Pussy Tourette…In Hi-Fi!
Pussy Tourette
1993: Feather Boa 3-93012-6
My coworker/friend Shaw introduced me to this album in his lovely Queen Anne apartment one night as we were about to go out somewhere…he played me “If I Can’t Sell It…,” which I later encountered in a vintage 1920s recording on the Copulatin’ Blues compilation…and I damn near collapsed with laughter. I’ve also had great fun riding through Yakima in summer in a truck with my ex-boyfriend with the unforgettable chorus of “Pussy’s Boogie” blaring out the open windows to compete with the stuff coming from the rednecks’ trucks. (I’ve also found that that chorus is fun to sing while biking at energetic speed, albeit not around delicate ears.) And of course there’s the gloriously camp “I Think He’s Gay,” performed in outrageously operatic style by Deb del Maestro (and the beautiful line “talks like Liberace, walks like Wilma Flintstone”).
And, while I’m crediting people, it must be said that Jo-Carol Block delivers an exceptionally revved-up and relentlessly nasty backup-group chorus on “Pussy’s Boogie” and an intense counterpart on “Free Pussy,” which is yet another gem; unfortunately the audio of the CD is rather sharpened toward the high end of the sonic spectrum, so her voice doesn’t get to shine with the resonance I’m sure it has, but DAMN what fun performances….
I must also say that I love “French Bitch” because it’s “in your face” and salty in language and lyric but also because that chorus is so damned catchy: “French bitch, you’re wasting your time. You’ve given him candy, and you’ve given him snow, but the dirty little motherfucker won’t let go.” Lyrics like that are just too goddamned rare. That it’s ambiguous only adds to the fun.
Oh my GOD is it this a fun record. Hell, I even like the token “serious ballad,” “After You,” most of the time.
Comments © 2005 Mark Ellis Walker, except as noted, and no claim is made to the images and quoted lyrics.