Screamin' Sirens

Last updated
Screamin' Sirens
OriginLos Angeles
Genres Alternative country, cowpunk, post-punk, new wave
Years active1983–1987
Past membersFirst stable line-up:
Pleasant Gehman
Boom Boom (Diane Laffoon)
Shayn Taylor-Shubert
Rosie Flores
Laura Bandit

Screamin' Sirens was an American all-female band from Hollywood, California that recorded from 1983 to 1987. The band combined country music, punk rock, rockabilly and a dash of funk to create an eclectic wild party music. Screamin' Sirens predated what is usually referred to as alternative country, but influenced that subgenre's development.

Contents

History

Formation

Screamin' Sirens were formed in Hollywood, California in around 1983. The band was formed by drummer/vocalist Boom Boom Laffoon and vocalist Pleasant Gehman, who recalled in a 1986 Flipside interview:

I just wanted to have a really wild all-girl band that was like a gang or something. And Boom Boom [1] was the only drummer I could think of so even though we hated each other I wound up calling her anyway. We had all the same ideas about bands and life and drinking and everything. [2]

Laffoon brought in, "the best girl guitarist and vocalist I ever met," Rosie Flores. Boom Boom and Rosie previously played together in Keith Joe Dick and the Goners (with cowboy punk legend Gary Dixon as lead guitarist/songwriter. [3] After going through two bassists who quickly left, Rosie answered the band's ad in the Hollywood Times and tried out for the band in October 1980.XX .[ citation needed ]. Then the band added guitarist Rosie Flores, namesake of the band Rosie and the Screamers, with whom Laffoon was acquainted from her time with Keith Joe Dick and the Goners. [2] The trio added bassist Laura Bandit, a veteran of the minor punk bands One Doesn't Swallow and Hard as Nails, Cheap as Dirt. [2] A fifth member of the group, Marsky Reins, played fiddle in addition to guitar, helping the band to achieve a signature punked up country and western sound.[ citation needed ]

Sporting cowboy boots and western skirts, the band delivered a high energy live show. "A lot of people tell us we've got more balls than any girl band they've seen because we get real wild onstage," Pleasant Gehman noted. "We're not into wimpiness at all." [2]

The band portrayed The She-Devils in Max Tash's film The Runnin' Kind , [4] which took its name from a song written by sister and brother Diane Boom Boom Dixon and Gary Dixon (Fur Dixon's husband). [5]

Lineup changes

The band had several lineup changes over the course of their existence, adding Miiko Watanabe on bass as well as former Pandoras drummer Casey Gomez.[ citation needed ]

Later bands

Original drummer and songwriter Diane 'Boom Boom' Dixon went on to play with the Baloney Heads and the Real Dixons in Austin, Texas. Pleasant Gehman became a writer and editor, professional dancer [6] and a member of the Ringling Sisters. Rosie Flores went on to have a successful solo career in the alternative country and rockabilly scene. Genny Schorr, the original guitar player, was also in the original line-up of all girl band Backstage Pass and was involved in The Masque. She later owned Rock clothing store Strait Jacket with Elvis Costello's manager Jake Riviera. She was associated with bands such as The Bangles as Stylist. Miiko Watanabe went on to play with American Girls. Fur Dixon went on to play in The Cramps, The Dixons, Fur Dixon and Blow Up, Fur Dixon and Steve Werner, and a new band she formed in 2015, WTFUKUSHIMA![ citation needed ]

Personnel

Discography

Albums
Singles
Compilations

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Cramps</span> American rock band

The Cramps were an American rock band formed in 1976 and active until 2009. Their lineup rotated frequently during their existence, with the husband-and-wife duo of singer Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy the only ever-present members. The band are credited as progenitors of the psychobilly subgenre, uniting elements of punk rock with rockabilly.

American Girls were an American all-female band based in California, United States.

<i>Prison Bound</i> 1988 studio album by Social Distortion

Prison Bound is the second studio album by Social Distortion, released in 1988. It was the first album with bass guitarist John Maurer and drummer Christopher Reece. It expands the punk rock sound of the band's first album, Mommy's Little Monster (1983), by adding influences from country music and blues rock.

Bush Tetras are an American post-punk No Wave band from New York City, formed in 1979. They are best known for the 1980 song "Too Many Creeps", which exemplified the band's sound of "jagged rhythms, slicing guitars, and sniping vocals". Although they did not achieve mainstream success, the Bush Tetras were influential and popular in the Manhattan club scene and college radio in the early 1980s. New York's post-punk revival of the 2000s was accompanied by a resurgence of interest in the genre, with the Tetras' influence heard in many of that scene's bands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T.S.O.L.</span> American punk rock band

T.S.O.L. is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California. Although most commonly associated with hardcore punk, T.S.O.L.'s music has varied on each release, including such styles as deathrock, art punk, horror punk, other varieties of punk music, and hard rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Viletones</span>

The Viletones are a Canadian punk band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, led by Steven Leckie on vocals. Other members from the original line-up were Freddie Pompeii, on guitar/vocals; Chris Hate, on bass guitar/vocals and Mike Anderson, (1955–2012) on the drums/vocals. The original line-up was active in 1976 and 1977, and thereafter featured Steven Leckie as the only original member, with various backing musicians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.K. Subs</span> English punk rock band

U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's R&B scene. They were also one of the first hardcore punk bands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosie Flores</span> American singer-songwriter

Rosie Flores is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She currently resides in Austin, Texas, where August 31 was declared Rosie Flores Day by the Austin City Council in 2006.

