoenix" uses "Love Buzz") and FATBOY SLIM (sampled "Send Me a Postcard") have tributed them. Mariska's tough wail was the foil for the deft guitar work of Robbie van Leeuwen, a tasteful and inspired player who is much underrated. Their work from 1968 to 1975 is great stuff. Even a few reunion singles in '86 and '94 hold the chemistry. Sadly, Mariska passed in December of 2006, and this is dedicated with respect to her. Check out these great sites: http://www.myspace.com/motorcyclegirls http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/Women/women_history.jsp?locale=en_US http://www.realdivasride.com/home.htm http://dykesonbikes.org/1_women_history.html http://www.bessiecoleman.com Pravda: http://www.thegenre.com/mov/pravda.html http://worldofkane.blogspot.com/2007/09/guy-peellaert-b.html Shocking Blue: http://shockingblue.ning.com (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made video to promote the artist and awareness.) http://www.youtube.com/funknroll tym stevens
BIRTHA -FREE SPIRIT (1972) funknroll 2007-10-12 | During World War II, women ran America. They built the planes, ships, and equipment to win the war. They built the economy that pulled the country out of the Depression and then emerge as a new Superpower. For the first time they integrated into the work force, the military, and the society. They were expected to give all that up at the war's end. Having tasted freedom, many Americans refused to surrender for themselves what they had been fighting for abroad. The Civil Rights movement, the farm rights activism of Cesar Chavez, the Counterculture, Stonewall, the American Indian Movement, and Feminism are the children of that democratic spirit of freedom for all. Birtha's first album shows an apt metaphor; a 1948 jukebox being shook righteously with their music. Mothers from WWII wanted more for their daughters. That hope flourished in the 60's and 70's when their children rose to the challenge of bettering society. It's a shake-up that reverberates to this day. Since we are the sum of our memories and experience, the diner herein reflects that mutual arc. Included are idealized women in pin-ups by such artists as Alberto Vargas and Joyce Ballantyne (who was her own model; 00:42); the real Rosie the Riveters and Wendy the Welders who made the country stable; the integrated work forces that opened up the future of civil rights; the Japanese Americans who were interned in concentration camps by their own nation; and the Counterculture opening all the doors of progress. Free your spirit... About BIRTHA: In the mid-60's, bassist Rosemary Butler was in The Ladybirds, an all-female band who toured opening for The Rolling Stones. She hooked up with guitarist friend Shele Pinizzotto in the Los Angeles psychedelic group, The Daisy Chain. By the early 70's they became Birtha, with keyboardist Sherry Hagler and drummer Olivia "Liver" Favela. Fanny had just broken through as the first all-female rock band making major label LPs. Dunhill Records responded by pairing Birtha up with Gabriel Mekler, producer of label mates Steppenwolf. Their especially hard, heavy sound provoked the infamous ad campaign, "Birtha Has Balls", which shocked Playboy so much they wouldn't print it. But the T-shirts were a smash. "When (Birtha) played the 1972 Rockingham Festival, members of Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac and the James Gang all chose to wear them for their own sets," writes reviewer Mrs. Ahab, "and revelers could clearly see the logo disappear from view as Alice left the arena hanging out of a helicopter still sporting his Birtha shirt. " Billboard gasped, "they project more power and drive than most male groups," with astonishment. Birtha made two albums but despite touring with the hardest and playing harder, they didn't break through and broke apart. Almost immediately on their heels would be The Runaways and the Punk grrrls to carry the torch. Shele Pinizzotto (guitar, vocals) Rosemary Butler (bass, vocals) Sherry Hagler (keyboards) Liver Favela (drums, lead vocals on "Free Spirit") http://www.birtharocks.com http://www.myspace.com/birthasite http://www.myspace.com/rosemarybutler http://www.rosemarybutler.com http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/review/1439 http://www.guitaristka.ru/zapad-birtha.shtml http://www.sundazed.com/artists/daisy-chain.html http://www.fannyrocks.com http://www.itsaboutmusic.com/isis.html (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made video to promote the artist.) http://www.youtube.com/funknroll tym stevens
LiLiPUT -EISIGER WIND (1981) funknroll 2007-08-03 | The women of early 80's PostPunk! (See also the video: "X-RAY SPEX -DAY THE WORLD TURNED DAY-GLO (1978)" ) The spirit of Punk was to try anything without restraint. As soon as it became a recognizable formula -as in Sid- the media rushed to pronounce it dead after two years. But in truth it had already mutated past them. Worldwide, a new attitude virused: challenge everything, try it from another angle, go to next. The word PostPunk is a loose term used to describe the eclectic electric that ensued from 1978 to around 1982. Punk wasn't supplanted, it was the planter of the seeds that grew into most cutting edge music made since. The holy trinity of 'Joy Division/Wire/Gang Of Four', bands from the dawn of the 80's, are the obvious blueprint for modern disciples like Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, She Wants Revenge, Radio 4, The Killers, and Elefant; the bounding deadpan-yet-funky pulse, the polyrhymic crack of drums, the sheets-of-noise guitar, and the wired automaton vocals. But PostPunk was more than that trio. It encompassed world musics and Dub, Punk-Funk, Death Disco, No Wave noise, Mutant Disco, proto-Industrial, Goth, HipHop hybrids, skronky jazz fusion and Harmolodics, and more. And most importantly, there were more women in this revolution than any time before in Rock history. The following women are the mothers of most rocker grrrls today. All of this music was too intense for the times and ignored, but now is the soundtrack of the current generation. Whether they know it or not. From these pioneers we get The Breeders, Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Hole, Elastica, Cibo Matto, Garbage, Sleater-Kinney, Ladytron, Chicks On Speed, Lesbians On Ecstasy, Erase Errata, Boyskout, Peaches, Electrocute, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Metric. The architects: LENE LOVICH (US/UK) and NINA HAGEN (Germany), updating Yma Sumac for the new wave; ARI UP and THE SLITS, exploring the wilds of world dub (UK); LiLiPUT, the best PostPunk band you've never heard of and equal to any (Switzerland); FATAL MICROBES, a teen band featuring two kids of Vi Subversa from the Poison Girls (UK); STINKY TOYS, who played the first all-Punk show ever with the Pistols and newcomer 'Suzie and the Banshees' (France); the minimalist robot synth of FLYING LIZARDS, featuring PATTI PALLADIN of Snatch(NY/UK); TINA WEYMOUTH and the TALKING HEADS, the fountainhead for indie dress, PunkFunk, and more styles than we've caught up with (New York); the collective PULSALLAMA, with Wendy Wild and Ann Magnuson, bringing polyrhthmic fun (NY); THE BLOODS with funky punk; LIZZY MERCIER DESCLOUX making dissonant guitar clang danceable (France/NY); THE MODETTES modeling impossibly catchy pop with reggae bounce (NY); JILL KROESEN with rhythmic skronk and chant (NY); The BUSH TETRAS, a funky punk band whose influence covers Romeo Void to Kim Gordan (NY); the brilliant spartan funk of E.S.G. by the Scroggins sisters (South Bronx); Her Mercurial Majesty of Goth and so much more, SIOUXSIE SIOUX (UK); the stripped edge of Young Marble Giants, whose 'Credit In the Straight World' was covered by Hole (Wales); Y PANTS forecast the bratty casualism of Bratmobile (NY); UT rode tribal drums and fuzzy chords through alien synths (NY); TINA WEYMOUTH and Chris Frantz of TOM TOM CLUB spun the NY scene's punkfunk through hiphop and reggae to conquer the world with 'Genius Of Love' (NY); ...while KIM GORDAN and SONIC YOUTH channeled the scene's No Wave noise into a startling career (US); the punkfunk priests GANG OF FOUR converted bassist SARA LEE to the cause in their second revolution (UK/US); VANESSA BRISCOE emitted