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Undisputed Queen of Powerpop
The debate over who is the king of the powerpop musical kingdom is one that is lengthy and long-winded. Is it Wreckless Eric? Is it Nick Lowe, because he produced Eric’s material and his own as well? Is it Pete Townshend? It could even be artists like Peter Case of The Nerves or Paul Weller of The Jam. One thing is for sure, when it comes to who would be sitting on the throne next to him as queen, it could only be one person: Nikki Corvette.
A rock ‘n’ roller from the womb, Nikki Corvette was fascinated by music, especially the noise of her teens that included the local music of The Stooges and MC5. Nikki was a fixture at the Grande Ballroom and quickly became friends with all bands, local and national. Yet, she never treaded the line of fan and musician until she was thrown into her very first show by accident. “I was talking to a friend who booked shows at a bar,” Corvette says of her first booking. “He just set it up and then I was kind of like, 'Oh, I guess I have to do this now.'"
Together with then boyfriend Pete James, a major player in Detroit’s early punk scene, the two would put together a backing band and write the songs that Nikki would play for decades to come. Songs like “He’s A Mover,” “You’re The One” and “Boys Boys Boys” sounded like a Chuck Berry record on speed. Nikki was playful enough to be in The Banana Splits, had enough girl power for the Spice Girls and adequate attitude to make Johnny Rotten stand down.
The effects and reverberations of these early Nikki records were widespread and manic. “Some of the fans can be crazy, especially in Japan. They are fanatic,” Corvette says. “I had one guy, who’s now my friend, in Japan, have me sign my autograph on my picture and then he said, ‘I’m going to go home and masturbate to this.’”
Aside from fans, young girls that would someday form their own bands took notice of the precedent that Corvette had started with her fun/boy-loving pop songs. Bands like The Gore Gore Girls, The Riff Randells and The 5678’s credit Nikki as an influence because of her mastermind rock ‘n’ roll approach. The hard rock band The Donnas even went so far as to give a shout out to Nikki on their song “Gimme My Radio,” saying, “I wanna be like Nikki Corvette.”
By playing a show at the Painted Lady on March 22, Nikki will be marking a huge anniversary of her very first show. “The big celebration is the reunion show of my very first show 30 years ago. That’s right, I said 30,” Corvette states firmly. Playing with her original drummer, Bootsey X, original bassist, Skid Marx and more than capable fill-in Dave Hannah, Corvette will play all her old hits along with songs from her latest record, Back To Detroit.
As for what Nikki is up to aside from her upcoming anniversary show, she has been working on multiple side projects apart from her own solo stuff. “I have a new side project with Amy Gore and we’ve been writing some really cool songs … then I’m writing a couple of songs with Tina Luchessi from The Bobbyteens and Tina and The Total Babes,” Corvette says. “I am working on recording with my band as well … It’s hard to keep track of, 'cause there are really a lot of things in the works right now.” | RDW
Nikki Corvette • 3/22 • The Painted Lady
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