Bitch (band)
Encyclopedia
Bitch is a female-fronted American heavy metal
band, formed in Los Angeles
in December 1980. They gained notoriety as a result of their theatrical live performances inspired by Alice Cooper
, which featured tongue-in-cheek sadomasochistic themes. Bitch was first artist ever signed to Metal Blade Records
, and are also the first female-fronted American heavy metal band ever signed to a record label.
, future CEO of Metal Blade Records
, and the two became friends. Slagel was working on a compilation album to tie into a heavy metal fanzine he had started called The New Heavy Metal Revue, and offered to place Bitch on the compilation if they would submit a demo to him. This project would become the landmark compilation Metal Massacre
(1982), which would become famous for launching the career of Metallica
and for being the first album ever released by Metal Blade Records
. Bitch's contribution to Metal Massacre
was a demo version of "Live for the Whip", which would be rerecorded for their debut EP Damnation Alley
.
Bitch signed for the label and released a self-financed EP entitled Damnation Alley
(1982). The following year, the group released their first full length album, Be My Slave
. During the tour of the album, Bitch developed their controversial and elaborate stage shows. These included sadomasochistic elements such as bondage clothing and paraphernalia, and the humiliation of a male "slave" on stage. The band then became a target in the P.M.R.C. controversy. The Be My Slave
LP was featured on talk shows and in a televised congressional hearing that took place before the United States Senate
’s Committee On Commerce, Science, and Transportation on September 19, 1985. Throughout this time, Bitch played regularly in Sunset Strip clubs like The Whiskey-a-Go-Go, Gazzarri's, The Roxy, and many others, sharing the bill with other metal groups such as W.A.S.P.
, Slayer
and Armored Saint
.
Due to problems with their management, the group's followup album, The Bitch Is Back
(1987), was not released until four years after the release of Be My Slave
. The Bitch Is Back
became the band's best-selling album due in part to the publicity created by the P.M.R.C. The band even went as far as thanking Tipper Gore and the P.M.R.C. for "keeping our name in the press" in the album's liner notes.
In the same year, Betsy Bitch appeared as guest vocalist on a cover of The Tubes
' song "Don't Touch Me There" with Lizzy Borden
for Borden's mini album Terror Rising. The following year, for commercial reasons, the group decided to change their name to "Betsy" and released a self-titled album by that name in 1988. The sound was more melodic and closer to hard rock.
Subsequently, the band produced another EP, A Rose By Any Other Name (1989), a stopgap compilation featuring remixes of previously released songs, unfinished tracks from previous recording sessions, and a song recorded for a tentative new album that was to be entitled Bet-Z (the project was subsequently abandoned). This is the last album released by Bitch to date, but the band has continued to perform on occasion ever since, with their most notable recent live appearance being in 2003 for the Bang Your Head!!! Festival
; their performance of "Live For The Whip" from this appearance is included on the Best of Bang Your Head DVD
(2006).
Original Bitch drummer Robby Settles died due to complications from leukemia on May 26, 2010. In the years preceding drummer Robby Settles' death, Settles and Electric Prunes guitarist Steve Kara were collaborating on an new album with an "All-Star" lineup featuring original member Betsy Bitch with bassist Steve Gaines of Abattoir, Bloodlust, and Anger as Art and Electric Prunes guitarists Jay Dean and Steve Kara completing the lineup. The current status of the album is uncertain.
A second All-Star lineup featuring the members of Anger As Art played Germany's Keep it True Festival in April 2011 and is now officially the current Bitch lineup.
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band, formed in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in December 1980. They gained notoriety as a result of their theatrical live performances inspired by Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
, which featured tongue-in-cheek sadomasochistic themes. Bitch was first artist ever signed to Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records is a record label which was founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The U.S. corporate office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Arizona, Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distributed in the U.S. by Sony BMG Music...
, and are also the first female-fronted American heavy metal band ever signed to a record label.
Biography
Bitch was formed in December 1980, and played their first show in May 1981 alongside Dante Fox (later to become Great White). Shortly after the band was formed, guitarist David Carruth met Brian SlagelBrian Slagel
Brian Slagel is the owner and founder of Metal Blade Records. Slagel is known for giving Metallica their first break in 1982, with an appearance on Metal Massacre, a compilation album on Metal Blade, and has since released seminal albums by Slayer, Mercyful Fate, Cannibal Corpse, Fates Warning,...
