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BONUS GOF
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Girls On Fire had two tracks on a 1984 compilation titled Winnie's Secret, produced by Ken Clinger, on his Bovine Productions label. Other artists on the compilation included Psychodrama, Charity Cases (a Walls Of Genius incarnation), Viscera, Aaron Windor, Al Perry, Beeg Srahka, Glenn Frantz, more.
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The track "Florida" is identical to the version on Life is Too Funny-- I Think I'll $hoot Myself. Regarding "Oh God", I wish I could remember how I came up with it but I bet it came out of a conversation with Mary Davis Kills Mary Davis Kills band co-member, Clara Lusardi. "Oh God" is one and half minutes of a 10 second loop of me saying "Oh god" in a mildly bored and aggravated tone with The Fixx's "One Thing Leads to Another" playing on the radio in the background-- for one and half minutes. And this is just an excerpt. I really have to wonder how long the original piece was. Oh, well, just another one of unsolved mysteries!
Thinking about it now, if I had recorded this track in the 1995, I would've been saying "whatever" with Garbage's "I'm Only Happy When It Rains" or "The World is a Vampire" by the Smashing Pumpkins playing on the radio in the background. In 1995, I had just moved to NYC and at one of my part-time bookkeeping jobs, I sat near the office manager who had the radio on his desk tuned to the alternative rock station. Whenever either one of those songs came on, all work stopped and things got real existential, real fast. Good times!
Thinking about it now, if I had recorded this track in the 1995, I would've been saying "whatever" with Garbage's "I'm Only Happy When It Rains" or "The World is a Vampire" by the Smashing Pumpkins playing on the radio in the background. In 1995, I had just moved to NYC and at one of my part-time bookkeeping jobs, I sat near the office manager who had the radio on his desk tuned to the alternative rock station. Whenever either one of those songs came on, all work stopped and things got real existential, real fast. Good times!
Leslie Singer interview in Glen Thrasher's Lowlife magazine, April 1987
Regarding the letters and interview in Lowlife Magazine Leslie writes:
I have to chuckle now when reading my letter and Brett’s letters to Lowlife Magazine. Simpler, gentler times when former underground band mates could hash out their political opinions and interpersonal dramas for all 10 readers to see. It’s interesting how to how he and I were (unconsciously) anticipating the oncoming Culture Wars of the early 1990’s through today.
As for the Lowlife interview, I pretty much still agree with everything I said in it especially the part where I call Chris Isaak a fool for turning down the starring role in Blue Velvet. However, I doubt that he could’ve done as good of a job in it as Kyle MacLachlan who has such a great range. Who else could portray and bring to life Dale Cooper, Dougie, the bad Cooper as well as the surgeon husband on Sex and the City? Not to mention his portrayal of Ray Manzarek in the Doors movie as well as the character Zack Carey in Showgirls…. And he looks as good in person as on the flat screen. Several months ago, I saw him coming out of the Eighth Avenue Whole Foods here in NYC looking very serious and very fit. Anytime season 4 of Twin Peaks is ready to go, I know he’ll be there.
I have to chuckle now when reading my letter and Brett’s letters to Lowlife Magazine. Simpler, gentler times when former underground band mates could hash out their political opinions and interpersonal dramas for all 10 readers to see. It’s interesting how to how he and I were (unconsciously) anticipating the oncoming Culture Wars of the early 1990’s through today.
As for the Lowlife interview, I pretty much still agree with everything I said in it especially the part where I call Chris Isaak a fool for turning down the starring role in Blue Velvet. However, I doubt that he could’ve done as good of a job in it as Kyle MacLachlan who has such a great range. Who else could portray and bring to life Dale Cooper, Dougie, the bad Cooper as well as the surgeon husband on Sex and the City? Not to mention his portrayal of Ray Manzarek in the Doors movie as well as the character Zack Carey in Showgirls…. And he looks as good in person as on the flat screen. Several months ago, I saw him coming out of the Eighth Avenue Whole Foods here in NYC looking very serious and very fit. Anytime season 4 of Twin Peaks is ready to go, I know he’ll be there.
