Wednesday July 22, 2020 “Aint That Peculiar” Fanny (1970s)
“They were extraordinary: they wrote everything, they played like motherf*ckers, they were just colossal and wonderful, and nobody's ever mentioned them.” David Bowie speaking about the female rock group Fanny.
It was the early 70’s and although they were not the first all female band, that would be Goldie & the Gingerbreads (? ), they were the first to bring talent and a real rock & roll audacity and attitude into both the studio and their live performances and the first group to release an album on a major label.
Started by the Millington sisters, June & Jean, as the Svelts and then Wild Honey they labored in the male dominated rock business until producer Richard Perry saw them perform at the Troubadour and worked with them to put together their first albums/CDs.
Richard Perry produced acts like Carly Simon, Diana Ross, Martha Reeves, Neil Diamond, Ringo Starr and others who achieved enormous success, so why not Fanny too? The closest they came was as the studio band for Barbra Streisand on her album/CD “Barbra Joan Streisand”, probably not what Fanny had in mind.
Fanny also worked with other notable producers like Geoff Emerick (Beatles) and Todd Rundgren but never seemed to be the right sound, in the right place at the right time. The Runaways (Joan Jett), the Bangles and the Go-Gos have all cited Fanny as their key influence. An undiscovered treasure, enjoy Fanny and check out some of their other tunes.
Stay safe and well...and enjoy Fanny’s cover of “Aint That Peculiar” and you will probably wonder why Marvin Gaye had the hit with it and they didn’t.
