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- Michael H. Carriere is Director of the Milwaukee School of Engineering University Scholar’s and Honors Program.
- Last week, Mayor Cavalier Johnson issued a mayoral proclamation declaring the day “Violent Women’s Day.”
- This is a welcome step in exploring the city’s rich culture, which then requires efforts to attract residents, artists and tourists.
One of the most important records in American alternative music was made by a young Milwaukee trio. On April 13, 1983, Milwaukee-based Violent Femmes, featuring vocalist/guitarist Gordon Gano, bassist Brian Ritchie, and drummer Victor DeLorenzo, released his self-titled debut on the venerable independent record label Slash Records. I released an album.
Despite being a bit unlike other acts of the time, the Femmes’ folk-punk sound resonated with listeners and critics alike. The band’s first his album sold over three million copies and inspired generations of musicians around the world. The evolution of alternative music, now a multi-billion dollar industry, cannot be told without mentioning violent women. Their roots are right here in Milwaukee. Bands have honed their skills by playing on the streets and clubs of the city.
But for most of the last 40 years, this fact has been overlooked by many in the city. Thankfully, that is starting to change. On April 13, 2023, Cavalier Her Mayor Johnson issued a mayoral proclamation declaring the day “Violent Women’s Day.” While the declaration is a step in the right direction, it should not be the only way to commemorate the band’s legacy, and at the same time, marking the 40th anniversary of the release of Violent Femmes’ debut album, the band’s I was given the opportunity to think about Milwaukee’s broader cultural history that helped shape it. As Milwaukee continues to redefine itself for her 21st century, we see a useful past here. This highlights that Milwaukee is both a cultural innovator and a music artist’s paradise.
more:‘It’s a Miracle:’ Violent Femmes Reflects on 40th Anniversary, Reissues Compilation Album ‘Add It Up’
Perhaps the most notable aspect of the Violent Femmes’ first record was the way it combined a myriad of musical genres into something new and exciting. While all members of the band were drawn to the raw energy of punk rock, both Richie and DeLorenzo were also tapping into the city’s vibrant jazz scene. Gano, on the other hand, spent much of the early 1980s exploring Milwaukee’s coffeehouses and folk clubs, often playing open mic nights in such places.The band’s first song on his album was , drawn from all these experiences. Ritchie explains: It was original. It was jazzy. It was folk. But it was clearly pop and punk music. “
But such an eclectic sound would not develop without the opportunity to engage with such different genres. Milwaukee provided these opportunities by the dawn of the 1980s. The Starship (634 N.5)th Street) and Oriental Theater (2230 N. Farwell Ave.) brought punk and post-punk bands to town, while Benny’s It All Cafe (2608 N. Downer Ave., now in the basement of Café Hollander) and Metropole (now The Miramar Theater (2844 N. Oakland Avenue) has booked well-known folk artists and singer-songwriters such as Jonathan Richman and Nico, while the Jazz Gallery in the Riverwest neighborhood (926 E. Center Street) has hosted Sun Ra , Dexter Gordon, Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and other celebrities.Members of the Violent Femmes attended shows at these venues, and all members praised Sun Ra’s performance as being particularly transformative. I explained.
By 1981, band members were also playing at such venues. We played together at Benny’s It All Cafe. Milwaukee musician Paul Seaver convinced jazz gallery owner Chuck LaPaglia to let violent women perform at his club. “There was a certain inevitability about something being so good,” recalls Cebar. The band frequently performed at jazz galleries, using the club as a place to try out new material. According to Ritchie, the Jazz Gallery was “an incubator that allowed the development of repertoires and approaches recorded since the first album”.
Other cultural spaces besides music clubs were also integral to the band’s development. DeLorenzo came to Milwaukee to study comparative literature, music and theater, and was soon asked to join Theater X, an influential theater company housed at the Water Street Arts Center at the time (DeLorenzo Willem, who was trying his luck at leaving the city, replaced Defoe). New York City – a good choice on the Dafoe side). Theater X allowed DeLorenzo to set up a drum set on his vacant third floor of the building, where he could jam with various musicians.

But there was more to the band’s relationship with theater than just practicality. “I was always drawn to acting,” DeLorenzo says. Joining Femmes made DeLorenzo think: [band members] It was a character cast in some kind of drama. Not surprisingly, a strong theatricality soon influenced both the band’s live performances and his studio recordings. The band often took to the stage in spectacular fashion, with flashy paisley shirts (Ritchie) and bathrobes (Gano). On the band’s debut album, Gano’s lyrics and vocals are wonderfully over the top, perfectly and timelessly capturing the “role” of a disaffected teenager.

Such qualities made the band’s first album, in Gano’s words, “a generational legacy.” It is this staying power that signals the need to honor the band’s importance in Milwaukee’s history. The rise of alternative music is an important chapter in the story of 20th-century American music. Violent women played a key role in its rise. They deserve multiple mayoral declarations.
Importantly, any effort to further honor the Violent Femmes must begin the process of commemorating the cultural infrastructure that allowed the band to reach such heights. Milwaukee’s efforts to find a “post-industrial” identity have been uneven at best. Other cities explore the cultural history of the region and seek to use these histories to attract residents, artists and tourists, but Milwaukee is not yet fully involved in such a process. This is where the important work begins.
Michael H. Carriere is the Director of the Milwaukee School of Engineering University Scholar’s and Honors Program and Associate Professor in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Communications Departments.
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