Note from John: My Phagz on 45 partner (not THAT way!) Matty has been on my jock non-stop, begging me to feature today’s artist on Lost in the ’90s since its inception.  After nearly nine months of crying, hounding, and Abby Ewing-level blackmail, I finally told the bitch to put his money where his mouth is and write the damn thing himself if he wants to see it so badly.  And the sucker fell for it!  So, here’s Matty with today’s post…

Board games, candy, AWFUL boys, Nancy Drew books and girls who sing – these are a TON of my favorite things!

Melissa Farris and Margaret McCartney met while waiting tables at the Zig Zag café in DC.  The two had been playing guitar for about 3 and 6 months respectively when they recruited bassist Phil Satlof and drummer Jack Hornady to form their first band, (named in homage to Fonzie’s paramour, Leather Tuscadero).  Says Melissa via e-mail, “We knew that between them they owned both a drum kit and a bass, and that was very important. Plus they were nice to us.”  When asked if my foggy memories of their inception happening at a Halloween party in the fall of ’93 were accurate, she adds “I think the Halloween story might have been that we decided to form a band whilst liquored up at a Halloween party. Like everything we did in Tuscadero, the decision was made with an almost tactical precision.”  This is so my kinda gal!  I still won’t balance my checkbook without a fistful of candy corns and a Natty Lite!

Like the stuff Indie legends are made of, Mark Robinson of Teenbeat Records signed the band on the spot at their first gig.  The whole story is like a Girl Band Geek FAIRYTALE – not unlike my recurring dreams of my fairy Godmother Kim Shattuck waving her Gretsch wand and changing my Converse Hi Top and pack of Parliaments into a Go-Go’s driven Coopers limousine to Ladyfest! – but for realsies!!! (more…)