Screamin' Sirens
Screamin' Sirens | |
---|---|
Origin | Los Angeles |
Genres | Alternative country, cowpunk, post-punk, new wave |
Years active | 1983–1987 |
Past members | First stable line-up: Pleasant Gehman Boom Boom (Diane Laffoon) Shayn Taylor-Shubert Rosie Flores Laura Bandit |
Screamin' Sirens was an American
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,"
Sporting
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
- Diane ("Boom-Boom") Dixon: drums and vocals
- Pleasant Gehman: vocals
- Annette Zilinskas: bass and vocals
- Genny Schorr: guitar & vocals
- Fur Dixon: bass & vocals
- Shayn Taylor-Shubert: bass and vocals; switched to lead guitar before quitting
- Marsky Reins: fiddle, rhythm guitar, vocals
- Rosie Flores: lead guitar, vocals (replaced Shayn Taylor-Shubert)
- Miiko Watanabe: bass
- Laura Bandit: bass; later switched to rhythm guitar
- Casey Gomez: drums
- Kathryn Grimm: guitar
- Brie Howard: played live with the band after shooting the film "The Running Kind"
Discography
- Albums
- Fiesta! 1984, Enigma Records produced by Michael Reid, Greg Humphrey & Brian Ahern
- Voodoo 1987, Restless Records produced by Ethan James
- Singles
- UK Import 45 "You're Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad" b/w "Runnin' Kind" 1984 Beach Culture Records
- Fiesta! 1984, Enigma Records produced by Michael Reid, Greg Humphrey & Brian Ahern
- Compilations
- "Sound of Hollywood Women" 1983 Mystic Records track: "Ugly & Slouchy" (compilation)
- "Rodney on the ROQ" 1983 compilation track "Black And White Thunderbird", original song by the Delicates1959.
- "Hell Comes To Your House" 1983 Enigma Records compilation tracks: "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad", "Runnin' Kind"
- Enigma Variations - 1985 Enigma Records compilation, track: "Maniac"
- "Radio Tokyo Tapes" 1985 Compilation, Chameleon Records track "Little White Lies"
- "Skaterock" 1986 Thrasher records track: "Heartbreak Train
- "Reform School Girls (soundtrack) 1987 track: "Love Slave"
See also
References
- ^ the punk rock name of drummer Diane Laffoon was
- ^ a b c d Gary Indiana (Summer 1986). "Screamin' Sirens". Flipside. No. 49. pp. 18–19.
- ^ Harper McKay (October 2018). "Screamin' Sirens". Harpering. No. 4. pp. 1–2.
- ^ 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."
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Pleasant Gehman - official site". Pleasantgehman.com.
External links
- The Screaming Sirens at IMDb