Friday night Adam and I were chatting online about the upcoming show:
Monika: i think having a male perspective is going to be really important for this topic
let's make it like im interviewing you
Adam: alright, sounds cool
could be interesting
will you fry me with hard[core feminist] facts?
Monika: Yes.
And so it begins…
As taken from the book Pretty in Punk: Girls' Gender Resistance in a Boys' Subculture By Lauraine Leblanc
“Early punk was the first rock scene in which women and sex were not the main focus of song lyrics, allowing punk music to avoid gender stereotyping in large measure. Punks’ rejection of virtuosity-the “cock rock” idiom that maintained that women could not play “properly” –offered unexpected benefits for female performers who often had not had the opportunities nor the support that their male peers had for developing virtuosity in rock. This was especially true in Britain, where women formed their own bands and participated as instrumentalists in bands with both male and female members. Chrissie Hynde, a core participant in the early London punk scene (she once tried to teach Sid Vicious to play guitar) later noted: “The best thing about [punk] for me was that I didn’t have to rely on being a female guitarist as a gimmick. Punk was very liberating like that. For the first time I could do what I wanted to do, and being a girl wasn’t an issue. It would’ve been uncool for that to be a problem. Punk allowed anyone in – you could be a dwarf, short-sighted, whatever-but what was only true for about six months I think, when it was at its purest.” (quoted in Hoare 1991)
As in the US punk scene, British punk women were no longer ornaments, but served as lead singers, drummers, bassists, and guitarists in punk bands. In the British punk scene, women were integral parts of punk bands such as the Adverts, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Au pairs, Penetration, and the Rezillos, and female-dominated bands such as the Slits, the Raincoats, and X-Ray Spex played on the same bills as all-male bands such as the Clash and the Sex Pistols. Punk fans such as Joan Jett of the Runaways and Chrissie Hynde (briefly a clerk at Sex) later went on to make their mark in mainstream rock. Until punk, the accepted style for white female rock vocalists was “confidential and ‘gentle,’…which all too often carried connotations of submissiveness” (laing 1985:116). As punk music was anathema to such presentations, female punk vocalists had to create a vocal style that rejected lilting tones in favor of harsher ones. Thus, bands such as the Slits, X-Ray Spex, and the Raincoats incorporated screams, cries, and laughter into their music.
These female punk performers made important sontributions to the stylistic punk parody of female sexuality, beginning with Patti Smith and Debbie Harry in the New York scene. In London, women in bands continued this process, alternately playing with hypersexual and asexual images. The songs and stage presence of Poly styrene, lead singer of X-Ray Spex, emphasized punk parody and ambiguity. She eschewed the hypersexual Sex shop look in favor of her own brightly coloured, childlike, plastic creations. Her music exemplified many of the paradoxes and parodies contructed by female punks.
…..However, the success of early female punk performers attempts to desecualize the clothes they wore in such a parodic fashion is debatable. Whereas punk women intended to present these garments in such a way as to discredit their effect as fetishistic, secually titillating items, the overriding cultural view of women as sex objects may have worked at cross-purposes with their intent. Thus, Laing argues that “an attempt to parody ‘sexiness’ may simply miss its mark and be read by the omnivorous male gaze as the ‘real thing’”. Their attempt at resistance, when contained within the subculture’s private code, could be, and was, often read by the mainstream press and by observers more in terms of its accommodation, rather than resistance, to feminine sexual sterotypes. While striving to counter sterotypes of women in rock, punk women were repeatedly described as sluts, perverts, whores, and junkies by those outside the subculture.”
As in the US punk scene, British punk women were no longer ornaments, but served as lead singers, drummers, bassists, and guitarists in punk bands. In the British punk scene, women were integral parts of punk bands such as the Adverts, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Au pairs, Penetration, and the Rezillos, and female-dominated bands such as the Slits, the Raincoats, and X-Ray Spex played on the same bills as all-male bands such as the Clash and the Sex Pistols. Punk fans such as Joan Jett of the Runaways and Chrissie Hynde (briefly a clerk at Sex) later went on to make their mark in mainstream rock. Until punk, the accepted style for white female rock vocalists was “confidential and ‘gentle,’…which all too often carried connotations of submissiveness” (laing 1985:116). As punk music was anathema to such presentations, female punk vocalists had to create a vocal style that rejected lilting tones in favor of harsher ones. Thus, bands such as the Slits, X-Ray Spex, and the Raincoats incorporated screams, cries, and laughter into their music.
