NIKKI CORVETTE: Chick rock pioneer. |
“Going to the beach on a real joy ride/ With my baby right by my side...”“Standin’ on the street, lookin’ kinda neat/ Boys, boys, boys...”
“Baby you’re just what I need/ Satisfaction guaranteed...”
If you do not agree that the above could be considered contenders for greatest lyrics in the rocknroll canon, kindly read no further. But if you do, it may interest you to know that Nikki Corvette is back. After a quarter century away from music, she’s ready to lay waste to the Beachcomber in Wellfleet on June 24 and to Regeneration Records on June 25 with her new band the Stingrays.
Little has changed about Nikki’s approach to rock music since she teamed with Romantics guitarist Pete James to record the classic Nikki and the Corvettes (Bomp!) back in 1980. Splitting the difference between the Ronettes and the Ramones, that album was a rough and ready chunk of power pop perfection, reveling in the eternal all-American verities of fun in the sun, back-seat love, and being just a bit of a bad girl. On the new record, Back to Detroit (Dollar Records), all the necessary elements are still there: hard-driving Chuck Berryisms, supercharged surf riffs, girl-group harmonies, and lots and lots of hand-claps.
We talked to the chick-rock pioneer about growing up in Motown, running away from home so she could see the MC5, what it means to be name-checked in a Donnas song, and how it feels to be back on stage after 25 years.
On why her hometown Detroit has so damn many great bands:
I think it has a lot to do with attitude. People in Detroit have serious attitude. And I think it just overflows into the music. There’s not always a lot going on in Detroit, but there’s always good music. There’s always been good music. You grow up with music. That’s not always true of other cities. Starting with Motown and on up to the people who influenced us — the Stooges, the MC5.
On where that attitude comes from:
I’m not really sure. I don’t know if it’s because it’s a really hard city, it’s really blue collar, it’s kind of a depressed city since the car industry started going downhill, there have been a lot of problems with all the whites leaving the city. I actually grew up in the city of Detroit. Not the suburbs. The city. I just think it’s a really hard place to be from. I’ve been living in LA for 23 years, and although I do love LA, I needed to get beck to reality. LA is not a real place. The people aren’t real. Detroit definitely is a real city. It will bring you right down to earth.
On her musical influences:
When I was growing up, I would go see every concert that came to Detroit, Because everybody came to Detroit. Even if they’re only doing LA and New York, they always play Detroit. Because it’s good audiences. I saw everybody. But when I was 15, 16 and started seeing the Stooges and MC5. When I was 18 and started seeing the Dolls, and then a little later Ramones, and Blondie and the Clash. All your basics. The Shangri-Las, Ronettes, Crystals, Angels. All that. And I was really into rockabilly as well.
