A good mixtape is a narrative, bringing together a well selected series of songs in a seamless progression. Musicophilia has posted a three part mix of post-punk female led bands and it’s a suitable primer – inspiring, comprehensive and lots of fun. The songs and bands included on the mixes are listed below. For full track listing info, liner notes and anecdotes check out Musicophilia’s blog entries (linked below) and download the ca. 45 minute mixes direct from his site.
Hmm, maybe I should start doing this mix thing again…
Link: The Young Lady’s Post-Punk Handbook, Volume 1 01 Laurie Anderson – “Example #22″
02 Delta 5 – “Innocenti”
03 The Go-Go’s – “Automatic”
04 Raincoats – “Red Shoes”
05 X – “The Once Over Twice”
06 Flying Lizards – “Her Story”
07 Jane Hudson – “Mystery Chant”
08 Crass – “Smother Love”
09 Blondie – “Heart of Glass”
10 Sonic Youth – “I Dreamed I Dream”
11 Selecter – “On My Radio”
12 Marine Girls – “A Place in the Sun”
13 Lizzy Mercier-Descloux – “Funky Stuff”
14 Weekend – “Nostalgia”
Link: The Young Lady’s Post-Punk Handbook, Volume 2
01 Family Fodder – “Savoir Faire”
02 Au Pairs – “It’s Obvious”
03 Chris & Cosey – “This Is Me”
04 Plastics – “Back to Wigtown”
05 Pylon – “Cool”
06 The Slits – “Love und Romance”
07 Siouxsie & The Banshees – “Lunar Camel”
08 The B-52’s – “52 Girls”
09 Swamp Children – “Boy”
10 Y Pants – “That’s The Way Boys Are”
11 Antena – “Camino Del Sol”
12 Vivien Goldman – “Launderette”
13 Cocteau Twins – “But I’m Not”
14 Thick Pigeon – “Jess + Bart (Mix)”
Link: The Young Lady’s Post-Punk Handbook, Volume 3 01 Creatures – “Miss The Girl”
02 Eurythmics – “Sing-Sing”
03 Phew – “Doze”
04 E.S.G. – “Moody”
05 Maximum Joy – “Searching for a Feeling”
06 Los Microwaves – “La Voix Humane”
07 Ludus – “My Cherry is in Sherry”
08 Crash Course in Science – “Cardboard Lamb”
09 Grace Jones – “Nightclubbing”
10 Lydia Lunch – “Gloomy Sunday”
11 Marilyn & The Movie Stars – “So Disgraceful”
12 Young Marble Giants – “Music for Evenings”
13 The Pretenders – “Lovers of Today”
This week I’m highlighting the film Born in Flames with an excerpt and an interview with the creator Lizzie Borden. There’s no reason you should not own the DVD re-issue. Really.
“Born in Flames opens ten years after a social democratic revolution when America is starting to swing to the right again. Women, lesbians and minorities who were instrumental in the transformation of society are losing their jobs: a familiar last-hired /first-fired scenario which feeds their doubts about the practical impact of this ‘revolution.’
In this her first narrative feature film, editor and ex-art critic/painter Lizzie Borden creates a kaleidoscope portrait of women splintered into dozens of different political factions. On Phoenix Radio, Honey talks, offering politics based on her intuitions and background. On Radio Regazza, Adele Bertei raps for the people who will chase any excitement. And the pages of the Socialist Youth Review speak in measured bourgeois intellectual phrases, defending the regime and avoiding the deficiencies of social-democratic policies on women and other “out” groups.
