Josie and the Pussycats probably didn't seem like a ground-breaking animation program at the time, when the Hanna-Barbera show debuted on CBS television in 1970; but if I am not mistaken, it was the first Saturday morning cartoon show to have all female lead characters. The cartoon show was based on an Archie comic strip of the same name, though the premise of the show was more in line with the Scooby Doo series of the same time period.
Male domination of cartoons has been pervasive and continues to this day, particularly with fantasy characters of one form or another. For instance, among the Smurfs, the only female in the beginning was Smurfette; furthermore, her name suggests that she is not even a real Smurf. There are more females in the more recent movies, though from what I can tell, all of them still look like Smurfette. More recently, apparently the only female color among M&M's is Green.
Josie and the Pussycats featured an all-girl pop band trio in a time when few all-female bands existed in real life. Additionally, the band's tambourine player, Valerie was the first African-American female character in a cartoon series.
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Like the Archies before them, Josie and the Pussycats released an album in December 1970; unlike the Archies though (who are shown only as cartoons), the actual performers appear on the album cover: Cathy Douglas, Patrice Holloway and Cherie Moor. Patrice Holloway had previously co-written a song called "You Made Me So Very Happy" with her sister Brenda Holloway along with Motown record producer Frank Wilson and their founder Berry Gordy. Brenda Holloway released this song on Tamla Records in 1967, and it became a major hit for Blood, Sweat and Tears in 1969. Cherie Moor was born Cheryl Jean Stoppelmoor; in 1972, she married David Ladd (son of Hollywood legend Alan Ladd) and became known as Cheryl Ladd of Charlie's Angels fame.
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The Runaways are the first truly successful all-female rock band and were formed in late 1975 under the auspices of Kim Fowley, a musician, songwriter, record producer, promoter, and self-promoter who has existed on the fringes of the music industry for decades. The way they are telling the story now, rhythm guitarist Joan Jett and drummer Sandy West had separately introduced themselves to Kim Fowley. He then gave Jett's number to West, and after they connected, he helped them find the other bandmembers.
Initially the Runaways was a power trio with the other member being bassist Micki Steele. Lead guitarist Lita Ford was added shortly afterward; she had auditioned to be the new bass guitarist. Cherie Currie was added as the lead vocalist. After Steele was fired, Peggy Foster took over on bass and was replaced after a month with Jackie Fox.
At this point, the band was signed by Mercury Records and released their first album, the Runaways in 1976. The credits for the bandmembers on the back of the album included their ages (most were younger than 16 as I recall), thus cementing Kim Fowley's Svengali reputation. Fowley refused to let Jackie Fox play on the debut album, so Blondie bass guitarist Nigel Harrison filled in.
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One measure of their success is that the Runaways were the headliners in their early concerts, with opening acts that included major bands like Cheap Trick, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Van Halen.
When Cherie Currie had auditioned to join the Runaways, the other bandmembers quickly came up with a song called "Cherry Bomb" – named after a famous firework, and not the John Mellencamp song by the same name – that she was asked to sing instead of the Suzi Quatro song that she had picked out. The song features a line in the chorus "Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!" that was a play on her first name; Joan Jett and Kim Fowley are credited as the songwriters. "Cherry Bomb" became the opening track on their album and the band's first single; while "Cherry Bomb" only made it to #106 on the Billboard singles charts, the song was named #52 on the list of the greatest hard rock songs of all time by VH1.
In passing, I should note that the Runaways are overtly a hard rock band; they were later identified with the punk rock scene that was unfolding at the same time, but all of the all-female bands that I mentioned last month – Goldie and the Gingerbreads, the Pleasure Seekers, Isis and Fanny – also have a real edge to them.
After released their second album Queens of Noise, the Runaways toured Japan in 1977 and attracted Beatlemania-level attention according to Joan Jett – their popularity in Japan among foreign bands trailed only ABBA, KISS and Led Zeppelin. Their third album, Live in Japan documented their experiences there.
Vicki Blue became the band's new bassist after they returned home. After releasing two more albums, the Runaways ultimately broke up in early 1979 due to musical differences.
