Sue Exley forms the band in 1974 in England. In the beginning the band has to cope with some line up changes. But finally she gets a more stable line up together, containing herself on guitar and vocals, Jill Warnes on bass and vocals, Sallie Dowle on rhythm guitar and Jan(et) Frazer on drums. Jill switched from guitar to bass to get Sallie in the band. They actually started out as a cabaret group, compiling their shows with songs that were high in the charts at that moment. The band played many gigs on the European continent, in countries such as Germany, Belgium, Spain and The Netherlands. They sounded more like a combination of hard rock and new wave, which worked out fine in those days.
All of them started to play music when they were still very young of age. Jill started to play classical guitar when she was twelve. Later on, she switched to the electric guitar. Jan started at age eleven and had her first stage experience when she was thirteen. Sallie and Sue started as folk musicians. Another reason why these ladies came to Holland in the first place was because in England they only judged them on their looks. And not on their musical capacities. In Holland however, they had no competition or whatsoever, which was different than in England.
They released three singles. The first one "Underneath The Neon Tonight" b/w "Manolito"came out on Negram Records in 1978. The second single "Girls Love Girls" c/w "Daddy Little Rich Girl" came out in 1979 on the Papagayo label. "Girls Love Girls" is a new wave song, which contains some heavy guitar work. It's a very catchy track and might have been suitable for radio airplay back in those days. The flip side is a short, ordinary up tempo rock / new wave tune. Their third single is called "Plastic Queen". This is the most well-known single from the band. It was released in 1981 on the Pure Gold label.
Here is an interview with Sue Exley from July 2011 for queer music heritage.
When and where did the band Wicked Lady form?
Sue Exley: That was over in England, in a place called Mawkin, which is by the sea, and we started just as a three-piece, just playing pubs and things like that.
How was the name picked for the band?
SE: Well, I picked that, because everybody used to say, oh, you're very naughty girls, you girls get into all kinds of...you're very naughty. I thought, what's another word for naughty, I thought "wicked," yeah, that's a good name for a band.
Why did the band move to the Netherlands?
SE: Because over in England they kept sending us over to Germany, over to Spain, over to Holland, over to Belgium, back into England, catch the ferry, back on the circuit in the continent. And I was having more fun in Holland than what we ever had in England, because we started a bit of a rock band, where over in England we had to be cabaret and girly-girly.
Well, the type of music was going to be my next question. Would you describe the band as rock?
SE: That's how it ended up, yes. It started as a cabaret, into a pop, into getting more heavier, into a bit of punk, new wave, and then it started to even out from new wave into rock.
Yeah, I would agree with that, from what I've heard. This was an all-female band. Was this unusual in the UK and Europe at that time?
SE: There wasn't many bands then like us, because we played all our own instruments. There were plenty of girly bands that just sang with microphones or maybe one keyboard player, but we were the ones where everyone actually played an instrument.
So the band lasted roughly from, I think, 1974 to 1981, and I understand all of the members were lesbian, was the band known to the public as an all lesbian band?
SE: Yes, I would say that.
So, as far as lesbian bands that recorded, I do know there was one, the Flying Lesbians, in Germany, but I can't think of any others, can you?
SE: No, I don't think so neither. I think that we got more publicity when we came out of the closet by doing "Girls Love Girls" and doing a kissing routine on stage...halfway through a number we'd all kiss. Well, that send shivers down everybody's backs. And that was even in Holland, and it was alright to do it in Holland but we were doing it for the military bases, with all the guys, so that part of it didn't go down too well.
I want to do it in order, tell us about your first single, "Underneath the Neon Tonight."
SE: That was really a load of rubbish. That was our first single in Holland, but what they did in those days, we played in one key and then they used to speed it up a little bit. Well, I sound like Mickey Mouse. So I wasn't very happy about that. They said, well it won't be like that on the record, we'll have it right. Well of course when the record came out they didn't do it right. I still sounded like Mickey Mouse, so that was a load of rubbish. But on the b-side was "Manolito," and apparently in Italy it came out underneath some other record label, and everybody thought it was wonderful over there, but in Holland it didn't do nothing.
"Manolito" has kind of an Abba feel to it.
SE: Yeah, it's (sings) "Manolito." It's a bit slushy-slushy, something else that was.
I've seen two different picture sleeves for that single, and one had you all wearing silver outfits, with fringe, and the other was white long-sleeve shirts and short shorts and neckties and silver boots. What were you going for, for an image with these photos?
SE: Well, we started off all dressing all the same, then the harder the rock, the tassels got left behind, the fringes got left behind, and then came in the leather trousers, the leather jackets, the big butch look, don't smile, look mean...from cabaret to hard rock within about three or four months.
Sue Exley: That was over in England, in a place called Mawkin, which is by the sea, and we started just as a three-piece, just playing pubs and things like that.
How was the name picked for the band?
