In my mind I immediately picture Suzi Quatro joining these women, although I'm not sure she rises to their level.
And as we've learned from Cleveland, the term "rock" means different things to different people. So if Tina Turner is "rock" then she should be up there already. Are Debbie, Stevie or Chrissie? If not, my vote's for Pat Benatar.
I never noticed this feature on YouTube Music* until today, which is sort of the digital equivalent of when you'd have a stack of recently played records in your room that needed to be refiled. (Yes, I've been on a bit of a Kim Wilde kick in anticipation of her new "Closer" album.)
*Note: I switched from Spotify a few years ago because for the same price, you also get to watch videos (on regular YouTube) with no ads. From there, I was able to upgrade for next to nothing to being able to watch everything on YouTube ad-free, which has pretty much changed my life!
Well, I've got good news and bad news on the Saint Etienne front. The good news is a sleuthy friend got a copy of the band's new album, "The Night," a day before its release and sent it to me as an early Christmas present. (Thanks, Jimmy!)
The bad news is that, as I feared, it's another one of the trio's atmospheric bullshit efforts, as I refer to them. (To be clear: They're perfectly lovely background music, they're just not real Saint Etienne albums.)
Like 2021's "I've Been Trying to Tell You," which another superfan described as the band's first real bomb -- "should have just been a fan club freebie if that" -- "The Night" is again mainly just meditation music with Sarah talking or whispering over it, with an occasional greater effort. (Is it even worth a trip to the studio just to do that?)
But as my Saintly BFF and I went on to say, our adoration lives on.
He texted:
But I'm still hardcore. I just went to Sweden just to visit their studio for "Good Humor" ...
To which I replied:
We went to Finisterre [on our honeymoon]. And yesterday I sent "Goodnight Jack" to my mom's 70-year-old cousin who drove a Mercury Capri in the 1970s, so I hear ya.
He then wrote:
"Milk Bottle Symphony" breaks my heart because my mother's maiden name is Doris Brown. "Tales From the Turnpike" and "Words and Music" were both very underrated. "Tonight" might be my favorite song by them. And damn it, if I wasn't a day late I'd be in the "I've Got Your Music" video. Fuck. I missed the deadline. My video would have been great. Standing in front of Fairfax High (Virginia) with my favorite album ["So Tough"].
Fans were invited to contribute to this delightful 2012 video
Me:
I remember that. You'd have been a welcome addition!
Here's hoping they have one more classic up their sleeves.
UPDATE: Go figure. The band shared a bunch of reviews that love the album for all the reasons I do not.
BTW: I didn't even mention Indeep's "Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life," which may just be the best song the week. That might explain why it's been sampled a million times since!
About 20 years ago at the height of the Napster revolution, I came into possession of four demos by Romeo Void, once my favorite "intact" group of the early '80s. (Blondie broke up and two members of the Pretenders OD in '82 , leaving the band's future in doubt.) The Romeo Void demos appeared to be from what was apparently an attempt at reunion in 1993, nearly a decade after they'd split. I wasn't actually a big peer-to-peer music trader -- at least not in the way the kids were doing it back then. Instead, my friend Greg and I had had become well-known on the internet for our compilation CDRs -- meticulously crafted collections of B-sides, rarities or vinyl transfers of albums that never reached the digital age.
In addition to our transfers of Slow Children's two albums and collections of hard-to-find tracks by Maria McKee, Bananarama and Tracie, one of the most popular things I traded in was the Romeo Void demos, which never saw the light of day, even after the band's appearance on VH1's "Band Reunited." That they'd all but vanished seemed like a huge shame to me -- you can pretty much find anything on YouTube these days -- so I reached out to singer Debora Iyall to see what she'd think of my uploading them there. After telling me she wanted to make sure former bandmate Frank Zincavage was OK with it, she got back to me to say they both think they're "ready" for the world to hear.
As we worked out some of the details -- artwork, credits -- I ended up learning that Romeo Void had actually played a few live shows in the run-up to these demos, which makes sense now but was complete news to me. Pre-internet, all information was catch as catch can. So how upsetting to learn that they'd actually played at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., just down the freeway from the Orange County Register newspaper where I worked around the time.
