"Music Groupie Dressing Table"
Groupie Feminism art series
Attributions and Artist Statement
Attributions
Dressing table
Album covers and vinyl
Light strand, wood, paper, rhinestones, tarot, tooth, cosmetics, jewelry, American girl and my own accessories
27 1/2” x 20” x 20”
2026
Wood dressing table with oval mirror, speakers in the cubbyholes, and seat with fabric pillow
Lights
1 mirror with gold frame, American Girl
1 - 2 powder puffs with buff-colored satin ribbons, from Le Pink in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, CA, ca. 2010
Several heart and star-shaped gemstone stickers in gold, pink, rose, purple, blue, green, valentine red and diamond clear
Photos on the mirror:
Lucretia Tye Jasmine in tiara in a photo by Jasper Dudley Ward II, 2002, and designed with stained glass by SuperGroupie, Morgana Welch, 2022, as a gift for my 56th birthday (upper stage right)
Michael Merrell and Tye in Louisville, KY, photo by my mom, Lucretia Baldwin “Teka” Ward, 1983 (upper middle stage right)
Wonder Woman with critters holiday card by Bruce Timm, 1995 (middle stage right)
Wayne Pemberton, Jr., from the bands Thirsty Brats and Luxury Cruisers, in two photos, one from the collection of Trigon Photos (lower stage right) and one courtesy of Wayne (upper stage left)
Andy Gibb, from the cover of his album, Shadow Dancing, 1978 (lower stage right)
Ace Frehley from KISS in baseball cards by Aucoin Mgt, 1978 (upper stage left )
Jeff Keith from the band Tesla, credited to Mark Weiss, 1987 (upper middle stage left)
Dennybird in Hollywood, CA, Polaroid instant by Lucretia Tye Jasmine, 1996 (middle stage left)
Guitar in acrylic by Lucretia Tye Jasmine, 2006 (lower stage left)
Self-portrait in color pencil by musician, Dennybird, ca. 1989 (lower stage left)
1 strand of faux diamonds from a bracelet my brother, Lacey, and I gave to our mom for her birthday in 1973. Her brother, our uncle Mike, bought the valuable jewels!
1 necklace of blue and faux diamond gemstones
that I convinced my younger cousin, Echo, to give to me in 1985 when I was 19 and she was 13
3 rings of faux diamonds in a band
1 pair faux diamond earrings bought at Le Pink Apothecary in Los Angeles, 2010
1 pair pink gemstone earrings bought at Le Pink Apothecary in Los Angeles, 2010
1 yellow-gold name bracelet, Tye, given to me by my father for Christmas 2025
1 faux diamond necklace given to my Burrel Farnsley the summer I was 11, in 1977. He told me when I was 21 I could try the mirror-trick to see if it was real diamonds: if the mirror got scratched while rubbing the stones against it then they were real diamonds. I promptly went to the nearest mirror and tried to scratch it! I held my breath and felt excited!
1 triple-strand of faux diamonds given to me by my mother to make me feel better about not having a boyfriend in the summer of 1988
1 white silver name necklace, Lucretia, I gave to myself 2023
2 pairs of faux gemstone earring studs, one diamond and one amythest rose, bought from a drugstore or apothecary somewhere in Los Angeles ca. 2010
1 bracelet of blue and faux diamond gemstones that I convinced my younger cousin, Echo, to give to me in 1985 when I was 19 and she was 13
Gold powder compact with purple gemstone given to me by my NYU rooomate in 1986 for my 20th birthday
A toile
Guitar string - A or 5th, silverplated wound by D’Addario Classic, 1979, one of a set of strings with acoustic guitar given to me for Christmas by my father
Gold dress on a pink doily, dress I made from a candy wrapper and set on a pink with white scalloping doily by American Girl, 2025
45s with songs by or about groupies
LPs with songs by or about groupies - the one facing out is art I made based on The Rolling Stones “Some Girls” album cover from 1978. I modified it in 2013 for a revolution grrrl style by copying and pasting new wording to reference the punk rock feminist music and zine movement of the early 1990s, Riot Grrrl. “Some Grrrls Riot” is the new album title!
1 tooth shaving
Pink diary with leopard print heart design and with lock and keys (made from a matchbox, matches in it, a replica in miniature of a collection of short stories, Power Ballads, that I wrote from 1977 - 2026) and keep in a diary about groupies and musicians) and matching lavendar color pencil
Heartstopper perfume, limited edition and hand-crafted by me in 2021, in a perfume bottle with art deco fan design cut into the glass and a heart-shaped stopper
Gold bodied lipstick, Lipstick Rose Royale by Gryphon
Powder puff of silver lavendar powder by L’Oreal Candlelight Face and Body Lights Powder
1 gold tube of fuschia gemstones, 3D black liquid mascara from Epilynx by Dr. Liia (vegan and cruelty-free!)
