The late, great Bobbi Brat, unsung heroine of LA punk
By Chris Greenspon www.scpr.org/programs/offramp/2016/10/07/52586/the-late-great-bobbi-brat-unsung-heroine-of-la-pun/ The Amazing Grace of Punk Pioneer Bobbi Brat - By Jorge Newbery www.huffingtonpost.com/jorge-newbery/the-amazing-grace-of-punk_b_10996002.html |
Bobbi Brat lost & found
random links and articles
"Poised hunched above their peers is Red Scare, whose sonic impact is potent enough to make their goth-punk peers discussed in this column seem like frauds sipping martinis incognito in a hotel bar. Their sole album, Then There Were None, is where even the bad times go to suffer. Vocalist Bobbi Brat stares into the corner of whatever room she’s in and quietly curses. She will never speak when beckoned, especially by myself, and I beckon her often. Indeed, the other records in alphabetical proximity to Red Scare lean away and Then There Were None defies the laws of physics by standing straight up by itself. Red Scare’s members share a comb to tame their greasy hair that sheds cigarette ash as it is brushed and they mutter savagely, unable to engage in normal social interaction but united together under the banner of alienation. The sickly, pale creatures behind this handful of gloomy punk bands from the 80’s seem were certainly brittle and emaciated, but their cultivated intimidating demeanors were a self-preserving reaction to an increasingly dystopian world because, to quote S.E. Hinton, “Even the most primitive societies have innate respect for the insane.”
There is more to be written about Red Scare in the next issue of Degenerate, and even more was written about Legal Weapon in issue #8. Fortunately, copies are available at degeneratezine.bigcartel.com, more of my derivative writing and reviews for this magazine and others can found atdegenerateephemera.blogspot.com and send any gloomy 80’s punk recommendations to degeneratezine@gmail.com. Cheers."
There is more to be written about Red Scare in the next issue of Degenerate, and even more was written about Legal Weapon in issue #8. Fortunately, copies are available at degeneratezine.bigcartel.com, more of my derivative writing and reviews for this magazine and others can found atdegenerateephemera.blogspot.com and send any gloomy 80’s punk recommendations to degeneratezine@gmail.com. Cheers."
Bobbi/NANA Reference. Thanks Nancy <3
http://www.latimes.com/fashion/alltherage/la-ig-nana5-2009apr05-story.html#page=1 Book Reference - "Get In The Van" - Henry Rollins
http://www.amazon.com/Get-Van-Henry-Rollins-ebook/dp/B004GXBA06/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414724745&sr=1-1&keywords=get+in+the+van |
Women of Punk - Interview
http://www.alicebag.com/pleasant_gehman_interview.html Find a Grave - Bobbi Brat
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Brat&GSfn=Bobbi&GSby= 1962&GSbyrel=in&GSdy=1988&GSdyrel=in&GSob= n&GRid=1171&df=all Review - "Red Scare As Promised"
"RED SCARE – 1982-1988 As Promised (GTA 007-R #056) – You had to be fucking tough to survive as a woman on these kinda stages, what with all that testosterone a-flowing free back then. There’s a couple of live tracks on this thing that’ll give you an idea of the kinda BULLSHIT a woman-led band had to put up with on stage. But Bobbi Brat, the singer here, was most definitely up to the task. Her best lyric: “Can’t you see, little boy? I’ll only hurt you; because to me you’re a toy, I play around and desert you.” Although I can’t say this is classic hard stuff (it’s got that weird stiffness that comes with a drummer playing faster than he can reasonably rock) I have spun it alot, esp. when I used to drive deep into OC to meet psychotic Mexican-American vets as part of my last job ever in the States. So, I’m keeping this one. For what it’s worth, there’s a memoir of Hollywood streetlife floating around out there called Coloring Outside the Lines by Aimee Cooper that incorporates some old memories of Ms. Brat." RED SCARE – 1982-1988 As Promised
http://www.discogs.com/Red-Scare-As-Promised/release/1815489 Interpunk - "Red Scare As Promised"
http://www.interpunk.com/item.cfm?Item=91869 Book Reference - "Coloring Outside the Lines"
http://www.amazon.com/Coloring-Outside-Lines-Aimee-Cooper/dp/0972311718/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414725144&sr=1-1&keywords=aimee+cooper |
