Metal Queen Bio sheet
"However cynical you may feel about extremely beautiful young ladies who strut seductively on stage in spray-on Lycra leotards, provoking hoards of hot-blooded males into whistling, cheering and drooling over them before they've even picked up the microphone - there is no doubt that some can actually sing. LEE AARON, Canada's latest hard-rock export to visit these shores, is a case in point." Mark Putterford, SOUNDS (U.K.)
"At the Marquee---the diminutive firebrand packed more energy into 60 minutes than most bands can manage in a week." Paul Suter, KERRANG! (U.K.)
Metal Queen is the debut LP for LEE AARON on Attic Records. Produced by Paul Gross (Saga), Metal Queen is a high-voltage display of LEE AARON's unique hard rock power and personality. Now an international artist, LEE AARON launched into worldwide prominence thanks to an incredible apperance at the prestigious 1983 Reading Festival in England that was coupled with a critically-praised showcase at London's famed Marquee club.
Not bad credentials for the 21-year-old vocalist who is also Canada's first rock act to release a cocncept video for the consumer market.
In addition to LEE AARON (vocals), the group consists of her guitarist/co-writers John Albani (ex-Wrabit) and George Bernhardt plus Jack Meli (bass), and Attila Demjen (drums).
Metal Queen is, in effect, the second LP release for LEE AARON. The first, The Lee Aaron Project, came out two years ago on a small label. Attic has since acquired the right to this LP and will be re-issuing it at a later date with a new cover design.
Blessed with a natural sensuality, LEE AARON has found her cover-girl good looks both an asset and a hindrance to her rock 'n' roll career.
"Women are always judged harder in this business. It's the same old thing...she looks good but can she sing? Hey, I'm not against looking sexy on stage because I can sing and perform as well as I look. I give an audience a show and I'm my toughest critic...if I can't do the best I can, I'd rather not do a show.
"The only way to perform at your best is to be healthy. When you're younger, you party every night...and burn yourself out. I feel best when I've eaten well and gotten enough sleep. But...that doesn't mean that I don't like to let loose once in a while and party my face off.
"The guys are pretty protective of me, they're like my big brothers, cause I never had any brothers in my family, so yeah, I feel sorry for anybody who's giving me a bit of hassle at a party or a gig."
LEE AARON's background includes a childhood spent in the three Canadian cities of Winnipeg, Belleville and Brampton (she currently resides in Toronto).
High-school in Brampton saw her involved in theatre, especially musicals. LEE didn't really begin singing until she was 15 and joined up with a local band after the bass-player heard her sing in a school production.
However, LEE made sure she graduated high school with top marks and a scholarship. "I just wanted to be prepared if music didn't work out."
She ignored her parent's pleas to attend university in favour of hitting the road with her band. "If I was going to make this my career, I thought I'd better get out there and learn about it!"
"My parents were actually very supportive in the end and it really helps when they're on your side and understand."
LEE, then 17, was soon discovered by manager Bob Connolly during the winter of 1979-80. "The band was really weird, very progressive, and Bob gave us direction and hardened up our style, but we ended packing it in after three months. By the way, my guitar player now, George Bernhardt, was also the guitarist in that original version of The Lee Aaron Group.
"It took a while before the current line-up stabilized itself in 1983. A lot of musicians couldn't handle me being out front and running the band. Plus, of course, the fact that there were no girls hanging around backstage was a complaint for some."
The first LP was released in late 1982 and featured musical contributions from Rik Emmett (Triumph), Gene Stout (Reckless), Frank Soda, Buzz Sherman (Moxy), Santers, Wrabit and others.
The Lee Aaron Project LP sold well as an import in the U.K. and generated enough interest to warrant a trip over for a headline appearance at The Marquee. Unable to fly her Canadian band over, LEE teamed up with U.K. group SAm Thunder and with less than 12 hours of rehearsal, garned rave reviews for her British debut.
"Before that show, I had butterflies, I wasn't sure...what do I say to people in a totally differnt country? But it went over great and because of it I was invited back to play at the Reading Festival, this time with my own band! And that was the second time I've ever had butterflies...everything seemed like a blur. Bob pushed me out on stage and all I could see were 50,000 arms up in the air...I'd never played in front of so many people, for a split-second I thought I was gonna drop dead...but when I heard the crowd cheering, an incredible rush came over me that made me want to just 'go for it'!"
"Yeah, a lot of record companies came after me, but they think if they give you incredible amounts of money then they're entitled to control you; to pick your songs and turn you into something else!"
"I'd rather be honest...it's the best feeling in the world! Sometimes it's better to not have as much handed on a silver platter. I'd rather work for it...you keep your head together a lot more. You hear so many horror stories about people screwing up and being drug addicts...I never want that to happen to me."
Off-stage, LEE relaxes with her artwork; sketching "surrealist abstract drawings" and collecting similar art prints.
SONGS
METAL QUEEN
The Lp's title track is not necessarily a biographical statement, according to LEE, who hopes it can become an anthem of sorts for her female fans.
"The song is about a female who sings in a metal band, and who says a girl can't sing metal? As for the subject matter - a Metal Queen - no-one's written about that before. Guys are always writing about making girls, but i'm taking the reigns this time...and I'm hopin' girls can listen to it and go, Right On!"
Metal Queen is also the first video from the LP.
LADY OF THE DARKEST NIGHT
"This is an eerie song - dealing with a guy who falls in love with the ghost of a woman who visits him in his dreams."
HEAD ABOVE WATER
"This was written while my manager and I were going through some rough times and is about keeping it together when everything else may be falling apart."
GOT TO BE THE ONE
"The chorus is heavy on this one; about finding the perfect person that's going to complete your life."
SHAKE IT UP
The first single is "a put down of disco new wave and the dippity-do hairdos and styles that go with it," she explains. "Trends fade in and out, but rock 'n' roll stays real." The Canadian pressing features a limited edition picture sleeve.
DECEIVER
"Your basic song about being deceived."
STEAL AWAY
"A girl walking home late at night is raped. The rapist is taking...stealing...love. It's not being given freely. When I was in school, they used to tell us in lectures that, in a rape situation, the easiest thing to do is to go along with it...be willing...but if you give in, how are you gonna feel after? Why should the girl feel all the guilt and shame? It really makes me angry, all the bullshit that goes on...I have a friend it happened to...and what they put you through to prove it is just as bad as being raped. This is a touchy subject and I wanted to write about it."
HOLD OUT
"This is kind of symbolic; about that feeling you get when you're out there playing six nights a week; sometimes you feel so out of touch...what day is it? what town is it? You feel like you're in suspended animation. I've expressed this through lyrics that focus on someone lost in space with only his life support systems, wondering whether anyone's ever going to find him...that's the feeling; should he take his life and end it?"
BREAKDOWN
"This concerns falling in love with men you can't have. it's a breakdown cause you can't handle the situation."
WE WILL BE ROCKIN'
"There's a kind of magic that occurs between a band and it's audience...a feeling that only real rock 'n' rollers feed on...a feeling that makes you stand up and, like the song says, rock till the end of time..."
"I was led to believe...that the invention of sliced bread was insignificant compred with the discovery of this particular chanteuse. They weren't far wrong."Dave Roberts, SOUNDS
DISCOGRAPHY
LAT/CAT 1188 - Metal Queen
AT 307 - "Shake It Up" b/w "Deceiver"
© ATTIC Records 1984.