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{{Short description|English queercore band}}
{{Notability|1=Music|date=August 2010}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2016}}
 
{{Infobox musical artist
'''Sister George''' was an influential [[queercore]] band from [[London]] that was formed in 1994.<ref>www.discogs.com/artist/777795-Sister-George</ref> The group's name was inspired by the 1968 UK movie ''[[The Killing of Sister George]]'', which was an adaptation of a play of the same name.
| background = group_or_band
| name = Sister George
| image =
| image_size =
| image_upright =
| landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank -->
| alt =
| caption =
| alias =
| origin = [[London]], UK
| genre = [[Queercore]], [[riot grrrl]]
| years_active = 1993–1996
| label = Catcall Records
| spinoffs = [[Nightnurse]]
| spinoff_of =
| current_members =
| past_members = Ellyot Dragon<br/>Lisa Cook<br/>Daryl Stanislaw<br/>Lyndon Holmes
}}
 
'''Sister George''' were an English band from [[London]], recognised as being significant in the 1990s [[queercore]] scene, who formed in 1993.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Linus History |url=https://www.linusland.co.uk/history.html |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=www.linusland.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rauzier |first=Val |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/756581003 |title=Women make noise : girl bands from Motown to the modern |date=2012 |publisher=Supernova Books |isbn=978-0-9566329-1-3 |editor-last=Downes |editor-first=Julia |location=Twickenham |pages=238–258 |chapter=Queercore: Fearless Women |oclc=756581003}}</ref>
Although queercore bands had existed in the [[UK]] in the 1980s, such as [[The Apostles]]/Academy 23, and No Brain Cells and in the early 1990s, such as Tongue Man, Sister George brought queercore into the spotlight there. The members were Lisa Cook on [[bass guitar|bass]], Daryl Stanislaw on [[Drum kit|drums]], Lyndon Holmes on [[guitar]] and vocals, and Ellyott on lead vocals and guitar; Ellyott was the main singer and song writer of Israeli band Pollyanna Frank]], one of Israel's most important alternative bands; she was also drummer of The Darlings, a band which included [[Lesley Woods]], formerly of the [[post punk]] band [[Au Pairs (band)|Au Pairs]], and [[Debbie Smith (musician)|Debbie Smith]], later in [[Curve (band)|Curve]] and [[Echobelly]].
== Naming, genre and lineup ==
The group's name was inspired by the 1968 film ''[[The Killing of Sister George (film)|The Killing of Sister George]]'', which was an adaptation of the [[The Killing of Sister George|play of the same name]]. Although singer Ellyot called the film "stereotypical and obviously written by a man" she loved Beryl Reid calling her a "dyke heroine".<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Ainley |first=Rosa |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/957700669 |title=What is she like : lesbian identities from the 1950s to the 1990s |date=2016 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4742-9248-1 |location=London |pages=192 |oclc=957700669}}</ref>
Although queer punk bands had existed in the [[UK]] in the 1980s, such as [[The Apostles (band)|The Apostles]]/Academy 23,No Brain Cells and Tongue Man (early 1990s), Sister George were one of the first queercore identified UK bands.
The members were Lisa Cook on [[bass guitar|bass]], Daryl Stanislaw on [[Drum kit|drums]], Lyndon Holmes on [[guitar]] and vocals, and Ellyott on lead vocals and guitar.
== History ==
=== First gig and album ===
Sister George's first gig was at the Girlygig club night organised by Jen from Linus in 1993.<ref name=":1" />
 