While I had some of the band's attention, I decided to see what more I could find out. Here are some recollections of the reunion from Debora (vocals) and Frank (bass). (They've been edited and condensed.)
What was the backstory on these demos? Was Benjamin Bossi [RV's sax player who developed hearing problems] able to play on them?
Debora: In my opinion how this came together was after we did a benefit show to help our sound man Louie Beeson who was stricken with AIDS. He specifically needed expensive treatment for his eyesight. (Editor's note: This is the Louie who gets name-checked in RV's cover the Fabulous Thunderbirds' "Wrap It Up."]
We did two nights at the club Slim’s in San Francisco. The Knitters [X's side project] and Chris Isaak supported us. Benjamin already couldn’t play because of his tinnitus, he performed acoustic on guitar if I remember right.
I did my vocals in a room Tom Waits often used to record his piano.
[Louie Beeson would die on Sept. 22, 1992, with his boyfriend, Steven Loving, and his cat, Scooter, by his side.]
Frank: Thinking back I don't really remember how Debora and I arrived at a consensus to do the Slim's shows for Louie.
Can't remember if we had even been in contact since '85. We probably had been contacted by Dawn Holliday, the booker for Slim's. Louie had been doing sound for a variety of touring bands and also was an employee of Slim's, doing the house sound when not on the road. Dawn was always a big fan of Romeo Void and
a good friend to Louie. All the other members of RV were still in the Bay Area -- Peter Woods, Aaron Smith, Benjamin Bossi -- so getting together for rehearsals wasn't a problem.
The big issue was that Benjamin might not be able to play. He played at the first rehearsal and then decided he couldn't continue
due to his tinnitus. We were able to bring in Sheldon Brown, whom Benjamin knew, to play sax for the shows. Sheldon is an amazing jazz oriented player.
The shows went well and somewhere along the line after that Debora and I started working on songs again. Also around this time my
younger sister was graduating from Sonoma State college and when I was at her graduation I met her friend Klaudia Promessi, a saxophone player.
And because of this Sonoma connection I found out about Prairie Sun Recording studio in Cotati. Again, I don't remember how it happened but
the owner of Prairie Sun, Mooka, agreed to let us record there for a minimal fee with the hope that full payment would happen if we were able to get
another contract with Sony. And, of course, that didn't happen. He still owns the multi-track tapes to those sessions.
So we worked on the four songs in my basement home studio, Klaudia playing sax, Peter contributing the chords for one of the songs ["Stormy Eyes"]. Then went up to Cotati for
several days and recorded basic tracks. Over a month or so we finished overdubs, vocals and mixing.
After this we somehow managed to get a few shows booked, did another show at Slim's on Halloween, played somewhere in Monterey, L.A. and Orange County.
But Sony wasn't interested and we weren't interested in continuing to foot the bill to play small clubs occasionally. Everyone had other lives and jobs.
So that phase came to a close.
Somewhere after that ('90s?) we had our VH1 "Bands Reunited" experience, playing a show at the Whisky in L.A. We brought Sheldon back for that.
Trying to keep a band together is no easy endeavor and I'm not surprised by some of the comments I read by other bands and their difficulties. Sometimes I think
bands should include a marriage counselor along with manager, booking agent, sound man and crew.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Fascinating stuff!
And with no further ado, here are the "lost" Romeo Void reunion demos:
Producer: Frank Zincavage / Engineer: Mooka Rennick / Recorded at Prairie Sun Recording, Cotati, CA / October 1993 / Vocals: Debora Iyall / Guitars: Peter Woods / Drums: Aaron Smith / Bass: Frank Zincavage / Saxophones: Klaudia Promessi / All songs published by Talk Dirty Music, administered by BMI
Via Wikipedia: "San Francisco Days" is the fourth album by Chris Isaak, released in 1993. The album was dedicated to the memory of Louie Beeson, who was the sound consultant.
UPDATE: How nice is this? Louie was immortalized on the AIDS Memorial Instagram page by KC Powers on Nov. 10, 2020:
Here is the latest installment of forgotten gems by women-led new wave bands, this time by my Michigan childhood best friend Mark, whose hilarious Twitter account can be followed HERE.
For now it's the last one. But if you'd like to submit your own list, I would love to see it. Email me here.
