Facing the sad loss of one of our leading ladies of Rock & Metal, guitarist and founding member of Vixen, Jan Kuehnemund it seems about time to take a look back on the history of this female powerhouse: The Queens of Metal, the Female Bon Jovi, however you have heard Vixen described, one of the things you will definitely know is that they were one of the most successful female rock bands in the world. Massive hits like ‘Edge Of A Broken Heart’ and ‘Love Is A KillerÄ heralded their position in the rock charts, and made them a permanent fixture on all the most popular rock compilation albums of the 90s. Vixen was founded in Minnesota by Jan Kuehnemund, and brought to Los Angeles in the mid 80s where they continued to gig and build up an impressive following, finally cracking the big time in the late 80s.
Vixen – Striking The Pose
After the birth of Vixen around 1980/81 many changes followed until the line up of Janet Gardner (Vocals), Jan Kuehnemund (Guitar), Roxy Petrucci (Drums) and Share Pedersen (Bass) was reached. Their debut album ‘Vixen’ in 1988 which went Gold in the US and sold in excess of one million copies worldwide. They followed that up with an even better album – both on their record deal with EMI – , ‘Rev It Up’, in 1990 but then in 1991 Share and Janet split off from the band to pursue a different musical direction. The band toured constantly, including some prestigious supports to the Scorpions and Bon Jovi amongst others.
Former band members of Vixen pursued various other projects until eventually Roxy found guitarist Gina Stile and hooked back up with Janet for a Vixen reformation, touring the States in 1997 with Rana Ross on bass. As a 3 piece, Janet, Roxy and Gina recorded ‘Tangerine’ (released May 1998), which was a departure from Vixen’s previous sound, but is still an album of the highest quality.
They added Roxy’s sister Maxine (who played with Roxy in Madam X) on bass, and toured for a while after the album’s release.
98 tour line up :
The band called it a day in 1991, although Jan reformed the band in 2001 to undertake the Voices of Metal tour with Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe fame. A few problems beset the band, not least the fact that the line up changed completely mid tour. Once sorted though, this line up remained strong and is the same line up that have just recorded their new studio album, the follow-up to ‘Rev It Up’, called ‘Live & Learn’. Vixen is Jan Kuehnemund (Guitars), Jenna Sanz-Agero (Vocals), Kat Kraft (Drums) and Lynn Louise Lowrey (Bass).
In 2004 the EMI era line-up got back together for VH1’s Bands Reunited program. Jan, Share, Roxy and Janet were ‘ambushed’ and asked if they would participate in a reunion. After some persuading they all agreed to do so and met up for the first time in many years. Following brief rehearsals, they performed a special one-off show on August 3rd at SIR Studios in Hollywood. The program was initially aired on VH1 in the US on November 9th.
Whilst recording the new album, the band took a trip over to Europe, to give the fans a chance to not only see the classic songs performed, but also to gauge how the fans would accept the new songs. The result; a resounding success, which culminated in the recording of the band’s first live album and DVD at their stage headlining show at the Sweden Rock Festival in 2005. This live album was released in the US by Sony/BMG on July 18, 2006.
‘Live & Learn’ was released in Europe by Demolition Records in November 2006, and in the US in January 2007.
June Millington, born April 14, 1948 and her sister Jean Millington, born May 25, 1950, both in Manila, Philippines started making music in their childhood years, playing a rather traditional island instrument: the ukulele. The two are most renowned for founding Fany, one of the very first all-female Rockbands to be signed by a major record label, but this part of Rock history was still several steps away. Upon moving to Sacramento, California in 1961 they got touch with the contemporary folk sounds. Music is what kept their spirit high, being surrounded by strangers in a strange country. Thus they began performing as an acoustic duo in High School.
Jean & June performing with their acoustic bass and guitar
Having put aside acoustic instruments, their first band prior to Fanny was called The Svelts, featuring drummer Brie Berry, who temporary left but would later join Fanny. In 1968 by guitarist Addie Clement (former member of the California Girls) and drummer Alice de Buhr, who had moved from Mason City, Iowa to California at the age of seventeen in search of the proverbial fame and fortune. The four girls toured around the west in a pimped bus, mainly playing cover versions. Later on in 1968 Addie and Alice pursued their own vision and formed the all-girl band Wild Honey. Without anyone have seen OR heard them, Wild Honey got signed to WB subsidiary Reprise Records. In search for a keyboarder, Wild Honey had to face quite a struggle, as in the late 60s most girls would prefer the piano or church-organ over a Rockband – finally at the backstage area of the Whisky-a-Go-Go, June came in touch with Kim Fowley. He had an artist agent called Musicians’ Referral Service. A sort of agency that helps people finding each other. He helped Nickey Barclay find the musicians of Wild Honey, as he would later do for his most famous find The Runaways.
