Summary

• Genya Ravan was part of the first successful all-girl band, Goldie and the Gingerbreads
• Ravan hosts two shows in Little Steven’s “Underground Garage.”
• Ravan’s singing career started in 1962 on a dare in a Brooklyn club called the Lollipop Lounge.
• She was asked to join the band The Escorts about a week after her Lollipop Lounge performance.
• In fall 1968, Ravan joined Ten Wheel Drive.
• Ravan's eponymous Columbia solo debut dropped in 1972.
• She moved on to the Janus label with the album Goldie Zelkowitz in 1974.
• Ravan worked as a producer in the late 1970s.
• Following health struggles in the 1980s and 1990s, Ravan launched her own Web site.
• Ravan's autobiography, “Lollipop Lounge, Memoirs of a Rock and Roll Refugee,” was published in 2004.

Genya Ravan is a rock ’n’ roll pioneer.  She has single-handedly busted down the male-dominated walls of every facet of the record industry.

Being part of the first successful all-girl band, Goldie and the Gingerbreads, she paved the way for bands like Fanny, The Go-Go’s and The Bangles. She went on to front the powerful horn band Ten Wheel Drive, and she has many production credits, including Ronnie Spector and The Dead Boys, and she started her own record label.

The roads Genya took were twisted, tortured and rocky. While she sometimes was down, she was never out. Her fiery determination wouldn’t let that happen. 

She always came back bigger and better than before. After all Ravan has accomplished, is there anything else she could possibly do? The answer is, yes.

Today, Genya hosts, not one, but two shows in Little Steven’s “Underground Garage.” “Chicks and Broads” runs the first Friday of every month and focuses on the music of women who have played a big part in the history of rock ’n’ roll, a fitting topic for Genya. On the third Friday of every month, “Goldie’s Garage” has 12 bands competing to deliver the world the next great Garage Band. 

Recently discussing Genya’s impact on the music world, Little Steven Van Zandt, creator and executive producer of the “Underground Garage”, E Street Band guitarist extraordinaire and “Sopranos” star, said, “Genya is not just a good friend and amazingly entertaining radio personality but, as a member of the first all-girl rock band, Goldie and the Gingerbreads, continues to be an inspiration to the unprecedented number of young girls starting out.”

The constants in Genya’s storied career are that she doesn’t sit still for long, she is tough as nails, resilient, has great vision, refuses to take “no” for an answer, and on top of all of this, she has an extraordinarily soulful voice. As Little Steven says, “Genya IS the GOODS!”

Genya’s singing career started in 1962 on a dare in a Brooklyn club called the Lollipop Lounge. The band that was playing that night, The Escorts, was lead by Richard Perry, who became a legendary producer for a number of recording artists, including Ringo Starr, Carly Simon, Art Garfunkel, Harry Nilsson, Fats Domino and Diana Ross.

Within a week of belting out Connie Francis’ “Stupid Cupid” and The Hearts’ “Lonely Nights,” Genya was asked to join the Escorts. At the time, the band was on the verge of recording its first single for Coral
Records, “Somewhere,” from “West Side Story.”

While Genya was not crazy about the song selection, the record did shoot to #1 in Michigan and Ohio, and it gave her the opportunity to work with one of the all-time great drummers, Bernard Purdie. The next two singles, “One Hand, One Heart” and “Something Has Changed Him,” did not fare as well as “Somewhere,” but The Escorts continued to work the clubs, and that is where Genya first met Ginger Panabianco, who was drumming for another band. Though that first meeting was uneventful, it ended up being a turning point in both of their lives.

In no time, Genya, who was nicknamed “Goldie” by her mother, became fast friends with Ginger. They spent most of their time thinking about how cool it would be to have an all-girl band. Their dream turned into a reality when they combined their names to form the band Goldie and the Gingerbreads, and set out to find like-minded female musicians.

Although it was not easy, Goldie and Ginger ultimately found Margo Lewis, who played keyboards (she went on to play keys with, and manage, Bo Diddley), and Carol MacDonald on guitar. The band rehearsed hard and hit the New York clubs.  Ads screamed out the uniqueness of the band — Goldie and the Gingerbreads — Girls! Girls! All Girls!

The band’s first break happened when The Four Seasons’ Nick Massi fell in love with the band and introduced them to Florence Greenberg from Scepter Records, who had great success with The Shirelles.  The band’s only 45 on Scepter’s Spokane label was “Skinny Vinnie,” a record produced by Florence’s son, Stanley. Although the record was not a success, the band played on.