The Pandoras, 'Stop Pretending' (1986)
I discovered The Pandoras the same way Kenneth's brother Bill discovered the Catholic Girls -- I loved the cover of their first album, “It’s About Time,” when I saw it on the wall at Off the Record in Royal Oak, Mich. Bought it and loved the garage sound of all of the fun songs. Fast-forward a few years later and they released the brilliant “Stop Pretending.” The lineup changed a bit but as long as Paula Pierce, Melanie Vammen, and Kim “The Muffs” Shattuck were in the band I was happy!
The Cucumbers, 'My Boyfriend' (1983)
This is the only song I know by this band. I had a promotional copy of the LP but no other song caught my ear like the fun, perfect song, “My Boyfriend.” I still know no other song by them and I don’t care to. :)
Vertical Pillows, 'Jump Back' (1985)
I was obsessed with these Detroit darlings' 45 single "Jump Back" and another song they had called "Born to Love." I always thought they'd be much bigger than they ever became, but, at least we have YouTube.
Nikki and the Corvettes, 'Summertime Fun' (1980)
I should’ve just purchased anything on Bomp! records in the '80s. There’s no question I would’ve loved it including another Detroit band that put out that fast new wave beach sound. The manager of the record store where I worked (Record Outlet in Roseville, Mich.) knew Nikki personally and I was star-struck just knowing someone who KNEW Nikki Corvette! They were mildly popular in the Detroit area and from what I heard, Nikki went to Hollywood after the band broke up to try her hand at acting. My manager, Lynn, told me Nikki played a waitress in a scene in “Body Heat” but, “Don’t blink or you’ll miss her!” That’s all I know about the band and her other than the fact that I loved this album and have no idea what happened to the vinyl I used to have of it. I’m sure I sold it to a used record store when I needed a few bucks back then. We’ve Got a Fuzzbox (and We’re Gonna Use It), 'Spirit in the Sky' (1986)
Another album I bought just because of their look and the fact that they were all girls! Saw them once at St. Andrews Hall in Detroit. One member (Jo?) had a broken leg but did the concert with a cast and on crutches. The sound was pure "fuzzbox" sound -- which is how they got their name. An accidental sound they got out of their amplifiers they decided to make their trademark!
Unit 3 With Venus, 'Pajama Party' (1982)
Classic L.A. KROQ fun new wave! I don't know much more than that about this early '80s fun group!
Karen Finley, 'Tales of Taboo' (1986)
I think everyone knows "Tales of Taboo" from performance artist Karen Finley but just in case. I never saw her smear yams on her ass in concert, but always wanted to. :)
Anne Clark, 'Our Darkness' (1984)
This song and the next are PURE TODD'S -- the greatest new wave/gay club Detroit ever had! Every Monday and Thursday night you could hear these two songs BLASTING as you walked drunkenly through the cloud of cloves at the front door!
Vicious Pink,'“Cccan’t You See' (1984)
See "Our Darkness." Pat Wilson, 'Bop Girl' (1983)
Super fluff lightweight pop/new wave Australian songstress Pat Wilson. I only knew this one song by her but I hear she was pretty big Down Under.
Lene Lovich, 'New Toy' (1981)
Detroit's own Lene had two BRILLIANT songs that I know of and I'll bet you do, too! "New Toy" and "Lucky Number"! I could play both over and over 24/7.
Nina Hagen, 'Born in Xixax' (1982)
This song is not only hilarious, it's THE sound I loved most from Nina Hagen. "Nunsexmonkrock" and "In Ekstasy" were two of my favorite '80s albums of all time.
Bonus:
The 'B' Girls, 'Fun at the Beach' (1979)
Just discovered this all-female band (1977-1981) from Toronto while looking to make sure I didn't miss anyone for this list and thank God I checked! Yet another album I would've purchased just based on the cover. This song is the epitome of the fast new wave/beach music sound I have always loved!
NOTE FROM KENNETH:
The ‘B’ Girls with (Debbie & Nigel Harrison of) Blondie and Rodney Bingenheimer at the Whisky a Go Go in 1979. (Photo by Theresa Kereakes)
The "B" Girls first came to my attention when they were credited with singing backup on the song "Live It Up" on Blondie's "Autoamerican" album. (Legend has it the movie "The Fabulous Stains" was inspired by the "B" Girls.) Model Citizen has more about their story -- relocating from Toronto to NYC's downtown CBGB/Max's scene, opening for the Clash, B-52s, Undertones, demos produced by Debbie Harry ("Two Hearts"), and interest from Phil Spector and IRS Records -- HERE.
