The Pandoras

The Pandoras
Origin	Chino, California, USA
Genres	Post-punk, rock, alternative rock, garage punk, Paisley underground
Years active	1983–1990
Labels	Bomp!, Rhino, Elektra, Restless
Past members	Paula Pierce Kim Shattuck Melanie Vammen Sheri Kaplan Lissa Beltri Karen Blankfeld Gwynne Kelly Bambi Conway Julie Patchouli Deborah Mendoza Kelly Dillard Casey Gomez Rita Di Albert Susan Hyatt

The Pandoras were an all-female rock and roll band from Los Angeles, California from 1983–1990, who found a following in the Hollywood "Paisley Underground" scene and later adapted a more contemporary Sunset Boulevard, hard rock look and sound. Leader Paula Pierce's career ended when, on August 10, she suffered an aneurysm and died at the age of 31.

Formation

File:Pan Its about time.jpg

The Pandoras It's About Time

The Pandoras began in 1983 as part of the 1960s revival garage rock scene led by The Unclaimed. They were originally associated with the Paisley Underground era in Hollywood's alternative rock scene, along with bands such as The Crawdaddys, Redd Kross, The Three O'Clock, The Dream Syndicate, The Morlocks, and The Rain Parade. These bands shared an aesthetic heavily influenced by 1960s garage rock and psychedelia, and most (but not all) of the members tended to come from the west side and beach cities area of Los Angeles County and Orange County. Pierce, a resident of Chino, California, was a notable exception. Pierce had been a member of the Hollywood music scene and playing in bands since 1976.

The Pandoras were formed when singer/guitarist Pierce, a member of Action Now at the time, met singer-guitarist/bass player Deborah Mendoza (aka Mende/ Menday), at Chaffey College in Upland in 1982. Mendoza, an art major, answered an ad that Pierce, a graphic art major, had posted on the bulletin board in the cafeteria. The ad read, "Wanted, another female musician to jam with! Influenced by sixties garage punk." They got together and clicked, and started bringing their guitars to school jamming between classes.

Early Career

Pierce brought in musician Gwynne Kelly (real name Gwynne Kahn) as a second guitarist, and Mendoza brought in drummer Casey Gomez. After a band meeting in January 1983, Kelly christened the band The Pandoras, though names such as The Keyholes, Hole, The wHolesome, and The Goodwylls were considered.

After recording their first EP, I'm Here I'm Gone, Mendoza left the group, and was replaced by bassist Bambi Conway. Conway appeared on The Pandoras' debut album, It's About Time, on Greg Shaw's Bomp! Records.

In 1984, The Pandoras split into two factions. Conway, unhappy with Pierce's behavior and band decisions, quit The Pandoras. That was followed by Pierce firing Kelly. Then, Gomez quit the band. Pierce decided to continue as The Pandoras and recruit three new members. Before Pierce could form a band, Conway and Kelly played a show as The Pandoras, with other temporary fill-in musicians (notably Michael Quercio of The Three O'Clock on lead vocals/guitar). Gomez joined Conway and Kelly to form an alternative Pandoras to the band Pierce was assembling.

The resulting dispute over the Pandoras name was discussed on a KROQ-FM radio show hosted by Rodney Bingenheimer and in the local music zines such as BAM, Music Connection, and the LA Weekly (and its "L.A.DeeDa" gossip column). The Kelly-lead Pandoras--nicknamed the Gwynnedoras, consisted of Kelly, Gomez, Conway, and Lisa Rae Black. The Kelly-lead band's "Worm Boy", a Kelly/Black original, was released on an Enigma Records compilation, Enigma Variations. An EP was recorded for Enigma, but never released.

Eventually, the Pierce-led Pandoras prevailed, and Kelly moved on to other projects.

Pierce's new version of The Pandoras, included Melanie Vammen on keyboards, Julie Patchouli on bass, and Karen Blankfeld on drums. They went to enjoy modest success with the release of the Hot Generation single on Bomp! Records. They toured the east coast with the Fuzztones to promote the single.

Patchouli was removed from the band due to unpredictable behavior. A temporary fill-in played two shows with the band before Kim Shattuck joined the band in July 1985.

Rhino Era

The Pandoras were signed to Rhino Records and began recording the basic tracks for the Stop Pretending album in late 1985 with producer Bill Inglot. In 1986, Stop Pretending was released.

Los Angeles became a hotbed of major label signings of bands that had grown out of the so-called "Paisley Underground". The pop sensibilities of Pierce and being labeled "one of the bands that matter" by the LA Weekly helped the band get signed by Elektra Records. The band continued to play live and record new songs for their major label debut and were a top live club draw outside of Los Angeles, touring with Nina Hagen, and performing on bills with the such acts as Iggy Pop, The Fuzztones, The Beat Farmers, Johnny Thunders, and The Cramps. The Pandoras played the first ever LA Weekly Music Awards and showcased a slightly harder sound and were interviewed on the roof of the Variety Arts Center for a top French TV Show.

Elektra Era

After Stop Pretending, Elektra A&R man Steve Pross signed the band to Elektra Records. The band made numerous attempts to record the album, to be titled Come Inside. During this period, Blankfeld was forced from the band due to disagreements about band management, and was replaced with Kelly Dillard. Dillard participated in photoshoots intended for the cover of Come Inside.

