Old ladies to the front: in praise of unglamorous bands

Ruth Miller with the Unglamorous LP.

Years ago, when Twitter was a place where you  could find community, I came across an account called Punk Girl Diaries.  The two women behind it were punk fans and musicians Ruth Miller aka Vim Renault and Polly Hancock aka Lene Cortina. 

It turned out they did a website (no longer active) and an excellent fanzine, which I immediately subscribed to. And merch, too: I now have a Punk Girl Diaries T-shirt with the word “Typical” on the front. 

Trying to look like I'm still punk.

They also wrote some of the best bits in a book called Venue Stories (which I’m also in), some under the Punk Girl Diaries name and some under their own names. 

In 1922, Ruth set up the Unglamorous Music project which resulted in the creation of 27 brand new, punk-inspired all-female bands. You can read about it on the Leicester Museums website. 

There’s a great quote from Ruth: “‘So much of the spirit, attitude and simplicity of this comes from punk. Like punk, the ideas are spreading to ordinary women – and others of all ages – around the world!”

Recordings by a bunch of these bands were collected onto a sampler album under the strapline “New garage bands from Leicester”. When I listened to the LP I actually cried a little bit. Because I had evidence that older women – women like me – were finding their voices.

Ruth died in 1993. But she has a legacy, and the ripples are still going. 

In Leicester, Unglamorous has turned into Riotous Collective. And the movement is spreading all over the country.

Near where I live, there’s a band called the HorMones (“rhymes with Ramones”). The first time I saw them they were just doing covers. Husband, who’s been playing guitar for years, sneered at their lack of expertise but that was the point. 

It was the DIY punk spirit of “here’s a chord, here’s another, now form a band”. And, when they got to Pretty Vacant, it was very empowering seeing a bunch of women – middle-aged and older – declaring “And we don’t caaaare”. (Yes, and joining in.) 

A few years on, they’ve been writing their own songs. One of them has a join-in chorus that’s even better, because it’s quite sweary. (I know that sometimes I swear too much but to me that feels empowering, too.  Because it challenges, as Poly Styrene put it, the notion that “Little girls should be seen and not heard”.)

HorMones merch. They say: "It all goes to help The HorMones buy their drugs (Ibuleve and HRT)".

And it’s not just Oxford. Across the country there are other groups of older women starting bands, inspired by Unglamorous. And it must be part of the zeitgeist because there is now going to be a BBC drama about it.  Riot Women starts this weekend. The trailer has had mixed reviews. I really hope it is good. 

But if not, I’ll just be at another HorMones gig, saying “Old ladies to the front.”