Violent Femmes were founded in 1980 by bassist/multi-instrumentalist
Brian Ritchie and drummer Victor De Lorenzo. The name
is a contradiction in terms, "Violent" being self-explanatory
and "Femmes" being Milwaukee slang for wimp.
The rhythm section added high school singer/songwriter
Gordon Gano in 1981. Gano and Ritchie had previously
performed together at Gano’s National Honor Society
induction ceremony, where they caused a near riot.
Gano was expelled from the Society and suspended from
high school for this outrage.
One of the only stable aspects of the band is their
aversion to rehearsal. Due to this they would take
the music to the streets in an attempt to hone it
and earn some spare change. It was on one of these
occasions that they were spotted by the Pretenders.
Chrissie Hynde and the gang were so amused by the
Violent Femmes antics that they invited the band to
open the show for them. The hometown Milwaukee audience
received the Femmes with unanimous booing. However
by the end of the set the Femmes had converted approximately
50% of the audience to their cause. Many years later
Brian Ritchie encountered Hynde when the Femmes and
Pretenders shared the bill at a radio concert. She
said, "Oh, you’re still around."
The Femmes borrowed $10,000 from Victor De Lorenzo’s
dad to record their legendary first album in 1982.
Slash Records in Los Angeles was the only label to
offer them a deal with the amazing advance of $0.
The band accepted the deal and started on the predictable
round of world tours, recording, more world tours,
nervous breakdowns, band members quitting, solo albums,
regrouping, more touring, divorces, more crackups,
dropped from record deals, new deals, more touring,
record company going bankrupt, lawsuits, etc. etc.
etc. ad infinitum.
Fast forward to the present. Many things have changed.
One thing that hasn’t is the sound of the band. Their
loose, improvisational, acoustic sound is timeless.
Mouthpiece Gordon Gano has been called "the elder
statesman of teen angst" in the New York Times. Such
Gano lyrical pearls as "Why can’t I get just one f@#k?",
"When I’m out walking I strut my stuff, I am so strung
out", "I used too many drugs!" and "C’mon dad gimme
the car, I’ve got a girl I wanna f@#k!" have become
philosophical touchstones for generations of rock
listeners. His distinctive whiny voice, derided by
Rolling Stone magazine in ’84 for its "ability to
clear out a room faster than a methane explosion"
is now one of the most influential in pop music. Those
following on his path include Kurt Cobain, Billy Corgan,
Ben Kweller, the Barenaked Ladies and Lou Reed to
mention just a few. Gano released his first solo album
in 2002.
Bassist Brian Ritchie almost single handedly created
the craze for acoustic bass guitar with his revolutionary
playing. The Femmes are the most bass-dominated band
in rock history. Ritchie devours other instruments
like a football fan devours potato chips. His most
recent conquest is the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo
flute). He has attained the rank of Jun Shihan (teaching
master) in the traditional system. This has earned
him the professional name "Tairaku" which means "Big
Music". In addition to this he can be spotted playing
xylophone, didgeridoo, saxophone, conch, etc. on stage
with the Femmes. The Femmes do not use a set list.
Instead Brian calls the songs on stage, adding much
spontaneity to the proceedings. Ritchie has 5 solo
albums to his name.
Victor De Lorenzo has returned to the fold after a
lengthy hiatus. Minimalism is an overused word in
rock criticism. De Lorenzo is one of the only true
minimalist drummers in rock. His stage set-up consists
of only snare drum, tranceaphone (metal bushel basket
on top of a tom) and one lonely cymbal. Nevertheless
he is able to propel one of the rockingest shows on
earth with this limited palette of percussion sounds.
His stage philosophy is to "steal the focus" with
dadaesqe antics such as simulating sex with the backdrop,
doing jumping jacks in the middle of sensitive ballads,
putting drumsticks in his nostrils and so on. De Lorenzo
fine-tuned this method during his years as a thespian
on stage and screen. He is the only drummer in rock
history to focus his main approach on brushes rather
than the more conventional and limiting sticks. He
also has four solo albums demonstrating his ability
as a singer/songwriter.
Over the years Violent Femmes have racked up millions
of frequent flyer miles taking their music to disparate
and/or absurd places ranging from gay bars to Carnegie
Hall, the North Pole (where they played the northernmost
concert in rock history, schools for the retarded,
the Royal Albert Hall, Woodstock ’94 and so on in
over 400 cities in 40 countries. They’ve performed
in all 50 United States.
They have ten albums out. Their first album has the
distinction of being the only album in the history
of Billboard magazine to achieve platinum status without
ever appearing in the top 200.
But perhaps the most distinctive thing about Violent
Femmes is their relationship with their "fourth member"
which is the audience. No other band in rock has stayed
active for as long while maintaining the same demographic.
The Femmes have some audience members who have grown
up with the band, and even some 3 generation families
of fans. But for the most part the audience remains
the same high school and college kids who have always
been the core of the Femmes crowd. This "Picture of
Dorian Grey" effect is unique in the world of pop
music.
Band description courtesy of Luckymanonline.com
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