Lene Lovich

Lene Lovich (born March 30, 1949) is an English-American singer, songwriter and musician. She first gained attention in 1979 with the release of her hit single "Lucky Number", which peaked at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart and made her a leading figure of the new wave music scene. 

Lovich was born Lili-Marlene Premilovich in Detroit, Michigan, to an English mother and American father of Serbian descent. After her father had health problems, her mother took her and her three siblings to live in Hull, England. Lovich was 13 years old at the time. She met the guitarist/songwriter Les Chappell when they were teenagers, and he became her longtime collaborator. In autumn 1968, they went to London to attend art school.




Over the following decade, Lovich attended several art schools, busked around the London Underground and appeared in cabaret clubs as an "Oriental" dancer. She also travelled to Spain, where she visited Salvador Dalí in his home. She played acoustic rock music around London, sang in the mass choir of a show called Quintessence at the Royal Albert Hall, played a soldier in Arthur Brown's show, worked as a go-go dancer with the Radio One Roadshow, toured Italy with a West Indian soul band, and played saxophone for Bob Flag's Balloon and Banana Band and for an all-girl cabaret trio, The Sensations. She recorded screams for horror films, wrote lyrics for French disco star Cerrone (including the sci-fi dance smash "Supernature", later recorded by Lovich) and worked with various fringe theatre groups. She was also one of thousands of audience members invited to sing along at the 1972 Lanchester Arts Festival at the Locarno Ballroom in Coventry when Chuck Berry recorded "My Ding-a-Ling" for Chess Records.




In 1975, Lovich joined The Diversions, a funk group that put out three singles and an album on Polydor Records, without success.  

In 1977, Lovich, along with recording engineer Alain Wisniak, provided lyrics for "Supernature", a song featuring music composed by French percussionist and disco music performer Cerrone. The song, with its surreal lyrics describing a world in which nature has risen to fight against desecration and destruction by humanity, is indicative of Lovich's interest in animal rights issues. In 1978, disc jockey and author Charlie Gillett presented her recording of "I Think We're Alone Now", a cover version of a song originally performed by Tommy James and the Shondells, to Stiff Records boss, Dave Robinson. Robinson immediately proposed to release it as a single on Stiff, for which Lovich and Chappell had to write and record a B-side at short notice. They came up with ""Lucky Number", which was then released as an A-side and became a Top 3 hit in the UK Singles Chart.



Invited by Robinson to participate in the forthcoming Be Stiff Route 78 Tour in 1978, Lovich quickly recorded her first album for Stiff, Stateless, which contained "Lucky Number" and another Top 20 hit, "Say When". Lovich's musical style combined her own quirky inventions with contemporary punk rock and new wave styles. She then recorded the albums Flex and No-Man's-Land for Stiff over the next few years, as well as an EP titled New Toy, the title cut penned by touring band member Thomas Dolby. She also recorded vocals for "Picnic Boy" by The Residents.

Following her departure from Stiff, Lovich released "Don't Kill The Animals," a single with Nina Hagen, with whom she had previously appeared in Cha Cha, a film that also starred Herman Brood; together, the three created the film's soundtrack.

In 1989 she recorded the album March on Pathfinder Records. It was only moderately successful and was not released until nearly a year after the album's single "Wonderland" had been issued and had become an American dance hit. She also toured the US three times immediately before, during and shortly after the release of March, giving US fans their only glimpse of her for many years to come. All three tours culminated with benefit concerts for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Her tours supporting March were done with a semi-full band, featuring the electronic duo Tanz Waffen as her backup band in addition to herself and Chappell. 

In 2012, Lovich began performing with a new band comprising Subterraneans frontman Jude Rawlins on guitar, bassist Lydia Fischer, keyboard player Kirsten Morrison, and Morgan King on drums. The Lene Lovich Band made their live debut at London's 12 Bar Club on October 29 that year. In 2013 the band undertook their first high-profile tour, concluding with shows in London and Berlin, and was the fifth act to be announced for Rebellion Festival 2013. Valkyrie replaced Fischer on bass in 2014 as the band undertook their first major European tour. They performed at Rebellion again in 2017 co-headlining with The Primitives before undertaking Lovich's largest tour in 27 years, opening for The Psychedelic Furs. In September 2013, Lovich and Rawlins started a record label together, Flex Music, giving Lovich control of her back catalogue for the first time. Flex Music was launched with a limited edition handmade CD box set of her first three albums, plus a bonus CD of rarities, entitled Others: Volume 1. From 2015 to date, Lene regularly has been performing live with her Lene Lovich Band.