Although they were robbed of a major-label deal, the band's collected recordings were released on CD in 1997 under the title "Who Says Girls Can't Rock."
Do you remember the first time you met Debbie Harry?
Ross: It was probably at a show at CBGBs or Max’s … Debbie gave me sage advice about the music business and also introduced me to her lawyer early on. I have a lot of respect for her. She’s extremely talented, and in control of her career. The ‘B’ Girls opened for Blondie a few times in Toronto and we became friends. Debbie came to a lot of our New York shows and once she agreed to produce us she did our sound at a show. She did this to prepare for the studio. In the studio she was fantastic. We trusted her and she knew our sound. She didn’t try to change anything about us. She just captured who we were. Debbie produced two songs for us in 1980. They are on our record that recently came out on Bomp. When I gave her a copy … she said “Congratulations, you really deserve it!” We are still friends and she hasn’t changed with success.
My music friends and I have been reeling since Doug Brod's "12 Forgotten Classics by Women-Led New Wave Bands" piece ran in the New York Times, asking ourselves why we didn't pitch it first. (I thought *I* invented Holly Beth Vincent and *I* was the only one who went around quoting "No Guilt" by the Waitresses!)
In it, Brod writes, "For every Kate Bush, Blondie, Bow Wow Wow or Go-Go, there were lesser-known female artists who exuded both sharp, shoulder-padded glamour and beehived, boho cool, often mixed with quick wit and sass.”
How right he is. So instead of kicking myself further, I decided to add to his impressive list and ask other friends to do the same. One of them, Brian Ferrari, was already on the case. His LIST -- like Brod's -- caught me off guard by introducing me to a few gems I didn't know about at all, while also concurring on things I love and reminding me of others I'd completely forgotten.
So without further ado, here's mine. And as other friends' lists come in, I'll be sure to share them as well.
The Vels, 'Look My Way' (1984)
L
The Vels were a synth-pop trio from New York City by way of Philadelphia led by singer Alice DeSoto. Many of their songs could be mistaken for early Madonna demos ("Day After Day,""Tell Me Something"). But it was their MTV hit, "Look My Way," -- featuring bandmate Chris Larkin on co-lead vocals and a bit of a post-"Rapture" white-girl rap -- that earned them a place on the Billboard Hot 100 and in my heart. Larkin, who died in 2007, exited following the first album, and after one LP as a duo, she and Charles Hanson disbanded. Alice went back to her real name (Cohen) when she started singing for Die Monster Die and later Espadrille as well as numerous solo albums -- but she'll always be the fun girl in the quirky video singing "everybody, if you can't get down get up!” to me.
Eurogliders, 'Heaven (Must Be Here)' (1984)
Although "Heaven (Must Be Here)" was an enduring hit in their Aussie homeland, the Eurogliders barely made a dent here in the U.S., Still, singer Grace Knight's spiritual voice has stayed with me nearly four decades later. “Heaven” is the lead track off the group’s 1984 sophomore LP, "This Island." a shamefully overlooked masterpiece of the era. Next I need to compile a list of bands whose second record was their best, starting with these guys and Blondie.
Slow Children, 'President Am I' (1981)
Slow Children have long been my obscure '80s trivia trump card -- a brilliant new wave band that not even the most diehard music fans of the genre have ever heard of. Which is a shame. Pal Shazar (vocals) and Andrew Chinich (everything else) had Stephen Hague and Jules Shear at the helm when they recorded two idiosyncratic albums that combined quirky themes and lyrics -- about domesticity, world travel (“I’m on my knees for a ticket to France”), Lolita, Brazilian magazines -- with unique arrangements, They were loved by the likes of Trouser Press, Richard Blade and book nerds everywhere. And Jean Cocteau's "The Blood of a Poet" inspired one of their album covers and Robert Mapplethorpe shot another.