Nail polish by Ella + Mila me, “Dipped in Gold” (vegan and cruelty-free!)
Nail polish by Scherer, “Purly Pearl 77”
2 cream-colored foam hair curlers by American Girl
1 silver and pink blow-dryer by American Girl
1 silver and pink curling iron by American Girl
1 silver brush by American Girl
1 make-up kit with brush by American Girl (so similar to Pamela Des Barres’s “I’m With the Band” limited edition eye candy palette from 2022!)
1 dark red fabric rose with green twining stem from when I was a kid
1 blue metal hair clip with a hand-painted flower and leaves that I’ve had since I was a pre-teen
1 set of handcuffs earrings that I bought in NYC, 1988
1/2 set of handcuffs (with a safety pin that I added) that I bought in NYC, 1988
1 lighter, to light and hold up high at concerts during power ballads, especially Queensryche’s “Jet City Woman”, a groupie serenade whose repeating crescendo and tale of travel is romantic and erotic
1 guitar pic
1 passport
1 bottle frangipani oil given to me by my aunt Abigail from her 1981 trip to Key West, Florida. I wore it all the time when I was 15 and it’s my most cherished scent to this day (and night)
1 perfume blue atomizer with gold by American Girl (for Tatiana by Diane von Furstenberg or Obsession by Calvin Klein, the perfumes I adored when I was 13 and 19, respectively. I wish they were vegan.)
1 dark purple perfume flask with gold metal top by American Girl (for Honeysuckle essential oil)
1 jar of lotion with a blue top by American Girl
1 jar of cream with a blue top by American Girl
1 pot of lip gloss from 1978, Lip Lights by Max Factor in Hot Current 5, my favorite and always center-stage on my own dressing table back then
1 jar of Jasmine absolute essential oil
1 emery board with flower design by American Girl
1 package in periwinkle of nail design adhesives
2 tarot cards: the Queen of Cups from the Pulp Tarot by Todd Alcott, because she’s visionary, and Strength from the Tinseltown Tarot by 50s Vintage Dame, because she lives in harmony with critters.
A gold fan. It’s a printed out photo of art I made in 2021 about groupies on vinyl. It’s a gold fan I bought in NYC, around 1987, when I was an undergraduate at New York University. I affixed sparkling stickers like diamonds of letters, spelling out the names of songs written by or about groupies.
1 pitcher or vase in a gold-based flower print design that I purchased from best-selling author and SuperGroupie, Pamela Des Barres
1 gold paper pot of a vivid orange-pink flowering green-leaf plant given to me by Julianna Navarro for Christmas, 2026. The vivid petals are gold-tipped, the green leaves long, and one green stem is about to bloom. The flowering card is by Jann Johnson and Peter Savage from the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2024, and it’s called Merry Amaryllis. Her note is handwritten on the side. The former ballerina was married to photographer Baron Wolman who is famous for his legendary groupie portraits from 1968. Baron sought Juliana’s advice for the sittings.
Artist Statement
When I was in 4th grade in 1975, my mom and younger brother and I lived in Lexington, KY. We rented a two-story house. The houses on that street were big and drafty, run-down and dilapidated. Kids were tough, smoking cigarettes and playing pool. They stole and had street fights. It was so cold in that house and we were so scared on that street that we all slept together in one big bed.
The streets were alive with action. One weekend there was a sale, the streets were filled with furniture, clothes, cars and people.
The sun made my eyes squint behind my glasses. I didn’t like daytime streets among a crowd of people. I knew I was unattractive by trending standards - fat and poor, disheveled. But I ventured outside anyway. It was fun walking along, looking at trash that could actually be treasures. And then I saw it, my prized possession: a dressing table. It looked like a vanity from a 1940s movie set. It had a cloth covered kidney-shaped table, and a pleated orange skirt in heavy satin with a tea-colored lace overlay that opened in the middle so you could access the hidden drawers underneath, and the wraparound skirt reached the floor on all sides. It had a tall-backed slipper chair covered in matching orange satin with a pleated skirt that graced the floor, too. Its tall back and round seat were padded. The dressing table (with chair) was five dollars. In today’s money that’s thirty bucks.
Oh how I loved the dressing table! It was mine the second I glimpsed it in the distance! I walked fast to it, never taking my eyes off it, hope hope hoping no-one else would call dibs. It was five dollars but that didn’t seem like much to my nine year-old self; it could’ve been a million dollars for what it was worth to me. I stood guard while my brother ran to get the money from Mom. My brother, my enemy, proving himself my true ally!
