Interviews with Women In Punk Rock

This website exists today only because courageous, intelligent and daring women

back

in the 1970's

decided to break the rules of society. They rallied together

under the

banner of the punk movement.

Many of them are no longer with us.

This page is dedicated to their memories.

Because many people have written to me to suggest other people to interview and wondering how I

choose the women I interview, I want to explain my criteria for inclusion in this section. They are:

1) You must be a woman - or have been one at the time.

2) You must have been active in the L.A. punk scene before 1980. By active, I mean actively participating

by frequently going to shows, taking photos, writing, being in a band, supporting the scene in some way.

This section was never intended to be a "celebrities only" section. It's an oral history of the early scene

from the female perspective.

3) You must be able to send me your answers via email. I don't talk on the phone. I have previously sent

interviews via email to women who would seem to be obvious choices for inclusion but they have either

not responded or have told me they are working on it and then they forget about it (you know who you

are). So if you know someone who belongs in this interview series, remind them to finish up their

interviews and send them in.

Everyone gets the same eight questions. No space or

time

limitations. Since I think that women's voices

have already been over-edited

by others, I

reserve the right to refuse to edit these women's responses.

Instead,

intend to publish

them in their entirety, raw and unexpurgated.

LET THE WOMEN SPEA

1. What was/is your contribution to the punk community?

I played in the Castration Squad and

Redd Kross

. I had a short stint in the Cambridge

Apostles,

but left for a much needed vacation in Tarzana. I almost played in Circle One,

but I don’t think

John Macias wanted a girl in the band; not this girl anyway. I practiced a

couple of times with

Cheap as Dirt, Tough as Nails (it might be the other way around);

anyway the other guitar player

got jealous because he knew I’d get more attention. That’s

the kind of thing guys really get

jealous over. Stevo asked me to do the intro with him on

The Vandals’ song “Slap of Love”, which

I mention because I didn’t push to get credit on the

album and should have. I landed the highly

coveted role of Tanya Hearst in

Dave Markey’s

“Desperate Teenage Lovedolls”

, which is an

underground punk rock classic and available

on dvd. He brought me back for a role in “Lovedolls

Superstar” in which I got to share a few

scenes with Snickers from the Simpletones; an old friend,

very much missed.

2. Which artist, band concert and/or show had the most impact on your life?

The first time I saw the Runaways at the Whiskey it was crazy; loud and amazing and I loved

it. I

was young and just going to a nightclub was exciting and intoxicating; literally. It was

always a big

thing when bands from England would play; 999, The Jam, The Buzzcocks,

Magazine, Siouxsie -

those were great shows. I know we didn’t need the English, but they

were fun. I saw the Dead

Boys play at the other Masque and that was cool; better yet was

riding in a car with Stiv Bators to

get alcohol. The dream of all the 15-year-old girls I knew.

3. What was the role of women in the early punk scene?

Early on I recognized that boys seemed to have more fun (like the Naughty Women) so

hanging

out in the punk scene was the perfect setting to play an instrument, get tattooed,

and do tequila

shots; just like the guys. I think women in those early days set the bar high

- I don’t remember a

of niceties; you really had to earn your friendship with them. I didn’t

see a lot of difference

between men and women as far as playing in bands went; that was

the great leveler. Nobody

carried my stuff (unless they wanted to be on the list) and

ultimately good or bad, I had to get up

and play. I saw women play just as hard and just as

wild as the guys did. It gave me the feeling

like I could do whatever I wanted to. I found that

to be a double edged sword back then, but it

serves me well now.

4. What is the legacy of punk in your life?

I think that after playing in a band and being in the punk scene, I don’t back down in a lot of

areas

of my life. I’m more willing to take risks; I figure if I survived that scene why not take a

few chances.

