Dax Attack
-
Artist:
-
Album:
-
Track:
In that one-thing-links-to-another way, I was reminded of Danielle Dax - wildly attractive art-rock babe (1980s techno-trance division) - by the ever-vigilent Anna’s post introducing Lolly Jane Blue - a young, limber, imaginative folk/pop/electronic singer and performer from the Netherlands. http://mog.com/Anna/blog_post/118126Despite the continental name, the fetching Ms. Dax was born in Essex, England. She was in a too-cool avant-punk band called The Lemon Kittens; then, in the early '80s, she went solo for three albums that came out in the U.K. on her own label. In 1988, she finally had some of her material released in the U.S., including the ominous electro-thump-and-yowl of “Big Hollow Man†and the sexy, careening frenzy of “Cat-House.â€She was big of hair, with make-up and garb that flitted between glamorous and extreme. A visual artist, she confected some of her own album covers, but she was her own best canvas - occasionally sporting candy-colored body paint in performance, and little else. She appeared as the Wolfgirl in director Neil Jordan’s 1984 feature “The Company of Wolves,†a subversive take on the “Little Red Riding Hood†fairy tale. Ow-ooooo! In sound and persona, think a less sinister, British-born Nina Hagen.Here’s the 1988 promo vid of “Big Hollow Manâ€:Her last two albums dropped in 1995: a career retrospective double-disc and an EP of new, mostly instrumental compositions. Most recently, she’s been doing spoken-word performances and working as an interior designer.Although Dax had a devoted underground following, she was never a notable commercial success. On the other hand, she was striking, creative and fun. And she had the cojones to cover a beloved Beatles tune – appropriately enough, one that’s looked upon as quite mind-expanding. Luckily, there’s a video of Dax doing her new-wavy version of “Tomorrow Never Knows†from the 1990 album Blast the Human Flower. It was a good match of artist and material, although watching the clip today, it’s clear that she was beginning to emphasize her alluring, glam side and restrain her freakier tendencies. Ah, well.
Locating MOG account...
Comments (15)