Alicja Trout

Alicja Trout is a Memphis-based American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and artist.  Her band include River City Tanlines, Lost Sounds, Sweet Knives, MouseRocket, Black Sunday, Destruction Unit, the Ultracats, Nervous Patterns, Fresh Flesh and her solo recordings as Alicja-Pop.

Lost Sounds was a rock band from Memphis, Tennessee. Starting in March 1999, the band was made up of Rich Crook on drums, Patrick Jordan on bass, Jay Reatard on synth, guitar and vocals, and Alicja Trout on synth, guitar and vocals.

The band, originally working within the garage rock genre, had a collection of analog keyboards Trout had used in her previous band The Clears. The bizarre combination of new wave synths and mangled guitars showed a dark wave influence as well. The band frequently dealt with dark, apocalyptic themes ranging from the Book of Revelation (Breathing Machine) to the Columbine High School shootings (Blackcoats/Whitefear).

The band's last show was in May 2005 in Stuttgart, Germany. Rich Crook currently writes and records music in the band Lover! Former band members have to formed Sweet Knives as a self described reboot of Lost Sounds sans the late Jay Reatard.  Trout's focus switched to the River City Tanlines, a more rock and roll oriented band. She also owns and operates Contaminated Records, her own independent record label.

The Shaggs

The Shaggs were an American rock and outsider music band formed in Fremont, New Hampshire, in 1968. The band was composed of sisters Dorothy "Dot" Wiggin (vocals/lead guitar), Betty Wiggin (vocals/rhythm guitar), Helen Wiggin (drums) and, later, Rachel Wiggin (bass). 

The conceptual beginning of the Shaggs came from Austin Wiggin's mother who, when her son was young, had predicted during a palmreading that he would marry a strawberry blonde woman, that he would have two daughters after she had died, and that his daughters would form a popular music group. The first two predictions proved accurate, so Austin set about making the third come true as well. Austin withdrew his daughters from school, bought them instruments, and arranged for them to receive music and vocal lessons. The Wiggin sisters themselves never planned to become a music group, but as Dot later said, "[Austin] was something of a disciplinarian. He was stubborn and he could be temperamental. He directed. We obeyed. Or did our best." Austin named the Shaggs after the popular shag hairstyle and as a reference to shaggy dogs. In 1968, Austin arranged for the girls to play a regular Saturday night gig at the Fremont, New Hampshire, Town Hall. The band's only studio album, Philosophy of the World, was released in 1969.At this point, the man who had promised to press 1,000 copies of Philosophy of the World reportedly absconded with 900 of them, as well as with the money paid to him. The rest were circulated to New England radio stations but attracted little attention, and Austin's dreams of superstardom for his girls were dashed.

 The most likely first instance of widespread publicity for the Shaggs was on the Dr. Demento show. In an early-1970s Dr. Demento show, Frank Zappa was a guest and was playing some of his favorite songs. He played a couple of Shaggs songs, and professed his love for the album. Original pressings are now quite valuable and highly sought after among rare record collectors.


In 1980, Terry Adams and Tom Ardolino, of the band NRBQ, who owned an original copy of the LP and were fans of the music, convinced their record label, Rounder Records, to reissue Philosophy of the World. Upon the LP's release, Rolling Stone magazine accorded the Shaggs "Comeback of the Year" honors. The album was widely, if derisively, reviewed. Adams and Ardolino issued some unreleased 1975 recordings on the 1982 LP Shaggs' Own Thing, but its closer approximation to conventional music caused some to disregard this collection. In 1988 Dorothy Wiggin rediscovered the lost masters of Philosophy of the World in a closet; these and the tracks from Shaggs' Own Thing were remastered and released on Rounder as a self-titled compilation, which had a resequencing of all tracks. Kurt Cobain ranked Philosophy of the World No. 5 on his 50 best albums list.


The Shaggs played at the NRBQ 30th Anniversary celebration held at The Bowery Ballroom in New York City November 20 & 21, 1999.

The GTOs

The GTOs (Girls Together Outrageously) were a group from the Los Angeles area, specifically the Sunset Strip scene. Active for only two and a half years (1968–1970) with a single reunion in 1974, their only album, Permanent Damage, produced by Frank Zappa, was released in 1969.

Miss Pamela, born Pamela Ann Miller (later Pamela Des Barres) and Linda Parker met around 1966 while attending Cleveland High School in Los Angeles. Christine Frka traveled to Los Angeles from San Pedro with Sandra Rowe, and both lived in the basement of Frank Zappa's Log Cabin at 2401 Laurel Canyon Boulevard in the Hollywood Hills in 1968. Judith Peters had emigrated from the Haight Ashbury to LA due to "boredom", alleging she "couldn't be a hippie forever." Cynthia Wells was brought into the group by Peters after the nucleus of the group had been formed. This accounts for Miss Cynderella's presence in some, but not all, of the GTOs' publicity shots. Lucy Offerall also was not an original member but joined after the recording of Permanent Damage.

