The Contractions - 1980 - [CD]

From 1979-1984, the female post-punk trio known as the Contractions not only built a San Francisco following, but they also toured nationally and released a pair of singles and the Something Broke album. With the cooperation of the group's three founding members, and thanks to the live recordings and endeavors of archivist Terry Hammer -- this live compilation from two dates at the Mabuhay Gardens comes as a new addition to the group's catalog. Mary Kelley, Deb Hopkins and Kathy Peck all wrote songs on their own, but the musical arrangements were collaborative. We thought of ourselves as a three-legged chair, Kelley told liner notes writer Bill Kopp. Always a team. It wasn't The Contractions without the three of us. During their time together, the Contractions opened for a cavalcade of punk and new wave artists: Dead Kennedys, Jim Carroll, Glenn Branca, the Go-Go's, Bush Tetras, Flipper, and even Duran Duran. People described us as 'musically dangerous,' said Hopkins. Years later, I am still meeting women who tell me that they decided to learn an instrument and start a band after seeing us. And that is what ** our legacy is: empowering females to play music, and to expect to be treated and respected for their music and not treated like ** objects. In addition to the 11 live tracks featured on 1980, the CD also includes three long out-of-print studio recordings.