Newspaper Page Text
Page 11
Olivia Continues to Charm
Olivia's 15th birthday party on Nov. 19 at
Center Stage drew women not only from
Atlanta but from all over the southeast. A
display of hands requested by Judy Dlugacz,
owner/founder of Olivia Records and emcee
for the evening, showed that North Carolina
women turned out in large numbers, as well
as large contingents from Florida,
Tennessee, South Carolina and Alabama.
There were a few men in attendance, an
audience Olivia would like to count as fans
as the fifteen-year old company grows from
a small business into a mature corporation.
Even though Olivia has her eyes on a
larger market, which means moving a bit
from her traditional roots, she still maintains
the charisma which has drawn women to her
for almost two decades. And it is the artists
of Olivia, an array of talented and
personable women, who work the charisma
and continue to win the hearts of lesbians
(and gay men) throughout the country. The
Atlanta concert was no exception to die rule.
For almost three hours we were rocked,
cuddles and coddled by the music and
energy of Deidre McCalla, Nancy Vogl,
Dianne Davidson, Tret Fure, Lucie Blue
Tremblay and Cris Williamson.
McCalla is a dazzling beautiful woman.
Although her pitch was a bit off at times, as
the opening performer she immediately
pulled the audience into the evening with a
sing-along of "All Day Always". McCalla
also pleased a lot of people by thanking the
"lesbian/feminist community" for their
support, and followed this with "Mama's
Little Baby Gfrl", a song dedicated to her
mother and all black women who make her
career possible.
Nancy Vogl followed McCalla with a
wonderful set including several songs from
the Berkley Women's Music Collective- one
of the country's first "feminist bands- and
from her album, Fight Like a Dancer. "The
Winds of Passion", a song about PMS,
brought roars from the audience, although
some women squirmed at hearing, "I cannot
predict what I may say or do.”
Vogl has a direct, almost raw singing
style that contrasts beautifully with her
strong, smooth acoustic guitar. She talked a
lot with the audience, expressing everyone's
confusion and frustration over the recent
presidential election with "Oh America"
which asks, "Oh, America why do you fear
your daughters and sons?"
When Diane Davidson took the stage the
partying began. A tall Tennessee woman,
she grabbed the microphone and pulled it to
her height saying, "Shit, they just don’t
know us Southern women. These
California women are so short or
something." From the moment she stepped
on stage until she left to a standing ovation,
Davidson owned the room. As the Janis
Joplin of women's music, she carries the
passion and voice of a woman done wrong,
a woman done right and every woman in
Seven Victories for
Openly
Gay/Lesbian Candidates Nationwide
Victories of seven of 11 openly
gay/lesbian candidates in federal, state and
local races provided a "silver lining" to the
November 8 election of George Bush to the
White House.
"We won some this election and we lost
some this election," said Robert Bray,
Director of Communications for the Human
Rights Campaign Fund.
"We may go into Congress with more
supporters of AIDS legislation and
gay/lesbian civil rights bills than ever
before. That's the silver lining to this whole
election," he said.
Among the winners are Massachusetts'
Barney Frank and Gerry Studds, the only
openly gay members of Congress
representing any part of the country. Frank
was re-elected in his first race since
revealing his homosexuality.
Studds defeated airline pilot Jon Bryan in
his third re-election since coming out in
1983.
Washington State voters elected their
first openly gay state senator, Calvin
Anderson. Anderson ran as an incumbent,
after having been appointed to the seat to fill
a vacancy.
Minnesota State Representative Karen
Clark was elected to her fifth term in office.
Clark said she will continue her efforts to
pass a hate crimes bill and to increase state
wide civil rights protection to cover
discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation.
The defeat of U.S. Senator Lowell
Weicker (R-Connecticut) by only
7,000-10,000 votes was a "tremendous
loss" to the gay/lesbian community.
According to Jeffrey Levi, National Gay
and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF)
Executive Director, Weicker was the
community's strongest advocate and
spokesperson in the U.S. Senate.