the bent transmissions of PYLON (Georgia); Throbbing Gristle had split nicely into the fresh folds of CHRIS & COSEY, with conceptual and sexual artist COSI FANNI TUTTI (UK); The SELECTER sure picked it right with lead singer PAULINE BLACK kicking tough ska (UK); EDITH NYLON made the synth pop and kick (France); ALICE BAG of the Bags now crusaded with the CAMBRIDGE APOSTLES (L.A.); SU TISSUE cut an askew swath through SUBURBAN LAWNS (L.A.); Native American DEBORAH IYALL serenaded in the ROMEO VOID (San Fran); DOMINATRIX predated Lords of Acid and Peaches with sexual dance music (NY); and LAURIE ANDERSON made the avant-garde fun and grooving (NY). About LiLiPUT: This Swiss punk band started as Kleenex but got sued. As LiLiPUT, their flexible punk now flourished through ever fluid line-ups. At the center always were guitarist Marlene Marder and bassist Klaudia Schiff. Their vocals and restless spirit were the pulse that propelled a winding course; tough punk, kraut rock redux, loping pop, angular beauty. All of the work of both bands has been compiled by the Kill Rock Stars label on the affordable double-CD, "LiLiPUT" (KRS 373; 2001). Expand your world with the sonic peers of The Slits and the Raincoats! Also, these CDs: NEW YORK NOISE 1, 2, & 3 http://www.souljazzrecords.co.uk/releases/?id=4886 RIP IT UP & START AGAIN: POSTPUNK 1978-1984 ROUGH TRADE SHOPS: POSTPUNK, vol. 1 GIRL MONSTER SEXUAL LIFE OF THE SAVAGES (Brazil postpunk) NAO WAVE (Brazil postpunk) Book: "RIP IT UP & START AGAIN", by Simon Reynolds Check out these web resources: -Women In Punk: http://www.comnet.ca/~rina http://www.punk77.co.uk/punkettes/features.htm http://www.mindspring.com/~acheslow/AuntMary/bang/wip.html http://rateyourmusic.com/list/Goregirl/dont_misbehave_in_the_new_wave__women_in_the_new_wave_post_punk_no_wave_first_wave_of_punk -Alice Bag's great site on Women of L.A. Punk: http://www.alicebag.com/mainindex.html (All rights reserved. Fan-made video to promote awareness of the artists.) http://www.youtube.com/funknroll
THE RUNAWAYS -QUEENS OF NOISE (1977) funknroll 2007-07-29 | The Women of 1970's Rock, Part 1!: 1970-1977 (Part 2 video: "X-RAY SPEX -DAY THE WORLD TURNED DAY-GLO (1978)") http://s670.photobucket.com/albums/vv67/FunkandRoll/?action=view¤t=runawaysqueens.flv In the wake of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, the flood of modern Rock women was unleashed in the early 1970s. Routinely written off by the foolish and the threatened, nevertheless these hellions rewrote the future we live in. It's time to give them their due: The instigators: FANNY, the first all-female band signed to make albums in 1970; "THE CARRIE NATIONS", the stars of the outrageous movie "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls"; and MAMA LION, whose leader LYNN CAREY actually sang as well as co-wrote all those songs they lip-synched; SWEET LINDA DIVINE, a San Francisco soulster from the rock band Loading Zone; and her Bay Area peer, LYDIA PENSKE, with her rockin' soul group, COLD BLOOD; from Holland comes the deeply underrated SHOCKING BLUE with their axis MARISKA VERES; out of the pyschedelic group Daisy Chain came the ferociously rocking all-female BIRTHA who prompted Alice Cooper to wear their T-Shirt, "Birtha's Got Balls"; transcending typical blues-boogie to map out the avant-garde future of music was conceptual artist and punk godmother YOKO ONO; English freespirit RUTH COPELAND kicked out the jams backed by FUNKADELIC with guitar-god Eddie Hazel; SONJA KRISTINA unwound the boundaries with progressive-rockers CURVED AIR; the Scottish blues band STONE THE CROWS was fueled by MAGGIE BELL; Japan was ransacked by the SADISTIC MIKA BAND and its 'eccentric' livewire, MIKA KATOH; leaving her Detroit sisters in the Pleasure Seekers, SUZI QUATRO found fame in England with Glam Rock, inspiring teen Joan Jett and legions of others; the English boogie soul of VINEGAR JOE was fronted by Robert Palmer and siren ELKIE BROOKS; in California, LINDA RONSTADT was giving rock her own soulful swagger; having backed Lou Reed on "Walk On the Wild Side", the singers called THUNDERTHIGHS found some success among the British glam scene; with her star turn in the Who's 1975 film "Tommy", TINA TURNER declared her independence from Ike belting out rock songs; riding the Glam wave, FANCY scored with an intensely sensual take on "Wild Thing" moaned by Anne Kavanagh; the theatrical NOOSHA FOX lit up the prog-pop group, FOX; from Goldie & the Gingerbreads rolled Genya Ravan with her eclectic troupe, TEN WHEEL DRIVE; while her former bandmates Carol MacDonald and Ginger Bianco resurrected in the all-female funk-rock octet ISIS; meanwhile, the hardcore queen of funk-rock, BETTY DAVIS, scorched stages and turntables and record execs' rulebooks; and in New York, an edgy club called CBGB's was the womb for the new music to come, first hearkened by iconoclast Patti Smith; and then BLONDIE with its divining rod DEBBIE HARRY, the prototypes of the new wave rising; out of Los Angeles teen boredom exploded the revolutionary RUNAWAYS, an all-female harrrrd rock band of 16-year-old ballbusters; if Robert Plant had channeled Janis and Joni, then ANN and NANCY WILSON rechanneled Zeppelin with their group, HEART, which solidified all the hard work of the women before them into breakthrough success for those to follow; and funking up peoples' radio-programmed minds, MOTHER'S FINEST mixed it all up hard rock style propelled by hellcat JOYCE KENNEDY. About The RUNAWAYS: The L.A. scene was weak in the early 70's. Teens hung out at decadent Glam clubs, desperate for kicks and something new. Joan Jett started a female trio with the express purpose to actually Rock and rock hard. With producer Kim Fowley the quintet got its name, a record deal, many promises, and a lot of heartache. They were called puppets, groupies, and jailbait by an industry that couldn't see the future in front of them. Now it's crystal clear that the Runaways were a brutally powerful band who hinged us into Punk and Heavy Metal. They deserved better than they got, and they gave us better than we deserved. Here are the original Runaways roaring live in Japan and kicking your ass flat. To be continued in Part 2, "X-RAY SPEX -DAY THE WORLD TURNED DAY-GLO (1978)"! (All rights reserved by the owners. Fan-made video to promote awareness and appreciation.) http://www.youtube.com/funknroll Tym Stevens
X-RAY SPEX-DAY THE WORLD TURNED DAY-GLO (1978) funknroll 2007-07-29 | The Women of 1970's Punk! (See also Part 1 prequel video, "THE RUNAWAYS -QUEENS OF NOISE (1977)", and the Part 3 sequel: "LiLiPUT -EISIGER WIND (1981)") Idealism collapsed into anger by the mid-70's. With the wrenching backlash of Punk Rock and the empowerment of feminism, the modern Rock'n'Roll woman was forged and set loose. Every girl now walking with a fierce heart and strong stride is their heir. Let's give it up for the mothers of the revolution. The accused: The RUNAWAYS, teen maelstorm from California who forecast every Punk and Metal grrrl to come; TINA WEYMOUTH, bassist for the Talking Heads and leader of the Tom Tom Club; her comrades from CBGB's -the New York club where Punk was born- were DEBBY HARRY of Blondie, and PATTI SMITH; Somali/Brit POLY STYRENE piledrived with the X-RAY SPEX; and her sax player, LARA LOGIC, started the postpunk band Essential Logic; Joan Jett was so enamored of Punk that she had to forge a new future beyond the Runaways; her near-twin, bassist GAYE ADVERT, sparked the UK band The Adverts; one of the first groups on the heels of the Sex Pistols was SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES, paving postpunk and goth: from Detroit, NIKKI & THE CORVETTES were the Ramones' sisters in spirit; San Francisco brought the rage with PENELOPE HOUSTON inciting The AVENGERS; the English PENETRATION was spearheaded by PAULINE MURRAY; poet/artist/proactivist LYDIA LUNCH fronted many New York projects, including the wonderfully named No Wave band, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks; her compatriots JUDY NYLON and PATTI PALLADIN grabbed attention with SNATCH; the Los Angeles scene crested with folks like EXENE CERVANKA of X, PAT and ALICE BAG (no relation) of The BAGS, and DIANNE CHAI of the ALLEY CATS; wielding her axe like