xx Alix

Farewell then to the Head Lesbian, Alix Dobkin, who died on 19 May after an aneurysm. Our paths crossed a few times in the 1990s and she offered me some typically barbed quotes for my Deneuve article "From Womyn to Grrrls" in 1993, suggesting certain lyrics that might work as I sought to illustrate parallels between womyn's music and Riot Grrrl. I remember one I selected was "go stick it in some mud". 

The best line, though, was one that did not appear. I knew that Tribe 8, then considered a rather raucous dyke band, wanted to play the womyn's music festival circuit. I pondered how they would be perceived and wondered aloud whether the audience might see some "moshing on the green fields of Michigan". Sadly, this line was cut for space in editing, but I was obviously a seer, because later I heard that not only had Alix introduced the band personally when they played, donning a leather jacket for the occasion, but Ms. Dobkin had actually stage-dived during their set!! In vain have I searched for photos of this momentous event, but I like to imagine it. 

Alix gave them her blessing, I am given to understand, after doing some research on their feminist credentials, but also because she had first-hand experience of this younger generation of dyke. I arranged for her to meet with Jill Reiter, Selena Whang and Kathleen Hanna and they conducted a riotous, thoughtful and uproarious conversation over brunch at her apartment in NYC. I was not present but was sent the proceedings by cassette, along with a slightly out of focus Polaroid of the four of them, arms around each other, captured on the roof of the building. It remains a treasured possession, evidence of generations speaking together and learning from each other. The conversation appeared in edited form in Hot Wire in 1994. Rock on, Alix. 

Saying Something

Kudos to Dua Lipa for calling for frontline workers to get a pay rise. Even playing to the gallery at a Brits ceremony peopled by key workers it was still an excellent way of using her platform for a good cause.

I had heard of the singer for some year but never really listened to her music until last year when I was working out at a gym (pre-pandemic). Several of her tunes popped up on the sound system and in our ballet fit class the instructor had programmed a very catchy number for when we did sideways steps. I only realised later this was Dua Lipa's "Don't Start Now", and I can't hear the song without flashing back to those steps. Once I was in lockdown I listened to Future Nostalgia and decided it was a retro pop classic. Very deserving then of the Brits statuettes handed out this week for best album and female solo artist. Her medley was brilliantly realised. 

Dua Lipa turns up on Song Exploder, the series on Netflix going behind the scenes of notable recordings. The episode that features her centres on the writing and recording of "Love Again", which I found to be one of the less memorable songs on the album. In discussing the formation of the song Lipa gives nods to the co-writers, producers etc. and then someone she describes as her "vocal producer" who apparently told her to smile while singing certain lines. Vocal producer? Is this a thing? Somehow I can't imagine Aretha Franklin or Frank Sinatra having a vocal producer. But, if it works for Lipa, then good for her.