A woman peruser paused as I stood sentry but took one look at me and walked on, as did every other passerby who paused at the orange-skirted vanity set. Maybe because of how I looked but I think because that vanity was mine. Mine! All mine! In that vanity I imagined my once and future self, a queen of glamour.
Music made me dream, too. Dreams of musicians all through my head! My first writing was narrative erotic fantasy about rock stars and me. Starring: KISS! Andy Gibb! Me! I was a Groupie Queen among Musician Kings! Their albums are in the stack of vinyl by the vanity in this art assemblage about my dressing table dreams. Historically, dressing tables and writing tables were often the same. I read pornography at my dressing table, and that along with the music I loved inspired my creative writing.
The "Music Groupie Dressing Table" makes me think of a musical instrument because of the mirror’s scrolling sides; add strings and it could be played. I’m not sure who designed or built the vanity and stool; I bought it on e-bay, an online marketplace, and the seller didn’t have that information.
Dressing tables, which evolved from ancient Egyptian cosmetic boxes into the dressing table with a chair during the Renaissance, became workstations of glamour and correspondence during the Rococo period of the 17th and 18th centuries: ornate, practical and multi-functional. Dressing tables signaled social ascension. But they were also for private reflection as well as adornment. The glamourous transformation! Some dressing tables included the shapes of stringed or musical instruments in their design.
Dressing tables have signified beauty, vanity, and mortality, but also, I think, the evolving freedoms of females: mirrors that doubled as bookrests, table tops that were used for writing, and compartments for papers and pens and inks indicate the educated and literate woman. By the 18th century, the status-symbol of a jewel-embossed box for the storage of writing utensils on the dressing table was called a necessaire. I think education, reading and writing are necessary!
I put photos in the mirror frame of the loves of my life. Michael, my cherished friend since I was 16 and one of my few and first real boyfriends; Dennybird, the truest musician I’ve ever known and my best friend since I was 23; and Wayne, my rock star sweetie since I was 31, my knight in shining armor, and my true partner.
My middle school crush; first love; and first boyfriend are remembered here, too: Jeff Lay (what fun at 13! Bad boy babe); George Bailor (first love at 16! Devastating); and Scott Smith (first marriage proposal I received, at 18!). Unrequited loves I’ll never forget: John Peck when I was 13, and Jeremy Teaford when I was 15. I wrote anonymous love letters to John and put them in his locker! And Jeremy’s kiss on my cheek felt like flowers.
Jeff Keith from the band Tesla pictured in a page from a magazine is included because Tesla’s 1991 song, “Song and Emotion,” helped me during a very scary time when I was ill, and knew the treatment to get better would have very challenging side effects and would take a long time. Brett Michaels helped me during my recovery because he had to work hard and have patience to heal, too. Hearing Tesla and thinking of Brett made me feel better; musicians I’ve never met were my friends when I needed friends most. Sure, I could critique his series, Rock of Love, in feminist terms, and maybe Brett’s band, Poison, and Jeff’s band, Tesla, are so power ballad predictable or formulaic that it’s almost funny, but I’ll tell you what, their music helped me get through difficulties. Some video footage of how they live their lives (Brett exercising to heal his body, Jeff’s equally proactive and friendly demeanor) helps me be proactive and solution-oriented, too.
As Brett sang, every rose has its thorn. The rose on the table represents that lyric.
The rose on the table also represents Journey, whose music is perfect, and always sends me on a romantic journey of music fantasies. Three of their songs especially made me dream when I was 14: “Patiently,” “Winds of March,” and “Opened Up the Door.” Piscean swoon.
The scents of honeysuckle, cocoa, lime, vanilla, peach - everything I loved in a groupie perfume I eventually concocted in 2021. Honeysuckle the girl I wanted to be, cocoa delicious my stage name. My dad called me Peaches when I was a kid because of my skin. Vanilla delight my dreamy dessert, the scent of a cozy kitchen. Frangipani or tuberose essential oils my favorite scents in high school, when I made myself up at my dressing table.
I really loved the idea of groupies. They seemed outside society, living lives of adventure, music, and freedom. In 1992, when I was 26, I joined Riot Grrrl for the same reasons: I wanted to love and live a countercultural passion. Riot Grrrl, a third wave feminist movement that expressed itself in zines and music, appealed to me.
It’s why the album facing out in front of the dressing table’s stack of vinyl is my altered version of a Rolling Stones 1978 album cover: the band’s guitarist, Keith Richards, joked that the album’s title is because they couldn’t remember females’ names, so I changed it in 2013 from Some Girls to Some Grrrls Riot, making a feminist commentary on the patriarchal erasure and sexual objectification of females, re-naming the album and thereby changing its meaning to something better and cool. From nameless bodies for male pleasure to nameless revolutionaries for female empowerment, some grrrls riot.