Lizzy Borden is the eternal POISON IVY of the garage psychobillies, The CRAMPS; political firebrand VI SUBVERSA flicked 'mother wit' like a whip with the POISON GIRLS; HAZEL O'CONNOR broke through scoring and starring in the undersung Punk film, "Breaking Glass" (and inspiring Pris from "Blade Runner"); from the ashes of junkiedom, MARIANNE FAITHFULL made an arresting comeback in ravaged granduer; from Georgia, KATE PIERSON and CINDY WILSON brought the mod past into the eerie future with the B-52's; CHRISSIE HYNDE left Ohio, worked in McClaren's and Westwood's SEX boutique, and formed the PRETENDERS; starting as erratic punks, no one could predict that THE SLITS would shortly flip the script into postpunk; the DELTA 5 did the original "Mind Your Own Business" covered by Chicks On Speed; from San Francisco, domme JENNIFER MIRO leads the perverse band The NUNS to this day; the feminist fist of LESLEY WOOD surged the AU PAIRS to glory with wit and intensity; starting as Kleenex, the German group LiLiPUT cut an astounding swath of postpunk brilliance; ...as did Englands' THE RAINCOATS...; and Germany's MALARIA, whose "Kaltes Clares Wasser" was also covered by Chicks On Speed; the United Expirements of America, or U.X.A., were conducted by DE DE TROIT from San Fran to L.A.; performance artist and sex activist COSI FANNI TUTTI confounded boundaries with the proto-Industrial band, THROBBING GRISTLE, and later Chris & Cosey: PEARL HARBOUR torpedoed stereotypes such as with her twist on "Fujiyama Mama"; and Punk couldn't be more personified than in the hellacious free-for-all that was WENDY O'WILLIAMS of The PLASMATICS. About X-RAY SPEX: They made one album but it is one of the five best Punk albums of all time. "Germ Free Adolescents" is wall-to-wall perfection, skewering consumer culture with barbed lines and serrated guitar and sax. The eye of this storm was the unlikely Poly Styrene. Small, eccentric, mercurial, brilliant. Seemingly erratic and perhaps hallucinatory, Poly had unerring instincts for making off-kilter things work completely. She unnerved even Johnny Rotten, who later deemed her band "superb". It's often said that the Riot Grrrl movement and Bikini Kill wouldn't have existed without her. And the moment you hear her, you know it's true. -the opening cartoon is by Jerome Gaynor. -the Lesley Woods photo is by Philippe Carly; buy great punk shots at: newwavephotos.com -Alice Bag of The BAGS has a terrific site honoring the Women of L.A. Punk: http://www.alicebag.com/mainindex.html -also check out: http://punkturns30.blogspot.com http://www.mindspring.com/~acheslow/AuntMary/bang/wip.html http://rateyourmusic.com/list/Goregirl/dont_misbehave_in_the_new_wave__women_in_the_new_wave_post_punk_no_wave_first_wave_of_punk http://www.comnet.ca/~rina/index.html (All rights reserved to the copyright owners. Fan-made video to promote awareness of the creators.) http://www.youtube.com/funknroll Tym Stevens
ISIS -APRIL FOOL (1974) funknroll 2007-07-22 | "1970's Supergirls Kick Your Butt!" The American civil rights movement opened possibilities of empowerment to a new generation. Feminism simply extended that to include equity for the 51% majority of the human race, namely women. 1970's pop culture reflected society's struggle to grasp a new, modern, full-range woman. Comic books were in a renaissance through young counterculture creators with more sophisticated stories, art, and outlooks. What better place for higher concepts of new female power than the turbo-amped fantasyscape of superheroes? "Here be... the victors!": BIG BARDA of the New Gods, by the Picasso of comics, Jack Kirby (1970); the 'new' LOIS LANE, exploring unexpected sides of herself; SHANNA The She-Devil, an heir to Tarzan and Sheena; the split-persona ROSE AND THORN, a mild woman by day, a 'vixen of vengeance' at night kicking biker ass in green leather (1972); THE CAT, a Marvel update on Catwoman, who morphed into TIGRA The Were-Woman (1972); the BLACK CANARY, a stalwart heroine from the 1940's who got new kick as a member of the Justice League of America; DEADLY NIGHTSHADE, 'the queen of the werewolves', a villain who fought Captain America and the Falcon (1973); MARY MARVEL, the sister of Captain Marvel, and essentially the original Supergirl since the early 40's (1973); DARNA, the Phillipines' pinay-power answer to Wonder Woman and Mary Marvel, who spawned many movies like 'Fly Darna Fly' (1973); THUNDRA who fought the Fantastic Four and later replaced the Thing as a member (1972); the really wrong-headed attempt at a WONDER WOMAN movie, starring Cathy Lee Crosby (1974); SUPERGIRL, with fellow slamazons in the DC Comics universe (1974); FRIDAY FOSTER, a syndicated comic strip which was made into a movie starring hellion-on-heels Pam Grier (1975); the true WONDER WOMAN, restored to her full glory after a bad detour into 'no powers', the success of which spurred the perfectly-realized TV show starring the more perfect Lynda Carter (1975-78); which also included WONDER GIRL, given full bredth by Debra Winger; THE BIONIC WOMAN, the love of the 'Six Million Dollar Man' and bane to Fembots, played with serene class by Lyndsay Wagner (1976-1978); VAMPIRELLA, the gothic love-child of Bettie Page and Barbarella, from the decidedly more adult horror stories of Warren Magazines (1969-1983); STORM, one of the first African/American superheroines, whose regal power elevated the X-Men (1975); POWER GIRL, an alternate universe version of Supergirl, who won't take @#$& from anybody! (1976); ELECTRAWOMAN & DYNAGIRL, a Saturday morning kids show very similar to the campy 60's 'Batman' series (1976); LEIKO WU, the balance to 'Shang Chi, Master Of Kung Fu', who really will kick you upside your head wearing boots like it's no thing (1975- 1981); ISIS, starring Joanna Cameron, created for TV as a companion to Captain Marvel's 'Shazam' show, who got her own comic in the deal (1976); RED SONJA, The She-Devil With a Sword, and the distaff rebuke to her rival 'Conan the Barbarian' (1973); PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA SKYWALKER, as fast with a sharp tongue as a blaster or a chain, from 'Star Wars' (1977); MS. MARVEL, a Stan Lee rethink/ response to DC's Mary Marvel to complement their own, separate Captain Mar-Vell (1978); The HUNTRESS, an alternate universe daughter of the Batman and Catwoman, meaning you shouldn't mess with her (1977); SPIDER-WOMAN, spinning her own web of intrigue (1977); PHOENIX, of the X-Men, whose descent into the Dark Phoenix was one of comics' most seismic tragedies (1976-1980); MISTY KNIGHT, bionic heroine-for-hire, from the pulse-pounding pages of 'Power Man/ Iron Fist' (1975); SHE-HULK, the refined and wry cousin of the Hulk (1980); DAZZLER, an unfortunate marketing deal between a disco label and Marvel Comics (1980); and finally, from the shadows, comes ELEKTRA, an ambivilent anti-heroine signalling the post-punk comics renaissance of the Eighties (1981). About ISIS: The first all-female band signed to a record deal was Goldie & the Gingerbreads in 1964. They tore up New York, toured with the Stones, and won world acclaim. But they were only able to record a few singles, which faded under record label incompetance. (Fanny would later be the first all-female band to make full albums, in 1970.) They split, only to go in parallel paths. Goldie became Genya Ravan, leading the eclectic and funky rock band, Ten Wheel Drive. Guitarist Carol MacDonald and drummer Ginger Bianco forged ISIS, an all-female octet of progressive funk-rock. They made three albums between 1974 and 1977. Musically they were the equal of anyone, from Blood Sweat & Tears and Chicago, to Earth Wind & Fire and Parliament. But they were too ahead for the times to handle: an all-female group of varied ethnicities and orientations, likewise bending every music style like taffy. They were the future, right now, as it should be. Sadly, their leader Carol MacDonald recently passed away in March, 2007. Find out more about her underappreciated legacy here: http://www.itsaboutmusic.com/isis.html http://www.itsaboutmusic.com/genyaravan.html Nuff said, effendi! -EXCELSIOR! http://www.youtube.com/funknroll (All rights reserved by the respective copyright owners. Fan-made video to promote awareness of all the works.)
