28. mei, 2015

Introducing The All-Girl Topless Band The Ladybirds

Before ''Amanda'' fused porn and metal in Rockbitch, catching Europe with their pants down - there were The Ladybirds.

The origins of The Ladybirds is vague at best. Although most sources claim they were from New Jersey there isn't any verification. Other unverified sources claim they were from the UK or Sweden. According to an interview with Burlesque Queen ''Satan's Angel''' by Martin Hoyem in American Ethnography the band was started by San Francisco promotor Davey Rosenberg, who later started a second topless band The Hummingbirds. In March 1973 a topless all-girl band known as The Ladybirds appeared at The Granary in Bristol, UK - although the article claims the band was Swedish, it's possible that it was the same American band during a European tour. During the show one of The Ladybirds rewarded one of the men in the front row with a brief full frontal as she whipped off her briefs. She however was not so happy about the fact he made off with her white leather bikini bottom as a trophy!

So, alternatively we're looking at two or more topless all-girl bands with the same name and playing at the same time. Confusion! To confuse things further, a fully dressed group called The Ladybirds opened up for The Stones in 1965. With all the acid floating around, one would think they could come up with an original band name?

Apparently some of their shows got them into trouble in New Jersey, so they moved west and started gigging in Las Vegas and Hollywood's infamous Blue Bunny Club in the mid to late 1960s. They got more exposure when they appeared in the movie ''The Wild Wild World of Jayne Mansfield'', released in 1968, where we see the band playing at The Blue Bunny Club in Hollywood. That same year there's a reference to them opening for The Yardbirds in Fjordvilla Club Paramount in Roskilde, Denmark. 

Were they good musicians? According to some, musically they weren't up to much, but they were always well received..

Sources: 

www.thegranaryclub.co.uk

transversealchemy.com