Mo-dettes

The all-female Mo-dettes were formed in early 1979, originally calling themselves The Bomberettes. And although the assumption is that they were a mod band, this is incorrect: some called them punk, others thought they were more pop-punk, while still others compared their music to that of early Raincoats or Slits. Guitarist Kate Korus, who had previously played with the all-female bands the Castrators and also Slits, was originally from the States, although she'd lived in England since 1974. Bassist Jane Crockford was a teenage runaway whose claim to fame was sharing a squat with Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten. Vocalist Ramona Carlier, a former ballet student from Geneva, Switzerland, had apparently moved to London due to the lack of punk culture in her home country (this was likely just before the rise of Kleenex/Lilliput - Editor). And drummer June Miles-Kingston met Kate on the set of the Sex Pistols' film The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, where they were both employed as musicians. Their first and most highly-acclaimed release was White Mice, released in mid-1979 on their own Rough Trade-distributed Mode label. They released several more singles as well as one full-length album called The Story So Far (which unfortunately got poor reviews due to supposed "weak and uninspired production" - a true shame). The Mo-dettes' last single was Tonight, released in June of 1981; they recorded numerous demos but never released anything else after that.