, future CEO of Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records is a record label which was founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The U.S. corporate office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Arizona, Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distributed in the U.S. by Sony BMG Music...
, and the two became friends. Slagel was working on a compilation album to tie into a heavy metal fanzine he had started called The New Heavy Metal Revue, and offered to place Bitch on the compilation if they would submit a demo to him. This project would become the landmark compilation Metal Massacre
Metal Massacre
Metal Massacre is a series of compilation albums released through Metal Blade Records. It is famous for "shedding light" on bands such as Metallica, Slayer, Overkill, Trouble, Tactics, Armored Saint, and more.-History:...
(1982), which would become famous for launching the career of Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
and for being the first album ever released by Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records is a record label which was founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The U.S. corporate office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Arizona, Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distributed in the U.S. by Sony BMG Music...
. Bitch's contribution to Metal Massacre
Metal Massacre
Metal Massacre is a series of compilation albums released through Metal Blade Records. It is famous for "shedding light" on bands such as Metallica, Slayer, Overkill, Trouble, Tactics, Armored Saint, and more.-History:...
was a demo version of "Live for the Whip", which would be rerecorded for their debut EP Damnation Alley
Damnation Alley (Bitch album)
Damnation Alley is a 1982 album by female-fronted heavy metal band Bitch, and was released on the Metal Blade Records label. The EP-length release has the distinction of being the first album by a single artist and the second album of any kind released on Metal Blade Records .-Track listing:All...
.
Bitch signed for the label and released a self-financed EP entitled Damnation Alley
Damnation Alley (Bitch album)
Damnation Alley is a 1982 album by female-fronted heavy metal band Bitch, and was released on the Metal Blade Records label. The EP-length release has the distinction of being the first album by a single artist and the second album of any kind released on Metal Blade Records .-Track listing:All...
(1982). The following year, the group released their first full length album, Be My Slave
Be My Slave
Be My Slave is a 1983 album by the American heavy metal band Bitch, released on the Metal Blade Records label under the genre "dominatrix metal"...
. During the tour of the album, Bitch developed their controversial and elaborate stage shows. These included sadomasochistic elements such as bondage clothing and paraphernalia, and the humiliation of a male "slave" on stage. The band then became a target in the P.M.R.C. controversy. The Be My Slave
Be My Slave
Be My Slave is a 1983 album by the American heavy metal band Bitch, released on the Metal Blade Records label under the genre "dominatrix metal"...
LP was featured on talk shows and in a televised congressional hearing that took place before the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
’s Committee On Commerce, Science, and Transportation on September 19, 1985. Throughout this time, Bitch played regularly in Sunset Strip clubs like The Whiskey-a-Go-Go, Gazzarri's, The Roxy, and many others, sharing the bill with other metal groups such as W.A.S.P.
W.A.S.P.
W.A.S.P. is an American heavy metal band formed in 1982. They emerged from the same Los Angeles scene that spawned Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Quiet Riot and others. The band's popularity peaked in the 1980s, yet they continue to record and tour, making them one of the most enduring of the West Coast heavy...
, Slayer
Slayer
Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...
and Armored Saint
Armored Saint
-Early career:Armored Saint was formed in 1982 by brothers Phil Sandoval and Gonzo Sandoval , and guitarist David Prichard, while attending South Pasadena High School. Next to join were singer John Bush also a South Pasadena High School Alumni and bassist Joey Vera...
.
Due to problems with their management, the group's followup album, The Bitch Is Back
The Bitch is Back (Bitch album)
The Bitch Is Back is a studio album by L.A. heavy metal band Bitch, released in 1987 on Metal Blade Records. It gets its name from the cover version of the Elton John song "The Bitch Is Back"...
(1987), was not released until four years after the release of Be My Slave
Be My Slave
Be My Slave is a 1983 album by the American heavy metal band Bitch, released on the Metal Blade Records label under the genre "dominatrix metal"...
