Chicks

There are at least two bands with the name Chicks: 1. Chicks was a band from Brisbane in Australia formed in the mid 1970s, originally called Chicks Incorporated. They drew inspiration from American disco, funk, soul and rock and were one of the first Australian all girl instrumental bands led by drummer Miriam Curtis and lead singer Safanya (previously a part of the Australian cast in Jesus Christ Superstar). Other members included Pamela Withnall on saxophone who eventually moved to Sydney to join The Party Girls and is still very active in the Australian jazz scene. The band attracted the attention of local audiences for their wild and charismatic performances featuring photogenic backup dancers who often overshadowed the instrumental ability of the band. They signed with RCA Records in 1977 and released singles like "Jive To Stay Alive", "Movie Star", and "I'm On Fire". By 1980 they released their only album "Security" which was produced by Curtis and had songs written by top Brisbane based musicians Peter Moscos, Laurie Stone, David Bentley (who wrote the international hit "In A Broken Dream" for Python Lee Jackson featuring Rod Stewart), and Kenny Wheeler. The band had evolved into a mixed band but retained female lead vocals. Their last known recording was "Stormy Nights" for the "That's Queensland" album released by rock radio station 4IP (1008 AM). 2. Chicks were an all-girl Irish band comprising Isabel Reyes-Feeney (singing/bass), Annie Tierney (guitar) and Lucy Clarke (drums). By the time they had received their A-level results, they had already played at Reading Festival Summer 1999 and were two EP's old. Criminales, Coches, Pistoles Y Chicas (trans : Criminals, Cars, Guns and Girls), released on 22 June 1998 via Supremo, introduced the world to their unique mash of trash DC comic culture and melodic buzz saw garage - the record was Radio One's Steve Lamacq's "Priority Record of The Week" and "Let Me Go" found regular daytime plays in the hands of Jo Whiley and Mark Radcliffe. On Whiley's invitation, Chicks played the last show of her Channel 4 series - the public's first view of their Manga meets thriftshop glitterball splendour. "Schoolgirls turn popstars!!" features in everything from the NME to The News of The World began to appear and would stretch well into late '99. Quick on the pick-up, the likes of Sonic Youth, Manic Street Preachers and Fun Lovin' Criminals offered the girls support gigs and a 17-date Autumn UK tour in the company of Ash and Idlewild (only slightly their elder) was easily the most exciting show in every town it rolled over. A talent scout for DreamWorks was at one of the Ash shows and was suitably impressed to offer them a two-album deal. After a several month courtship and consideration of a multitude of counter-offers, they accepted. To coincide with the tour, the track, "Feminist" appeared on the Ltd Fierce Panda EP, previous outlet for the talents of Ash, Placebo, Supergrass and Embrace. December '98 saw Chicks playing their first UK headline tour before joining Ash again in Dublin and Belfast for their Christmas shows. 1999 started even better: stars of the televised (C4) NME Brats show in London; Melody Maker January cover stars; "Daria" (an ode to the cult American cartoon ultra-ironist) was included on Melody Maker's cover-mounted CD of their 12 favourite bands in February; and a new 4-track EP, Little Monkeys With Lots Of Money was released on April 6. The Reading Festival in August was Chick's biggest test, but they more than proved their readiness for a world stage. Chicks were then invited to record a cover version, Gary Glitter's "I Love You Love, Me Love" by the infamous Rodney Bingenheimer of KROQ fame for a glam rock tribute album. The album, Blockbuster: A 70's Glitter Glam Rock Experience, was issued via Robison Records and also featured The Donnas. Plans were then hatched for the recording of their debut album, to be produced by Adam & Eve, (Neil & Jennifer from Royal Trux). 2000 saw Chicks fly to Philadelphia to Tongue & Groove Studios where they recorded arguably the finest debut album by an all girl rock'n'roll band ever. What has happened since Chicks Do Philly? Chicks returned to Dublin and recorded some more tracks. Tim Wheeler from Ash dropped in to play some some acoustic guitar on a couple of tracks. Chicks played what was their last shows as a four piece featuring Yvonne McClelland from Akira on second guitar December 2000 Wednesday 13th at The Shelter, Dublin and Thursday 14th at The Monarch, Camden, London. With little enthusiasm from Dreamworks Records, Chicks asked to leave and very kindly Dreamworks returned the album. With the rights reverted to Chicks, “Chicks Do Philly” was supposed to see the light of day sometime early in 2002 but sadly never emerged. The album was lost for another 6 years but eventually found and released in 2008 when the master surfaced via their old manager. It is now available on Rambutan Records from Singapore. http://www.myspace.com/chicksdophilly Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.