The Pandoras were an all-female rock and roll band from Los Angeles, California from 1983 to 1990. The band initially found a following in the Hollywood Garage rock scene, and later adopted a contemporary look and hard rock sound. The band leader and singer/songwriter, Paula Pierce, died on August 10, 1991, of an aneurysm at the age of 31. (More from Wikipedia)
One of the early L.A. punk rock bands was the Pandoras, an all-female band that was formed in 1983 by bandleader Paula Pierce (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica) and Gwynne Kahn (organ and vocals). Pierce’s boyfriend at the time was Shelley Ganz, leader of a garage rock revival band called the Unclaimed; while Kahn was dating Joe Nolte who was in a similar band called the Last. Bambi Conway (bass and vocals) and Casey Gomez (drums) rounded out the original line-up of the Pandoras. Greg Shaw gave them a record deal and some studio time; the result was an excellent debut album on Bomp! Records called It’s About Time (1985).
Writing in the liner notes for the Bomp! Records compilation album Destination: Bomp! (1994), Greg Shaw writes of the Pandoras: “Someday, when all the ‘Riot Grrrl’ hype has died down, I hope Paula Pierce gets the credit she deserves for being the first to break the taboo against blatant sexual aggressiveness in female performers.”
There were some personnel shake-ups before the Pandoras released their second album for Rhino Records in 1986, Stop Pretending. The Pandoras then signed with Elektra Records through Paula Pierce’s boyfriend at the time, who was an A&R rep for the label; but the planned album was never officially released. Sadly, Paula Pierce died of a brain aneurysm in 1991 when she was just 31.
(December 2013)
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Items: The Pandoras