As music by The Bloods, Ibis and Red Crayola pounds, events overtake these groups: the Women’s Army- the only faction without a media voice – lays plans for an open revolt…” (Jan Oxenberg & Lucy Winer – The Independent, November 1983)
About ten years ago I had the fortune to meet a woman named Sarah Jacobson, an independent filmmaker, who at that time was touring the US promoting and screening her film “Mary Jane’s Not a Virgin Anymore.” I saw her again in 2001 at the Ladyfest in Chicago, the last time we would meet before her tragic passing in early 2004 of cancer. Not only did she inspire me with DIY attitude, tenacity and talent, Sarah also introduced me to a little lost gem of a film from 1981 called “Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains.” She carried a copy of it with her and screened it before her film whenever she got the chance.
Despite Sarah’s endorsement and a growing cult following, the film languished in obscurity – that is until recently, when Rhino re-released it on DVD in autumn 2008. Directed by Lou Adler (Up In Smoke) and produced by Joe Roth, the film stars Diane Lane and Laura Dern as members of The Stains, along with Steve Jones and Paul Cook of The Sex Pistols, Clash bassist Paul Simonon and Fee Waybill of the Tubes.
Surly and sexy in one of her earliest starring roles, a teenage Lane is the prototypical riot grrl. Sporting a skunk hairdo, she verbally assaults the audience and leads her legion of adoring young female fans in the chant, “We don’t put out!” Check out the clip below, depicting the band’s first gig ever, then go and see the entire film in full length. Join the professionals!
There are some great films and video projects documenting women in the 1970s and 1980s punk scene. Over the next few weeks I’ll be talking about a few of these with excerpts, interviews and other special insights.
This week I’m highlighting the film Punk Cocktail, an sixty minute film released in late 2006 produced, directed and shot by René Uhlmann during the Zurich punk scene between 1976 – 80. Uhlmann was a fixture as concerts with his Super 8 camera and caught the live action of such infamous Swiss bands as the Dogboys, Mother’s Ruin, Nasal Boys, TNT, Troppo, Sperma and, of course, Kleenex.
The film is currently available on DVD from the swisspunk website. If you’re hankering for more of a Züripunk fix, you might consider having a look at Hot Love: Swiss Punk & Wave 1976-1980, a coffeetable of a book also published in late 2006. It features interviews, photos, newspaper clippings and anecdotes lovingly compiled by Lurker Grand.
Today I present you an excerpt from “Punk Cocktail” featuring live footage of Kleenex, in it’s various incarnations, including their first ever gig at Club Hey.
Grýlurnar was an all female foursome, formed in 1982 in Iceland, featuring Ragnhildur “Ragga” Gisladóttir on vocals, Inga Rún Pálmadóttir on guitar, Herdis Hallvardsdóttir on bass and Linda Björk Hreidarsdóttir on drums. They were one of several bands to emerge during this time – have a look at the Punk Rock Iceland page for a comprehensive overview of the scene.
Grýlurnar – Mávastellið lp Hlid 1 1. Sísí 2. Í tránum 3. Valur og jardaberjamaukid hans 4. Betri er limur en limlestir 5. Lilja Laufey Þórsdótti 6. Grátkona
Hlid 2 1. Sigmundur kroppur 2. Þú ert of hvít 3. Djásnið mitt 4. Tröllapvaður 5. Lalli, Leifur, og Laumi á vínberjauppskeruhátið 1969
The Heartless Martin Tonigh cassette was recorded in Summer 1993 as the seventh release on Donna Dresch’s Chainsaw Records label. The one-off collaboration featured Corin Tucker of Heavens to Betsy / Sleater-Kinney fame, together with Becca Albee from Excuse 17. This EP is a definite stunner with heart breaking simple songs and lyrics highlighting Corin’s voice as it cuts through the lo-fi recording and lands square in the middle of your chest. “Heartless Martin, ready for take off!” tracklisting: 1. you can’t break a broken heart 2. the times (kerry) 3. 20/20 vision 4. johnny 5. movie theme song noise noise noise
This is Meltdown and this is their story. Four teenage girls, Amy Heneveld, Sonia Brenner, Fiona Griffin and Raquel Vogl, got together in Washington D.C. in the mid 90’s and made some tough sounds. They released one LP in 1997 on the Portland, Oregon based label Archigramophone Records – the digital version of which is included here. Watch out you might get hit.
