50 Years Of Punk Rock Ladies
A salute to all the Women of Punk Rock |
| 1 |  | The Shangri-Las
Leader of the Pack
1963 - The Shangri-Las form. |
| 2 |  | Wanda Jackson
The Party Ain't Over
1964 - The "Queen of Rockabilly" is in her prime playing a huge roll in the raw reved
up rockabilly of the early 60's |
| 3 |  | Bow Wow Wow
I Want Candy
1965 - Annabella Lwin is born in Burma. Malcolm McLaren took Adam Ant's Ants,
put the teenage Annabella in front of them and made Bow Wow Wow. Didn't think
much of them 'till I saw them live a few years ago, crazy good band. |
| 4 |  | The Ronettes
Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes
1966 - Ronnie Spectors The Ronettes disband |
| 5 |  | Patti Smith
Horses
1967 - Patti Smith moves to NYC. |
| 6 |  | The Shaggs
Philosophy of the World
1968 - New Hampshire's cult girl group, The Shaggs forms. |
| 7 |  | PJ Harvey
The Peel Sessions 1991-2004
1969 - PJ Harvey is born |
| 8 |  | The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
1970 - I love it when Maureen Tucker sings! |
| 9 | |
Album
1971 -any ideas? |
| 10 |  | Band
Album
1972 -any ideas? |
| 11 | | Band
Album
1973 -any ideas? |
| 12 |  | Blondie
Blondie
1974 - Debbie Harry founds Blondie |
| 13 |  | The Runaways
The Runaways
1975 - Joan Jett and some other lovely ladies form The Runaways |
| 14 |  | Siouxsie and the Banshees
The Scream
1976 - Siouxie and the Banshees forms as one of the first British punk bands |
| 15 |  | X
Los Angeles
1977 - Exene Cervenka forms the early LA punk band X |
| 16 |  | Talking Heads
More Songs About Buildings and Food
1978 - Tina Weymouth of the Talking Heads lent her unique talents to that bands
sound then went on to form the Tom Tom Club |
| 17 |  | Sex Pistols
Never Mind The Bollocks
1979 - Punk Dies along with Sid and Nancy |
| 18 |  | The Slit
Cut
1980 - Classic female punk band |
| 19 |  | Crass
Penis Envy
1981 - Eve Libretine and Joy De Vivre really took the lead on this album making it
the classic feminist punk album and perhaps my favorite Crass album |
| 20 | | Vice Squad
Stand Strog Stand Proud
1982 - Beki Bondage leads this killer UK82 band |
| 21 |  | Avengers
Avengers
1983 - This early San Fracisco punk band lead by Penelope Houston was in its prime
in the mid 80's |
| 22 |  | Nina Hagen
NunSexMonkRock
1984 - Nina Hagen is outragiously awesome and has the coolest story |
| 23 |  | 45 Grave
Autopsy
1985 - Dinah Cancer of 45 Grave, what a terrifying punk |
| 24 |  | Xmal Deutschland
Tocsin
1986 - Grim German Gothrock Girls |
| 25 | | Jayne Country
Private Oyster
1987 - Still going strong. Wayne Country was a piller of the early CBGB's scene and
became Jayne Country 1980 and never looked back |
| 26 |  | The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground & Nico
1988 - Shortly after kicking her 15 year heroine addiction Nico dies while riding her
bicycle. RIP |
| 27 |  | Teenage Jesus and the Jerks
Everything
1989 - Lydia Lunch started her musical career with Teenage Jesus and the Jerks
and continued on a great solo career that continues today |
| 28 |  | Bikini Kill
Pussy Whipped
1990 - The early 90's were all about the Riot Grrrls and Bikini Kill formed in 1990 and
one of the finest examples of the movement |
| 29 |  | Bratmobile
Pottymouth
1991 - Another great Riot Grrrl band, Bratmobile formed this year |
| 30 | | Seven Year Bitch
Sick 'Em
1992 - More Riot Grrrls! |
| 31 |  | The Gits
Frenching the Bully
1993 - The brutal murder of Gits leader, Mia Zapata, reinforced the need for punk
communities to stand up against violence toward women |
| 32 | | Blatz
Shit Split
1994 - This is one of my all time favorite punk albums. Blatz came out of the same
924 Gilman Street scene in Berkley CA as Rancid, Operation Ivy, Green Day, Tiger
Army and AFI. While they didn't have the same commercial success as any of
those bands they were one of the best punk bands to come out of the 90s. They
have two girl singers, Anna Joy and Annie really make the Blatz sound so awesome.
