My work at Exotic has completed a strange circle with the following fabulous Demolition Doll Rods interview. You see, my second interview for the mag, way back in May of 1998, was with 60's blues superstar Andre Williams. I loved Andre's 1998 release Silky and how unabashedly sexual and sexy it was. Later in the year, I interviewed the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, whose album Acme Andre Williams co-produced. This summer, Andre joined my band onstage with members of the Blues Explosion in the audience. At our next show, Mick Collins, ex- of the Gories and guitar player on Silky was in attendance. Finally I meet the DDR and discover, to my shock and amazement, that |
VIVA: It's amazing to me that you brought
Andre back from the grave. We called Silky the album of the year last
year. Lots of Portland strippers have been dancing to it. It's sexy music! VIVA: But you may not know that unless you
know Andre like you do. |
Andre Williams is a pimpin' sonofabitch and that Margaret Doll was the genesis
of the whole Silky project!! My bubble was burst, but I soldiered fearlessly
on, ready to dish some REAL dirt for the fans.
The Demolition Doll Rods are fast and nasty, dangerous and delightful. Every time they come to town, Portland's dress-up crowd shows up en masse to be run over by DDR's absolutely exuberant, skin-friendly RAWK. The formula is so simple and so potent that their garage-trash Cramps-like aesthetique has caught on like wildfire across the land. Because they're an all-girl band, Danny Doll (also ex- of the super-fab Gories) does drag and is a truly dreamy chica. He also plays the most smokin' lead guitar that side of the Mississippi. Margaret Doll sings, songwrites and plays rhythm guitar, and her little sister, Thumper, keeps their savage beat on a minimalist drum kit. The Doll Rods are perhaps most famous for their teensy weensy outfits. Stage wear generally includes a thong paired with any imaginable junk somehow affixed to their nipples. Past pasties have included: dog biscuits, cat food lids, hub caps, plungers, tail lights, dog poop, rubber eyeballs, 8-track tapes, and, of course, little fluffy cars. On this particular engagement, they had plastic doll faces taped to their nipples. Ooh la la! The music is heavenly--manna for the rock-starved. It is garage-y and Detroit-influenced (their hometown), white-trash and Warhol. One of their biggest crowd-pleasers was a call-and-response romp with lyrics: "I wanna be just like Lupe Velez.... and drown in a toilet bowl! I wanna be just like Edie....Ciao Manhattan! I wanna be just like Janis....speedball! I wanna be just like Jimi Morrison...drown in the tub!" [My instincts tell me this was "I Wanna O.D." off the Jon Spencer/Mick Collins-produced Tasty. Their new record, T.L.A., is out now on Matador.] The Doll Rods threw in two raunchy, guitar-heavy covers, too, "Hot Child in the City" and "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing." By then the minions were totally blissed out, turned on, and rockin' in the free world. But back to Andre Williams.... VIVA: So, you hung out with Andre WIlliams
quite a bit last year--he said that that was your butt on the cover of
Silky [Williams'1998 release]. VIVA: How'd you meet up with Andre? VIVA: Why? VIVA: Really?!? VIVA: A showman. So you're responsible for
resurrecting Andre Williams. VIVA: He told us that someone once told him
he had a cult following, and he thought that meant the KKK! |
VIVA: We thought
he meant that in a good way. Margaret: Oh, no. If you hear him talk about it he doesn't talk about pussy smells nice. Pussy is not nice. Dan: Well, anyways. VIVA: Alright, alright. Enough of ol' Andre.
How 'bout your pick for the sexiest song of all time? VIVA: Sexiest guitar sound? VIVA: Sexiest stage wear? VIVA: The first time I saw the Demolition
Doll Rods, you were playing with the Cramps. VIVA: Really?! What was Thanksgiving with
the Cramps like? VIVA: You three or the Cramps, too? VIVA: Was that the sexiest Thanksgiving EVER? VIVA: Sexiest place to play in the world? VIVA: Maybe if you're the drummer! VIVA: Sexiest drink?
Dan: To me what's sexy is seeing fine little kids dance. Hot little girls and hot little boys shakin' their stuff. That's sexy! After the tape shut off, Margaret and Dan ranted for a good fifteen minutes on Andre WIlliams. Dan said he always was and always will be a pimp, and Margaret related how she'd come home from work and Andre would be at her house demanding his "cut," money for chicken, rum, and lotto tickets. Horrific tales of their European tour with Mr. Williams had my jaw on the floor of their van [leopard sheets in the loft!]. But I still love Andre, even if he is a coked-out cheap-suited pimp! I'm just not gonna let him crash at my pad should the occasion arise. Margaret: Don't get us wrong....we don't dislike Andre....It's just that...it's different. |