Conference turris::womannotes-v2

    
    
    One other footnote...the name Linda Lou & Libido came from an episode
    of Star Trek, The Next Generation.  At the time, our drummer and our
    guitar player were both male.  This will be the first time we don't
    have men in the band.
    
    Anita
    

    
                           "Wicked Bad Women"

      Not exactly original - I played on a basketball team last
      weekend called the "Wicked Bad Girls".  
    
      The "wicked bad" part has the positive connotation that 
      teenagers give it, BTW.
    
    						nancy b.
    

    
    
    Anita,
    
    I was just breezing through this File when I saw your note,
    Ive Been In an all original Rock Band since 15,Im now 23 and
    I know What its like to draw in crowds,What we did when the 
    Band started out was rent a Local Hall,You know Promote a Party
    get a bunch of friends,Post up the location of the Party,Video 
    Tape,If you have a 4 or 8 track recorder,Make a live homeMade Demo
    Tape,Most Clubs want to hear the Band before Permiting them to play.
      As for Us we reciently Got out of the Recording studio and The
    Demo is Mint, Only problem is our Guitarist took a Job in NYC so
    we are is need of a guitarist,But that goes to show if you ....
    1..Got the Talent
    2..Got the Crowd
    3..Got the Energy and Patience
    4..Got the sound
    5..Got the Equipment
    6..Most of all GET THE CONNECTIONS
      You'll do just fine,And as for All Girl Rock Bands,,,,
    I think its great because Musicians are Musicians,We all think the
    same. and good luck.
    
    Jim
    Black Mirage (Boston)

    
    Well, I think you can use whatever name you think fits you
    best...
    in Boston there is an all-female group called "girls night out"
    who do lots of clubs, parties, etc...and are great, btw...
    
    In Louisville, there was an all-female band called
    "river city women" ...and they too were very good.
    
    Both got callbacks, both promoted their 'femaleness' in
    different ways...and all were women...over 21 at least!
    
    Course, being in Houston, I suppose you could call
    yourselves "the southern belles"...???   :-)  :-)
    
    good luck!
    
    deb
    

    .... and what about those bands "Vixen" and "Poison Dollies", etc.,
    the Bangles, etc.
    
    They are all female and I guess it depends on the image you want
    to project, I envision Vixen and Poison Dollies to be hard rock
    and roll, sort of vampy, while the Bangles connotes "cuteness".
    
    I don't take girls as a negative thing, I'm 27 and I still don't
    mind being called a "girl" if it's taken in the right context!
    
    Good luck with your band!
    
    Tammi
    

    re .0- ouch.  How do you use the 'draw' of utilizing everything you've
    got going for you, to be successful, yet not exploit yourselves with
    such diminishing words as 'girls'...I'm going to wander around that for
    a minute...
    
    Part of the difficulty is in the nature of live rock music.  I think
    the scene is targetted to youth and specifically to immature youth; the
    songs about love and adolescent angst come to mind, and you recognize
    yorself that the bar owners want crowds to maximize their liquor
    profits...so we're looking at party crowds.  [I'm not talking about
    your music, by the way, just generic rock.]
    
    Party crowds are not so socially aware that they are diminishing women
    when they use the word 'girls'.  They usually don't care, either.  If you 
    go about their education in the wrong way, you'll alienate them...at the 
    same time, if you don't go about their education to your own satisfaction, 
    you'll be co-opting yourselves, if I read your basenote correctly. 
    
    Were I gifted and in your shoes, I might attempt to write a song to
    explain my feelings about diminishing words, and being worthy of the term 
    'women'...rock audiences do pick up on the message in the lyrics if the
    music is interesting enough that they want to listen...I don't know if
    you can do this in the time you have left...or if you would feel that
    this is the way to avoid being exploited...its just a suggestion.  It
    does seem from your basenote that you will feel more comfortable taking
    a pro-active stance on the issue; and you may just benefit from another
    one of the rockers' values: they love rebels.  Fight for what you
    believe in, and you may earn some respect.  Good luck!
    
    DougO

    Re:.7
    
    Thanks!  Good idea...great idea, actually.  It can be sort of an issue,
    and you are right, I'd prefer to be pro-active about it.  I don't want
    to change the name of the band, none of us do, but in fliers and ads,
    we'd like to state who we are.
    
    Thanks to DEC, I have quite a bit of sales/marketing training...guess
    it's just time to apply some of it.
    
    Anita
    
    Re: .4(?)
    
    Cool band name.  We have also been in the studio and have a 7-song
    demo tape ready.  We're thinking about recording two-three more for 
    a 'real' cassette release.  Since all of us have worked in other bands
    before, we do have a (few) connections...hope to be gigging with the
    Holiday party season coming up...we've already got an agent lined up,
    and I act as business manager.
    
    Keep on Rockin' in the Free World...!
    
    
    Anita
    

    Tough question!  I went to a women's college and battled the "oh, isn't
    that a girl's school?" thing the whole time.  Before Dartmouth went
    co-ed, they never called it a boy's school... :-)
    
    I sing a cappella, and most group names are pretty non-gender oriented.
    However, one group is called the "Boston Uncommon", which is a two-way
    wordplay.  The Boston Common is a park, for you out-of-towners; and
    "Uncommon Women and Others" is a play written about students at Mount
    Holyoke College (my alma mater).  Good, but kind of obscure.
    
