Wendy Wild
Encyclopedia
Wendy Wild, born Wendy Andreiev (August 31, 1956 – October 26, 1996) was an American
singer, musician, and artist who in the 1980s was a well known presence in New York
's downtown music and performance
scenes.
, Wild moved to Manhattan
in the late 1970s, accompanied by John McLoughlin, who would later become known as the performer John Sex
. Throughout the eighties she performed regularly in Lower Manhattan
night clubs and art spaces, including the Lucky Strike, Privates, and Club 57
. She would go on to become a fixture at the legendary Pyramid Club
, where she could often be seen go-go dancing
on the bar.
Along with her work as a nightclub performer, Wild performed in several well-known New York-based bands, including the Roll-Ons, Pulsallama, the Wild Hyaenas (with then-boyfriend Keith Streng of The Fleshtones
), polka-rockers Das Furlines
, and most famously, the neo-psychedelic Mad Violets. In addition to playing locally in many of Manhattan's celebrated rock venues (The Dive, Irving Plaza
, CBGB
, Danceteria
, Andy Warhol's Underground, and others), she and her bands toured extensively, including US performance dates at Boston
's The Rat
, Miami's Club Nu, and the 9:30 Club
in Washington, D.C.
Overseas appearances included London
(The Venue
), Leeds
and Manchester
(The Haçienda
), England
with Pulsallama in 1982, and Tokyo in 1988 with John Sex
.
During her career, Wild appeared on several recordings. Along with releases for Mad Violets (World of LSD... and the posthumously-released Season of the Mad Violets), she sang on records for Bronski Beat
, The Fleshtones
, Peter Zaremba's Love Delegation
, Hoodoo Gurus
, and John Sex
. She also appeared in two music videos with Mr. Sex, Hustle with My Muscle and Rock Your Body, as well as the 1988 documentary Mondo New York
.
Wild performed in the stage musicals The Sound of Muzak at Club 57
in 1981 (revived at NYC's Limelight
in 1986), and Peter Pan
at Danceteria
in 1983. She also staged one-woman shows for her booze-addled sex-kitten character "Joey Heatherock," and was one of the group of East Village
performers who created the first annual Wigstock
festival. She performed at Wigstock
many times, and appeared in Wigstock, The Movie, released in 1994.
Many of Wild's performances at the Pyramid
and other New York City
venues have been recorded by the late video art
ist Nelson Sullivan
and have been included in exhibitions of his work.
Wendy Wild died on October 26, 1996, after a long battle with breast cancer
.
(Wild also sang the title theme to the 1989 film, No Such Thing as Gravity)
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer, musician, and artist who in the 1980s was a well known presence in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's downtown music and performance
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
scenes.
Career
Growing up in Northport, New YorkNorthport, New York
Northport is a village in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the village population was 7,606. Students attend the Northport-East Northport Union Free School District....
, Wild moved to Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in the late 1970s, accompanied by John McLoughlin, who would later become known as the performer John Sex
John Sex
John McLaughlin , better known as "John Sex" was a cabaret singer and performance artist in New York City from the late 1970s until his death.-Early life:...
. Throughout the eighties she performed regularly in Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
night clubs and art spaces, including the Lucky Strike, Privates, and Club 57
Club 57
Club 57 was a nightclub located at 57 St. Mark's Place in the East Village, New York City during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was a hangout and venue for performance- and visual-artists and musicians, including Madonna, Keith Haring, Cyndi Lauper, Charles Busch, Klaus Nomi, The B-52s, Futura...
. She would go on to become a fixture at the legendary Pyramid Club
Pyramid Club
__notoc__The Pyramid Club is a nightclub in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City. After opening in 1979, the Pyramid helped define the East Village drag and gay scenes of the 1980s...
, where she could often be seen go-go dancing
Go-Go dancing
Go-go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at a discotheque. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s when women at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City began to get up on tables and dance the twist...
on the bar.
Along with her work as a nightclub performer, Wild performed in several well-known New York-based bands, including the Roll-Ons, Pulsallama, the Wild Hyaenas (with then-boyfriend Keith Streng of The Fleshtones
The Fleshtones
The Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York formed in 1976.- 1976-1979 :The Fleshtones were formed in 1976 in Whitestone, New York by Keith Streng and Marek Pakulski The Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York formed in 1976.- 1976-1979 :The...
), polka-rockers Das Furlines
Das Fürlines
Das Fürlines from New York City, USA were an influential, all-female "punk-polka" band in the mid-1980s, renowned for their sexual performances.-History:...
