Skip navigation | Hello Netscape 4.x (or other older browser) User! The Southern web site is optimised for viewing in newer web standards compliant browsers (firefox, safari, opera, ie6). You still have full access to the content of this site but the layout is simplified. Please take this opportunity to freely upgrade to a browser from the last few years to enjoy the enhanced layout. you can use the keyboard to select the main options via access keys at any time: n = news, t = tours, l = labels, g = gallery, d = forums/discussions c = contact h = home/main page, u = upcoming releases, r = recent releases, s = skip navigation.
BABES IN TOYLAND formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1988, when Lori
Barbero met Kat Bjelland at a BBQ. Originally four-piece, the band
developed into the honed-down trio of Lori (long-time Minneapolis
scenester) on drums, Kat (a transplant from Oregon via San Francisco, who
moved to Minneapolis specifically to form a band) on vocals and guitar,
and Michelle Leon on bass. Their debut single on Treehouse Records ("Dust
Cake Boy" b/w "Spit To See The Shine") landed them a deal with
Minneapolis' famed Twin/Tone Records.
Their debut album Spanking Machine, released in 1990, caught the attention
of Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, who began singing their praises in the
music press and invited the band to support them on their European tour.
Meanwhile, Spanking Machine was released in the UK by Southern Studios,
and was quickly gaining favour with the music press and John Peel who
recorded a session with them and named the album as his favorite of 1990.
The follow-up to Spanking Machine was released in the summer of 1991. To
Mother was recorded at Southern Studios with John Loder in the producer's
seat. The album was released to a barrage of press attention that
continued throughout the summer. To Mother entered the independent charts
in the top 10 and stayed there for an amazing 13 weeks (ten of which the
album held at the no. 1 position).
Early in 1992, Michelle Leon amicably left the band and was replaced by
Maureen Herman (an old friend and long-time fan of the BABES').
The Babes' Fontanelle LP came out on the Southern Records label in August
1992. It was followed in June '93 by Painkillers also on Southern
Records.
BABES IN TOYLAND have since signed to Warner Bros. records for the whole
world.