Nice girls don’t jive: the rise and fade of women in Perth music from the late 1950s to the early 1970s

Abstract

This article examines the historical and social particularities that shaped women’s experiences as musicians in Perth popular music in the 1950s through to the early 1970s. In particular, I focus on the early rock and roll scene styled around the British influence that was popular in Perth during this time. The purpose of this article is to reveal the very real contributions that women made to the early period of popular music in Perth despite the many disadvantages and challenges they faced. This research also reveals a presence of women as musicians during the late 1950s and 1960s that would recede by the early 1970s, likely as a result of the rise of Oz Rock and reactionary conservatism against second wave feminism.

Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge the support and guidance of Professor Jon Stratton and Dr Trainer in the completion of this article.

Notes

1. It should be noted that, despite this, the coverage from the Sydney Morning Herald led with the headline, ‘Passion, guts and handbags’ (Northover 2010) based on the small fact of one handbag being displayed that belonged to Clare Moore.

2. Both male and female Indigenous performers were, and largely still are, marginalized in the Australian arts. However, I am focusing on women in this article and therefore single women out in particular. Further, as Gibson and Dunbar-Hall explain, it was women particularly that faced the ‘double discrimination’ of being both Indigenous and female (264).

3. There was at least one Indigenous woman performing at the Coolbaroo Club in Perth, Gladys Bropho. The Coolbaroo Club was an organization that hosted social events such as dances and shows for the Indigenous community from 1947 to 1960 (Darbyshire 2010, n.p).

4. See Miriam Dixon, The Real Matilda: Women and Identity in Australia – 1788 to the present (1999), for a comprehensive and overwhelming study of the extent of misogyny that shaped the Australian colonial experience.

5. The Madonna–whore complex has a long and entrenched history in many cultures; see Genevieve Lloyd Man of Reason: ‘Male’ and ‘Female’ in Western Philosophy (1993). Further, Anne Summers details the whore/puritan binary in the Australian context at length in Damned Whore and God’s Police (1975).

6. Bellanta’s research article tells of a young man who raped a 12-year-old girl in 1889. The young man was quoted as saying: ‘‘I went for her just the same as anyone else would do’? [sic].’’

7. For an in-depth history of bodgies and widgies in Australia see Jon Stratton’s ‘Bodgies and Widgies – youth cultures in the 1950s’ (1984).

8. Along with Pam Bradley and the Roulettes, The Logan Sisters appear on ‘The Western Australian Snake Pit Rock ‘n’ Roll’ compilation album featuring Perth artists from the era (Snake Pit Rock ‘n’ Roll, Vol. 1, 2004).

9. Both Martin Ormbsy and Catchpole do remember being supported by their parents to play music though, which is perhaps why they were able to play in bands at all (Catchpole; Ormsby).

10. In Gracie and Mills text, The Intricates are credited as the first all girl rock group, however, Catchpole says both The Intricates and The Little Beats started in the same year.