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The biggest star to come out of the Runaways is Joan Jett. After Cherie Currie left the band, Joan Jett took over as lead vocalist on the last two Runaways albums, Waitin' for the Night and And Now . . . the Runaways. Remarkably, in early 1979, Joan Jett produced the only album by the pioneering L.A. punk rock band the Germs, called (GI).
The Runaways never found the same success at home as they had overseas, so Joan Jett went to England to begin her solo career. In 1979, Jett recorded three songs with Paul Cook and Steve Jones (both formerly in Sex Pistols), including an early version of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (originally recorded by a British band called Arrows).
Her first solo album, Joan Jett was released in England in May 1980; however, after shopping the album in America, she was turned down by 23 different record companies. Eventually Joan Jett founded Blackheart Records and had albums pressed herself, financed by her daughter's college savings account. At concerts, the records were literally sold out of the trunk of producer Kenny Laguna's car. The album was eventually picked up by Sidewalk Records and re-released under the name Bad Reputation.
Joan Jett then placed an ad in L.A. Weekly saying that she was "looking for three good men" (a play on the advetising campaign of the U. S. Marine Corps at the time). John Doe of X sat in on bass guitar during the audition sections; and he mentioned Gary Ryan, a bassist that he knew who was crashing on his couch at the time. Ryan was a long-time fan of the Runaways and was picked after Joan Jett recognized him. Gary Ryan in turn recommended guitarist Eric Ambel; they had both been in a local band called Rik L. Rik. Rounding out the band was drummer Danny "Furious" O'Brien, who was in the San Francisco punk band the Avengers, whose frontwoman was Penelope Houston. Joan Jett's band was named the Blackhearts after the name of her record company Blackheart Records, and not the other way around.
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts have released a total of 10 studio albums, including Unvarnished that was released in 2013. Their debut album, I Love Rock 'n' Roll was their most successful, reaching #2 on the Billboard album charts and spawning a #1 hit single, "I Love Rock 'n' Roll". The title of their third album, Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth (one of my favorite album names ever), refers to her days in the Runaways and includes another version of "Cherry Bomb". I saw a lively concert by Joan Jett down here in Bay St. Louis not long after I came to the Coast, and she came through again earlier this year.
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Another former Runaway, Lita Ford became prominent in heavy metal in the 1980's; her manager was Sharon Osbourne. Ford had a hit single with "Kiss Me Deadly"; she and Ozzy Osbourne (Sharon's husband) recorded one of the great heavy metal duets in 1988, "Close My Eyes Forever" (included on her third album Lita). Lita Ford married Chris Holmes of the controversial heavy metal band W.A.S.P.
Cherie Currie and Sandy West occasionally played in bands together; West formed the Sandy West Band and toured California throughout the 1980's and 1990's before succumbing to cancer in 2006. Cherie Currie is still a musician, including a band that she was in briefly with another former Runaway, Vicki Blue, called the Currie-Blue Band; they never recorded any music but did appear together in the film This Is Spinal Tap. Currie's passion now is as a chainsaw artist.
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The Bangles was one of the longest lasting all-female rock bands. Sisters Vicki Peterson (guitar/vocals) and Debbie Peterson (drums/vocals) formed a band in Los Angeles with Susanna Hoffs (vocals/guitar) in December 1980 that was first called the Colours, then the Supersonic Bangs and finally the Bangs. Annette Zalinskas was the band's first bass guitarist.
After a couple of early singles, the band put together an EP, Getting out of Hand; but they were forced to change their name because a New York was already using the name the Bangs, so they switched to Bangles. The copy of the EP that I got had a sticker on it proclaiming "Bangles (Formerly the Bangs)".
After making the EP, Annette Zalinskas started her own band called Blood on the Saddle; she was replaced by Michael Steele, who had been the founding bass guitarist for the Runaways under the name Micki Steele. Their second album, Different Light spawned two major hit singles, "Manic Monday" (written by Prince under a pseudonym) and the #1 song "Walk Like a Egyptian". Several other hits followed, including a tough version of Paul Simon's "Hazy Shade of Winter" and another #1 song in 1989, "Eternal Flame".
In 1998, the Bangles reformed to record a song for the second Austin Powers film and began a tour in 2000.
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Another band from the same time period, the Go-Go's became popular even beyond its hit songs and albums. Their first album, the triple-platinum Beauty and the Beat is one of the top selling debut albums of all time and is described by Allmusic as being "one of the cornerstone albums of American new wave".
