Babes in Toyland were a band formed in Minneapolis in 1987. Members
included Kat Bjelland (guitar and vocals), Lori Barbero (drums) and
Michelle Leon (bass), who left the band and was
replaced by Maureen Herman in 1992.
Biography
The band achieved notoriety through Bjelland's "baby doll" image--sometimes referred to as the kinderwhore look--which contrasted dramatically with the raw power of her singing voice and her aggressive
lyrics.
The band's first major label album, Fontanelle, sold around 200,000 copies.
The lead song on the album, "Bruise Violet," is said to be an attack on Courtney Love of
Hole: "You see the stars through eyes lit up with lies/You got your stories all twisted up
in mine." (Love is a former bandmate of Bjelland's.) However, in a recent interview Bjelland has denied this, saying instead that
"Violet" was the name of a muse to both her and Courtney. The song's video was shown on Beavis and Butt-Head, where the band was described as "chicks" who could "rock."
The band was picked to take part in the 1993 Lollapalooza tour.
While the band was inspirational to many performers in the riot grrrl movement, they never
participated directly.
The band was the subject of the 1994 book Babes in Toyland: The Making and Selling of a Rock and Roll Band by Neal
Karlen, which dealt with the band's signing to Warner and the recording of Fontanelle. (Bjelland described the book as
being "like cartoon caricatures of us," while Herman said that Karlen "would make a great fiction writer"--Minneapolis Star
Tribune, August 18, 1994.) The band also appears in the 1992 documentary 1991:
The Year Punk Broke.
On April 8, 1994, Babes in Toyland played a benefit show for
Rock Against Domestic Violence with 7 Year Bitch, and Jack
Off Jill in Miami at the Cameo Theater, the same day lead-singer of American grunge rock band Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, had been found dead in his Seattle home.
Babes were featured on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, and were referenced in an episode of the sitcom
Roseanne as well as an episode of Absolutely Fabulous.
The band split and reformed throughout the 1990s, losing their record label when Herman left
the band in 1996. Dana Cochrane, formerly of the band Mickey Finn, played bass with the band on
live gigs in 1996.[1] Leon briefly rejoined for a short
period in 1997. In 1998, the band was credited with the song Overtura: Astroantiquity/Attacatastrophy on the CD Songs
of the Witchblade: A Soundtrack to the Comic Book, which Bjelland co-produced. Bjelland
and Barbero played with a new bassist, Jesse Farmer, in 2000 (St. Paul Pioneer Press, November 24, 2000). But a year
earlier, Bjelland had formed a new band, Katastrophy Wife, which seemed to replace Babes as her main vehicle. Babes in Toyland
(with Farmer on bass) played a reunion show billed as "The Last Tour" on November 21, 2001--released as a live album called
Minneapolism--and this seems to be the last official Babes activity; Bjelland played some shows in Europe in 2002 as Babes
in Toyland with a new drummer and bassist, but stopped using the name after Barbero and Herman raised legal issues.[2]
Members
Previous Members
- Michelle Leon – bass
- Cindy Russell - vocals
- Kris Holetz - bass
- Jessie Farmer – bass
- Dana Cochrane – bass
- Maggie Dunne – bass
Discography
Albums and EPs
Other releases
| Title |
Year |
Type |
Label |
US Sales |
| Natural Babe Killers |
2000 |
Compilation album |
Recall Records |
|
| Collectors Item |
2001 |
Compilation album |
Digimode Entertainment |
|
| The Further Adventures of Babes In Toyland |
2001 |
Compilation album |
Fuel 2000 Records |
|
Singles
Charts
Contributions
| Year |
Title |
Album |
Label |
| 1989 |
"Watching Girl" |
Every Band Has A Shonen Knife Who Loves Them |
Giant Records |
| 1991 |
"Handsome & Gretel" |
Indie Top 20 Volume 13 |
Beechwood Music |
| 1991 |
"Ripe" |
New Season - The Peel Sessions |
Strange Fruit |
| 1991 |
"Fresh Crawl" |
Teriyaki Asthma Vols. I-V |
C/Z Records |
| 1991 |
House |
The Grunge Years |
Sub Pop Records |
| 1992 |
Handsome & Gretel |
Best Of Independent |
Beechwood Music |
| 1992 |
Sometimes |
Volume 4 |
Volmume |
| 1993 |
Dirty |
Milk for Pussy |
Mad Queen Records |
| 1993 |
Dust Cake Boy |
Sonic Youth In 1991: The Year Punk Broke (VHS) |
Geffen Home Video |
| 1994 |
Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft |
If I Were A Carpenter |
A&M Records |
| 1994 |
Say What You Want |
S.F.W. |
A&M Records |
| 1995 |
Sweet '69 |
Alternative Final Mix 11 |
Warner Music |
| 1995 |
More, More, More |
Spirit Of '73: Rock For Choice |
550 Music |
| 1995 |
Sweet '69 |
Triple J: This Is Twelve - Too Louder Compilation |
Australian Broadcasting Corporation |
| 1996 |
Handsome & Gretel (Live) |
Volume Fourteen - Reading '95 Special |
Volume |
| 1998 |
Overtura: Astroantiquity |
Songs Of The Witchblade |
Dreamworks |
Videography
- 1991: The Year Punk Broke
- The Best of Kat Bjelland and Babes in Toyland (DVD part contains Music videos, making
of albums, and live preformances)
Bookography
| Year |
Title |
Author |
Label |
| 1991 |
'Babes in Toyland Lyric Book |
Babes in Toyland |
Twin Tone Records |
| 1994 |
The Making & Selling of a Rock & Roll Band |
Neal Karlen |
Avon Books |
References
External links
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