Women of Punk – Part 02 – American roots

Angie Taylor in 1975 - a couple of years before she discovered punk

Growing up in Scotland in 1975, I had no idea what was going on the other side of the Atlantic. Little did I know that American women there were in the process of breaking ground so that people like me could find a voice and be accepted despite our inherent weirdness!

The first woman who I remember having the ideals and attitude that define the category of “punk” was the wonderful and truly original, Patti Smith. I’m sure Patti hates labels as much as I do. In fact the majority of folks labeled “punk” would kick and scream against having it safety-pinned to them. Sadly it’s human nature to feel the need to classify so, Patti, sorry for calling you a punk but please see it as the badge of honor it’s intended to be!

Patti was 29 in 1975, a veteran in punk terms, when she released Horses, her debut ground-breaking mix of rock and poetry. Lenny Kaye, the bands guitarist was also a writer. Lenny has been accused of instigating the use of “Punk Rock” to describe the raw, basic, gut-formed music that was desperately in need of a genre-defining moniker.

Horses is one of my top albums of all time. It fits into my elite category of “albums I never get tired of hearing” (of which there are only about 20). She continues to record and perform today and her recent albums are just as compelling as they ever were. She’s one of those rare individuals who, as well as writing her own fabulous originals (like title-track Horses) can take other artists songs and make them completely her own, take for example her cover of Them’s Gloria or, more recently, Nirvana’s, Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Patti also had a big influence on the “Punk look”, and on design. She was the first woman I remember seeing wearing a biker jacket, jeans and cowboy boots, just like the guys, and she looked great with her straggly hair and gaunt beauty. She lived with photographer, Robert Mapplethorpe who produced countless iconic images of Patti, including the album covers.

Patti was part of the legendary CBGBs and Max’s Kansas City scene in New York in the the early seventies. The scene was frequented by other great luminaries of the punk scene like Iggy Pop, Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol, The Ramones, Wayne (Jayne) County and of course Debbie Harry who started out as a waitress at the clubs and went on to form 80’s supergroup, Blondie. Debbie Harry brought sex to the Punk Rock movement, most female punks were considered unattractive by regular guys but Debbie Harry toyed with their affections by pouting at the camera, then following this with mocking, teasing gestures. Sadly, partly due to her cuteness, I think she never got the recognition she deserved as a top song-writer and performer. She and Blondie wrote some of the greatest punk love songs of all time including “Picture This“, “Denis“, “Hangin on the Telephone” and “In the Flesh“. After all, punks fall in love too y’know!

Nico became noticed as part of the Velvet Underground/ Andy Warhol scene at the Chelsea Hotel in New York. Her gorgeously, deep, flat vocals can be heard on Femme Fatale, I’ll be Your Mirror and All tomorrow’s Parties as well as others considered to be some of the best Velvet Underground tracks. Although the Velvets can’t really be considered punks their influence on the punk movement can’t be underestimated. People like Siouxsie Sioux had ground broken for them by the likes of Nico with her fusing of 60’s Berlin beatnik, Marlene Deitrich style deep vocals and a passion for the art of singing that can also be seen in the likes of Beth Gibbons from Portishead.

There were countless other acts that influenced me and others, and still continue to do so. Joan Jett was a rock chic of the highest order, as was the Pretenders, Chrissie Hynde. You just have to look at the amazing Alison Mossheart of The Kills, Discount, and more recently, Dead Weather to see their influence carried down the generations.

Without these ground-breaking women we wouldn’t have had PJ Harvey, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Madonna, Bjork who are mainstream pop icons of today. And we definitely wouldn’t have any of the women that formed the UK punk scene who we’re going to take a look at in the next installment. I hope you enjoy my little nostalgic trip down memory lane. Please listen to the music and please feel free to chime in if you think I’ve missed anyone!

The Women of Punk – Part 01

After receiving good feedback for my blog on the influence of punk on design, I thought I’d keep on subject and write about the women of “punk” who inspired me personally, not just creatively, but in almost everything I do.

I went to see my old friends The Slits last week in Brighton Concorde 2. They were just as amazing as ever, I don’t know how Ari, Tessa and the others have the energy to get up there every night and do their thing, as well as travelling. I was lucky enough to work with The Slits a few years back, producing and directing a live shoot of their gig at the Royal Festival Hall, part of Morrisey’s Meltdown Festival.

It’s funny, I was slightly concerned that it may be a mistake to meet my old punk heroes after so many years (I originally met them briefly in 1979) but I needn’t have worried, they were just as inspiring, revolutionary and refreshing as they ever were. Still continuing to break new ground and fighting against a music establishment that still considers it a novelty when women can write and play innovative and accomplished music.

what I really loved about The Slits, growing up was their originality. They were unlike any of the other “punk” bands. They didn’t seem to want to conform to the usual punk stereotypes of girls in fishnets and bondage clothing, their dress sense and music was taken from a wide range of different styles and cultures, uniquely “Slitsy”.

Their lyrics were confrontational, witty and anti-establishment in the most personal and positive way, they sang songs about the lives that “Typical Girls” led. They looked (like me) as if they would have had trouble “fitting in” before the punk movement came along, I could identify with them. And on top of that, I loved their music, a mix of reggae, dub, punk, soul and all sorts of other influences meant there was nobody else quite like them. Their rendition of Marvyn Gaye’s “Heard it Through the Grapevine” is still one of my favorite cover-versions of all time.

It was a funny old day, the day of the Brighton gig. I regularly take my niece out on a Saturday morning, we go down to our local beach cafe for breakfast and to talk about life, the universe and everything! And who should we bump into but Ari, Tessa and co having breakfast! So we sat with them and they invited my niece Frankie along to the gig that night.

We all popped along there in the evening and had the best night out ever, The Slits were amazing, the crowd were lovely, lively and very friendly. Ari looked after us well, making sure that we got a safe spot, right at the front so that Frankie, and her friend, Faye didn’t get squashed.

They have a new album out, Trapped Animal, which I haven’t yet heard but has got good reviews. And Island Records are re-releasing their brilliant, seminal album, Cut as part of their “top 50 Island Records”.

So, it’s inspired me to start a series of blogs on women who have inspired me in my work. I’ll start with the ones considered to be “punks” and see where that takes me. Next week I’ll go back in time a little and look at some of my musical heroes from across the pond including Patti Smith and Nico.