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Genya Ravan | |
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 Goldie and the Gingerbreads in 1963 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Genyusha Zelkowitz |
| Also known as | Goldie |
| Born | April 19, 1940 Łódź, Poland |
| Genres | Rock |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1962–present |
| Formerly of | |
Genya Ravan (born Genyusha Zelkowitz; [1] April 19, 1940), also known as Goldie, is an American rock singer and music producer. She was lead singer of the Escorts, Goldie and the Gingerbreads, and Ten Wheel Drive. [2] [3]
Genyusha Zelkovicz was born in Łódź, Poland [4] in a Jewish family in 1940 and emigrated to the United States in 1947, accompanied by her parents and one sister. They were her only family members who had survived the Nazi Holocaust in Europe. [4] Two brothers, grandparents, and multiple aunts and uncles died in concentration camps. [5] The family did not speak any English when they arrived. Genya was named 'Goldie' by her mother, who claimed Genyusha was not American enough.
Goldie's career started in 1962 in a Brooklyn club called The Lollipop Lounge, which is also the title of her autobiography published by Billboard Books. On a dare, she jumped up to sing, which she states was the first time she had heard her voice. She was asked to join the band the Escorts, which featured Richard Perry as one of the members. After signing to Decca's subsidiary Coral Records and being produced by Henry Jerome, she found success with a cover of "Somewhere" from West Side Story , which went to number one in parts of the Midwest.[ citation needed ]
In 1963, she formed Goldie and the Gingerbreads after meeting drummer Ginger Bianco in a Greenwich Village bar. After seeing the band at a party for the Rolling Stones, Atlantic Records Chairman Ahmet Ertegün signed them to Atlantic subsidiary Atco Records. [2] [6]
While playing at New York City's hot spot The Wagon Wheel on 45th Street in Times Square, Mike Jeffries, Eric Burdon, Hilton Valentine, and Chas Chandler spotted them and wanted them to come to England. Goldie and the Gingerbreads toured with the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, the Kinks, the Hollies and Manfred Mann. They released their hit song "Can't You Hear My Heart Beat" in 1965, which reached number 25 on the UK Singles Chart. [2] The band stayed in London for two years.[ citation needed ]
Billed as "Goldie", she released the original version of the Carole King-Gerry Goffin composition "Goin' Back" in the spring of 1966. [7] However, this single was withdrawn within a week by producer Andrew Loog Oldham due to disagreements with Goffin and King over altered lyrics. [6] The song was covered by Dusty Springfield three months later, making the top 10 in the UK Singles Chart.
In 1969, Ravan and partners Aram Schefrin and Mike Zager formed Ten Wheel Drive, which lasted three years. [7] They recorded three albums for Polydor Records: Construction number 1, Brief Replies, Peculiar Friends Are Better Than No Friends. Ravan left the band in 1972. [8] [7] She was signed to Columbia Records by Clive Davis where she made one album in 1972 titled Genya Ravan. [7] She made four more solo albums through the 1970s. [4]
"She oversings, the band's ordinary, and the lyrics (both hers and those she chooses) often get blowzy; the only grade-A cuts are 'Jerry's Pigeons' and (A plus) 'The Sweetest One.' So maybe I'm soft—maybe I just can't resist a real New York doll. In a woman who combines the hip cool of Lou Reed with the emotionality of Springsteen, a case of Joplinitis—a rare disease these days—is rather endearing."
–Review of Urban Desire in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981) [9]
Ravan performed at the Atlanta Pop Festival, twice at Carnegie Hall and twice at Madison Square Garden, along with various clubs in Boston, and Philadelphia, and New York City, including the famous CBGB. She appeared on television shows including The Mike Douglas Show , The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson , Della, and The Dick Cavett Show .
Many Ten Wheel Drive tracks have been sampled by hip hop artists, including "Ain't Gonna Happen", which Jay-Z used in his song "1-900-Hustler" on the 2000 album The Dynasty . He also sampled Ravan's version of "Whipping Post" from her album Goldie Zelkowitz for his song "Oh My God" on the 2006 album Kingdom Come.