The band was formed in 1978 and was originally called the Misfits, with Belinda Carlisle (lead vocals), Jane Wiedlin (guitar, vocals), Charlotte Caffey (lead guitar, keyboards), Margot Olaverra (bass), and Elissa Bello (drums). Gina Schock replaced Bello on drums in 1979; after Olaverra became ill and could no longer perform, Kathy Valentine took her position in the band. Jane Wiedlin thought up the name "the Go-Go's". The band was signed to I.R.S. Records in early 1981 and started a lucrative tour with the Police, before returning shortly thereafter with their own headlining tour.
Two more albums followed in quick succession, though the Go-Go's began to run out of steam by the mid-1980's when they were unable to match the giddy fun of their first album. While officially breaking up in 1985, the band has periodically toured and released albums over the years, including a cover of "Cool Jerk" for their 1990 Greatest Hits album, Return to the Valley of the Go-Go's (1994) and God Bless the Go-Go's (2001).
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Backing up a couple of decades, the Fleetwoods is one of the early rock and roll bands that I remember most fondly. Their studied low-key, doo-wop style allowed them to effortlessly fly sideways against the ever-changing musical landscape of the very late 1950's and early 1960's. Singing groups have been a fixture in rock and roll almost from the beginning, but from doo-wop to Motown, most have been African-American. The Fleetwoods is one of the exceptions and is also unusual in having men and women in the group.
The bandmembers met up in high school in Olympia, Washington. Originally the two women, Gretchen Christopher and Barbara Ellis began singing together; and they asked Gary Troxell to accompany them on trumpet. Once Christopher and Ellis heard one of Troxell's songs, he began singing with the group as well. The attraction of the Fleetwoods are the paradoxically delicate yet full-bodied vocals of the three bandmembers.
Surprisingly, two of their stellar ballads hit #1 on the charts in 1959 in quick succession: "Come Softly to Me" and "Mr. Blue". Nor was that the end of it: Along with several minor singles, the Fleetwoods had a total of eleven Top 100 hits, with "Tragedy" landing in the Top Ten hit in 1961. The band called it quits in 1963 but continued to tour periodically over the years in various incarnations.
A Greatest Hits or Best of package is what most people buy when they look for a Fleetwoods album, and that is what I did in the beginning also. The danger is that the hits often show only one side of a band; in this case, most people would assume that all of the music by the Fleetwoods features Gary Troxell on lead and the women singing back up. Not so – the above album that I picked up shows that Gretchen Christopher and Barbara Ellis also perform flawlessly on lead vocals.
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The Mamas and the Papas are another band featuring both men and women that had enduring popularity throughout the British Invasion years. They were also one of the first American bands that fans began to know individually the way they knew the Beatles: Suave bandleader John Phillips, his gorgeous wife Michelle Phillips, the muscular singer Cass Elliott (who became known almost immediately as "Mama Cass"), and Denny Doherty, the other Papa. Mama Cass was the first prominent big woman in rock and roll. The complicated story of their formation and the other musicians who moved in and out of their circles – which included John Sebastian and Zal Yanofsky of the Lovin' Spoonful – is related in their song "Creeque Alley". Considerably more drama would follow during and after the Mamas and the Papas had their hit-making run. In all, the band racked up nine Top 30 hits during the mid-1960's and in many ways personified folk rock for most Americans – or at least the non-psychedelic side of that genre.
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Many women perform with their sisters in order to have company in otherwise all-male bands, and that is true of Heart, one of the most successful and long-lived hard rock bands in history. This would have been another band that would have been a good one to add to the discussion some months back about bands with a hidden history. Everyone thinks of lead vocalist Ann Wilson and her sister, guitarist and vocalist Nancy Wilson when they think of Heart; but actually, they began in Vancouver, British Columbia all the way back in 1963, when bass guitarist Steve Fossen and brothers Roger Fisher and guitarist Mike Fisher started a band initially called the Army that later took the name White Heart. The Wilson sisters became romantically involved with the Fisher brothers – Ann with Mike, and Nancy with Roger – and Nancy Wilson officially joined the band in 1974 following shortly by Ann Wilson. After Mike Fisher became the band's engineer, keyboardist Howard Leese and drummer Michael Derosier rounded out the band.
