Just out., March 05, 2004, Page 35, Image 35

march 5.2 004 •
MUSIC
..................▼ ...................
B
ack in 1977 Portland, almost by
accident, a lesbian cultural phe­
nomenon was bom.
Those fabulous Dyketones
Looking back on the country’s first out lesbian band
were part of The Dyketones made Dar-
celle’s an ideal...place to play.”
Morena remembers: “I loved how they
rigged up a big flashing Dyketones sign
and how solemn Sierra ltxiked singing
‘You Are My Special Angel.’ And Be try
Anglo [Aspen] dressed in a bathing suit
and doing a baton routine to gixidess
knows what song."
Briano, who played several characters,
says she loved the standup comedy part of
her routines. “I have to admit that 1
enjoyed the fame for what it was worth.”
Outside the Northwest, The Dyketones
played at the West Coast and Michigan
Womyn’s Music Festivals and gigs in Van­
couver, British Columbia. “Gay and
straight, they loved us!” Tsaba maintains.
One afternoon after a rehearsal
of the gay and lesbian Ursa Minor
by K athy B elge
Choir, Naomi Morena, Char Priolo and
Linda Besant started jamming to some
oldies. “They should start a ’50s group,”
someone threw out. Priolo joked, “Yeah,
we can call ourselves The Dyketones.”
Other choir members Sierra
Lonepine Briano, Katharine English,
Kristan Aspen and Mary Rose soon
joined in. Someone asked them to per­
form at a New Year’s Eve party.
“It started out as sort of a joke or
folly,” remembers Briano, who lent
vocals to the band. We never had any
intention of doing more than the first
n 1983, much to the dismay of other
new year’s dance, [butj we were so popu­
band members, Priolo copyrighted the
lar, all the dykes were begging for more.”
name and changed it to The Fabulous
The Dyketones were bom with con­
Dyketones, essentially creating ownership
text intact—an idealized sock hop at
of the band.
Dyke High complete with character per­
“It happened after I left the group. When
sonas. A little comedy, popular '50s dance
I heard about it, I was very disappointed,”
tunes and a whole lot of loose-lipped fun
shares Tsaba. “The Dyketones belonged to
made the band one of the most successful
the Portland lesbian and women’s commu­
lesbian acts to date. Nearly 27 years later,
nities. No single person owned the concept
the group (now known as The Fabulous
or the name.... We had always made...deci-
Dyketones) still performs for a week each The Dyketones perform at Darcelle XV. From left: Kristan Aspen as Betty Anglo, Katharine English as Little Lilayons in a collective or consensus-based way,
year in Provincetown, Mass.
so it seemed mind-bogglingly out of step
Char Priolo as Chucky Linguini, Naomi Morena as Chevy Chavez and Linda Besant as Sally Sweetwater.
Priolo (vocals, percussion) is the only
with the group as I knew it.”
founding member still with the band, but
Morena adds: “Adoration does funny things to people.... It’s
soon joined, and The Dyketones were playing regular gigs
many of Portland’s finest lesbian musicians have performed with
easy to see how one may get stars in their eyes from the strange
around Portland and the Pacific Northwest.
The Dyketones. According to Priolo, they were the first out les­
and unusual attention one receives as a celebrity.”
“The rehearsals leading up to the performances were often
bian band in the country.
Priolo told Just Out she took the band over because no one
the most fun,” McNamara says. “I remember laughing until we
In addition to playing music, the band acted out skits and
else
wanted to do it or put money into promoting it.
cried at some of the antics.”
embodied the butch/femme dynamic of lesbian relationships in
Regardless of the feelings, The Dyketones continued. They
the ’50s. Each of the performers played one or several charac­
traveled across the country five times, playing gigs on their way
f it was a time of excitement and harmoiiy, it was also a time
ters. In late ’70s lesbian feminist circles, butch/femme roles were
to and from Provincetown and eventually settled in the gay
of chaos and infighting. “We had a lot of fun and fights,”
often criticized as being an expression of the patriarchy, so when
mecca. More than 70 women have played with the group
notes Aspen. “Too much drinking. Too many Scorpios for the
Priolo and her band mates dressed for their first concert, they
through the years.
band to survive.”
weren’t sure how they were going to be received.
At age 60, Priolo says she no longer has the energy for a full­
Aspen, who now serves as the development director at Bradley-
Aspen (flute, piano) says she worried that a person who grew
Angle House, has mixed feelings about her time with The Dyke­
time band and a full-time job, so The Fabulous Dyketones limit
up with those roles may have felt put down. They needn’t have
themselves to one week a year now. But they’ve left their mark.
tones. “It was a joke, but people took us so seriously.” She had spent
worried. The Dyketones were a hit from Day One.
Priolo tells stories of old women coming up to her with tears
seven years writing and creating original music about women’s cul­
Stings like “My Guy” became “My Dyke," while “Great Balls
in their eyes because they could now dance with their girlfriends
ture. “It was depressing in a way to see masses take ’50s pop culture
of Fire” became “Great Breasts of Fire.” One of Morena’s (lead
to the music of their youth. Young women have told her they
so seriously,” she says. “It was the epitome of sexist crap.”
guitar) fondest memories is from the first performance, when the
had been inspired to start bands of their own.
Morena, who also still lives in Portland and works as a pro­
band only knew about eight stings and played each of them
bation officer, remembers it a little differently. “We offered a
Tsaba thinks The Dyketones helped build bridges in the
three times. “Women started to take off their clothes and storm
community. “We got to perform for a very wide-based audience:
release from all the political intensity that was smothering our
the stage,” she says. One rather zealous fan streaked “around the
gay, bi and straight, men and women, all races, ethnicities and
abilities to have fun and get over ourselves,” she says.
stage. She was our first groupie, though I am not certain who
genders. All those folks were.. .dancing on the same dance fltxir
Tsaba, who has since transitioned to male, enjoyed the butch
she went home with that night."
in front of us. It made me feel hopeful that the tide would turn
roles. “For me, as a man who was living in a body perceived as
Briano, an artist and organic farmer who lives in Gaston,
against the anti-gay rights faction in the Portland community.”
female...performing in The Dyketones was the only opportunity
remembers well that first night, too. “Everyone was dmnk.
Concludes Morena, “Playing rcx:k ’n’ roll in a black leather
I ever got to almost just be myself,” explains the Portlander.
Someone did a striptease on stage. The crowd went nuts. They
jacket with a band of big-haired beauties— it doesn’t get better
The group played occasionally at Darcelle XV. “The
were pulling us off the stage and tearing our clothes! Too bad we
than that!” | H
dressing room was like a playground full of every kind of cos­
can’t get that kind of action now.”
tume and accessory," says McNamara, now a reference librar­
The popularity of the group came as a surprise to all its mem­ ian in Madison, Wis. “The campy style and drag outfits that
K a TI IV BtLGE is a Portland free'lance writer and a fabulmis dyke.
bers. Bass player Niobeh Tsaba and drummer Maia McNamara
I
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