well played! they were terrific. i always felt like heart stole a lot of their thunder. there wasn't a lot of space for women rock bands back then. blame lester bangs lol indeed!
Maybe it was a regional thing but I heard "Butter Boy" as much on the radio as anything else in '75 and I liked it more than most of it.. First rate songwriting, role reversal where the girl's the aggressor, solid rock sound, vocals that could stand proudly alongside Heart and probably catchier than anything that group did. Wikipedia: "Casablanca Records - The label's first signing was the rock group Kiss. "Butter Boy" by Fanny and The Hudson Brothers' "So You Are a Star" proved to be Casablanca's first Billboard Top 40 hits." Yeah, so someone else saw it as a hit, too. But the weird thing is, it actually didn't help. Fanny had charted two albums previously, but the album with the hit single didn't chart at all.
A must-see. But it's a curse: I've been listening to virtually nothing but Fanny since I saw it this spring. Info and upcoming screenings here: Fanny: The Right To Rock
Their overlooked classic is the Mother's Pride album. Produced by Todd during his most inspired period. Imagine the Abbey Road Beatles fronted by Laura Nyro and you'd have it.. Sadly the album's guiding light seems to have been singer/keyboardist Nickey Barclay who has fallen off the grid in recent decades.
I can't believe that there is no Greatest Hits / Best Of for this band (that I can buy)! Really?! I am missing it? Wikipedia, Discogs and Amazon are all saying "no"... That's a travesty...
There's only the first time in a long time box set from rhino handmade. Surprisingly, although a lot of the rhino handmade stuff subsequently got reissued for cheap, this one didn't.
There’s a documentary? I did not know that. Thanks for the info. There are a number of previous Fanny threads here, and while they all seem to be closed now, I remember some of these were good sources of information on the band, so could be well worth a read through still.
I have their selft titled debut LP which I really like. It has a great version of Badge and lots of good original stuff too! Its to bad they were marginalized in the 70's. A nice 'hidden treasure' in rock history!
OK, so I've done it myself with a little help from Discogs... I am now trying to make a (59 minute) Spotify playlist out of this: (which is basically - mostly - their single releases in chronological order) Ladies Choice 2:48 Nowhere To Run 3:20 Changing Horses 3:48 Badge (Cream cover) 3:01 Conversation With A Cop 3:10 Seven Roads 3:48 Shade Me 4:39 Special Care (Stephen Stills cover) 4:23 Charity Ball 2:30 Ain't That Peculiar 4:06 Wonderful Feeling 3:17 Young And Dumb 3:33 Summer Song 3:12 I Need You Need Me 4:56 All Mine 4:26 Last Night I Had A Dream 3:56
You don't need a best-of, dude, you need the albums. Through the fannyrocks website, original drummer Alice de Buhr sells the Real Gone editions of the band's first four at an affordable price, as well as a fantastic 1972 live recording. The Real Gone CDs have good bonus tracks and extensive liner notes — and that version of Charity Ball is the only place I know of that has the full original version of one of their stone-cold classics, "A Place in the Country" (which inexplicably isn't included in EwaWoowa's list above).
I'm sure they were marginalized because they were an all female band in what was a very male dominated industry. They got FM airplay here in NYC and more than held their own onstage opening for Humble Pie and Lee Michaels.
I'd heard of them in the past but never actually heard them until a couple years ago. All four members were awesome musicianss... they weren't just four girls propped in front of microphones as a novelty. Their cover of "Badge" is worth seeking out.
BIG crush on the Millington sisters! LOVE Fanny! Was really hoping Real Gone Music would continue with the reissues... even a reissue of the Canadian mispress of the self-titled first album (though I'd flip the cover art on this one if I was in charge, just to separate the two). With the documentary, something's gotta be brewing... anyone with any info???
The Midnight Special footage only became available recently, as far as I know, and it's good! I like the second song especially.
Could be worse......an all guy band masterminded by women ...........................................
