THE B GIRLS with PALE LIPS, CHRIS HOUSTON AU GOGO, CHRIS HATES ADD-VENTURES and the TRASH BAGS at the Rivoli (334 Queen West), Saturday (November 4). 9 pm. $15. rotate.com, soundscapesmusic.com, circusbooksandmusic.com, ticketweb.ca.
They had a look and a vision: the girls next door who went out with the bad boys on the street.
Inspired by 60s girl groups like the Shangri-Las and the Ronettes, Torontos B Girls who formed in Phil Lynotts hotel bathroom after a local Thin Lizzy concert in early 1977 were friends with punk trailblazers like the Diodes, the Dead Boys, the Heartbreakers and the Ramones.
They made monthly trips from Toronto to New York to play at CBGB (moving to the city in 1978), and opened for the Clash on their London Calling tour. Debbie Harry took them under her wing and everybody, including her, wanted to produce them.
But the B Girls disbanded in 1982 having never released an album. Still, their one single the 1978 Bob Segarini-produced Fun At The Beach/B-Side was enough to secure them cult status here and in Japan. (Some say the cult film Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains is loosely based on their story.)
Now 40 years later, they finally have their debut record. Their single, plus demos recorded with producers including Harry, Clash guitarist Mick Jones, Craig Leon and Liam Sternberg from 78-82, are out on a new Bomp! compilation called Bad Not Evil.
It felt very much like unfinished business for me, bassist/band manager Cynthia Ross tells NOW over fries at a Cabbagetown diner with bandmate Lucasta Ross (no relation).
Based in New York City, Cynthia had started writing her memoir, which the B Girls play a big part in, when she got stalled and went on Facebook, inadvertently setting the wheels of the bands 40th anniversary reunion in motion.
Lucasta, who lives in Toronto, had posted something in late 2016 about wanting the new year to begin and wanting to have some fun.
How much FUN do you want to have? Enough to do a B Girls reunion? asked Cynthia.
Seriously????? When is this supposed to happen????? Lucasta replied.
When you say yes.
Yes! Lucasta replied, emphatically.
The original B Girls featured a rotating cast of characters including Lucastas best friend Xenia Splawinski, Cynthias sister Rhonda, Marcy Saddy, Renee Schilhab and Teddy Brunetti. Cynthia and Lucasta initially asked some of them to do the reunion shows, but the timing didnt work out.
In the end they decided to reach out to two younger women to fill out the band, giving the B Girls brushed up old songs a more current, garagey sound.
They didnt have to look far to find the B Girls new guitar player, Elisa Maldonado, who plays in the Cramps-inspired Trash Bags: she and her husband own the Cast, the Lower East Side leather store hangout where Cynthia works. She always laughs when I say shes my boss, she says.
I never knew she played anything. I walked into the shop one day and she was in there with her back to me with an amp playing Link Wrays Rumble. It was like the way I asked Lucasta back in the day [ask] the [person] right in front of you.
Drummer Lyla Vander (Roya, Chorizo) is the baby in B Girls 2.0. My first impression was that she may be too sweet, Cynthia says. When I heard her play I thought, Hell, no, shes badass.
Lucasta recalls their first rehearsal with the new lineup in the basement of the Cast. They played the songs from their only single. That sounds like the record! her husband yelled from upstairs.
We all got chills, Cynthia says. We looked at each other and it was incredible.
Cynthia says the girl band thing is more relevant than ever, and its important to her to include at least one at every show. Montreals Pale Lips are opening in Toronto.
Its about fun, this whole thing, she continues. Getting the record out was a lot of work, but its exactly the way we imagined it would be. It legitimizes us. Part of what we are doing is writing ourselves back into the narrative we were always a part of.
But the B Girls dont see the reunion as a return to their heyday.
I dont feel like its reliving the past, says Cynthia. I feel like its better.
Following shows in New York and Toronto, the B Girls plan to make it to L.A. and finally go to Japan. Thats the last chapter of the book, she says. Then Im finishing my memoir.
music@nowtoronto.com | @sarahegreene
