Musician and author Jen Dot is the lead singer of the punk band Swimsuit Addition. Later she would form beastii, a Goth/Punk band, who have just released their album Follower. Jen is also the author of her recently published book “Hit Girls: Women of Punk in the USA, 1975-1983” which presents a history of the most notable female rockers in rock history.
Playlist:
Evil Eye
Ghost Follower
Be Sweet
Butch Beach
LINKS:
IG: @conspiracy of women
Twitter: @jen_b_larson
Blog: women of early punk
www.disappearingmedia.com
https://beastii.bandcamp.com/album/follower
https://www.instagram.com/beastii_rips
Women have been kicking against the pricks of music patriarchy since Sister Rosetta Tharpe first played the guitar riffs that built rock-n-roll. The explosion of punk sent shockwaves of revolution to every girl who dreamed of being on stage. Punk godmothers Suzy Quatro, The Runaways, Patti Smith, Poison Ivy, Tina Weymouth, Debbie Harry, The Go-Gos, and Fanny’s Millington sisters provided the template for thousands of girls and women throughout the United States to write and record their songs.
Hit Girls is the story of local and regional bands whose legacy would be otherwise lost. Despite the modern narrative labeling women as anomalies in rock music, the truth is: women played important roles in punk and its related genres in every city, in every scene, all over the United States. The women and bands profiled by Jen B. share their experiences of sexism and racism as well as their joy and successes from their days on stage as they changed what it meant to be in a band. These pioneering women were more than novelty acts or pretty faces–they were fully contributing members and leaders of mixed-gender and all-female bands long before the call for “girls to the front.”