RUTH COPELAND & FUNKADELIC -GIMME SHELTER (1972) funknroll 2007-07-14 | This is the story of Viet/Now. The United States government first supports a dictator in a foreign land most Americans know little about. They argue that this country has to be defended to stop an evil threat which will take freedom away like dominoes falling. An American President uses flimsy evidence of a threat to Americans to mislead his public into supporting the war. The media sells the story. A charismatic General heads the campaign with the backing of Congress. The public is full of pride but little knowledge. Young men are drafted into service, mainly from poor and minority areas. They are thrown into alien places to fight for and against a different culture that they can't distinguish. While the poor fight amongst the poor, corporations make record profits by creating military hardware. When atrocities happen, some in the media start to report it. The youth of the world, sympathetic to their soldier peers and angry at the war machine, begin to speak out against the war. This grows to include parents, clergy, unions, teachers, and seniors. The war is sold as protection of democracy, but those who question it are branded traitors. The soldiers are used as a "baby shield" to foster national pride while hiding the motivations of the current administration. A civil war, between generations and idealogies, splits America as well as other nations supplying soldiers for the war. The President responds to these events with more force. Troops are escalated to massive levels; the money for social programs is instead spent on the war; peaceful demonstrators are attacked and beaten; and the media is used to trumpet the war as a holy cause. A massive surge fails to route the enemy. Superior firepower seems stalemated by peasant guerillas with a cause for independence. Soldiers die in massive numbers every month. Morale begins to break in the troops. It becomes an anger that breaks out in tragedies of torture, rape, murder, and genocide. The troops are torn between those trying to hold onto hope, and those who have severely lost their way under conflicting, unethical commands from their officers. Soldiers and veterans start speaking out against the folly of the war. The wounded find themselves forgotten and disposable to their government back home. Dissent begins to spread in massive demonstrations worldwide, in the media, and respected voices of the etablishment. The American President ignores all voices and surrounds himself with character assassins to take out his enemies at home. His "win at all costs" philosophy is unmoveable and becomes a personal crusade. No amount of carpet bombing or chemical poisons or illegal actions is enough to fight his enemies. He is vilified as a monster internationally. America and the presidency are tarnished and reduced in the eyes of its admirers. He uses "dirty tricks" to win a second term against an opponent who wants to phase down the war. Popular support turns against him as he, his Vice President, and the men around him are investigated from all sides for their crimes. America's attempt to imprint itself onto another culture it doesn't understand is a failure. Massive amounts of money and time have only brought chaos and collapse to the nation it intended to strengthen. The loss of life is horrible. The loss of faith within the country is so profound it haunts the nation for generations and fissures its soul. All lessons of the war are lost as a new President, aided by men from the previous debacle, steer the nation into the same nightmare again... About Ruth Copeland: Ruth was an English soulster who married a Detroit tunesmith. There, in 1970, she entered the orbit of George Clinton and his black hippie collective, Parliament-Funkadelic. She wrote songs for the acidrock-funksters, including the classic anti-war song, "Come In Out of the Rain". With the original quintet of Funkadelic musicians she recorded two albums and toured as opening act for Sly & the Family Stone. Her music swayed from funky vamps, to rock arias, to fragile theatrical poetry that predicted Kate Bush's work. Many know her from her epic takes on the Rolling Stones' "Play With Fire" and "Gimme Shelter", as well as her scathing anti-Nixon song, "The Medal". She disappeared from performance after 1976, but both her albums are available on the "Gimme Shelter: the Invictus Sessions" CD (Sanctuary, 1997/ 2002). Eddie Hazel= lead guitar Tawl Ross= rhythm guitar Billy Bass Nelson= bass Bernie Worrell= keyboards Tiki Fulwood= drums (All rights to any works reserved by their copyright owners. Fan-made video meant respectfully as an editorial to promote awareness and discussion.) http://www.youtube.com/funknroll Tym Stevens
SWEET LINDA DIVINE -ILL SAY IT AGAIN (1970) funknroll 2007-07-08 | Mothers, sisters, lovers, friends. Stand by your woman. "Woman is the other half of the sky. If she's for real, we say she's trying to be a man." -John Lennon, 1980/1972 "Every woman has a song to sing/ Every woman has a story to tell/ Make no mistake about it, brothers/ We women have the power to move mountains." -Yoko Ono, 1973 "Remember, this man's world of yours will never be without pain and suffering until it learns love, and respect for human rights. Keep your hands extended to all in friendliness but never holding the gun of persecution and intolerance!" -Wonder Woman, 1948 "It was the boast of the founders of the republic, that the rights for which they contended were the rights of human nature. If these rights are ignored in the case of one-half the people, the nation is surely preparing for its downfall. Governments try themselves. The recognition of a governing and a governed class is incompatible with the first principles of freedom...." -Susan B. Anthony "That man over there says that women need to be helped over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud puddles, or gives me any better place. And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head (surpass) me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man- when I could get it- and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?" -Sojourner Truth, 1851 Sisters in the Revolution showcased here include: Mary Wollstonecraft, godmother of feminism; Victoria Woodhull; Sojourner Truth; Elizabeth Cady Stanton; Susan B. Anthony; the British suffragist movement, including Mary Pankhurst; the American suffragists movement, including Alice Paul (like the British women, tortured in prison for her beliefs); the women of World War II who ran the country while the men fought; William Moulton Marston's paragon of progress for humanity, Wonder Woman; Rosa Parks, the modern catalyst; Betty Friedan; Yoko Ono, conceptual artist and first Rock'n'Roll feminist (hence the haters); Germaine Greer; Kate Millet; the grand Gloria Steinem; Shirley Chisolm, the first woman to run for President; Angela Davis of the Black Panthers; Vivienne Westwood, co-instigator of the Sex Pistols and Punk fashion; Linder (Sterling), Punk artist and musician; Judy Chicago; the E.R.A.; Jenny Holzer; Barbara Kruger; the best journalist in America, Pulitzer Prize winner Susan Faludi; Dr. Anita Hill; Kathleen Hanna, instigator of Riot Grrrls, and leader of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre; The Guerilla Girls, saving Art from stupidity; and the brave women of the world who stand up against the slaver's mindset. The Equal Rights Amendement has been introduced to Congress every year for a century, and never been passed. Women make 75 cents to every man's dollar. CEO's increase their salaries to obscene levels with surplus profits. In a democracy you have the right to say something about this... About Sweet Linda Divine: As part of the San Francisco rock scene of the late 1960's, Linda Tillery was the powerhouse voice for the soulful rock group, the Loading Zone. They made two albums in which her full-throated assault punched up the proceedings. She recorded a praised solo album in 1970, taking the name Sweet Linda Divine at the suggestion of producer Al Kooper. True to his legendary pedigree, Kooper surronded her on organ while she took full front and center on tunes like "I'll say It Again", an anthemic revolutionary take on James Brown. "Linda subsequently played drums and sang on over 40 albums throughout the 1970's. she became a regular musician and producer at the feminst record label, oliva Records, who released her classic recording, "Freedom Time", in 1977. At the start of the 1990's she performed leading vocals as Sweet Linda Divine on MC Hammer's Please, Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em" and continues to record to this day." ("Gimme Shelter: Kaleidoscopic Funk collision" CD, Harmless Recordings, 2001.) http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Linda%20Tillery.html http://www.culturalheritagechoir.com/linda_tillery.shtml http://www.thefestival.bc.ca/artists.php?perID=2750 http://www.amazon.com/Tillery-&-The-Cultural-Heritage-Choir,-Linda/artist/B000AQ1MQ0 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/23/NSCF18QUK5.DTL&type=music (All rights reserved. Fan-made video to promote awareness and fairness.) http://www.youtube.com/funknroll Tym Stevens
