Draft:Yeastie Girlz

Yeastie Girlz

''Yeastie Girlz are a feminist punk acapella rap band composed of members Jane Guskin, Joyce Jimenez, Kate Razo, and Cammie Toloui. The group emerged from the punk scene of 924 Gilman in Berkeley, California in the late 1980s  and is known for in-your-face feminist lyrics about sex, bodily functions, free speech, and creepy men they call “spermbrains.”

History
The band formed in 1987 with Cammie, Jane and Joyce, adding Kate in later that year when Jane left to travel.

The Yeastie Girlz were featured on the 1987 MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL Gilman Street compilation 7” EP Turn It Around! with their first song, "Yeast Power." In 1987, they self-published a demo tape titled “Suck My Smelly Vagina,” containing live performances recorded at Gilman and an anti-censorship song about the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), recorded on Berkeley’s KALX radio station. The band advertised the demo tape priced at $2 in the January 1988 issue of Maximum Rocknroll, promising “special yukky prizes” with each order. On July 1, 1988, the Yeastie Girlz appeared on the Alex Bennett morning radio show on Live 105 in San Francisco, performing the FCC rap and self-censored versions of “Yeast Power” and “Put a Lid on It”. In 1988 the independent Lookout! Records label released the Yeastie Girlz’ 10-song 7" Ovary Action. In 1988 Yeastie Girlz appeared on the Komotion International compilation LP with a live performance of “Get Your Hands Off.” In 1989 they collaborated with Lily “Braindrop” Burana on a song called Jingle Balls, which appeared on the compilation Christmas album We Three Bings released by Vital Music. In 1992 Cammie, Kate and honorary Yeastie Girl Wendy-O Matic collaborated with industrial dance band Consolidated, putting the Yeastie Girlz' song “You Suck” to music. The track was released on Consolidated’s Play More Music album and as a single and became a hit in dance clubs and on the radio worldwide.

The band played shows all over the San Francisco Bay Area and, from late 1988 to early 1989, toured Europe with the Dutch band Loveslug, first as a duo with Joyce and Cammie, then as a duo with Joyce and Kate.

Cammie is known for inventing the 'Tampbone' while waiting to perform at an early Yeastie Girlz show in Fresno, California. The 'Tampbone' is a wind instrument made from a cardboard tampon applicator and played like a trombone.

In 1997, Kate and Cammie did a Yeastie Girlz reunion show at Cafe du Nord in San Francisco.

Copyright Dispute
In 2016, the indie pop band TV Girl released a song using samples from Ovary Action titled Not Allowed–a name taken from Yeastie Girlz lyrics. The song went viral on TikTok in 2020. As of October 23, 2023, the song had been streamed over 450 million times on Spotify. In March 2022, Yeastie Girlz announced on their Instagram page that they had signed an agreement with TV Girl “to resolve any copyright infringement issues.” According to the announcement, the agreement gives the Yeastie Girlz “50% of all of the past, present, and future revenue for ‘Not Allowed,’ plus shared control of the publishing and master rights.”

In Popular Culture
In 1994 the rock band Aerosmith played a recording of the Yeastie Girlz/Consolidated track “You Suck” at every show on their tour, just before going on stage.

In September 1998 Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder mentioned the Yeastie Girlz on stage during a Pearl Jam concert in Atlanta and rapped the opening verse of “Yeast Power” to live drum accompaniment.

In 2012, the rapper Kitty (then known as Kitty Pryde) wore a Yeastie Girlz t-shirt in the viral music video for her song “Okay Cupid.” A New York Times article about the song and the video referred to the Yeastie Girlz as “an all-girl response act to the Beastie Boys that had a brief career in the late 1980s rapping about freedom of speech and sex equality” and called Kitty’s use of the t-shirt “an outrageous curio, either a savvy wink or just a cheeky joke.”

In 2013, the Schlesinger Library of the History of Women in America at Harvard University added the Yeastie Girlz collection of fan mail, fliers, recordings, t-shirts and other ephemera from 1987 to 1997 to its archives.

Revival
In May 2021, the Yeastie Girlz created an official Instagram account where they have posted updates on the members of the group along with archival photos, posters, and recordings.

The Yeastie Girlz subsequently created an official profile on TikTok in March 2022, a Bandcamp site in November 2022, and a new website in June 2023. The Yeastie Girlz were interviewed on the Woodstein Media Podcast in June 2023.

The band is selling stickers and t-shirts via its website but as of October 2023 has not announced any new material or upcoming performances.

Full length releases:

 * Suck My Smelly Vagina (1987). Live demo tape. Tracks: Joyce Bo Boyce, Bitch Twitch/Yeast Power, Inspecting Vagina May, Talkin’ Shit, Mary Had A Little Tampon, Get ‘em Off, Numbing the Tongue with Contraceptives, Sperm Brain, Iron Man, Yeast Power Revisited, The Acidophilus Connection, Yeast Power Confessions, FCC Rap


 * Ovary Action (1988). Vinyl 7” EP, Lookout! Records. Tracks: FCC, You Suck, Sperm Brain, Talkin’ Shit, Orgasm Addict, Joyce, Put A Lid On It, Fuck Yourself, Sue Your Friends, Ode An Die Freude

Compilations:

 * Turn It Around (1987). Double 7” EP compilation, MAXIMUMROCKNROLL. Track: Yeast Power


 * Turn It Around: The Story Of East Bay Punk (2018). Double LP compilation, 1-2-3-4 GO! Records. Track: Yeast Power


 * Komotion International Vol. 1 (1988). Track: Get Your Hands Off (recorded live).

Collaborations and Samples:

 * “Jingle Balls,” a collaboration with Lily "Braindrop" Burana and background beat producer/engineer Jason Boer. On We Three Bings: Vital Music’s N.Y. Trash X Mas Comp (1989).


 * “You Suck,” a collaboration with Consolidated. On the Consolidated LP Play More Music (1992), published by Nettwerk Music


 * “Not Allowed” (2016) by TV Girl samples four tracks from the Yeastie Girlz’ Ovary Action 7” EP. [35]