Rock Chicks

by Alison Stieven-Taylor

  Live Through This, released in 1994, went multi-platinum and its first single, ‘Doll Parts’, reached number four on the Billboard charts. The album introduced changes to Hole’s line-up. Emery and Cue had been replaced by Kristen Pfaff and Patty Schemel. Sean Slade and Paul Q Kolderie co-produced, giving the album an edge that had the music media salivating. Live Through This won year-end critics polls at Spin, Rolling Stone and the Village Voice, but it also drew its detractors. According to Stylus, ‘Ms. Love ... tunelessly croons the verses, predictably bellows the choruses.’

  Live Through This was a week away from being released when Cobain, stoned to the eyeballs on heroin and Valium, killed himself with a shotgun in the lakefront home he shared with Courtney and Frances in Seattle.

  When Cobain died, Courtney was in rehab in LA after being arrested for possession of a controlled substance and stolen property. Like the rest of the world, she heard of his death three days after the event. Cobain had also been in rehab, but had absconded after two days. No one was with him when he died.

  Cobain, stoned to the eyeballs on heroin and Valium, killed himself with a shotgun in the lakefront home he shared with Courtney and Frances

  Cobain’s suicide turned Courtney’s world upside down. It also put her on centre stage. Her behaviour—lying in his blood, reading his suicide note at the funeral throughout which she interjected her own recriminations—was her finest performance, proving she was indeed a skilled actress.

  The bad press she had received around the time she was carrying Frances was nothing compared with how the media treated her following Cobain’s death. Her money-grubbing ways and parody of the grieving widow incited an anti-Courtney stance that would last for more than a decade, completely overshadowing her musical career.

  Courtney put on a stiff upper lip and went on the road later that year to promote her album. ‘My goals keep me alive ... and no personal issue is going to interfere with that,’ she said. Only two months after Cobain’s death, Hole bassist Kristen Pfaff died from a heroin overdose. Courtney gritted her teeth and pushed on. Melissa Auf Der Maur replaced Pfaff in the band.

  Hole toured to Britain later that year, performing at the Reading Festival. The show was more like a Herculean effort rather than entertainment, the band hanging together by a thread, Courtney so wasted that she found it hard to stand, let alone perform.

  The next year they went on the road in the US as the support act to Nine Inch Nails. Death threats escalated. A bullet shell was thrown on stage in Pittsburgh. She picked it up, showed the audience then the band left the stage. Courtney wasn’t going to take that kind of treatment from anyone. She became violent, throwing her guitar at a heckling audience member who was taunting her with ‘who’s your next victim?’ Nirvana fans were showing up at Hole concerts just to abuse Courtney. ‘They abuse me and I abuse them,’ she said matter-of-factly.

  Fellow musicians were at the end of her fists. She and Bikini Kill vocalist Kathleen Hanna came to blows at the Lollapalooza Music Festival in 1995, the same year that an inebriated Courtney crashed an MTV interview with Madonna and threw a make-up mirror at the mega-star. A judge ordered Courtney to undertake anger management classes.

  In the 1996 film The People vs. Larry Flint, she played a character not unlike herself—a former stripper who indulged in the seedier side of life and was hopelessly addicted to excess. Her performance gained her a Golden Globe nomination.

  While filming Larry Flint she was dating one of its stars, Edward Norton. Their relationship lasted for three years and was surprisingly low key, one she didn’t play out in the media. She has said of her relationship with Norton, ‘I’ve either had the very good guys or the bad. I left Ed Norton, who was good and wonderful, for an average bad man. It’s upsetting.’ While the two were dating, Norton played guitar on stage at two Hole shows in LA.

  Hole’s next studio effort was the 1998 release Celebrity Skin. The album was contentious from the start, with drummer Patty Schemel quitting shortly after its release because ‘what the band has become I don’t want to be part of anymore.’ The critics disliked the album, which Kurt Loder of MTV likened to a ‘Bangles record without the tunes’. Billy Corgon of the Smashing Pumpkins had co-written five tracks for the album—Courtney liked to collaborate with her lovers and she and Corgon had been an off-and-on item before she’d hooked up with Cobain.

