Ginger Bianco

GINGER BIANCO

The first all-female rock band that was signed to a major rock label was Goldie and the Gingerbreads, consisting of Ginger Bianco (drums), Margo Lewis (organ), Carol MacDonald (guitar and vocals), and Goldie Zelkowitz (lead vocals). They were active from 1962 to 1967 and released a handful of singles; I got to hear some of their songs on a compilation album called Girls with Guitars.

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Ginger Bianco and Carol MacDonald of Goldie and the Gingerbreads formed a second all-woman rock band in 1972 called Isis. This band also had a strong horn section. They were signed to Buddah Records in 1973 and released two well-received albums plus a third for United Artists Records, though they failed to reach a wide audience.

Following a one-time reunion of Goldie and the Gingerbreads in November 1997 that featured Ginger Bianco and Carol MacDonald plus Genya Ravan, Bianco and MacDonald organized a new line-up of Isis in 2001.

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Richard Perry had a previous connection with Goldie and the Gingerbreads also; Genya Zelkowitz was the lead singer in Richard Perry’s band called the Escorts when she met Ginger Panabianco, who was playing drums for one of Perry’s friends. Seeing a woman playing drums gave Zelkowitz the idea for an all-female band; they changed their names to Goldie Zelkowitz and Ginger Bianco and crafted the band name Goldie and the Gingerbreads as a play on their two first names.

(October 2013)