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Biography
Infobox musical artist| name = Babes in Toyland| image = BabesPromo.jpg| caption = A promotional shot of the band in 1992.| background = group_or_band| origin = Minneapolis , Minnesota , United States | years_active = 1987–2001| genre = Alternative rock , punk rock | label = Twin Tone Records|Twin Tone , Southern Records|Southern , Strange Fruit Records|Strange Fruit , Reprise Records|Reprise , Insipid| associated_acts = Sugar Babydoll , Pagan Babies (band)|Pagan Babies , Italian Whorenuns, Crunt , Koalas, Katastrophy Wife | current_members = Kat Bjelland Lori Barbero Maureen Herman | past_members = Michelle Leon Chris Holetz Cindy Russell Dana Cochrane Jessie Farmer Courtney Love Babes in Toyland was an American alternative rock band formed in Minneapolis , Minnesota in 1987. The band was formed by Oregon native Kat Bjelland ( singer|lead vocals and electric guitar|guitar ), with Lori Barbero ( Drum kit|drums ) and Michelle Leon ( Bass guitar|bass ), who was later replaced by Maureen Herman in 1992. Courtney Love — a close friend and former bandmate of Bjelland when the two lived in Woodburn, Oregon|Portland and San Francisco, California|San Francisco - had a very brief stint in the band in 1987 as a bass player, before being kicked out and forming Hole (band)|Hole in 1989.cite web|url= http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-musicians/babes-toyland-biography|work=E Notes|title=Contemporary Musicians: Babes In Toyland Biography|accessdate=October 12, 2010|author=Shelton, Sonya
Between 1989 and 1995, Babes in Toyland released three studio albums; Spanking Machine (1989), the commercially successful Fontanelle (album)|Fontanelle (1992), and Nemesisters (1995), before becoming inactive in 1997 and eventually disbanding in 2001. While the band was inspirational to some performers in the riot grrrl movement in the Pacific Northwest , Babes in Toyland never associated themselves with the movement.
History
Formation and early years (1987-1991)
Babes in Toyland formed in 1987, after frontwoman Kat Bjelland met drummer Lori Barbero at a friend's barbecue. Originally from Woodburn, Oregon and a former resident of San Francisco , Bjelland had moved to Minneapolis to form a band.Taylor, Steve. http://books.google.ca/books? id=KPOsu8JOHO8C& lpg=PA21& ots=Cq23rFAl93& dq=kat%20bjelland%20feminism& pg=PA21#v=onepage& q=kat%20bjelland%20feminism& f=false A to X of Alternative Music . Continuum International Publishing Group . 2006. Over the following months, Bjelland convinced Barbero to play drums and formed Babes in Toyland in winter 1987. In its initial formation in 1987, in addition to Bjelland and Barbero, the band included Chris Holetz on bass and singer Cindy Russell.Cite book | last = Gaar | first = Gillian | title = She's a Rebel | publisher = Seal Press | year = 2002 | pages = 389 | edition = 2 | url = http://books.google.com/books? id=m09vjqEmeX4C& pg=PA389 | isbn = 9781580050784 After Holetz and Russell left, the band briefly recruited Bjelland's friend - and former bandmate of the band Pagan Babies (band)|Pagan Babies - Courtney Love on bass. Love, who later went on to form the successful band Hole (band)|Hole , only lasted a number of weeks before being kicked out by Bjelland. After Love's departure, Michelle Leon was recruited as bassist. It has been noted that several songs from the Babes In Toyland's debut album shared lyrics and verses with several songs by Hole, most notably Hole's first several single (music)|singles , including b-sides from " Retard Girl " and " Dicknail "."Fork Down Throat" was performed as a Hole song in 1990 at their second and third shows, and verses from "Swamp Pussy" can be found in Hole's first recorded track, "Turpentine". Lines such as "spit to see the shine" and "my doll mouth to your deaf ear", which come from some of Hole's first singles, are found scattered in several songs from Spanking Machine as well as Fontanelle . It is possible that Love and Bjelland had written some of these songs/lines together. It is thought that Courtney Love and Bjelland had collaborated on songs in their previous bands and during Love's brief time in Babes In Toyland, which resulted in the sharing of the lyrics.