In 2011, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum included Goldie and the Gingerbreads in their "Women in Music" exhibit, which traveled from state to state. Genya Ravan toured in 2013, selling out New York City's Iridium.
In 2013, Ravan appeared at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, alongside legends like Wanda Jackson, Martha Reeves, Maria Muldaur and Tracy Nelson as part of the museum's "Women Who Rock" exhibit. [10] She and Reeves discovered professional connections in that both worked with Richard Perry and were signed by Clive Davis. Further, one of the first songs Ravan learned when she came to the US was "What Did I Do to Be So Black and Blue", made famous by Fats Waller; Reeves had performed the song while starring in the road show of Ain't Misbehavin'. The two planned on working on a future project together.[ citation needed ]
A retrospective of her career is the subject of the Off Broadway musical Rock and Roll Refugee, which was profiled on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Sunday on February 14, 2016.
Ravan has worked as a producer for multiple record labels. Among others, she was responsible for the debut album Young Loud and Snotty by the punk rock band Dead Boys (1977), [7] and the comeback album Siren by Ronnie Spector (1980). [4] She also contributed vocals to the latter album. In 2001 Ravan discovered Tripod at CBGB and produced their demo CD, adding backup vocals to one track. She brought David Lasley and his blue-eyed soul group Rosie to Mike Berniker at RCA, got them a deal and produced their album Better Late Than Never. [11] [12] [13]
In 2006, Steven Van Zandt recruited Ravan to host two monthly radio shows: Chicks and Broads, playing women from the 1950s to the present day, and Goldies Garage, which featured unsigned bands. Genya Ravan said, "So much talent out there and not enough places for them to be heard anymore" on Van Zandt's Underground Garage radio channel, aired on SiriusXM Satellite Radio in North America and on SiriusXM Internet Radio worldwide. Ravan joined a team of hosts that includes original Rolling Stones manager/producer Andrew Loog Oldham, whom she worked with as Goldie.
In early 2016, Royal Family Productions produced a workshop for a musical based on the life of Genya Ravan titled Rock and Roll Refugee. [15]
In the movie The Warriors (1979), the song that plays when Cochise, Rembrandt and Vermin are in the Lizzie's HQ is "Love Is a Fire" by Genya Ravan. The song is featured on The Warriors soundtrack album. [16]
Ravan was portrayed by Stana Katic in the 2013 film CBGB . [17]
The Rolling Stones, Now! is the third American studio album by English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in March 1965 by their initial American distributor, London Records. Although it contains two previously unissued songs and an alternative version, the album mostly consists of songs released earlier in the United Kingdom, as well as the group's recent single in the United States, "Heart of Stone" backed with "What a Shame". Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote four of the songs on the album, with the balance composed by American rhythm and blues and rock and roll artists.
Goldie & the Gingerbreads was an all-female American rock band formed in New York in 1962. The quartet, primarily consisting of vocalist Genya "Goldie" Zelkowitz, drummer Ginger Bianco, organist/keyboardist Margo Lewis and guitarist/vocalist Carol MacDonald, are considered one of the first all-female rock bands and were the first to be signed to a major record label. They were signed to Decca in 1963 and Atlantic in 1964. The band released several singles during the 1960s until their break-up in 1968, while their only album, the compilation Thinking About the Good Times: Complete Recordings 1964–1966, was released in 2021.
Goldie is a British musician.
Mirrors is the sixth studio album by American rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released on June 19, 1979. It was the first BÖC album not produced by long-time producer and manager Sandy Pearlman, instead being produced by Tom Werman.
Young, Loud and Snotty is the first studio album by the American punk band Dead Boys. It was recorded and released in 1977 on Sire Records, produced by Genya Ravan. The album is the only Dead Boys album to chart, peaking at 189 on the Billboard 200 in November 1977.
Ten Wheel Drive was an American rock band which existed from 1968 to 1974.
John Nicholas Shakespeare, known as John Carter, is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer.
TriPod is a rock trio with no guitars or keyboards.