I chose two 45s to be on the dressing table, “All My Friends are Pets” (1997) by the band “Groupie” because of Brett’s line of non-toxic pet toys, and The New Dream’s “Groupie” (1970) because the sleeve reads “Hit Sounds of the 70s!!,” which is when I began dreaming of groupies and musicians.
My roommate in college had Luther Vandross’s version of a song about a groupieon vinyl and I listened to it over and over and over again. I couldn’t get enough of it. It soothed me.
The 1983 album cover shows a woman at a dressing table with a mirror, surrounded by Polaroids and flowers and a phone. A Groupie phone! Groupie grrrrl talk!
In college my roommate’s Luther LP didn’t have that cover, I discovered it while assembling my Music Groupie Dressing Table and it thrilled me. Maybe my artistic ideas about groupies really do have merit beyond my own beliefs.
Luther’s version of the song is so beautiful. He combined the groupie song with a Stevie Wonder song, “Until You Come Back to Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)”, written by Stevie, Morris Broadnax, and Clarence Paul around 1967. Luther sings of longing and in the song he directs the musicians with words that sound mysterious: “keep it right there,” he repeats. It could be about emotion, I thought, or sex. It about the song itself. It’s the extended version I like best.
The 1983 song “Superstar/Until You Come Back to Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)” was originally written as 1969’s “Groupie (Superstar)” by Bonnie Bramlett, Rita Coolidge, and Leon Russell. I’ve read they were actually making fun of groupies; the song was a lark. But l grew up hearing on the radio the Carpenters’s ominous and sultry version from 1971, “Superstar,” that made the song sincere and serious, and I adored it.
My mother loved Leon; whenever his music played I knew Mom and my brother and I were okay. Our sad and violent childhood saved by Leon’s music. Leon’s music was our steadfast friend. With the pot smoking wafting around the house blending with music notes, I knew my home life was crazier and sadder and more abusive than many of my friends but it was ok; I had the music, my writing, my fantasies and my dressing table. It’s his song title that peeks out behind the Rolling Stones album cover, on the album cover from the Carpenters : “A Song For You.”
Over the years the bits of make-up on the cloth table-top looked like art, and the way it looked kept changing as more years of make-up went on. So many colors! So many textures! Lipstick and eyeshadow and blush a pretty palette. During the Middle Ages and after, the fabric was called toile. The dressing tabletop cover’s changing make me think of the many different versions of a song covered by different musicians.
The toile shown here is from the colors of nail polish being removed from my fingertips. It’s a cotton pad. I made the toile from a Cutex nail polish remover pad, ca. 2017. I’d saved it because the colors on the pad looked like a paint on a canvas - or a dressing table cloth!
A toile that I made in 1979, the summer I was 13, is a painting of a face that I made from make-up: blue cream eye shadow for the eyes, and a red lipstick mouth, that I colored onto toilet paper. I gave the art to my grandmother, the activist Lucretia Baldwin “Lukey” Ward, who saved it for the rest of her life. She died in 1996. In 2010, my aunt sent the art to me!
The dipped in gold nail polish relates to the gold fan, and the 77 nail polish relates to my debut book, ‘70s Teen Pop. My creative adoration of groupies and musicians began during the 1970s.
I think it’s interesting that the dressing table, associated with females and the idea of femininity, began with a box, a term that refers to to female genitalia.
The heart-shape of the perfume bottle's stopper symbolizes the creative, sexual, and imaginative power of the womb. Gloria Steinem believes the heart shape is an ancient symbol of female power, equal to the phallic symbol.
All oils purchased through Etsy, from Alia Pure, Avadata, and Skylara.
I purchased the perfume bottle 2013-2015 at Dustmuffin vintage shop in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, CA.
The items I included in this art assemblage are based on my forever vanity, that orange satin and lace-skirted dressing table from 1975 and what I kept on it (the Hot Currant lipstick is from then or thereabouts!); my mom’s walk-in closet with a window, the space large enough to have her dressing table, simple and elegant and uncluttered (unlike my own!) but with beautiful jewelry and cosmetics and most especially a gorgeous bottle of Shalimar perfume by Guerlain; the dressing area my mom created in the basement of our smaller home, years later, her creative ingenuity impressing me as much as the way her necklaces were strewn glamorously along the mirror by her dressing table; the Luther Vandross album cover; what I saw on bestselling author and SuperGroupie, Pamela Des Barres’s dressing table when I took her memoir writing workshop classes or just visited her at her home such as jewelry (Elvis’s actual gemstone necklace!), pretty jars, mirrors, perfume, make-up; what I could see in a home video of Cynthia Plaster Caster’s Plaster Towers of Chicago, which included a mirror in her dressing area; what I viewed and heard in the Groupies documentary from 1970 including perfumes such as Shalimar, powder, nail polish, hair brush and curling iron ; what I could ascertain in a photo posted by musician and SuperGroupie, Lithofayne Pridgon, of her standing in front of but with her back to a large mirror on a dressing table adorned with variously-sized bottles and vases; and a photo of writer, singer and SuperGroupie, Cherry Vanilla, putting on make-up that I found in her 1974 book, Pop Tart Compositions.