The Svelts
Over several lineup shifts and changes, Wild Honey had June on guitar and Nickey rejoined after touring with the Joe Cocker Band, pretty much on advice of Mr. Cocker himself. The release of the first album was imminent and arouse the question of a new name – by the four musicians themselves, by their producer Richard Perry, by their label and by their management, the Blue peacock Company. Everyone agreed upon it ought to be a woman’s name, something short, memorable and at once feminine and bold. After considering a series of suggestions the band settled on the name Fanny, and the rest was history.
Fanny Reprise Promo
Admired and promoted by fellow musicians and so-to-speak scene makers like George Harrison, David Bowie, Deep Purple, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, Rod Stewart, Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Rodney Bingenheimer and Kim Fowley – even before their self titled debut was published – the media wasn’t too much interested in Fanny, accusing them for trying too hard. By now they had become one of the favourite bands to play at Whisky-a-Go-Go – they were booked there so often that it was effectively a residency for them. Despite all criticism, Fanny would stand their ground and pave way for many all-girl groups to come in the cause of history. Finally with their second output, 1971’s ‘Charity Ball’ was well-received by both critics and the public, it’s title track hit the singles charts in the US, peaking at number 40 on the Billboard singles charts in November, and Fanny toured extensively to support the breakthrough.
FANNY playing at Whiskey-a-Go-Go
1972 and 1973 saw the publication of Fanny albums three – ‘Fanny Hill’ – and four – ‘Mother’s Pride’, produced by Todd Rundgren – working their way to become a respected live act and kicking doors open for female musicians, Fanny was no longer laughed at. They even passed the rock-cred “test of fire” by having one of their singles, Young and Dumb, banned by BBC Radio 1 (and by being banned from playing live at the Albert Hall – for being “too provocative”!). Living up to the expectations of being both women and rock musicians took its toll and Fanny and caused a temporary brake-up, resulting in both Alice and June. Alice was replaced by Brie Berry, former drummer of The Svelts while June’s shoes were filled by none other than Patti Quatro, best known as a member of The Pleasure Seekers with her sisters Suzi, Nancy and Arlene. This new line-up recorded the final Fanny album with the meaningful title ‘Rock And Roll Survivors’, published via Casablanca Records. The single ‘Butter Boy’ entered the Billboard singles charts in February, 1975 at number 29 – but by than Fanny had disbanded. A final effort in the spring of that very year found sisters June and Jean together again, accompanied by June’s friend Patti Macheta on percussion and vocals and Wendy Haas, wife of Martin Mull and an old friend of the original Fanny band members, on keyboards and vocals.
At the end of their career, Fanny discontinued the use of the band name and referred to themselves as the L.A. All-Stars. Refusing to act as Fanny again, the band even turned down a possible deal with Arista Records in early 1976.
As much as previous generations of musicians are an inspiration to current young bands, this has been the case at a time where many of todays’ Rockers haven’t even been born yet. When in the late 70s a British girl by the name of Jody Turner took her admiration of the very successful The Runaways, it took but a day to start a band of her own, recruiting her sister Julie as member number two. This was the Birth of Rock Goddess.
As another addition school friend Tracey Lamb joined in on bass guitar, Donnica Colman on keyboards and Jackie Apperley on rhythm guitar to complete the first line-up. The girls rehearsed intensively and, through a friend, managed to place a track on a sampler album, which circulated in the London music underground. Meanwhile, John Turner, Jody and Julie’s father, who ran a record store and was managing the band used his connections to get the band their first gigs. Finally, after the production of a four tracks demo tape and an appearance at the Reading Festival in 1982, the band obtained a record deal with A&M.
However, after the release of the album, Julie’s finally allowed to go on tour and the band tours as support act of Def Leppard. Another black page in their history is the departure of Tracey Lamb. But before Tracey quits the band, they decide to hire a fourth member to fill up the sound a bit. Her name’s Kat Burbella and she’s the second guitar player. After the tour with Def Leppard, Rock Goddess gets the chance to do a tour with Fastaway. Tracey decides to stay until the tour is over, but the Turner sisters have to find a replacement soon, because they’re planning a second album. However, Tracey Lamb doesn’t disappear from the scene long. Her departure was forced due to musical differences, so the story goes. Colman’s substitute Tracey Lamb (along with second guitarist Kat Burbella, with whom she formed the band She) finally leaves the band on ending up on the Girlschool roster.
The band shows up with ‘stand in’ bassplayer Kelly Johnson of Girlschool during a German TV appearance. In ’83 tho’, Rock Goddess present Dee O’Malley as Tracy’s replacement. It’s also Dee, who handles the bass on their second album, called ‘Hell Hath No Fury’, produced by Chris Tsangarides (Judas Priest). The LP was released with two different covers. One with a band photo and another one with a drawing on the cover sleeve. Also the songs are slightly different. ‘Hell Hath No Fury’ and the Gary Glitter cover ‘I Didn’t Know I Loved You Till I Saw You Rock And Roll’ are on the American version, whereas on the European pressing (with the drawing) these songs are being replaced by ‘No More’ and ‘Seen It All Before’. The Gary Glitter cover is the first single taken off the album c/w ‘Hell Hath No Fury’.