, and most famously, the neo-psychedelic Mad Violets. In addition to playing locally in many of Manhattan's celebrated rock venues (The Dive, Irving Plaza
Irving Plaza
Irving Plaza is a 1,200-person ballroom-style music venue at 17 Irving Place and East 15th Street in the Union Square neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
, CBGB
CBGB
CBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
, Danceteria
Danceteria
Danceteria was a well-known four-floor nightclub located in New York City which operated from 1980 until 1986 and in the Hamptons until 1995. Throughout its history, the club had seven different locations, three in NYC and four in the Hamptons...
, Andy Warhol's Underground, and others), she and her bands toured extensively, including US performance dates at Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
's The Rat
The Rathskeller
The Rathskeller was a Kenmore Square live music venue in Boston, Massachusetts that was open from 1974 to 1997. As implied by its name "Ratskeller" , the Rathskeller was a dimly-lit establishment...
, Miami's Club Nu, and the 9:30 Club
9:30 Club
Foo Fighters Promise to come back to D.C. and play the 9:30 ClubNightclub 9:30 is a nightclub and concert venue in Washington, D.C. Originally located at 930 F Street, NW, Washington, D.C., in the 1970s it was called the "Atlantis Club", and hosted primarily rock, New Wave, and punk bands...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Overseas appearances included London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(The Venue
The Venue
The Venue may refer to any of various places including:* The Venue , former nightclub and cinema in Liverpool* The Venue , now the Leicester Square Theatre...
), Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
and Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
(The Haçienda
The Haçienda
Fac 51 Haçienda was a nightclub and music venue in Manchester, England. It became most famous during the "Madchester" years of the late 1980s and early 1990s, during the 1990s it was labelled the most famous club in the world by Newsweek magazine...
), England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
with Pulsallama in 1982, and Tokyo in 1988 with John Sex
John Sex
John McLaughlin , better known as "John Sex" was a cabaret singer and performance artist in New York City from the late 1970s until his death.-Early life:...
.
During her career, Wild appeared on several recordings. Along with releases for Mad Violets (World of LSD... and the posthumously-released Season of the Mad Violets), she sang on records for Bronski Beat
Bronski Beat
Bronski Beat were a popular British synthpop trio who achieved success in the mid 1980s, particularly with the 1984 chart hit "Smalltown Boy". All members of the group were openly homosexual and their songs reflected this, often containing political commentary on gay-related issues...
, The Fleshtones
The Fleshtones
The Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York formed in 1976.- 1976-1979 :The Fleshtones were formed in 1976 in Whitestone, New York by Keith Streng and Marek Pakulski The Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York formed in 1976.- 1976-1979 :The...
, Peter Zaremba's Love Delegation
The Fleshtones
The Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York formed in 1976.- 1976-1979 :The Fleshtones were formed in 1976 in Whitestone, New York by Keith Streng and Marek Pakulski The Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York formed in 1976.- 1976-1979 :The...
, Hoodoo Gurus
Hoodoo Gurus
Hoodoo Gurus are an Australian rock band, formed in Sydney in 1981, by the mainstay Dave Faulkner and later joined by Richard Grossman , Mark Kingsmill , and Brad Shepherd...
, and John Sex
John Sex
John McLaughlin , better known as "John Sex" was a cabaret singer and performance artist in New York City from the late 1970s until his death.-Early life:...
. She also appeared in two music videos with Mr. Sex, Hustle with My Muscle and Rock Your Body, as well as the 1988 documentary Mondo New York
Mondo New York
Mondo New York is a 1988 Mondo film directed by Harvey Nikolai Keith.-Overview:Mondo New York examines the lives and activities of Manhattan performance artists, and features Joey Arias and Rick Aviles. A number of New York City denizens appear in various sketches, each linked by a young woman's...
.