I really love that make-up kit with brush by American Girl is so similar to Pamela Des Barres’s “I’m With the Band” limited edition eye candy palette from 2022! A make-up kit was originally called a pyxis, the Greek term for a cosmetic box or vessel that holds oils or unguents, or cosmetics. The American Girl pyxis reads “Dreamer” on its lid.
I used my Apple 13 Pro phone to take photos of the albums and pictures and passport, printing them in a modified size. With some images I made copies of the actual objects on a printer, in a modified size. I affixed many of the images to a stiff yet flexible board that I cut to fit the images. I touched up the sides of the albums with color pencils.
I made the speakers from foam padding.
I wrote the attributions and artist statement as an email to myself on my phone, my boyfriend’s Dell printer and laptop to store and print the photos and to save the attributions and artist statement as a Word document, my orange scissors (an investment from my days as a scenic artist ca. 1991-2001), and non-toxic glue tabs
by Uhu and gluestick by OnyxGreen to create this art assemblage for my Groupie Feminism art series.
I bought the desk, most of the vinyl and the American Girl accessories on e-bay from 2024-2025. Some vinyl was my boyfriend’s, and some I bought at Amoeba Records sometime from 2007-2017 in Hollywood, CA.
My signature for this art assemblage is my three name necklaces.
Bibliography
Adlin, Jane and Lori Zabar. “Vanities: Art of the Dressing Table.” Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.cuttersguide.com/pdf/Misc/vanities-art-of-the-dressing-table.pdf
Digital link. Accessed 1.10.26.
Berlinghof, Silke. “History of the Dressing Table.” Stylish. October 23, 2019.
https://styylish.com/dressing-table-history/
Digital link. Accessed 1.10.26.
Groupies. Directed by Ron Dorfman and Peter Nevard. United States: A Vicell, Inc. Production, 1970.
Journey, “Patiently,” “Winds of March,” “Opened up the Door.” From the album, Infinity, 1978.
"Lithofayne Faytoe." YouTube Channel. 11.25.12. www.youtube.com/@KHARIZZ9 Digital link. Accessed 11.24.23.
The Met. Press Release. “Metropolitan Vanities:The History of the Dressing Table
December 17, 2013–April 13, 2014.” March 24, 2014.
https://www.metmuseum.org/press-releases/metropolitan-vanities-2013-exhibitions Digital link. Accessed 1.10.26.
Poison, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” 1988.
Rock of Love with Brett Michaels, reality television series, 2007 - 2009,
Rock Scene. “Jeff Keith of Tesla.” https://rockscenemagazine.com/today/jeff-keith/
Digital link. Accessed 1.4.26.
Trigon Music Photos. “Wayne Pemberton of Thirsty Brats - 54 kb.” http://www.trigonrecords.com/mphotos/mphotos.htm Digital link. Accessed 1.8.26.
Vanilla, Cherry. Pop Tart Compositions. USA: Vanilla Paper, Inc., 1974.