Their album, ''Drag King'', came out on Catcall Records in 1995, which was run by Liz Naylor.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=WorldCat entry for Drag King |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/34698657 |website=Worldcat}}</ref> It was re-released in the U.S. by [[Outpunk Records]], and a [[music video]] for the song "Handle Bar" was made. This song also appeared on the Outpunk Records compilation, ''Outpunk Dance Party''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Outpunk Records Discography |url=https://www.queermusicheritage.com/jul2009qg10.html |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=www.queermusicheritage.com}}</ref>
Their album, ''Drag King'', came out on Catcall Records, which was run by Liz Naylor.<ref name="queertothecore">{{Citation
| last = Sullivan
| first = Caroline
| title = Queer to the core - The pop establishment has always had a handful of gay stars colourful, eccentric, lovable. But now there's 'queercore', a radical gay music movement with attitude.
| newspaper = Guardian
| pages = 9
| date = 1992-12-17
}} - Gale Document Number: CJ170793462
</ref> The band found themselves heralded in the pages of British music magazines such as the [[NME]]. They toured with acts like [[Huggy Bear (band)|Huggy Bear]] and Hissyfit at first, but soon they were joined by other queer bands such as [[Mouthfull]] and Children's Hour, and it was these groups that pioneered queercore in the UK. Their album was rereleased in the U.S. by [[Outpunk Records]], and a [[music video]] for the song "Handle Bar" was made. This song also appeared on the Outpunk Records compilation, ''Outpunk Dance Party''. Also featured on ''Drag King'' was a hardcore style [[cover version|cover]] of the [[Tom Robinson]] song "[[Glad to Be Gay]]". The Sister George version featured the voice of [[serial killer]] [[Aileen Wuornos]], and the band chanting, "We kill in self defense". In a gig in London's club v, the alternative queer club, in the mid '90s, Robinson introduced his song by saying, "I'm now going to sing a Sister George cover".
 
Also featured on ''Drag King'' was a hardcore style [[cover version|cover]] of the [[Tom Robinson]] song "[[Glad to Be Gay]]", but renamed "100 X No!".<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1250360126 |title=Queercore : how to punk a revolution : an oral history |date=2020 |others=Liam Warfield, Walter Crasshole, Yony Leyser |isbn=978-1-62963-820-1 |location=Oakland |pages=169 |chapter=Queercore Essential Records |oclc=1250360126}}</ref> The Sister George version featured the voice of [[serial killer]] [[Aileen Wuornos]], and the band chanting, "We kill in self defence".<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Brief and Incomplete Guide to Queercore {{!}} The Skinny |url=https://www.theskinny.co.uk/sexuality/gender/a-brief-and-incomplete-guide-to-queercore |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=www.theskinny.co.uk |language=en}}</ref> Tom Robinson at a gig in London's Club V (an alternative queer club, in the mid '90s) introduced his song by saying, "I'm now going to sing a Sister George cover".{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}
Label owner Naylor said of the band's relation to mainstream [[gay culture]], "To me, the gay lifestyle is getting to be like just another alternative lifestyle. You go down [[Old Compton Street]] in Soho and see them sitting there in nice coffee bars with their [[pink pound]]s - and these (Sister George) are 20-year-old kids who are angry and on [[the dole]]."<ref name="queertothecore"/>
=== Media attention and touring ===
The band found themselves heralded in the pages of British music magazines such as the [[NME]]. In one interview with the NME, Sister George were asked about other UK queercore bands they gave a fake list.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Aston |first=Martin |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/961458978 |title=Breaking down the walls of heartache : how music came out |date=2016 |isbn=978-1-4721-2244-5 |location=London |oclc=961458978}}</ref> Caroline Sullivan also wrote about Sister George a number of times in [[The Guardian]] newspaper, which encouraged criticism from mainstream gay culture.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Gebauer |first=Dianne |title=Queercore: Subcultural Tensions, Resistance, and Identity Politics in 1990s London |url=https://www.academia.edu/24902799 |journal= |url-access=subscription |via=Academia.edu}}</ref>
 