  Produced by Erlandson, Celebrity Skin introduced a new sound. Gone was the mindless anger and torturous angst of Courtney’s lyrics. In their place was music that could almost be termed pop rock, but definitely not grunge and not punk. The album lacked the originality and energy of Live Through This, but its material did capture a new audience. The title single went to number one on the Billboard modern rock chart and four on the mainstream rock chart, and the single ‘Malibu’ made it to number three.

  ‘I’ve either had the very good guys or the bad. I left Ed Norton, who was good and wonderful, for an average bad man. It’s upsetting,’ Courtney said

  The band hit the road to promote the new album, touring solidly throughout 1999. In the USA they performed with Marilyn Manson, although Hole pulled out of the forty-date tour after only nine shows. Hole also toured to Australia and New Zealand that year, hit the road in Canada on the Edgefest tour and crammed in dates in Europe.

  As is often the case with Courtney, her art took a back seat in 2000. When she waltzed down the Golden Globes red carpet that year the media were astonished at the new-look Courtney—new nose, pert boobs and a svelte body clad in an elegant gown. She was transformed into a starlet right before our eyes. Courtney brushed it off with her usual finesse. ‘Women want to wear nice fucking clothes,’ she said.

  But it wasn’t long before she was back in the land of dope. She admitted that, even though she thinks heroin is a revolting drug, it hadn’t stopped her hitting up subsequent to Cobain’s death. But pills are really her thing. Percodan, Valium, OxyContin, Vicodin. Pills washed down with booze.

  Growing bored with Hole, Courtney briefly formed another band, Bastard, in 2001, a super-punk all-female group. But it fell apart after recording a demo because of personality conflicts. The diversion into Bastard was a way of denying that Hole was in a free fall. But by 2002 the band had disintegrated and officially announced it was over.

  Courtney was seemingly out of control—breaking into an ex-lover’s home when stoned on cocaine, hitting a woman over the head with a bottle, turning up to court five hours late.

  She lost custody of her daughter, the final straw being a suicide attempt while the little girl was home. Courtney said she tried to make it fun for Frances while they waited for the ambulance to arrive.

  In 2004 she released her first solo album, America’s Sweetheart. Patty Schemel was back playing drums and also contributing to several songs co-written with Courtney and Linda Perry. The album’s two singles, ‘Mono’ and ‘Hold onto Me’, both made it into the Billboard top forty, but the album failed to fly.

  Its failure hit Courtney hard. Rolling Stone said of Courtney’s solo effort, ‘For people who enjoy watching celebrities fall apart, America’s Sweetheart should be more fun than an Osbournes marathon.’

  When she appeared on David Letterman’s show, she flashd the poor man no less than six times. Later that night she put in an impromptu performance on stage at a New York club and threw a mike stand into the crowd—it decked one of the audience members and resulted in a charge of disorderly conduct. By 2005 she was under house arrest as part of her rehabilitation program which spanned eighteen months.

  the new-look Courtney—new nose, pert boobs and a svelte body clad in an elegant gown—was transformed into a starlet right before our eyes

  Courtney Love may have had moments of artistic brilliance. But she is living proof that the notion of celebrity is nothing more than the fabrication of a hungry media—working with great raw
material—and the guilibility of a voyeuristic public.

  ALANIS MORISSETTE

  emotional overdrive

  A Child star in her native Canada, Alanis Morissette became an international sensation with her hit album Jagged Little Pill in 1995. But the pressure to be ‘little Miss Perfect’ almost destroyed this petite performer.

  Born in 1974 in Ottawa, by the age of ten Alanis was playing piano, writing songs and starring in a TV series. In her teens she released two pop albums, but her success came at a high personal price—a struggle with anorexia and bulimia, panic attacks and low self-esteem fuelled by constant remarks about her weight. Her troubles drove her into therapy.

  The young Alanis listened to music by Olivia Newton-John, Abba and George Michael. Gradually her musical taste matured to Radiohead, Tori Amos, the Pretenders, Annie Lennox and Sinead O’Connor and she rediscovered Bob Dylan, who had been a favourite of her parents.