A Thorn for Every Heart is a post-hardcore band from Chino Hills, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pleasant Gehman</span> American actress

Pleasant Gehman is an American author, writer, poet, actress, dancer and musician from Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agent 51</span> American punk rock band

Agent 51 was an American punk rock band from Poway, California, formed in 1995. They released three albums on various record labels before going on indefinite hiatus in 2005. Over the course of their career their music evolved from straightforward punk rock to incorporate aspects of classic rock and Heavy Metal. At various times during their career the band has maintained a mythology about their origins which purports them to be rogue secret agents, on the run from a clandestine government organization with ties to extraterrestrials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kylesa</span> American heavy metal band

Kylesa is an American heavy metal band that was formed in Savannah, Georgia. Their music incorporates experimentalism with heavy riffs, drop-tuned guitars and elements of psychedelic rock. The group was established in 2001 by the former members of Damad, with the addition of guitar player Laura Pleasants who is from North Carolina. The band has since undergone line up changes; the remaining original members are Phillip Cope and Laura Pleasants. In 2006, the band added two drummers. Eric Hernandez joined in 2008 to replace Porter. The dual drum tracks are often panned strongly to the right and left.

<i>Rosie</i> (album) 1973 studio album by Fairport Convention

Rosie is a 1973 album by British folk rock band Fairport Convention, their eighth album since their debut in 1968.

Tex & the Horseheads is an American punk rock band, which emerged in the Los Angeles punk subculture of the early-1980. Their original run was from 1980 to 1986 and during this time they enjoyed a sizeable cult following. As of 2007, the band has reunited and tours the Los Angeles area sporadically.

<i>A Date with Elvis</i> (The Cramps album) 1986 studio album by the Cramps

A Date with Elvis is the third full-length studio album by the American rock band the Cramps, released in the UK on Big Beat Records in 1986. The title was appropriated from A Date with Elvis (1959), the eighth album by Elvis Presley. The album was recorded in fall 1985 and engineered by Steve McMillan and Mark Ettel at Ocean Way Studios in Hollywood, California. The album was first released in the US in 1990 by Enigma Records, with the bonus tracks "Blue Moon Baby," "Georgia Lee Brown," "Give Me a Woman," and "Get Off the Road." The Cramps reissued the album on their own Vengeance Records in 2001. The original album was reissued in the UK by Big Beat in 2013 on orange vinyl, and subsequently reissued again by Vengeance Records in the US, UK and Canada in 2014. It was The Cramps’ most commercially successful album release, reaching the US Billboard Top 100 and UK Top 40.

The Pin-Ups were an incarnation of the independent band The Pin-Up Girls formed in 1995 by Mondo C. Castro along with Keltscross members Pamela Aquino and Jennifer Tan.

Blood on the Saddle are an American country-punk band, though often referred to as a cowpunk band, from Los Angeles, California, United States. Greg Davis formed the band in early 1983 with the original line-up of Ron Botelho and Hermann Senac. Annette Zilinskas joined in the summer of 1983. They released three albums, one EP and songs on one compilation before that line-up broke up in 1987. Band leader Greg Davis has continued the band to present day, with one break to work with The Vandals and Candye Kane. Eventually the band recorded two more EPs and six more albums, getting three of them out officially, which were released in 1993, 1995, and 2001, respectively. A fourth album, The Mud, the Blood & the Beer, was recorded in 2008 and released to all digital platforms in 2020. A fifth album, True Blood, was recorded in 2013, and has since been put out in 2019 on all digital platforms.

<i>The Runnin Kind</i> 1989 American film

The Runnin' Kind is a 1989 American comedy film directed by Max Tash and written by Max Tash and Pleasant Gehman. The film stars David Packer, Steven Eckholdt, Larry Cox, Tom Shell, Brie Howard and Richard Manheim. The film was released on September 8, 1989, by United Artists.

Rosie Flores is an American singer, songwriter and musician. Her discography consists of 13 studio albums, 2 compilations, and 9 singles. In addition, she has been featured as a performer and composer on numerous albums by other artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Backstage Pass (band)</span> Los Angeles pop-punk band

Backstage Pass was a pop-punk band from Los Angeles. The group was one of the earliest punk bands from Los Angeles and helped to launch The Masque, an iconic punk rock club in Hollywood.

References

  1. the punk rock name of drummer Diane Laffoon was
  2. 1 2 3 4 Gary Indiana (Summer 1986). "Screamin' Sirens". Flipside . No. 49. pp. 18–19.
  3. Harper McKay (October 2018). "Screamin' Sirens". Harpering . No. 4. pp. 1–2.
  4. Gehman, Pleasant (2019). "Princess of Hollywood". In Doe, John; DeSavia, Tom (eds.). More Fun in the New World: The Unmaking and Legacy of L.A. Punk. Hachette Books. Suddenly we were cowriting the screenplay, The Runnin' Kind, named after one of our songs ... The Sirens played The She-Devils, and all had speaking roles."
  5. Monahan, Casey; MacCambridge, Michael; Blackstock, Peter (September 16, 1989). "Hollywood Hits". Austin American-Statesman. p. D9. Gary Dixon, guitarist of the just-disbanded Dixons ... and his sister Boom Boom wrote a song called The Runnin' Kind that inspired a United Artists movie of the same name ... 'I am in the movie for an instant, as an extra in a club,' Dixon said ... Fur (Dixon, singer for the Dixons) is in it, too ... The biggest part had by a local is Rosie Flores' ... 'She is a guitar player in a band that is seen throughout the movie,' Dixon said.
  6. "Pleasant Gehman - official site". Pleasantgehman.com.