Betty Blowtorch Last Call
By
Frank Meyer,
Contributing Editor
Friday, August 29, 2003 @ 11:28 PM
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The death of Betty Blowtorch singer/bassist Bianca Butthole marked the end of a truly great band that was clearly headed for superstardom. Their debut album Are You Man Enough? was well received by press and fans alike and the buzz on them was big time when she was tragically killed in car accident in on December 15, 2001. A genuine talent, charismatic frontgal and nice person to boot, Bianca was mourned by her friends and fans, who have still not gotten over her death. Last Call is part of the healing process.
Released by the folks who put out Are You Man Enough?, Foodchain Records, and overseen by the surviving band members, Last Call is a 29-track thick collection of rarities, outtakes, demos, live tracks and radio interviews. Beginning with her tenure in L.A.’s Butt Trumpet and careening right through Betty’s touring days toward the end, this compilation will surely please fans of this great group and maybe even turn on some new ones.
Here you get live renditions of favorites such as “Rock My World,” “Size Queen,” and “Hell On Wheels,” alongside tracks off their Duff McKagan-produced indie EP Get Off, such as “Party ‘Till Ya Puke” and “Fish Taco.” Always armed with a sense of humor, rarities include such gut-busters as “I Wanna Be On Epitaph,” “Diarrhea,” and “Teenage Whore.” We even get acoustic renditions of early tunes like “Funeral Crashing Tonight” and “Ode To Dickhead.” Better still are cuts from a completely unreleased EP and demos of tunes that never made it to record.
The real treat here, though, is the hilarious interviews that find the girls in terrific spirits, which is nice considering their bad blood towards the end of their career before Bianca died. The gals wax philosophically about Johnny Depp, riding in limos, rock star life and female cleansing techniques, much to the chagrin of the bashful WLIR DJ. It’s nice to hear Bianca, guitarists Blare N. Bitch and Sharon Needles and drummer Judy Molish in such good spirits. Fun stuff all around.
Fan of the Double B will cream over these lost nuggets, while friends of Bianca will surely shed a tear as her voice carries through the speakers like a ghost from rock ‘n’ roll past. You died too young, girl. We love ya.
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