Sealed LP: Isis: Isis (Nude cover)

$

25

Isis: Isis

FACTORY SEALED LP

• Waiting for the Sonrise
• Everybody Needs a Forever
• Servant Saviour
• Rubber Boy
• April Fool
• Bitter Sweet
• Do the Football
• She Loves Me
• Cocaine Elaine

• Liberty Nydia Mata: Percussion
• Caroline McDonald: Guitar, Vocals
• Shadow Morton: Producer
• Milton Sincoff: Package Direction
• Isis: Main Performer
• Warren Evans: Mastering
• Jonathan Stevens: Design
• Stella Bass: Bass
• Ginger Bianco: Drums
• Lollie Bienenfeld: Trombone
• Lauren Draper: Horn, French Horn
• Jeanie Fineberg: Arranger, Wind
• Suzi Ghezzi: Guitar

• Isis is the Egyptian goddess of fertility, represented as wearing a cow's horns and solar disk on her head, according to the -World Book Dictionary, and the name was perhaps most appropriate for this '7s band, though a Latin group, a rapper, and a metal band all have released records under the same name. Those artists have nothing to do with this interesting and highly experimental project. With production by Shadow Morton the same year he produced the New York Dolls' second LP, In Too Much Too Soon, two former members of Goldie & the Gingerbreads debut on Buddah with a self-titled eclectic jazz/rock amalgam. As Gingerbreads' lead singer Goldie Zelkowitz re-emerged as Genya Ravan, both Carol MacDonald and drummer Ginger Bianco redefined their musical vision, developing this somewhat original concept with horns, congas, bongos, and heavy emphasis on the all-girl band which Goldie & the Gingerbreads pioneered. Sporting an album cover rife with Egyptian imagery much like Yoko Ono's album from the year before, the 1973 epic Feeling the Space, Isis take it a step further, the cover photo sporting the eight women encased in silver via Jon Stevens' "metal images" which are "precise reproductions of the human form." Reproductions or no, the band is still totally naked on the front cover under palm trees, a pyramid, and a purple sky. It was striking for the time and hinted at glam rock. Although there is barely any of that element here, perhaps some of the guitar psychedelia on "Servant Saviour" would suffice as that, resplendent in mellow versions of Black Sabbath riffs, but the style vocally and musically is very much like a less-focused Ten Wheel Drive. MacDonald emulates Genya Ravan singing, and much of the music parallels the Ten Wheel Drive sound. There are 16 naked photos of the chrome silver gals on the back cover flanked by color photos of the Sphynx. No wonder the rumor mill had David Bowie singing their praises, just as the Rolling Stones were enamored of Goldie & the Gingerbreads. "She Loves Me" can't be any more specific; it's a bluesy ballad and one of the album's best moments. As blatant as the title is, the song comes across more subtle. Seven of the nine tunes were written by the former Gingerbreads Carol MacDonald and Ginger Bianco, and they shift gears perhaps too much for the album's own good. How prophetic. The bisexual female character on Star Trek Voyager two-and-a-half decades later would be called "7 of 9" -- and as Bowie had much success with the gay theme, it should have been more of a factor. "Cocaine Elaine" has a bluesy New Orleans feel with wonderful backing vocals, but the musical genres jump so much it feels like a movie soundtrack. 1975's follow-up album was produced by Allen Toussaint and featured June Millington from another significant pioneering all-girl group, Fanny, but sadly, this Isis only put out two albums. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide

• All-female funk-rock outfit Isis reunited singer/guitarist Carol MacDonald and drummer Ginger Bianco, who previously collaborated in the '60s girl group Goldie & the Gingerbreads. Inspired by the success of distaff hard rock combo Fanny, MacDonald and Bianco formed Isis in 1972, recruiting lead guitarist Susan Ghezzi, bassist Stella Bass, saxophonist Jeanie Fineberg, trumpeter Lauren Draper, trombonist Lilly Bienenfield, and percussionist Nydia Mata. After building a cult following on the strength of their regular appearances at the New York City club Trude Heller's, Isis signed to the Buddah label to issue its self-titled 1974 debut. Complete with cover art featuring all eight members nude and covered in metallic chrome paint, the record was acclaimed in some quarters but dismissed as little more than a novelty in others.
• Fellow Gingerbreads alum Margo Lewis signed on to play keyboards on 1975's Allen Toussaint-produced Ain't No Backin' Up Now, which also marked the additions of lead guitarist Renate Ferrer (replacing Ghezzi), trumpeter Ellen Seeling (replacing Draper), and saxophonist Edith Dankowitz. On songs like "She Loves Me" and "Bobbie and Maria," MacDonald's lyrics now expressed an explicitly lesbian perspective -- sadly, her decision to publicly come out of the closet caused friction within Isis and with Buddah, and by the time the group signed to new label United Artists, only MacDonald and Lewis remained from the previous lineup. New members Faith Fusillo (lead guitar), Barbara Cobb (bass), Lynx (saxophone), and Vivian Stoll (drums) completed the roster for 1977's Breaking Through, which also featured assorted Isis alumni in guest roles. The group dissolved soon after, but in early 2001, MacDonald, Bianco, and Bienenfield assembled a new Isis lineup that debuted with a gig at New York's Bottom Line, its first appearance at the famed club in a quarter century.

FINE PRINT

• All pictures are of the exact item being sold.
• This record came from a record store called "Phantasmagoria" which was located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Phantasmagoria went out of business in 1978. I purchased most of their leftover inventory some years later when I owned a new & used record store in Catasauqua called "Music Madness".
• Phantasmagoria used round colored stickers to indicate the price of the albums. They had a sign on the wall with the color sticker combinations for the customers to use so they knew the price of the albums. Most of the albums still have these stickers on them, and in some rare cases, the stickers are written on. Some of the records have prices on them. This is the price you would have paid for the record in 1978 if you would have bought it at Phantasmagoria. Please don't confuse these prices with their current value.
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