The promotional tour for ‘Hell Hath No Fury’ brings the girls on the road along side Y&T and IRON MAIDEN. The same year, Jody Turner is to be heard as a background vocalist on the Tank LP ‘This Means War’, together with Mick Tukker (White Spirit) and Denise Dufort (Girlschool). In ’84 and ’85, they recorded some songs; first with Chris Tsangarides (who also played keyboards on ‘Hell Hath No Fury’) and next with Paul Samson. Unfortunately, none of these recordings have ever been released on vinyl. In France however, the band is still very popular and they support Spider and Saxon in ’84. Dark clouds pack together for the Turner sisters in ’86. Their deal with A&M expires. Also, bass player Dee O’Malley gets pregnant and she leaves the band to become a full-time mother. Then in ’87, the French label JID brings out the ’85 sessions the band did with Paul Samson. The album’s called ‘Young And Free’ and it’s released in France only. The only single from the album, ‘Love Has Passed Me By’ c/w ‘Just In’ was already released in ’86. It shows us a very commercial sounding Rock Goddess.
As die-hard fans grave to own the album, it is but a glimpse of a once successful band. With the release of ‘Young And Free’, Rock Goddess support Samurai in the UK, but they get almost yelled away for the commercial songs they’re playing from their new album. After the departure of Dee O’Malley, the band finds a new bassplayer in Julia Longman (ex-PDQ) and keyboard player Becky Axten is added to the band as well. After a tour of nearly half a year, in the fall of ’87, the story of Rock Goddess ends abruptly, when the band gets disbanded.
In ’88, Jody Turner returns with sister Julie under the name of The Jody Tunrer Band. However, this time it’s not an all-female outfit. The band is completed with Phil Manley-Reeve on bass and Ex-Mammoth bassplayer Gavin Taylor. Live, they play songs like ‘Kiss Yourself Goodbye’, ‘The Game Is Up’, ‘I’m No Angel’ and ‘The Blonde Is Dead’ (a tribute to Marylin Monroe) and the only Rock Goddess song, ‘Will You Take Me Home Tonight?’. They change their name into Turner, but the band disappears very quickly. Until somewhere in ’94, when we see Rock Goddess in a comeback line-up. Of course Jody Turner sings and plays guitar, but Julie is the missing link. The band is completed by Aki Shibahara (bass), Nicola Shaw (drums; formerly Sisterhood) and Izabella Fronzoni (guitar; formerly Ice Age). The last thing, we can track down, is this line-up changed their name in ’95 into Braindance (UK). After a name change, the group disbanded again in 1995, after playing their last gig at the Thomas O’Becket public house. They reformed in 2009 to play the Hard Rock Hell music festival in Prestatyn, Wales, but split before they had a chance to perform.
As I was actually getting into my research on The Runaways I – more or less accidentally – got hold of yet another, to me previously unknown female Rockband: The Orchids.
To be precise, since there is or has been more than one Band using this name in the course of history, I stumbled upon the late 70s/early 80s group who were supposed to fill the shoes (or rather boots) The Runaways once put on very successfully. The band featured former Runaways member Laurie McAllister, but this for sure was no guarantee for The Orchids’ hit potential.
“Lightning doesn’t usually strike twice. So it’s no surprise that when rock impresario Kim Fowley tried to replicate the success of his all-girl band The Runaways with another all-girl ensemble, the results fizzled instead of sizzled.That’s a shame because the group in question, The Orchids, released a pretty good album in 1980. The self-titled release eschews The Runaways overdrive sound in favor of girl-group melodicism and snappy new wave tempos. Producer Fowley (who also takes credit as “director”) wrote or co-wrote almost all the songs on this LP, and while there are no flashes of brilliance, it’s consistently listenable and enjoyable.
Lead vocalist Jan King (not the author of the same name!) shows a lot of range, coasting through the ballads, rockers and mid-tempo numbers with ease. A few years after The Orchids came and went, several all-women bands like The Go-Go’s and The Bangles reaped lots of commercial success with similar sounds.
The Orchids LP doesn’t touch the best work of either of those bands, but is definitely worth hearing, especially if you’re a fan of obscure new wave acts.”
An all girl pop/rock band verging slightly on New Wave, The Orchids were created and managed by Kim Fowley and featured bassist Laurie McAllister who had replaced Vicki Blue in The Runaways for a short period before they fragmented.
