The
Violent Femmes were an American alternative rock band, formed in Milwaukee
, Wisconsin
, in 1980. They are noted for laying the
groundwork for
folk punk. The band
performed as a trio, including: singer, guitarist and songwriter
Gordon Gano, bassist
Brian Ritchie, and two drummers,
Victor DeLorenzo (1980-1993) and
Guy Hoffman (1993-2009). Gano announced the
group's break-up in 2009.
History
Early years and first album (1981-1983)
The Violent Femmes were founded by bassist
Brian Ritchie and percussionist
Victor DeLorenzo. They became a
full-fledged band upon the arrival of
Gordon
Gano, lead vocalist and guitarist. In its early days, the band
frequently played coffee houses and street corners.
They were discovered
by James Honeyman-Scott (of
The Pretenders) on August 23, 1981,
when the band was busking on a street corner
in front of the Oriental Theatre
, the Milwaukee venue that The Pretenders would be
playing later that night. Chrissie
Hynde invited them to play a brief acoustic set after the
opening act. The band signed to
Slash
Records and released a
self-titled album that they had
recorded in July 1982. The music was an innovative combination of
American
folk music and
Punk rock, and commonly referred to as "
folk-punk". The lyrics were the common themes of
yearning for love, sex and affection. The group quickly gained
following that never veered into mainstream commercialism. A few
songs that gained recognition include "
Add It
Up", "
Blister in the Sun",
"
Gone Daddy Gone", "
Kiss Off", and "
Please
Do Not Go". The debut album went platinum 10 years after its
release.
Later years (1984-1992)
After their debut album
Violent Femmes, they released
Hallowed
Ground, which moved the group towards a
country music sound and introduced spiritual
themes. Their third album,
The Blind Leading the
Naked, produced by fellow Milwaukee native
Jerry Harrison of the
Talking Heads, was more mainstream and
pop-oriented, resulting in a minor hit with "
Children of the
Revolution," originally by
T.Rex.
The group briefly disbanded, with Gano releasing an album in 1987,
the result of a
gospel side project
Mercy Seat. Ritchie also released several solo LPs. The group came
back together in late 1988, releasing
3, a return to the band's
earlier, stripped-down sound
[22109].
Why
Do Birds Sing? was released in 1991 after the band signed
to
Reprise and featured another
minor hit, "American Music," which became a concert staple.
Post-DeLorenzo years (1993-1998)
In 1993, DeLorenzo departed the group to act and make solo records.
Guy Hoffman, formerly of the
Oil Tasters and
BoDeans,
was brought in to tour what was to become one of their
biggest-selling records, the
Add It Up collection. Over the
next nine years, the Femmes, with Hoffman, recorded five
full-length CDs and a handful of one-offs for motion picture
soundtracks, such as "I Swear It (I Can Change)" from the
South
Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut soundtrack, and other
compilation projects. The first full studio album with Hoffman on
drums,
New Times (
Elektra Records), was released in 1994, and
the band scored another minor hit with the song "Breaking Up."
Rock!!!!! (
Mushroom Records) was released in 1995 in
Australia only, though it has since become
available in the United States.
Recent history and break-up (1999-2009)
Viva
Wisconsin, a live album, was released in the United States
in 1999 on the independent label Beyond, and was followed by
Freak Magnet in 2000.
Something's Wrong (2001),
an album of unreleased studio tracks, covers, demos, and acoustic
live performances was released as an
MP3-only
album through
eMusic. In 2002, Rhino Records
repackaged the Femmes' debut 1983 album along with
demos and live tracks to coincide with a 20th
anniversary reissue. DeLorenzo asked to rejoin for what was to be a
farewell tour, thus reinstating the original lineup.
2005 saw the release of two collections of past work – a CD called
Permanent
Record: The Very Best of Violent Femmes on
Slash/
Rhino
and a DVD,
Permanent Record - Live
& Otherwise from
Rhino, which showcases a concert
performance from 1991, along with many of the group's
videos. The CD is the first record that
recognizes all four musicians and their contributions on the same
disc.
