Rock Chicks

by Alison Stieven-Taylor

  In 2007 she joined the True Colours tour along with Erasure, the Dresden Dolls, Margaret Cho and the event’s creator Cyndi Lauper. The national tour across America was in support of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality.

  The same year Debbie went on tour to promote her latest solo effort Necessary Evil. Then in 2008 she teamed with Fergie for a rendition of the Blondie hit ‘Call Me’ for Fashion Rocks at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. And she picked up a Billboard Icon award. She was touring with Blondie again in 2009 and critics claimed her in fine voice. The tour continued with dates scheduled for London in June 2010.

  Now in her sixties Debbie values her independence more than a relationship with a man, living alone in a swanky apartment with her dogs in her beloved New York. Her only real complaint, she doesn’t like getting old. It sucks she says.

  1980s

  When Dance & Pop ruled

  In December 1980 John Lennon was shot outside his home near Central Park in New York. The murder shook the music world and brought home the vulnerability of the famous in an age of celebrity-mania.

  ‘Call Me’, the Blondie hit, was on top of the charts in 1981 and Pat Benatar was picking up the first of four consecutive Grammys for best female rock singer. The Pretenders’ ‘Brass in Pocket’ was named one of the top singles for the year. Although disco was still alive, it was in its twilight days. Punk had morphed into new wave, or vice versa. In Britain the new romantics—Duran Duran, Depeche Mode and Spandau Ballet—were winning the hearts of teenage girls. At the other end of the musical spectrum, Kim Gordon’s Sonic Youth was pushing the sound barrier in New York.

  On 1 August 1981 MTV went to air. It revolutionised the way music is marketed. Pat Benatar’s ‘You Better Run’ video was the second played on the new music network. Video became the primary vehicle for promotion and artists were expected to pay for the production of their videos out of royalties earned from their albums.

  In the space of two short years video clips went from simple footage of live performances to mini-cinematic productions. When Michael Jackson enlisted the help of film director John Landis to produce the fourteen-minute ‘Thriller’ video in 1983, he set the benchmark much higher than most artists could afford. Thriller went on to be a multi-platinum album, clocking up more than twenty million record sales worldwide and crowning Jackson king of pop.

  ‘Bette Davis Eyes’ was a monster hit for Kim Carnes in 1982 and Sheena Easton and Juice Newton made their debuts on the charts. But the year was dominated by pop music bands—Daryl Hall and John Oates, REO Speedwagon and Australian success story Air Supply—with love the central theme. Benatar was there with ‘Hit Me with Your Best Shot’ and so was Blondie with ‘Rapture’. But the rocking vibe of the 1970s was waning.

  The world became conscious of a new threat. AIDS stopped the promiscuity of the last few decades in its tracks. Safe sex became the words on everyone’s lips as artists, actors, musicians and other public figures succumbed to the disease. Rock Hudson was the first big star known to die of AIDS. Others lost their fight with drugs, including comedian John Belushi, who died of a cocaine heroin cocktail known as a speedball in his room at Chateau Marmont in LA.

  In Boston musician and songwriter Kim Deal answered an ad for a bass player in a band that would become the indie super group the Pixies.

  Olivia Newton-John was back on top of the charts in 1983 with her Physical album and a new sporty look that tapped into the aerobics craze that was sweeping America. Multi-coloured lycra tights, floppy tops and headbands became part of everyday wear, complementing the big shoulders, big hair look of the TV soaps Dallas and Dynasty.

  Newton-John’s success seemed to spark a flurry of activity from Australian musicians, and Men At Work and INXS made it in the USA that year. These bands laid the groundwork and Paul Hogan threw a few more shrimps on the barbie, making Australians very popular in America. The Divinyls rode in on the Aussie wave, Chrissy Amphlett with her hard rocking arrogance giving American audiences more than they bargained for. Chrissy’s feral cries and slamming stage performance paved the way for the riot grrrls of the future.