These female punk performers made important sontributions to the stylistic punk parody of female sexuality, beginning with Patti Smith and Debbie Harry in the New York scene. In London, women in bands continued this process, alternately playing with hypersexual and asexual images. The songs and stage presence of Poly styrene, lead singer of X-Ray Spex, emphasized punk parody and ambiguity. She eschewed the hypersexual Sex shop look in favor of her own brightly coloured, childlike, plastic creations. Her music exemplified many of the paradoxes and parodies contructed by female punks.
…..However, the success of early female punk performers attempts to desecualize the clothes they wore in such a parodic fashion is debatable. Whereas punk women intended to present these garments in such a way as to discredit their effect as fetishistic, secually titillating items, the overriding cultural view of women as sex objects may have worked at cross-purposes with their intent. Thus, Laing argues that “an attempt to parody ‘sexiness’ may simply miss its mark and be read by the omnivorous male gaze as the ‘real thing’”. Their attempt at resistance, when contained within the subculture’s private code, could be, and was, often read by the mainstream press and by observers more in terms of its accommodation, rather than resistance, to feminine sexual sterotypes. While striving to counter sterotypes of women in rock, punk women were repeatedly described as sluts, perverts, whores, and junkies by those outside the subculture.”
March 6th show Playlist
Walls of Jericho
Bikini Kill
The Distillers
The Gossips
The Go-Go’s
Shonen Knife
The Donnas
Luscious Jackson
Salt n Pepa
L7
The Runaways
The Slits
The Raincoats
Sleater-Kinney
Bikini Kill
The Distillers
The Gossips
... and whoever else i feel like throwing in there
The Top 10 All Female Bands of All Time
(as according to a website that i have lost)
The Beatles are considered by some to be a "Boy Band" because there were four of them and they played their own instruments. For some reason they were frequently compared to The New Kids on the Block and even The Backstreet Boys in the past. Of course, neither of those latter bands played their own instruments and the comparison is therefore rigid, lame, and shallow despite the novelty effect of seeing any of them live.
In the same vein, when considering female bands, one must define exactly what kind of music we're exploring. First, each band here must play their own instruments. This rids us of many "Girl Bands" such as The Supremes, The Spice Girls, TLC, and Destiny's Child. This is not to say that these fine ladies couldn't sing. They were great for what they were, but they did not an instrument play on stage. Second, each band must be formed or made of only female members. This removes bands like The Cranberries, Blondie, ABBA, Hole, Heart, Siousxie and the Banshees, and (tears are falling here!) The Breeders, Elastica, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Garbage, and Ladytron. It also eliminates solo-female leads like Celine Dion and Janis Joplin. This may trouble some, and that's fine and dandy, because we're here to celebrate and learn from only the ladies.
10. THE GO-GO'S
Before Belinda Carlisle declared heaven was a place on earth, she and her gal rockers were doing lines of cocaine and making all of L.A. want to take a vacation. These hits will never go away, especially the infamous "We Got the Beat" and "Our Lips are Sealed", which filled arenas and nearly convinced The Germs to let the former cheer-leading Carlisle front them.
Albums you must own: VACATION (1982)
In the same vein, when considering female bands, one must define exactly what kind of music we're exploring. First, each band here must play their own instruments. This rids us of many "Girl Bands" such as The Supremes, The Spice Girls, TLC, and Destiny's Child. This is not to say that these fine ladies couldn't sing. They were great for what they were, but they did not an instrument play on stage. Second, each band must be formed or made of only female members. This removes bands like The Cranberries, Blondie, ABBA, Hole, Heart, Siousxie and the Banshees, and (tears are falling here!) The Breeders, Elastica, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Garbage, and Ladytron. It also eliminates solo-female leads like Celine Dion and Janis Joplin. This may trouble some, and that's fine and dandy, because we're here to celebrate and learn from only the ladies.