"One band I wasn’t into during the day but which has achieved almost legendary status are Red Scare. Formed in 1982, Red Scare were one of the few punk/post-punk bands fronted by a woman, the amazing Bobbi Brat. None of their work is available on iTunes or Pandora or as yet on Spotify but a few songs have been mercifully uploaded to YouTube from the 1984 album Then There were None. “Mind Inertia” has the zippy rhythm of classic Germs (think “What We Do Is Secret”) coupled with Bobbi’s high, shrieking vocals; this is a good blast of old school Hollywood/LA hardcore. “Don’t Look In the Basement” starts with an atonal, minor key piano noodling, which builds into a harsh, caterwauling music and vocal that sounds a lot like Juju-era Siouxsie and the Banshees. The lyrics draw upon the then-popular strain of horror rock particular to LA and best evidenced by bands like Vox Pop and Castration Squad. “Street Life” starts with an industrial squalling that evokes Fatrix or Throbbing Gristle but is rescued by a classic hardcore bass line that draws the song into its more traditional punk structure. Still, the lyrics are less strident than on “Mind Inertia”; here Bobbi reminds me a little ofInger Lorre’s later work with the Nymphs. The music sounds amazingly similar toTSOL’s post-hardcore, pre-metal work on their album Change Today? in that it draws on traditional hardcore for its tempo but has a more complex sonic structure that pulls from post-punk influences like early Cure. The title track is a chugging, swirling post-punk confection that again shows influences from everything from Joy Division and Siouxsieto Die Kreuzen and P.I.L. I think I like this song the best of the ones I’ve heard, it really captures the spirit of mid-80’s LA post-punk well. Right on its heels is “Flight 007”, which has a slower tempo and a repeating riff that shows how Red Scare could incorporate hard rock/metal influences but still swathe them in swirling post-punk guitar work. “Way Out West” has a cowpunk feel much like fellow LA cowpunks the Screaming Sirens andRank and File.
I never listened to Red Scare during their heyday, however I do have a small but memorable connection to lead singer Bobbi. In fall of ’86 or so, I dragged three of my high school buddies up to LA to the Anti-Club to see some bands, including Bobbi Brat’s solo project. My friends were not punkers, they were suburban college dorks and I remember the whole night was one of almost constant cringing embarrassment for me since they so clearly didn’t fit in at such a place, nor did they like any of the bands we saw. Anyway after her set Bobbi came offstage and was hanging out in the big lobby area by the door and I happened to strike up a conversation with her. I have no memory of what we talked about, only that she was really nice and more than a little drunk. She may have been hitting on me, I have no idea; back then I was an attractive if skinny little punk boy and who knows, maybe that was her type. She was very attractive, with died black hair in a ponytail, tattoos, big clunky black shoes, and a sophisticated cool demeanor. I was more than a little intimidated by her, so of course I didn’t try anything. Sadly, Bobbi died of cancer not two years later; it makes me sad to think that that nice, beautiful punk girl didn’t live long enough to see the ascension of Nirvana and that her own life was cut so tragically short."
I never listened to Red Scare during their heyday, however I do have a small but memorable connection to lead singer Bobbi. In fall of ’86 or so, I dragged three of my high school buddies up to LA to the Anti-Club to see some bands, including Bobbi Brat’s solo project. My friends were not punkers, they were suburban college dorks and I remember the whole night was one of almost constant cringing embarrassment for me since they so clearly didn’t fit in at such a place, nor did they like any of the bands we saw. Anyway after her set Bobbi came offstage and was hanging out in the big lobby area by the door and I happened to strike up a conversation with her. I have no memory of what we talked about, only that she was really nice and more than a little drunk. She may have been hitting on me, I have no idea; back then I was an attractive if skinny little punk boy and who knows, maybe that was her type. She was very attractive, with died black hair in a ponytail, tattoos, big clunky black shoes, and a sophisticated cool demeanor. I was more than a little intimidated by her, so of course I didn’t try anything. Sadly, Bobbi died of cancer not two years later; it makes me sad to think that that nice, beautiful punk girl didn’t live long enough to see the ascension of Nirvana and that her own life was cut so tragically short."