Venus and the Razorblades

Venus and the Razorblades were a short-lived punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed and managed by Kim Fowley after he severed professional relations with The Runaways.[1] They are believed to be one of the first mixed-gender American punk band. The band included guitarist/singer Roni Lee (born Rhonda Lee Ryckman), who had co-written the song "I Wanna Be Where the Boys Are" for the Runaways; guitarist/singer Steven T.; bassist Danielle Faye (formerly of Atomic Kid); drummer Nickey Beat (formerly of The Weirdos and the Germs) (who was soon replaced by Kyle Raven); and singers Dyan Diamond and Vicki Razorblade (born Vicki Arnold). When the band formed, Diamond and Razorblade were only 14 and 17 years old respectively.[1] Session musicians were used in some of the band's recordings.[2]

The Woman's International Music Network, founded by Laura B. Whitmore, gives credit to Venus and the Razorblades, as well as the Runaways, for performing in a genre that was dominated mostly by men.[3] Venus and the Razorblades played a memorable concert with Van Halen at the Whisky a Go Go in 1976,[4] and Van Halen sometimes played the Venus and the Razorblades song "Young and Wild" in their early concert performances.[5]

The band put out a novelty single called "Punk-A-Rama" on the independent label Bomp! Records to capitalize on the popularity of the punk rock genre, but then broke up. A compilation album called Songs from the Sunshine Jungle was released in 1978 on Visa Records; it is extremely rare today.[1] After Venus and the Razorblades disbanded, Fowley tried to make Dyan Diamond into a star, and got a deal for her with MCA Records; her 1978 album, In the Dark was a commercial failure.[6] Roni Lee collaborated and performed with Randy California and Ed Cassidy of Spirit, as well as Mars Bonfire and Jerry Edmonton of Steppenwolf, in 1977-78.[7] In 2013, Lee was granted an endorsement with Paul Reed Smith guitars for her distinctive style of playing as well as her place in punk rock's early history.[8][9] Lee released the album Heros of Sunset Blvd. in 2016.[10]