There were several all-girl bands in the 1960s
named The Ladybirds, some of them who performed fully-clothed and some
who did not. In the 60s there were two bands of topless Ladybirds.
The American "topless" Ladybirds were a five-piece garage rock band, that were no
novelty act. These girls learnt to really play, according to Dick
Boyd's book, Broadway North Beach, The Golden Years - A Saloon Keeper's
Tales. In 1968 after being forced
out of New Jersey for their apparently lewd costume choice, they headed
west. They made it to Las Vegas, where they appeared with comedian
Godfrey Cambridge at the Aladdin Hotel, and at some point they made it
to California. In California the played at the infamous Blue Bunny Club
in Hollywood and found a home at the Tipsy club in San Francisco.
The band even went on tour, there are records of them appearing at the
Crystal Room in New York City, Isy's Supper Club in Vancouver, the Town
'n' Country in Winnipeg and Chez Paree, Quebec in 1968. They were featured on The Wild, Wild World of Jayne Mansfield.
There actually was another all-girl topless band called The Ladybirds in
the 1960s, that hailed all the way from Denmark. They formed in early 1968 in Copenhagen. The band toured extensively throughout Scandinavian. It's even reported that
they made in to the UK, and played in Bristol in 1973. The same year
that the band formed they opened for the Yardbirds at the Fjordvilla Club in Roskilde, Denmark, on September 8th 1968.
The original lineup consisted of Michelle Beauvais, real name
Naomi Frandsen (vocals); Janette, real name Stine Æbeltoft a former
clerk and Denmark's first topless go-go dancer (bass); Sussi, real name Margil Nellemann Andersen formerly of Danish band "Les Filles (guitar) and Hanne Mattson formerly of Danish band "Girls Group" (drums). A few months later Hanne Mattson left the band and was
replaced by Bonni, real name Lonni Andersen a former bookbinder.
Over the next few years the band’s topless show billed as the “Ladybirds Music Show” became notorious and caused quite a stir. With this image as a gimmick the group gained international attention and toured quite extensively throughout Scandinavia and Europe appearing at live venues such as KB-Hallen in Copenhagen, Olympia Halle in Munich, Berlin, Dortmund, Stadthalle in Bremen, Maastricht in the Netherlands each year for approximately 8-10 years, but mostly on football and sports stadiums.
Over the next few years the band’s topless show billed as the “Ladybirds Music Show” became notorious and caused quite a stir. With this image as a gimmick the group gained international attention and toured quite extensively throughout Scandinavia and Europe appearing at live venues such as KB-Hallen in Copenhagen, Olympia Halle in Munich, Berlin, Dortmund, Stadthalle in Bremen, Maastricht in the Netherlands each year for approximately 8-10 years, but mostly on football and sports stadiums.
The 1973 band lineup consisted of Marianne Ludvigsen affectionately known as "Lodvig" (vocals, guitar), who formerly worked as a bookbinder and had been a go-go dancer under Pierre Beauvais since the age of 16. Susanne Petersen (bass), also a former bookbinder. Sussie Johannsen (organ), a former sandwich maid and Lonni "Bonni" Andersen (drums) from the previous lineup.
Their last show was in 1984 at the Olympia Halle in Munich.
