ROCK Sex: "Electric Ladyland" - Peggy Moffitt > Janelle Monae

J a n e l l e ➤ P e g g y

Janelle Monae's new album, THE ELECTRIC LADY, expands her Sci-Fi opus about an android sent to save humanity. Besides continuing themes from the classic silent film Metropolis (1927), the title alludes to the album "Electric Ladyland" (1968) by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

The cover art is a direct homage to a scene from the French film, "Who Are You, Polly Magoo?" (1966). This satirical film by esteemed photographer William Klein was a mock documentary about the fashion world which ridiculed its excesses, our voyeurism that empowers it, and the loss of real identity in an exploitative media.

In the scene above, supermodel 'Polly' (Dorothy McGowan, third from left) is lost in a sea of clones of real-life model Peggy Moffitt (far left).

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P E G G Y
M O F F I T T

Peggy Moffitt is the most radical fashion model of all time.

In the Mod '60s, she created an andryogyne character in futurist kabuki makeup who, wearing the abstract designs of Rudi Gernreich, came to us from a world and timeline all her own.

Working with her husband, photographer William Claxton, Peggy approached the fashion shoot as a forum of conceptual art, challenging the viewers' preconceptions about gender, identity, consumerism, and modernity.

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P E G G Y
M O F F I T T :
Her Influence On Rock'n'Roll Style
It's a safe bet that her influence on Rock'n'Roll is incalculable.

From David Bowie and Siouxsie Sioux and Soo Catwoman, to Grace Jones and Annie Lennox and Boy George and Robert Smith (The Cure), to Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and Chicks On Speed and Janelle Monae, her revolutionary influence continues today.

1) David Bowie, 1972.
2) Lou Reed, 1974; Split Enz, 1976.
3) Siouxsie Sioux.
4) Adam Ant and Jordan, 1977;
Soo Catwoman, 1976 (Ray Stevenson).

Annie Lennox; Grace Jones; Boy George; Robert Smith.

Marilyn Manson; Peaches; Karen O;
Rooney Mara (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo)

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And here's a video I made about her:

ENNIO MORRICONE / EDDA DELL'ORSO
-"Ma Non Troppo Erotico" (1971)



© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• Peggy Moffitt on TUMBLR

• Peggy Moffitt on PINTEREST

• Mod Color: Peggy Moffitt

• "Cultural Touchstone: Peggy Moffitt", LA TIMES


• Rene Magritte > THE EXORCIST > THE POSSESSION

• MAGRITTE = The Beatles > Jeff Beck > THE EXORCIST > Jackson Browne > Styx > TWIN PEAKS

• Astounding Science Fiction > Queen

• PLANET STORIES - Whip It Good!

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LADIES FIRST: "Kultes Klares Wasser" - Malaria! > Chicks On Speed

LADIES FIRST celebrates classic songs that 'she did first'.

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The great original...

MALARIA! -"Kaltes Klares Wasser (Cold Clear Water)" (1982)



...and the great cover version.

CHICKS ON SPEED -"Kaltes Klares Wasser" (2001)




© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• LADIES FIRST: "Mind Your Own Business" - Delta 5 > Chicks On Speed > Pigface

• DOCTOR WHO Theme - Delia Derbyshire > Gary Glitter > KLF > Human League

• Kraftwerk > Trouble Funk > Afrika Bambaataa > New Order


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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LADIES FIRST: "Mind Your Own Business" - Delta 5 > Chicks On Speed > Pigface

LADIES FIRST respects the classic songs that 'she did first'.

Today, everyone needs to "Mind Your Own Business".

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Straight out of Leeds, with Funk-influenced PostPunk like their compatriots Gang Of Four, here is Delta 5.

DELTA 5 -"Mind Your Own Business" (1979)



Here's Chicks On Speed getting into their business.

CHICKS ON SPEED -"Mind Your Own Business" (2000)



Also getting their noses in it are Pigface, a rotating supergroup centered around Martin Atkins and William Rieflin.

