All-female band

All-female bands (commonly known as all-women bands, all-girl bands or girl bands) are musical groups in which females sing and play all the instruments. They are distinct from girl groups, in which the females sing but do not play any or all the of the instruments.

History of "girl bands" before punk rock

Women have long been a part of the musical landscape, with composers such as Anna Amalia, Princess of Prussia. The sister of Frederick The Great wrote music in the 1700s and, more recently, Germaine Tailleferre of Les Six worked with Jean Cocteau and composed for the theatre and dance troupes. In the 1900s, with the commencement of the Big Band and Swing Era, all-female bands began to emerge. Perhaps the best-remembered of such orchestras is the International Sweethearts of Rhythm.

1960s

Groups comprised solely of women began to flourish with the advent of rock and roll. As evidenced by numerous compilations, particularly of garage bands during the 1960s, many women were playing in bands, although few were signed to major labels and did not come to the forefront of public attention. However, records by all girl bands on smaller, regional labels are being rediscovered and are highly prized by collectors today. For instance, Feminine Complex released their self-titled album in the 1960s; in the 1990s, it was re-released on CD by independent label Teen Beat Records. One of the strangest groups from the 60s is undoubtedly The Shaggs, a group of sisters who had limited mastery of their instruments and song structures. The Shaggs created their own unique musical language and today are revered as outsider musicians with a devoted cult following.

Among the earliest all-female rock bands to be signed were Goldie and the Gingerbreads, to Atlantic Records in 1964 and Fanny in 1969 when Mo Ostin signed them to Warmer Brothers Records.

1970s

The Roche sisters, Terre and Margaret/Maggie, recorded their first major-label album in 1975. Their younger sister Suzzie joined them to form The Roches, who typically recorded with male session musicians; additionally, The Roches usually toured without supporting musicians. All three play guitar and other instruments.

In 1975, the Canadian duo of sisters, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, recorded the first of a string of albums. Joan Jett's first group The Runaways were an early commercially successful, hard-edged, all-female band, releasing their first album in 1976; other members included Michael Steele, then known as Mikki Steele, and Lita Ford.

In the 1970s, a number of feminist folk music-based performers began fostering a Women's Music Movement, although it was not long before women with a background in rock music and jazz started women's bands to escape from the 'chick singer' trap. This included Jam Today, which started in a Peckham shed during the spring of 1976. Jam Today I (1976-1979) participated in a film sponsored by the BFI titled "Rapunzel Let Down Your Hair" and were often seen at feminist marches and rallies. Jam Today II (1979-1980) retained some of the founding members and was more jazz based, later returning to a more jazz-rock tradition with Jam Today III (1980-1984). The band released an EP called Stereotyping on their own record label, Stroppy Cow Records, in 1981 and took part in the television series Something Else. Moreover, they participated in a programme for BBC Open University called Women in Rock with two other female bands, Tour De Force and The Raincoats.

1980s and 1990s

A number of women moved between the more-traditional folk festivals and the women's gatherings, including some of the members of the 1980s all-female bluegrass band Blue Rose. More recently, another bluegrass and related-music all-female group, Uncle Earl, have been touring the festival circuit (apparently named in honor of bluegrass pioneer Earl Scruggs).

Punk, a progression in some ways of the garage rock of the 1960s, included all-female bands as garage rock had in the 1960s. This opened the door wider for women with a desire to perform, spawning groups such as The Raincoats, the Slits, and Lilliput. Some well-known otherwise all-female bands had men in the band at times, particularly but not limited to drummers.

Meanwhile, three bands had a very large commercial and path breaking effect in the early and mid 1980s. The Go-Go's and the Bangles, both from the LA punk/garage scene, were the first all-female rock bands to find sustained success; however, their commercially successful works were fairly distant from their roots. Each had a sequence of three major-label albums in the first segment of their careers, released several hit singles apiece, and inspired other young women, both positively and, perhaps, negatively (as when the Bangles ended the first phase of their collective career as nearly a chorus, playing fewer of their own instrumental tracks on each album in turn and on guest appearances on television). Additionally, both bands released reinvigorated reunion albums in the 2000s: the Go-Go's' God Bless the Go-Go's (2001) and the Bangles' Doll Revolution (2003). The third band, Klymaxx, became the first and last (so far) all-female band in the R&B style of music to all play an instrument; several of their singles have charted successfully in both R&B and pop countdowns. Another notable rock band that charted several hits in the late 1980's was Vixen. Lipstick, out of Cleveland, Ohio also hit the top 40 charts in the mid 1980s with their hit song, "I Want To Be With You Tonight".

With the resurgence of interest in pop-punk bands in the US in the early 1990s, L7 became very popular, while demonstrating onstage and in interviews a self-confident "bad girl" attitude at times, always willing to challenge assumptions about how an all-female band should behave. Although it is debated whether the existence of all-female bands is inherently political or not, many groups comprised of women have began with a political aim in mind. In the 1990s, Riot Grrrl, Bratmobile, and Bikini Kill have addressed feminist and other socio-political issues they feel are inherent in the estate of the women's band. Other punk bands, such as Spitboy and its successor Instant Girl, have been less comfortable with the childhood-centered issues of much of the Riot Grrrl aesthetic, but nonetheless also have dealt explicitly with feminist and related issues. All-female Queercore bands, such as Tribe 8 and Team Dresch, also write songs dealing with matters specific to women and their position in society.

The Breeders are an all-girl band who had an impact in the '90's, as did The Indigo Girls. Bananarama, the Spice Girls and Pussycat Dolls might be a relative subset of significant all-girl performers, but not really a band, as they don't play instruments. Also notable during the late 90's and into the 2000's are 2 The Donnas.

Other all-female bands outside pop music

All-female bands are not restricted to the mainstream genres. The successful British/Australian string quartet Bond, who play classical crossover, is another example where women play all the instruments (first and second violin, viola and cello) and sing the occasional vocals that accompany some of their tracks.

Bibliography

• Rock Chicks:The Hottest Female Rockers from the 1960’s to Now by Stieven-Taylor, Alison (2007). Sydney. Rockpool Publishing. ISBN 9781921295065
• Bayton, Mavis (1998) Frock Rock: Women Performing Popular Music. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-816615-X
• Carson, Mina Julia (ed.) (2004) Girls rock!: Fifty Years of Women Making Music. Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-2310-0
• Gaar, Gillian G. (1992) She's a Rebel: the History of Women in Rock & Roll. Seattle, Wash.: Seal Press. ISBN 1-878067-08-7
• O'Dair, Barbara (ed.) (1997) Trouble Girls: the Rolling Stone Book of Women in Rock. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-679-76874-2
• Raphael, Amy (1995) Never Mind the Bollocks: Women Rewrite Rock. London: Virago. ISBN 1-85381-887-9
• Savage, Ann M. (2003) They're Playing Our Songs: Women Talk About Feminist Rock Music. Westport, Conn.: Praeger. ISBN 0-275-97356-5

See also

• Girl group
• List of all-female bands
• List of female rock singers

External links

• GirlBand.org
• Metal Queens - a site devoted to women in Metal
• Jenny Woolworth Women in Punk Archive
• Blood Sisters: Women in metal, hardcore, grind and noise
• Girl Muso list
• Noisy Rock Women tribute
• Endemoniada WebZine
• Girl Punk bands
• Metal Maidens fanzine