Their first album, Dreamboat Annie was released in 1975 and is one of my favorite albums of the 1970's. The album spawned two hit singles, "Magic Man" and "Crazy on You"; but it sounds even better as an album to these ears. Numerous hit albums followed, with hits that included "Barracuda", "Dog and Butterfly", "These Dreams", "What About Love?", "All I Want to Do Is Make Love to You", and many more.
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There are a host of Wilsons who have made popular music over the years. The Beach Boys – "America's band" according to no less than President Ronald Reagan – was founded in 1961 by Brian Wilson, his brothers Dennis Wilson and Carl Wilson, and their cousin Mike Love; Al Jardine was the one original bandmember not in the family. Another Nancy Wilson was a top-notch jazz vocalist who started in the 1960's and frequently crossed over to the R&B and rock charts. Mary Wilson was one of the founding members of the Supremes; the story of her being eclipsed by eventual lead singer Diana Ross formed the main storyline for the Broadway musical Dreamgirls that later made Jennifer Hudson a star in the film version. Then there are R&B singers Jackie Wilson and Wilson Pickett, country star Gretchen Wilson, country comedian and chef Justin Wilson, and many others.
Wilson Phillips is one of the early second-generation rock bands and features another pair of Wilson sisters – Carnie Wilson and Wendy Wilson (daughters of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys) – plus Chynna Phillips, the daughter of John Phillips and Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas. She is the half-sister of actress Mackenzie Phillips, who started out in the film American Graffiti when she was just 12. Wilson Phillips had a major hit song in 1990 called "Hold On" and has released a total of six albums to date.
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CHIMERA is basically two young English women named Francesca Garnett and Lisa Bankoff who were from the "West Country" of England (basically the southwestern tip of the country in and around Cornwall); they were first cousins and look like teenagers on the cover photograph. They had a backing band of a variety of fine musicians, including several having considerable renown in rock and roll.
Chimera recorded something like 20 songs (variously reported as being in 1968, 1969 and/or 1970) in a acid-folk style for a planned album that remained unreleased for decades, while picking up legendary status among psychedelic record collectors. After having several bootleg pressings, the album (10 songs) was finally officially released by Tenth Planet Records in 2002 in a limited edition (1,000 numbered copies) of 190-gram LP's; that is the one that I picked up years ago. More recently, Wooden Hill Records issued a more complete CD of Chimera's music in 2004 that includes 19 tracks. Amazingly, only cassettes remain from the recording sessions, though the sound quality is not at all impaired; they were remastered beautifully by Denis Blackham, an industry legend who had previously mastered the music for the Evita and Cats musicals and also albums by Led Zeppelin, Madness, Eurythmics, and Brian Eno.
The real attraction of Chimera for me is the lush female vocals; either woman individually is amazing enough, but when both are singing, it sounds like a choir. The opening song, "Come into the Garden" has a quiet musical build-up before Francesca Garnett and Lisa Bankoff begin delivering the first lyric at such a measured space as to make one check the turntable to see whether it is set to the proper speed. Many of the songs have a similarly earthy tone in their lyrics that is a fine counterpoint to the unusual musical settings.
Writing in the Time Has Told Me blog, Paul Martin has a glowing review of the album; he compares Chimera to an Irish all-female folk-rock band of the same time period called Mellow Candle that I am not familiar with. He also wrote: "What we have as the musical legacy is a game of two halves. Half, or perhaps slightly more, of the songs are real vehicles for the girls' voices (all the songs are originals). These are acid-folk of the very first order . . . and many of the numbers would have fitted deftly in to The Wicker Man film soundtrack [the original film that is, from 1973]. . . . It should be said that none of the songs on this album have a predictable or conventional pattern to them. They are beautifully syncopated affairs with interesting vocal patterns, lilting bass lines, etc. – in fact 'progressive' in the very best sense of that often abused word, with rhythms rising seemingly from nowhere and winding back down again. . . .
"All songs on this album are instrumentally very strong and seem to go out of their way to find counter rhythms rather than plump for the obvious, both instrumentally and vocally."