The members were connected by their association with Zappa, who encouraged their artistic endeavors despite their limited vocal skills. The group performed live "only 4 or 5 times", although they created a strong impression at their December 1968 performance at the Shrine Auditorium opening for The Mothers of Invention, Alice Cooper and Wild Man Fischer. A mix of theatrics, singing, dancing, wild costumes, and unusual lyrical content were staples of their act. Their only album, Permanent Damage (Straight Records), was produced in 1969 by Zappa with the assistance of Lowell George and Russ Titelman on tracks 7 and 11. The latter track also features Titelman's brother-in-law, guitarist Ry Cooder, and both appear on Captain Beefheart's Safe as Milk album. Track 5 "The Captain's Fat Theresa Shoes" is a GTO comment on Beefheart's taste in footwear (his cousin Victor Hayden had introduced him to Pamela Des Barres). The songs are mixed with conversations among the members of the group, friends, and others, including Cynthia Plaster Caster and Rodney Bingenheimer. The album features songwriting contributions from Lowell George, Jeff Beck, and Davy Jones. A young Rod Stewart is featured on track 14.

The Brood

The Brood began in 1983 in Portland, Maine and quickly became the east coast answer to the Pandoras, with their straight ahead raw, fuzzed out garage rock that many had coined the Brood as forerunners in the 60's infused garage rock revival that would later dominate the 1990's. 

The band with raspy voiced vocalist and guitarist Chris Horne, Betsy Mitchell on bass, Crystal Light on drums and Allison on organ would release a handful of singles before their debut full length album in 1988 titled "In Spite Of it All" only furthered proof the band as a bonafide no frills rock act that quickly spread through word of mouth in the United States and saw extensive touring for the band as far out as Europe.
 

By 1991 the band would release "Vendetta" and even with a member switch on keyboards to Asch Gregory, the band never missed a beat and continued on their reign and leading the way for numerous garage rockers both male and female that have sited the Brood as inspiration for forming their own bands.
 

The Brood would go one to release two more albums, "Hitsville" and "Beyond the Valley of The Brood", before calling it a day in the early 2000's with the departure of drummer Crystal and feeling no replacement would suffice the band broke up. Founder, guitarist and lead vocalist, Chris Horne would later resurface in the all female band Tiger Bomb, with veteran guitarist and vocalist Lynda Mandolyn formerly of Inside Out/Fabulous Disaster.

Snatch

Snatch was the name of the London band formed by American ex-pats Judy Nylon and Patti Palladin, who were both lodged in the capital by the mid 70s. Based in London’s Maida Vale, they both moved in the kind of avant-garde and arty circles that brought them into contact with everyone from Roxy Music to the Sex Pistols as well as a young Chrissie Hynde.

Their first release “Stanley/IRT” came out 1 week before the Damned’s first single in 1977, but couldn’t honestly be described as being instantly recognisable punk. Their art sensibilities eschewed drums and instead of fuzzed up electric’s featured a repetitive choppy chord sequence played on an acoustic guitar, along with the pair’s trademark bratty and slightly nasal vocal delivery. 

Their second release “All I Want/When I’m Bored” took another year to hit the streets, delayed by their picky, and some would say overly protracted, search for a company who could produce the kind of special metallic sleeve they had in mind. Incredibly on its release the single sneaked in to number 57 on the charts.

A final single Shopping For Clothes surfaced in April 1980. In between Patti featured on Chris Spedding's Hurt (1977) and The Electric Chairs' Things Your Mother Never Told You. (1979) After Snatch Patti did a lot of collaborative work with other artists working with among others as Johnny Thunders and even The Flying Lizards on their Fourth Wall album of 1981 where she wrote the lyrics and sang on 5 tracks before becoming a gothic chanteuse notable on the Batcave scene of the early '80's. Patti still writes and performs to this day. Nylon often collaborated with Welsh musician/producer John Cale. In 1974 she sang the song "The Man Who Couldn't Afford to Orgy" on his album Fear. She subsequently performed with him at concerts and on other recordings, including his 1987 live album Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.

Paloma Borbone

Paloma Borbone is a woman of many talents, she has played in many Trash Punk bands and nowadays is dedicated to organizing one of the craziest and best Rock'n'Roll parties on the planet, the Funtastic Dracula Carnival.

Paloma met Fela at school and they have been operating since 1985 in Oviedo, where they made their first instruments from garbage for their band, "Los Hipohuracanados". After that, already settled in Valencia, they formed "Royal Canin" together with Manolo Borbone.

