In January 1983, I read an article in the Times about this new band and lined up at Folk City to catch the first show they would headline in the City. (They had opened for Richard Hell and the Voidoids at CBGBs). I had not heard any of their music, but that was not unusual in those days where I might read about a group before hearing them.
And what a show, think stripped down punk folk: Victor DeLorenzo banging on a single snare drum, Brian Ritchie pounding on his upright base and Gordon Gano thumping his guitar and singing as if his life depended on it. That night, Gano plugged in and played electric guitar. Only a small club, they lit it up and raised us all ten feet off the ground.
Hooked, I followed them to every show they played in New York City and brought friends along, that wild eyed fan who insisted they had to hear these guys. All these years later, when I hear their music, I turn up the sound.
“Kiss Off” starts low and intimate, Gordon Gano leaning in to make sure you hear, but no soft song can contain their emotions, soon enough the song explodes propelled by Ritchie’s bass and Gano’s growing rage.
I take one, one, one ’cause you left me
And two, two, two for my family
And three, three, three for my heartache
And four, four, four for my headaches
And five, five, five for my lonely
And six, six, six for my sorrow
And seven, seven for no tomorrow
And eight, eight, I forget was eight was for
But nine, nine, nine for the lost gods
Ten, ten, ten, ten for everything, everything, everything, everything
They take that teenage angst and light it on fire, transmuting it to a prison break. Everything indeed.
When my kids were younger, we’d be driving around with the windows down, the radio blaring and everyone screaming the lyrics. John still repeats and laughs, “This will go down on your permanent record.”
Origin Stories Matter
Brian Ritchie came up with the name, flipping the insult of being a femme by adding the word violent. “You calling me a femme, well we’re the Violent Femmes.”
Richie and DeLorenzo had been playing together when they added Gano. They mainly played on street corners in Milwaukee, struggling to land paying gigs. One night they’re busking outside the Oriental Theatre, hustling people waiting to get inside for a Pretenders concert. They looked up to see a guy they recognized transfixed as he listened. It was James Honeyman-Scott of The Pretenders who invited them inside to open for the show. And the Violent Femmes were on their way.
#Songoftheday #spreadinghappiness #violentfemmes #gardongano #kissoff #teenageangst
YouTube: https://youtu.be/4SgHtM9dEP8?si=wTp1N1iT4be0Ch63
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/5fj76kVAnqRKKhAw5d06jj?si=27574953375d40d8