The Little Records: Babes in Toyland (Part 1)
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December is the month of the phonograph record. I made that up. But it is. I'll be observing it all month at my mog and I encourage you to observe it with me. For the original post declaring December the month of the phonograph record, click here. Join the conversation!
Years ago, I was a punk rock drummer. Years ago, when I was a punk rock drummer, this happened:I was at a party at Babes in Toyland drummer Lori Barbero's house. It was in the basement of her house - where Babes practiced. In the basement people were passing instruments and making music. I watched for awhile. It was okay. After a few rotations it was Kat Bjelland with her guitar (Kat sang and played guitar in Babes), Lori at her drums, and through the fog of memory I think I see a guy from Jonestown playing bass. Again, it was okay. It was okay and it was amazing: I was pressed against musicians I had loved since my teens in a basement where my head knocked against pipes. I was in high school when I bought the Babes in Toyland Peel Sessions on 10" vinyl. I had never heard them. My record player (which I bought from my mom's stylist) was broken so I went to a friend's house and put it on in his bedroom while he lifted weights in another room. I stared at the picture on the cover. I didn't know any women who looked like they did. They looked like they knew things I didn't even know I didn't know. The music was blistering. I was entranced. I was 17 and I felt so young when I looked at them and listened to them. All of my friends were guys. Would I ever know women like that? In Lori's basement I was not thinking about being 17. In my friend's bedroom, I would never have guessed what was going to happen in Lori's basement.Lori stopped playing and motioned me over with her sticks. I made my way to her and she put the sticks in my hand. I sat down at her drums and looked at Kat. Kat smiled and scraped at her low strings. The guy from Jonestown handed the bass to Michelle Leon, who had left Babes years earlier and had been succeeded by a parade of less perfect matches. All I knew about Michelle was that sometime after she had left the band, she had opened a flower shop. What happened next is hazy at best. Did we make good music or bad music? I was not in the moment - I was outside of it and outside of myself. I only knew that I - or somebody who looked and played like me - was playing drums in Babes in Toyland. Women I had first met on an album cover were looking at me, then at their instruments, then back at me again. It didn't last long. After just a few minutes I did the right thing: I handed the sticks back to Lori, stood close to her, and watched a Babes in Toyland reunion.
Years ago, I was a punk rock drummer. Years ago, when I was a punk rock drummer, this happened:I was at a party at Babes in Toyland drummer Lori Barbero's house. It was in the basement of her house - where Babes practiced. In the basement people were passing instruments and making music. I watched for awhile. It was okay. After a few rotations it was Kat Bjelland with her guitar (Kat sang and played guitar in Babes), Lori at her drums, and through the fog of memory I think I see a guy from Jonestown playing bass. Again, it was okay. It was okay and it was amazing: I was pressed against musicians I had loved since my teens in a basement where my head knocked against pipes. I was in high school when I bought the Babes in Toyland Peel Sessions on 10" vinyl. I had never heard them. My record player (which I bought from my mom's stylist) was broken so I went to a friend's house and put it on in his bedroom while he lifted weights in another room. I stared at the picture on the cover. I didn't know any women who looked like they did. They looked like they knew things I didn't even know I didn't know. The music was blistering. I was entranced. I was 17 and I felt so young when I looked at them and listened to them. All of my friends were guys. Would I ever know women like that? In Lori's basement I was not thinking about being 17. In my friend's bedroom, I would never have guessed what was going to happen in Lori's basement.Lori stopped playing and motioned me over with her sticks. I made my way to her and she put the sticks in my hand. I sat down at her drums and looked at Kat. Kat smiled and scraped at her low strings. The guy from Jonestown handed the bass to Michelle Leon, who had left Babes years earlier and had been succeeded by a parade of less perfect matches. All I knew about Michelle was that sometime after she had left the band, she had opened a flower shop. What happened next is hazy at best. Did we make good music or bad music? I was not in the moment - I was outside of it and outside of myself. I only knew that I - or somebody who looked and played like me - was playing drums in Babes in Toyland. Women I had first met on an album cover were looking at me, then at their instruments, then back at me again. It didn't last long. After just a few minutes I did the right thing: I handed the sticks back to Lori, stood close to her, and watched a Babes in Toyland reunion.
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