The Orchids were formed rather ironically from two Bomp Records Kim was producing at the time, Vampires From Outer Space and Hollywood Confidential. Blonde bombshell drummer Laurie Bell had recorded the track ‘If You’re Gonna Change Your Heart’ for Vampires. The album also featured Laurie McAllister playing bass and singing lead in the group Baby Roulette And The Rave Ons on a tune entitled ‘Black Orchids’. Laurie McAllister was also featured as lead vocalist on a tune called ‘On Suburban Lawns’ on Hollywood Confidential, that was billed as The Runaways. Laurie Bell had actually worked with Fowley previously on his Sunset Blvd album, appearing on the improvised title track. Joining forces with Laurie Bell and Laurie McAllister were vocalist / guitarist Jan King (from Stingray and The Wads) and guitarists Sunbie Harrel and Che Zuro, who Fowley recruited from Backstage Pass.
The Orchids as they became known, released an EP on Kim Fowley’s Mystery Records and signed to MCA Records for self-titled album in 1980. One single was released entitled ‘When Does Love Turn Out Right?’. A promotional video of ‘Blame It All On The Night’ aired one time on the pre-MTV video program called ‘Hollywood Heartbeat’ in the summer of 1980. The final Orchids gig was in December of 1980 in the San Fernando Valley.
Shortly after The Orchids break-up Laurie Bell formed the short-lived all girl metal band Tantrum. Jan and Che recorded a demo under the name Valentine and soon after Che Zuro flew off to the UK to replace singer Wendy Wu in The Photos. When the label passed on the demos that were recorded, Che returned to Los Angeles. Laurie Bell and Che Zuro both appeared in the 1984 film ‘Get Crazy’ and shortly thereafter formed ‘Puss n Boots’ with singer Jan King. Both Jan and Che have continued music careers, Che in the Los Angeles area and Jan in Chicago.
As the San Francisco scene was about to bloom during the 60s Marla, Denise, Mary Ellen, Diane and Mary (left to right) found each other right in the middle of it: Ashbury and Waller St. where they played their first few notes, in Golden Gate Park’s Panhandle with the smell of patchouli oil in the air, and where they opened for Jimi Hendrix. It was a creative time when you could choose to pursue anything that was new. It was a time of change, people could be anything that they wanted and music was the most important thing the express this spirit.
The Ace of Cups at Golden Gate Park’s Panhandle
The Ace of Cups played for the sake of the music, not for the possibility of stardom. Although with the no other girl bands around during that time in San Francisco the possibility was there. The band’s name came from a Tarot card: Five streams of water flowing from the hand of the Almighty The five girls were going with the flow wich took them to the Straight Theater on Haight St., the Avalon Ballroom, the Fillmore, where Bill Graham introduced their opening, the Carousel Ballroom, on the road with Jefferson Airplane to Vancover, Canada and to Winterland opening for The Band. In Chicago, where they opened for Muddy Waters and Michael Bloomfield, they went to the south side with renowned drummer Sam Lay where he had the Ace of Cups play at his club.
Inspired by Joan Baez, Mary Ellen Simpsons started guitar lessons were at age twelve with a woman named Naomi Heali in the desert. Later when she was about twenty and a psychology major at San Jose State she met Jorma Kaukonen, before Jefferson Airplane even existed, and he gave her a couple of lessons on playing old blues.With stanting ovations after winning first place at a high school talent contest, Mary’s mind directed her towards playing music professionally.
Born and raised in San Francisco, Diane Vitalich listened to the big band sounds and loved the jazzy vocalists. She took piano lessons, ballet, tap dancing, and modern dance. During high school she was singing and dancing in a doo-wop group, and hung out at Mel’s drive-in where the outdoor waitresses wore roller skates. It was the drums that made Diane dance and she began sitting in with any band that would let her just to get the experience of playing drums in a band. She even dreamed of playing drums in a all-girl group, and that’s what happened.It was 1966 in the Haight Ashbury district that Diane met the girls who would become The Ace of Cups, and she would be dedicated to this group until 1972.
Mary Gannon was 23 when the band first got together. She worked as a Kelly Girl and then at First Savings and Loan as a receptionist/secretary, was attending night school at UC Berkeley and also San Francisco State. The year was 1965.
Things started to happen – very low key: after quitting her bank job and dancing at a “Go-Go” place for a while, Mary hooked up with Marla somewhere in the mix of fresh communes and off beat music.
Marla Hanson was born in San Francisco into a musical family. Her father played guitar and piano. He was also a writer. Her mother was a Columbia starlet and met her dad at the studios in Los Angeles, California where they lived before Marla was born. By the time she was 18 Marla hated L.A. and was ready to do anything but stay there. Together with her friend Joel Beverly she decided to went to San Francisco. With only a bunch of stuff in a laundry bag they took a bus to SF had no place to stay. They made their way to Haight and Ashbury. Marla ended up living at 408 Ashbury, a block from the Haight, in a commune. There was an old upright piano there that she got to play.
