British born Lita Ford staked her claim in glam rock with her looks and guitar shredding capabilities. Not only could Lita rock vocally, her guitar playing skills were advanced to put it lightly. Many critics claimed she had a male lead guitarist, but this chick could wail!
My brothers would have much more input than me on this artist. Their paths have crossed in the past. In Green Bay WI, the big arena was called the Brown County Arena. That's where all the big bands play. Ratt and Lita Ford were going to play there, and their opening act couldn't make it. So word came to the manager of Defiance (my brothers' band). They were offered to open up. Tommy, in a stroke of bad luck was sick. The band was told if they could do the gig, all they'd have to bring is their guitars. They said yes and headed up to Green Bay, which was about a 20 minute drive.
Defiance had their own dressing room, with their name on a star on the door. When they got there, the entire band got giddy jumping up and down like a bunch of little girls. They got to meet Lita Ford, who both acted and appeared to be on drugs. For the show, Michael Boyle got to plug his guitar into what was described to me as "a wall of Marshall amps."
Stories like this didn't happen that much when I was a teenager, or in college for that matter. The 80's was just sort of cool because things like this happened. With the internet the way it is, and cell phones able to reach anyone, the way Defiance was offered a gig seemed a lot more pure that how it would go down these days. Modern technology like cell phones and computers make it easier to expose a band to the public, but bigger bands will also have an easier time finding lots of acts to play... making the chances of your phone ringing a rarity.
Lita Ford and (previously mentioned)Pat Benatar are only two of the female acts in rock. There are lots of others including Vixen, Heart, The Bangles, Joan Jett, and more! But let's not get ahead of ourselves. More to come. LONG live the women of rock!
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