Christmas Day at the Arnold and Virginia Singer household, Alexandria, VA, 1988. My father and my sister Darcey (“You’re flooding the world with terrible noise”) had gotten matching target pistols as Christmas gifts from my mother. During this period, Darcey and my father were having father/daughter time by doing target practice at a nearby shooting range in Springfield, VA. As I understand it, my father was “clowning” it up in this photo and trying to look like a gun nut. Did I mention that he was a big fan of the film Sid and Nancy? It definitely shows here. It also shows how pervasive gun culture was and is here in the U.S. And that the state motto for the state of Virginia is: Virginia is for Lovers. (of guns)
Girls Who Grew Up To Be Arts Administrators: The GOF Story
5-CDR set
5-CDR set
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Five disc CDR re-issue of the five 1980’s Girls on Fire cassettes. This CDR set was an extremely limited edition release that was two years in the making. In April 2007, I was contacted via email by Hugo Montoya aka Hugh Beyers who I knew from the Truly Needy Magazine/ DC art punk scene/Psychodrama days. Hugh said that he was setting up a label called EEEE EEEE Records to re-issue 1980’s era DIY cassettes onto CDRs. The other groups that he was going to re-issue included Sons of Bitches, Harry Zantey, Exploding Head Trick and Face in the Crowd. Hugh came up with the title “Girls Who Grew Up To Be Arts Administrators” which I thought was perfect and he did all the audio transfer work himself from the GOF cassettes from his collection as well as the rough and ready artwork for the set. I’m not sure how many copies he made or sold. By 2011, I had lost touch with Hugh and haven’t heard from him since.
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However before that, thanks to him sending a copy to the hip Jersey City radio station, WFMU, Girls on Fire was on the top of noise pops there for about one week in early February 2010. Around this time, I thought that I would revive the all guitar band concept and remembering attending one of the last No Fun Festival shows in June 2010 and speaking with Sarah Lipstate who had played guitar in one of the more recent incarnations of Rhys Chatham’s Guitar Trios. She also did/does her own trippy, loopy guitar based noise LP’s under the moniker of Noveller but nothing came of that interaction. The world wasn’t ready yet for the return of Girls on Fire. But that all changed in May 2018, when Hal McGee sent me an email….
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B-52's Fan Club postcard, 1981
Leslie comments on the Washington, D.C. scene and bands that she saw perform
I saw the Urban Verbs once back in 1978. The Washington Project for the Arts was doing a punk art show and the Urban Verbs performed along with the Slickee Boys (when Martha Hull was still in the band, before she formed DCEats) and another group who's name I have forgotten but one of them was the brother of Kim Kane of the Slickee Boys and they did a great cover version of "Ca Plane Pour Moi/Jet Boy Jet Girl." Anyway, the Urban Verbs were a big deal on the DC punk/new wave scene. Roddy Frantz the lead singer looked like a preppy blonde version of Jim Morrison (Roddy wore leather pants and pressed button up shirts). Roddy's brother is Chris Frantz, the drummer of the Talking Heads. Robin Rose the synth player was/is a painter. Linda the bass player did a good job anchoring the music while the guitar player, Robert Goldstein would pace the stage, blinking. He looked like cross between Jonathan Richmond and Paul Simon. The drummer, Danny Fraenkel, was quite a good musician and went on to be a session drummer in LA. In the early 00's I noticed that he was working with KD Lang. The two major label albums that they put out really don't do them justice. There are rumors that the demos that they did with Brian Eno still exist and if they ever see the light of day, I look forward to hearing them. I think that they did some reunion shows back in 2004 or 2005 along with another DC favorite, the Razz.