Marla met Mary Gannon on Haight Street at Tracy’s Doughnut Shop and they became friends. Mary lived on Waller Street and there was an old upright piano in her basement. That is where Mary first got the idea of starting an all girl band. So the two tried to start one and it became the Ace Of Cups. One night Mary was skimming through a commune in upper Haight, and came upon a furnitureless room which was dark except for the fire of a beautiful female drummer sitting at a complete drum set and playing away. Another time a guy was hanging around and lent Mary a bass to learn it. That same guy knew a girl named Mary Ellen who played guitar.
The girls didn’t have a “concept” at that time – a thought of what they were going for, but that was soon gonna change when the fireball with the cowboy boots and a full set of harmonicas showed up. She was Denise – Denise Kaufman has been enthralled by words and music for as long as she can remember. Studying piano at the S.F. Conservatory of Music, spending five years in an amazing theater company called The San Francisco Children’s Opera and spending summers living outdoors in the Santa Cruz Mountains at Deep Woods Camp for Girls where she learned to sing harmonies under the redwoods and the stars. She wrote poetry as a child, studied piano for seven years, then started playing guitar at 14.
By the time she met Mary Ellen at Blue Cheer’s house and had a great time jamming with her. She had already been playing with Marla, Mary and Diane and invited me to come meet them. The idea of playing in a band of females was completely bizarre to Denise. During the early phase of the Ace of Cups all members lived in the Haight and often practiced at Fantasy Records where Denise worked. Her boss Max Weiss had even helped them rent an organ, a couple of amps and some drums. In a couple of months The Ace of Cups had about ten songs.
Over the years the Ace of Cups never lost track of each other and even had a reunion on Kauai, Hawaii where they played and recorded music, swam in the ocean, broke bread, and celebrated a record deal with Ace Records.
The Shangri-Las were an extremely unique group; if judged solely on the basis of attitude, they were the greatest of them all. They combined an innocent adolescent charm with more than a hint of darkness, singing about dead bikers, teenage runaways, and doomed love affairs as well as ebullient high-school crushes. These could be delivered with either infectious, handclapping harmonies or melodramatic, almost operatic recitatives that were contrived but utterly effective. They were the prelude to punk.
Originally the Shangri-Las were comprised of two pairs of sisters from Queens, NY (identical twins Marge and Mary Anne Ganser and siblings Mary and Betty Weiss). They had already recorded a couple of singles when they met George “Shadow” Morton and recorded a demo of a song he had recently written, ‘Remember (Walkin’ in the Sand).’ The haunting ballad, with its doomy ‘Moonlight Sonata’-like piano riffs, wailing lead vocal, and thunderous background harmonies, seguing into an a cappella chorus backed by nothing except handclaps and seagull cries, made the Top Five in late 1964.
The group’s material, was emotional and was lightened by the first-class production, which embroidered the tracks with punchy brass, weeping strings, and plenty of imaginative sound effects. Nowhere was this more apparent than on ‘Leader of the Pack,’ with its periodic motorcycle roars and crescendo of crashing glass. The death-rock classic became the Shangri-Las’ signature tune, reaching number one.
Several hits followed in 1965 and 1966, many of them excellent. ‘Give Him a Great Big Kiss’, ‘I Can Never Go Home Anymore,’ a runaway tale that took their patented pathos to the extreme.
These all show up on oldies collections, but lots of listeners remain unaware of the other fine singles in their catalog, like the moody ‘Out in the Streets,’ the dense orchestral swamp of ‘He Cried’ (which cuts Jay & the Americans’ original, ‘She Cried,’ to pieces), and another teen death tale, ‘Give Us Your Blessings.’ Some of their best songs, in fact, were B-sides; ‘Dressed in Black,’ yet another teen death drama, had a marvelously hushed and damned atmosphere, and ‘Paradise’ was co-written by a young Harry Nilsson. The Train From Kansas City.
Their most unusual single of all was ‘Past, Present and Future,’ which didn’t feature a single sung note, presenting a somber spoken monologue and occasional spoken background chants over a classical piano track .
This was a very misunderstood recording.
The Shangri-Las gave a voice to real teenagers, with Mary’s explosive lead vocals delivering emotion-packed melodramas that made them one of the most consistently exciting groups of the day.
The Shangri-Las were dynamic on-stage performers, choreographing their dance steps to their lyrics and wearing skin-tight leather pants and boots that were quite daring for the time. Even today, the Shangri-Las’ history remains somewhat murky and mysterious; the original members have rarely reunited for oldies shows or talked to the press.
For further information check out the official websites:
The Pleasure Seekers was a 1960s-era, all-female garage rock band from Detroit, Michigan. The band morphed into Cradle, changing direction musically. They are known due in large part to the later prominence of bandmember Suzi Quatro. According to Suzi Quatro in her memoir ‘Unzipped’, the sisters searched through the dictionary for a name for their band and on coming across “hedonist” used the definition “pleasure seeker” to come up with “The Pleasure Seekers”.
