The Pandoras circa 1985. Left to right, Kim Shattuck, Karen
Blankfield, Paula Pierce
and Melanie Vammen. This was the lineup that recorded "Stop
Pretending," released
on Rhino (and now available on CD as a limited release).
If you like
The Donnas, you need to check out this band,
which predated them by almost 20 years. Likewise if you
like garage rock bands like the Standells.
Like the band Love, I discovered the Pandoras only
recently, in early 2006. I was checking out the iTunes
Essentials Garage Rock collection, which is broken down
into three sections: Classic Garage, 2nd Generation, and
Garage Now. The song "It's About Time" was included in
the 2nd Generation set. I listened to the 30-second
sample, then laid down my 99 cents to buy the whole
song. I listened to it over and over and over (people
who have known me over the years have been forced to
endure this every time I have a new favorite song - I
don't seem to have progressed much in this regard since
I was 12). Had I not known otherwise, I would have
thought the song was right out of the mid-1960s. I knew
I had to get more from this band. And I also decided to
make my own meager effort, via this website, at telling
people about the Pandoras.
This is yet another story of a band done wrong by a major
label. It's also a reminder that we don't know how long
we're going to be around on this earth -- Paula Pierce, the
Pandoras' lead singer/songwriter, was a fitness fan and
seemingly in great physical condition, yet died at age 31
of a brain aneurism (no drugs or alcohol involved). This is
also a warning to young bands out there: Don't place much
reliance on -- much less sacrifice your principles for --
that deal with a big record company. You may create your
best music only to see it shelved forever. After the band
got its big record deal with Elektra, they spent two years
recording their record, but then Electra pulled the plug on
it less than a month before its scheduled release date.
The
Pandoras Discography
In addition to the releases
listed below, a lot of the Pandoras' music can be purchased
from iTunes.
The
Pandoras (1984)
It's About Time
(1984)
Hot
Generation/You Can't Satisfy (1984)
Stop Pretending
(1985)
Psychedelic
Sluts! (recorded 1986-1987)
An "unofficial"
release, i.e., a bootleg, this is the best
approximation available of what the unreleased Electra
album "Come Inside" might have been. I picked this up on
eBay for $20, and am very happy I made the purchase. It has
some good songs that should have seen the light of day.
Hopefully some industrious employee of Electra will push
the label to release this, or copy all the tapes and post
them on the web.
Rock Hard
(1988)
Live Nymphomania
(1989)
Their last record, a live
album, again hard rock. Supposedly a different recording
had originally been planned for the live record, from a
concert in Tijuana, but this recording was used instead
after the departure of the band's second guitarist. If
anyone has a copy of the Tijuana recording, I'd love to
hear it.
Currently, you can buy these
last two releases by the Pandoras as a single CD.
PURCHASE
Links for
the Pandoras
The Pandoras Source.
A site maintained by Julie
Patchouli, the Pandoras' bass player on Hot Generation.
The best Pandoras site on the web.
Bambi Conway's
website, The
Pandoras' first bass player, who played on the album
It's About Time and the band's first single. It includes
her story on the bifurcated Pandoras, and info. on her
later bands.
Action Now. Paula Pierce's band before the
Pandoras.
A Russian site. Includes photos and info on the band
(in Russian, of course), as well as pictures of the 60's
group of the same name.
A MySpace page for the Pandoras, also maintained by
Julie Patchouli.
Please email me if you're aware of any other
Pandoras-related sites or if you have any content that
you think should be added.