PIGFACE -"Mind Your Own Business" (2003)



Others on the block automatically horning include this band. (Note the cheeky use of the bass from "I Hear It Through The Grapevine").

AUTOMATIC -"Mind Your Own Business" (2019)



"No."


© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• Kraftwerk > Trouble Funk > Afrika Bambaataa > New Order

• DOCTOR WHO Theme - Delia Derbyshire > Gary Glitter > KLF > Human League

• "Chase the Devil Out of Earth!" - Max Romeo > Lee Perry > The Prodigy

• LADIES FIRST: "Kultes Klares Wasser" - Malaria! > Chicks On Speed


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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ROCK Sex: "Oh Bondage, Up Yours!" - X-Ray Spex > Free Kitten > Chicks On Speed > Pussy Riot

"Some people say little girls should be seen and not heard
But I think
OH BONDAGE UP YOURS!"


ROCK Sex says the up the ante till they cry uncle.

Today the cultureal relay of "Oh Bondage Up Yours!".

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Punk meant to break down all barriers and restrictions- in sound, fashion, and outlook. Because of its physical energy and aggro stance, it could've trapped itself into becoming the macho crap it was trying to defeat. Luckily, Poly Styrene changed that.

© Jerome Gaynor

Poly and the X-Ray Spex were the molotov cocktail that drove away the mob to save the party. She injected Feminist parody and lacerating wit, creating a political stance with a bracing sense of humor. She made Punk fun and smarter. She opened the doors for The Slits, The Au Pairs, Poison Girls, Bikini Kill, Hole, L7, Babes In Toyland, Tribe 8, Lesbians On Ecstasy, and Peaches.

Here she turns masochism into a metaphor for our slavery to consumerism, and tells where to put it.

X-RAY SPEX -"Oh Bondage Up Yours!" (studio, 1977)


X-RAY SPEX -"Oh Bondage Up Yours!" (live, 1978)



An Indie supergroup comprised of Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth), Julie Cafritz (Pussy Galore), and Yoshimi P-We (The Boredoms) later blasted upped the ante.

FREE KITTEN -"Oh Bondage Up Yours!" (1993)



In the fine tradition of sedition, here's Chicks On Speed to alter the face of things.

CHICKS ON SPEED -"Plastic Surgery" (2006)



Continuing to break down barriers and repressions, here is Russia's Pussy Riot disturbing the quiet.

PUSSY RIOT -"Oh Bondage Up Yours!" (2018)





© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• THE RUNAWAYS, And Why Women Of Rock Are Essential!

• "Rebel Girl!" - Dean Carter > Bikini Kill

• 'Why We Love YOKO ONO (Or Should)!', with 2 Music Players!


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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ROCK Sex: "Wordy Rappinghood" - Tom Tom Club > Chicks On Speed

ROCK Sex quickies are in one ear and then the other.

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Here's TOM TOM CLUB giving us the lowdown on the downlow:

TOM TOM CLUB -"Wordy Rappinghood" (1981)



And here's CHICKS ON SPEED relaying the message:

CHICKS ON SPEED -"Wordy Rappinghood" (2004)




© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• ROCK Orgy: "Genius of Love"

• "Take Me To the River" - Al Green > Bryan Ferry > Talking Heads

• "Slippery People" -Talking Heads > The Staple Singers

• "Radio Head" - Talking Heads > Tito Lariva > Radiohead

• "Warning Sign" - Talking Heads > Local Natives

• "Crosseyed And Painless" - Fela > Talking Heads > Brazilian Girls > Angelique Kidjo


• "APACHE", HipHop's Sacred Secret Beat! - Bongo Band > Bambaataa > EVERYONE EVER

• "Amen Break" - How 6 Seconds From 1969 Propel All Modern Music


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: A Music Player Checklist


Read:
• • Love Goes To Buildings On Fire: Five Years in New York That Changed Music Forever, by Will Hermes

• • Life and Death on the New York Dance Floor, 1980–1983, by Tim Lawrence

• • Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984, by Simon Reynolds

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