Gimme, Gimme Nikki! Nikki Corvette on being a pop-punk pioneer
by Chris Parcellin
The mainstream music scene of the late '70s and early '80s was dominated by the soulless slush churned out by such AOR dinosaur acts as Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, Rod Stewart and the Eagles. But bubbling up from the rock underground were bands like The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, The Runaways and The Dead Boys, amongst others.

One of the best of this pack of upstarts was lead by the phenomenally cute 'n' punky Nikki Corvette. She released a couple of ragged-but-right indie singles, and then followed with her classic Bomp! album in 1981. It was chockfull of catchy punk anthems that were jam-packed with the kind of bouncy pop hooks that Phil Spector would've killed for. Unfortunately, the LP--though critically lauded and revered by a devoted cult following--essentially sank without a trace. And it seemed like a typically sad ending, given the rapid downward trajectory of most punk/new wave acts of the day.

But, when it comes to rock'n'roll, the great stuff lives forever. Bomp!, in their infinite wisdom, re-released the '81 album and two singles on the self-titled CD "Nikki and the Corvettes." The raw grit of the singles provide a neat contrast to the (comparatively) polished punk gems from the longplayer. "Songs like "Young & Crazy" and "He's A Mover" have plenty of bite, while "I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend" and "Summertime Fun" are a frothier brand of girl group-esque pop.

In the late-'90s Nikki reemerged as an author with "Rock'n'Roll Heaven" (Boulevard/Berkeley) a book chronicling the stories of some of rock's greatest talents who met an early demise. And as an inspiration to such current girl rockers as The Donnas, who pay tribute to Ms. Corvette in their song "Gimmie My Radio!" Hmmm, maybe the Donnas are smarter than I thought...


Did you grow up in Detroit? Who were some of the artists that influenced you and why?
I did grow up in Detroit with several short-term residences in New York, Las Vegas and LA a couple times. In 1983 I finally moved to LA and I've been here ever since. In some form, music has always been a really important part of my life and I grew up listening to everthing. For shows, clubs and concerts, living in Detroit was great musically. It was Motown AND Detroit Rock City so everybody played there and I saw every show I could. I even saw bands I didn't like as much because I wanted to absorb all of it. I liked so many different bands but the stuff that inspired me the most was very Motor City, loud, dirty guitars and often more underground, outcast types. I like wild abandon and craziness onstage, where it feels like you're at the best party with the most fun people. At different times, its been different music - Rockabilly, Girl Groups, Punk Rock, The Beach Boys and more but more than anything it would have to be The MC5, Iggy and The Stooges, The New York Dolls and The Faces. Thats where I learned about stage presence (and then some), the sexuality, aggression and absolute power of rock'nroll to consume you fully and I was hooked..

Were you a rebellious kid?
I was a rebellious/nice girl, left home when I was 16 cuz my mom wouldn't let me see The MC5 and lived with my boyfriend and his band but I stayed in school and was still a good student. I went to dangerous clubs, hung out with White Panthers and went on tour with bands while I was still in high school, but was still very close with my family.

Was singing something you always aspired to?
I always wanted to be a singer but never thought my voice was good enough OR rock'n'roll enough. I actually got in a band accidently because I talked about it constantly and this musician I knew booked me a show. Put a band together with Pete and we all learned the songs seperately, my first show was the first time I sang in a mike, sang with a band and sang onstage, as the headliners no less. From there we got booked for the next three months and no looking back.


I think you said in another interview that you weren't happy with how the vocals sounded on the album?
Yeah the original LP made us sound like The Chipmunks (and if you look at the original cover maybe they just wanted a cartoon band). I think it was the record company that raised the pitch or maybe they convinced Pete James (guitar/producer) that it was the right thing. I'm not really sure, we were pretty naive and at the time I was just so amazed to be in a band much less have a record deal AND recording an album. There were some things we weren't very happy about but they remastered the CD and thats what it should sound like.

I definitely liked some of the rawer-sounding tracks.
Which stuff did you like the best on there?
My most favorite song is 'Young and Crazy'. It sums up who I was and what we were trying to be and its a little rough around the edges. There are only a couple songs I don't especially like but I like the newer songs like 'I Gotta Move' because its a little more grown up and while still fun the musics a little harder.

