Typical Girls: Women in Punk/Post-Punk/Underground Music (Circa 1975-1980s)

[HunnyPi007 AT aol.com]

thanks for posting that, oliver, as i've never seen a photo of the mytsterious noh mercy before.

decided to google them to see what would come up and found these tid-bits:

two more cool photos at 
http://www.p0ps.com/PunkRockPictures/ClubShows/img_NohMercy.html
and    
http://p0ps.com/PunkRockPictures/ClubShows/img_NohMercy_2.html

jim jocoy at his spring 2005 show in baltimore's g-spot featuring his photos from 1978-1980 that appear in his book "We're Desperate":   "'That girl on the left is now a henna artist. She was in the band, Noh Mercy.' He shakes his head. 'They were brilliant, really brilliant.'"

this one from the san franciso chronicle, august 2005: After mentioning the New Yorker's story about Tyler Cassity and green burials, I heard from Esmerelda Kent, designer and manufacturer of green (not necessarily the color of shamrocks, but environmentally correct) burial shrouds. It was a shroud made by her company, Kinkaraco, that was used for Nate on "Six Feet Under.''
Kent describes herself as a former diva in the Angels of Light and the punk rock band Noh Mercy, and costume designer "for the likes of Busta Rhymes and Industrial Light and Magic.''
Shrouds are "reinforced for stability,'' says her Web site, www.kinkaraco.com, and come with permanently attached devices for lowering the body into the grave. The top-of-the-line Royal Deity shroud, possibly made of antique textiles, can cost as much as $5,000, but the price range starts at $199 wholesale, and Kent describes her Purelight plain linen shrouds as "very reasonable, especially ordered in quantity.''   (her company's motto:  “Look beautiful—in the last thing you’ll ever wear.")

someone posted on an online forum (at planbmag.com):   "It's about time someone did an article on the whole Bob last/fast product/pop aural thing. there i so little infomation on the web. like who were Noh Mercy? that caucasion guilt track is one of if not the the most powerfull musical statements i've ever heard"

and just found this great piece at   http://www.rockbottomvm.com/rb_music/pages/features/spasticbeat/spasticbeat.html:

"NOH MERCY: ‘Caucasian Guilt’ (‘Earcom 3’ comp. e.p. / Fast Product 1979)
Bob Last sure was an envelope pusher when it came to releasing records. Thank Christ. The same firebrand who gave Britain its first taste of the Dead Kennedys as well as an eclectic and unpredictable collection of releases such as the Melon's ‘Where Were You’, Gang Of Four’s ‘Damaged Goods’ and the lesser known but absolutely superb ‘Horrorshow’ by Scottish hopefuls, the Scars. Towards the end of the 70’s, Last put out a trio of compilations called ‘Earcom’ showcasing the talents of some more DIY-orientated acts, which is where San Francisco’s Noh Mercy came to light. To my limited knowledge, these were two teenage girls – one pounding out a primal rhythm on a battered sounding drumkit while the other screeches incandescently over the top. And that’s it. And it’s incredible. A vicious diatribe against political correctness, ‘Caucasian Guilt’ spits venom so caustic it’s utterly terrifying.
On first hearing it at the tender age of 12, even my shaky moral fibre called into question such near-the-knuckle lines as ‘I don’t care if faggots call me a cunt / I don’t care if they take me out to lunch / I don’t mind high heels on a dyke / just don’t knock me off of my bike’, but this is a song of protest, not of predjudice. In a PC age gone wild, ‘Caucasian Guilt’ is a call for the elimination of barriers created by those who sought to break them down in the first place. They conclude: ‘need no Caucasian guilt / I’m ready for a brand new race / one concerned with the way you evolve / not the arrangement of your face.’ This and its accompanying track ‘Revolutionary Spy’ on the ‘Earcom 3’ e.p. are their only available recordings as far as I can tell. There’s a couple of pictures and various brief mentions if you scour the web, but aside from that, Noh Mercy remain an angry enigma. I kinda like it that way."

me too! (but i can't resist a little googling...)

and here's where someone posted "caucasian guilt":

http://www.post-literate.com/gerpunx/archives/noh%20mercy%20-%20caucasian%20guilt.mp3

the file plays really badly (weird glitchy-sounds that aren't on the original recording) but it'll give you an idea of what all this raving is about.   the same person also posted "revolutionary spy" but it appears to be gone so no point in listing the url here.   guess i'll still have to rip these tracks from my vinyl.   ; )

lydia