YVONNE FAIR-FUNKY MUSIC SHO NUFF TURNS ME ON (1975) funknroll 2007-07-08 | The sequel to: "BETTY DAVIS -F.U.N.K. (2.0)" http://youtube.com/watch?v=oNcohPUr1PI&feature=related Here are more of the pioneers of Funk music, from circa 1969 to 1976 (with a few extra upstarts sneaking in, like Prince and Teena.) This is for all of you who enjoyed the video for "Betty Davis -F.U.N.K. Part 2)" and wanted to know more! Like all actual culture, Funk is a gumbo in which everyone contributes. It's not one one thing any more than there is one food or one color. Here's who riled up the party: VICKI ANDERSON, of James Brown's posse; AVERAGE WHITE BAND, from Scotland; the Escovedo brothers (scions of Sheila E) with the latin jazz of AZTECA; the other house band of Stax Records (and "SHAFT"), the BAR-KAYS; alien funkster via the U.K., DAVID BOWIE; from Parliament/Funkadelic, the funkyamorous BRIDES OF FUNKENSTEIN; Quincy Jones' secret weapons, the BROTHERS JOHNSON; psychedelic funk-rock pioneers, the CHAMBERS BROTHERS; with "Viva Tirado" comes EL CHICANO; the Bay Area's boogie blues of COLD BLOOD with belter Lydia Pense; James' hitwoman LYN COLLINS ("It takes two to make a thing go ri-iight!"); the funkrock hellion herself, BETTY DAVIS; New Orleans voodoo man, DR. JOHN; sultans of famous samples, the EBONY RHYTHM BAND; Detroit's intense funkrockers, THE 8TH DAY; Ms. YVONNE FAIR herownself; FELA RANSOME KUTI, champion of Afrobeat and revolution for Nigeria; the inventor of Funk bass, Larry GRAHAM's CENTRAL STATION; U.K's smart disco, HEATWAVE ("Boogie Nights"); the all-female funky rockers, ISIS (formed from Goldie & the Gingerbreads); the immortal ISLEY BROTHERS; the J.B.'s, James' band led by Fred Wesley, and ignition for Bootsy Collins; Nona Hendryx, Sara Dash, and Patti Labelle of LABELLE; the Wilson brothers from Columbia, with the world fusion of MANDRILL; Jorge Santana with the latin groove of MALO ("Suavecito"); madame TEENA MARIE, foil to Rick James, fronting it blunt; from Stax Records, the legendary MEMPHIS HORNS centered around Andrew Love and Wayne Jackson; the unapologetic rock of MOTHER'S FINEST, featuring Joyce Kennedy; soul groovers the NEW BIRTH; the royalty of the OHIO PLAYERS; the African fusion band OSIBISA; stealth freaker SHUGGIE OTIS; also from P-Funk, the booty-snatchin' PARLET; the secret son of Sly Stone and Betty Davis, the purple monarch PRINCE; the Native American funksters, REDBONE ("Come and Get Your Love"); the heavenly STAPLE SINGERS, featuring Mavis and Pops; Oakland's unbeatable TOWER OF POWER; Motown's answer to Funkadelic, the UNDISPUTED TRUTH; the most bad-azz music band in the land, WAR (with the Animals' Eric Burdon); hitting it once but so right, WILD CHERRY; the underrated titan of tune, BILL WITHERS; mentor to Joss Stone, BETTY WRIGHT; and Frank Zappa's MOTHERS OF INVENTION, featuring George Duke. Phew! About Yvonne Fair: Yvonne was an early light in the James Brown heavens, knocking out soul singles in the early 60's. Her rendition of "I Found You" is the blow-for-blow blueprint for his "I got You (I Feel Good)". She was the mother of Jame's second son. By the 1970's she moved to Motown. She starred as Billy Holiday's (Diana Ross) mentor in their famed biopic, "Lady Sings the Blues" (1972). The Free Love ethos of the counterculture had blossomed into the loose polyamory of the 70's; this was reflected in the soul community in places like the Chakacha's orgasmic "Jungle Fever", the harcore comedy of Richard Pryor, the proud raunch of Millie Jackson, and Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" album. When Betty Davis roared in to ratchet it up several notches, Motown seemed to respond with Yvonne Fair. Her LP, "The Bitch Is Black" (1975), is graced with Yvonne as a kinky whip-toting domme on the cover. Marvin Gaye produced and sang on her swaggering take on "Funky Music Sho' Nuff Turns Me On". This was a chestnut previously done by roster stars like Edwin Starr and the Temptations, but Yvonne brings a whole new swing to it. Powered by both the strength of feminism and the sensual rebellion of the time, it foretells the sex-positive activists of today. (All rights reserved. Fan-made video to promote awareness of the artists.) http://www.youtube.com/funknroll Tym Stevens
TINA TURNER -WHOLE LOTTA LOVE (1975) funknroll 2007-07-08 | Love and Let Love! "All You Need Is Love" meant empathy, intimacy, support, selflessness, and spiritual solidarity. These are the tonics to alienation, segregation, hostility, selfishness, and existential emptiness. The expression of love is a sacred act and a spiritual pact. It may be fleeting, maybe only a cherished moment, or perhaps as deep as life is long. But the selfless act of giving of ourselves for another's benefit lifts us into the better angels of our nature. Hate only degrades and destroys. Love nourishes the individual soul and the human species. Without it, we will not survive. Love is love and Hate ain't; it can't be legislated, leveled, or lynched. Let no one put it asunder. This is a tribute to love; it's stirrings; it's courtship; its consumation; its playful dynamics and trusts; its gameplaying; its limitless range. Love is the antidote to all harm; it is the pulsebeat of the human race. About Tina Turner: As the burning heart of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue in the 1960's, Tina was the comet that scorched the stage. She had all the swagger of James Brown with a whole new dimension of sensuality to boot. While girl groups played it straight in matching dresses, she kicked in heels and hot pants. And her no-nonsense delivery, almost certainly in retaliation to the abusive Ike, let everybody know who owned the spotlight. By 1975 she left Ike and found stardom portraying the Acid Queen in Ken Russell's film version of the Who's TOMMY. This was so pivotal she released the "Acid Queen" album, with covers of the Rolling Stones, the Who, and Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love". With patient persistance she finally exploded into deserved superstardom in the 1980's. Without her, there would be no Betty Davis, Millie Jackson, Joyce Kennedy, Brides Of Funkenstein and Parlet, Grace Jones, Annie Lennox, Madonna, En Vogue, Lil' Kim, Joss Stone, Joi, or Nikka Costa. All hail the queen! (All rights reserved. Fan-made video to promote awareness.) Tym Stevens
