Wednesday, May 24, 2023

THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE: It's About Time

From my long-threatened (and maybe even eventual) book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!


THE PANDORAS: It's About Time
Written by Paula Pierce
Produced by Greg Shaw and Bill Inglot
From the album It's About Time, Voxx Records, 1984

Okeydokey. Tonight's the night. Let's do it!

The Pandoras were one of the many great missed opportunities in this history of the rock and the roll. They were willfully a garage band, an all-female quartet led in all its varying lineups by singer and guitarist Paula Pierce, and the original group was determinedly and stubbornly part of the '80s Nuggets-Pebbles 1960s revival scene. The Pandoras had attitude, they had gravitas, and they had original material that seemed to have a legit chance of connecting with a big audience.

But the Pandoras were lacking one important thing: luck. And Pierce was lacking something even more important: time. The Pandoras' luck never manifested in the big break that had seemed likely. Pierce's time evaporated in 1991, when an aneurysm ended her life.

Prior to the dawn of the Pandoras, Pierce had been in another '60s-influenced combo called the Direct Hits, who later changed their name to Action Now. By '83, Pierce took her guitar and her songs to the Pandoras, formed with keyboardist Gwynne Kahn, bassist Deborah Mendoza, and drummer Casey Gomez. Bambi Conway replaced Mendoza on bass before the Pandoras' first album.


Like many groups in the mid '80s psychedelic revival, the Pandoras cherished authenticity in their efforts to recreate the sounds of the obscure and unpolished '60s bands they admired and emulated. As an all-female group in an overwhelmingly male-dominated scene, the Pandoras may have been seen (incorrectly) as something of a novelty act, but the sound of female vocals over fuzz guitar helped the group stand out from the pack of slavish Sonics imitators.

If the Pandoras were initially noticed just for their gender, it must also be said that they could deliver the goods on record. Their 1984 debut album It's About Time remains an essential artifact of the neo-garage movement. It's filled with derivative tunes, retro moves, and deliberately lo-fi production values, sure, but it is greater than its self-imposed limitations, and it is offered with a gusto second to none.

The title track is extraordinary, its guitar intro echoing the Byrds while remaining stubbornly anchored in the carport that spawned it. The lyrics could be about a one-night stand (or the first of a series of all-night stands), or one could imagine it as manifesto for bands and fans to get together to frolic under the flashing lights. It's about time. Don't you think that we should just let it happen? NOW!
A later line-up of the Pandoras 
The moment didn't happen for the Pandoras. As their album hit the stores, the group split acrimoniously, with both Kahn and Pierce waging a tug-of-war over the Pandoras name; Conway and Gomez joined Kahn, Pierce recruited new Pandoras, and Pierce (right or wrong) ultimately prevailed in getting her group recognized as the Pandoras. A Pandoras line-up of Pierce, bassist Kim Shattuck, keyboardist Melanie Vammen, and drummer Karen Blankfeld recorded 1986's Stop Pretending, a delightful album that added a more overt pop influence. The Pandoras were eventually signed to Elektra, with an album called Come Inside recorded but never released. The Pandoras' personnel continued to shift, and harder rock elements came into play. Former members went on to other projects; Shattuck and Vammen formed the Muffs, Kahn and Conway were in a terrific (but mostly unheard) '80s combo called Mad Monster Party, Blankfeld was in Rebel Pebbles. Pierce continued to pursue her vision of the Pandoras.

Mad Monster Party
Rebel Pebbles

But Pierce's time ran out. And the Pandoras' time never arrived. 

Paula Pierce

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