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Lucy Thane Riot Grrrl Collection

Call Number

MSS.287

Date

1993-1995, inclusive

Creator

Thane, Lucy

Extent

0.5 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Abstract

Lucy Thane is a British filmmaker, performer, producer, and teacher. The Lucy Thane Riot Grrrl Collection contains video and audio recordings of bands Bikini Kill and Huggy Bear during a 1993 tour of the United Kingdom, as well as interviews with the bands and associated people. The collection ranges from 1993 to 1995.

Biographical Note

Lucy Thane was born in North London in 1967. She studied history at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, and film production at the Northern Media School in Sheffield. In 1993 Lucy started her professional career by directing Bikini Kill in the UK, documenting the British and American Riot Grrrl movement with a focus on the American band Bikini Kill. This film took Lucy to New York and San Francisco where she lived for 5 years. There she continued to make films such as She's Real, Worse than Queer in 1997, and from 1994 to 1998 worked as a staff member, curator and editor at Artists Television Access. She also taught at the Academy of Art College and continued to perform, curate, and direct several projects with a focus on feminism.

In 1998 Lucy returned to London and managed Sidecar Ltd., a video access and production company in East London until 2003. In 2004, Lucy researched and developed the film I'm Dancing Inside, which has not yet been realized, but which spurned an ongoing interest in dance and movement, resulting in several performances and project related to dance. She continues to direct and produce films, teach film production, curate dance and film/photography shows, and perform in varying mediums.

Arrangement

Dated tapes are arranged chronologically, undated tapes are arranged alphabetically. All ambiguous dates are assumed to be in the British style, but may be incorrect (9/5/94 is assumed May 9th, but may in fact be September 5th).

Scope and Contents

The Lucy Thane Riot Grrrl Collection predominantly consists of video and audio recordings made by Lucy Thane in March and April 1993, during the tour of Riot Grrrl bands Bikini Kill and Huggy Bear in the United Kingdom. It also contains video recordings of associated bands and people. The collection spans the years 1993 to 1995, and forms the raw footage from which Lucy Thane created the film It Changed My Life.

Bikini Kill (from Olympia, Washington) consisted of vocalist Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. Members of Huggy Bear (from Brighton, England) were Niki Elliott, Karen Hill, Jo Johnson, Chris Rawley, and Jon Slade. The 1993 tour was organized by Liz Naylor, and was accompanied by a split Bikini Kill and Huggy Bear LP on Naylor's label Catcall Records. On February 12th, less than one month before the tour began, Huggy Bear appeared on the television show The Word and, after protesting a feature on two American models known as 'The Barbi Twins,' were removed from the studio. The cover of the next issue of Melody Maker on February 27th was dedicated to the events of February 12th, describing it as a 'riot.'

Dr Julia Downes describes Huggy Bear's performance on, and ejection from, The Word as "a key controversial event that propelled riot grrrl into the British popular consciousness." Subsequently, the March and April tour gained extensive, overwhelmingly negative, coverage in the UK press. This included "Rock Against Men Is Music To The Riot Grrrls' Ears" by Hester Matthewman in The Independent on Sunday on March 14th, and "Angry Young Women" by Caroline Sullivan in The Guardian on March 24th. On March 27th Anne Barrowclough wrote in The Daily Mail:

"They screech, they spit, they snarl, they swear. Every word they scream through the microphone is a prayer against men. When their music stops, you are left with a pounding head, buzzing ear drums and no doubt that Men are The Enemy. Meet the Riot Grrrls, the latest, nastiest phenomenon to enter the British music scene."

The shows themselves were all sold out and were a transformative experience for many attendees. Jen Denitto of the band Linus has said that the tour "was probably one of the bigger events that would have promoted the idea [of riot grrrl in the UK]." Furthermore, Dr Julia Downes writes that it provided "crucial spaces for the introduction of strategies to resist and reorder gender power relations within British indie music culture."

The March and April 1993 recordings consist of live concert footage, backstage footage, interviews with band members, post-show interviews with fans, and interviews with associated people, for example Liz Naylor of Catcall Records and members of the band The Raincoats. Additional recordings consist of footage of and interviews with the queercore band Sister George, and footage of and interviews with female musicians in San Francisco, as well as some unidentified, unrelated content.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open to researchers. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date (if known); Lucy Thane Riot Grrrl Collection; MSS 287; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University Libraries.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The collection was donated by Lucy Thane in 2010.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Access copies for some materials are available by appointment for reading room viewing and listening only. Please contact fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.

Related Materials

Coverage of the 1993 Huggy Bear and Bikini Kill tour can be found in the following periodicals housed at Fales.

New Musical Express: Call Number ML5 .N484 Flat Box
Melody Maker: Call Number ML5 .M17 Flat Box

Additional coverage can found be in Box 3, Folder 23 (Leeds & Bradford Riot Grrrl) of the Elena Humphreys Riot Grrrl Collection.

Collection processed by

Laura Newsome, 2010. Updated by Charlie Morgan, 2016.

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 17:09:14 -0400.
Language: Description is in English

Repository

Fales Library and Special Collections
Fales Library and Special Collections
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012