[Misc] Things in the Sixties/Seventies.

[Gwylan]

I

And, yes. You have very good recall of 60s and 70s right wing arsebiscuits. I remember them well. Let's not forget Brighton's own Martin 'Sweetie' Webster to. His sister used to frequent the Hungry Years so I recollect.

Aside from that....hope you're staying safe!

Looking forward to your marking of my other work, later

Indeed she did. I remember going to see Lou Reed with her back in the day. Martin Webster's brother also married someone I was at primary school with - it's a small world.

And yes, you're right. None of the other right wing nutters had the same persona as Farage - although Powell did have similar levels of support - remember the London dockers marching "For Enoch"? And, of course, Powell was ferociously anti-EEC (as it was then) but he didn't exude the saloon bar bonhomie that the frog-faced chancer does.

I'll mark your other work later but I'll give this a B+

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Indeed she did. I remember going to see Lou Reed with her back in the day. Martin Webster's brother also married someone I was at primary school with - it's a small world.

And yes, you're right. None of the other right wing nutters had the same persona as Farage - although Powell did have similar levels of support - remember the London dockers marching "For Enoch"? And, of course, Powell was ferociously anti-EEC (as it was then) but he didn't exude the saloon bar bonhomie that the frog-faced chancer does.

I'll mark your other work later but I'll give this a B+

From you, that's a decent mark.

 

[OzMike]

Well Moulsecoomb kids were poor in those days! Did you ask if Ron could have one, to a fellow smoker who was flush with cigs.

We used to go to Woolvens and old man Woolven used to sell them to us one or two at a time hidden in a sweet bag.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Has anyone mentioned Birthday Strippergram In The Office yet? Yup, that was a thing in the Seventies. Almost always dressed - well at least to start with - as a policewoman

 

[marlowe]

Is that Sonny and Cher? Whoever it is they need to get those clothes washed!

Especially Cher, not only has she got really grubby knees, she's wearing her trousers right up her fanny.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

You should have underlined Fleetwood Mac - what do you think Christine McVie was doing? Making tea? Some of those other lead singers were also instrumentalists too

You could also add Fanny, The Runaways, The Slits, The Raincoats to that list.

And don't forget Carol Kaye, bassist supremes, on so many hit records

What about the Applejacks (female bassist) and the Honeycombs (Female drummer)….. or was it the other way round.

 

[Barrow Boy]

What about the Applejacks (female bassist) and the Honeycombs (Female drummer)….. or was it the other way round.

The Applejacks had the female base player and now I've got "Tell me when" going through my head on a loop, thankyou!
And it's fighting with "Have I the Right".

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

From the evidence of this photo you can cross at least two off your list..

View attachment 123520

One, I'll grant you. But they weren't a band. You might as well add Peters and Lee

Probably time I explained what I mean. I don't mean any pop performer that happens to be famale, all girl bands or bands with a female lead singer. I mean bands with a member (who is not the lead singer, like Janis Joplin, Elkie Brooks etc) who is an equal part of a mixed gender band (not an effing girly band or Nina and sodding Frederick).

I post some pix below. The oldest is actually from the early 70s and it takes someone as unique as Frank Zappa to have had a female instrumentalist as part of the band back then. Not unheard of, but now more commonplace (well, unremarked). It used to be so uncommon, to have a woman equal to a man in a band, that poor old Gaye Advert was treated primarily as eye candy in the late 70s. Actually, I'm not so sure that all-male bands, or female singer fronted bands, or (less frequently) all female bands in aren't still the norm versus proper gender mixed bands. I can't think of many more examples than the pix below but I could easily name thousands of single gender bands.

Anyway, you photo was well worth it just for ticking of the other thing

 

[neilbard]

 

[marlowe]

....I absolutely don't count bands with female lead vocalists, though. The one's I'd count are indicated . Otherwise you may as well include Lulu and the Luvvers (etc).

You should have underlined Fleetwood Mac - what do you think Christine McVie was doing? Making tea? Some of those other lead singers were also instrumentalists too...

....Probably time I explained what I mean. I don't mean any pop performer that happens to be famale, all girl bands or bands with a female lead singer. I mean bands with a member (who is not the lead singer, like Janis Joplin, Elkie Brooks etc) who is an equal part of a mixed gender band (not an effing girly band or Nina and sodding Frederick)....

Thanks for clarifying that as I was just about to post some camel toe photos of Agnetha from Abba from my extensive library collection in which she features heavily in that particular category. I'll now refrain from doing so as I wouldn't want to provoke your ire any further than this thread has done already.

You have however failed to make clear if you include bands with female lead singers who also play one of the main instruments, and if not why not?

If so I would like to take issue with some of those from my list which you didn't accept.

B52s: Kate Pierson is a multi instrumentalist and was at times their main keyboard player. She also played a keyboard bass for them which took the role of the bass guitar.

