Femme Fatale: One More For The Road

Femme Fatale Releases Music Recorded Over 25 Years Ago

In 1988 Hair Band “Femme Fatale” made some big noise on radio and MTV with 2 very popular songs and videos - “Waiting For The Big One” & “Fallin’ In and Out of Love” from their first release on MCA Records. There was a U.S. tour with Cheap Trick & dates in the U.K. and heavy rotation for the videos.

MCA was ready for a second release from the band & had them writing with outside writers & rehearsing once they got back from the tour.

“Yeah, it was all really exciting to think we were going to get back in the studio since we had really cut our teeth out on the road” says Lorraine Lewis – singer & songwriter for the band. “I was having writing sessions with some really great L.A. songwriters like Wes Arkeen (considered the 6th member of Guns & Roses who co-wrote “It’s So Easy” with Duff McKagen) and Jack Conrad (Heart, John Waite).

There were big plans for this “baby band” & an industry “buzz” had been established primarily from Femme Fatale’s popular videos and their live shows. “When we thought we had written a good number of songs we liked, we booked some time at a rehearsal studio in the valley to record our demos for the label,” says Lewis. “The boys had been working hard on arrangements & I was busy spending my time hanging out with Sunset Strip bands like D’ Molls & Poison, and Rock City Angels. We asked our friend Toby Wright, also from Albuquerque to come down to help with the recording.”

Tobi was the engineer for “heavy hitters”- Ron Nevison (Heart) & Mike Clink (G n’ R). “I remember the recording day like it was yesterday. The band was setting up equipment at the studio and I was cruising around L.A. on the back of Rikki Rockett’s Harley. He dropped me off at the studio & the boys and I got down to business. We ran a snake from the rehearsal room directly into the board in the control room. Toby checked levels and “like that” we ran down all of our new songs one after the other like we were doing a live show on Sunset blvd, but without the crowd interaction. If anyone made a mistake we just kept going.”

At the end of it, Femme Fatale had recorded the demos for their anticipated second album. “Me & the boys stayed late adding background vocals, drinking beer & listening over and over to what we had recorded. We all were pretty stoked at how things came out. Toby did a great job with recording us and I believe we captured the gritty “live” feel that we had come off the road with. We transferred it onto a cassette tape and now all we had to do was take it to MCA and get our asses back into the studio for our second record.”

By the time Femme Fatale got in to meet with MCA, most of the people that had signed them were gone. The label head was now Bret Hartman and he had his own ideas about what bands MCA would get behind and Femme Fatale was not one of them.
Lewis recalls, “Yeah we played him the demos & they weren’t really his thing. He was really into Pretty Boy Floyd at the time and our brand of rock and roll was coming from a heavier - more angry place then before. We were already feeling disenchanted with MCA since they pulled our tour support for a second run and now we didn’t have anybody rooting for us at the label. It sucked!” Bret suggested the band get back into the rehearsal room and continue writing.

“I felt that was a stall tactic”, says Lewis. I just wanted to get on with it and then things got really crazy for the band”.
Guns n Roses producer Mike Clink had heard one of the songs on the demo called “Buried Alive” and was interested in producing not the band but Lewis.

Around the same time, Femme Fatale’s longtime co-manager Andrea Accardo (Howard Kaufman co - manager) was diagnosed with brain cancer. “We went through a lot of hardship at that time”, says Lewis. “I remember being at a meeting with MCA because they were now thinking of keeping me as a solo artist. Andrea had an episode during the meeting and excused herself to the ladies room. When she didn’t come back, I found her flat on her back in the bathroom bleeding from her head. I was scared to death! My friend, and biggest cheerleader was laying on the floor and didn’t recognize me. She was admitted to the hospital and later diagnosed with cancerous tumors in her stomach and a cancerous brain tumor. Things were never the same after that day”.

By this time, with no real management in place (Howard was busy with his bigger bands like Whitesnake & Poison) and no clear direction, the band was free falling. MCA released them from their contract. “We were stunned” says Lewis, “but I saw it coming for sure. Now they wanted to keep me as a solo artist and have me claim the debt that Femme Fatale had incurred from the first record.”

