Luv'd Ones

Luv'd Ones - Up Down Sue (1966)

 cf.

Shop Assistants - Safety Net (1986)

In the mid 1980’s I was a student at Edinburgh Art College.  On the wall there, by the Wee Red Bar, were xeroxed DIY posters advertising local gigs and clubs, with local bands such as The Green Telescope, Rote Kapelle or Buba and the Shop Assistants playing.  For the first time, the groups that I liked were my age, dressed similarly and often lived just round the corner.  What perhaps made the Edinburgh indie scene a little different from some others, was that obscure 60s garage music was particularly likely to played at clubs (the influence and knowledge of Lenny Helsing no doubt playing a part). The scene also had women playing pivotal roles, such as Margarita Vasquez-Ponte of Rote Kapelle, Jesse Garon and the Desperadoes, and the Fizzbombs (She later joined the reformed Shop Assistants in 1989).

Shop Assistants were the band that broke through.  They were name-checked by Morrissey.  Their 1986 single "Safety Net" was released on guitarist David Keegan’s and Stephen Pastel's label, 53rd and 3rd. -  and what a glorious, low budget DIY single this was.  The intro built up their sound piece by piece, starting with the metronomic, twin, no-nonsense, stand-up drumming of Ann Donald and Laura McPhail, followed by the bass of Sarah Kneale, then the fuzzed out guitar of David Keegan, the menace they created cut through with the arrival of Alex Taylor’s cool, deep Nico like vocals.  A perfect blend of noise and melody, of attitude and relatability.  Above all it captured the zeitgeist, exactly how it felt for me, in my home city, at that point.  

The two covered songs on Shop Assistants sole album, from 1987 - the Shangri-Las "Train to Kansas City" and the Pleasure Seekers (featuring Suzi Quartro) "What a way to Die", illustrated a love of  both 60s girl group and garage sounds, which they combined with the punk and pop of Blondie and the Ramones. The L.P. was a great selection of songs that whilst predominantly  personal wete spiked with the social and political – songs like Caledonian Road gave a sense of the times in Thatcher’s Britain.

The Shop Assistants weren’t the only band who took the blueprint of the Shangri-Las sound and streetwise image and brought it to the garage, adding pounding beats, feedback and fuzz. Twenty years previously 1966, in Niles Michigan, the all-female band the Luv’d Ones, led by Char Vinnedge started to release a string of strong singles full of character and attitude.  On "Up Down Sue", right from the intro of snarling guitar followed by hard hitting drums, the band made their intent clear.  By the time Char started singing in her dark low alto voice, with a mix of lip curling distain and raw emotion, there could be little doubt that they were creating music at the cutting edge with no compromises.  Punk a decade before it was supposed to have happened.

Char was a real barrier breaker, organising the band, arranging gigs, sorting accommodation, driving the tour van, designing the artwork and making sure they got paid.  She had to deal with the sexism of both the music industry and audiences who were often cynical about girls with guitars.  Playing live, particularly outwith their home town, the Luv’d Ones normally had to win the crowd over, which they did through a wall of sound, tougher, darker and more original than most garage bands.  Each band member played their part, Mary Gallagher’s rhythm guitar, Char's younger sister Chris’s bass parts and the distinctive drumming of Faith Orem.

“The reason I tuned my guitar down a full step was very simple I didn’t want to sound like anyone else”.

Char Vinnedge

Much of the real innovation from Char came from her incisive song writing and lead guitar playing, constantly pushing against convention.  Experimenting with feedback, tape loops, fuzz and effects with her Gibson guitar as early as Hendrix (she became a huge fan of his playing). The use of minor chords and her singing voice gave a darkness to the band’s sound, whilst her lyrics provided a fresh perspective, from a strong female view, that was rarely articulated in the 60s.  The song “Dance Kid Dance” about her brother's Vietnam call-up provided a distinctively two-fingered, defiant, rock and roll response.

In the mid-80s it would have been near impossible to have heard their music, even for garage fans.  The influential Nuggets album compiled by Lenny Kaye was pretty much an all-male affair, and it was only when the excellent Girls in the Garage series started to be issued that the hidden history of bands like the Luv’d Ones started to be revealed.  Their music, including unreleased demos, was fortunately eventually compiled together in an excellent Sundazed vinyl issue - "Truth Gotta Stand" which I bought on release in 1999.  Sadly, Char died of a heart attack a couple of years previously so she missed seeing her music finding a new audience.  No doubt, some discovering the Luv'd Ones late, like me, could sense echoes and reverberations with the indie music that was so special to us. Kindred spirits separated by place and time but sharing so many values. 

Notes:

Char Vinnege Music Facebook page provides links and info on her and the Luv'd Ones

Saskia Holling has recently written the highly recommended You and Me Against the World which focuses on Margara Vaquez-Ponte and the late, much missed, Alex Taylor. 

Lenny Hesling still leads The Thanes