lydia lunch

Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Koch on June 2, 1959 in Rochester, New York, also the birthplace of female alternative musicians Kim Gordon and Wendy O. Williams) is a New York singer, poet, writer, and actress.

Biography

After arriving in New York City at the age of 16, Lunch moved into a large communal household of artists and musicians, including Kitty Bruce, daughter of Lenny Bruce, where No Wave bands such as DNA and MARS frequently played. She immediately saw this form of music as the proper forum for her angry poetry and rants, and founded the short-lived but influential No Wave band Teenage Jesus & the Jerks in 1976 with her then romantic and artistic partner, No Wave punk-funk-jazz musician James Chance. The duo later recorded the album Off White (credited to James White and the Blacks, with 'Stella Rico') in 1978, before splitting up permanently. A self-avowed 'confrontationalist' identified by the Boston Phoenix as "one of the 10 most influential performers of the 90's", Lunch's solo career featured collaborations with such artists as J.G. Thirlwell, Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Nick Cave, Billy Ver Plank, Steven Severin, Robert Quine, Sadie Mae, Rowland S. Howard, Michael Gira, The Birthday Party, Einstrzende Neubauten and Die Haut. She also acted in, wrote, and directed underground films, sometimes collaborating with underground film maker and musician Richard Kern (including several films such as Fingered in which she performed unsimulated sex acts), and more recently has recorded and performed as a spoken word artist, again collaborating with such artists as Henry Rollins, Don Bajema, Hubert Selby Jr., and Emilio Cubeiro, as well as authoring both traditional books and comix (with award-winning graphic novel artist Ted McKeever).

Selected quotations

I'm nihilistic, antagonistic, violent, horrible - but not obliterated, yet. I would be humiliated if I found out that anything I did actually became a commercial success.

Discography music

Babydoll b/w Freud In Flop, Teenage Jesus & The Jerks (7" / Lust/Unlust, 1979)
Try Me b/w Staircase, Beirut Slump (7" / Lust/Unlust, 1979)
Orphans b/w Less of Me, Teenage Jesus & The Jerks (7" / Migraine, 1979)
Pink, Teenage Jesus & The Jerks (12" / Lust/Unlust, 1979)
Pre-Teenage Jesus, Teenage Jesus & The Jerks (12" / ZE, 1979)
Off White, James White and the Blacks (LP / ZE, 1979; credited as Stella Rico)
Queen of Siam, solo (LP / ZE, 1979)
Diddy Wah Diddy b/w Dead Me You B-Side, 8-Eyed Spy (7" / Fetish, 1980)
8-Eyed Spy, 8-Eyed Spy (LP / Fetish, 1981)
Live, 8-Eyed Spy (LP / ROIR, 1981)
Devil Dogs (live in Italy / unreleased, 1981)
13.13, solo (LP / Ruby, 1981)
The Agony is the Ectasy, solo (split 12" EP w. The Birthday Party / 4AD, 1982)
Some Velvet Morning, w. Rowland S. Howard (12" EP / 4AD, 1982)
Der Karbische Western, Die Haut (12" EP, 1982)
Thirsty Animal, Einstrzende Neubauten (12" EP, 1982)
Boy-Girl, Sort Sol (7", 1983)
Dagger & Guitar, Sort Sol (LP, 1983)
In Limbo, w. Thurston Moore (12" EP / Widowspeak, 1984)
The Drowning of Lucy Hamilton, w. Lucy Hamilton aka China Berg of MARS (12" EP / Widowspeak, 1985)
A Dozen Dead Roses, No Trend (LP, 1985)
Heart of Darkness, w. No Trend (10" EP / Widowspeak, 1985)
Death Valley '69, w. Sonic Youth (12", 1986)
Hysterie, best-of compilation (LP, 1986)
The Crumb, w. Thurston Moore (12" EP / Widowspeak, 1987)
Honeymoon In Red, w. members of The Birthday Party (LP, 1987)
Stinkfist, w. Clint Ruin (12" EP, 1987)
Naked In Garden Hills, Harry Crews (1987)
Don't Fear the Reaper, w. Clint Ruin (12" EP, 1991)
Shotgun Wedding, w. Rowland S. Howard (CD, 1991)
Head On, Die Haut (CD / Triple X, 1992)
Sweat, Die Haut (CD / Triple X, 1992)
Twisted, solo (7", 1992)
Unearthly Delights, solo (7", 1992)
Transmutation + Shotgun Wedding Live in Siberia, w. Rowland S. Howard (CD, 1994)
Everything, Teenage Jesus & The Jerks (CD re-issue/ Atavistic, 1995)
Luncheone, 8-Eyed Spy (CD re-issue/ Atavistic, 1995)
No Excuse b/w A Short History of Decay, w. Lee Ranaldo) (7" / Figurehead, 1997)
The Desperate Ones, w. Glyn Styler) (CD EP / Atavistic, 1997)
York (First Exit To Brooklyn), w. Foetus Symphony Orchestra (CD, 1997)
Matrikamantra, solo (CD, 1997)
Widowspeak: The Orginal Soundtrack, solo best-of compilation (2CD / NMC, 1998)
Smoke In The Shadows, solo (CD / Atavistic, 2004)

Discography Spoken Word

Better An Old Demon Than A New God, Giorno Poetry Systems comp. f/ William S. Burroughs, Psychic TV, Richard Hell and others (1984)
The Uncensored, solo (1984)
Hard Rock, solo (split cassette w. Michael Gira / Ecstatic Peace, 1984)
Oral Fixation, solo (12", 1988)
Our Fathers who Aren't in Heaven, w. Henry Rollins, Hubert Selby Jr. and Don Bajema (1990)
Conspiracy of Women, solo (1990)
South of Your Border, w. Emilio Cubeiro (1991)
POW, solo (1992)
Crimes Against Nature, solo spoken-word anthology (Tripple X/Atavistic, 1994)
Rude Hieroglyphics, w. Exene Cervenka (Rykodisc, 1995)
Universal Infiltrators, (Atavistic, 1996)
The Devil's Racetrack (2000)