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The Pioneers Take a Bow
Berklee honors (and rocks with) innovative all-woman band Fanny at ROCKRGRL event.
By Margot Edwards and Danielle Dreilinger
Berklee.edu Correspondents
April 30, 2007
A crowd gathered April 20 for the first concert in 30 years by Fanny—the pioneering all-woman band David Bowie calls "extraordinary." To top off the night, singer/songwriter Toshi Reagon presented guitarist June Millington, bassist Jean Millington, and drummer Alice de Buhr with the ROCKRGRL Women of Valor award. (Keyboardist Nickey Barclay was unable to attend.)
Predating the Runaways and the Go-Gos, Fanny was the first all-woman band to record for a major label. The quartet released five albums and toured the world, entertaining fans and converting doubters. But it wasn't all groupies and champagne, June Millington told the Boston Globe. The pressures of sexism meant the experience was often "a lot more challenging than it was joyful," she says. She now co-runs the Institute for Musical Arts to support women in music.
With these foremothers, the competitors in Berklee's Battle of the All-Female Bands should have an easier time. Winner Zili Misik, an eight-piece African dance band, opened for Fanny at the concert. Also performing were the Millington sisters' current band Slammin' Babes and a student Fanny tribute band.
Speakers showed the breadth of Fanny's influence. They included Sonya Kitchell, a past attendee of the Institute for Musical Arts Rock 'n' Roll Summer Camp for Girls; Myra Hindus, Berklee vice president for cultural diversity; and journalist Deborah Frost. ROCKRGRL founder Carla DeSantis hosted the event. Past recipients of the ROCKRGRL Women of Valor award include Patti Smith and Heart's Ann and Nancy Wilson.
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Margot Edwards is a publicist in Berklee's Office of Public Information. Danielle Dreilinger is a writer/editor in Berklee's Office of Communications.
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