12.4.11

Mariska Veres/Shocking Blue


"Mariska Veres (1 October 1947 - 2 December 2006) was a Dutch singer who was best known as the lead singer of the rock group Shocking Blue. Her appearance was striking, featuring kohl cosmetic-lined eyes, high cheekbones, and long jet black wig. When she joined Shocking Blue she made it clear to the other band members that romantic relationships were not going to happen.
Mariska Veres died of cancer on 2 December 2006, aged 59. Reminiscing to the Belgian magazine Flair, she remarked about her early fame, "I was just a painted doll (back in those days), nobody could ever reach me. Nowadays, I am more open to people."
(Wikipedia)
















While many of her outfits may appear to be those which might only have been acceptable in the 70's and probably won't be made popular again anytime soon (i.e: white patent leather boots, head to toe suede/denim, those weird shirts & pants with the crossed strings) it was something about the WAY she wore them and carried herself, with just the right amount of cool confidence, grace and mysteriousness that exudes in her photos and performances that made her stand out as a style icon & inspiration today.

Slightly overshadowed by some of the other female power vocalists of the time such as Grace Slick, Janis Joplin & Stevie Nicks, Mariska and her band flew under the radar in North America for the most part, their biggest hit being the song "Venus" (later covered, and made more popular by Bananarama;) yet still managed to release 11 incredible full length albums, as well as a ton of singles and gained most of their popularity in the long run from loyal fans back home in the Netherlands. The album "At Home" is probably my favourite of theirs and includes some of their best tracks such as "Send Me a Postcard" "Mighty Joe" "Long and Lonesome Road" and "I'm a Woman" as well as the ever popular "Venus" (which is far from being their best song but if it got people to buy the record then they most definitely got their moneys worth.) In fact, it wasn't until after I saw the official video for Venus on youtube several years ago that I decided to look into their other stuff. Having grown up in the late 80's/early 90's I had only really been exposed to the overhyped & highly commercialized Bananarama version and upon seeing the Shocking Blue video, I grew a whole new appreciation for the lesser heard, and somehow more meaningful original as performed by Veres. "Venus" became my summer jam for a few years before I really began digging into their other stuff and I have yet to come across a song or album that I dislike since then. They've quickly become one of my favourite bands and I still have a growing appreciation for them to this day.

See why I fell in love:


and another original which Nirvana later covered:

11.3.11

60's Bollywood Femme Fatale: "Queen" Helen



Dancer/actress/lip-syncher extroardinaire, "Helen", is best known for her over the top, colourful cabaret-style performances in Bollywood films from the 60's & 70's and is recognized by many as the "Queen of Bollywood Bad Girls" or "Queen of the Nautch Girls."














"Helen was known for wearing very revealing and sexy costumes in her films as well as various wigs and colored contacts. This made her easily standout and combined with her beauty and talent, it was easy for Helen to steal just about any scene she appears in even though she was never a huge Bollywood star in the traditional sense. In many movies Helen was reduced to being the bad girl or "other woman" who was often rejected at the end of the film by the handsome male star for a less interesting good girl that he could bring home to mother. She also plays a bit of a lush in many films who enjoys drowning her sorrows and forgetting her cares with a drink or two."(cinebeats)


To see more of her fabulousness in action check out this short, 30 min. doc "Helen: Queen of the Nautch Girls."


22.1.11

More Female Fronted Post-Punk: Bush Tetras - Too Many Creeps







"Lead guitarist Pat Place and vocalist Cynthia Sley produced the most distinctive aspects of the Tetras sound. Place's guitar lines were rhythmic and distortion-filled. She had been the original guitarist and one of the founding members of the No Wave band The Contortions."(Wikipedia)
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10.1.11

Typical Girls




The Slits
Unpredictable and spontaneous, subordination seemed to be at the very heart of the Slits (pretty evident in the name really), despite taking the meaning of anarchy to a new level throughout their performances ironically it is there musical craftmanship which will be most revered since Ari-Up's recent passing (related to an undisclosed illness aged 48) in late 2010, as funnily enough they did really good songs. Bridging an unexplored gap between reggae and punk, they wrote intelligently honest and humourous lyrics that your average girl could relate to in an ever dominated, male and fecklessly confused climate of contemporary post war Britain, most famously in 'Typical Girls' containing the lyrics 'looking for something' and 'feel like hell' implying the usual notions of the female species as emotionally co-dependant and physically constrained and their signature interpretation of Marvin Gaye's soul classic Heard It Through The Grapevine
(still a popular request on indie dancefloors alongside New Order's Blue Monday to this day) the Slits spawned a gaggle of admirers such as Mercury Prize winner P.J Harvey which is quite obvious if you listen to the lyrics of 'Dress' in which she assesses the trappings of her garment making her body feel like a 'heavy loaded fruit tree' and the notorious grunge group formed by Courtney Love accountable for spawning the 90's generation of 'Riot Grrrl's' up to the latest girl band sensation LA psych quintet Warpaint who hold several parallels to The Slits through being rated mostly on their melodic capability. Yet somehow the Slits never seemed to receive the same level of recognition as their punk contempories i.e The Sex Pistols and The Clash. So let it be said to the likes of Madonna, and Lady Gaga (who according the The Slits as quoted recently in NME is concerned solely with the process of selling sex as a transaction, through which the main motivation is the profiting of rich businessman) you owe these women your artistic freedom. Finally Ari Up -always a bright larger than life character, for all the lost little girls your words have anchored, rest assured your screechy call still rings as clear.
Words by Natalie Wardle



'I loved the Slits. They were genuine.It was Ari I loved. I still have a crush on her. They were the real article, really amateur. They were the worst of the worst.They were so bad it was appalling. Thats what you loved about them.' -Gene Knell, punk clothing entrepreneur.

9.1.11

Jane Fonda, 60's sex symbol






BARBARELLA

During Jane Fonda's marriage to director Rodger Vadim she starred in his 1968 science fiction cult classic Barbarella.

Jane Fonda, as Barbarella, plays a highly sexual woman with the task of saving the galaxy from the evil Durand-Durand. Along the way she encounters various unusual men (and woman).