Venus and the Razorblades
| Venus and the Razorblades | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | The Razorblades |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Genres | Punk rock, new wave |
| Years active | 1976-1978 |
| Labels | Visa, Bomp!, Spark |
| Associated acts | The Runaways, Cherie & Marie Currie, Kim Fowley |
| Past members |
Vicki Razorblade Steven T. Dyan Diamond Danielle Faye Kyle Raven Roni Lee |
Venus and the Razorblades were a short-lived punk band. The Los Angeles based new wave rock band was put together by Kim Fowley after he severed professional relations with The Runaways. Fowley sought to put together a band with a teenaged male singer and teenaged female musicians. Roni Lee (guitarist and songwriter) joined the band early and co-wrote "I Wanna Be Where The Boys Are" performed by The Runaways as well as Venus and the Razorblades. Roni Lee also wrote and co-wrote many of the Venus and the Razorblades songs. She also went on to play with Mars Bonfire and Steppenwolf. Singer/guitarist Dyan Diamond was only 14 when she auditioned for the band in 1976. The recordings featured session players associated with Fowley projects such as guitarist Mars Bonfire, formerly of an early version of Steppenwolf; and keyboardist Billy Bizeau, formerly of The Quick, as well as members of the band itself.
The band put out a novelty single called "Punk-A-Rama" on the independent label Bomp! Records trying to capitalize on the popularity of the punk rock genre of the late 1970s and then broke up. A compilation album called Songs from the Sunshine Jungle was released in 1978 on Visa Records; it is extremely rare today. The band's song "Young and Wild" was sometimes covered live by Van Halen when they were still a Los Angeles bar band.
Fowley then tried to make guitarist Dyan Diamond into a big star, and got her a deal with MCA Records; her 1978 album, In the Dark was a creative success but a commercial failure.