The songs on the "Gold Fan" are:
"Little Wing, " (1967) Jimi Hendrix 2:26
"Groupie (Superstar)," (1969) Delaney & Bonnie 2:49
"She Came in Through the Bathroom Window," (1969) Joe Cocker 2:36
"Blonde in the Bleachers," (1972) Joni Mitchell 2:42
"Rip This Joint," (1972) The Rolling Stones 2:23
"We're An American Band," (1973) Grand Funk Railroad (1993 remaster) 3:27
"Fox on the Run," (1974) Sweet 3:28
"Rebel Rebel," (1974) David Bowie (2016 remaster) 4:35
"Sick Again," (1975) Led Zeppelin (1993 remaster) 4:42
"Dancing Queen," (1975-1976) ABBA 3:51
"Rip Her to Shreds," (1976-1977) Blondie (remastered) 3:23
"Gold Dust Woman," (1976-1977) Fleetwood Mac (2004 remaster) 4:56
"Plaster Caster," (1977) KISS 3:28
"Git Down (Guitar Groupie)," (1979) Cher 3:46
"Dirty Diana," (1986-1988) Michael Jackson 4:41
"Rocket Queen," (1987) Guns N' Roses 6:13
"Look Away," (1996) Iggy Pop 5:09
"Thug Luv (feat. Twista) with Radio Interlude," (2003) Lil' Kim, Twista 4:12
"Nanny Nanny Boo Boo," (2004) Le Tigre 3:34
"Stereo," (2006) John Legend 4:10
"Groupie Love (feat. A$AP Rocky)," (2017) Lana Del Rey, A$AP Rocky 4:24
“Thank You So Much,” (probably 1970s), Lithofayne Pridgon and The Shuggie Otis Band 5:30
“Dolly Dagger,” (1971) Jimi Hendrix 4:44
“Steppin’ in Her I. Miller Shoes,” (1973) Betty Davis 3:15
“Moonlight,” (1979) Cherry Vanilla 4:01
"You Got Me," (1999) The Roots, featuring Erykah Badu and Eve (one of my top three favorites songs about, by, or mentioning groupies) 4:19
“Chaise Longue,” (2021) Wet Leg 3:17
The stacks of vinyl include:
45s:
ABBA, “Dancing Queen,” 1976 (Plus, the vinyl and the picture of two singers that was included with the vinyl are on the floor by the 45s)
Bert Parks, “Miss America,” 1960
Blondie, “Rip Her to Shreds,” 1977 (plus, also on wall as a poster that cut off the record’s jacket image that I inadvertently made and love)
Bobby Braddock, “Ruby is a Groupie (with a Cosmic Cowboy Band)”, 1976
Bobby Nunn “She’s Just a Groupie,” 1982
Cher “Superstar,” 1970 (the year not listed on album or sleeve)
David Bowie, “Rebel Rebel,” 1973 (on floor)
Deep Purple “Emmaretta,” 1968
Delaney & Bonnie and Friends featuring Eric Clapton “Groupie (Superstar),” 1969 (the year not listed on album or sleeve)
Emily XYZ (read by Myers Bartlett & Emily XYZ, drums Virgil Moorefield) “Jimmy Page Loves Lori Maddox,” 1994
Fanny “Butter Boy,” 1974
Fleetwood Mac, “Gold Dust Woman,” 1977
The Four Fuller Brothers “”Groupie,” 1969 (the year not listed on album or sleeve)
Free Kitten “Special Groupie,” 1993 (the year not listed on album or sleeve)
Grand Funk Railroad, “We’re an American Band,” 1973
Groupie, “All My Friends Are Pets,” 1997 (plus, both sides of the vinyl can be seen pasted on the wall)
The Groupies, “You Changed Again,” 2005
Guns N’ Roses, “Rocket Queen,” 1987
Hollywood Joe inscribed “to Mercy GTO” in 2017
Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show “Roland the Roadie and Gertrude the Groupie,” 1973
Jimi Hendrix, “Dolly Dagger,” 1997 but originally released 1971. The song is reportedly about SuperGroupie, Devon Wilson. (Plus, the vinyl can be seen emerging from its jacket on the ground floor.)
Jimi Hendrix, “Little Wing,” no date on the 45 I have or it’s picture sleeve, the song was originally released 1967
Joni Mitchell, “Blonde in the Bleachers,“ 1972 (on floor)
Michael Jackson, “Dirty Diana,” 1987 and its instrumental, 1988
The New Dream, “Groupie,” 1970 (the year not listed on album or sleeve)
New Riders of the Purple Sage, “Groupie,” 1972
Opal Butterfly, “Groupie,” 1970
Pamela Des Barres and The Dehumanizers, 2011
Plaster Caster Blues Band, “Lanoola Goes Limp,” 1969
Ringling Sisters 33 1/3 on a 45, 1994
Sweet, “Fox on the Run,” 1974
LPs:
AC/DC, If You Want Blood You’ve Got It, 1978, because “Whole Lotta Rosie” was written about a fan and they built a stage prop in her honor
Andy Gibb, Shadow Dancing, 1978 because he was my second rock star crush and the star of all my written fantasies, including one of my first ever published writings, “Pop Star Sparkling” in Prism international, 2009, and because the album cover is featured in my "Groupie Lunch Tray"artwork