10. THE GO-GO'S
Before Belinda Carlisle declared heaven was a place on earth, she and her gal rockers were doing lines of cocaine and making all of L.A. want to take a vacation. These hits will never go away, especially the infamous "We Got the Beat" and "Our Lips are Sealed", which filled arenas and nearly convinced The Germs to let the former cheer-leading Carlisle front them.
Albums you must own: VACATION (1982)
9. SHONEN KNIFE
The sisters Naoko and Atsuko Yamano, along with bassist Michie Nakatani formed in Osaka in the early eighties. They loved the Ramones and XTC, but had an odd infatuation with sweets. They sang of eating Jelly Beans and instead of "I Wanna Be Sedated" they made punk-pop hyperness of "I Wanna Eat Chocobars". They also switched the trend of using Japan as a fan base to financial freedom. Did anyone really ever listen to Cheap Trick until they played there? In short, no! Thus, when the gals left dodge and created devoted followers at CBGB's it raised an eyebrow or three.
The gals mainly sing in their native language, but ESL instructors everywhere will laugh in stride at their attempts to scream and squeal in English! This isn't nearly as fun as their over-the-top joy that is revealingly genuine, but when the punk gods hear them longing to have "blue eyes, blond hair, tight body, long legs" over the Ramones riffs of "We're a Happy Family" they can't help but smile in between sneers and eating ice cream for breakfast!
Albums you should own: SHONEN KNIFE (1984)
The gals mainly sing in their native language, but ESL instructors everywhere will laugh in stride at their attempts to scream and squeal in English! This isn't nearly as fun as their over-the-top joy that is revealingly genuine, but when the punk gods hear them longing to have "blue eyes, blond hair, tight body, long legs" over the Ramones riffs of "We're a Happy Family" they can't help but smile in between sneers and eating ice cream for breakfast!
Albums you should own: SHONEN KNIFE (1984)
8. THE DONNAS
Do not be fooled by The Donnas. They are arena rockers that will absolutely not perform a single ballad. Thank God! After a show it's John Hughes films, Jack Daniels, and the hopes that AC/DC will be standing outside their windows playing "Big Balls" to charm their jeans off. Purists will smirk off their high-energy teen guitar wizardry, but those assholes will also take "Titanic" over "Say Anything".
Albums you must own: GET SKINTIGHT (2004)
Do not be fooled by The Donnas. They are arena rockers that will absolutely not perform a single ballad. Thank God! After a show it's John Hughes films, Jack Daniels, and the hopes that AC/DC will be standing outside their windows playing "Big Balls" to charm their jeans off. Purists will smirk off their high-energy teen guitar wizardry, but those assholes will also take "Titanic" over "Say Anything".
Albums you must own: GET SKINTIGHT (2004)
7. LUSCIOUS JACKSON
A New York punk quartet that raps is a bizarre path to take but LJ pulled it off. They shanked the former and female drummer of the Beastie Boys away, and dominated modern rock in 1996 with a before its time lo-fi celebration of being naked ("Naked Eye"). Even granolas and grandmas pranced to it, but it was 1994's "Natural Ingredients" that best showed LJ's raucous party skills. Not many gals can honestly claim that they succeeded in the five Burroughs where the Beastie Boys failed.
Albums you must own: NATURAL INGREDIENTS (1994)
A New York punk quartet that raps is a bizarre path to take but LJ pulled it off. They shanked the former and female drummer of the Beastie Boys away, and dominated modern rock in 1996 with a before its time lo-fi celebration of being naked ("Naked Eye"). Even granolas and grandmas pranced to it, but it was 1994's "Natural Ingredients" that best showed LJ's raucous party skills. Not many gals can honestly claim that they succeeded in the five Burroughs where the Beastie Boys failed.
