Venus and the Razorblades were a short-lived punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, that included guitarist/singer Roni Lee (born Rhonda Lee Ryckman), who had co-written the song "I Wanna Be Where the Boys Are" for the Runaways; guitarist/singer Steven T.; bassist Danielle Faye (formerly of Atomic Kid); drummer Nickey Beat (formerly of The Weirdos and the Germs) (who was soon replaced by Kyle Raven); and singers Dyan Diamond and Vicki Razorblade (born Vicki Arnold). When the band formed, Diamond and Razorblade were only 14 and 17 years old respectively.
The band put out a novelty single called "Punk-A-Rama" on Bomp! Records to capitalize on the popularity of the punk rock genre, but then broke up. A compilation album called Songs from the Sunshine Jungle was released in 1978 on Visa Records; it is extremely rare today.
After Venus and the Razorblades disbanded, Fowley tried to make Dyan Diamond got a deal with MCA Records; her 1978 album, In the Dark was a commercial failure. Roni Lee collaborated and performed with Randy California and Ed Cassidy of Spirit, as well as Mars Bonfire and Jerry Edmonton of Steppenwolf, in 1977-78. In 2013, Lee was granted an endorsement with Paul Reed Smith guitars for her distinctive style of playing as well as her place in punk rock's early history. Lee released the album Heroes of Sunset Blvd. in 2016.
