Never too Old to ROCK: Cheap Perfume

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Cheap Perfume - Ordinary Girls

Cheap Perfume
New York City’s first all-female punk band discusses the joys and hardships they faced while paving the way for the next generation

Thirty years ago, rocknroll was still a boys’ club. Though all-female rock bands existed prior to 1977, many were driven into obscurity. Most had short-lived careers, were seen as novelty acts, and/or were not given a proper chance to record their music. This rich musical history remained lost during most of the mid-’70s, and female musicians who wanted to play in bands had to create a path for themselves.

The members of Cheap Perfume (vocalist Lynn Odell, bassist Susan Palermo, drummer Brenda Martinez, rhythm guitarist Nancy Street, and lead guitarist Bunny), an all-female quintet born out of the 1977 New York punk scene, certainly felt like that was what they had to do. “There were so few female musicians at the time, and that proved to be helpful,” Bunny says. “But we felt we had more to prove to our audience — that we could play as well as the next band of male musicians — so, in a way, there was more pressure on the band to shine musically, as well as visually.”

Aside from performance issues, there was the element of being in a rocknroll band with all women, something that — outside of punk — was an anomaly in 1977. “Before punk, the music scene was mainly male bands and disco,” Bunny says, “with female singers, but without all-female bands.”

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Cheap Perfume - Boys

From Y La Bamba and Tragos Amargos - Luz Elena Mendoza

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Myspace


Y La Bamba - Juniper (Music Video)

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Zee Avi

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Zee Avi - Bitter Heart This is a VEVO video

From Malay to Zee, Zee Avi speaks a sincere language.

Talk about a modern-day fairy tale: Zee Avi is quickly on her way to superstar status, thanks to the 21st century equivalent of fairy godmothers. In her case, it was YouTube and Jack Johnson that whisked the young Malaysian fashion student away from her life in London and out to L.A.

To make this tale even more modern, Avi is no empty-headed princess. In addition to her art, fashion, and musical skills, she is culturally rich and well-read. Raised in Borneo, Avi moved to Kuala Lumpur when she was 12, and spent her adolescence immersed in existential texts. "I read Sartre when I was 16 — so that's why most of my stuff is dark," Avi explains. She remembers poring over Kafka while her classmates read Sweet Valley High books, and recalls that existentialism was the first philosophy which made her realize she wasn't alone. Later, she found herself again in the visual art of M.C. Escher, Piet Mondrian, and Henri Rousseau — whose jungle-inspired paintings she likes because he'd "never, ever been outside of Paris, nor into a jungle. And this was the 1800s, so you couldn't exactly Google 'jungle' then."MORE

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Thats why the Lady is a Punk: The Legendary Vocalist Nina Hagen

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Nina Hagen's vocal range is pretty damn wide, and so are her musical interests. She has sung everything from punk to hard rock to reggae to opera and even big band, but most of her work has been punk in nature. In fact, some people refer to her as the Mother of Punk, and she has a LOT of respect in from the idols of that era. It ain't hard to understand why. Her use of her vocal talents is absolutely electrifying.

via: Wikipedia

According to reviewer Fritz Rumler:

… she thrusts herself into the music, aggressively, directly, furiously, roars in the most beautiful opera alto, then, through shrieks and squeals, precipitates into luminous soprano heights, she parodies, satirises, and howls on stage like a dervish.

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Check this record from early in her career:

Nina Hagen - Wau Wau 1979

Against this more recent guesting with fellow German band Oomph:

Nina Hagen and Oomph - Fieber

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