Sister George toured with acts like [[Huggy Bear (band)|Huggy Bear]] and Hissyfit at first, but soon they were joined by other queer bands such as [[Mouthfull]], Six Inch Killaz and Children's Hour, and it was these groups that did pioneer a queercore scene in the UK.<ref name=":5" />
The band broke up in the midst of recording their second album. Afterwards, Ellyott went on to form [[Nightnurse]] which featured then 16-year-old [[Charlotte Hatherley]] on guitar, who would later have success with the band [[Ash (band)|Ash]]. Daryl drummed for The Element Of Crime with Chris and Jo from Huggy Bear, Layla from [[Skinned Teen]], Dale from [[Blood Sausage (band)|Blood Sausage]] and Andy from [[Linus (band)|Linus]], releasing the single "The things we do for love...".▼
== Relevance in gay culture ==
Lisa Cook died of cancer in 2009.
Label owner Naylor said of the band's relation to mainstream [[gay culture]], "To me, the gay lifestyle is getting to be like just another alternative lifestyle. You go down [[Old Compton Street]] in Soho and see them sitting there in nice coffee bars with their [[pink pound]]s - and these (Sister George) are 20-year-old kids who are angry and on [[the dole]]."<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Caroline |date=17 December 1993 |title=Queer to the core - The pop establishment has always had a handful of gay stars colourful, eccentric, lovable. But now there's 'queercore', a radical gay music movement with attitude. |pages=9 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> The band believed that queercore was a necessity for queer people who were too poor to participate in what had become a commercial scene in places such as Old Compton Street in the 1990s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Richard |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/958124833 |title=Seduced and abandoned : essays on gay men and popular music |date=2016 |isbn=978-1-4742-8697-8 |location=London |pages=176 |oclc=958124833}}</ref>
 
Bassist Lisa Cook acknowledged [[Riot grrrl|Riot Grrrl]] as opening up the possibility of [[Queercore]] for Sister George saying "Sister George started off in the riot grrrl scene. That opened a door for Queercore by creating a climate where loads of young girls could go to gigs which you couldn't do before".<ref name=":0" />
Sister George performed in and are interviewed in the film, ''[[She's Real, Worse Than Queer]]'' by [[Lucy Thane]].<ref>http://www.cinenova.org/filmdetail.php?filmId=26</ref> Ellyott was interviewed for the book ''Never Mind the Bollocks: Women Rewrite Rock'' by Amy Raphael ([[Virago Press]], 1995).<ref>http://popmusiclibrary.org/2013/09/01/the-giraffe-in-the-room/</ref>
 
The band would often enthusiastically say "Queercore is an attitude problem".<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":0" /> Their queer identity although front and centre in their music, still they did not wish to be pigeonholed or enjoyed only because they were queer, with Ellyot saying "I don't want the whole world to buy our records because I'm a dyke, I want them to buy our records 'cos we're brilliant!"<ref>{{Cite book |last=O'Brien |first=Lucy |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/437129572 |title=She Bop II : the Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop and Soul. |date=2003 |publisher=Continuum International Pub. Group |isbn=978-0-8264-3529-3 |location=London |pages=274 |oclc=437129572}}</ref>
==Line up==▼
 
* Ellyott (vocals)▼
The band toured with [[Tribe 8]] on a 3 date UK tour.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tribe 8 UK tour poster |url=https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=5362061040501422&set=pb.100041629267413.-2207520000. |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=www.facebook.com}}</ref>
* Lisa Cook (guitar)▼
==Breakup==
* Lyndon Holmes (bass)▼
The band broke up in the midst of recording their second album.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} Their last gig was on 29th October 1994 at legendary gay pub The Bell on Pentonville Road, London.<ref>{{Cite web |title=october 29th, 1994. one of the last Sister george gigs ever, maybe our finest,at legendary THE BELL. |url=https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=409587272441140&id=474814682559440 |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=www.facebook.com |language=en}}</ref>
==Interviews and film==
Sister George performed in and are interviewed in the film ''[[She's Real, Worse Than Queer]]'' by [[Lucy Thane]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=::cinenova catalogue:: Detail for She's Real Worse than Queer:: |url=http://www.cinenova.org/filmdetail.php?filmId=26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923203559/http://www.cinenova.org/filmdetail.php?filmId=26 |archive-date=23 September 2015 |access-date=19 August 2015}}</ref> Also the Video Zine ''Getting Close To Nothing'' (1994) featured a live recording of a song ''Virus Envy'', reused in the feature length [[Rebel Dykes]] film.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Getting Close To Nothing |url=https://richmix.org.uk/events/getting-close-to-nothing/ |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=Rich Mix |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |website=Bishopsgate Institute Library |title=Rebel Dykes Archive - catalogue |url=https://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/index.php/actions/tools/tools/download-file?id=200281 |pages=28–31}}</ref> The band were also in OUT magazine 's short film Pull Your Finger Out with another lesbian band [[Atomic Kandy]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gray |first=Louise |date=13 August 1994 |title=New role for rock chicks - Television |pages=SP/5 |work=[[The Times]] |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=UKNB&req_dat=4EAB8751BB8C40518A44137F01A68E7C&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F0F92429AD6CFE138 |access-date=27 January 2023}}</ref>
 