One night in 1964, The Animals’ Eric Burdon and Hilton Valentine — plus their manager, Mike Jeffries — walked into the Wagon Wheel in New York City after hearing an organ and a soulful wailing voice from out on the sidewalk. Impressed by what they heard, Burdon, Valentine and Jeffries encouraged the band to go to the U.K. 

Within a few weeks, Goldie and the Gingerbreads were off to England, setting off a whirlwind of activity — touring with the top British acts, including The Animals, Stones, Kinks, Hollies, Who and Yardbirds; recording “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat” with Burdon and Chas Chandler producing; and appearing on Dudley Moore’s television show, “Not Only But Also,” compliments of Ringo. The band was very popular in England and had a great three-year run, which ended in 1967 when Goldie decided to go solo.

Goldie’s first recording session after leaving the Gingerbreads was singing back-up vocals with Dusty Springfield and Madeline Bell for an all-star band that included Stevie Winwood, Spencer Davis and Georgie Fame. As magical as that session was, Goldie describes what happened next.

“I decided to hang with the musicians, and began pounding on the piano and singing “Disappointed Bride” by The Hearts. The next thing I knew was that Stevie Winwood took over the keys, and I went into the booth to sing. We did the song in one take, and it was magical. Producer Chris Blackwell of Island Records loved the song but said it sounded too black to have me listed as the artist. So, Patsy Cole was born. The song was released on the Island label and sounds amazing to this day.” 

Goldie also recorded a few sides for Andrew Loog Oldham’s Immediate label, including Gerry Goffin and Carole King’s “Going Back” and the Oldham-penned “Headlines.”

In 1968, Goldie returned to the States, reformed the Gingerbreads, and recorded the single “Walking in Different Circles” for Ahmet Ertegun’s Atco label. 

While the record enjoyed some chart success, the reunion was short-lived. This time, Goldie not only broke off from the band, she dropped her nickname and went back to her given name, Genya.  Around the same time, a friend said that she sounded so black when she sang, she should name herself after something black, like a Raven. With a slight change in spelling, Genya Zelkowitz became Genya Ravan.

According to Genya, “it was the fall of 1968, and I needed a new direction.” That new direction was Ten Wheel Drive, a 10-member band with a driving horn section. The band released three horn-drenched albums on Polydor with Genya’s loud and rocking vocals, which were compared to Billie Holiday.

Great gigs followed, including two shows at Carnegie Hall and playing before 350,000 people at the Atlanta Pop Festival in July of 1969. According to Genya, one of the Carnegie Hall shows was on her birthday. “That show remains one of the highlights of my career.” However, growing antsy and again wanting a new direction, Genya went solo and signed with Clive Davis and Columbia Records.

The self-titled 1972 Columbia debut, Genya Ravan, was a diverse mix of songs that included the gem “Moody’s Mood for Love” that has saxophonist James Moody contributing a brilliant solo to the song he was famous for. Other highlights are Ray Charles’ “What Kind of Man are You” and The Faces’ “Flying.”

The stay at CBS came to a crashing halt after a successful appearance on the “Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.  Although Genya sang a blues tune with Doc Severinson’s band and had the audience and Johnny solidly behind her, Davis thought Genya’s appearance hurt her image as a rocker. 

Apparently, Clive had expected Genya to be the next Janis Joplin and her television appearance didn’t fit the Janis mold.  As Genya describes it, “I’d gone from the highest mountaintop to the deepest pit in a very short period of time. One moment I’d been signed by Clive Davis in a deal so big it was featured in the Wall Street Journal; the next I’d been dumped from CBS. Ignoring every instinct, I fled from New York in 1972.”
Arriving in L.A., Genya’s friendship with Richard Perry led to a record deal with ABC Dunhill, and an album, They Love Me, They Love Me Not, that was released in 1973. Unfortunately, except for a duet with Bobby Whitlock on his song “You Got to Keep on Growing,” the record did not have the magic and soul of Genya, and she asked to be released from her contract.

Her next stop was at the Janus label and resulted in the album, Goldie Zelkowitz, released in 1974. Unfortunately, this album, like its predecessor, did not reflect Genya’s talents, and it went nowhere.

