Goldie & The Gingerbreads

Formed in 1962 Goldie & The Gingerbreads were the first all-female rock band signed to a major record label. The quartet of Ginger Bianco, Margo Lewis, Carol MacDonald and Goldie Zelkowitz (later known as Genya Ravan) were among the first to break into this male domain. Signed to Atlantic Records in 1964 by visionary Ahmet Ertegun, the group toured throughout Europe with The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, and The Hollies, among others. Their first single, “Can’t you Hear My Heartbeat?,” enjoyed weeks at the top of the charts in the UK in 1965 before Hermans’s Hermits recorded their version for the American market. Goldie & The Gingerbreads blazed the trail for countless of female musicians including the Go-Gos, the Bangles, The Runaways, and Luscious Jackson. Over time, the group has been immortalized in various rock music anthologies and most recently in The Rolling Stone Book of Women In Rock (Random House, 1997). Fellar musicians and journalist gave their appreciation for these ladies that paved the way for generations to come. “Ginger is one of the best female drummers in America!” -Teen Trend,1966 “They’re great!” -Ringo Starr “They’re Fab!” -Brian Jones The band broke up over the course of 1967 and 1968 mainly due to Genya Ravan’s strong personality and forceful leadership of the band, Frustration about making little profit from their record releases may also have been an issue. On November 13, 1997, the Gingerbreads performed once more to mark their 30th anniversary and to commemorate the release of The Rolling Stone Book of Women in Rock. Accompanying Genya, Ginger and Margo was Debby Hastings on bass and Diane Scanlon on guitar. Shortly afterwards, on February 3, 1998, Goldie & The Gingerbreads were presented with a Touchstone Award from NY based Women in Music, presented to each member of the group by music legend Ahmet Ertegun. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.