Grupa Plasmatics jest jedną z głośniejszych grup w historii amerykańskiego punk rocka. Głośną nie tylko pod względem muzycznym, ale przede wszystkim obyczajowym. Frontmenką tej grupy była perwersyjna Wendy O. Williams - kobieta, która delikatnie mówiąc nie ciesząca się wcześniej dobrą reputacją. Postanowiła spełnić się jako wokalistka i znakomicie się jej to udało. Muzyka i teksty Plasmatics nawiązują do psychoneurotycznych przeżyć, a Wendy była często zapraszana na rozmaite talk-shows. Reporterowi "U.S. Magazine" powiedziała na przykład: "Dajemy wspaniały show! Lubimy też robić dużo hałasu. Za każdym razem, gdy gramy, przeżywam wiele orgazmów, szczególnie przy Butcher Baby (Rzeźnik niemowląt). Sądzę, że dostarczamy Amerykanom wspaniałych przeżyć. Normalny stosunek płciowy trwa około pół godziny. W ciągu pół godziny my śpiewamy dziesięć piosenek".
Sex Junkie
Na scenie rozbierałą się do rosołu i wkładała mikrofon miedzy nogi, a na okładce jednej z płyt wystąpiła z gołym biustem za to z plastrami na sutkachŻarty jednak na bok bowiem debiutancki album grupy był sporym wydarzeniem i mocno namieszał w muzycznym światku. Z perspektywy czasu trzeba przyznać, że jest to znakomita płyta. Nie mniej ciekawą pozycją jest drugi album (prezentowany). Późniejsze propozycje oscylowały już w kierunku metalowym. Wendy prowadziła niezbyt "higieniczny" tryb życia - i była po prostu rock'n'roll lady - co w konsekwencji doprowadziło do jej tragicznej samobójczej śmierci.
Wendy o. Williams - voclas, chainsaw, saxophone
Richie Stotts - lead guitar
Wes Beech - rythm guitar
Jean Beauvoir - bass
Stu Deutch - drums
Richie Stotts - lead guitar
Wes Beech - rythm guitar
Jean Beauvoir - bass
Stu Deutch - drums
Although their "fame" lasted for a full 15 minutes, few bands entered rock roll with such a controversial reputation as did the Plasmatics. Founded by Rod Swenson, a porn film producer who fancied himself the next Malcolm McLaren, the Plasmatics were fronted by sex film "star" Wendy O. Williams, a muscular, raspy-voiced "singer" who generally wore next to nothing onstage. (Her most radical bit of fashion accessorizing consisted of covering her nipples with black electrical tape.) Almost as captivating was guitarist Richie Stotts, a tall, gangly geek who fancied garters and stockings and a blue mohawk; he also liked to smash his guitar against his head until he drew blood.
Playing the New York punk circuit (i.e., CBGBs), the Plasmatics became notorious for their extreme stage shows, which, early on, culminated in Williams firing blanks from a sawed-off shotgun and taking a chainsaw to a human dummy filled with stage blood, sending a spray of fake gore throughout the club and anticipating the fake carnage of Gwar by nearly a decade. The music, however, was another story: mostly sub-literate punk rock loaded with lots of quasi - sci-fi totalitarianism and consumer nightmares of Orwellian proportions that on record didn't work without the stage pyrotechnics, something Swenson and the 'Matics understood completely as the stage shows quickly became more elaborate: cars were blown up, guitars were sawed in half (oddly, the dummy disappeared), equipment was set on fire -- it was a Beavis and Butt-Head wet dream come to life, although none of this translated into significant record sales.
Playing the New York punk circuit (i.e., CBGBs), the Plasmatics became notorious for their extreme stage shows, which, early on, culminated in Williams firing blanks from a sawed-off shotgun and taking a chainsaw to a human dummy filled with stage blood, sending a spray of fake gore throughout the club and anticipating the fake carnage of Gwar by nearly a decade. The music, however, was another story: mostly sub-literate punk rock loaded with lots of quasi - sci-fi totalitarianism and consumer nightmares of Orwellian proportions that on record didn't work without the stage pyrotechnics, something Swenson and the 'Matics understood completely as the stage shows quickly became more elaborate: cars were blown up, guitars were sawed in half (oddly, the dummy disappeared), equipment was set on fire -- it was a Beavis and Butt-Head wet dream come to life, although none of this translated into significant record sales.
Butcher Baby
While Williams became something of a demi-celebrity in punk circles, especially after she was busted (and brutalized by police) in Milwaukee for "public indecency," the Plasmatics were all show and no substance. Jean Beauvoir, apparently on a quest for legitimacy, quit the band, and the focus became Wendy O. rather than the bunch of unknowns backing her up. After 1982's Coup D'Etat, Williams went solo, worked with Lemmy from Motorhead, and roped in Kiss's Gene Simmons to produce her album W.O.W.
Lemmy & Wendy
She made another solo LP, 1986's Kommander of Kaos, and that same year appeared in the movie Reform School Girls; after a 1989 Plasmatics reunion outing, Maggots: The Record, she made a few more acting appearances before essentially dropping from sight altogether during the early 1990s. On April 8, 1998, it was announced that Williams had committed suicide; she was 48. - John Dougan, All Music Guide
link in comments
link
OdpowiedzUsuń