Yet the closest they came to stardom was this video for "President Am I," a song that goes into heavy rotation at my house every four years. The clip was only in light rotation on MTV. But the scene where Pal sings "Ice in a vodka ... a touch of lime. I'm not running for president, am I?" as she suddenly appears in her highball glass next to a giant straw was featured in an MTV promo alongside Yaz(oo)'s "Don't Go," making it a familiar sight to fans of the music channel's earliest days on the air.
Dolly Mixture, 'Baby, It's You' (1980)
I discovered these British birds when they sang backup on Captain Sensible's "Wot," an early treat on MTV. And then I fell in love with them when I found an import 45 in the used bin at Roads to Moscow in Tempe, Ariz., of their cover of "Baby, It's You.," which it turns out they hated and disowned. I still adore it -- and everything on their (avowed) double album, "Demonstration Tapes." ("New Look Baby" will knock your socks off!) These days I enjoy seeing bassist/vocalist Debsey Wykes sing backup for Saint Etienne whenever they cross the pond.
Killer Pussy, 'Pepperoni Ice Cream' (1983)
Growing up in uncool (literally and figuratively) Phoenix in the late '70s and early '80s wasn't ideal. So we felt incredibly fortunate to have a "cool" band like Killer Pussy to call our own. Led by the charismatic Lucy La Mode with songs like "Teenage Enema Nurses in Bondage" (a KROQ favorite), "Pocket Pool," "Herpes" and "Dildo Desire," we thought of them as the NC-17 answer to the B-52s. ("Moist Toilette" was a note-by-note spoof of Grace Jones's "Warm Leatherette"!) "Pepperoni Ice Cream" was the closest they ever came to mainstream, which is kind of like saying "Polyester" was John Waters playing it straight.
Bonnie Hayes With the Wild Combo, 'Shelley's Boyfriend' (1982)
Bonnie Hayes was known for two quintessential power pop songs in the early '80s that gained new wave credibility after being included on the soundtrack to the punk Romeo & Juliet, "Valley Girl." "Girls Like Me" was the one I fell for first. But it was "Shelley's Boyfriend," originally recorded in 1981 with her band called the Punts, that was her finest three minutes. Hayes, whose brother was in Huey Lewis's News, later worked with Belinda Carlisle, Bonnie Rait, Billy Idol and others.
The Catholic Girls, 'C'est Impossible' (1982)
My brother Bill bought the Catholic Girls’ eponymous debut album based on the cover alone. We were obsessed with "Beauty and the Beat" and the Bangles' debut EP and just itching for the next big girl thing. Although I was initially creeped out by the religious overtones -- I was raised without ever setting foot in a church, and the sight of a crucifix, rosary beads or a prayer card in a friend's house made me really uncomfortable as a kid -- I came to appreciate the clever songwriting and Gail Peterson's unusual vibrato.
Tracie Young, 'The House That Jack Built' (1983)
As an obsessed fan of the Jam and the Style Council, I was overjoyed when Paul Weller started his own label and began recruiting new artists. There were quite a few to love -- the Questions and Big Sound Authority come to mind -- but by far the best was Tracie Young, or Tracie! as it was styled on her records. As someone who prefers female vocalists, Tracie -- only a teen when she signed on -- was just what the music doctor ordered: a blue-eyed soul singer under Paul’s tutelage, staring off by singing backup on the Jam's final single and the Style Council's first. Although she served her mentor well over the course of a handful of singles and two albums (one released after the fact) -- "I Can't Leave You Alone," "Nothing Happens Here but You" and "You Must Be Kidding" remain timeless -- "The House That Jack Built," her first release, wound up being her biggest if not most memorable one of all.
Kirsty MacColl, 'See That Girl' (1981)
The closest Americans ever came to appreciating Kirsty MacColl was when Stiff label mate Tracey Ullman covered "They Don't Know" back in 1983, or perhaps if they've ever heard the Pogues' profane Christmas classic, "Fairtyale of New York." But a deeper dive into the catalog of the singer/songwriter -- who died in a freak accident in 2000 at just 41 years of age -- reveals she was one of the most clever artists of the era, incorporating punk, country, new wave and girl-group sensibilities into her repertoire, perhaps never better than on this one. (MacColl made Brian Ferrari's list as a backing vocalist for Jane Aire and the Belvederes, who were also on Stiff.)
