CLICK THE ARROW AND LISTEN WHILE READING
BECAUSE EASTER IS NEAR AND SPRING IS ALMOST FINALLY HERE,
BECAUSE
LIKE FOR MOST OF YOU, FOR BETTY TOO, THIS MEANS CONFUSION, RESTLESSNESS AND HORMONAL DISCOMFORT,
AND FINALLY, BECAUSE SHE NEEDS TO DIVERT HER ATTENTION FROM THE WIND OUT THERE AND THE COLD:
TODAY BETTY WILL TRAVEL YOU IN TIME.
BACK NINETEEN YEARS, SUMMER OF 1994, THE MIDDLE OF BETTY'S (VERY) HIGH SCHOOL. TODAY BETTY WILL TRAVEL YOU IN TIME.
IT IS NOT A SECRET THAT BETTY WAS A PUNK ROCKER IN THOSE DAYS AND THEREFORE SPENT MOST OF HER FORMATIVE YEARS LISTENING TO MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF QUESTIONABLE MUSIC, TRYING TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY HER BASS GUITAR (NOT A NECESSARY SKILL TO BE IN A PUNK BAND, BUT BETTY HAS ALWAYS BEEN A NERD) AND DREAMING OF ROCKING THE WORLD WITH OUTRAGEOUS OUTFITS AND SUBVERSIVE STAGE ACTS.
ONE OF HER MAJOR SOURCES OF INSPIRATION, AT THE TIME, WAS THE WORK OF THE LOS ANGELES ALL-FEMALE BAND KNOWN AS L7.
ANYONE OF YOU OUT THERE WHO WAS YOUNG IN THE NINETIES AND DISPLAYED AN INTEREST IN ROCK KNOWS OF L7.
FOR THE AMERICAN PUNK-GRUNGE SCENE, THEY WERE ABSOLUTELY CULT. THEY WERE REFERRED TO AS "THE FEMALE RAMONES", FOR A GOOD FEW YEARS THEIR SINGLES WERE HITS ON THE ALTERNATIVE CHARTS. THEIR WORK WAS SUCKED INTO THE SOUNDTRACKS OF MOVIES THE CALIBER OF NATURAL BORN KILLERS AND THE BAND MEMBERS' PERSONAS MADE THE HEADLINES OF MUSIC MAGAZINES WORLDWIDE NOT ONCE.
BUT SOMEHOW, THEY HAVE VANISHED.
L7 STARTED IN 1988 AS A PUNK-ACT DUO COMPOSED BY ELECTRIC GUITARISTS AND VOCALISTS DONITA SPARKS AND SUZI GARDNER. LATER, THE BAND WAS JOINED BY JENNIFER FINCH (BASS) AND DEMETRA PLAKAS (PERCUSSION) AND ENDED UP BEING TAGGED AS "GRUNGE".
THEY RELEASED THEIR FIRST ALBUM, L7, IN 1988. TWO YEARS LATER, 1990, THE SECOND: SMELL THE MAGIC. THEIR REAL BREAKTHROUGH SUCCESS CAME IN 1992 WITH THE RELEASE OF BRICKS ARE HEAVY AND ANOTHER TWO YEARS LATER, 1994, THEY DOUBLED IT WITH THEIR FOURTH ALBUM, HUNGRY FOR STINK, WHICH, TO BETTY AT LEAST, REPRESENTS THE ABSOLUTE PEAK OF THESE GIRLS' MOJO.
[photo: L7 - Jennifer Finch]
[photo: L7 - Donita Sparks]
BETTY WILL NOT TELL YOU ANY MORE ABOUT THEIR MUSIC, BECAUSE SHE THINKS IT'S BEST YOU JUST LISTEN TO IT.
BUT IF SHE WERE TO POINT OUT ONE MAIN REASON WHY YOU SHOULD BOTHER AT ALL, SHE'D SAY THAT WHAT MAKES L7'S ROCK SO EXCEPTIONAL IS THE COMBINATION OF TECHNICAL SKILLS, EDGE AND STATURE USUALLY HEARD ONLY IN MALE MUSICIANS, MIXED WITH MELODIES AND LYRICS THROBBING WITH EXTREMELY FEMALE, RAW, EMOTIONS.
IN A WAY, L7 DID TO HEAVY ROCK HISTORY WHAT SHIRLEY MULDOWNEY DID TO THE ALL-MALE DRAG RACING WORLD: THEY WERE COMPLETELY FEMALE AND YET THEY MANAGED TO KICK THE ARSES OF MANY, MANY, MANY, MEN.
THEY EVEN WROTE A SONG ABOUT IT.
OH, AND, YES.. IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW, THE PRODIGY, ON THEIR SUPER-HIT ALBUM THE FAT OF THE LAND, MADE A COVER OF AN L7 SONG, THE TITLE IS FUEL MY FIRE.
HEAR FOR YOURSELF.