The Carpenters: Karen Carpenter was also their drummer as well as their lead vocalist, a bit like a female Phil Collins although it could be argued that Collins is a male Karen Carpenter as she performed that dual role long before Collins adopted it.

Fleetwood Mac: As Gwylan pointed out Christine McVie did more than just make the tea and was their keyboardist from 1971. Any tea making duties that were assigned to McVie were no doubt encouraged by the fact that any such request to her made a humourous little rhyming couplet, "Christine McVie, please make the tea", an in joke the rest of the band seemingly never grew tired of repeating for the next 40 years. By virtue of her name not rhyming with that particular beverage Stevie Nicks was spared from any tea making duties, although she was allegedly ascribed her own rhyming couplet by the band's male members, "Stevie Nicks, please suck our d***s", which judging by the numerous accounts of that band's rather tangled relationships, she undertook without too much complaint.

Pretenders: Chrissie Hynde was their rhythm guitarist as well as vocalist.

Can you just clarify if Suzie Quatro fits your criteria as despite your explanation I'm still uncertain. While being the band's lead vocalist she was also their bassist. Further confusion arises by the fact that she was marketed as a solo artist but she was also essentially a member of an integrated pop combo, the other members of which were often featured on record covers and publicity shots.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Thanks for clarifying that as I was just about to post some camel toe photos of Agnetha from Abba from my extensive library collection in which she features heavily in that particular category. I'll now refrain from doing so as I wouldn't want to provoke your ire any further than this thread has done already.

You have however failed to make clear if you include bands with female lead singers who also play one of the main instruments, and if not why not?

If so I would like to take issue with some of those from my list which you didn't accept.

B52s: Kate Pierson is a multi instrumentalist and was at times their main keyboard player. She also played a keyboard bass for them which took the role of the bass guitar.

The Carpenters: Karen Carpenter was also their drummer as well as their lead vocalist, a bit like a female Phil Collins although it could be argued that Collins is a male Karen Carpenter as she performed that dual role long before Collins adopted it.

Fleetwood Mac: As Gwylan pointed out Christine McVie did more than just make the tea and was their keyboardist from 1971. Any tea making duties that were assigned to McVie were no doubt encouraged by the fact that any such request to her made a humourous little rhyming couplet, "Christine McVie, please make the tea", an in joke the rest of the band seemingly never grew tired of repeating for the next 40 years. By virtue of her name not rhyming with that particular beverage Stevie Nicks was spared from any tea making duties, although she was allegedly ascribed her own rhyming couplet by the band's male members, "Stevie Nicks, please suck our d***s", which judging by the numerous accounts of that band's rather tangled relationships, she undertook without too much complaint.

Pretenders: Chrissie Hynde was their rhythm guitarist as well as vocalist.

Can you just clarify if Suzie Quatro fits your criteria as despite your explanation I'm still uncertain. While being the band's lead vocalist she was also their bassist. Further confusion arises by the fact that she was marketed as a solo artist but she was also essentially a member of an integrated pop combo, the other members of which were often featured on record covers and publicity shots.

Very nice post.



Very good points. I am thinking that lockdown is turning more and more of us into pedants. I am going to use the year of Bill Grundy as the turning point year, if I may.

• B52s, you can have (76 - on the cusp)
• Carpenters, certainly not (see below for explanation)
• Fleetwood mac, certainly, for Cristine Perfect, recently of the parish of Whitstable, and formerly of Chicken Shack. I would rather go blind than exclude her.
• Pretenders, no (post 76). By then you had Laura Logic, Gaye Advert, and the game had started to change. That said, can you name one other member of the Pretenders? They were really a female artist with a back up band in my book (and my book is very nice).

Ditto Suzi Quatro. Could even she name any members of her back up band? (Some bright spark is about to tell me she married one, now, I bet).

After 76, there was the emergence of loads of bands with female singers: Penetration, Siouzie and the Banshees, X-Ray Spex, Au Pairs, Theatre of Tragedy, Moev, Lacuna Coil, which all counts, certainly still fewer with proper Ruth Underwoods albeit far more than late 60s and early 70s, my original point, you naysayers : some in my original pix like New Order, plus Clan of Xymox, And Also The Trees (recent keyboard player), Skunk Anansie, Minimal Compact, Githead....yes, mostly singers in bands rather than primarily instrumentalists but it isn't weird anymore, like it was, well, even for the Adverts and certainly before that.

Now, given that two of my suggestions about what you do see now but didn't in the 60s and 70s, may be questioned (and I would appreciate further photographic evidence before I am properly persuaded of one you challenged), we can test one properly. We have some data above. Now compare that to groups before 1976 that had a female fully functional equal member who was primarily an instrumentalist, or a singer but an equal band member (not a solo artist supported by an anonymous back up band), nor the singer in a duo who also weirdly played the drums. A duo is not a band. The Springfields? Dusty did play the spoons. But....non.