Wild performed in the stage musicals The Sound of Muzak at Club 57
Club 57
Club 57 was a nightclub located at 57 St. Mark's Place in the East Village, New York City during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was a hangout and venue for performance- and visual-artists and musicians, including Madonna, Keith Haring, Cyndi Lauper, Charles Busch, Klaus Nomi, The B-52s, Futura...
in 1981 (revived at NYC's Limelight
Limelight
Limelight is a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illumination is created when an oxyhydrogen flame is directed at a cylinder of quicklime , which can be heated to 2572 °C before melting. The light is produced by a combination of incandescence and...
in 1986), and Peter Pan
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
at Danceteria
Danceteria
Danceteria was a well-known four-floor nightclub located in New York City which operated from 1980 until 1986 and in the Hamptons until 1995. Throughout its history, the club had seven different locations, three in NYC and four in the Hamptons...
in 1983. She also staged one-woman shows for her booze-addled sex-kitten character "Joey Heatherock," and was one of the group of East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
performers who created the first annual Wigstock
Wigstock
Wigstock was an annual outdoor drag festival that began in the 1980s in New York's East Village that took place on Labor Day. Traditionally the festival would act as the unofficial end to the summer for the gay community of New York City...
festival. She performed at Wigstock
Wigstock
Wigstock was an annual outdoor drag festival that began in the 1980s in New York's East Village that took place on Labor Day. Traditionally the festival would act as the unofficial end to the summer for the gay community of New York City...
many times, and appeared in Wigstock, The Movie, released in 1994.
Many of Wild's performances at the Pyramid
Pyramid Club
__notoc__The Pyramid Club is a nightclub in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City. After opening in 1979, the Pyramid helped define the East Village drag and gay scenes of the 1980s...
and other New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
venues have been recorded by the late video art
Video art
Video art is a type of art which relies on moving pictures and comprises video and/or audio data. . Video art came into existence during the 1960s and 1970s, is still widely practiced and has given rise to the widespread use of video installations...
ist Nelson Sullivan
Nelson Sullivan
Nelson Sullivan was a video artist in New York City during the 1980’s. He was ubiquitous on the downtown scene during that decade.-Early life:...
and have been included in exhibitions of his work.
Wendy Wild died on October 26, 1996, after a long battle with breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
.
Selected recordings
- Pulsallama - Ungawa Part II/The Devil Lives In My Husband’s Body (1981)
- Pulsallama - Oui Oui (A Canadian in Paris) (1983)
- Various Artists - Train To Disaster (1983)
- Richard MazdaRichard MazdaRichard Mazda is a record producer, writer and musician. In later life he also became an actor and director.-Music career:Mazda was one of the co-founders of Poole punk/mod band Tours, singing and playing lead guitar. They signed to Virgin Records in 1979 after selling large quantities of their...
- Hands of Fate (1983) - Bronski BeatBronski BeatBronski Beat were a popular British synthpop trio who achieved success in the mid 1980s, particularly with the 1984 chart hit "Smalltown Boy". All members of the group were openly homosexual and their songs reflected this, often containing political commentary on gay-related issues...
- Hundred And Thousands (1985) - Mad Violets - World Of ... (1986)
- Peter Zaremba's Love DelegationThe FleshtonesThe Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York formed in 1976.- 1976-1979 :The Fleshtones were formed in 1976 in Whitestone, New York by Keith Streng and Marek Pakulski The Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York formed in 1976.- 1976-1979 :The...
- Spread The Word (1986) - The FleshtonesThe FleshtonesThe Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York formed in 1976.- 1976-1979 :The Fleshtones were formed in 1976 in Whitestone, New York by Keith Streng and Marek Pakulski The Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York formed in 1976.- 1976-1979 :The...
- Fleshtones Vs. Reality (1987) - Frieda - Disco Lover / Plastic Rap (1987)
- Various Artists - Time Bomb: Fleshtones Present The Big Bang Theory (1988)
- John SexJohn SexJohn McLaughlin , better known as "John Sex" was a cabaret singer and performance artist in New York City from the late 1970s until his death.-Early life:...
- Rock Your Body (1988) - Peter Zaremba's Love DelegationThe FleshtonesThe Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York formed in 1976.- 1976-1979 :The Fleshtones were formed in 1976 in Whitestone, New York by Keith Streng and Marek Pakulski The Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York formed in 1976.- 1976-1979 :The...
- Delegation Time (1989) - Various Artists - Polka Comes to Your Haus! (1990)
- Various Artists - Battle of the Garages, Vol. 1 (1994)
- Hoodoo GurusHoodoo GurusHoodoo Gurus are an Australian rock band, formed in Sydney in 1981, by the mainstay Dave Faulkner and later joined by Richard Grossman , Mark Kingsmill , and Brad Shepherd...
- The Mountain (1994) - Mad Violets - Season Of The Mad Violets (2004)
(Wild also sang the title theme to the 1989 film, No Such Thing as Gravity)
External links
- WendyWildWorld
- Wendy Wild at MySpace
- Mad Violets at Tripwave
- Nelson Sullivan Video Logs
- Facebook Tribute Page