The Animals, The Best of The Animals, because Eric Burdon said in the 2001 documentary, Plaster Caster, that Cynthia was brave
Bebe Buell, Covers Girl, 1981, because Bebe is sometimes considered a groupie
Bette Midler, The Divine Miss M, 1972, with the song, “Superstar,” because that song by Bonnie Bramlett, Leon Russell, and Rita Coolidge was originally titled “Groupie”
Blondie, 3 track of "Rip Her to Shreds," "In the Flesh," "X Offender," 1977, because Rio Hey to Shreds because it’s about “Miss Groupie Supreme”
Carpenters, A Song For You, 1972, because “A Song For You” is quintessentially groupie
Carpenters, The Singles 1969-1973, 1972 and 1973, because of “Superstar,” the song written by Bonnie Bramlett, Leon Russell, and Rita Coolidge, and originally called “Groupie”
Cher, "Git Down (Guitar Groupie),” 1979
Cherry Vanilla, Bad Girl, 1977 and 1978, because the writer, Cherry Vanilla, is a SuperGroupie
Cherry Vanilla, Venus d’Vinyl, 1979, because the author, Cherry Vanilla, is a SuperGroupie
Cherry Vanilla and Man Parrish, “Fone Sex,” 1992, because the author, Cherry Vanilla, is a SuperGroupie
David Bowie, Aladdin Sane, 1973, with “The Jean Genie” whose accompanying music video stars groupie, CyrindaFox-Tyler
Derek and The Dominos, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, 1970, because “Layla” was written for Patti Boyd, and because “Little Wing” was written by Jimi Hendrix about groupies
Donovan, Sunshine Superman, because he and Linda Lawrence planned to write a book about groupies, and because he wrote “Legend of a Girl Child Linda” for her
Faces, Long Player, 1971, with the song “Maybe I’m Amazed” because Beatle, Paul McCartney, wrote it for Linda McCartney, the photographer also known as a groupie
Groupie Girl, original motion picture soundtrack, 1970
The Groupies, 1969, because the album is a record of groupies talking about groupiedom
GTO’s, Permanent Damage, 1969, because they are known as a groupie” group: they hung out with musicians, worked with musicians, bedded musicians, and many in the band married or lived with musicians
Hair The American Tribal Love Rock Musical, Broadway musical, 1968, because musician and groupie, Emmaretta Marks, is in it
Mike Hudson & The Pagans, Hollywood High, 2014 because Evita Corby is on the cover, and she once explained to me her thoughts about groupies. She also married a musician, and dated Mike Hudson
The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Are You Experienced, 1967 because “Foxey Lady” was probably about Lithofayne Pridgon
The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Electric Ladyland, 1968 because a picture of Lithofayne Pridgon and Jimi Hendrix together is included in the liner notes
Joe Cocker, Mad Dogs & Englishmen, 1970, because Rita Coolidge sings a song she co-wrote with Bonnie Bramlett and Leon Russell, “Superstar,” a song originally titled “Groupie” and for the song, “She Came in Thru the Bathroom Window,” which was written by Paul McCartney about a groupie (either those who climbed into his house, and/or one who hooked up with a member of The Moody Blues)
John Mayall, Back to the Roots, 1970, with “Groupie Girl”
KISS, Love Gun, 1977, because of their song about Cynthia Plaster Caster, “Plaster Caster”
Lana Del Rey, Lust for Life, 2017, because of her song, “Groupie Love (feat. A$AP Rocky). The record is on the turntable!
Led Zeppelin, The Soundtrack For the Film Led Zeppelin The Song Remains the Same, 1976, because Led Zeppelin and groupies are like peanut butter and jelly. Also, when I was 14, I met my first band, and got ready for their rehearsals while listening to the album, it took all of “Dazed and Confused” to put my make-up on. It was my first real groupie experience, hanging out in the studio with other groupies while the band played. It was actually boring! And more fun at my dressing table, alone and listening to music and being creative with make-up while I fantasized about the night before me.
