Rockbitch - Bitchcraft

About Rockbitch:

Rockbitch was an expat, British, mostly female, Celtic punk/metal/goth band, best known for performing nude and incorporating sexual acts and Pagan rituals into their performances.

History

Rockbitch was originally formed as Red Abyss by bassist Amanda, who drew other band members from the matriarchal, polyamorous, pagan, feminist community of which she was the prime founder.
Musically, Red Abyss drew on jazz, funk and rock influences dominated by singer Julie's Janis Joplin-influenced vocals. In time, its music took on harder punk and metal edginess. Red Abyss switched to the Rockbitch name when the lineup changed: a male drummer (Steve) was replaced by Jo. The line up varied over time with other characters such as 'Luci the Stage Slut', 'The Haema-Whore', Kali and Erzulie the Sex Magik Priestesses all making appearances.
The former two were primarily a combination of sexual performance artist and gonzo-camera team; capturing closeups of stage action to be displayed on the projection screen at the rear. They were also responsible for the cued playing of prepared art videos of subject matter relating to the songs. These included child clitoridectomy, public stonings of adulterous women, binge/vomiting models, etc.
The latter two were primarily sexually explicit performers, described as 'Archetypes of the Dark Feminine psyche' personifying Kali, the Hindu Goddess of death, and Erzulie, the Voudoo Goddess of Love.
At its intended last gig (at a biker festival), the decision to incorporate the orgiastic, pagan sex from its home life into the stage act gave birth to Rockbitch.^{[citation needed]}
The band toured Germany, France, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, the UK, (but were banned from venues in Scotland), Italy, Spain, Finland, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Estonia and did a promotional tour that involved Canada (but were eventually also banned from the intended venues without having played), while instituting its new theme of liberation through sexual freedom.
Rockbitch became infamous not only for performing live sex acts, but also doing so with audience members via "The Golden Condom". At a point during its show, a condom was tossed to the crowd and whoever caught it (male or female) was taken backstage for sexual relations with one or more band members.^[1]
This led to critics saying they tried to use sex and paganism to sell bad music; however, fellow musicians from disciplines as varied as jazz (bassist Jonas Hellborg) have voiced their appreciation.^{[citation needed]}
Rockbitch toured widely from approximately 1998 until 2002, meeting increasing resistance from authorities, particularly English, German and Norwegian town councils who often banned its concerts.
Because of the banning in Almelo in the Netherlands, Dutch TV producer TVAmsterdam caught attention on the band, and was forced by a non-Dutch "manager" to arrange a concert in a town outside Amsterdam (Zaandam), to record the show as it went, adding some extra footage to complete the documentary "Bitchcraft".
It was local authorities, not the public itself, who caused a struggle. Babe stated in the program Anna in Wonderland : "Rockbitch had no problem with lads out for seeing breasts, as they were a component of the audience, there were always others seeing the deeper meaning and both groups had a good time. They generally made up for a great combined atmosphere".^[2]
Outside the UK (and censorship problems it also encountered in some states of Germany)^{[citation needed]} audiences were sympathetic, particularly in Holland, where they drew vast crowds of men and women from all walks of life.^{[citation needed]}
The Rockbitch lineup became entirely female in 2000. Original lead guitarist Tony (known as 'The Beast') retired, taking over management/production. Alexandra (known as 'Babe') moved into lead guitar duties (from rhythm) while Luci, previously a "Stage Slut" (one of the nude dancers and sexual band/crowd liaisons), instead strapped on a rhythm guitar.

Activism

Members lent their voices to female and sexual issues, were winners of the yearly prize at the Sex Maniacs Ball (now Night of the Senses) founded by Tuppy Owens, openly voiced their admiration for sexual politics icons such as Annie Sprinkle and Betty Dodson, and generally put in a good word for open female sexuality as a healthy part of human nature.^[3]
Via the Rockbitch website, on which members could also view their community life, the band had contact with straight/bi/lesbian women reaching as far as Borneo, Chile, Japan, India and the US, all of whom expressed a sense of empowerment and justification by the stated beliefs of Rockbitch.^{[citation needed]}

Dissolution

After the release of its first studio album, Motor Driven Bimbo, which received critical acclaim in many countries (OOR Magazine in The Netherlands, the UK, and Japan),^{[citation needed]} Rockbitch was dropped by its record company.
A second, goth-influenced album called Psychic Attack, which featured the song "I Wish I Were" written by American poetess Erzsebet Beck, was never released.
Following continued pressure from British Interpol about its sexually driven themes and performances, Rockbitch ceased performing in 2002 and was the subject of a 30-minute documentary on BBC Choice the same year.^[4] A further, hour-long documentary was broadcast on Channel 5 in the UK in 2003.^[5]
In 2005, the entire latter-day Rockbitch lineup emerged under the name MT-TV. This was a music-only project—no sex or nudity of the Rockbitch days—but it incorporated stage theatrics. After a UK tour in summer 2005, they performed throughout the United States.^{[citation needed]}
Amanda and Jo subsequently went on to form the band Syren with singer/songwriter Erin Bennett in 2006. Jo died from cancer on 11 January 2012.^[6]


Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockbitch

More Info: http://www.discogs.com/Rockbitch-Bitchcraft/release/2236840
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298524/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rockbitch-Rock-Bitch-Bitchcraft-Video/dp/B001PPPLRQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343327852&sr=8-1
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL242F9B96A423A99D

http://www.rockbitch.com/
http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/rockbitches/motordrivenbimbo.html&date=2009-10-26+01:46:12
http://www.mttv.vldesign.com/