  Leaving Canada in the early 1990s, she made the trek to LA. There she met Glen Ballard who became her songwriting soulmate. Ballard was well connected, having worked with numerous name acts, including Michael Jackson and Aerosmith. They worked together in his studio, furiously writing songs, which Alanis recorded with the likes of Benmont Tench from Tom Petty’s Hearbreakers, and Flea and Dave Navarro from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. After hearing the completed tracks Maverick, Madonna’s label, cut her a deal.

  Jagged Little Pill was released in 1995. Its smash hit single ‘You Oughta Know’ took Alanis from child star to rock superstar. ‘You Oughta Know’ set expectations that Alanis was a hard-core rock chick, but the rest of the album didn’t support the theory. Jagged Little Pill spawned no less than five number one singles in the US and delivered Alanis four Grammys in 1996, including album of the year.

  convoluted tales of love, revenge, anger and personal misery became her hallmark

  The songs on the album were deeply personal—Alanis has said she uses songwriting to exorcise her demons. Convoluted tales of love, revenge, anger and personal misery became her hallmark. Jagged Little Pill has sold upwards of thirty million copies.

  I took three years before her follow-up, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, was released. During this period, Alanis, fed up with the pressures of touring, had seriously questioned her future in music. Junkie was influenced by Eastern sounds, reflective of a sojourn to India to regain a sense of perspective.

  On this album she collaborated with Ballard once again, took on producing and played flute, piano and harmonica. Although another number one multi-platinum hit, sales were disappointing in comparison with Jagged Little Pill. The record’s only number one single, ‘Thank U’, caused something of a stir—Alanis appeared naked in the video. The album’s long meandering lyrics, which some termed psychobabble, had critics claiming it was self-indulgent. Alanis agreed, saying that was what art was about, self-obsession.

  There were more Grammys in 1999 and 2000. Alanis went back to acting, appearing as God in the film Dogma and onstage in The Vagina Monologues on Broadway. She also toured with Tori Amos and performed for Amnesty International in Paris along with Radiohead, Bruce Springsteen, and Tracy Chapman. She is a committed activist.

  Her next album, Under Rug Swept, was released in 2002. She had severed her ties with Ballard and wrote and produced all the songs herself. Sounding closer to Jagged Little Pill, it didn’t contain the hit material of that album. Two years later it was followed by So-Called Chaos, an intensely emotional album filled with tales of joy and love reflecting Alanis’s own personal state—she was engaged to actor Ryan Reynolds (Smokin’ Aces). The album was Alanis’s most up-vibed offering and featured dance and pop tunes, including the top five hit ‘Everything’.

  In 2007 Alanis and Reynolds split after three years. Once again she turned to songwriting to express her emotions, filling journal upon journal.

  GWEN STEFANI

  Sweet escapee

  Gwen Stefani, your classic ‘accidental rock star’, was more interested in getting married and having babies than making music.

  Born in 1969, Gwen grew up in Orange County, California, dancing to Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, the Cure, Prince and early Madonna. She spent her days sewing, daydreaming about her boyfriend and watching TV, giving little thought to what she would do when she left school.

  Gwen’s older brother Eric encouraged her to sing with him as he bashed out tunes on the family piano. Eric’s passion for ska music rubbed off on his unfocused sister, who left behind the new romantics and threw herself headlong into the music of British ska band Madness.

  In 1987, when Eric formed No Doubt with singer John Spence, he dragged Gwen along to provide backing vocals. Spence committed suicide a year later and she became lead singer. Over the next few years Gwen juggled study for an arts degree and playing gigs at clubs, college events and parties.

  A couple of times it looked like the band would take off, with gigs supporting Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ziggy Marley. But it took nine years before No Doubt made the big time.