So, aside from those suggestions we have already had, many dismissed, a few accepted, Ruth Underwood being almost unique as an instrumentalist, can we add to this list? Pre 1976 only. Can we add to the list so it matches a list of all male or all female ensembles of the time?

I can do some pre 1976 all male bands for comparison, standin' on me 'ed.....here just using the the letter M, and my memory alone.

The Move
The Monkeys
Mountain
Montrose
Morning
The Magic Band
Mandalaband
Mirage
Manfred Man's Earth Band
Meatloaf
The Mojos

Now your turn. Bands (not the Mothers of Invention) pre 1976 with a fully functional and equal female member.

 

[GT49er]

Among those 'mixed gender' bands you have included that I overlooked, at least four are all female bands (I am unfamiliar with 'Fanny' but decided not to look them up on Google). I admire pedantry, but . . . . you'll be ticking me off for overlooking Culture Club and Tom Jones, next

Pretty sure I made it clear mixed gender doesn't mean bands with a female singer, or female artistes in general including all female bands. That would be silly, wouldn't it? Apologies if I wasn't clear.

Without going in for double entendres, I was slightly familiar with Fanny - I saw them live in the early 70s. Pretty good they were too - the guitarist and bassist are sisters - and the bassist was effin' gorgeous!. A huge number of male tongues (mine included) were hanging out all that night !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pukOcZ4Tjk0

 

[lawros left foot]

Well, this thread has more twists and turns, than a twisty turny thing.

Heart, the Wilson sisters,both played guitar, Ann played the flute as well, and Nancy played mandolin.

Dreamboat Annie was one of my favourite albums for a while.

 

[marlowe]

Now your turn. Bands (not the Mothers of Invention) pre 1976 with a fully functional and equal female member.

Here's Birtha on the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1973

https://youtu.be/YDiEfwXRNiM

Here's a bit of Fanny also on the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1971

https://youtu.be/Q80UWYkKNzk

By 1974 Patti Quatro, Suzi's sister had joined Fanny's line up on guitar and featured on this single "Butter Boy" written by the band's bassist (who [MENTION=12935]GT49er[/MENTION] was previously drooling over) about her affair with David Bowie who was also a big fan

https://youtu.be/RnbvE8emgPs

Daughters of Eve with their 1966 hit "Hey Lover"

https://youtu.be/gd6nao16zeM

And here's a young Suzi Quatro in 1967 with her sister Patti (who later joined Fanny) in The Pleasure Seekers (I was determined to get Suzi in one way or other)

https://youtu.be/mD0JRdIGwoo

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

All of those clips show ALL GIRL bands. The names 'Daughters' and 'Fanny' should have been a clue.

Even the quatro clip shows her with all female backing musicians (and I did say that Quatro isn't really a band member, she's a solo artist with backing musicians). The Pleasure seekers are, guess what, an all female band. I did look very hard for a pair of swinging bollocks in the pic below, but I just can't see any .



I'm surprised you haven't tried to fob me off with The Supremes.

I rest my case, m'lud.



Edit: What we are looking for should look something like the pic at the bottom of this post

Here's Birtha on the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1973

https://youtu.be/YDiEfwXRNiM

Here's a bit of Fanny also on the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1971

https://youtu.be/Q80UWYkKNzk

By 1974 Patti Quatro, Suzi's sister had joined Fanny's line up on guitar and featured on this single "Butter Boy" written by the band's bassist (who [MENTION=12935]GT49er[/MENTION] was previously drooling over) about her affair with David Bowie who was also a big fan

https://youtu.be/RnbvE8emgPs

Daughters of Eve with their 1966 hit "Hey Lover"

https://youtu.be/gd6nao16zeM

And here's a young Suzi Quatro in 1967 with her sister Patti (who later joined Fanny) in The Pleasure Seekers (I was determined to get Suzi in one way or other)

https://youtu.be/mD0JRdIGwoo

 

[Tokyohands]

Ford Cortinas

 

[Nitram]

Probably been mentioned before but the brilliant Tina Weymouth is one of my all time favourite bassists. Carole Kaye of the Wrecking Crew (I know not really a band in the true sense) has to be the most influential bass players of all time and deserves a mention.

 

[Barrow Boy]

Barrats original Sherbet Fountains used to have a hollow liquorice 'straw' , non of this nanby panby solid piece that they ended up using. You used to bite the end off then try and suck the sherbet up through it, this usually ended up with you sucking really hard then nearly choking as the sherbet suddenly shot in to your mouth and down the back of your throat. Happy days!
Bloody do gooders, it's Health and Safety gone mad I tells yer.

 

[lawros left foot]

In my sisters primary school class her teacher was an elderly woman who used to take her Pekingese dog with her to school everyday.
All the kids used to have to queue up at home time, and give the dog a kiss before they could leave.