Oh To Be 14 Again...

Good evening bloggers and blogerettes. Many things go swirling through my head this evening as I sit down to build my second post, but at the forefront of my mind (not by choice) is the CONSTANT media bombardment of Twilight promos this week. Watching this frenzy of hormonally-intoxicated teeny boppers reminds me of my most formidable teen years. In the late nineties and early millennium, there were certainly comparable crazes to that of The Twilight Saga, though my memories naturally take me more toward the musical fads of my generation rather than those of cinema.

These are a few that stick out most prominently whilst I reminisce:


Remember when she was the hottest thing around? Yeah, this was before she started slamming Cheetos and Red Bull, sucking down cigs, getting knocked up, shaving her head, blah blah blah. If I remember correctly, she was even touting her virginity and abstinence-until-marriage policy like a bad infomercial. Well people, now she's singing about threesomes.




And how about these gems. Most of 'em fell off....except Timberlake of course, whose golden decision was probably de-flowering, then dumping, the aforementioned.



Then there's these guys. I specifically selected this particular photog for its beauty, composition and BLATANT HOMOEROTICISM!!! Love it.



Finally, remember little miss "I'm a genie in a bottle, baby. Come and rub me the right way." Nothing better than hearing a pre-pubescent little girl recite those lyrics repeatedly....although I do remember my sister and I doing spectacularly choreographed dance routines to "Like A Virgin" by Madonna.




Now that we've established and re-hashed what was considered popular music when I was a youngster, let us take a gander at what I, Little Lizzie, was obsessing over as I anxiously awaited the acquisition of my learner's permit.
Always deviating from the norm, as a little girl I was most interested in female super-heroes. My father and I would take weekend trips to "Atomic Comics," where I would deliberately seek out issues of X-Men that most featured the female mutants. Storm was my personal fave. As I got older, rather than comic book characters, I became completely taken with Riot Grrrl culture and musicians associated with such feminist stylings. My first days of using the internet were Yahoo searches of various metal, hard rock, and punk bands with female instrumentalists and/or lead singers. Here were my top picks...yes, I still have this stuff on my ipod.

NUMBER ONE: L7. I will always love L7. They had one moderately popular album, Bricks are Heavy, with one kinda sorta popular single, "Pretend We're Dead." Now instead of hunting through X-Men comic books for Storm's phenomenal powers of weather control, I was flipping through independent rock and alternative music magazines looking for an occasional glimpse of them. I remember sharing a famous story with my mother at that time, not yet mature enough to understand how terribly repulsed she would be. L7 was invited for one single year to Lollapalooza. Remember that? Gee, those were the days. The most famous (infamous) member of the band, Donita Sparks, in anger with fans who were tossing mud onto the stage, pulled a tampon from her body, and tossed it into the crowd. Gag, I know. I selected this particular image because I actually have a signed poster of this exact photo, something I obtained at one of about seven or eight of their live shows I attended.



A close second to L7 is probably the industry standard of Riot Grrl music, and possibly the most well known in association with the term. This is Bikini Kill, the lead singer, Kathleen Hanna, was actually a bitter and jaded ex-stripper, who wrote lyrics about a true experience she had being raped at a young age. No question why she was angry. She is now a part of an outstanding electronic trio called Le Tigre. You should check 'em out.



Next is Veruca Salt. Many of you probably already know them, as they toured with Bush in the late 90's and had a few popular radio singles. I selected this image, rather than a photo of the band, because it is the same print on a t-shirt I purchased at their show, the very first concert I ever attended. I still own it and it's actually one of my most prized possessions.



Finally is Babes in Toyland. The only interesting fact I have about them is that this was actually one of Courtney Love's first bands. I believe it was the band she was in prior to Hole. The group ultimately kicked her out because they couldn't stand the crazy biznatch.




So that concludes my little walk down memory lane. I hope you've enjoyed it. Feel free to post a comment with some of the things YOU were most into in your early teen years. And since you were so kind to stick with me through all of my cumbersome writing, for your viewing pleasure:




Here I am in 1999, at age 15. This was about a month after I shaved my head and dyed it purple. If you could see the rest of the photo, you would know I was wearing a dress made entirely of black vinyl, and some unnecessarily tall Doc Martin boots.

Cheers!