The band achieved their initial notoriety through Bjelland's "babydoll" image — sometimes referred to as the kinderwhore look — which contrasted dramatically with the raw power of her singing voice and her aggressive lyrics. After a number of live shows in 1988, the band released their first single, " Dust Cake Boy ", through Sub Pop records' singles club in 1989. As the single reached significant underground success, Babes in Toyland entered the studio in 1989 to record their debut album. Originally titled Swamp Pussy , Spanking Machine was recorded with grunge producer Jack Endino at Seattle's Reciprocal Recording Endino, Jack. Jack Endino Production Discography http://endino.com/discography.html Retrieved from endino.com on June 11, 2010. and released in April 1990 on Minneapolis' Twin/Tone Records .Discogs.com, Babes In Toyland - Spanking Machine at Discogs http://www.discogs.com/Babes-In-Toyland-Spanking-Machine/master/32021 Retrieved on June 11, 2010.
Other bands interested in the underground music scene - most notably Sonic Youth - were fans of the album, so much so that Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore invited the band to perform on Sonic Youth's 1990 European tourLawrence, Chris. sonic youth concert chronology - 1990 http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/cc/1990.html Retrieved on June 11, 2010. to promote their latest album, Goo (album)|Goo . The band also performed alongside Sonic Youth at 1991's Reading Festival ,fatreg.com, Reading Festival 1991 http://www.fatreg.com/Reading1991/Rdg1991.html Retrieved on June 11, 2010.phespirit, The Reading Festival http://www.phespirit.info/music/notes/reading_festival.htm Retrieved on June 11, 2010. which was documented by Dave Markey 's music documentary, 1991: The Year Punk Broke .
British DJ, John Peel , was also a fan of the album citing it as his "favourite album of 1990." During the band's tour with Sonic Youth in 1990, Babes in Toyland recorded a radio session for John Peel, one of the many Peel sessions. The band also did a second session with Peel in 1991, and the sessions were released as The Peel Sessions (Babes in Toyland album)|The Peel Sessions - the band's second Extended play|EP - in 1992. The band's first EP, To Mother , was composed of outtakes from Spanking Machine and was released in 1991 and received critical acclaim entering the independent charts and staying there for a thirteen weeks, ten of which the EP held the number one spot.Southern Records, Babes in Toyland http://www.southern.com/southern/band/BABES/biog.html Retrieved from southern.com on June 11, 2010.
The band is profiled in the book "Babes in Toyland: The Making and Selling of a Rock and Roll Band" (ISBN 0812920589) by Neal Karlen, a journalist for the New York Times and Rolling Stone magazine. This was the first time a hardcover book had been written about an all-girl rock and roll group.
Fontanelle , Nemesisters and mainstream success (1992-1995)
After touring in 1991, the band entered the studio for a second time to record their major label follow-up to Spanking Machine . Bassist Michelle Leon left the group in December 1991, shortly before the recording of their second album, due to the death of her boyfriend, Joe Cole (roadie)|Joe Cole . Maureen Herman was recruited as her replacement. With this new line-up, Fontanelle (album)|Fontanelle was recorded in Cannon Falls , Minnesota and released in 1992, selling around 200,000 copies in the United States alone. The lead song on the album, "Bruise Violet," is said to be an attack on Courtney Love. The lyrics - which included the lines "you see the stars through eyes lit up with lies / you got your stories all twisted up in mine." http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php? a=babes_in_toyland - supported this. However, in a more recent interview Bjelland has denied this, saying instead that "Violet" was the name of a muse to both her and Love. The song's video was shown on Beavis and Butt-Head , where the band was described as "chicks" who are "cool." http://www.beavis-butthead.ru/yellow_articles_episode.html
In 1993, the band was chosen to take part in that year's Lollapalooza tour,cite news| url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,978840,00.html | work=Time | title=Dispatches Latter-Day Grunge | date=1993-07-12 | accessdate=2010-04-26 playing alongside such acts as Primus (band)|Primus , Alice in Chains , Dinosaur Jr. and Rage Against the Machine . During dates at Lollapalooza, the band released their third and final EP, Painkillers (EP)|Painkillers , in June 1993, which was a re-recording of one of their most notable songs "He's My Thing", as well as outtakes from Fontanelle .