  The musical movies Flashdance and Footloose were released a year apart. The themes—young dancers struggling for personal freedom—struck a chord and dance music became the rage again. It was the first time since disco that dance moved into the mainstream, mainly due to Madonna, who was clearly the leader of the zeitgeist.

  By the mid 1980s Madonna held the minds and hearts of teenagers around the world firmly in her hand. Cyndi Lauper also had an impact with her crazy-coloured hair, penchant for ripped and layered clothing and her lyrics claiming all a girl wanted was to have fun. Whitney Houston was charting as were Bonnie Raitt and Janet Jackson. Heart’s self-titled album started a renaissance in the rock anthem that had dominated the late 1970s. But overall the rock chick wasn’t as prevalent in this decade as the one before.

  From the mid-decade on everyone had a Walkman. But tapes and vinyl were being superseded by CD technology. Video games became the latest craze with Pac Man and Space Invaders the most popular. Plastic money, in the form of credit cards, was new—for the first time you could get what you wanted right now instead of having to lay away products or save. The ‘shop till you drop’ mantra became firmly entrenched and the protagonist in Oliver Stone’s movie Wall Street, Gordon Gekko, proclaimed that ‘greed is good’.

  But in 1985 the music industry showed the power of the collective coming together, raising awareness and funds for famine victims in Africa. Bob Geldof, who had gained cult status as the lead singer of Irish band the Boomtown Rats, spearheaded the Live Aid concerts. That year Apple Mac released its first personal computer, and the first radio station dedicated to rap music was launched in LA.

  In London Vivienne Westwood was dressing Adam and the Ants with ruffles, tailored pants and boots with buckles. Designer names became important for the first time across socio-economic divisions and brands like Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren became household names. Everyone had a pair of CK knickers.

  Strutting her new stuff, Tina Turner made the comeback of the century. Her multi-platinum album Private Dancer positioned her firmly in the mainstream rock category. Prince had a number one hit with ‘When Doves Cry’. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was launched.

  The world’s worst nuclear power disaster, at Chernobyl in the Soviet Union in 1986, was out of the scale of known disasters, foreshadowed a few months earlier by the spaceshuttle Challenger exploding on lift-off, killing all on board. Terrorism was rearing its head too, with Libya held responsible for the bombing of a Berlin nightclub frequented by US soldiers, and the first bombing in one of Australia’s cities, of the police headquarters in Melbourne.

  The Bangles reached number one with ‘Walk Like an Egyptian’ the following year. Heart was still releasing hit singles, but most women on the charts—Whitney Houston, Tiffany, Debbie Gibson—were soft-sell, reflecting the conservative wind that was blowing. Pushed along by the largest fall on Wall Street, Ronald Reagan’s America bunkered down and lost its humour.

  In New York, censorship reached ridiculous levels with the banning of classic novels such as Catcher in the Rye. In response to the oppressive overtones, rap music emerged from the streets and ghettoes. A revolution had begun. Blondie were one of the first all-white rock bands to incorporate rap into their music with the song ‘Rapture’.

  Schmaltzy love songs pervaded late in the decade. George Michael’s ‘Faith’ topped the singles chart for the year, while the pop girls dominated. Kylie Minogue, Samantha Fox, Taylor Dayne and Belinda Carlisle put in appearances. Rock made a comeback of sorts with glam rock band Cheap Trick and camp Def Leopard charting along with hard rockers like Aerosmith, INXS, Bon Jovi and Guns’n’Roses. But rock chicks were thin on the ground.

  In 1988 CDs outsold records for the first time. Women continued to enter the charts, including comeback queens Sheena
Easton and Cher, Martika, Neneh Cherry, dance music empress Madonna and Paula Abdul. But the only woman who came close to rocking was the pop queen from Swedish band Roxette, Marie Fredriksson.

  At the close of the decade, Gorbachev’s Soviet Union—and most of the Western world—was under the glasnost spell and the Berlin Wall came down after twenty-eight years. East and West met with trepidation, the separation between them not only physical. The reunification of Germany brought hardships for those who had lived under communist rule.