Shell & the Crush, 'When You Look My Way' (1983)
This was a real shocker at the time. Shell Kepler, who played goody-two-shoes nurse Amy Vining on "General Hospital," must have tired of Dr. Noah Drake getting all the attention, so released a five-song EP of new wave songs under the moniker Shell & the Crush. (She even wrote her own material!) Perhaps the most surprising thing of all? It was kind of great. (Also check out "Popular Girl.") Kepler died of kidney failure on Feb. 1, 2008, at 49.
Dislocation Dance, 'Show Me' (1983)
Dislocation Dance was a post-punk band from Manchester who reminded me a little of Haircut 100 with a fun-girl twist. One critic said they were a group "out of time -- too eclectic to cross over into a mainstream," which is to say heaven.
Velveteen, 'Nightline' (1983)
And lastly, one of the best things about these lists is being able to learn about music that slipped through the cracks, which happened regularly in the pre-internet days. Same goes for writing a blog. Velveteen -- led by singer Lisa Burns and bassist Sal Maida -- look and sound exactly like the kind of music I grew up with, yet I didn't discover them until a reader alerted me to them about a decade ago. (The same person also introduced me to the Passions, who made Doug Brod's New York Times list.) Velveteen released just one six-song EP, "After Hours," but it didn't take long for it to register as an "old" favorite.
Honorable mentions
These two maybe don't technically qualify as new wave, but are lost gems by women of a similar vein more people should know about.
Voice of the Beehive, 'Don't Call Me Baby' (1988)
Pure pop perfection from the Anglo-American band formed in London in 1986 by Californian sisters Tracey Bryn and Melissa Brooke Belland. Somewhere when "Don't Call Me Baby" was released, Phil Spector was approvingly nodding at its production while shaking his head at its message.
The Darling Buds, 'Burst' (1988)
Andrea Lewis was my favorite bombshell of the short-lived Indie Rock Blond Movement that also included Transvision Vamp, the Sundays and the Primitives. That she and her band said they drew their inspiration from Blondie and the Beatles explains why, as demonstrated on this song that could have been an outtake from "Eat to the Beat."
It's difficult to explain what it was like when Sandra Bernhard's debut album, "I'm Your Woman," came out in 1985. It had been a couple of years since she had made her splash in "The King of Comedy," but not a lot of movie roles worthy of her talent followed. In the interim, she appeared in a film that barely saw release, had a half-hour comedy special on Cinemax ("Your New American Actress Friend") and returned to David Letterman -- her 1983 debut still ranks as one of the greatest -- for what would become a legendary series of appearances on the late-night talk show, cementing herself as the country's most idiosyncratic comedy voice. I had just graduated from high school in Arizona and immediately headed back to the motherland to spend the summer with my best friend from sixth grade, Mark, and his cadre of friends in Detroit who had also become my own.
On one of our regular visits to the best record store in town -- Off the Record in Royal Oak -- I was browsing the "B" section looking for Blondie imports when I came across a new LP by none other than Bernhard, Sandra. This was pre-Internet, so I was blown away by what I was seeing, having had no idea it was even coming. The cover depicted her in a bra and lacey bottom holding an electruc guitar (huh?) and the titles sounded like actual songs, so none of us were sure what to make of it. Earning $3.35 an hour, as we did in those days -- and having never heard anything off the album -- made gambling on an $8.99 purchase a bit too risky for this level-headed Michizona boy, so I resisted buying it.
Don't get me wrong -- I desperately wanted to. I mean, just look at those jacket photos! But I didn't have a lot of money saved that summer, and there were Howard Jones tickets to be purchased at Pine Knob, clothes to be bought at Value Village and wine coolers to be paid for at 7-Eleven. "I'm Your Woman" just didn't fit into my frugal life at that moment.
I got back to Arizona in late August and quietly resumed my high school job at the AMC Fiesta Village while trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life now that I was an "adult." Then one afternoon I noticed in the Random Notes section of Rolling Stone that Sandra Bernhard had a cameo in the latest Muppet caper, scheduled for release the following week. As fate would have it, "Follow That Bird" was showing at my cinema, so I went to check it out. (To be honest, I'd have probably gone even if she weren't in it: Kermit the Frog was my journalistic hero growing up and I idolized Grover, not realizing I would one day have his physique.) But sure enough, Sandy's scene as a grouch(y) waitress at a roadside cafe stole the show, so I started sneaking into the film at that exact moment she appeared on-screen each day at work, the perfect escape from shoveling popcorn and hawking $12 boxes of Milk Duds.
