BEBE BUELL - Retrosexual

BEBE BUELL Retrosexual cd 1994 320 kbps
1 Gargoyle /2 Lust never sleeps /3 Cosmic kiss /4 Bored baby /5 Top of the pops /6 Little bit o' whore /7 Jacuzzi jungle /8 13 wrong turns /9 Claw bite /10 I'll be your sister.
1 to 6 produced by Mr Ratboy & C. Shivers - 7 to 8 produced by C. Andersen - 9 to 10 produced by T. Mc Laughlin & B. Buell.
Bebe Buell : all vocals / 1 to 6 :C. Shivers & Mr Ratboy : guitars / L. Avondet : bass / J. Rizzo & Mike Z : drums // 7 to 10 : S. Marshall : guitars / C. E. Hall : bass / M. Dank : drums (7 & 8) / T. Bricker : drums (9 & 10).
It's not the smattering of records that former model/groupie Bebe Buell has issued that she's best known for, but rather her stormy affairs with a variety of rockers, as well as being the mother of actress L. Tyler. Born on July 14, 1953, and raised in Virginia, Buell was smitten by rock & roll at an early age, first by Elvis, before the Beatles and the Rolling Stones invaded the U.S.. Buell's mother encouraged her daughter to pursue a career in modeling, and when she was 18-years old, she relocated to New York City and began a career as a Ford model. Shortly thereafter, Buell began a relationship with Todd Rundgren, who had just begun one of the most commercially successful periods of his career. It was through Rundgren that Buell met rock photographer L. Goldsmith, who convinced the model to take some test photos for Playboy magazine. The plan worked, as Buell became a Playboy Playmate in 1974. Besides Rundgren, Buell subsequently dated some of rock's biggest names -- Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, Iggy Pop, Rod Stewart, Stiv Bators, and Elvis Costello. Buell also had a whirlwind romance with Aerosmith's Steven Tyler during 1976 -- which ended when Buell was alarmed by Tyler's drug abuse. But the brief fling resulted in Buell giving birth to daughter Liv in 1977. Despite Rundgren knowing that he wasn't the father, the pair reconciled and Rundgren supported the baby . Having been around the rock & roll scene for a long time by now, it was only natural that Buell would eventually put together her own band, as 1980 saw the formation of the B-Sides. The group issued an EP in 1981, "Cover Girl", which featured contributions by the likes of Rick Derringer and the Cars' Ben Orr and Ric Occasek (the latter two of whom guested on readings of Iggy Pop's "Funtime" and the obscurity "Little Black Egg," both of which would turn up years later with Orr's vocals replacing Buell's on 1995's "Just what I needed"). By 1985, Buell was fronting a new band, called the Gargoyles, which only resulted in an obscure self-titled single (on the Jeff Dahl's Ultra Under Records label) several years later. Buell was interviewed extensively for the superb book, "Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk", as well as for Aerosmith's tell-all bio, "Walk This Way". Buell decided to pen her own tell-all bio shortly thereafter, resulting in the release of "Rebel Heart: An American Rock N' Roll Journey" in 2002. Buell has also issued solo albums on a sporadic basis, including such titles as "Retrosexual" (with covers of Johnny Thunders' "Little Bit o' Whore" and Motörhead's "I'll Be Your Sister," along with originals) and "Free to rock" .

Bebe Buell's great blessing -- that she's a beautiful woman attractive enough to enjoy success as both a fashion model and a Playboy centerfold -- has also been something of a curse as far as her musical ambitions are concerned. Yeah, she's sexy and she's dated a whole bunch of rock stars, but while models who think they can sing are a breed most reasonable folks fear, Buell also seems to know and love rock & roll, and judging from Retrosexual, she's a hard rock belter of no small ability. No, Buell won't make you forget either Chrissie Hynde or Joan Jett on any of the album's ten tunes, but she does merit a not-unfavorable comparison to both of them, and she lets loose with some attitudinal swagger that might draw a grin from Iggy Pop or David Johansen on "Lust Never Sleeps" or "Bored Baby." The album's production is a bit too loose for its own good, some of the material is kinda cheesy, and Buell's band could use a dash more garage punk sneer and a jigger less metal crunch (though the guitarists ape Johnny Thunders more often than Eddie Van Halen, thank the fates), but overall this is a solid and enjoyable piece of rock action from a tuff girl who deserves more props than she gets -- she's cooler than Avril Lavigne, rocks better than Courtney Love, and has more fun than both of 'em put together. Points added for "Claw Bite," the best song about being attacked by mutant humanoid lobsters of recent memory. Allmusic