PRETEND WE’RE DEAD: THE RISE, FALL, AND RESURRECTION OF WOMEN OF ROCK IN THE ’90s – HARDCOVER – BOOK

Description

A refreshing and much-needed contribution to the male-dominated history of rock n roll.Kirkus Reviews

From the founder of the Women of Rock Oral History Project, an exploration of women in the 90s rock scene, featuring original interviewswithLiz Phair, Shirley Manson, Kristin Hersh, Donita Sparks, Tanya Donelly, members of Hole, Luscious Jackson, Veruca Salt, Babes in Toyland, and more

In 2018, during an interviewwith journalist Tanya Pearson, Shirley Mansonlamented: Its a blanket fact that after September 11th, nonconformist women were taken off the radio. This commentechoeda reality Pearson had personally witnessed as a musician and a fan, and launched her into a quest to figure out just what happened tothese extraordinary female figures.

PRETEND WERE DEADseeks to answer two big questions: First, where did all these wildly different, politically conscious, and supremely talented women in rock come from in the 1990s? And second, after their unprecedented breakout,whydid they vanish from the mainstream by the early aughts? Along with analysis and narrative,PRETEND WERE DEADis built on exclusive interviews with the unfiltered voices of legends including: Shirley Manson, Melissa Auf der Maur, Patty Schemel, Kate Schellenbach, Nina Gordon, Louise Post, Josephine Wiggs, Tanya Donelly, Kristin Hersh, Tracy Bonham, Donita Sparks, Liz Phair, Zia McCabe, Tracy Bonham, Lori Barbero, Josephine Wiggs, and Jill Emery.Throughthought-provoking conversations,these womenexplore how they fell in love with music and started bands; fought labels, their coverage in the media, and sexism; and wrote deeply political and feminist music. Readers alsolearn about the effects of Woodstock 99, the corporatization of the music industry, the rise of Clear Channel and its ties to the Bush administration, and finally the nationalist sentiment after 9/11.

While sonically diverse,thesemusicians all wrote fierce, socially conscious, feminist lyrics, andPRETEND WERE DEADcommemoratesand celebratesthe overlooked contributions oftrue trailblazers.