With Filipinos having a knack in milking the Pinoy Pride banner even to a fault, one might think that the pioneering US rock band Fanny, especially the Filipino-American founders, are household names in the Philippines.
Surprisingly, Fanny has remained relatively obscure not just only in the Philippines but also in the US despite being considered as the first all-female rock band to release an album from a major record label.
The band's story is the subject of the music documentary, FANNY: The Right to Rock, written and directed by Bobbi Jo Hart and released locally by TBA Studios.
Through archived footage and present day interviews, the documentary sees Filipino-American sisters June (guitar, vocals) and Jean (bass, vocals) Millington, and Brie Howard-Darling (drums, vocals) reunite to record a new album. In the process, the trio recalls the early pre-Fanny days up to the present as they gear up to promote their comeback record.
FANNY touches upon the growing pains, personal heartbreaks and also the sexism, racism, and homophobia that they had to face as an all-female band with non-white and queer members. It also gives a glimpse to the cutthroat world of the music industry where sales is all that matters. Despite the odds stacked against them, Fanny has earned vocal fans like Bonnie Raitt, Def Leppard's Joe Elliott, most notably, David Bowie, and mang others. This make it seem more perplexing as to why Fanny failed to achieve commercial success having only peaked at #29 at the Billboard Hot 100 with Butter Boy.
After almost 50 years since the release of their first self-titled record, the Millington sisters and Howard-Darling, now known as Fanny Walked the Earth, are poised to have another shot in rock and roll history with this new record. Previous members Alice de Buhr (drums) and Patti Quattro (guitar, vocals) make guest appearances in the album but long time Fanny keyboardist Nickey Barclay has already distanced herself from the band since the split saying that she doesn't want to do anything with the group anymore.
 |
| Brie Howard-Darling, Jean Millington, and June Millington |
Bobbi Jo Hart's opus sheds light to a moment of modern music history that has been relegated to an obscure footnote. By the time that the credits rolled, there is a strong, immediate desire to dig into Fanny's discography and hear with one's own ears why this band has influenced generations of female musicians and yet not as celebrated as they should be.
Perhaps when FANNY: The Right to Rock hits select local cinemas on September 7, 2022, the band will finally get their due and become a household name in the Philippines.
Affiliate Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, this post contains affiliate links. A small commission is earned when purchasing through these links with no additional cost to the consumer.
Fanny Walked the Earth
No comments:
Post a Comment