ALICE SHIELDS -STUDY FOR VOICE AND TAPE (1968) funknroll 2007-06-29 | Sound, the infinite frontier! Science had chopped the world into atoms, components from which to build. Modern art deconstructed reality, reconstructing our perceptions of it. And the first Electronic Music likewise took apart sound and turned it inside out for new compositions. Vladimir Ussachevsky founded the first Electronic Music Center jointly with Columbian and Princeton universities in 1952. He brought in avant composers from countries worldwide with new perspectives and radical expirementation. This included women like Daria Semegen, Pril Smiley, Wendy Carlos, and Alice Shields. In the 50's, Electronic Music was distortions of recordings. Sounds on a tape recorder would be manipulated by feedback, repeated spliced loops, overlapping tracks with multiple recorders, and using oscillators and reverb to sculpt the tempo, tone, or texture. This prevailed in continually advancing ways well through the 1960s. Alice used these techniques in creating this composition. A gifted mezzesoprano, she first sang a poem she'd written. She accompanied this with the first analog Buchla synthesizer, a rare and recent device only beginning to draw the attention of the hippest pop musicians. She then manipulated pitch and speed in textural patterns to supplement the freeform song. This was the cutting edge music of the future, usually heard only in academic circles. But it made its way into film soundtracks (from FORBIDDEN PLANET to Wendy Carlos' A CLOCKWORK ORANGE), Fusion Jazz (Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock), Progressive Rock (from George Harrison's 1969 ELECTRONIC SOUND to Krautrock and Kraftwerk), Funk (Stevie Wonder's T.O.N.T.O., Bernie Worrell), on to the synthesizer explosion of New Wave, then Hip Hop (from Bambaataa's ElectroFunk to Public Enemy's radical sculptures of noise), Industrial (synthetic abrasion), and the Electronica music of today; as such, Alice Shields is a godmother of Le Tigre, Peaches, Chicks On Speed, Lesbians On Ecstasy, and Ladytron, to name a few. Learn more about Alice and her recent work here: http://www.aliceshields.com http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/cpemc.html http://www.furious.com/PERFECT/ohm/columbiaprinceton.html From the 1950s' to the 1970's was the Space Age. The gleaming future was predicted in every corner of life, from music to clothes, fabrics, furniture, architecture, technology, cars, movies, television, comic books and illustrated strips, and of course science fiction. Every take on the future was a promise of a better tomorrow, or a warning. This video pays homage to much of the pop culture from the early 60's to the mid 70's, focusing on the women and their emerging new roles and styles: THE JETSONS; BARBARELLA; the Silver Surfer's purpose, Shalla Bal; Nick Fury's better half, the contessa Val, courtesy of visionary Jim Steranko; Lt. Uhura and the varied women of STAR TREK; 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY; the EXPO '70 future city in Japan; Big Barda from Jack Kirby's New Gods comics; Lt. Ellis and the purple squad from UFO (U.K., 1970-73); decked out in Dave Cockrum's radical costumes, Saturn Girl and sisters from the Legion of Super-Heroes (1974); and Labelle kicking Funk to the future like Parliament. See also: DELIA DERBYSHIRE- "The Wizards Laboratory" (1972) http://youtube.com/watch?v=F9AkSI_UbIE MALARIA! -"Your Turn To Run" (1982) http://youtube.com/watch?v=OUTS9r8DGPw (All rights reserved. Fan-made nonprofit video to promote awareness of the artist, and the surrounding pop culture of the times.) Tym Stevens
THE SHE TRINITY -CLIMB THAT TREE (1970) funknroll 2007-06-29 | "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." When you say something, you should mean it. If a parent speaks of good examples, they shouldn't then do bad things instead. If a child loves that parent so much they challenge them to return to their better selves, they shouldn't be beaten for it. The children of 1968 basically asked for one thing: for their parents to honor the values they supposedly held. For that, they were demonized, beaten, or killed. For the next 40 years the unrepentant parents and their lesser clones have refused to come from the shadow of the dark side. Today we are in exact replays of the dangers the Generation of Love warned about; Ecology destroyed, civil rights walled up, a paranoid police state unchecked, the dissenting public treated as traitors, a spineless media sleepwalking, and more unending murder for profit (war). The subtext under everything relevent for the last four decades is about the world trying to reconcile this struggle. For instance, the students in Paris who revolted in 1968 were the spiritual catalyst for the Punk explosion in Britain in 1976. The "Prague Spring" youth may have been crushed by the Russians in 1968, but a generation raised under the Wall rebelled in 1989 and brought down Communism country by country in six months. (Completely despite Reagan, who took credit.) The Grunge/ Riot Grrl/ Concious Rap zeitgeist of the early 90's was a direct backlash of counterculture values against Reagan and Bush, and helped bring Clinton into office. (And Gore and Kerry, if you go by the actual counts.) Even in popular films, the subtext of idealistic youth betrayed by their corrupted father figure is endlessly working itself out (APOCALYPSE NOW, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, REDS, WALL STREET, ROGER & ME, TWIN PEAKS, FIGHT CLUB, THE MATRIX, MINORITY REPORT, KILL BILL, HERO, BATMAN BEGINS, V FOR VENDETTA, etc.). The struggle continues between the forces of awareness and those who would keep us in the dark. Climb the tree of knowledge anyway. The future belongs to the knowing. About The She Trinity: They were a trio of Canadian musicians who found their way to England; Robyn Yorke (drums), Shelley Gillespie (guitar), and Sue Kirby (bass?). Robyn revamped the line-up with Pauline Moran (bass), Eileen Woodman (keys), Barbara Thompson (sax), and Liverpool belter Beryl Marsden. There were brief name changes and shake-ups. The final combo was Robyn, Eileen, Pauline, and now Inger Jonnsson on guitar. They released a cover of "Hair" in 1970, for which "Climb That Tree" was the B-side. This cover of a tune written by the psychedelic band The Onyx should've got far more attention, but the single sank without a trace. Resurrected recently on the 'DREAM GIRLS 6' compilation, it is as timely as ever. -Enjoy Eileen's photos and memories of the band at this website: http://marmalade-skies.co.uk/She%20Trinity.htm -Write her a line! eileen.harron@btinternet.com Check out more of my Herstory Of Rock at: http://www.youtube.com/funknroll Find more great women rockers of the 1960s at: http://www.myspace.com/girlgaragemayhem http://www.myspace.com/singapores'spopmusic (All rights reserved. Fan-made video for awareness of the artists.) Tym Stevens
ENNIO MORRICONE/EDDA DELLORSO-Ma Non Troppo Erotico(1971) funknroll 2007-06-16 | The Muse and the Maestro! Italian composer Ennio Morricone flipped the script on 1960's film soundtracks. Out went the syrupy strings, in came radical arrangements, instruments, and textures. The otherworldly voice heralding many of these avant arias belonged to Edda Dell'Orso. Ennio worked in many styles to reflect the 400 hundred movies he scored, and his own restless resolve to try new things. Edda could roll with anything he threw her way. His 'spaghetti westerns' ricocheted with rough chants, surf clang, jews harps, and whistling: Edda soared into eternity on the magnificently operatic "The Ecstasy of Gold" (THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY). For thrillers, he blendered abrasive and feverish avant-garde soundscapes; Edda hyperventilated gasps somewhere between orgasm and strangulation, at once alluring and disturbing (SHORT NIGHT OF THE GLASS DOLLS). For romantic romps, he served a breezy lounge cocktail of pop and jazz sensuality; Edda's seductive and upbeat scatting and tonal scales set the template for Stereolab, Hooverphonic, and Pizzicato 5 to follow. This song, for the 1971 film "THE BURGLERS", is in that realm. She worked with all the great Italian composers, like Nicolai, Umiliani, and Piccioni as well. Check out more of her steller work here: http://www.myspace.com/eddadell39orso http://www.myspace.com/enniomorricone Rudi Gernreich was the iconoclast of 1960's fashion. He tore out the binding constrictions that strangled womens' clothing, and made everything fluid and flowing with the form. He invented the topless bikini, portals in clothes, the use of vinyl and plastic, the concept of unisex, the first designer jean, and the thong. But his best gambit was the unclassifiable Peggy Moffitt. Models before had been fembots parading armor dresses with classic femininity. Peggy upended all of that. She was a performance artist, turning each vogue into an individual character. She evolved into a persona that made her seem from the far future; this was true, because Rudi and she were inventing it as they went. Her kabuki eye makeup, helmut bowlcut, mime shapes, gender-ending manner, mischievous pluck, and intense presence tore up the rulebook on female appearance, behaviour, and attitude. Her bold style had immediate effect on the times from Cher to Spock. Her alien androgeny set the stage for Bowie's Ziggy Stardust several years later. Her mercurial nature and fierce eyemakeup opened the way for Siousiee Sioux and many a New Wave novitiate in the 80's. And her boundless physicality and hairstyle anticipated Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) today. Between them Rudi and Peggy wrote much of the future we live in. (In fact, Peggy designed the typefont that's used in the video for names; it's a tribute to Rudi's red/black motifs.) Learn more about these brilliant pioneers at: http://www.myspace.com/rudigernreich http://www.designervintage.com/rudi.html http://www.amazon.com/Rudi-Gernreich-Book-Rizzoli/dp/084781422X Check out my Herstory Of Rock at: http://www.youtube.com/funknroll (All rights reserved. Fan-made video to promote awareness of the artists.) Tym Stevens
