vixen
n. an attractive or sexy woman; a femme fatale
| As a self-crowned Rock Vixen, I reserve the right to establish the criteria for what is considered a Vixen. Whether Musician or “Video Babe”, she’s got to Rock – 80’s style! They may be eye candy to the guys, but to us gals these ladies influence (and inspire) us with their glamor, talent, style, and attitude. |
Born May 28, 1949, Wendy Orlean Williams is most famous as the lead singer of the punk rock band, Plasmatics.
She was noted for her onstage theatrics, which included partial nudity, exploding equipment, firing a shotgun, and chainsawing guitars. “Not really Punk, not really Metal, Wendy O. Williams was the shaving-foam wearing, chainsaw wielding, animal loving vegetarian, porn star, stunt driver, contradiction in terms, who, whether she intended to or not, set a new standard in rock’s ever evolving performance rule-book.” [source]
With the Plasmatics
Although Wendy experimented with drugs as a teenager, she abstained from alcohol, drugs, and tobacco in her later years. A committed vegetarian from 1966 (Radical at the time.) until her death in 1998, Williams believed in leading a healthy lifestyle and aiming for self-improvement. She was once featured on the cover of Vegetarian Times.
I subscribed to Vegetarian Times back then and remember this issue.
It sparked quite the fervor among the birkenstock-wearing crowd, too. LOL
Did you also know that Ms. Williams was a weightlifting enthusiast?
“[I]n those days women with muscles were not considered ‘feminine’, but she thought this was garbage, part of the way the social structure or norms or tastes are manufactured to keep women weak, or let men be dominant. So, her daily routine always had a lot of strenuous physical exercise built in, partly because she needed to be in great shape to do the very physical shows and videos, she did, and partly because it was a way of releasing steam itself…steam (or rage) generated by looking around and seeing what was going on in the world.” [source] (I can relate.)
A radical animal rights activist her whole life, Wendy retired from the music scene in 1991, moved to Connecticut, and began working as an animal rehabilitator.
The thing about animals is that they don’t judge you.
While Wendy O. Williams starred in a handful of films, she frickin’ KICKED ASS in Reform School Girls – a send-up of the women-in-prison film genre. (Yes, I have a copy on DVD…natch.)
Wendy O. Williams in Reform School Girls (1986)
Another shot of WOW in Reform School Girls.
From the July 1984 issue of Vegetarian Times:
Queen of Shock Rock Wendy O. Williams’ mega-healthy salad dressing recipe
The Unsung: How Wendy O. Williams became the anarchic darling of CBGBs
Wikipedia
ℳ –
House M - 
She was too real for those assholes.
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AH!! I adored Wendy O. Williams! I saw the Plasmatics SO MANY times as a teenager. And I met her a few times. She was always so nice to us younger kids. (So was the rest of the band. In fact, I am friends with the original drummer Stu Deutsch. He endorsed my first book and we did a meet and greet together! I also visited his home in Long Island and met his family!)
But, back to Wendy … I saw “Reform School Girls” in the theater (and was the only girl in the audience. Men were looking at me strange, like, why are you here?)
She was a great inspiration to me because she was always herself. Her best quote was, “There is nothing obscene about a woman’s body.”
It was devastating when she offed herself. Definitely a dark time in music history. She was only 48 and could have rocked life beautifully as an older woman. Thanks for this great post; and you look super in that photo — definitely vixen!
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We watched “Reform School Girls” last night.
You know what pisses me off the most? The two-faced, phonies who had the audacity to villify both HER and Vegetarian Times for that issue. The same assholes who would slander her (and other “degenerate rockers”) if she was a meat-eater (who mocked vegetarians), smoked, drank, took drugs, and all the other sterotypes people like to make about the lifestyle of rock musicians – especially punk rockers. (Rock/Mëtal has been tagged with an additional sobriquet: sexist misogyny – but that falsehood will be a Post for another day.)
The last paragraphical graphic in this Post says it all, courtesy of her long-time partner, Rod Swenson. Wendy O. Williams was more REAL than the pretentious garbage that’s passing itself off as “woke” or “anti-woke” these days. She TOTALLY understood the underpinnings of agendas being shoved down our throats.
Yeah, I’m judging. I woke up in a mood. Still in a mood. Glad to get this off my chest…for now. Gonna let some steam off, in true WOW-style. Lift some weights and engage in some healthy, sweaty Mëtalaerobix!
Rock on, Maryanne. \m/\m/
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