A few years later while I was attending Arizona State University, I came across "I'm Your Woman" again at Zia Records in Tempe, which gave Off the Record a run for its money because it too had all the latest imports and used records. It was a promotional copy -- complete with press kit -- and by now I was making eight bucks an hour as a circulation rep at The Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette. I quickly snatched it up. The album had come and gone without much notice -- and on first listen, I could kind of figure out why. By then, Sandy had struck comedy gold with her off-Broadway show "Without You I'm Nothing," which my friends Greg, Paul, John and I knew from start to finish. In it, the comedy was the star and the songs were the supporting players. But "I'm Your Woman" was different. The songs were front and center -- original pop songs whose hearfelt lyrics Bernhard co-wrote with the visual artist Rick Maslow -- and the comedy was merely the set up, usually in the form of short, sweet anecdotes about her childhood and family. But unlike her live shows, they were sung in a more conventional -- or should I say, less dramatic -- fashion. I imagine the whole thing completely confused her fans who had grown accustomed to her caustic wit and over-the-top interpretations of pop music's greatest hits. That they just weren't prepared for this gentler, more vulnerable side of Sandy. In retrospect, though, I think anyone would agree it was an ahead-of-its time little gem. There isn't a clunker in this batch of eight tracks. The little monologue before "Near the Top" might be the funniest bit she's ever written -- and the song the most bizarre. And "Boys Come Running" was the song Susanna Hoffs needed to launch her solo career, But the song that always touched me most was "Everybody's Young," about a world of beautiful teenagers that struck me as a response to Jackson Browne's teenage anthem "Somebody's Baby," but from the point of view of the girl he's singing about when she's maybe 10 or 15 years older, and has begun to feel wistful about a youth and innocence that fades all too soon.
You're everybody's baby when you're young ...
Have a listen and tell me what you think. "I'm Your Woman" is long out of print, but I think Sandy sells the CD at her shows. It's definitely worth tracking down.
"Follow That Bird"
I'm not sure this is the correct image for the 7-inch of "Everybody's Young" -- I never had a copy -- but if it is, the photo was discussed when Sandy Linter was a guest on "Sandyland." Linter did the makeup for the shoot, which was done at Tea & Sympathy on Greenwich Avenue.
UPDATE:
Someone found the original video for the song. The quality is very poor, but it will leave you feeling enriched.
Longtime readers know I am a Bangles fanatic, dating back to their 1982 EP that featured original bassist Annette Zilinskas, a delicate blonde of Lithuanian and Scandinavian ancestry from the Van Nuys section of the Valley.
Although I embraced her replacement, Michael Steele -- "Following" is arguably the Bangles' best original song, and "Glitter Years" isn't too far behind -- I always wondered what became of the quiet girl on the bass, who looked like a 1950s Hollywood starlet someone discovered in the basement of the Masque. I recall hearing she'd left the Bangles for a band called Blood on the Saddle, but back in those high-school days money was tight -- and YouTube didn't exist -- so I was never willing to take the risk and buy the group's debut album that came out in 1984, just as the Bangles put out their first LP. That "Blood on the Saddle" was distributed by a small label meant it wasn't always readily available, so the planets never seemed to aligned for me to even buy it as an impulse purchase when the babysitting gigs were coming fast and furious. As a result, my love affair with Annette sort of became a New Wave footnote, with fond memories whenever I heard her play the harmonica on "How Is the Air Up There?"
The Bangs get a "temporary" bassist
and harmonica player
The Bangs became the Bangles ...
when it was discovered another band had already laid claim to the name ...
The Beach Girls
The girls go cruising with Rodney Bingenheimer of KROQ
EP promo
And then Dick Clark came calling ...
Performing "Want You" on "American Bandstand" (March 26, 1983)
Annette really wants to be your girl
Decades later, Annette would still occasionally enter my mind. In fact, I was at a Susanna Hoffs and Matthew Sweet show at City Winery in 2009 when their backup band was having some technical difficulties, which led Sid 'n' Susie to doing an impromptu Q&A with the audience. I immediately asked Susanna if she had kept in touch with Annette, to which she smiled and said sort of wistfully, "No. I'm not really sure what ever became of her."