Patti Quatro (born 1948, Detroit, Michigan, USA) formed The Pleasure Seekers in 1964, and they were Suzi Quatro’s first band. After a few weeks practice, Patti dared Dave Leone to give them a slot at his popular teen night club, The Hideout in Detroit. He put them on stage two weeks later, and they never looked back, becoming well known and gaining momentum in the burgeoning and exploding Detroit music community, playing concerts and teen clubs with Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, Bob Seger, and others.
The original band included Suzi Quatro and Patti Quatro, Nancy Ball (drums), Mary Lou Ball (guitar), and Diane Baker, whose father was in Art Quatro’s band, on piano. Later on Arlene Quatro replaced Diane on the piano. Nan Ball played drums until late 1965 when Darline Arnone joined the band and stayed until late 1969. Arlene Quatro’s husband, Leo Fenn, managed the band.
The band had their first record out in 1964, when Suzi Quatro and her sister Patti Quatro were 15 and 17 years old, respectively, on the Hideout label. Both sides of their first single – ‘Never Thought You’d Leave Me’ b/w ‘What a Way to Die’ – have some prominence; the first is included on ‘Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 6’, while the other was featured in the cult film Blood Orgy of the Leather Girls (1988). Both songs (lyrics by Dave Leone) are included on the compilation album ‘Friday at the Hideout’, which offers a retrospective of Hideout Records, and charted regionally for the band.
In 1968, they were one of the earliest all girl rock group to be signed to a major label, Mercury Records. They released a second single, ‘Light of Love’ b/w ‘Good Kind of Hurt’, with both singles charting. The group matured into a dynamic show band and, using Detroit as home base, toured the U.S. Their show featured an entire Sgt. Pepper/Magical Mystery Tour revue, as well as a Motown sound revue, and everything in between, as well as featuring one of the earliest known light shows for their act.
In 1969, The Pleasure Seekers morphed into Cradle, changing direction musically in writing heavier original material and touring throughout the U.S. Arlene was now manager and sister Nancy Quatro had joined as vocalist and percussionist. The group toured vigorously, playing concerts and pop festivals throughout the U.S. with popular bands of the day, ending with a tour of Vietnam. In 1971, Suzi was signed by producer Mickie Most to his RAK Records label, leaving for England and solo fame as Suzi Quatro. Patti continued with sister Nancy in Cradle, then joined brother Mike’s MQ Jam Band, co-producing and recording an album, Look Deeply Into the Mirror.
The Quatro sisters have reunited for special TV and concert projects through the years, reminiscent of the early Pleasure Seekers days.
Patti currently runs Cradle Rocks Publishing with sister Nancy, and is involved in restoring the original, never released catalogue of Pleasure Seekers and Cradle music. ‘The History’, a newly remastered album of music from Cradle was released in 2010. ‘What a Way to Die’, a newly remastered album of music from The Pleasure Seekers was released in 2011.
Arlene Quatro and Leo Fenn are married and have a daughter, actress Sherilynn Fenn. Arlene Quatro left the music business, authoring a book on health and becoming involved in environmental issues.
Nancy Quatro turned to music management, forming N. Glass Management and managing the band Overscene.
In 1974, Patti Quatro joined Fanny, appearing on their ‘Rock and Roll Survivors’ album and two singles, ‘I’ve Had It’ and ‘Butter Boy’, which reached #29 nationally. Patti left Fanny in 1975. She continued to pursue studio work on several albums, musical side projects (through many years), and modeling.
Suzi Quatro became very popular in Europe, enjoying a successful and long lasting music career. She sold over 55 million records and is still active as a touring and recording artist. She also branched out as a TV actress, stage actress, radio D.J. and author. She is well known for her role as Leather Tuscadero in the popular TV show Happy Days.
The Pandoras were an all-female rock and roll band from Los Angeles, California from 1983–1991, who began in the hard ’60s revival garage rock style and later adapted a more contemporary Sunset Boulevard, hard rock sound a la Poison and Mötley Crüe. They were originally associated with the Paisley Underground era in Hollywood’s alternative rock scene, along with bands such as Redd Kross, The Three O’ Clock, The Dream Syndicate, The Morlocks, and The Rain Parade. These bands shared an aesthetic heavily influenced by 1960s garage rock and psychedelia, and most (but not all) of the members tended to come from the west side and beach cities area of Los Angeles County and Orange County. Pierce, a resident of Chino, California, was a notable exception. Pierce had been a member of the Hollywood music scene as a young teenager.
The Pandoras were formed when singer-guitarist Paula Pierce, a member of Action Now at the time, met singer-guitarist/bass player Deborah Mendoza aka. Mende/ Menday, at Chaffey College in 1983. Mendoza, an art major, answered an ad that Pierce, a graphic art major, had posted on the bulletin board in the cafeteria. The ad read, “Wanted, another female musician to jam with! Influenced by sixties garage punk.” They got together and clicked, and started bringing their guitars to school jamming between classes.