  Milli Vanilli’s hit ‘Girl You Know It’s True’ propelled the German duo into the media spotlight in 1989. Turning quickly from celebration to ridicule early in the new decade, Milli Vanilli were exposed as frauds—neither of them had sung on their records. The scandal demonstrated how easily the music industry could be duped.

  Countering the cacophony of manufactured sounds were musicians who were going back to their roots. PJ Harvey was scratching out songs for her first album, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were as black and brooding as ever, and Nirvana began to make music that would create a new genre—grunge.

  ANNIE LENNOX

  An Authentic Life

  The culture of celebrity has never sat well with the intensely private Scot whose continual internal battle with self-worth is at odds with the role of rock star. After nearly thirty years Annie still finds it hard to reconcile her rock’n’roll status.

  An only child, Ann Lennox was born on Christmas Day 1954 in Aberdeen, Scotland. Her father worked the shipyards and the family lived in a two-room tenement flat. Life was hard, something her parents continually reinforced, urging Ann to be sensible and choose a career that would give her stability and a safe income. Wanting more for their daughter than they’d been afforded themselves, her parents sent her to an all-girls school where she took up the piano and flute. Her musical talents led to winning a place at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London, where she enrolled at the age of seventeen.

  her musical knowledge had been confined to the classical—she was largely ignorant of the trends in contemporary music

  In London Annie, as she was known, worked as a waitress to support herself while she studied, visions of playing in an orchestra or chamber ensemble driving her on. Before moving to London, her musical knowledge had essentially been confined to the classical genre—she hadn’t had a record player and was largely ignorant of the trends in contemporary music. Radio had given her sound bites, but she’d never had the opportunity to really submerge herself in the new sounds.

  Her first real exposure to popular music came via one of her flat mates. She worked her way through his music collection. Coming across Stevie Wonder’s Talking Book was a pivotal moment. Joni Mitchell was another who inspired her.

  Annie stuck it out at the Royal Academy for two years. But, disenchanted with the whole competitive and narcissistic scene, she dropped out before taking her final exams. What she had left behind was nothing compared with the manipulative environs of the rock music industry.

  She continued to waitress while she contemplated her future. She didn’t know what she was going to do, but was determined it would involve music in some fashion. One night while waiting tables she was introduced to a young musician, Dave Stewart. The pair became lovers as well as musical partners and began toying with the idea of forming a band with a mutual pal Peet Coombs. It was 1977.

  Annie, Stewart and Coombs landed themselves a contract, initially as songwriters, with Logo Records. On a trip to Germany they met producer Conny Plank of Kraftwerk and Devo fame. When they returned to London they put together what became the Tourists, adding drummer Jim Toomey and bassist Eddie Chinn to the line up.

  After extricating themselves from their songwriting contract—be wary of the pieces of paper you sign at the outset of your career—and re-signing as a band, the Tourists were off and running. The band was given three weeks to record their first album, which was produced in Germany with Plank at his studio in Cologne. It was a less than satisfactory process, but it was a matter of taking the time slot available. The priority was to get a record out.

  Annie ingested the critical attacks as if pellets of poison. Her natural tendency towards pessimism began weighing her down

  With their self-titled album in the bag the Tourists hit the road as support act on Roxy Music’s comeback tour in 1979. They also performed at the Reading Festival. But things were not going the way they had hoped. When the influential DJ John Peel declared his disinterest in the band, they became fair game in the press. Annie ingested the critical attacks as if pellets of poison. Her natural tendency towards pessimism began weighing her down. Rather than ignoring the press, Annie couldn’t help herself devouring every nasty jibe.

  What the band saw as exploring creative options, the media pronounced as lack of direction. Despite the fact that audiences seemed to enjoy their shows, Annie felt they couldn’t win. That year they recorded another album, Reality Effect, which included their most successful single, a cover of Dusty Springfield’s ‘I Only Want to Be with You’. Annie had chosen the song because she thought it was fun, but the publicity outtake labeled her a ‘nice, popsy, happy-go-lucky’ airhead.