I got exposed to a lot of offbeat movies and art that I’m still into; unfortunately I

don’t own a copy

Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park

, but my birthday is coming up so

maybe I’ll get lucky. My

son

said he wants to give me a dirty skeleton, which I said would

make me very happy. He’s

turning

out to be my finest punk legacy. My husband Brent and I

are very proud of him.

5. What are you listening to now?

I’ll go to my grave listening to Bowie. I still listen to the Stooges, T Rex, and Mott the Hoople.

I like

the Upper Crust, the River City Rebels. I love old glam music; and of course Jonesy.

here’s a

Japanese band I really like called

L’arc-en-Ciel.

Paul Williams.

6. Do you have

any funny or interesting stories to share?

Let me think…who can I write about who won’t be offended? Fuck it. Okay, there was this

time

Redd Kross played up in San Francisco and these kids were in the alley behind our

room making

a lot of noise so we got the idea to heat up pennies with a lighter and toss

them out the window for

the happy children to buy candy with - unfortunately their treat

money went to burn ointment and

gauze. Actually they got smart and picked them up with

scraps from the alley. Then on the way

back to L.A. we were drinking Southern Comfort and

decided to take a side trip to visit Charles

Manson. We drove up to some prison (I’m not

sure if it was his prison) and saw these signs that

read “turn back if you have weapons or

alcohol” so we left. Then there was another time we went

to S. F. with Craig Lee, who I think

was managing our band at the time. A couple of band mates

and I indulged in a bit of

hallucinogen before we left and kept it a secret. So there we were, way

up Interstate 5, I’m

driving and someone suggests stopping at McDonalds. Craig was a funny guy

and he gets

the idea to start saying “Mc” before all his words; like “Hi McTracy” and “Are we

cthere yet?”

I lost it. I was severely damaged by that fast food visit; but in a good way.

hen

someone had

to put on Rush.

When I joined the Castration Squad, Rick Van Santen was our manager. He got us a show

at the

Circus Disco by playing them a tape of The Runaways and saying it was us. Someone

else said

he played a tape of Penetration - either one is okay with me. So we show up and

play maybe five

songs, which I think was the extent of our set and they were mad. HA HA!

Then there was the

show at the Seventh Veil. They didn’t like us there either and decided

not to pay us. I have a

vague memory of Shannon pushing the doors open and letting in a

flood of people who didn’t

pay. We were never asked back to either venue. Actually I can’t

think of any club we played twice.

Then there was the time we opened for X at a club in

Berkeley and were pelted with pennies. At

least we got paid!

Anyway, I have so many funny stories here’s my condensed version:

Tar and his Clashmobile, Bruce and his reptiles, kegs in Huntington Beach, dine and dash

ove’s, Mickey walking on cars, partying in the Hollywood cemetery, holding Rick Wilder’s

leather

jacket for ransom, any night of the week with Alberto, being on New Wave theatre,

Andy and her

yellow Rabbit, Snickers and his VW bug, stealing coins from the fountain near

the Hong Kong

Café, stealing my wig for “Lovedolls Superstar”, any time spent with Dave

Markey, stopping in

Oakland with Stevo and Human for fried chicken, seeing Jayne County

at the Starwood, being 86’

d from the Whiskey, Tiffany and me in Vegas at the breakfast

buffet - okay I have to stop. See

Alice, don’t get me going.

7. Are there any punk women from the early scene that you feel have not been

adequately

recognized?

Janet Housden. She played drums in Redd Kross when I was in the band and now she plays

The Shakes

. She rocks. Texacala Jones. Karla Maddog - track her down. Mary Rat.

Annette

Zilinskas; I’d love to see her; Maggie Ehrig from Twisted Roots; Amy Wichman; she

played in

Kaos

and the Jeff Dahl Band; a fun girl from the Valley who saved my life; Julie from

Sin 34.

Gerber.

Andy and Jill. Litha Dosage.

8. What is something we should know about you that we probably don’t know?

I love being interviewed and was wondering when you were going to ask me

; )