Roddy really rocked his celebrity status in DC. I remember one time Barbara Rice telling me how she heard Roddy walked into DC Space at 12 noon and order a slice cherry pie for breakfast even though he was diabetic. That was the height of decadence and devil may care to us.
Roddy really rocked his celebrity status in DC. I remember one time Barbara Rice telling me how she heard Roddy walked into DC Space at 12 noon and order a slice cherry pie for breakfast even though he was diabetic. That was the height of decadence and devil may care to us.
That is an interesting question about what created such a scene in DC during the late '70's and early '80's. Other people have asked that question as well. I think that it is a combination of factors. DC is close enough to NYC so that all the really great NYC, British and Euro bands who came to the US and played in NYC, could easily enough drive down and play the 9:30 Club, DC Space, Warner Theater, etc. Also the universities in the area that had active radio stations and auditoriums that played and booked bands had a very active role in bringing in and supporting the music. I guess that there was enough of a critical mass, interest and audience to put DC on the map at the time. Being the nation's capital, by the late '70's, people in and around DC started to have some pretensions about cosmopolitan. But I think that the main thing was the proximity to NYC.
I remember DNA playing several sets at the 9:30 Club. This was the post-Robin Crutchfield era with Tim from Pere Ubu on bass. Is that the version you saw? They were great. By the end of the second set, the only people left in front of the stage were Brett, Rob, a couple other people and me. Good times!
I remember DNA playing several sets at the 9:30 Club. This was the post-Robin Crutchfield era with Tim from Pere Ubu on bass. Is that the version you saw? They were great. By the end of the second set, the only people left in front of the stage were Brett, Rob, a couple other people and me. Good times!
Little Fyodor recalls meeting Leslie Singer in 1985
During a casual personal messaging chat on Facebook in January 2016 I asked Little Fyodor about meeting Leslie Singer in 1985, and this is what he recalled:
"Oh, well there's nothing very scintillating. And I can only barely remember it now. She lived in an apartment, no surprise there. When she came to the door, Evan and I bowed down to her. She smiled a teeny bit and let us in. I remember while we were there, a friend or roommate or building mate came by with some new Coca-Cola product. This was back when Coke put out a new version of Coke and some people didn't like it so they introduced Classic Coke or something like that. This was probably that Classic Coke or one of the new variations. This fellow offered a sip to Leslie to get her opinion of it. He seemed very excited about the whole shebang. I don't remember her verdict, but I think she was as blasé about it as she was about us bowing down to her. I remember thinking that it was odd for a hip type of dude to give a shit about a new Coke product, but then thought, oh, maybe that's hip to be into stuff that hip people aren't supposed to be into? So that's how my mind works and that's what I remember. I don't really remember anything else about our meeting with her. We probably hung out with her in her apartment for an hour or so and then moved on with our SF activities. Maybe Evan will remember more? Sorry that's all I can tell you!! She was nice, though obviously as I'm indicating, a little low key...."
"Oh, well there's nothing very scintillating. And I can only barely remember it now. She lived in an apartment, no surprise there. When she came to the door, Evan and I bowed down to her. She smiled a teeny bit and let us in. I remember while we were there, a friend or roommate or building mate came by with some new Coca-Cola product. This was back when Coke put out a new version of Coke and some people didn't like it so they introduced Classic Coke or something like that. This was probably that Classic Coke or one of the new variations. This fellow offered a sip to Leslie to get her opinion of it. He seemed very excited about the whole shebang. I don't remember her verdict, but I think she was as blasé about it as she was about us bowing down to her. I remember thinking that it was odd for a hip type of dude to give a shit about a new Coke product, but then thought, oh, maybe that's hip to be into stuff that hip people aren't supposed to be into? So that's how my mind works and that's what I remember. I don't really remember anything else about our meeting with her. We probably hung out with her in her apartment for an hour or so and then moved on with our SF activities. Maybe Evan will remember more? Sorry that's all I can tell you!! She was nice, though obviously as I'm indicating, a little low key...."