Albums you must own: NATURAL INGREDIENTS (1994)
6. SALT-N-PEPA
If you don't think a turn-table is an instrument, then you owe a sobering mea culpa to all your clubbing and retro-rave nights of yore. Cheryl James, Sandy Denton, and Dee Dee Roper have always kicked everything, including hip-hop and rap, in the pants. With the surprise success and controversy of "Push It" they showed that a DJ and club-hopping lovers everywhere could be a band. While they were rhyming and grinding out a new drrrty grrrl act for legions to follow and emulate, they always knew how fat their wallets were in between bottles of hooch.
Albums you should own: HOT, COOL & VICIOUS (1986)
If you don't think a turn-table is an instrument, then you owe a sobering mea culpa to all your clubbing and retro-rave nights of yore. Cheryl James, Sandy Denton, and Dee Dee Roper have always kicked everything, including hip-hop and rap, in the pants. With the surprise success and controversy of "Push It" they showed that a DJ and club-hopping lovers everywhere could be a band. While they were rhyming and grinding out a new drrrty grrrl act for legions to follow and emulate, they always knew how fat their wallets were in between bottles of hooch.
Albums you should own: HOT, COOL & VICIOUS (1986)
5. L7
Punk officially "broke" in the 90's and acts like Nirvana and L7 were welcomed to make the stylistic sounds of 70's punk relevant again. In the midst of the deaths of the big hairs like Poison, Cinderella, Faster Pussycat, Vixen, and Ratt (to name a few) arose a strange single in 1992 called "Pretend We're Dead". All of a sudden the jocks wanted to know what the fuck "Night of the Living Dead" was, who the Stooges were, and why pogo dancing and mosh pits had unwritten rules.
L7, despite their seemingly one note debut single on popular radio, continued jamming and shook the one hit wonderdom and problems so many previous gals had faced. In 1997 they finally gave punk's face a scalpel to change things up with in the form of "The Beauty Process: Triple Platinum". L7 had shaken things up while the masses bought albums by Hole at the mall. Sometimes the world just isn't fair and the true rocking squares can't fit the circles.
Albums you should own: THE BEAUTY PROCESS: TRIPLE PLATINUM
Punk officially "broke" in the 90's and acts like Nirvana and L7 were welcomed to make the stylistic sounds of 70's punk relevant again. In the midst of the deaths of the big hairs like Poison, Cinderella, Faster Pussycat, Vixen, and Ratt (to name a few) arose a strange single in 1992 called "Pretend We're Dead". All of a sudden the jocks wanted to know what the fuck "Night of the Living Dead" was, who the Stooges were, and why pogo dancing and mosh pits had unwritten rules.
L7, despite their seemingly one note debut single on popular radio, continued jamming and shook the one hit wonderdom and problems so many previous gals had faced. In 1997 they finally gave punk's face a scalpel to change things up with in the form of "The Beauty Process: Triple Platinum". L7 had shaken things up while the masses bought albums by Hole at the mall. Sometimes the world just isn't fair and the true rocking squares can't fit the circles.
Albums you should own: THE BEAUTY PROCESS: TRIPLE PLATINUM
4. THE RUNAWAYS
As Star Wars changed the cinema forever, The Runaways changed the path for female bands. If you're not quite sure who they are then you might recognize the names Joan Jett and Lita Ford. What's-her-name of Twilight fame will play Joan in a new docu-movie shortly, which will undoubtedly increase the number of times one hears Cherry Bomb when tweeners get a call. Regardless of their contingent glory and their bitter break up due to financial debacles, they enjoyed the rock-n-roll lifestyles to its fullest:
"Can't stay at home, can't stay at school.
Old folks say, 'Ya' poor little fool!'
Down the street, I'm the girl next door.
I'm the fox you've been waiting for.
Hello daddy, hello mom!
I'm your ch-ch-ch-ch-ch cherry bomb!"
