Today is the birthday of singer and guitarist Lydia
Lunch, who was born in 1959 in Rochester, New York.
Confrontational, unabashed and unapologetic, Lunch has
made a name for herself as a vocalist of considerable clout as
well as a performance artist to rival Madonna at her most
bawdy. At 16 she joined her first band, Teenage Jesus and
the Jerks, using her stark vocal range to alternately shriek or
chant in monotone. In 1980 she left the group and began
recording solo records, beginning in 1980 with Queen of
Siam. Lunch continued working with other musicians in a
number of projects, including 8 Eyed Spy and the Devil
Dogs, before moving to California and starting her own
band, 13.13.
Lunch also collaborated with California folks like the
Birthday Party on their EP, The Agony is the Ecstasy, and
with Exene Cervenka in a book called Adulterers Anonymous. Throughout the 1980s Lunch
gave spoken-word performances, leading to the formation in 1984 of Widowspeak Productions
for the release of her own and others' writing. Lunch also appeared in two films by underground
producer Richard Kern, including Right Side of My Brain, with Henry Rollins, and Fingered,
and in Beth B's Thanatopsis
Lunch has continued to write, record and collaborate; in the late 1980s she formed Harry Crews
with Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon, and recorded The Crumb with Sonic Youth's Thurston
Moore. She's taught at the San Francisco Art Institute and in 1993 released a three-CD box set of
her spoken word performances called Crimes Against Nature. In 1995 Lunch again hooked up
with Cervenka to record Rude Heiroglyphics.
Other birthdays: Charlie Watts (Rolling Stones), William Guest (Gladys Knight & the Pips),
Antone "Chubby" Tavares (Tavares), Marvin Hamilisch, Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet),
Michael Steele (Bangles) and Tiffany. -- Beth Winegarner