Underground Garage is the name of two different related radio outlets that present Rock 'n' Roll and Garage Rock on radio: a syndicated show and a satellite radio station. Steven Van Zandt, best known as a guitarist in Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, is the founder and supervisor of both outlets. Both play a mixture of past and current Garage Rock.
Gabriel Mekler was an American songwriter, musician, and record producer who attained fame in the 1960s, helming albums for Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, and Janis Joplin. He also collaborated with R&B singer Etta James for two critically acclaimed albums in the early 1970s, mixing blues, soul, and then topped it off with Genya Ravan production jazz and rock.
Isis was an all-female rock band formed in New York in 1972. The band was founded by Carol MacDonald and Ginger Bianco following the break-up of their former group Goldie & the Gingerbreads. They took their name from the Egyptian goddess Isis, and were an early example of professional women in rock music in the 1970s, becoming the fifth all-female band to be signed to a major label.
Kenneth Alan James Hawker known as Ken Lewis, was an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He is considered one of the more successful songwriters of the 1960s as a result of his collaborations with John Carter. His biggest success was "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat", which was a 1965 US number 2 hit single for Herman's Hermits.
The Metromen were a New York City–based rock group of the late 1970s–early 1980s who created their own brand of punk/power pop music combining sophistication and humor. They disbanded before achieving commercial success. The Metromen rose out of the new wave period which was typified at the time by acts such as Joe Jackson, The Police, and Elvis Costello, all of whom were a large influence on the music and style of the band.
Dave U. Hall is an American musician whose musical voice is articulated by the tones of his Electric Bass guitar. He was a member of the band Birdland with Lester Bangs and The Rattlers. He has also played with other bands including, but not limited to, Zymosis, The Makers, Luigi & the Wiseguys, Danny Russo Blues Band, Remod, Jeff Salen, Tiger Beats, Tina Peel, Alan Merrill author of the song "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", Joey Ramone, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. By the end of the punk era, Hall had a reputation for being a session and performance player for many bands.
CBGB is a 2013 American biographical drama film about the former New York music venue CBGB. It follows the story of Hilly Kristal's New York club from its concept as a venue for Country, Bluegrass and Blues (CBGB) to what it ultimately became: the birthplace of underground rock 'n' roll and punk. The film uses devices such as comic book-style panels, as well as onscreen text to identify important figures in the punk movement.
Rosie was an American pop group from New York, United States. The group existed from 1975 to 1978 and consisted of David Lasley, Lana Marrano and Lynn Pitney, all of whom were cast members and met during the touring show of Hair. Lasley wrote all the songs, mostly with Marrano.
Women of Rock Oral History Project is an oral history project based at Smith College focusing on American women and gender non-conforming, LGBT, and feminist rock and roll and punk music musicians from the 1970s to the present.
Ricky Byrd is a rock and roll guitar player, singer, songwriter and producer. He spent over a decade as a member of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, where he contributed music and background vocals to two platinum albums, I Love Rock 'n Roll and Up Your Alley, the gold certified Album, and four others for the band.
"Roll Me Through the Rushes" is a song written by David Lasley and Lana Marrano, originally recorded by Rosie, featuring the vocals of David Lasley and released on their "Better Late Than Never" album by RCA in 1976. American R&B singer and songwriter Chaka Khan covered the song for her debut solo album, Chaka, produced by Arif Mardin and released in 1978 by Warner Bros. Records.
The English rock band the Kinks staged their fourth concert tour of the United Kingdom in April and May 1965. The thirty-three concerts comprised the second stage of a world tour, following shows in Australasia and Asia and before stages held later that year in the United States and continental Europe. After the Kinks had served as a support act during all of their previous tours, including during the first leg of their world tour, the 1965 UK engagements were the band's first as the headline act. Supporting groups included Goldie and the Gingerbreads and the Yardbirds.
Emcee Beth McDonald of KEZ 99.9 FM hosted a Q&A session with Jackson and Reeves, as well as folk-blues singer Maria Muldaur, singer Tracy Nelson and Genya Ravan (aka Goldie of the groundbreaking all-female band Goldie and the Gingerbreads).
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