Best Magazine Reads: The story leading up to the Violent Femmes’ classic debut album

MOJO Magazine recently told the story. Here are the highlights:

• Bassist Brian Ritchey came up with the band name while he and drummer Victor DeLorenzo backed up other performing bands around Milwaukee.
• A friend soon recommended they check out “pint-sized Lou Reed imitator” Gordon Gano.
• In high school, Gano wore a bathrobe to school every Monday as if to say, “You got me out of bed for this?”
• Getting shows was initially tough because Milwaukee loved heavy metal, so they started busking in the street. One day they did it outside the venue where The Pretenders were playing and Chrissie Hynde invited them in to play a couple of songs.
• The album was made at a studio that had once been a Playboy club, and they had little hope anyone would ever buy it. But the recording made its way to Slash Records, which didn’t ask for anything to be changed.
• Released in April 1983, it got tons of college radio play.
• Gano is a religious guy who incorporated these themes and taboos into his songs, such as Black Girls, which he wrote because he
  liked black girls and they liked him and he married a black girl.
• Gano licensed Blister in the Sun to Wendy’s Hamburgers and Ritchey sued him. But they’re still together as a three piece. In fact, I’ve got tickets to see them at the 9:30 Club in October.