The Plasmatics were an American punk metal band, formed 1977 by Yale University graduate and radical anti-artist Rod Swenson with Wendy O. Williams. The band was a controversial group known for wild live shows that broke countless taboos as part of an assault on American popular culture.
In addition to chainsawing guitars on stage, blowing up speaker cabinets and sledgehammering television sets, Williams and the Plasmatics blew up automobiles live on stage. Williams was arrested multiple times and was seriously beaten in Milwaukee by the Milwaukee police before being charged with public indecency. The group was banned in London where they were labeled as anarchists, and riots followed in Zürich and elsewhere.
William’s and the Plasmatics’ career (1977-1988) spanned seven albums, several of which were released as Wendy O. Williams solo albums. She received a Grammy nomination for one of them as Best female rock Vocalist. The band changed almost half its members with each album, and had over 17 different members playing with it over the 10 years that Wendy performed. The influence of the group’s innovative mix of punk rock and heavy metal pioneered the music genre known as crossover punk. The band’s influence can best be felt in many female rock vocalists and bands that have came out in the last 20 years, most notably Courtney Love and many of the riot grrrl bands such as Bratmobile and Bikini Kill. |