They both just sound so young, so angry and so not giving a shit. |
| 33 | | Lunachicks
Jerks of All Trades
1995 - Awesome Scummy Punk Rock 'n' Roll |
| 34 |  | Red Aunts
Saltbox
1996 - First heard them off a Punk-o-rama compilation and they're a really fun band |
| 35 |  | Babes in Toyland
Spanking Machine
1997 - One of the first Riot Grrrl bands breaks up |
| 36 |  | Plasmatics
Coup d'Etat
1998 - The undisputed Queen of Punk Rock, Wendy Orleans Williams Shoots herself
in the head in the woods near her home after feeding her squirrels |
| 37 |  | The Donna
Spend the Night
1999 - A fantastic band end the millennium strong |
| 38 |  | This Bike is A Pipebomb
Dance Party With...
2000 - This Bike is A Pipebomb had been playing with Terry Johnson since the mid
90s but I think they represent another punk genre in which women have played an
important role that started to really gain in popularity in the early 00s: folk punk.
The acoustic instrumentation and raw male/female gang vocals of so many folk
punk bands paired with anarchist ideas reminds me of the songs of the leftist and
anarchist brigades of the Spanish civil war. I don't know if that's what they were
going for but it's a great sound and This Bike is A Pipebomb is my favorite
representitive of the genre. |
| 39 | | The Devotchkas
Live Fast, Die Young
2001 - One of my favorite bands my freshman year of high school. Damn good all
girl street punk band |
| 40 | | The Distillers
Sing Sing Death House
2002 - A lot of people aren't too crazy about Brody (not Armstrong anymore) but
she sounds a hell of a lot like her ex and that's a good thing in my book |
| 41 |  | The Cramps
Songs the Lord Taught Us
2003 - The year the Cramps release their final (and not their best by any stretch)
album. Throughout their decades long career Poison Ivy was the backbone of this
band with her solid, unique guitar style |
| 42 |  | Horrorpops
Hell Yeah!
2004 - Patricia Nekroman (Kim of the Nekromantix wife) makes a great effort with
her band the Horrorpops. Pretty good and an awesome live show with go-go
dancer and all. |
| 43 |  | Defiance, Ohio
The Great Depression
2006 - More folk punk with female vocals that I really dig |
| 44 |  | Old Man Markley
Guts N' Teeth
2007 - This pop-punk country string band formed this year. I fell in love with this
band when I saw them just before they signed to Fat Wreck Chords. The fiddle
player, Katie Weed, was my favorite part. She had such a great energy and was
grinning from ear to ear the whole damn show! |
| 45 |  | Star Fucking Hipsters
Until We're Dead
2008 - The first record from this crack rocksteady combo. I love this band. Best
crackrocksteady stuff since Leftover Crack and Nico de Gaillo are fucking great |
| 46 |  | Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
2009 - Mentioning Kim Gordon here because she's been so prolific for so long and
shows no signs of slowing down |
| 47 | | Midnight Creeps
Doomed From The Get Go
2010 - Awesome band from Rhode Island that I've seen a couple of times. The
singer reminds me a lot of Wendy O. Williams. They been released on Rodent
Popsicle Record (founded by Bill Damon of Toxic Narcotic) a few times |
| 48 |  | X-Ray Spex
Germ Free Adolescents
2011 - Poly Styrene of the X-Ray Spex and "Oh Bondage, Up Yours!" fame died in
2011 |
| 49 | | Pussy Riot
Album
2012 - Whole band jailed in Russia for radical protests |
| 50 | | Against Me!
Transgender Dysphoria Blues
2013 - Lead mand of against me, Gabriel comes out as the transgender lead
woman, Laura Jane Grace |
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