 

Later they created "Ulan Bator trio", a group with which they released a single containing their first hit: "Caga Traga", which despite its catchy chorus and modern choreography, inexplicably did not become a summer hit. Manolo Borbone was the founding drummer, later replaced by Lourdes Borbone. After recording the first LP, Manolo got behind the drum kit once again. They released two EPs and one Lp between 1996 and 1998 all of them on Discos Alehop!.

Los Borbones were formed as the opening act of the Ulan Bator Trio, so they could get paid twice in every show. But finally, they focus all their attention only in one group: Los Borbones. These, unlike the Ulan Bator trio, use self-powered instruments running on batteries, so once free of cables, they could go out to play in the street like a trash orchestra, causing chaos everywhere.




The documentary by Pilar Velázquez and Anaiss Bartual "Los Borbones", was the winner of the fourth edition of the In-Edit Musical Documentary Film Festival in Barcelona, and can be seen on Youtube. In the video we will see them in their natural habitat explaining how they make the instruments, playing live and talking about their other projects such as the shop "Confecciones Drácula", the bar "Gabba Gabba", or the "Funtastic Dracula Carnival".

Lunachicks

Lunachicks were a punk rock band from New York City.The band formed in 1988 and has been on hiatus since 2000. The band cited influences including The Ramones, Kiss, and the MC5. 

Theo Kogan, Gina Volpe, and Sydney "Squid" Silver were students at New York City's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts when they decided to form a band. Sindi Benezra, an acquaintance of Silver, was asked to join shortly after. They rehearsed and wrote material in Gina's bedroom for about a year. Their first composition, the lengthy "Theme Song", was about killing Kogan's and Silver's English teacher. The band played their first show in 1988. Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth were amongst the audience for one of their early performances. Gordon and Moore were impressed with the band and sent a demo tape to Paul Smith in England, which landed them a deal on Smith's label Blast First. 

With drummer Becky Wreck (Susan Rebecca Lloyd) on board they released a self-titled four-song EP in 1989, and the full-length Babysitters on Acid, both produced by Wharton Tiers. The record was only available in Europe until it was re-released on Go-Kart Records in 2001. The band went on to tour with The Dictators in 1991.  

1992 saw the release of their second full-length, Binge & Purge. Drummer Becky Wreck left the band and was briefly replaced by Luscious Jackson drummer Kate Schellenbach, before Chip English joined. During their first visit to Japan, a six-song EP entitled Sushi A La Mode, featuring a cover of Boston's "More Than a Feeling", was recorded and released in Japan in the fall of 1993.  

They were signed to New York-based label Go Kart Records, on which they released 1995's Jerk of All Trades. The follow-up, 1997's Pretty Ugly, produced by Ryan Greene and Fat Mike of NOFX, features their most well-known song "Don't Want You", which was promoted with a video. Guitarist Sindi then left the band, after which the band stayed a four-piece. They released their first live album Drop Dead Live in 1998, and then their final album to date, Luxury Problem. By this time, the group had a busy touring schedule, headlining clubs in the United States, Europe, the U.K., and Japan, while opening for the likes of the Ramones, the Buzzcocks, No Doubt, the Go-Go's, Rancid, and NOFX, as well as appearing on the Vans Warped Tour. Chip English left the band in the fall of 1999 and was replaced by then 18-year-old Helen Destroy, who stayed with the band until it went inactive in the summer of 2001. The band never officially disbanded, but has been inactive since then, with the exception of two reunion shows in 2002 and 2004.

Peggy O'Neill

Peggy O'Neill is the drummer the American garage rock trio The Gories. The band formed in 1986 by metro-Detroit natives Mick Collins, Dan Kroha, and Peggy O'Neill. The Gories took their name from a band that appeared on the 1960s television show Gidget.

At the time only Collins had had any musical experience, and they had to teach themselves how to play. The Gories released their first album, Houserockin', in 1989. The release had been pre-dated by two songs on a Wanghead compilation LP, It Came From The Garage Vol. II.

  

The band recorded the follow-up LP, I Know You Fine, but How You Doin', in 1990, produced by Alex Chilton. They soon signed to Crypt Records and released Outta Here. After three albums, the band suffered a break-up in 1992.

Mick Collins went on to form various bands including Blacktop (band) and The Dirtbombs, while Dan Kroha joined Rocket 455 and later formed the Demolition Doll Rods and The Readies. Peggy O'Neill went on to join '68 Comeback and Darkest Hours. 

On September 30, 2008, via the Goner Records message board, Greg Cartwright of the Oblivians announced that the Gories and the Oblivians would play reunion shows in Detroit and Memphis, as well as multiple shows across Europe in the summer of 2009.