After touring in promotion of
Freak
Magnet, primary songwriter Gano decided that they would no
longer make new music, but the band would continue to play shows
when booked. On New Year's Eve of 2005, and for one show in January
2006, all four Violent Femmes members played together.
In 2007, Gano angered Ritchie by selling advertising rights for the
classic "
Blister in the Sun" to
Wendy's Hamburgers.
Although nearly all of the band's songs, including "Blister in the
Sun", credit Gano as the sole songwriter, Ritchie responded to the
use of the song in the commercial by saying:
"For the fans who rightfully are complaining about the
Wendy's burger advertisement featuring Blister in the Sun, Gordon
Gano is the publisher of the song and Warners is the record
company. When they agree to use it there's nothing the rest of the
band can do about it, because we don't own the song or the
recording. That's showbiz. Therefore when you see dubious or in
this case disgusting uses of our music you can thank the greed,
insensitivity and poor taste of Gordon Gano, it is his karma that
he lost his songwriting ability many years ago, probably due to his
own lack of self-respect as his willingness to prostitute our songs
demonstrates. Neither Gordon (vegetarian) nor me (gourmet) eat
garbage like Wendy's burgers. I can't endorse them because I
disagree with corporate food on culinary, political, health,
economic and environmental grounds. However, I see my life's work
trivialized at the hands of my business partner over and over
again, although I have raised my objections numerous times. As
disgusted as you are I am more so."
Ritchie filed a lawsuit against Gano in August 2007, seeking half
ownership of the Femmes' music and access to royalty accounting.
Many speculated this would lead to the band's breakup. However, on
June 17,
2008 the band
released a cover of "
Crazy" by
Gnarls Barkley who had previously covered
"
Gone Daddy Gone".
In 2009, Gano proclaimed that "Violent Femmes are over", while
announcing a new partnership with former
Bogmen members Bill and Brendan Ryan.
Horns of Dilemma
In their shows, the Femmes employed a
horn
section called the Horns of Dilemma. For many years, it
consisted of Peter Balestrieri and Steve MacKay, from
The Stooges, on saxophones, with
Sigmund Snopek III on keyboards and
various instruments. It was augmented by whatever musicians the
band invited to play with them on a particular night. The band also
employed local acquaintances, famous or otherwise, friends,
relatives, or associates of the band. Instrumentation varied widely
and included saxophones, trumpets, trombones, sousaphone, flute,
clarinet, antique hunting horn, kazoo, and percussion. When the
band played "
Black Girls" or
"Confessions", the only instructions given to the players were to
play as freely and wildly as possible. The group did not back up
the band in the way that a traditional horn section would; rather,
they provided a free-form noise jam. Famous members included
John Zorn,
Dick
Parry,
Blaise Garza and
The Dresden Dolls. Longtime band
associates and employees who played with the Horns included
soundman and Oil Tasters' saxophonist Caleb Alexander and manager
Darren Brown of Boy Dirt Car and Texar. Additional Horns of Dilemma
included John Sparrow, who played
cajón
box, multi-instrumentalist Jeff Hamilton on guitar, bass, mandolin,
bass trumpet and harmonica, and saxophonist/biologist Robb
Brumfield. Various bassists stood in for Ritchie during "Gone Daddy
Gone", when he played xylophone.
Discography
See main article Violent
Femmes discography
Studio albums
Singles (Charting)
| Year |
Title |
Chart positions |
Album |
| U.S. Modern Rock |
| 1983 |
"Gimme the Car" |
- |
(Unknown) released by Rough
Trade Records |
| "Blister in the Sun" |
26 [Mainstream Rock] |
Violent Femmes |
| 1989 |
"Nightmares" |
4 |
3 |
| 1991 |
"American Music" |
2 |
Why Do Birds Sing? |
| 1994 |
"Breakin' Up" |
12 |
New Times |
Compilations
DVDs
Notable Cover Versions
References
- Milwaukee Journal August 24, 1981
- onmilwaukee.com March 6, 2007
- http://www.yeproc.com/artist_info.php?artistId=13332
- "The Billboard Book of Gold & Platinum Records," 1989
Interviews
Radio
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