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typicalgirls - Re: [TypicalGirls] Someone you leave out?

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

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  • From: Chuck Warner <chuck AT hyped2death.com>
  • To: "Typical Girls: Women in Punk/Post-Punk/Underground Music (Circa 1975-1980s)" <typicalgirls AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [TypicalGirls] Someone you leave out?
  • Date: Sun, 14 May 2006 17:39:41 -0400

Title: Re: [TypicalGirls] Someone you leave out?
No one seems to be responding to Annette's query, so I thought I'd contribute a couple thoughts about Vermillion.

My sense was always that more people had opinions (negative) about Vermillion than had actually listened to her two 45s: Wild Boys Ride Their Bikes / Angry Young Women / Nympho-mania -Illegal 010 and The Letter / I Like Motorcycles-Illegal 015 (the latter backed by Menace as Vermillion and the Aces, while the drummer of her first band went on to the  amazing Straps), although I can't really fault the [typicalgirls] crowd for ignoring her since it's all straight-ahead rock-punk and despite the group title, punk has never been this group's primary area of interest.

But that doesn't explain 29 years of shunning by the punk lot. I never saw her but I have some theories:

(1) She was American, and
(2) unlike Chrissie who was always emphatically one of the boys, V. was all estrogen --abrasively, and full-on. Nowhere near politically correct, but it was no marketing ploy, either.  So, basically,
(3) she scared people.
(4) and the records were ugly, or at least unhelpfully-packaged.

I can't imagine her having had any more success had she stayed in the States, however, or had she been on any other label in the U.K.  For that matter I can't think of another woman straight or gay who made it in the 70s or 80s (or 90s?) with the same attitude (no tease, just lust without apology ...for boys, motorcycles, guitars, whatever).  She wasn't enormously talented, but her chops were certainly the equal of many another chart act fo the day.  We're still talking about the last taboo, no?

There were a lot of stories that circulated about Vermillion --I can't remember any of them closely enough to repeat them, but it was all plenty entertaining.  (Helen did you ever track her down for your studies?)

peace,

C.
 
Chuck Warner
Hyped to Death CDs
http://hyped2death.com



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