Gwar Is Cool

Ever since the onslaught of Kiss and their paraphernalia in the early 1970s, the comic book quality of rock n roll has been honed into a fine art. (Witness the recent addition of Kiss kaskets to the lexicon.) While Kiss have their costumes, blood spitting, fire breathing, etc., they don't have a bona fide plot and their aliases (Starchild, The Cat) leave a lot to be desired. The kiss comic books released in 1976, were the band ever came to a full-fledged dramatic scenario.

That's where Gwar improved on the Kiss theorem of excess is best. Gwar, which stands for, appropriately God, what an awful racket, was a fave of teenage boys, Jerry Springer viewers (via their legendary appearance on the sleazemeisters talk show). A merry band of costumed misfits, the boys and girl assembled some fifteen years ago, in the cozy confines of Richmond, Virginia, where they decided to combined hard core rock n roll, infantile themes of sex, death and superhereos, and marketing 101. Trading on a theatrical approach first and foremost the band fashioned an assortment of latex and rubber perverted superhero outfit. Faux bodily fluids, makeshift pagan rituals and other fun stuff sure to inflame polite society are included in their stage show. and That was 16 years and a couple of Grammy nominations (!!) ago and the band, led by scion of the underworld, Oderus Urungus, is still recording and touring with no sign of impending retirement. The band's feminine side, a gal named Slymenstra Hymen is appearing at the Key Club in L.A. this week with the GirlieFreek show, where she will attempt to receive a ridiculous amount of electrical voltage through her person.

Official site: http://www.gwar.net

Life's A Bitch....

Speaking of out of the mainstream rock n rollers, let us return to the days of black leather, hairspray and the Sunset Strip for awhile and reminisce about a young lass who called herself Betsy Bitch. Along with her band, Bitch, she provided a small but loyal contingent of L.A. thrill-seekers a dose of crunching metal guitars accompanied by sometimes naughty, sometime laughable S & M theatrics. Such a stage show was almost de rigueur for L.A. bands in the hedonistic 1980s - i.e. WASP, Warrant, Motley Crue. After signing with Metal Blade in the early 1980s, Bitch released an EP, Damnation Alley and a fill length album Be My Slave. The band also made a few videos featuring highlights (or lowlights, depending on your point of view) from their stage show. Needless to say, these videos never made it into heavy rotation on MTV. They were fun to watch on local L.A. music video shows, way after hours, though.

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