Disappointed by the lack of success in California, Genya returned home to New York in 1974 where she resumed gigging in clubs with some of New York’s finest studio musicians. And she began doing something new — working on production projects. 

At that time, it was virtually unheard of to have a woman producing a rock ’n’ roll record. One night, though, in 1977, Hilly Kristal, of CBGB fame, called Genya all excited about a band from Cleveland she just had to see — The Dead Boys.

According to Genya, Hilly was right and moving into the forefront of the punk scene, she took The Dead Boys into Electric Ladyland studio to record their debut album, Young, Loud and Snotty.

Around the same time, Genya began working on her own album for 20th Century-Fox Records, Urban Desire, that was released in 1978. “The album title reflected the sound of the record, a loud, raucous street sound. Not just rock, but hard rock.” 

This album is loaded with great songs, from the duet with Lou Reed on “Aye, Co’Lorado,” to the blistering, hard-rock cover of Motown songwriting legends Holland-Dozier-Holland’s “Back in my Arms Again.”

On the heels of Urban Desire’s success, Genya began working on the follow-up, …And I Mean It! This album was different in that Genya had written or co-written almost all of the songs. The album justifiably got rave reviews upon its release in 1979. It had it all — the pleading girl-group sound of “Steve,” the soulful cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Stubborn Kinda Girl (Fellow),” the yearning, street-corner doo wop of “Night Owl,” and the beautiful duet with Ian Hunter on “Junkman.”

“Junkman” also had the benefit of Mick Ronson’s handy guitar work. Despite the strength of the album, 20th Century-Fox Records was dissolving, and the record got no support. It was released and died instantly.
Once again looking for a new direction, Genya started Polish (as in “shine”) Records and signed Ronnie Spector (pictured above). “As far as the industry was concerned, Ronnie had had her day,” says Ravan. “Even so, I’d been extremely excited about the prospect of working with her. I was a great fan of hers.  I’d loved the sound of her voice ever since I’d first heard it, when I’d been little more than a kid.” 

As the producer of Spector’s Siren, Genya wanted to get an edgy street-sound. “I had rockers and punks in to perform with her on the sessions, and I picked songs that had the modern edge I was looking for, like The Ramones’ ‘Here Today, Gone Tomorrow.’”  Unfortunately, Ronnie did not feel good about the record. Between Ronnie’s attitude toward the record and poor business decisions regarding Polish, the company disintegrated, and Siren went with it.

Although Genya wrestled with health problems in the ’80s and early ’90s, her determination to stay in the music game was as strong as ever. In 1997, she decided to set up a Web site, genyaravan.com. 

“Much to my surprise, the Web site got a terrific response,” says Ravan. “I received a ton of e-mails from fans telling me how much they loved my music, asking me where they could buy CDs of Urban Desire and …And I Mean It!”

Buoyed by this surge in enthusiasm, Genya created her next CD called For Fans Only, released in 2001, that contained material from every stage of her career, including unreleased songs and outtakes from as early as 1970, and new songs, such as “Reconsider” and a cover of Trade Martin’s “Take Me For A Little While.”
“There’s a duet I recorded with Long John Baldry in 1978 of ‘Something’s Got a Hold on Me,’ and two of the songs — “Rattlesnake Shake” and “Two Steps from the Blues”— are rehearsal versions that I like, because they have a real great feel to them.” 

Genya’s take on Marvin Gaye’s “Just to Keep You Satisfied” is, by itself, worth the price of admission. In 2007, Genya followed up with another career-spanning CD that was recorded live at the recently-shuttered CBGB and the Cutting Room, and includes her great take on the soul nugget, “Are You Lonely for Me Baby.”

In 2004, Genya’s autobiography, “Lollipop Lounge, Memoirs of a Rock and Roll Refugee,” was published. 
The title was obviously a respectful nod to the club where Genya first sang in public.

In his comments for the book, Andrew Loog Oldham, famed producer of The Rolling Stones and fellow DJ in the Underground Garage, succinctly summed up Genya’s career.

“In 1964, Genya Ravan (plus three Gingerbreads) had the balls to come to the U.K. when it ruled the musical waves. In the 1970s, she fought back in America when it reclaimed the rock ’n’ roll crown from the Bowery.  …Her talk ain’t cheap, and she’s reet petite ...!”

Thankfully, there is no end to Genya’s story. As with her radio shows, we have to stay tuned.