  Signed in 1991 to new label Interscope Records, headed up by producer Jimmy Iovine, No Doubt issued their eponymous first album in 1992. Radio refused to pick it up and MTV rejected the video. The band pushed on.

  as a teenager she spent her days daydreaming about her boyfriend and watching TV

  In 1995 they released Tragic Kingdom, which featured their first hit song ‘Just a Girl’, transporting Gwen and her platinum blonde hair, washboard abs and kooky little-girl voice on to the world stage. Many of the songs express Gwen’s grief over her break-up with boyfriend of seven years, No Doubt’s bassist Tony Kanal. Fourteen months after its release, Tragic Kingdom reached number one around the world.

  The common theme in interviews was Gwen’s desire to start a family. In 1998, she fell in love with Bush’s lead singer Gavin Rossdale. They have married and had their first child.

  Return of Saturn, released in 2000, was influenced by new wave, rock, pop and reggae. Gwen also teamed up with rapper Eve on ‘Let Me Blow Ya Mind’, delivering the pair a Grammy. The following year No Doubt released Rock Steady and headed off on another world tour.

  Gwen’s first solo album Love Angel Music Baby (L.A.M.B.) drew on the dance music of the 1980s. An instant success, it included collaborations with Dr Dre, Linda Perry and Outkast’s Andre 3000.

  The Harajuku Girls were created for Love Angel Music Baby. The four Japanese girls appeared with Gwen on stage and in videos. The geisha-doll fantasy drew her first real criticism, with accusations of racism and power tripping.

  Gwen made her movie debut in 2004, appearing as Jean Harlow in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator. The next year she released her second solo album, The Sweet Escape, which was even more dance-oriented.

  With MTV awards, three Grammys and multi-platinum albums to her name, plus the hubby and babies she always wanted, Gwen has proven she’s not just any girl from Orange County.

  ‘Just a Girl’ transported Gwen and her platinum blonde hair, washboard abs and kooky little-girl voice on to the world stage

  2000s

  Hip Hop & Pole Dancer

  As Heart’s Nancy Wilson said, now is the music of the pole dancer. Music videos border on soft porn. Just about every female singer is a scantily clad, writhing seductress singing about getting her man—by stealing, cajoling or sexual temptation, or all three for good measure.

  Perhaps the proliferation of women singing about their ‘baby’ reflects the desire of millions of single women out there hoping to find someone to love. In the 2000s more people are living on their own than at any other time in history. By the turn of the new millennium, technology had driven us to form friendships over the internet. The online chat rooms of the 1990s grew into full blown online dating services used by millions to find that special someone—or a bit on the side.

  A perfect pout, turned-up nose, ce
llulite-free skin and bleached blonde hair became the prerequisites for female pop singers. And so did enhanced cleavages. Kids as young as sixteen are having breast implant surgery, graduation gifts from parents desperate to see their babies succeed in the plastic world.

  The 2000s will become known as the decade of fear, the decade when governments of all colours used terrorism to erode civil rights. The so-called War on Terror has spurned such aberrations as Guantanomo Bay and Abu Graib. A fertile subject, artists of all types have explored terrorism and the attendant human and civil rights abuses in movies, fiction, art and music.

  But the boy bands kept on creaming it, with ’N Sync selling millions of copies of its singles and the Backstreet Boys continuing to chart. Marc Anthony, who later in the decade would marry Jennifer Lopez, had numerous hits too. Madonna’s new album Music delivered the singer more number one singles in the year she married British film director Guy Ritchie in an elaborate Scottish wedding.

  After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, Paul McCartney called his entertainment mates together to put on the Concert for New York City the following month at Madison Square Garden. The Who, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Billy Joel, Melissa Etheridge, Five for Fighting, Bon Jovi, Kid Rock and the Goo Goo Dolls all played. Another concert featuring Bette Midler, Destiny’s Child, Mariah Carey, Rod Stewart, Michael Jackson, P Diddy, Backstreet Boys, ’N Sync and Aerosmith, was held in Washington the next day.

  When ’N Sync split up, Justin Timberlake went solo and sold records in the millions. Other multi-platinum chartbusters were Usher, Christina Aguilera, Beyonce and Alicia Keys, demonstrating that R&B was still a predominant force in popular music.