Before the release of the LP, which had reached test-pressing stage, Pross was fired by Elektra. As a result, the label dropped both bands he had signed — Jetboy and The Pandoras — with their respective records withdrawn from the Elektra release schedule. Many of the recordings The Pandoras made during the Elektra era eventually surfaced on the Psychedelic Sluts bootleg CD). The band continued to play live while looking for another record deal.

Restless Era

Dillard was shortly replaced by Sheri Kaplan, and guitarist Susan Hyatt was added in December 1987, though she only remained in the band for two months. When another label made an offer to sign the band and release the Come Inside, Elektra declined to relinquish rights to the master recordings.

Pierce decided to turn to an even more hard-edged sound and Rita D'Albert replaced Hyatt. They recorded new songs and put out Rock Hard, a mini-LP on Restless Records. The band also made a video for "Run Down Love Battery", which received airplay on MTV's Headbangers Ball, expanding their audience to include metal fans.

D'Albert left The Pandoras in February 1989 to take more of an active part in another band that had just been signed to RCA records, Human Drama, just before a tour in support of Rock Hard. Rather than cancel the tour, the band went out as a four-piece. A show in Dallas, Texas at Z Rock was recorded for a "Coast to Coast Concert Series" broadcast. They also made an appearance on the first episode of The Arsenio Hall Show where they performed "Run Down Love Battery".

Billie Jo Hash joined the band on guitar for the second leg of the Rock Hard tour, although she only lasted through the summer of 1989. Lissa Beltri joined The Pandoras in late 1989.

Rather than record a new studio album with the new line-up, Pierce opted to let Restless Records release the Z Rock concert as Live Nymphomania, even though Pierce was not happy with the recording. The band toured in support of it.

Disbandment and Pierce's Death

Outside of Los Angeles, the Pandoras' fan base continued to grow in the hard rock world, though attendance was down at individual shows, especially locally in Los Angeles. New promo photos were taken, and pre-planning was starting for a full album on Restless.

In July 1990, keyboardist Vammen was removed from the band by Pierce, over Shattuck's and Kaplan's objections. Pierce's reason for Vammen's departure was that the new direction of the band did not require keyboards. Vammen was the longest-running Pandora, other than Pierce.

An Australian tour was canceled and, when an European tour was cancelled, Shattuck left the band in late 1990. There was a single show with a fill-in male bassist, and then Kaplan quit the band to join Hardly Dangerous. This left The Pandoras in limbo at the end of 1990, as Pierce had no band and was without a label. Vammen and Shattuck quickly formed The Muffs.

In 1991, Pierce slowly worked on new material with Beltri. They hired a new drummer and were auditioning bass players. On August 9, a bass player auditioned who both Pierce and Beltri liked. She was to be brought back in for a rehearsal on August 11. However, on August 10, after dinner and an exercise session, Pierce suffered a fatal aneurysm in the shower. She had complained of painful headaches for two weeks before her death, but did not seek medical care.

Memorial Show For Pierce

As news of her death spread, the Hollywood community that Pierce had been a part of mourned. DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, who had been one of the earliest fans of the band, dedicated an entire show to Pierce. The Pandoras' tour manager, Dave Eddy, helped organize a tribute show with the help of band members and friends, at the Coconut Teaser. The night helped to raise almost $3,000 to help offset funeral expenses.

The show saw performances by Cherie Currie of The Runaways and her twin sister Marie in their first public performance together in 20 years, with the final line up of the Pandoras backing them, Precious Metal, who had broken up but who reunited for the show; Robert Hecker of Redd Kross and Abby Travis, Dramarama with Clem Burke of Blondie and Sylvain Sylvain from the New York Dolls, The Muffs (Shattuck's and Vammen's band), African Violet (D'Albert band), Hardly Dangerous (Kaplan was their drummer) and White Flag.

The crowd included Jeff and Steve McDonald from Redd Kross and Charlotte Caffey and Kathy Valentine from The Go-Go's. The artists who played that night and the people in the audience prompted Bingenheimer to exclaim, "Look at the people here! What do you have to die to see who really loves you?"

Discography

Albums

• It's About Time (1984 - Voxx Records)
• Stop Pretending (1986 - Rhino Records; 2006 - remastered re-release)
• Rock Hard/Live Nymphomania (2005 - Reissue - Restless)

Unreleased Album

• Come Inside - (1987 - Elektra Records)

Mini-albums

• Rock Hard (1988 - Restless Records)
• Live Nymphomania (1989 - Restless Records)

Singles and EPs

• I'm Here I'm Gone (1984 - EP - Moxie Records)
• Hot Generation/You Don't Satisfy (1984 - Single - Voxx Records)
• In And Out of My Life (In a Day)/The Hump (1986 - Single - Rhino Records)
• I Didn't Cry/Thunder Alley (1999 - Dionysus)

Compilation appearances

• Enigma Variations (1985 - Enigma - Kelly-led version of The Pandoras)
• What Surf II (1985 - What? Records)
• Battle of the Garages, Vol. 2 (1993 - |Voxx Records)
• Tales From The Rhino (1994 - Rhino Records)
• Destination Bomp (1994 - Voxx Records)
• The Roots of Power Pop (1996 - Voxx Records)
• Be A Caveman: The Best Of The Voxx Garage Revival (2000 - Voxx Records)

Videos/DVD

• Slipping Through the Cracks (An Uprising of Young Pacifics) (video); IceWorld Video

Bootlegs

• Space Amazon (1997 - Arf Arf)
• Psychedelic Sluts (1997 - Erekta)