NIKKI AND THE CORVETTES: S/t LP

Description

Discontinued for years, you have in your hands a record that has truly stood the test of time very well. At the time, girl groups associated with punk rock like this were not common and served as a necessary antidote to the dominant groups of men in narrow ties. Nikki resembled Pam Dawber (Mindy from Mork and Mindy) and sounded like Clare Grogan (from Altered Images), which didn’t captivate you instantly. Born and raised in Detroit, it is known that Miss Corvette ran away from home at the age of 16 because her mother wouldn’t allow her to attend an MC5 concert.

Greg Shaw wrote the following notes for the compilation “Destination Bomp!” released for the 20th anniversary of the label: “Nikki was a tireless worker. Like a miner’s daughter, she traveled the country with her band, playing 200 concerts a year. She knew everyone, and hanging out with her was a lot of fun. I thought if all her friends bought the record… I signed her. The girl had style and attitude and had the brilliant guitarist and composer Peter James. One of the smartest guys in Detroit.”

The lady herself kindly sent the following note: “We went to Los Angeles and signed with Bomp around 1979, but Greg wasn’t sure what to do with us. We made the single ‘Honey Bop’ with Ronny Weiser at Rollin Rock and a couple of songs with the Kessel brothers. We started something with Kim Fowley that didn’t work out. They kept trying with different producers until we finally decided to go back to Detroit and make the album ourselves. We didn’t have much experience, but we knew what we wanted, and Detroit was part of it, so we recorded the album and had a great time doing it. Peter wanted us to sound more pop, and I wanted a more punk sound. It’s hard for me to believe that 43 years have passed since it was released, and there are still young people discovering it and people who grew up listening to it and still do. I constantly receive comments from people of all ages, from all over the world, about how much they love the album, and that means a lot to me.”

Listen to the phenomenon for yourself. It even includes extra tracks.

Tracking:
Side A
1 HE’S A MOVER
2 YOU’RE THE ONE
3 C’MON
4 JUST WHAT I NEED
5 BOYS, BOYS, BOYS
6 LET’S GO
7 SHAKE IT UP
8 BACK SEAT LOVE
Side B     
1 I WANNA BE YOUR GIRLFRIEND
2 SUMMERTIME FUN
3 GIMME, GIMME
4 YOU MAKE ME CRAZY
5 YOUNG & CRAZY (Bonus track)
6 CRIMINAL ELEMENT (Bonus track)
7 I GOTTA MOVE (Bonus track)
8 GIRLS LIKE ME (Bonus track)