The band was the subject of the 1994 book Babes in Toyland: The Making and Selling of a Rock and Roll Band by Neal Karlen, which dealt with the band's signing to Warner and the recording of Fontanelle .cite news| url= http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,303328,00.html | work=Entertainment Weekly | title=News Review: Babes in Toyland: The Making and Selling of a Rock and Roll Band – EW.com Bjelland described the book as being "like cartoon caricatures of us," while Herman said that Karlen "would make a great fiction writer."Herman, Maureen. Minneapolis Star Tribune , August 18, 1994. The band also appeared in the 1995 documentary Not Bad for a Girl . http://www.film.com/movies/not-bad-for-a-girl/6156543 "Not Bad for a Girl" film.com
On April 8, 1994, Babes in Toyland played a benefit show for Rock Against Domestic Violence with 7 Year Bitch , and Jack Off Jill in Miami at the Cameo Theater, the same day lead-singer of American grunge rock band Nirvana (band)|Nirvana , Kurt Cobain , had been found dead in his Seattle home.Baker, Greg. http://www.miaminewtimes.com/1994-04-06/music/the-hits-just-keep-on-coming/3 "The Hits Just Keep on Coming" Miami New Times, April 06, 1994. Around the same time, the band were featured on the cover of Entertainment Weekly , and were referenced in an episode of the sitcom Roseanne (TV series)|Roseanne as well as an episode of Absolutely Fabulous .
More than a year later, in May 1995, the band released their final album, Nemesisters . Though receiving mixed reviews, the band described the album as "diverse", "experimental" and "spontaneous" and that the writing and recording process was "very different" as the band were working under pressure. Tours for the album took place throughout Europe - notably with a date at Denmark's Roskilde Festival - the United States, and Australia.
Herman's departure, Katastrophy Wife and breakup (1996-2001)
The band lost their contract with their record label when Herman left the band in 1996. Dana Cochrane, formerly of the band Mickey Finn, played bass with the band on live gigs in 1996 and 1997.Citation | last = Groebner | first = Simon Peter | title = MMA Cribsheet | newspaper = City Pages | date = 1996-07-10 | url = http://www.citypages.com/1996-07-10/music/mma-cribsheet/ | accessdate = 2009-12-10 Original bassist Michelle Leon briefly rejoined the band for a short period in 1997, when Babes in Toyland were constantly breaking up and reforming. In 1998, the band was credited with the song Overtura: Astroantiquity/Attacatastrophy on the CD Songs of the Witchblade : A Soundtrack to the Comic Book , which Bjelland co-produced. Bjelland and Barbero played with a new bassist, Jessie Farmer, in 2000. St. Paul Pioneer Press , November 24, 2000
However, a year earlier, Bjelland had formed a new band, Katastrophy Wife , which seemed to replace Babes in Toyland as her main musical project. Babes in Toyland performed a reunion show billed as "The Last Tour" on November 21, 2001 — which was released as a live album called Minneapolism - and this was not only the last Babes in Toyland show, but also the last official activity. Bjelland played a number of shows in Europe in 2002 under the title Babes in Toyland with a new drummer and bassist from the British band Angelica (band)|Angelica , however, Bjelland stopped using the name after Barbero and Herman raised legal issues.Citation | last = Scholtes | first = Peter | title = Babes in Conflict | newspaper = City Pages | date = 2002-03-20 | url = http://www.citypages.com/2002-03-20/music/babes-in-conflict/ | accessdate = 2009-12-10
Members
Kat Bjelland – lead vocals, electric guitar|guitar (1987–2001)
Lori Barbero – drum kit|drums , vocals (1987–2001)
Jessie Farmer - bass guitar|bass (1997–2001)
Michelle Leon - bass guitar|bass (1987–1991, 1997)
http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/babes_in_toyland/artist.jhtml Babes In Toyland music videos at VH1
Allmusic|class=artist|id=p3600|pure_url=yes Allmusic: Babes in Toyland
http://www.cultcargo.net/modules/AMS/article.php? storyid=111 article on cult cargo To Mother
Babes in Toyland (band) DEFAULTSORT:Babes In Toyland Category:Musical groups from Minnesota Category:Musical groups established in 1987 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2001 Category:All-female bands Category:Alternative rock groups from Minnesota Category:Grunge musical groups Category:Riot grrrl Category:Musical trios
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