    Perhaps you could take the name of a play or song or movie that has the
    words "woman" or "female" in it and modify it for your use.  (E.g., a
    **bad** example, but "Dolls and Dolls" instead of "Guys and Dolls".)
    
    
    Looking in the Thesaurus (c. 1972) for ideas was quite interesting. 
    For men, you have "yeoman, wight, swain, fellow, guy, blade, beau,
    chap, gaffer"; for women, you have "petticoat, skirt, moll, broad;
    matron, dowager, goody, gammer; Venus, nymph, wench, ... little bit of
    fluff."    (How about "Linty Women"?  :-) )
    
    Maybe you could do a deliberate reverse-gender thing:  "The Not Chaps"
    for that southwestern flair...
    
    Or something to do with XX instead of XY chromosomes -- sounds silly,
    but it's memorable:  "Lone Chromosome"...
    
    Or leave it up to the audience to fill it in:  "Mystery Women".
    
    This is a hard decision.  Good luck finding one you all like!
    Pam

    Oh, whoops, I didn't read .8 carefully enough.  You DON'T want to
    change the name of your band -- you want to come up with a good
    punchy description of who you are.  Like:
    
    "Linda Lou and the Libidoes" -- women rockers who...
                                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    
    Is that right?  If so, that's tougher still.  
    
    No ideas now...
    Pam

    
    
    Right!!  Keep the name, but point out the FACT that we're all women.  
    It's a fine line, allright.  Thanks for your ideas.  We do have some
    name recognition around town as Linda Lou & Libido --we've had a  GREAT
    review of an earlier 3-song demo tape, and good plug in a column by the
    music editor of a local indie newspaper.  So we don't want to change
    the name, just point out that THIS incarnation of Linda Lou & Libido is
    different.
    
    I need to submit an ad for the paper by next week as well as make up
    a flyer to distribute starting this weekend.  
    
    I really appreciate everyone who's taken the time to offer suggestions.
    
    THANKS!!
    
    Anita
    

    You're welcome!
    
    I have ideas now.  I'd just say
    
    	Linda Lou & Libido -- an all-women rock band
    
    and leave it at that.  That way, the emphasis is on the final words --
    rock band -- and on what you DO.  It's also cut-and-dried professional.
    If you make it something like "women who rock" or "fully female", as in
    the base note, the emphasis is on YOU, which you don't necessarily
    want.
    
    This way gets the facts out but makes it harder to think up sniggering
    jokes.  Another idea might be to include a captioned picture of you all
    with the release or poster -- but NOT to mention your gender in the
    text AT ALL.  People will pick up on it anyway, I would think, and will
    be intrigued that you didn't feel it was unusual enough to mention.  I
    would!  Have fun...
    
    Pam

>    Another idea might be to include a captioned picture of you all
>    with the release or poster 

Yeah; are there four of you? You could be captioned, respectively: 1. Linda
Lou, 2. Li, 3. Bi, 4. Do.

	Mez

    Pointed out earlier in the replies, I don't mind being referred to as a
    "girl" if there is nothing implied by it.  It's going to take a generation 
    to change words like that.  My parents still call me that.
    
    You only want to make they don't refer to you as "just" girls.
    

    
	One of my friends, a fellow DECcie is in "The Dumpster Bunnies".
	The band is 3/4 female and are very good.

	We've done several shows in the Metro West area of MA. I feel
	bad when they get heckled, but the Bunnies handle it well.

	I encourage female musicians to join or form bands so that women
	in rock bands won't be such a rarity.


	Guy

    RE:  .13, Mez, don't you think it might be a bit difficult to be the
              third member of the band????
    
    Actually, I'd write the press release without any mention of the sex of
    the members.  Linda Lou and the Libidos--a hard rock band...all
    original material, playing rock fused with... Don't forget to include when
    and where information along with the who and the what. Of course,
    you'll have a captioned photo.  If the newspaper editor feels strongly, 
    you may wind up with some bilge about sweet girl rockers, but I doubt
    it. Editors tend to edit down, not add stuff.  Oh, make sure your photo
    crops to either vertical or horizontal, more likely to be used.
    
    A good entertainment editor will notice the unusual makeup of the band
    and do an article.  So don't blow your chances for free publicity by
    making the obvious too obvious.
      
    Hey, all male rock bands don't include the fact in their press
    releases.  The accompanying photo is captioned something like: Mick
    Jagger, lead singer; Bill Wyman, drums; Keith Richard, guitar; and so
    on.  
    
    Have a good gig.
    
    --Margaret
      who used to edit an entertainment weekly and did PR for many
      bands as well as being a roadie for a few months and sez ain't it a 
      drag that the most publicity banjoist Pete Wernick ever got
      was when he survived the plane crash in Iowa City and got his
      picture in Life.  

Well no Margaret; it would be a good chance to be truthful, or mind-f**k the
audienence, or do some good PR work for friends!
	Mez