SHARON TANDY -DAUGHTER OF THE SUN (1968) funknroll 2007-06-16 | The women of 1960's Rock'n'Soul! Sharon Tandy escaped anti-semitic hatred in her native South Africa by moving to Swinging London in the mid-60's. Her sound was so soulful that she took the name "Tandy", which meant 'Black' back home, as a badge of proud solidarity. Backed by the crack Mod band, the Fluer De Lys (famed for their cover of the Who's "Circles"), she belted out soul strutters, epic ballads, and psychedelic monsters like "Hold On", "Daughter of the Sun", and "Gotta Get Enough Time". She even recorded four great songs in Memphis with the crucial Booker T & the MG's, a year before Dusty's great album. Though she never got enough acclaim for her work, an excellent retrospective CD called "You've Got To Believe...It's Sharon Tandy" brings it all together for the world to catch up. http://www.acerecords.co.uk/content.php?page_id=59&release=1520 Here are the pioneers celebrated in this video: guitaristas Peggy "Lady Bo" Jones and The Duchess (Bo Diddley); Rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson; Folk activist Odetta; bluesy belter Etta James; songwriter Carole King; tough girl group Ronnie Spector & the Ronettes; Motown madames Mary Wells, Kim Weston, and Martha Reeves & the Vandellas; protester Joan Baez; chameleonic Jackie DeShannon; first signed female rock band, Goldie & the Gingerbreads; ubiquitous darlings Darlene Love & the Blossoms; Liverpool's own rockers The Liverbirds; French chanteuse Francoise Hardy; Brit soulster Sandy Shaw; the true 'Dreamgirls', the Supremes; gathering no moss, Marianne Faithfull; UK pop diva LuLu; session bassist extroidinaire Carole Kaye (Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, the Doors, etc.); the edgy Shangri-La's, featuring Mary Weiss; R'n'B guitarslinger Barbara Lynn; Garage and Psyche hellions, the Luv'd Ones; Ms. Sharon Tandy herself; Rock empresses Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane) and Janis Joplin; agitator Nina Simone; street punks Mo Tucker and Nico (Velvet Underground); Soul tsar Aretha Franklin; Burt Bacharach's best luck, Dionne Warwick; English Soul sovereign Dusty Springfield; California dreamers 'Mama' Cass Elliott and Michelle Phillips (Mamas & the Papas); Soulrocker Tina Turner and the Ikettes; formet Ikette and Mod god P.P. Arnold; ever-fluid Julie Driscoll (Brian Auger Trinity); Brazilian Pysche-stress Rita Lee (Os Mutantes); songwriter supreme Margo Guryan; Motown's lamented Tammi Terrell and underrated Chris Clarke; Funkrockers Rose Stone and Cynthia Robinson (Sly & the Family Stone); Suzi Quatro's first band, the Pleasure Seekers; Dylan's counterpoint, Joni Mitchell; Soul shouter Merry Clayton (Rolling Stones); Sacramento's teen garage girls, She; Zappa's crazed accomplices, the GTO's ('Girls Together Outrageously'); Dutch Rock czarina Mariska Veres (Shocking Blue); and the approximately infinite universe of Yoko Ono. Check out more of my Herstory Of Rock at: http://www.youtube.com/funknroll Also check out: http://www.myspace.com/girlgaragemayhem http://www.myspace.com/girlsinthegaragetribute http://www.myspace.com/singapore6039spopmusic http://www.myspace.com/dadooronron60sgirlgroups http://www.myspace.com/herecomethegirls (All rights reserved. Fan-made video to promote all the artists.) Tym Stevens
THE KANE TRIPLETS- MISSION IMPOSSIBLE (1968) funknroll 2007-05-25 | SEE ALSO THE SEQUEL, "ALICE SHIELDS- STUDY FOR VOICE AND TAPE (1968)"! "There are words to that?!" That's what everybody thinks the first time they hear this. Yes, there are and they're really cool! When JFK was asked what he was reading he mentioned a spy novel. Immediately James Bond was fast-tracked into cinema houses worldwide. He was the perfect standard for Cold War virility, a John Wayne man with Hugh Hefner's upscale tastes. Television, movies, and comics ran with the espionage concept for the rest of the decade. Women became crucial players in these games of death and deceit. The proactive Mod culture set the example of the modern self-sufficient woman, and THE AVENGERS reflected this with Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg, and Linda Thorson. They weren't Miss Moneypenny, they were Jane Bond; Kinky, cool, and lethal. MODESTY BLAISE threw down in the UK comic strips and in a hyper-Mod movie. Batgirl, enlivened by Yvonne Craig, was invented for the massively popular BATMAN TV series and took on a life of her own. "Meanwhile", villainess Catwoman stole all the best lines, attitude, and fashion. She was suitably mercurial in the forms of Lee Meriwether, Julie Newmar, and Eartha Kitt, whose brilliant casting opened a door for African American actors. French artist Guido Crepax envisioned a thoroughly adult comic where a Mod photographer named VALENTINA 's free sensuality, independence, and sharp observation guide her through surrealistic adventures. His boldly experimental graphic style was seamlessly converted to celluloid with the underrated BABA YAGA film (1973). Barbara Bain and her husband Martin Landau helped launch MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE on it's original eight year stealth run. The Italian anti-hero Diabolik stole into cinemas in the modernist spectacle called DANGER DIABOLIK, which starred John Phillip Law and Marisa Mell as his match, Eva Kant. And then there's BARBARELLA. Jean Claude-Forest pushed the envelope with his torrid tales of a spacefaring free-loving minx. Surprisingly the film, starring a breakout Jane Fonda, retained as much of the adult comic as celluloid could handle, helping herald a new wave of sensuality and permissiveness in modern film. Anita Pallenberg steals the story as the Black Queen, dazzling the world with whirling knives, fetish futurism, polyamory, and sapphic seduction. THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. spun-off satellite sister Stephanie Powers in her own bulletproof jetcar. Wonder Woman got a makeover into an Avengers-inspired agent with a smashing Mod wardrobe. (In the early 70's, longtime fan Gloria Steinem helped wake her back up into her power mode.) "This (Ape) planet wouldn't be nothing without a woman or a girl", like Nova and Dr. Zira. If spy shows let women kick butt, and Barbarella opened their attitudes, this film reflected the growing disenchantment that something was going horribly wrong with the war machine. Meanwhile DC Comics let its readers redesign Supergirl for the changing age. it was one thing to be a good girl fighting crime like a man. It was another thing to be Tura Satana. In FASTER PUSSYCAT, KILL KILL! she kills men for a thrill and cuts as sharply with her tongue as with a karate chop. As the amoral Varla, she invented every badass woman from Russ Meyer to Punk to Goth to Psychobilly to Tarantino. The anti-hero westerns sparked by Sergio Leone took on new form with Raquel Welch in HANNIE CAULDER (1971), a tale of rape and complete vengeance. As the times got heavier, so did the subject matter and responses of the women in them. Yet another French erotic comic, PRAVDA: LA SURVIREUSE, was the shocking pop art SF and SM tale of a naked woman on her jaguar motorcycle tearing up tarmac. A Manga by the duo who created LONE WOLF AND CUB gave new meaning to shonen knife; its heroine "carnage" came to life and took many others in the LADY SNOWBLOOD films. Completing this arc of steadily more intense mistresses on a mission is the star of THRILLER/ THEY CALL HER ONE-EYE (1973), a Swedish film where she goes on a roaring rampage of revenge Quentin will never forget. Any resemblence to ALIAS, Ripley from ALIEN, THE BRIDE films, LARA CROFT, Trinity from THE MATRIX, THE QUICK AND THE DEAD, HIGHLANDER THE RAVEN, LA FEMME NAKITA, DARK ANGEL, BIRDS OF PREY, BUFFY, the Beastie Boys "Body Movin" video, GHOST IN THE SHELL, AEON FLUX, CQ, BARB WIRE, BLOODRAYNE, ULTRA VIOLET, UNDERWORLD, ELEKTRA, and especially KILL BILL is entirely the point. Ahem. Ah yes, about the Kane Triplets. Lucille, Jeanne, and Maureen were showbiz pros from New York who toured the Vegas and Reno circuit and the Sullivan, Douglas, and Como shows. Their interpretation of Lalo Schifren's iconic theme song is amazing in its vocal pyrotechnics. Once you learn the lyrics you'll want to sing them every time to impress your friends, or alarm them. Check out this brilliant cartoon of PRAVDA done recently: http://www.thegenre.com/mov/pravda.html My Herstory Of Rock videos is at: http://www.youtube.com/funknroll
