(It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine)

I wanted to explore Women in Punk in Vancouver, BC. After a little research I was able to find one name that was a legacy for the history of punk in Vancouver.

The Dishrags. The Dishrags were an all-female punk band from Victoria, BC from 1976 to 1980. They made the switch to Vancouver because they just weren’t getting the gigs they wanted with what Victoria had to offer. Vancouver is and was an upcoming music scene where they could build a community with music of their type. The Georgia Straight has labelled them as “Ground Zero” for Vancouver punk. The original band was called “Dee Dee and the Dishrags”  formed by then teenage Jill Bain (Jade Blade) on lead guitar and vocals, Carmen “Scout” Michaud on drums, and Dale Powers on bass.

(CBC News)

I’ve always identified with punk music growing up. I think it was the closest anarchy music I could get away with listening to. It was something the kids I was hanging around with listened to.

It was the kind of music where I didn’t have to like the same band as my friend, I could have my own weird sound and I was cool with it.

I’m still learning to write about bands that I don’t have a personal experience with live, just an experience listening to them online. My experience listening to The Dishrags was raw, raspy, and really unmixed in their audio. But that is what punk is about. Not caring what is sought after, expected, or “easy on the listeners”. It was purely themselves on a tape.

Klemen Breznikar says in their article about The Dishrags, “[They were] diving headfirst into a scene that barely existed yet – before riot grrrl, before “women in punk” was selling point. No slogans, no rockstar bullshit, just real snot-nosed energy.”

(Times Colonist)

The Dishrags emerged just as the UK punk music scene began. To have that raw vulnerability to make punk music of any kind in Vancouver is an interesting feat. Punk music is purely a space to vent your frustrations with the world when no other place will hear it.

The 70s were a different time, and punk music so uniquely marks that separation from suburban colonization. For how long have we been taught that complacency and the nuclear family are our predetermined dreams? I mean imagine how that notion would’ve felt in the 70s. The Dishrags received a lot of flack in their career from male counter bands and even being tokenized in the media.

To step out of your skin and say to the world exactly how you felt, in exactly that winge-tinge tone that a lot of punk singers seem to have – off key but it damn works. WHILE having the biases of said parents at the time. WHILE having the media and fellow music makers scoffing at your gender. Brain melt. I love it.

In fact, these three teenagers got the reciprocation they deserved when they opened for The Clash at The Commodore Ballroom in 1979 Vancouver, BC. They were seventeen at the time. Bain recalls in a CBC news article hanging out with the Clash pre-show. They were nervous because these were their idols, and The Clash was excited to explore Vancouver because it was their first North American tour. Here’s a picture of The Clash at their Commodore performance:

(Don Denton)

As their career progressed The Dishrags opened twice more for The Clash, and even The Ramones! What an experience for a bunch of teenagers making their way through with music.

Although there is not much information about their families and growing up, Bain says in an article by It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine, “The area we grew up in, while physically beautiful and mostly an agricultural community, was a deadly dull place to be a teenager. The band became both our obsession and our ticket out.”

I wonder about the environment they grew up in and if their families ever came round to support their alternative choices. Because their risk definitely paid off! I only question because I love my family to bits, but we are still unpacking certain cultural biases about tastes, clothes, weed. My Mom in particular has beyond blown me away with her acclimation to my “rogue” choices, and in fact supports me even though she is still born in the era she was born. Imagine being these teenage girls, taking the risk, and having it pay off in the best way. I hope their families support them.

(Vancouver Island History)

What a fairytale triumph. Something I am proud was cultivated in Vancouver.

While there are no links directly to The Dishrags, check out their music below:

Written by Volante Matheson, BCIT Radio Arts & Entertainment

Contact: vmatheson1@my.bcit.ca