Cocktail Slippers

Cocktail Slippers is a five-piece, all-female rock band from Oslo, Norway. Current band members are: Hope (vocals), Rocket Queen (guitar), Vega (guitar), SMASH (drums) and Sugar (bass). Cocktail Slippers was formed in 2001 and has released five studio albums. They are known for their entertaining live rock ′n' roll performances and have played alongside artists such as Nancy Sinatra, Crowded House, Elvis Costello and The Strokes. The band is continuously touring Europe and the US.

The band's main musical influences are Blondie, The Shangri-Las, Joan Jett, Foo Fighters, The Ramones, The Go-Go's and The Beach Boys.

Background

In early 2001, Cocktail Slippers was formed out of another all-female band called the Barbarellas. Bass-player Sugar Cane was one of the original members of the Barbarellas. Rocket Queen and Modesty Blaze joined after the then-guitar and keyboard players left. Eventually, the Barbarellas split up in 2000, but Sugar Cane, Modesty Blaze and Rocket Queen hooked up with a new drummer to continue the project. Shortly after it was decided that it would be better to rename the band. The new name was ''Cocktail Slippers''. The band recorded their first album, ''Rock It!'' in early spring 2001 with Modesty Blaze (Ingjerd Sandven Kleivan, formerly known as Lisa Farfisa) on vocals and keyboard, Rocket Queen (Stine Bendiksen) vocals and guitar, Sugar Cane (Astrid Waller) on bass and Tammy Lee Sticks on drums. Later that year, the album ''Rock It!'' was released on the Norwegian label MTG Records.

In 2004 the band recorded their follow-up album ''Mastermind'', which was also released on MTG Records. In the same year, a cover of Wham!'s " Last Christmas" was released as a limited edition CD single. The song was made available as a digital download in 2009.

In 2007, Cocktail Slippers was signed by Steven Van Zandt (also known as "Little Steven") on his label Wicked Cool Records. In 2009 Cocktail Slippers recorded and released their third studio album ''Saint Valentine's Day Massacre''. The album was produced by the band together with Steven Van Zandt and co-produced by Jean Beauviour (known for producing Kiss, Blondie, and The Ramones). The album features 12 tracks, although the US vinyl release includes 2 bonus tracks as well. Besides own material, the album features two cover songs: Lesley Gore's " She's a Fool" and Connie Francis's "Don't Ever Leave Me".

The record also holds two songs written by Little Steven—"Saint Valentine's Day Massacre" and "Heard You Got a Thing for Me". The album received positive reviews worldwide with respected critics such as ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's David Fricke describing the band as "Norwegian Devil Dolls" that "sing their you-done-me-wrong songs with avenging-angel-army-harmonies". Dutch newspaper ''NRC Handelsblad'' called the women "Norwegian Rock heroines" that "pick up where Blondie left off".

Cocktail Slippers was submitted to one of the largest music festivals in the US, South by Southwest, both in 2010 and 2011. They performed at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park, London in the summer of 2012.

Cocktail Slippers was featured in the episode "The Flamingo" in the Norwegian/American mafia comedy '' Lilyhammer''.

Personnel

Members

;Current members
* Rocket Queen – lead guitar, backing vocals (2001–present)
* Sugar – bass, backing vocals (2001-2012, 2016–present)
* SMASH – drums, percussion (2022–present)
* Hope – lead vocals (2011–present)
* Vega – lead guitar, backing vocals (2018–present)

;Former members
* Modesty Blaze/Lisa Farfisa – lead and backing vocals, keyboards (2001-2011)
* Tammy Lee Sticks – drums, percussion (2001-2008)
* Miss A Okay – drums, percussion (2019-2022)
* Aurora de Morales – bass, backing vocals (2012-2016)
* Piper – keyboards, backing vocals (2011–2016)
* Squirrel – guitar, backing vocals (2005-2012, 2015–2018)
* Bella Donna – drums, percussion (2008–2019)

Timeline

Discography

* 2001 - ''Rock It!'', MTG Records, Norway (CD)
* 2003 - ''Housewives From Hell'', Attitude Records, Finland (Limited 12" vinyl)
* 2004 - ''Last Christmas/Kids In America'', Flipside Records, Norway (Limited CD single)
* 2004 - ''Mastermind'', MTG Records, Norway (CD)
* 2007 - ''Coolest Songs Of The World Vol. 2'', Wicked Cool Records, US (compilation CD)
* 2007 - ''Mastermind'', Wicked Cool Records, US (CD + digital download)
* 2008 - ''Christmas A Go-Go'', Wicked Cool Records, US (compilation CD + digital download)
* 2009 - ''Saint Valentine's Day Massacre'', Wicked Cool Records, US (7" vinyl)
* 2009 - ''Saint Valentine's Day Massacre'', Wicked Cool Records, US (CD + digital download)
* 2009 - ''Saint Valentine's Day Massacre'', Wicked Cool Records, US (vinyl w/2 bonus tracks- Go Get It! and Good Luck Charm)
* 2009 - ''Rock It!'', Wicked Cool Records, US (CD + digital download)
* 2009 - ''Last Christmas'', Wicked Cool Records, US (digital download)
* 2010 - ''It's Christmas'', Wicked Cool Records, US (digital download)
* 2012 - ''Keeps on Dancing'', Wicked Cool Records, US (digital download)
* 2012 - ''Soul Salvation of Love'', Wicked Cool Records, US (digital download)
* 2014 - "People Talk", Wicked Cool Records, US (Vinyl, CD + digital download)
* 2015 - "Deaf Before Compromise... A Volume Brutale Tribute to Backstreet Girls", Voices of Wonder, Norway (Vinyl + digital download)
* 2018 - "Excuse Me", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download)
* 2020 - "Night Train", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download)
* 2020 - "Like A Song Stuck In My Head", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download)
* 2020 - "City On Fire", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download)
* 2021 - "She Devil", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download w/1 bonus tracks-Too Good To Be True)
* 2021 - "Be The One", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download)
* 2021 - "I'll Be Here For You", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download)
* 2022 - "Shout It Out Loud!", Wicked Cool Records, US (Vinyl, CD + digital download)
* 2023 - "Enda Mere Julepønk i Norge", Fucking North Pole Records (vinyl + digital download)
* 2023 - "Good Love", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download)
* 2023 - "123", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download)
* 2024 - "I Still Dream You", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download)

References

External links

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All-female punk bands
Norwegian punk rock groups
Norwegian new wave musical groups
Norwegian pop rock groups
Musical groups established in 2001
2001 establishments in Norway
Musical groups from Oslo