SE: Well, I picked that, because everybody used to say, oh, you're very naughty girls, you girls get into all kinds of...you're very naughty. I thought, what's another word for naughty, I thought "wicked," yeah, that's a good name for a band.
Why did the band move to the Netherlands?
SE: Because over in England they kept sending us over to Germany, over to Spain, over to Holland, over to Belgium, back into England, catch the ferry, back on the circuit in the continent. And I was having more fun in Holland than what we ever had in England, because we started a bit of a rock band, where over in England we had to be cabaret and girly-girly.
Well, the type of music was going to be my next question. Would you describe the band as rock?
SE: That's how it ended up, yes. It started as a cabaret, into a pop, into getting more heavier, into a bit of punk, new wave, and then it started to even out from new wave into rock.
Yeah, I would agree with that, from what I've heard. This was an all-female band. Was this unusual in the UK and Europe at that time?
SE: There wasn't many bands then like us, because we played all our own instruments. There were plenty of girly bands that just sang with microphones or maybe one keyboard player, but we were the ones where everyone actually played an instrument.
So the band lasted roughly from, I think, 1974 to 1981, and I understand all of the members were lesbian, was the band known to the public as an all lesbian band?
SE: Yes, I would say that.
So, as far as lesbian bands that recorded, I do know there was one, the Flying Lesbians, in Germany, but I can't think of any others, can you?
SE: No, I don't think so neither. I think that we got more publicity when we came out of the closet by doing "Girls Love Girls" and doing a kissing routine on stage...halfway through a number we'd all kiss. Well, that send shivers down everybody's backs. And that was even in Holland, and it was alright to do it in Holland but we were doing it for the military bases, with all the guys, so that part of it didn't go down too well.
I want to do it in order, tell us about your first single, "Underneath the Neon Tonight."
SE: That was really a load of rubbish. That was our first single in Holland, but what they did in those days, we played in one key and then they used to speed it up a little bit. Well, I sound like Mickey Mouse. So I wasn't very happy about that. They said, well it won't be like that on the record, we'll have it right. Well of course when the record came out they didn't do it right. I still sounded like Mickey Mouse, so that was a load of rubbish. But on the b-side was "Manolito," and apparently in Italy it came out underneath some other record label, and everybody thought it was wonderful over there, but in Holland it didn't do nothing.
"Manolito" has kind of an Abba feel to it.
SE: Yeah, it's (sings) "Manolito." It's a bit slushy-slushy, something else that was.
I've seen two different picture sleeves for that single, and one had you all wearing silver outfits, with fringe, and the other was white long-sleeve shirts and short shorts and neckties and silver boots. What were you going for, for an image with these photos?
SE: Well, we started off all dressing all the same, then the harder the rock, the tassels got left behind, the fringes got left behind, and then came in the leather trousers, the leather jackets, the big butch look, don't smile, look mean...from cabaret to hard rock within about three or four months.
For the next single it was all leather.
SE: Yeah, that's right.
And that was my favourite single. That was in '79, I want to hear about "Girls Love Girls."
SE: Oh, that one, (sings) "Girls love girls and boys..." that was written by a friend of ours. He wanted us to do it, "you know, you're all gay, and everything else, so you've got to do this." Of course we had all the gay supporters, no problem, but then we got a lot of bad publicity because of the military stuff. They weren't too keen about it but it was too late then, the single was out and we had all the gays on our side so we really didn't care if the military didn't like it. Mind you, we did stop getting a lot of bookings.
You keep mentioning the military, were you playing lots of events for the military?
SE: Yes, it was for the Dutch military, all their bases, and the American Army camps, and the British, all the bases we were doing...well, because of "Girls Love Girls," they didn't particularly want that, of course, because it was military. So we were dropping most of our military gigs, which was a shame, because we were doing them regular, once a month, and we had a good name. And as soon as "Girls Love Girls" came out, well, that was a different story. But what we lost on the military bases wasn't bad because then we started doing the big rock concerts. So we were doing more rock concerts, which we were more happy about, so we didn't have to lead two separate lives, and...don't do that song, and don't do that one, because we're doing a military base tonight. We could do what we wanted in the rock gigs.
So, in addition to losing gigs, did you experience other homophobia because of that record?
SE: No, not really everybody else was fine about it.
The flip side of that was "Daddy's Little Rich Girl"
SE: I wrote that ages and ages and ages ago. It was written about my thoughts and feelings.
And the third and last single was, 1981, "Plastic Queen"....and again, you were all in leather, on the motorcycle, on that one. "Plastic Queen" had a saxophone solo on it and I was surprised at that, that was quite unusal.
SE: Yeah, they wanted to do a sax, and I said, how are we going to do this live? And so I ended up doing the solo, and it goes da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da, and I was playing that triple, triple notes on the guitar, trying to play the parts of a saxophone, and I don't read music, you see, so everything was in my head.
SE: Yeah, that's right.
And that was my favourite single. That was in '79, I want to hear about "Girls Love Girls."
