MARCH 1976

by Clare Neff

If the medium is the message, Olivia Records is saying a whole lot about women and music. This national recording company, started by a group of women in Washington D.C. three years ago, is a place where women's culture is being redefined and women's music is being made in a way clearly portraying that redefinition. Within this collective the women have control of their work and their music: in the making of their product they have created jobs for themselves under conditions they determine, they are developing their skills and learning new businesswomen,

ones

as

technicians,

artists; and using those skills to

give talented woman-oriented musicans access to the recording industry.

The organization began with the intention of creating a feminist business in an area which would directly affect women's lives. What better vehicle is there than music, they reasoned, to allow women to communicate their real lives, their hopes, their herstory? And so they began making records. From the beginning the production and distribution of each of their records has been entirely in the hands of women, with the exception of the two most expensive facilities required, the recording studio, and pressing plant. However, it looks now as though this year may bring Olivia the realization of longtime goal: the owning of their studio.

The company has moved to Los Angeles to save costs by being closer to the bulk of the music industry. Their growth has been steady, if somewhat slow, with each record's sales paying for the production of the next. Olivia is currently distributing five records: two 45-s and three albums. Their first, one of the 45's, was intended to lay the groundwork for a distribution network, one of the most important aspects of a recording company in that it determines who hears the music.

But what about the music? The success of that first 45 is evidence that it is quality stuff. On one side is Cris Williamson doing both instruments and vocal on her own compostion "If it I weren't for the Music." On the other is Meg Christian playing and singing her own arrangement of Carole King's "Lady." The record brought fine

LESBIAN/FEMINIST

a

reviews in Boston and New York as the power of womanidentified music reached hungry audience. The other 45 features a four-woman band, High Risk, performing

"Degradation,' used in the sound track of Donna Deitch's film "Woman to Woman." The other side is Judy Grahn's poem "The Common Woman" read by one of the four and backed with more of their original music.

Olivia's first album was Meg Christian's "I Know You Know." The record represents the work of about 20 women, who took part in the various aspects of its production. Reflecting the company's determination to integrate their lives and their politics, Meg has repeatedly emphasized that the album is not "mine," it is "ours." However, her individual musical ability can't be denied, nor the quality of her performance once one has heard the album.

The company's most recent album is Cris Williamson's "The Changer and the Changed," which is the biggest seller so far among Clevelanders. Like all of Olivia's records this contains a large number of songs written by the singer herself, and shows high craftswomanship in the lyrics

one

Meg Christian

Know

youn

HIGH GEAR

SONG ON OLIVIA

and arrangements. However, it is the spirit of the music which captures. On one cut, "Song of the Soul," a large chorus accompanies Cris. The song ends to the sound of cheers and laughter as the energies crest. There is great variety in the mood and tempo of the songs, which is an improvement on Meg's album, where the fine quality of the music is less obvious as a result of its narrower scope.

A third album distributed by Olivia but produced by the artist and her engineer is Kay Gardner's "Mooncircles." This is a very successful experiment with new forms having their roots in woman's incient past. An example is the employment of scales invented by the poet Sappho 2500 years ago, and the use of instruments said to be her favorite, the lute and the flute. What is most important about this album herstorically is its. representation of the innovations women are creating to express the expansion of female spirituality and culture. Musically, it is delight, producing rich images and a the range of emotions in listener.

a

Altogether Olivia is much more than a record company. It is a place where fine womanidentified music is created and made available within a feminist structure, presenting a heavy message indeed.

Olivia records are available in Cleveland at Booksellers, the Record Rendezvous at Richmond Mall, and at Coventry books, or from the local distributor who can be reached by contacting the Olivia office at Box 70237, Los Angeles, Calif. 90070. For those who like their music live, Cris Williamson will be appearing in Cleveland through the efforts of Oven Productions sometime in May, with the time and place to be announced.

ATROCITIES

By Richard Laufman

If you have ever wondered what the personal life of a radical feminist gay man would

be like then Color Photos of the Atrocities will make extremely interesting and rewarding reading. The author, Kenneth Pitchford, takes the reader on a

journey of his inner self which encompasses not only the strong front that a stranger would see at a political rally, but the hope, fear, and desperation that simultaneously surround individual revolutionary struggle. His self analysis becomes exploratory surgery of

soul.

The poetry itself has the unique quality of being both powerful and beautiful at the same time. Whether the poems deal with his relationship to his radical feminist lover, their infant son, his homosexuality and male lover, sexist society, or to revolution the intensity of his personal politics always show

Page 13

through. The collection, which covers about a three year period, is

somewhat chronological, but its' order is based more on progressively heightened levels conciousness.

of

One of the outstanding features of this book is the author's honesty in dealing with his own sexism. The reader becomes aware of the fact that he was not born a revolutionary and that he has had a struggle internally against years of sexist socialization as well as externally against and actions don't (can't) always measure up to them for as his poetry shows he is still deeply human.

This is one of those books that is not for everybody to read. The enjoyment the reader experiences will directly coincide with the amount of struggling he or she has already undergone. If you can identify with what has already been stated then read the book and find for yourself a couple hours of fulfillment.

2ND ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON

GAY LIBERATION

Fri., Sat., Sun., April 2-3-4 Registration 6 pm Fri. STUDENT CENTER, KENT STATE UNIVERSITY

Keynoters: Peter Fisher, author of Gay Mystique; Allen Young and Karla Jay, authors of Out Of The Closets and After You're Out.

For information: Kent Gay Liberation Front, Room 233, Student Center, Kent OH 44240 (216) 672-2068 Special workshops for women and men

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March 12 14 Francois Truffant's JULES AND JIM (1962) with Jeanne Moreau and Oscar Werner March 17-21 Alfred Hitchcock's early masterpieces THE 39 STEPS (1935) with Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll THE LADY VANISHES (1938) with Michael Redgrave, Margaret Lockwood and Dame Mae Whitt

March 24-28 Luis Bunael's LE FANTOME DE LA LIBERTE (1974) with Monica Vitti, Jean-Claude Brialy, Adriana Asti THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BURGEOISIE (1972) with Fernando Rey March 31April 4 George Bernard Shaw's PYGMALION (1938) with Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller, Directed by Anthony Asquith. Oscar Wilde's THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (1952) with Michael Redgrave, Margaret Rutherford, Edith Evans, Joan Greenwood Ample Free Parking. Subscription memberships and student discounts are available