Pierce and Mendoza threw band names around including The Keyholes and Hole. Finally, Pierce thought of the name The Pandoras, naming the band after Pandora’s Box, a Hollywood nightclub from the 1960s. Pierce brought in musician Gwynne Kahn on keyboards (the granddaughter of 1920s/1930s Tin Pan Alley songwriter Gus Kahn), and Mendoza brought in drummer Casey Gomez; thus forming, the original Pandoras. After recording their first Demo EP ‘It’s About Time’, Mendoza left the group, and was replaced by bassist Bambi Conway, who then appeared on the Pandoras debut album, ‘It’s About Time’, on Greg Shaw’s Bomp! Records.
The Pandoras went through many personnel changes, over the years, beginning with the bitter departure of Kahn in 1984, that became the talk of the town, on a KROQ-FM radio show hosted by Rodney Bingenheimer and in the local music zines such as BAM, Music Connection, and the LA Weekly (and their “L.A.DeeDa” gossip column). Kahn formed a rival, yet, very short lived Pandoras of her own, nicknamed the Gwynnedoras. Gwynn’s Pandoras consisted of Gwynn Kahn, Casey Gomez, Lisa Rae Black (of Hardly Dangerous and Bellylove), and Bambi Conway. The band did have a song called “Worm Boy” released on an Enigma Records compilation, “Enigma Variations” and recorded an EP for Enigma that was never released, but Kahn moved on to another project after losing her battle with Pierce over the band’s name.
Pierce’s Pandoras, included Melanie Vammen on keyboards, Julie Patchouli on bass, and Karen Blankfeld on drums, they went to enjoy modest success with the release of ‘Hot Generation’ on Bomp! Records. They toured the east coast with the Fuzztones to promote the single.
The Pandoras were signed to Rhino Records and began recording the basic tracks for ‘Stop Pretending’ during the winter of 1985 with producer Bill Inglot. Kim Shattuck joined the band in July 1985, after Patchouli was let go. Briefly, after Patchouli left the band, a temporary fill-in played just two shows with the band before they brought in Shattuck permanently. In 1986, ‘Stop Pretending’ was released.
Los Angeles became a hotbed of major label signings of bands that had grown out of the so-called “paisley-underground” and the Pandoras were no different. The pop sensibilities of Pierce and being labeled “one of the bands that matter” by the LA Weekly helped the band get signed by Elektra Records. The band continued to play live and record new songs for their major label debut and continued to be a top live draw outside of Los Angeles, touring with Nina Hagen, and gigging with the likes of Iggy Pop, The Fuzztones, The Beat Farmers, Johnny Thunders, and The Cramps. They played the first ever LA Weekly Music Awards and showcased a slightly harder sound and were interviewed on the roof of the Variety Arts Center for a top French TV Show. As the band’s major label debut, to be titled ‘Come Inside’, was being readied for release the A&R person who had signed the band was fired from Elektra causing the label to also drop both bands he had signed–Jetboy and The Pandoras (though the recordings they made eventually surfaced on the ‘Psychedelic Sluts’ bootleg CD). During this period, Karen Blankfeld left the band and was replaced with Kelly Dillard. The band continued to play live while looking for another deal. However, Dillard did not last long and was replaced by Sheri Kaplan. When another label made an offer, Elektra would not release the master recordings. Pierce decided to turn to an even more hard-edged sound and added guitarist Rita D’Albert to the line up. They recorded new songs and put out an EP on Restless Records called ‘Rock Hard’. The band also made a video for ‘Run Down Love Battery’, which received airplay on MTV’s Headbangers Ball, expanding their audience to include metal fans.
A tour of the US and Canada followed. D’Albert decided to leave the band to take more of an active part in another band that had just been signed to RCA records, Human Drama. Rather than cancel the tour, the band went out as a four-piece. A show in Dallas, Texas at Z Rock was recorded for a “Coast to Coast Concert Series” broadcast. They also made an appearance on the first episode of The Arsenio Hall Show where they performed ‘Run Down Love Battery’ causing Arsenio to quit, “We’ve all had one of those.” A friend of drummer Kaplan’s was brought in, Susan Hyatt, for some shows, but it was Lissa Beltri who became the newest member after auditions.
Rather than try and record a new studio album with the new line up Pierce opted to let Restless Records release the Z Rock concert. ‘Live Nymphomania’ was released and, even though Pierce herself was not happy with the recording, the band toured in support of it. Outside of L.A the Pandoras’ fan base continued to grow in the hard rock world, tours of Europe and Australia were booked, new promo photos were taken and pre-planning was starting for a new album.
