DESCRIPTION:
The Women of 1970's Rock, Part 1!: 1970-1977
(Part 2 video: "X-RAY SPEX -DAY THE WORLD TURNED DAY-GLO (1978)")

http://s670.photobucket.com/albums/vv67/FunkandRoll/?action=view¤t=runawaysqueens.flv

In the wake of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, the flood of modern Rock women was unleashed in the early 1970s. Routinely written off by the foolish and the threatened, nevertheless these hellions rewrote the future we live in. It's time to give them their due:

The instigators: FANNY, the first all-female band signed to make albums in 1970; "THE CARRIE NATIONS", the stars of the outrageous movie "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls"; and MAMA LION, whose leader LYNN CAREY actually sang as well as co-wrote all those songs they lip-synched; SWEET LINDA DIVINE, a San Francisco soulster from the rock band Loading Zone; and her Bay Area peer, LYDIA PENSKE, with her rockin' soul group, COLD BLOOD; from Holland comes the deeply underrated SHOCKING BLUE with their axis MARISKA VERES; out of the pyschedelic group Daisy Chain came the ferociously rocking all-female BIRTHA who prompted Alice Cooper to wear their T-Shirt, "Birtha's Got Balls"; transcending typical blues-boogie to map out the avant-garde future of music was conceptual artist and punk godmother YOKO ONO; English freespirit RUTH COPELAND kicked out the jams backed by FUNKADELIC with guitar-god Eddie Hazel; SONJA KRISTINA unwound the boundaries with progressive-rockers CURVED AIR; the Scottish blues band STONE THE CROWS was fueled by MAGGIE BELL; Japan was ransacked by the SADISTIC MIKA BAND and its 'eccentric' livewire, MIKA KATOH; leaving her Detroit sisters in the Pleasure Seekers, SUZI QUATRO found fame in England with Glam Rock, inspiring teen Joan Jett and legions of others; the English boogie soul of VINEGAR JOE was fronted by Robert Palmer and siren ELKIE BROOKS; in California, LINDA RONSTADT was giving rock her own soulful swagger; having backed Lou Reed on "Walk On the Wild Side", the singers called THUNDERTHIGHS found some success among the British glam scene; with her star turn in the Who's 1975 film "Tommy", TINA TURNER declared her independence from Ike belting out rock songs; riding the Glam wave, FANCY scored with an intensely sensual take on "Wild Thing" moaned by Anne Kavanagh; the theatrical NOOSHA FOX lit up the prog-pop group, FOX; from Goldie & the Gingerbreads rolled Genya Ravan with her eclectic troupe, TEN WHEEL DRIVE; while her former bandmates Carol MacDonald and Ginger Bianco resurrected in the all-female funk-rock octet ISIS; meanwhile, the hardcore queen of funk-rock, BETTY DAVIS, scorched stages and turntables and record execs' rulebooks; and in New York, an edgy club called CBGB's was the womb for the new music to come, first hearkened by iconoclast Patti Smith; and then BLONDIE with its divining rod DEBBIE HARRY, the prototypes of the new wave rising; out of Los Angeles teen boredom exploded the revolutionary RUNAWAYS, an all-female harrrrd rock band of 16-year-old ballbusters; if Robert Plant had channeled Janis and Joni, then ANN and NANCY WILSON rechanneled Zeppelin with their group, HEART, which solidified all the hard work of the women before them into breakthrough success for those to follow; and funking up peoples' radio-programmed minds, MOTHER'S FINEST mixed it all up hard rock style propelled by hellcat JOYCE KENNEDY.

About The RUNAWAYS: The L.A. scene was weak in the early 70's. Teens hung out at decadent Glam clubs, desperate for kicks and something new. Joan Jett started a female trio with the express purpose to actually Rock and rock hard. With producer Kim Fowley the quintet got its name, a record deal, many promises, and a lot of heartache. They were called puppets, groupies, and jailbait by an industry that couldn't see the future in front of them. Now it's crystal clear that the Runaways were a brutally powerful band who hinged us into Punk and Heavy Metal. They deserved better than they got, and they gave us better than we deserved. Here are the original Runaways roaring live in Japan and kicking your ass flat.

To be continued in Part 2, "X-RAY SPEX -DAY THE WORLD TURNED DAY-GLO (1978)"!

(All rights reserved by the owners. Fan-made video to promote awareness and appreciation.)
http://www.youtube.com/funknroll
Tym Stevens