With that in mind, imagine my surprise the other night when I stumbled upon a video of the Bangles performing at the Whisky in 2014 -- when their rarities LP came out that included that eponymous EP -- featuring none other than Annette Zilinskas on harmonica! From the looks of things, everyone -- including Susanna -- was overjoyed to have the old group back together again. (I'm guessing the Petersen sisters did, in fact, keep in touch with her -- she and Vicki seem very chummy.) Annette looks radiant and sounds like a day hadn't gone by.
But this opened the YouTube (and later Spotify) floodgates for me, and imagine how surprised I was to discover that "Blood on the Saddle" was indeed worth the $8.99 back in the day, and then some.
Although the debut is light on Annette -- something I had feared all along as I knew she had been added to a group that already had a male singer -- the band sounds like the love child of X and Lone Justice, and her starring moments give Maria McKee a run for her money.
"(I Wish I Was a) Single Girl (Again)" is the standout track, but the songs where she sings with founder Greg Davis -- with whom she appears to have been romantically involved back in the day -- are exhilarating as well, and have been described as making John Doe and Exene Cervenka sound like Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, which isn't entirely untrue.
The two albums that followed -- "Poison Love" (1985) and "Fresh Blood" (1987) make better use of Zilinskas.
But after three LPs and little mainstream success, the band called it a day (until reforming without her in 1993).
After leaving Blood on the Saddle, Zilinskas was a member of a six-person group called the Ringling Sisters, none of whom were sisters or named Ringling (two of them were dudes!). The group started out as a collective of sorts for artists who were in other bands but wanted another outlet without all the commitment -- Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blond was a founding member -- but became a "real" band by the time Annette joined. Just got their one LP -- 1990's "60 Watt Reality," produced by the great Lou Adler -- and it's difficult to see why it wasn't a hit in the era of Melissa Etheridge and Alannah Myles as it builds on the alt-country influence Zilinskas mastered with Blood on the Saddle plus adds a nice touch of blues and some spoken word! (The band was quoted as calling their sound "punk rock with a smile.")
Although Annette again shares vocal duties, the band has a winning Lone Justice (but this time) by way of Memphis feel, with a brainy splash of Throwing Muses and Slow Children, propelled by lyrics like "the kind of eyes that stare back at you from a milk carton," According to the L.A. Times, Zilinskas then led a band called Weatherbell, although it doesn't appear they ever released anything. I sent Annette a message on Facebook last night to see if she'd be up for a chat (I'm dying to hear about her reunion with the Bangles!). Will let you know if she's game or if she's too busy living in the real world ...
Some exciting news: After a few guest appearances, Annette has (officially) rejoined the Fab Four! For a number of years after her replacement, Michael Steele, opted to retire the gals employed Derrick Anderson and at one point Abby Travis, who you may recall filled in for Kathy Valentine following her injury and subsequent ouster from the Go-Go's. What a blast seeing the lovely Lithuanian in action again after all this time. More photos and details HERE and HERE.
Longtime fans will recall Annette was the only person who responded to Sue's ad in the Recycler back in the day. When Sue eventually hooked up with the Peterson sisters, they already had a bassist (Amanda Hills). It was only when Hills left for grad school did Annette join the band, once known as the Colours, Supersonic Bangs, Bangs and then eventually Bangles!
P.S. Speaking of former bass players:
Amanda Hills Podany (now a Ph.D.) has also occasionally reunited with the band on stage, bringing the whole story full circle! Read HERE.
Click to revisit the heyday of Chelsea's 8th Avenue
My blog is featured in Susan Olsen's tell-all about the ill-fated "Brady Bunch Variety Hour"!
Growing up in Madison Heights, Mich.
The Web leads to an unexpected return to a house I grew up in.
Carlsbad, Calif. (2008)
Go Behind the Music of my high-school band, A La Plage
Little Larry left us too soon.
With Debbie Harry
With Robert Buckley
With Roger Federer
With Ed Burns
With Thomas Roberts
You've read the blog -- now read the book!
My memoir is available at Three Lives & Co. in the West Village
Like my book on Facebook here.