-Leon Russell, Leon Russell, 1970, because “A Song for You” is a groupie dream come true
Le Tigre, Junior Senior and Peaches Remixes, 2004, with “Nanny Nanny Boo Boo”
Le Tigre, "TKO" w/ "Nanny Nanny Boo Boo," 2004
Lil’ Kim "Thug Luv" featuring Twista, 2003
Luther Vandross, Busy Body, 1983, with the song, “Superstar,” because that song by Bonnie Bramlett, Leon Russell, and Rita Coolidge was originally titled “Groupie”
Luther Vandross, “Superstar/Until You Come Back to Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do,)” 1983, because the “Superstar” song by Bonnie Bramlett, Leon Russell, and Rita Coolidge was originally titled “Groupie”
Odissi, Groupie, 2005 (plus the vinyl itself is pasted on wall)
Phoebe Snow, Phoebe Snow, 1974 because of the song, “Poetry Man”
Prince, Prince, 1979, because the album cover is featured in my Groupie Lunch Tray artwork
The Plaster Caster Blues Band, 1969, because it was named after SuperGroupie and artist, Cynthia Plaster Caster, who plaster-casted musicians’ genitalia
Rex Smith, Sooner or Later, 1979, because the album is a tie-in to the 1979 film and novel of the same name, with a plot about a teen girl and a musician falling in love. He teaches her to play guitar
The Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers, 1971, because “Brown Sugar” was probably about groupies, and because the album cover is featured in my Groupie Lunch Tray artwork
The Rolling Stones, Exile on Main St, 1972, with “Rip This Joint” because a lyric refers to SuperGroupie, Barbara the Butter Queen
The Rolling Stones, Love You Live, 1977, with the songs “Star Star” and “Brown Sugar” because of the lyric “starfucker” in the former and because the latter was probably at least partially about a groupie or groupies
The Roots, Things Fall Apart, 1998 and 1999, with the song “You Got Me” featuring Erykah Badu, because the song refers to falling in love with a musician as she sees and hears him perform onstage
213, The Groupie Luv EP, 2005
Some Product Carri On Sex Pistols, Sex Pistols, 1977 and 1978 and 1979, because the cover has a picture of Hotel Chelsea’s plaque, and the hotel is known for its groupie and musician guests and residents
Various artists,The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Times Square, 1980, because the teen girls are main characters and they take over a radio station and the airwaves
Various artists, Born Bad Volume One, 1986, because a band called The Groupies contributes
Note:
I added vanilla to the groupie perfume for this groupie dressing table artwork.
The vinyl records/album covers in this artwork can also be found in the "Music Groupie School Desk." To this "Music Groupie Dressing Table" artwork, I added:
Andy Gibb, Shadow Dancing, 1978 because he was my second rock star crush and the star of all my written fantasies, including one of my first ever published writings, “Pop Star Sparkling” in Prism international, 2009.
Blondie, 3 track of "Rip Her to Shreds," "In the Flesh," "X Offender," 1977, because "Rip Her to Shreds" is about “Miss Groupie Supreme”
Carpenters, A Song For You, 1972, because “A Song For You” is quintessentially groupie
Led Zeppelin, The Soundtrack For the Film Led Zeppelin The Song Remains the Same, 1976, because Led Zeppelin and groupies are like peanut butter and jelly. Also, when I was 14, I met my first band, and got ready for their rehearsals while listening to the album, it took all of “Dazed and Confused” to put my make-up on. It was my first real groupie experience, hanging out in the studio with other groupies while the band played. It was actually boring! And more fun at my dressing table, alone and listening to music and being creative with make-up while I fantasized about the night before me.
Luther Vandross, Busy Body, 1983, because of the groupie song, “Superstar/Until You Come Back to Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)”
(I already had the Luther vinyl but made a new one with the back cover and also one with the sleeve)
Phoebe Snow, Phoebe Snow, 1974 because of the song, “Poetry Man.”
Prince, Prince, 1979, because the album cover is featured in my "Groupie Lunch Tray"artwork
Various artists, The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Times Square, 1980, because the teen girls are main characters and they take over a radio station and the airwaves
I also added, for this dressing table artwork, 6 songs to the "Gold Fan":
“Thank You So Much,” (probably 1970s), Lithofayne Pridgon and The Shuggie Otis Band 5:30
“Dolly Dagger,” (1971) Jimi Hendrix 4:44
“Steppin’ in Her I. Miller Shoes,” (1973) Betty Davis 3:15
“Moonlight,” (1979) Cherry Vanilla 4:01
"You Got Me," (1999) The Roots, featuring Erykah Badu and Eve (one of my top three favorites songs about, by, or mentioning groupies) 4:19
“Chaise Longue,” (2021) Wet Leg 3:17
Shout out to my mom, Lucretia Baldwin “Teka” Ward, for being a music-loving literary feminist - and for buying the orange-skirted dreamy dressing table!
Shout out to my aunt, Abigail Ballantyne Ward, for returning my toile art to me!
Shout out to my brother, Lacey Thomas Smith, Jr., for making sure I got the orange-skirted dreamy dressing table!
Shout out to Francisco, who helped me choose the best styrofoam padding for the speakers! During the recent years of making my groupie art and writing, I was healing from a serious illness. Francisco was at my home during the last two years more than a few times to repair the washing machine, and each time he visited he looked at my Groupie Feminism art assemblages with such attentive and serious fun-loving care. He listened to me while I talked about the art, and showed him different parts of the art. It’s rare that I have that, usually it’s my mom and my sweetie, Wayne, who spend time with me on my art and writing. I think it helped me on my healing journey, because my art, along with my writing and my critters, are very important to me. Thank you, Francisco. Plus you give the best hugs ever (and wear the coolest shoes!).