Keyboardist Vammen was let go because, as Pierce put it in one interview: “Melanie does not want to play guitar and there is not any place for keyboards in our music now.” The Australian tour was canceled, and on the eve of the European tour, Shattuck left the band. Chris Roy, bass player for the Hollywood metal band TAZ, filled in for some live shows. Kaplan quit the band shortly after Shattuck and the band were dropped from their label a short time after.
Over the course of the next year Pierce slowly worked on new material with Beltri. They hired a new drummer and were auditioning bass players. On the night of August 9, 1991, a bass player auditioned who both Pierce and Beltri liked and was to be brought back in for a rehearsal on August 11. On August 10, Pierce came home from the gym and suffered an fatal aneurysm at age 31.
As news of her passing spread the Hollywood community that Pierce had been a part of mourned. DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, who had been one of the earliest fans of the band, dedicated an entire show to Pierce. The Pandoras’ tour manager, Dave Eddy, put on a tribute show at the Coconut Teaser. The night helped to raise almost $3,000. to help offset funeral expenses and saw performances by Cherie Currie of The Runaways and her twin sister Marie in their first public performance together in 20 years, with the final line up of the Pandoras backing them, Precious Metal, who had broken up but who reunited for the show; Robert Hecker of Redd Kross and Abby Travis, Dramarama with Clem Burke of Blondie and Sylvain Sylvain from the New York Dolls, The Muffs (Shattuck’s and Vammen’s band), African Violet (D’Albert band), Hardly Dangerous (Kaplan was their drummer) and White Flag. The crowd included Jeff and Steve McDonald from Redd Kross and Charlotte Caffey and Kathy Valentine from The Go-Go’s. The artists who played that night and the people in the audience prompted Bingenheimer to exclaim, “Look at the people here! What do you have to die to see who really loves you?”
The Beat Chics, a presumably British All-Girl Group with all members in their twenties were active in the years 1963 – 1967.
The Beat Chics, London 1964
We’ve had everything else, it seems. Now it’s the girls’ turn. The turn of The Beat-Chics – six girl graduates of the Ivy Benson Band.All are professional musicians, who can read, write and score music and, judging by this picture, do all their own portering.They are to appear at The Cabaret Club in Manchester.Left to right: Moira Page, 23, saxophonist, from Dublin; Christine Lee, 21, drummer, she’s from Colchester, Essex, Mary Cullen, 23, organist, from Limerick, Eire; Una Mellor, 23, bass guitarist, from Sevenoaks, Kent; Lesley Arden and Anne Bridgeman, 23 year old lead guitarists.
Have you ever wondered, how The Beatles would have looked like, if they were women? Well, here you go: The Liverbirds.
They were a female British Rock ‘n’ Roll band from Liverpool. The four band members Pamela Birch (vocals / guitar), Valerie Gell (vocals / guitar), Mary McGlory (vocals / bass guitar) and Sylvia Saunders (drums) have been active between 1962 and 1967. They were one of very few female bands on the Merseybeat scene and one of the first rock band, which consisted only of female members.
Valerie Gell, Sylvia Saunders, singer Irene Green and guitarist Sheila McGlory founded the band in early 1962 under the name “The Debutones”. Irene Green and Sheila McGlory left the band very early on and joined other bands. They were replaced by Mary McGlory – the sister of Sheila McGlory – and Pamela Birch.
The band’s name derived from the fictional figure of the Liver Bird, the Tower of the Liver Building, which is the symbol of their native Liverpool.
The Liverbirds achieved more commercial success in Germany than in their homeland. Early in their career, they followed in the footsteps of colleagues such as The Beatles and Rory Storm & the Hurricanes. In May 1964 the four girls first appeared in Hamburgs legendary “Star Club” as “the female Beatles” from Liverpool. There they were one of the top attractions and released two albums and several singles. One of these singles, a cover of Bo Diddley’s “Diddley Daddy”, climbed to number five on the German charts. In 1967, the band broke up, but still inspired lots of young rock musicians in the world for years to come.
Some band members permanently settled in Germany. Mary McGlory currently heads the Hamburg-based company “JA / NEIN Musikverlag GmbH”. She is married to a former colleague from the “Star-Club”, the German singer, songwriter, producer and vice chairman of the board of GEMA, Frank Dostal.
Pamela Birch – born Pamela Anne Burch in August 1944 in Kirkdale, Liverpool – singer and guitarist, who also stayed in Germany, died on October 27. 2009 at the age of 65 in Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE).
Vixen – Striking The Pose
Whilst recording the new album, the band took a trip over to Europe, to give the fans a chance to not only see the classic songs performed, but also to gauge how the fans would accept the new songs. The result; a resounding success, which culminated in the recording of the band’s first live album and DVD at their stage headlining show at the Sweden Rock Festival in 2005. This live album was released in the US by Sony/BMG on July 18, 2006.
Hell On High Heels!