AMY: Meltdown started to happen in 1995, must have been the end of the summer or so. It was me, Fiona Griffin and Raquel Vogl on guitars and Sonia Brenner on drums. We had all played music together before, except for Raquel. Fiona had a red Gibson and I had a white, made in China, weird untunable guitar with metal decoration. I think Raquel had a red guitar too. Everyone was hesitant to sing so we all avoided it and I ended up doing some, Fiona the rest. Chuck Bettis sang about how it starts in the streets and Ethan Swan sang on another song. I liked the idea of having male guest singers and hated people asking me if I sang when I told them I had a band. I was angry and it was good to express it. We started and ended every show with the track called “Intro” and I really enjoyed that, and the looks on peoples faces. I remember in particular one show where we opened for a more well known (all boy) band at the Black Cat (was it Fugazi?) and this sea of bewildered boys in baseball caps just stared back at us. Also, once Raquel spit into the audience and it went into her friend’s eye and it got all infected, but I don’t know if she would want me to tell you that. We wrote all of our songs together – an interesting process that I now look back on with wonder. We were friends and it just all made sense. We broke up because three of us were going to college.
SONIA: One thing I loved about Meltdown was that although we had three guitars, each guitar was a unique voice. I love that I can listen to the songs and hear the different voices of the guitars, which to me are so expressive of who Raquel, Amy, and Fiona are as people and artists. These voices managed to be both respectful of each other and assertive. I remember, for example, when we were recording “Nightbird Nightmare” and Amy sang first– a sweet but strange, wordless, “ba-ba-ba-ba-baaaaaah!” Raquel and I felt like the sweetness needed some wild, angry sounds. We went into the recording room and growled and yelped and bashed on a toy piano– it felt just right! Some of the music and lyrics (like “I’m going to melt you down to little balls of flesh”) can only be explained by the weird magic that comes from being together with friends, talking, goofing, playing off of each other.
FIONA: Although the members of Meltdown were influenced by music we had listened to throughout our teenage-hood, the goal was to make a sound that was new and all our own, and more deeply just getting to that place of self expression that doesn’t rely on other peoples’ expectations. That for me was, and still is, a large part of the fun of making music. This worked really well between the four of us because we were good friends and had all played music together in one form or another. Amy was the first person I ever played music with–we made up a two-guitar song called “I Spy” which I still remember how to play. Then I joined a band called The Danaides with Amy and Sonia and Emily Powers, which played its first show ever with Huggy Bear. After that, Sonia, Emily and I played in a band called Modern Space Map with Raquel. Then Meltdown was born. I really like the sound of three guitars because there is a lot of potential there, especially when backed by powerful, inventive drumming! I don’t really remember how singing and lyrics came about for me, but I was trying to have fun rather than express anything very personal through lyrics because I would have been really shy about sharing that in public at the time. I felt the same way as Amy did about having people ask if I was a “singer” in a band. For me, playing guitar was the most important thing–we put a lot of effort into our song-writing and making non-traditional song structures, like writing lots of parts that never repeat themselves and using odd time signatures. Looking back on it, I think it must have been exciting for the audience to see teenage girls playing those songs–it seemed to provoke extreme reactions at least. People either loved it or hated it. Like Sonia said, there was a kind of magic between the four of us that made it really fun and easy to be creative together and I think that comes through in the music.
RAQUEL: Meltdown was a tough band. We were teenage girls. We played challenging music and spent hours crafting our songs. We were tough…. and yes, I did spit in my friend’s eye and it did get infected.
… Meltdown – The Map LP Introduction El Gato Blanco ( The White Cat) Alien Autopsy Tim(e) Cleopatra Dream Song Night Bird
Glockenspiel Postman Gutter Up Fake Me Out Night Bird Nightmare Aftermath