MARGO GURYAN- LOVE (1968) funknroll 2007-05-25 | Opening the door to every room you live in! By the mid-60's all the new ideas of how to reinvent the future hit critical mass. The biggest generation ever had access to more ways of communicating than ever. Telephones, airplanes, freeways nationwide, record albums, fashion mags, concert tours, TV dance programs, college campuses; everything was becoming a world wide web for connecting and correcting. The Civil Rights movement had triggered this Empowerment Decade. "Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about." Try something new, resurrect something lost, use change to recreate tomorrow. Daily we are still catching up with everything they opened up. There are actually two rebel aesthetics in the 60's. Modern Futurism and Organic Naturalism. The first encompassed the Space Age, Swinging London, Mods, Jack Kirby and Jim Steranko comics, hipster lounge music, Art Deco, modern architecture, modular art design, James Bond sets by Ken Adam, plastic and chrome. The latter rejected that as a path to sleek sterility, embracing the organic and the classic historical: marijuana, hair length, flowers, native american buckskin and headbands, Victorian jackets and granny glasses, Art Nouveu, tribal clothes from history, folds and layers, skin and natural form, ZAP Comix, complex strobing graphics, spontaneous happenings and conceptual art, ancient wisdom, and a humanist philosophy that held at its core..."love". Being the 60's, these were two views and you were free to pick and choose what you could use. Margo Guryan was a classical and jazz student in the early 60's. Ornette Coleman was a fellow student, Milt Jackson and Max Roach among her storied teachers. Hearing Brian Wilson swayed her into the ethereal world of melodic pop. The success of her songwriting, such as "Sunday Morning" (Spanky & Our Gang, Oliver) and "Think Of Rain" (Astrud Gilberto, Claudine Longet, Jackie DeShannon) earned her the chance to record an album. The "Take a Picture" LP, which contains "Love", has become a revered pop classic that found even more fans recently in an expanded CD reissue. Margo is on the upswing with all the new attention. Check out her website here: http://www.myspace.com/margoguryan Her new song is an excellent comment on the current war: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Q7soN6HNU3Y "Love/ How do you know the things you do you do not only from need and not from greed but only from love?" Check out my other Herstory Of Rock videos at: http://www.youtube.com/funknroll A great site about 60's women rockers to check out is: http://www.myspace.com/girlgaragemayhem Tym Stevens
JENNY & THE RASCALS- YOU TOLD ME A LIE (1965) funknroll 2007-05-19 | "(Advertising) proposes to each of us that we transform ourselves, or our lives, by buying something more." "This more, it proposes, will make us in some way richer- even though we will be poorer by having spent our money. Publicity persuades us of such a transformation by showing us people who have apparently been transformed and are, as a result, enviable. The state of being envied is what constitutes glamour. And publicity is the process of manufacturing glamour." "Publicity is about social-relations, not (selling) objects. Its promise is not of pleasure, but of happiness: happiness is judged from the outside by others. The happiness of being envied is glamour." -John Berger, WAYS OF SEEING, (1973) Jenny & the Rascals (no, not that Rascals) were a Dutch group from the mid-60's. Like bands worldwide they challenged the norms of their country with fashion, lifestyle, and music. Womens' discontent became more apparant in the garage songs of this transition era. The CD 'From the Kitchen To the Garage' compiling the Dutch female scene says Jenny Streur achieved popularity outside of The Hague, where her manager father rebelled against the corrupt club system. They opened for the Troggs at one point, though insisted they be the lead act in general. "Jenny was a big Them fan which you can hear very well. It is rumoured that Brian Epstein tried to get her to England to join a girl-group over there. Jenny refused." They made two 45's, from which this edgy gem comes. The Dutch scene built in intensity, helping to propel the coming success of Shocking Blue, with Mariska Veres. A great site about 60's women rockers to check out is: http://www.myspace.com/girlgaragemayhem Tym Stevens
GLORIA JONES- TAINTED LOVE (1964) funknroll 2007-05-19 | New GLORIA JONES video channels!: http://www.youtube.com/TheGloriaJones http://www.youtube.com/WrittenByGloriaJones ABOUT THIS VIDEO: The undercurrent of change is challenge. In the 50's, the Beats, the Ban The Bomb movement, and Rock'n'Roll challenged the status quo of America as limiting and oppressive. The early 60's continued this with the advent of young idealist JFK, the folk music boom, and most importantly the ongoing Civll Rights struggle. History's biggest generation was poised on the brink of the future. They were discovering that their fathers said one thing and did another. The struggle between their optimism and the system's hypocrisy is still raging today... About Gloria Jones: She was an American soul singer who peaked with this steller tune in '64. It never quite made the mainstream, but was big abroad. She eventually, like Jimi and P.P. Arnold and so many others, found better support and fame in England. In the early 70's she met Marc Bolan of T.Rex. They were steadfast partners until his untimely death in 1977. Their son was responsible for the recent restoration of the T.Rex documentary, "Born To Boogie", shot by Ringo Starr. This song of course finally received its fame in a medley with the Supremes' "Where did Our Love Go" which became a huge hit for English new wave duo Soft Cell in 1982. It's also been remade by Coil, Inspiral Carpets, Marilyn Manson, The Pussycat Dolls, and sampled by Rhianna for "S.O.S. (Rescue Me)". A great site about 60's women rockers to check out is: http://www.myspace.com/girlgaragemayhem Tym Stevens
NINA SIMONE- DONT LET ME BE MISUNDERSTOOD (1964) funknroll 2007-05-19 | 'Wrestling for the soul of America.' I grew up in the South and Midwest during the civil rights years and their aftermath. It challenged everything about my world and changed my perception of life. Not a single day passes where the lessons learned are not effecting my perceptions, my outlook, or my aspirations. What is right now comes from their paths, what is wrong is from where any of us have lost the way. It's on each of us to make it better for each other. Selflessness brings us into the better angels of our nature. This is my psalm of love to my heroes, the bravest of the brave. The PBS series, EYES ON THE PRIZE, has become available again. To me, it is the single greatest and most relevent thing ever shown on television. Check it out and be heartened by the bittersweet struggle for the very soul of America. Peace. EYES ON THE PRIZE dvd: http://www.amazon.com/Eyes-Prize-Americas-Rights-1954-1965/dp/B0031WNYHK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1266453468&sr=8-1 See the alternate video: THE STAPLE SINGERS -"Freedom Highway" (1965) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7_b_jyRVRc (All rights reserved by the copyright owners. Fan-made nonprofit video solely to promote the artists and the history.)