. The Bitch Is Back
The Bitch is Back (Bitch album)
The Bitch Is Back is a studio album by L.A. heavy metal band Bitch, released in 1987 on Metal Blade Records. It gets its name from the cover version of the Elton John song "The Bitch Is Back"...
became the band's best-selling album due in part to the publicity created by the P.M.R.C. The band even went as far as thanking Tipper Gore and the P.M.R.C. for "keeping our name in the press" in the album's liner notes.
In the same year, Betsy Bitch appeared as guest vocalist on a cover of The Tubes
The Tubes
The Tubes are a San Francisco-based rock band, whose 1975 debut album included the hit single, "White Punks on Dope". During its first fifteen years or so, the band's live performances combined quasi-pornography with wild satires of media, consumerism, and politics...
' song "Don't Touch Me There" with Lizzy Borden
Lizzy Borden (band)
Lizzy Borden is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983. Lizzy Borden is also the name of the band's lead vocalist.-History:Lizzy Borden specializes in the shock rock style originated by artists such as Alice Cooper and Kiss...
for Borden's mini album Terror Rising. The following year, for commercial reasons, the group decided to change their name to "Betsy" and released a self-titled album by that name in 1988. The sound was more melodic and closer to hard rock.
Subsequently, the band produced another EP, A Rose By Any Other Name (1989), a stopgap compilation featuring remixes of previously released songs, unfinished tracks from previous recording sessions, and a song recorded for a tentative new album that was to be entitled Bet-Z (the project was subsequently abandoned). This is the last album released by Bitch to date, but the band has continued to perform on occasion ever since, with their most notable recent live appearance being in 2003 for the Bang Your Head!!! Festival
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
; their performance of "Live For The Whip" from this appearance is included on the Best of Bang Your Head DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
(2006).
Original Bitch drummer Robby Settles died due to complications from leukemia on May 26, 2010. In the years preceding drummer Robby Settles' death, Settles and Electric Prunes guitarist Steve Kara were collaborating on an new album with an "All-Star" lineup featuring original member Betsy Bitch with bassist Steve Gaines of Abattoir, Bloodlust, and Anger as Art and Electric Prunes guitarists Jay Dean and Steve Kara completing the lineup. The current status of the album is uncertain.
A second All-Star lineup featuring the members of Anger As Art played Germany's Keep it True Festival in April 2011 and is now officially the current Bitch lineup.
Current line-up
- Betsy Weiss aka Betsy Bitch: vocals
- Steve Gaines: guitar (present)
- Daniel Oliverio: guitar (present)
- Rob Alaniz: drums (present)
- Angelo Espino: bass (present)
Previous members
- David Carruth: guitar (1980–2003)
- Robby Settles: drums (1980–2010) (deceased)
- Kevyn Redwine: bass (1981–1982)
- Richard Zussman: bass (1982)
- Mark Anthony Webb: bass (1982–1983)
- Ron Cordy: bass (1983–1989)
- Robert Farr: bass (1999)
- Ed McCrary: guitar (1999)
- Johnny Zell: bass (2003)
- Jett Black: bass
- Billy King: rhythm/lead guitar
- Jay Dean: guitar
- Steve Kara: guitar
EPs
- Damnation AlleyDamnation Alley (Bitch album)Damnation Alley is a 1982 album by female-fronted heavy metal band Bitch, and was released on the Metal Blade Records label. The EP-length release has the distinction of being the first album by a single artist and the second album of any kind released on Metal Blade Records .-Track listing:All...
- 1982 - Bitch "I'm In Love" b/w Hellion "Nightmares" split single - 1983
- A Rose By Any Other Name - 1989
Studio albums
- Be My SlaveBe My SlaveBe My Slave is a 1983 album by the American heavy metal band Bitch, released on the Metal Blade Records label under the genre "dominatrix metal"...
- 1983 - The Bitch Is BackThe Bitch is Back (Bitch album)The Bitch Is Back is a studio album by L.A. heavy metal band Bitch, released in 1987 on Metal Blade Records. It gets its name from the cover version of the Elton John song "The Bitch Is Back"...
- 1987 - Betsy - 1988
- Be My Slave/Damnation Alley - 1989