Smithereens
October 3, 2004 4:30 PM   Subscribe

Women I grew up worshipping: Penelope Houston, Poly Styrene, Exene, Tina Weymouth. (God knows I'm forgetting a few.) The distaff side of punk and, uh, new wave, at their most lyrical, outraged, and articulate.
posted by adamgreenfield (27 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
siouxsie sioux?
posted by dorian at 5:16 PM on October 3, 2004


it was my experience in the hardcore punk rock scene of med- to late 80s that different local scenes fostered very different attitudes towards women in those scenes.

for example, at that time the Montreal and Toronto scenes held very different attitudes towards women. Montreal had bands like No Policy, Terry Fox's Right Leg, My Dog Popper with strong women in them. Toronto had all-male bands with female groupies (in general). Kinda retrograde.

So I guess what I'm trying to get it is that it's not as if we can look back at the punk/new wave era and say that across the board, attitudes towards women were progressive.
posted by sunexplodes at 5:22 PM on October 3, 2004


I once took a leak with John Doe AND Exene. At the same time. True story.
posted by WolfDaddy at 5:26 PM on October 3, 2004


I was nuts about Lora Logic and collected every Essential Logic record I could find. Thanks for calling attention to these pioneers!
posted by languagehat at 5:35 PM on October 3, 2004


Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith Patti, Smith, Patti Smith,
Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith,
Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith,
Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith,
Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith,
Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith,
Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith,
Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith,
Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith,
Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith,
Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith,

Need I say more?
posted by caddis at 5:41 PM on October 3, 2004


chrissie hynde.
posted by lescour at 6:07 PM on October 3, 2004


Alice Bag
Wendy O. Williams (RIP)
Lorna Doom.
posted by MrBaliHai at 6:10 PM on October 3, 2004


Eve Libertine & Joy de Virve
posted by tenseone at 6:13 PM on October 3, 2004


Klaudia Schiff?
posted by dhoyt at 6:27 PM on October 3, 2004


I once took a leak with John Doe AND Exene. At the same time. True story.

I peed with one of the guys from ZZ Top.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:49 PM on October 3, 2004


poison ivy rorschach
posted by dolface at 6:50 PM on October 3, 2004


It continues. The Dishes, The Gossip, The Dagons, Little Killers, Casual Dots and why even ol' Exene in the The Original Sinners. Most of the punk records I've really liked the last few years have been mixed gender.

I played only with boy punk bands since the 80s, myself, and when the latest band started two years ago, the guy I was starting it with insisted that we get a woman in the band. He honestly didn't have anyone in mind, or exactly know why he felt that way, since he'd been in Y-chromosone bands himself. But then he recruited a friend of his, and it's a real different dynamic, and a good one. I think writing material together in a mixed gender band makes everyone get out of their own heads and drains away "you broke my heart" cliches. It makes everyone shoot for making things more universal and less confessional, and that's good, 'cause emotions alone are boring.
posted by bendybendy at 6:54 PM on October 3, 2004


Nina Hagen!
Diamanda!
posted by obloquy at 6:59 PM on October 3, 2004


Thalia Zedek.
posted by dobbs at 7:08 PM on October 3, 2004


Lene Lovich and Nina Hagen.

Of course, there was always The Runaways.
posted by Raymond Marble at 7:10 PM on October 3, 2004


Lydia Lunch
Vi Subversa
The Slits
Toyah Wilcox
Mrs. Fiend
Danielle Dax
Shonen Knife
Lesley Woods
Phranc
Brix
Alannah Curie of the Unfuckables
Hazel O'Connor

And bonus points if you remember Robo
posted by Smart Dalek at 7:14 PM on October 3, 2004


Forgot to add Tish & Snooky of the Sic Fucks
posted by Smart Dalek at 7:18 PM on October 3, 2004


Oh, yeah - what would "th' scene" be without
Maggie, Hopey, Izzy, Daffy, Penny, Terry, and poor ol' Tom-Tom?
posted by Smart Dalek at 7:26 PM on October 3, 2004


Poly Styrene. X Ray Spex. Sublime lyrics. Incredible voice.

The X-rays were penetrating
Through the laytex breeze
Synthetic fibre see-thru leaves
Fell from the rayon trees


The later "Junk Food Junkie" off Consious Consumer isn't bad either.

Johnny's got an addiction
He's strung out without conviction
He was raised with a microwave
Sticky trashy fast food slave
...
Mother doesn't really know
Shopping in a glossy show
Then again her budget's low
Her health so bad it makes her slow
She's a junk food junky
She's stressed and very jumpy
She's a junk food junky
Blame it on the food yeah, we know its bad

posted by meehawl at 8:25 PM on October 3, 2004


*weeps with nostalgic joy*

Thanks adam, this made my day.
posted by jokeefe at 12:34 AM on October 4, 2004


Oh, and The Raincoats, and Frightwig. The 'scary-eye' T shirt that Kurt Cobain is wearing in the MTV Unplugged video is a vintage mid 80s Frightwig shirt. I coveted one at the time, but they were hard to get even then.
posted by jokeefe at 12:41 AM on October 4, 2004


And just one more entry: Vancouver's finest, the Moral Lepers. I think that their EP was played on John Peel's show at one point, but I'm not sure if their reputation extended past the Canadian border.
posted by jokeefe at 12:48 AM on October 4, 2004


Lene Lovich!! I've been a fan of hers from the get-go, and somewhere in my archives I've got a photo taken with her at a record signing back in 1980-something. My long-suffering younger brother came with me that day to play "photographer", and as we waited in line he repeatedly asked "WHO is this person again?" and occasionally observed of some New Waver or other "Look at that weirdo."

Oh, and Patti Smith, Deborah Harry, Rachel Sweet, and Annie Golden, too.
posted by Oriole Adams at 9:48 AM on October 4, 2004


For obscure Canadian bands, how about the Dishrags and the Ruggedy Annes?

I'll second Frightwig, what a great band.

"Yes, there are times, like right now, when I'm really hot..."
posted by alex_reno at 12:09 PM on October 4, 2004


Oh, I forgot a modern favourite: JP5. "I Wanna Date Gino Odjick" is one of my favourite songs of all time, even if it is a Ramones tune with new lyrics.
posted by alex_reno at 12:14 PM on October 4, 2004




Ah, the Dishrags. I loved the fake English accents in their first single. One of their members is now an Art History prof at a local university.

'"Yes, there are times, like right now, when I'm really hot..."

"...So why the fuck should I fuck you? My crotch does not say go!"

Good times, good times.
posted by jokeefe at 3:17 PM on October 4, 2004


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