At this time, Andrea was undergoing treatment for her cancer, losing her hair and crossing the border for alternative treatment. Lewis recalls, “There were times when she would be really sick and other times that she would get back to the business of managing me”. Together, they decided it might be best for Lewis to leave the band & possibly go for the solo deal with MCA or another label with Mike Clink producing . “I left the band and was feeling really sad & depressed but was hopeful that something good would happen with Mike Clink involved. We took a lot of meetings and Clink would say “it only takes one” to encourage me and he called me the “female Axl Rose”. He had planned to use the G n R boys on my recording, but then Andrea got more sick, I got more freaked out and I decided to leave Los Angeles”!

“The rest of the story is full of twists and turns, highs and lows, failures and successes but the most important aspect of the story here is that I held onto those recordings! I transferred them from the cassette tape to a cd and I have been carrying them around for over 25 years in between 2 pieces of paper inside a copy of “To Kill A Mockingbird”.

Thanks to FnA Records, this long time lost gem is finally seeing the light of day! These recordings are raw, rough, and have a live feel to them. They have been mastered by FnA Records and it is important to note that even though the quality is not perfect, these recordings were made over a quarter of a century ago with the original members of Femme Fatale.

Femme Fatale 1988 was Bill D’Angelo – lead guitar (RIP), Mazzi Rawd – rhythm guitar & keyboards & back up vocals, Rick Rael – bass & back-up vocals, Bobby Murray – drums & back up vocals, Lorraine Lewis – lead vocals & back up vocals.

Some of the songs on this cd are now being included in the live set list of the reincarnated - all female version of Femme Fatale. “Yeah, I was invited to bring Femme Fatale on the Monsters of Rock Cruise 2013 and made the decision to revive the band with an all female line-up,” says Lewis. “As much as I love the memories from back in the day and love the boys, it was one of those “light bulb” moments that made sense especially since Billy had passed away and the rest of the band members had moved on with their lives and didn’t live in Los Angeles anymore.”

Lewis claims to have always wanted to put an all girl band together and was now getting her chance. “It made sense to use musicians that were here in Los Angeles so that we could be super rehearsed before our debut on the boat. I was lucky enough to land some of the best musicians around that just happen to be female”.

Femme Fatale is Courtney Cox from the Iron Maidens – lead guitar & back up vocals, Nita Strauss also from the Iron Maidens & now touring with Alice Cooper - rhythm & lead guitar & back up vocals, Janis Tanaka from L7 & Pink – bass guitar & back up vocals, Katt Scarlett – keyboards & back up vocals, Athena Kottak – drums. When Nita is not available Femme Fatale enlists another Iron Maidens’ shredder; Nikki Stringfield.

“I love the girl power on stage and in the rehearsal room, plus these girls are a big blast”, says Lewis. “They give me confidence I need on stage because I know they are “spot on” with solos and back up vocals, plus the energy we produce together is pretty unstoppable”.

In addition to doing Femme Fatale shows, the girls plan on writing and recording together in the future. “I know when we finally get the chance to do something together, it will be pretty combustible because these players are all fire & guts”.

When Lewis is not on tour with Femme Fatale, she is busy with her life as a reality tv show creator/producer. She is co-creator & producer of a hit Canadian reality show called “Ex Wives of Rock” (drummer Athena Kottak stars in) which just wrapped it’s third season (54 episodes) on the Slice Network, and her company - LPL Productions, has more shows in development.

In addition, Lewis is an animal lover, a “dog mom” to her bulldog “Christina” & her Jack Russell “Ca$h” and is very involved in animal rescue. Lewis recently launched a clothing/accessory line with her new husband & business partner - Erin Gavin. The company, Rock and Roll Vending, donates a portion of every sale to animal rescue. Lewis says, “Yes, I am super excited to have launched this business after 4 years of dreaming, designing and preparing. Rock and Roll Vending has been in the works for a while and the support has been really positive. I love the win – win aspect of it where people can make a purchase and know that some of their dollars are going to do something good for some amazing animal rescue organizations.” More details are available at the company website: www.rockandrollvending.com

“At the end of the day, I’m all about dreaming big and making things happen. I’m a girl from Albuquerque New Mexico that followed her heart and dreams to the City of Angels and made some dreams come true. I’ve had the time of my life! It hasn’t all been roses, but it’s been an incredible ride and it just keeps on getting better and better.”