In San Francisco, Supervisor Harry Britt,
who replaced Harvey Milk on the County
Board of Supervisors in 1979, became
president of the board, the highest position
yet obtained by a gay elected official in San
Francisco. Britt finished first in a field of
24 candidates and collected over 100,000
votes. Lesbian activist Pat Norman
attempted to join Britt on the Board of
Supervisors, but failed to capture one of six
vacant seats.
Tim Wolfred, a gay member of San
Francisco's Community College Board,
retained his seat.
Also in California, lesbian activist Judy
Abdo captured one of four open seats on the
Santa Monica City Council.
- Wendy Morse
Pro-Choice Supporters: Join us.
Operation Rescue will be back in Atlanta Dec. 7-10.
COOR (Coalition Opposing Operation Rescue) is working to
ensure women's rights.
To find out more about COOR and the fight against
Operation Rescue, attend COOR's next meeting.
Thursday, Dec. 1 at 7PM. Inman Park Library, 447
Moreland Ave. 365-5311 for more info.
Support a woman's right to control her body and her destiny
Cris Williamson
between. You can tell when Davidson
sings, "I'm built for comfort, I'm built for
speed. I got everything that a good woman
needs," that she believes it, and the audience
believes it, too. Davidson is a burning
performer, one you talk about long after the
concert is over.
Lucie Blue Tremblay, whose album
LucieBlue Tremblay was named as one of
the top ten albums of the year by the Boston
Globe in 1987, is 01ivia's"best all-around”
artist Tremblay does it all, has it all. Her
lyrics are unsurpassed- they're poignant
political, sometimes melancholy- and her
voice and musicality are a perfect fusion of
delicacy and power. Tremblay appears to
be the most political of the Olivia artists, at
least she talks and writes about politics in a
direct manner. She shared an unfinished
song which talks about "...taking the hinges
off the cupboard doors." According to
Tremblay, "People are tired of hiding...
silence is dying."
Tret Fure provided some nice moments
but her performance did not stand out. Fure
seems to be at her best when performing
with Cris Williamson. Williamson, another
founder of Olivia, continues, after all these
years, to be a folk hero for women. As
holder of the number one, best selling,
women's album of all time, The Changer
and the Changed, she has proved time and
time again that she is worth a listen. Her
voice still rings as the voice of women's
music. Her humor and warmth still
captivate-and she still writes like a woman
who has something to say. Williamson
offered a new song, "Mother, mother",
written for an upcoming film about the
children with AIDS and their parents- "...
some who reject their children," she stated.
Williamson, Fure and all of the artists
closed the evening with "Song of the Soul,"
giving the feel of a bon a fide women's
event with people holding hands and
singing along.
Olivia's debut Atlanta appearance was a
success, both for the audience and the label.
The absence of an inteipreter, however, was
not well-received. Dlugacz’s explanation of
the interpreter backing out three days before
the concert rang a bit hollow for many.
Next time around, hopefully in the Spring,
Olivia would best serve herself and her
audience by assuring the presence of an
interpreter.
-Christina Cash
• Accounting
• Insurance
• Taxes
• Bookkeeping
• Financial Counseling
*7fa Citric &ueitteee witCi Cip efface'
Lynn Manning Bgg-OJlg Little S PdntS
sf
Friday & Saturday, Dec. 2 & 31
^ t° - 5 i*:.
Sunday,Dec.4 r
rr .1-5p.m.jfijjr.:?;!I -■
Porcelain Jewelry, Mugs, Vases, Ornaments & Floorcloths
v Jill Ruhlman ifjf
;<502 Page Ave., NE^ *
" •’377-9476
a Callahan McDonough».
282 Oxford PI, NE *
— 373-0929
Subscribe Today Before You Miss
Another Issue!
Send $28 to P.O. Box 54719, Atl., GA 30308. Call 827-9678 for VISA/MC orders.