VS was the very first all girl punk band in California. Formed in early 1978, VS was the brainchild of bassist Olga DeVolga, fresh from The Offs; the other original members were Anny Unger, guitar (later to go on to The Gun Club) & Jane Weems (Insane Jane), drums (from The Maggots), as well as a few nameless guitarists; in thier brief early history, VS included Carola Anderson (Rosenthal), first on sax, then later on some vocal duties. VS were in the orbit on the very early punk scene of San Francisco.
They played the very first "Off Broadway" show with the Avengers and The Dils, and were the very first band to ever step onstage to play the historic 1839 Geary Temple Beautiful venue.
After recording an early demo, they disintegrated, breaking off into other bands. Later incarnation of VS were to include a constant succession of other members, including men, but the first original line-up proved to be the most visually true & powerful to the original concept of Olga's. The VS demo 7" is great and sounds like The Lewd with bits of 45 Grave,Red Scare,VooDoo Church and such. Also quite a bit of the Killed By Death KBD vibe. Olga wrote the words and music to both songs which are Magnetic Heart and Leather Complex.
Olga de Volga was one of the original punk rockers and Fetish fashion pioneers. The original bass player for the Offs, founder and bass player of her own band, VS, and later the bass player for the Lewd, she was a pioneer of Grrrrl Rock. Truly an inspired artist, performer, musician, she was a mainstay in the SF punk rock scene for years until she moved to Hawaii. She died on the 26th of March of 2008.
