Any Fanny Freaks here?

They were on Reprise, Rhino Handmade issued a box set of their complete catalog about 2 years ago.

 

I think if someone asked me that question, my first reaction would be to tell 'em I'm not Velvet Jones. The guy you want to talk to is three blocks over!!

 

Yes, I remember them. I never owned any of their albums but, heard them on Detroit and Windsor radio batch then.

The nucleus of the band were sisters Jean and June Millington. They were joined by Nicole Barclay (keybds) and Alice de Buhr (drums). They had 5 LPs... the first 4 were on Reprise and the last on Casablanca. In 1974, June and Alice left the band. Patti Quatro (sister of Suzie) joined on bassand Brie Howard became the drummer.

Fanny (1970)
Charity Ball (1971)
Fanny Hill (1972)
Mother's Pride (1973)
Rock 'n Roll Survivors (1974)

Hope that info helps.

Cheers,
Chris

 

It seems that David Bowie is quite a fan. I have Charity Ball, but I just couldn't get beyond the title track.

 

Yes, indeedy. I think that they had a track or two on those cheapie albums that Warner/Reprise used to issue back in tha day, as well (Big Ball etc...).

Cheers,
Chris

 

I don't know about Fanny Freak, but...

I must have been between gigs when the Casablanca LP was released. I have never seen it in my searches. Are you sure it was released under Fanny? Damn! How did I miss it?

I had all four albums on Reprise and followed June and Jean Millington & Nicky Barclay through their Redwoord Records faze--- they outed themselves, I guess, and latched on to a "woman's music" label which had some fairly decent stuff on it, actually.

The big story, as purported by Rolling Stone, was that Todd Rundgren got naked with the band during their sessions for the "Mother's Pride" album when the air conditionind went down. Always had a thing for de Buhr because she seemed the classic long-hair's dream... no makeup, sleak, etc. Imagine my disappointment when I found out I was not her #1 preference.

Frank G.

 

Good band, but they only had the one hit and couldn't follow it up. Being the first female rock band to hit the Top 40 didn't help, as it turned out; and the Runaways fared worse. Others came later that had some success, and there are still soom reasonably popular acts today, but still, not too many.

 

"Charity Ball" hit #40 in 1971. "Butter Boy" on Casablanca actually did better in 1975 (#29).

While still on Reprise they had a non-LP B-side, a cover of Ike Turner's "Young and Dumb," that I thought was better than just about anything else they did.

I wouldn't say they were the first all-girl band in rock (The Feminine Complex, for one, preceded them, I believe). But they were probably the first signed to a major label.

 

I saw them on some daytime show (Dinah Shore?,John Davidson?) in the '70's. They had just released a remake of "I've Had It" which is a great old record. I was watching with a friend of mine and we both still claim they changed the lyrics during the performance to "...First you took me out on a date/Now I'm over two weeks late..."

 

That info comes from a discography in a British book (NME Book of Rock 2). I vaguely remember that LP. No indication that it was issued under any name but Fanny.

Cheers,
Chris

 

Fanny? You bet! Their singles rocked and they were "hottie's" at the time. "Charity Ball" was a pretty big mid-level hit here in the Midwest thanks to WLS in Chicago...

Bob

 

If anyone wants it, let me know. Not my cup of tea. Album is near mint. Free to any member who wants to give it a try.

 

I remember reading about Fanny in Rolling Stone in the 1970s and finally got around to getting the Rhino Handmade boxset a few years ago. Sort of a female Bandfinger. Good stuff.

Steve

 

A brief article and interview with June Millington appears here:

http://www.technodyke.com/dykerock/interviews/072103_fannyjuneshort.asp

Cheers,
Chris

 

Hey - Found some groovy pics here...

http://www.boyd.harris.btinternet.co.uk/f000.htm

Cheers,
Chris

 

I'm interested in their box set, but closer to $40 in price.

(VH1.com (shops) sells it for about $64)

 

Both Millington sisters have Hawaii ties, apparently. I managed to catch them at the Borders here performing with their current group, The Slammin' Babes, about four years ago. Pretty good stuff!

I believe the Millingtons are one of the few rock musicians of Filipino heritage. Another that comes to mind is Larry Ramos of the Association. He's from Kauai, Hawaii!

AFAIK, Jean Millington was married for a time to Earl Slick.

The Fanny box set only covers their Reprise years. Their 1974 Casablanca LP, Rock n' Roll Survivors, has yet to be reissued. Hmmm, maybe I should mention this to Hip-O Select?

 

I'm more of a leg man.

 

Oh yeah! I love women's booty! Uh...wait...wrong fanny...

 

You do realize that, as a slang term in England, "fanny" does not mean a woman's back...

That's why the group was a little more popular there than at home!

 

The UK meaning is different, yes.