As Star Wars changed the cinema forever, The Runaways changed the path for female bands. If you're not quite sure who they are then you might recognize the names Joan Jett and Lita Ford. What's-her-name of Twilight fame will play Joan in a new docu-movie shortly, which will undoubtedly increase the number of times one hears Cherry Bomb when tweeners get a call. Regardless of their contingent glory and their bitter break up due to financial debacles, they enjoyed the rock-n-roll lifestyles to its fullest:
"Can't stay at home, can't stay at school.
Old folks say, 'Ya' poor little fool!'
Down the street, I'm the girl next door.
I'm the fox you've been waiting for.
Hello daddy, hello mom!
I'm your ch-ch-ch-ch-ch cherry bomb!"
3. THE SLITS
Knowing and loving The Slits may save your life one night. If you've ever met a true fan then you may see what it's like to be a member of a tribe. There is a deep seeded loyalty among them, and deservedly so. The Slits could barely play their own instruments when they opened for The Clash, but they learned and they were the culprits behind every riot grrrls band ever.
There is an enigmatic spirit within their punk and reggae mix that's highlighted by a more than strange female bravado. The Slits were such blazers for the female-punk trail that lead singer, Ari Up was once rumored to be stabbed by a "disco man" who told her, "there's a slit for you!"
Regardless of the tale, these girls came to rage. Not many, male or female, has ever raged better!
Albums you should own: CUT (1979)
Knowing and loving The Slits may save your life one night. If you've ever met a true fan then you may see what it's like to be a member of a tribe. There is a deep seeded loyalty among them, and deservedly so. The Slits could barely play their own instruments when they opened for The Clash, but they learned and they were the culprits behind every riot grrrls band ever.
There is an enigmatic spirit within their punk and reggae mix that's highlighted by a more than strange female bravado. The Slits were such blazers for the female-punk trail that lead singer, Ari Up was once rumored to be stabbed by a "disco man" who told her, "there's a slit for you!"
Regardless of the tale, these girls came to rage. Not many, male or female, has ever raged better!
Albums you should own: CUT (1979)
2. THE RAINCOATS
Ana da Silva and her motley crew have inspired countless acts. Kurt Cobain outlined an homage to find their debut album on the inside lining of "Incesticide", and this actually brought the legends out of hiding in 1994. Their early work may be tagged as simply artsy and therefore tentative by some, but when they released "Looking in the Shadows" in the mid-90's they could have reshaped the music scene again.
With songs like "Baby Dog", these girls looked at everyday occurrences with very different lenses. They imagined strolling through the park with a dog in a baby-carriage. Is it controversial to look at infertility this way? The controversy should be not noticing, and the male's inability to contingently understand. Go ahead and call them tentative artsy punks if you want. Some of us have an ear for smart archetypes and the longing to hear unimaginable pain in a new light. We know who we are.
Albums you must own: LOOKING IN THE SHADOWS (1996)
Ana da Silva and her motley crew have inspired countless acts. Kurt Cobain outlined an homage to find their debut album on the inside lining of "Incesticide", and this actually brought the legends out of hiding in 1994. Their early work may be tagged as simply artsy and therefore tentative by some, but when they released "Looking in the Shadows" in the mid-90's they could have reshaped the music scene again.
With songs like "Baby Dog", these girls looked at everyday occurrences with very different lenses. They imagined strolling through the park with a dog in a baby-carriage. Is it controversial to look at infertility this way? The controversy should be not noticing, and the male's inability to contingently understand. Go ahead and call them tentative artsy punks if you want. Some of us have an ear for smart archetypes and the longing to hear unimaginable pain in a new light. We know who we are.
Albums you must own: LOOKING IN THE SHADOWS (1996)
1. SLEATER-KINNEY
The absolute best! I dare you to find something on a compilation that can be played after them. They're that good, just listen. It's okay to admit that a female band may be the best ever.
Albums you must own: THE WOODS (2005), ONE BEAT (2002), DIG ME OUT (1996), CALL THE DOCTOR (1996)
The absolute best! I dare you to find something on a compilation that can be played after them. They're that good, just listen. It's okay to admit that a female band may be the best ever.
Albums you must own: THE WOODS (2005), ONE BEAT (2002), DIG ME OUT (1996), CALL THE DOCTOR (1996)
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