These Boots Were Made for Rockin'

With their knee-high boots and go-go dresses, it would be easy to dismiss the Gore Gore Girls as more gimmick than substance, but these four hard-rocking, Gretsch guitar-loving chicks out of Detroit Rock City have more in common with Kiss than they ever will the Spice Girls. Equal parts Motown, garage rock, and theatrical stage show, they're like Amy Winehouse, but without the pathetically staged cries for help. Better yet, they're like the Stooges trying to cover the Ronettes — though frontgirl Amy Gore is a hell of a lot easier to look at than Iggy Pop. She took some time recently to clarify a few things about her and her bandmates.

Details

The Gore Gore Girls are scheduled to perform on Friday, October 26.

Club Red in Tempe

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More About

• Amy Gore
• H.G. Lewis
• The Stooges (Musical Group)
• Nancy Wilson
• Celebrity News

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On what makes a Gore Gore Girl:
"Equal parts Peaches and Nancy Wilson. At the core, an artist who lives without fear. Someone whose life transcends the mediocrity of daily existence; living itself becomes art. A girl who is never satisfied, but always satisfies — kind of like what La La Brooks said about Dee Dee of The Crystals: She was a die-hard, a pusher, she had the guts to keep up and keep on. A Gore Gore Girl has that quality, but is also talented and knows it. She is talented and fearless, someone who turns the table on the traditional constraints of gender."

On the origin of the Gore Gore Girls’ super-catchy name:
"Gore Gore Girls is the name of a 1972 H.G. Lewis film, the first of its kind. Lewis is considered the Godfather of Gore, the creator of the genre. I took the name based on the image and as a play on the Go-Go Girl stereotype; it's a turning of the tables on the image of women who exist only to please men rather than themselves."

On the difference between a girl group and a girl band:
"Girl groups are the Marvelettes, the Crystals, the Emeralds, the Supremes. All female vocal acts. To be a band, one has to play instruments. Gore Gore Girls is a combination of the two. I love musicians and could never keep myself away from instruments as a kid . . . I have been playing forever, everything — piano, drums, bass, whatever."

On how the world would work if the Gore Gore Girls ruled it:
"Radio would improve dramatically. And Gretsch guitars would be free."