  Their tour of Britain and Australia was marred by her increasing anxiety, which sapped at her self-confidence. ‘We had quite a lot of success with the Tourists but when we were slammed ... my God we were slaughtered ... it drove me mad, seriously,’ she told The Face later.

  Stewart was nearly killed in a car accident. Annie rushed to his side ... they decided their creative bond was too strong to ignore

  They managed to put out a third album, Luminous Basement, in 1980, but the bad press wasn’t the only thing hampering the band’s ability to enjoy what they were doing. Artistic dissent was rife, with Annie and Stewart wanting to go in a different direction to Coombs. By the end of the year the Tourists had folded.

  The band’s demise coincided with the ending of Annie and Stewart’s four-year relationship. Annie fell into depression and for months she laboured over the simplest activities, often in floods of tears. Not only was she feeling the emotional strain, but there were also serious financial pressures—she and the rest of the Tourists owed RCA, to whom they were signed at the time of the split, thousands of pounds. It seemed the walls were caving in on her.

  Then Stewart was nearly killed in a car accident. Annie rushed to his side. During his convalescence they decided their creative bond was too strong to ignore. They began writing songs together again—Annie the lyrics and Stewart the music.

  In Germany for New Year’s Eve in 1980 the pair hooked up with Plank, the producer of their first album, and the seeds for Eurythmics were sown. More a project than a band, the concept was to stay fluid in terms of band members, the permanent core being Annie and Stewart.

  On the strength of the demos they had recorded with Plank, Eurythmics were signed to RCA. Their first album In the Garden was released in 1981 in Britain, but not in the USA. Clearly a transition album between the Tourists and the new entity, it didn’t set the charts on fire. But it did make a statement about the innovative musical style that was at the heart of Annie and Stewart’s collaborative work.

  It wasn’t until 1983’s release of Sweet Dreams that Eurythmics were propelled into the rock stratosphere, much to Annie’s horror. She loathed the obsequious and superficial nature of the music industry. The two years between In the Garden and Sweet Dreams had been draining as commercial success eluded them. Then suddenly they were thrown into the international music spotlight. The media pursued the pair, Annie in particular, and her face appeared on music magazine covers around the world. For the intensely private Scot it was sheer torture.

  Annie’s face appeared on music magazine covers around the world. For the intensely private Scot it was sheer torture

  ‘Sweet Dreams’, the single, reached number one on the Billboard pop chart
s with the album coming in at number fifteen. The song crossed pop, R&B and club playlists as did the album’s other single, ‘Love is a Stranger’, which was a re-released track from In the Garden. The Eurythmics sound was described as synth-pop, but Stewart’s experimentation ranged much wider, evoking pop rock, R&B and opera, and made full use of the versatility of Annie’s voice.

  MTV, which had gone to air in 1981, was becoming a force in the promotion of music. It was made for Eurythmics—their videos were visually and conceptually startling. In the ‘Sweet Dreams’ video, which was influenced by Luis Buñuel’s 1930 surrealist film L’Age d’Or, Annie was dressed in a man’s suit, her wide, red mouth and short cropped orange hair an effective contrast to her slender frame.

  Her androgynous appearance was confusing, particularly to the Americans. Before MTV agreed to air the video it made an astonishing request of the record company—to sight Annie’s birth certificate to confirm her gender. ‘The moral majority in America was very concerned about anything that seemed to be pushing the boundaries,’ Annie said. They read her androgyny as a statement about her sexuality rather than a feminist proclamation about gender equality, which was her intention. She had thought it ‘a very interesting statement to make through the media ... [but] they missed my message.’

  before MTV agreed to air the video it made an astonishing request of the record company—to sight Annie’s birth certificate to confirm her gender

  Satisfied that Annie was female and unlikely to morally corrupt young Americans, MTV put ‘Sweet Dreams’ on high rotation. The video won the award for best new artist at the inaugural MTV Awards in 1984 and began a dream run for the pair—Eurythmics videos were regularly nominated in future awards.