Ellyott was interviewed for the book ''Never Mind the Bollocks: Women Rewrite Rock'' by Amy Raphael ([[Virago Press]], 1995) and ''What is she like : lesbian identities from the 1950s to the 1990s'' by Rosa Ainley in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |author= |date=2013-09-01 |title=The giraffe in the room – The Pop Music Library |url=http://popmusiclibrary.org/2013/09/01/the-giraffe-in-the-room/ |accessdate=2020-06-01 |website=Popmusiclibrary.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ainley |first=Rosa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_krqDAAAQBAJ |title=What is She Like: Lesbian Identities from the 1950s to the 1990s |date=2016-10-06 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4742-9248-1 |language=en}}</ref>
 
== Other bands ==
Ellyott was the main singer and song writer of Israeli band [[Pollyanna Frank]], a prominent Israeli alternative band; she was also drummer of The Darlings, a band which included [[Lesley Woods]] (formerly of the [[post punk]] band [[Au Pairs (band)|Au Pairs]]) and [[Debbie Smith (musician)|Debbie Smith]] (later in [[Curve (band)|Curve]] and [[Echobelly]]).<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Amour |first=Cheri |date=n.d. |title=Debbie Smith - Ye Nuns / Echobelly |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/550ac068e4b0714e2a518fc7/t/5aa265664192024c5e86eb0c/1520592233254/Debbie_smith.pdf |magazine=[Guitar World] |pages=16–19 |access-date=27 January 2023}}</ref>
 
▲TheAfter band broke up in the midst of recording their second album.Sister AfterwardsGeorge, Ellyott went on to form [[Nightnurse]] which featured then 16-year-old [[Charlotte Hatherley]] on guitar, who would later have success with the band [[Ash (band)|Ash]]. Daryl drummed for The Element Of Crime with Chris and Jo from Huggy Bear, Layla from [[Skinned Teen]], Dale from [[Blood Sausage (band)|Blood Sausage]] and Andy from [[Linus (band)|Linus]], releasing the single "The things we do for love...".{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} Also after Sister George, Lyndon and Lisa had a short running band called Kidnapper.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}
 
Lisa Cook passed away in 2008.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} Ellyott moved back to Israel where she is now a radio DJ.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NIF's Essential Art Winner: אליוט |url=https://www.essentialart-nif.com/winners/ellyott-ben-ezer |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=אמנות חיונית |language=en}}</ref>
 
▲== Line up ==
▲* Ellyott (vocals/guitar)
▲* Lisa Cook (guitarbass)
▲* Lyndon Holmes (bassguitar/vocals)
* Daryl Stanislaw (drums)
 
==References Discography ==
*''Drag King'' (1994)
{{reflist}}
 
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
 
== External links ==
* {{Facebook page|link=https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100041629267413}}
* [https://vimeo.com/12084539 She's Real Worse than Queer] on Vimeo
{{Authority control}}
 
[[Category:MusicalPunk rock groups from London]]
[[Category:English punk rock groups]]
[[Category:Riot grrrl bands]]
[[Category:Queercore groups]]
[[Category:Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom]]
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