Paul Martin notes that about half of the songs are geared mostly to the vocals, with the second and third songs, "The Grail" and "Sad Song for Winter" being particular favorites of mine. Lisa Bankoff handles solo vocals on the latter song. On the other songs, the band is highlighted more strongly, with the closing song "Peru" sounding especially good to these ears. Of these songs, Martin says: "The band dominated numbers can best be described as Fairport Convention meets Little Feat as they have a blend of blues-funk and folk rock in them."
All of the songs were written by Lisa Bankoff, showing true originally and a wide variety of moods. The backing band included Bob Weston on guitar; he was a prominent member of Fleetwood Mac for about a year in 1972 and 1973. Roy O'Temro (or Roy Temro) was the drummer; other bandmembers on some of the songs are Nick South (bass guitar) and Ian Milne (keyboards). Orchestral arrangements were by Wil Malone.
The manager of Chimera (and possibly the producer for at least some of the recording sessions) is none other than Nick Mason, the drummer for Pink Floyd and the only bandmember who has appeared on all of the PF albums. Mason also sat in as drummer on "The Grail". His bandmate in Pink Floyd, Richard Wright played keyboards on "Lady with Bullets in Her Hair". Even one of the PF's roadies, Alan Styles played saxophone on one track. Francesca Garnett and Lisa Bankoff had boldly gone backstage to a music festival where Pink Floyd was performing, introducing themselves to Nick Mason and telling him that they were songwriters.
Lisa Bankoff was quoted on one Internet blog as saying that Mal Luker is their record producer; Luker also plays guitar and keyboards on "Sad Song for Winter".
Francesca Garnett and Lisa Bankoff self-published a book in 2002 about their experiences in the 1960's London music scene, called Making It! Famous Names and Silly Girls. Her son Sacha Edmundson reported on the Time Has Told Me blog that Lisa Bankoff died in 2003.
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Flashback #1: The Under-Appreciated Rock Band of the Month for October 2011 – JIM SULLIVAN
I forgot to do the Flashback and Picture Gallery last month, so I have to double up this month.
Several songs by Jim Sullivan are available on YouTube; in fact, the entire album can be listened to, as is true of many obscure albums in fact. The title track of his album U.F.O. is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH0l7nIMfw0 . The clever and humorous "So Natural" can be heard here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmymU89kWXw . And another great song from the album, "Highways" is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3I4TdOCVpw . These are all audio only of course.
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Flashback #2: The Under-Appreciated Rock Band of the Month for November 2011 – THE UGLY
This band is definitely not going to be everyone's cup of tea; the Ugly is the only rock band I have ever heard described as "Hoodlum Rock". The original version of "Disorder", as taken from their CD that is also called Disorder, is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTMnaWon6nE . It turns out that the band released a single after all, "Stranded in the Laneway" b/w "To Have Some Fun"; both sides of the 45 are on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_vOQt--ZCc . While "To Have Some Fun" is on the CD that I have, "Stranded in the Laneway" is not, so that song is new to me. These songs are audio only, though the latter clip includes several stills of the band.
Other news is that the Ugly has evidently reformed, and several recent live tracks are given on YouTube also. Try this live set from 2010 of the song "Revenge" (f-bombs flying as usual!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEazcLXbhB4 . The original lead singer, Mike Nighmare has passed away.
A more recent band called the Ugly that has a 2009 CD called Slaves to the Decay is not the same group; they are from Sweden.
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Picture Gallery #1: The Under-Appreciated Rock Band of the Month for October 2010 – THE PILTDOWN MEN
Here is the album that I have:
This is their first single, "Brontosaurus Stomp":
This is their take on the William Tell Overture:
This item includes their biggest hit, "McDonald's Cave"; this is actually a mini-EP with four songs on one 45 single:
This is from another 45 having four other songs:
At a later date, another band formed in Britain called the Sons of the Piltdown Men; they released one single called "Mad Goose":
This gives a photograph of the later band, though it is hard to tell much:
Here is a poster from a time when the band shared a bill with the Beatles and other British Invasion groups:
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Picture Gallery #2: The Under-Appreciated Rock Band of the Month for November 2010 – SLOVENLY
Here is the album that I have:
This is a photograph of the band:
Here is the cover of the notorious German children's stories called Der Struwwelpeter that were translated by Mark Twain; the album cover is an alternate version.