SE: Oh, that one, (sings) "Girls love girls and boys..." that was written by a friend of ours. He wanted us to do it, "you know, you're all gay, and everything else, so you've got to do this." Of course we had all the gay supporters, no problem, but then we got a lot of bad publicity because of the military stuff. They weren't too keen about it but it was too late then, the single was out and we had all the gays on our side so we really didn't care if the military didn't like it. Mind you, we did stop getting a lot of bookings.
You keep mentioning the military, were you playing lots of events for the military?
SE: Yes, it was for the Dutch military, all their bases, and the American Army camps, and the British, all the bases we were doing...well, because of "Girls Love Girls," they didn't particularly want that, of course, because it was military. So we were dropping most of our military gigs, which was a shame, because we were doing them regular, once a month, and we had a good name. And as soon as "Girls Love Girls" came out, well, that was a different story. But what we lost on the military bases wasn't bad because then we started doing the big rock concerts. So we were doing more rock concerts, which we were more happy about, so we didn't have to lead two separate lives, and...don't do that song, and don't do that one, because we're doing a military base tonight. We could do what we wanted in the rock gigs.
So, in addition to losing gigs, did you experience other homophobia because of that record?
SE: No, not really everybody else was fine about it.
The flip side of that was "Daddy's Little Rich Girl"
SE: I wrote that ages and ages and ages ago. It was written about my thoughts and feelings.
And the third and last single was, 1981, "Plastic Queen"....and again, you were all in leather, on the motorcycle, on that one. "Plastic Queen" had a saxophone solo on it and I was surprised at that, that was quite unusal.
SE: Yeah, they wanted to do a sax, and I said, how are we going to do this live? And so I ended up doing the solo, and it goes da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da, and I was playing that triple, triple notes on the guitar, trying to play the parts of a saxophone, and I don't read music, you see, so everything was in my head.
So that was the third single, and the flip side of that was "Play the Game."
SE: Yeah, I wrote that one, "play the game, play the game, don't you know we're all insane." We were working very hard and I was going through a really bad patch, because I was tired all the time, and in the end it was just a game to me. It was just get on with it, do it, I know you can do it. I think I wrote that one for my own personal feelings. If I don't experience things, I don't think I could ever write music.
I understand one of the songs the band covered was a Jimi Hendrix version of "Hey, Joe."
SE: That's right, yeah, it all started in Germany, and the drummer at the time, a blonde girl with very long blonde hair. And she was a Led Zeppelin fan, and Jimi Hendrix, and she said, why don't you play it with your teeth? I said, you've got to be joking! She said, no, just give it a go. And I just put it on my teeth, and at first I couldn't do it whatsoever, and I mastered it in the end, but of course that went down a bomb. And every time we used to do it, as soon as they knew it was the end of the show, they shouted "Hey, Joe," "Hey, Joe," "Hey, Joe," they were waiting for it.
SE: Yeah, I wrote that one, "play the game, play the game, don't you know we're all insane." We were working very hard and I was going through a really bad patch, because I was tired all the time, and in the end it was just a game to me. It was just get on with it, do it, I know you can do it. I think I wrote that one for my own personal feelings. If I don't experience things, I don't think I could ever write music.
I understand one of the songs the band covered was a Jimi Hendrix version of "Hey, Joe."
SE: That's right, yeah, it all started in Germany, and the drummer at the time, a blonde girl with very long blonde hair. And she was a Led Zeppelin fan, and Jimi Hendrix, and she said, why don't you play it with your teeth? I said, you've got to be joking! She said, no, just give it a go. And I just put it on my teeth, and at first I couldn't do it whatsoever, and I mastered it in the end, but of course that went down a bomb. And every time we used to do it, as soon as they knew it was the end of the show, they shouted "Hey, Joe," "Hey, Joe," "Hey, Joe," they were waiting for it.
Which of your singles was the most popular?
SE: Which of the singles? I would say "Girls Love Girls," actually. I think that caused more of a smack.
And, not counting losing the military gigs, how did your audience change over those three years?
SE: Very, very good. Everywhere we went we were always playing to full houses, every concert we did, we had a lot of support.
Well, even with a lot of support, the dynamics of a band do not always go smoothly. After a very successful concert in Berlin they were invited to record three songs in a studio there, and there were plans to do an album. Ironically it went so well that one of the members, as Sue told me, got a big head and decided to go solo. The drummer, Jan, went with her, and the band fell apart.
SE: Which of the singles? I would say "Girls Love Girls," actually. I think that caused more of a smack.
And, not counting losing the military gigs, how did your audience change over those three years?
SE: Very, very good. Everywhere we went we were always playing to full houses, every concert we did, we had a lot of support.
Well, even with a lot of support, the dynamics of a band do not always go smoothly. After a very successful concert in Berlin they were invited to record three songs in a studio there, and there were plans to do an album. Ironically it went so well that one of the members, as Sue told me, got a big head and decided to go solo. The drummer, Jan, went with her, and the band fell apart.