Did you consider the stuff you were doing to be punk?
It was a constant battle between me and Pete, he wanted a poppier sound and I wanted to be a punk chick, very much like 'You Make Me Crazy', that was what we were like. He won out more in the studio but live was my way. We definitely came across harder on stage but our live sound never quite transcended to record. I was friends with alot of punk bands, they would come see us play, do shows with us and invite us to open tours so we were accepted as kind of a poppier punk then real hardcore stuff.



What sort of prejudicial stuff did you encounter being a female artist...?
Some bands (no names here but much bigger then us) had us taken off shows when they found out there were girls in the band but the clubs felt bad and gave us other, sometimes better shows. I was booking our shows and making travel plans, enforcing rules about drugs and alcohol (before shows). Some of the guys didn't like a girl telling them what to do, some of them thought being in the band meant I'd sleep with them and some got pissed off cuz I got more attention so we went through quite a few musicians. Luckily I was friends with most of the musicians in town so it wasn't that hard to get replacements (sometimes temporarily) I have a strong sense of self so I ignored the bad stuff. I was determined to do everything I wanted, take it as far as possible and pretty much did.


How did it feel when you heard about The Donnas tune "Gimmie My Radio'?
I had heard The Donnas mentioned me in one of their songs but was totally floored the first time I actually heard "Gimmie My Radio". That's when it really hit me they were people out there finding our music and they finally got it. It gave it a validation to all those years people didn't understand who we were. Yeah, it was fun music about rock'n'roll, cars and boys - it was about my life and my life was FUN!
NIKKI ANSWERS A FEW MORE OF OUR QUESTIONS:
Are you playing any gigs these days?
I hadn't performed since sometime in the mid 80's but then a few weeks ago I played the Bubblegum Ball backed up by a great all-girl band called The Pinkz and it rocked!! Got great press, a good crowd (it was at a roller rink and was the most fun I've had in a long time. Playing rock'n'roll again is like being home, didn't know how much I missed it. I've already gotten offers to play LA, San Francisco, Vegas and New York so I think I'm going to see where it takes me this time and just have as much fun as I possibly can (and probably more).

You had a book published a couple years ago called "Rock'n'Roll Heaven", can you tell us a bit about that?
Well quite a few of my friends, as well as myself are interested in rock star deaths and visiting their graves but only knew where a few people were buried. People like to play tribute to people who inspired and entertained them. My original idea was a sort of encyclopedia of rock'n'roll death, a page for each musician ( and a few honorary members) with a brief description of their career, how they died and where they were buried. It was so much harder than I thought but I'm really proud to have actually finished it much less get it published. The problem is, the final product was not the book I envisioned, some facts were changed and even my writing was changed - including some of my viewpoints. Oh well, live and learn, disappointing but next time I will do the publishing, promo and everthing else the indie/DIY route, that is how my whole music career started. Someday I will write the book I wanted for me and all the other fans out there who just want to know.

What do you think of the music scene today?
Although I don't go to anywhere near as many shows as I used to, I still see a fair number of bands cuz there's some great new music out there. I just finished recording a version of 'Girls Like Me', well actually "Boys Like Me' with a San Francisco band called The Demonics and it sounds amazing. I still listen to everything from Train, Outkast, No Doubt, Hank III and Sum 41 to Kid Rock and much stuff in between and beyond. I get e-mails, tapes and records from old school fans to new ones just discovering The Corvettes, they cover our songs or want to do shows and it really means alot cause thats where I came from and I'll always be a fan.

Do you think you were a groundbreaker for women in rock?
I feel it alot more in the last few years. At the time I started I was just doing what I always wanted, living the whole rock life and yeah, I had to fight for it but that was part of it. I never took no for an answer and if people didn't like it, too bad. I guess for the women who didn't grow up believing they could do anything or didn't wnat to fight for it maybe some took a chance cuz someone else did. I hope I helped break down some barriers or inspired someone.

Whats your message for Americas youth?
If you want it, do whatever you can to get it. Believe in yourself even if noone else does and take everything you can out of life, its your life, live it your way.
© 2001 Chris Parcellin & D-Filed, All rights reserved.