Vixen in the late 1980's is one of the bands that lit up the stage with other heavy metal and hard rock bands. Sometimes referred to as the female Bon Jovi; Vixen created great music and fun live concerts. This is my first blog entry regarding female rock artists. Below is a brief history of Vixen. I have included 3 rock videos. The first video is on Vixen's big hit "Edge of a Broken Heart". The second video is a live concert in the late 1980's of Vixen performing "I Want You To Rock Me"; then the last video is the rock ballad "Cryin". Kenny Leibow
History
Vixen was formed in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1980 by guitarist Jan Kuehnemund while still at high school. In 1984, an early version of the band with Kuehnemund and singer Janet Gardner appeared in the movie Hardbodies as the on-screen band "Diaper Rash." In 1985 the band moved to Los Angeles to be part of the LA rock scene. Line-up changes happened during the following years until the 'classic' line-up of Jan Kuehnemund (guitar), Janet Gardner (vocals & rhythm guitar), Share Pedersen (bass guitar) and Roxy Petrucci (drums) was formed. This line-up of Vixen was interviewed in 1987 along with many other rock artists of the day by Penelope Spheeris for her film The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years.
In 1988 the band were signed to EMI and they began recording their debut album Vixen which was released in September 1988. Singer and Songwriter Richard Marx actually wrote and arranged their signature hit, "Edge of a Broken Heart," on the album. He also produced the song. Rumor was he was asked to assist the all-female band by EMI to produce their first major hit to compete with the all-female band The Bangles. Marx had nothing to do with their follow-up CD since he was becoming a more of a mainline singer than songwriter. The next year Vixen spent touring the world supporting acts such as Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions and Bon Jovi as well as headlining their own shows. The band returned to the studio in late 1989/early 1990 to record their follow up album Rev it Up which was released in July 1990. A year of touring followed including headlining their own shows and supporting acts such as KISS and Deep Purple. In mid 1991 the band split due to musical differences.
Source - http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Vixen_(band)
Band Members (1987–1991)
• Janet Gardner – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Jan Kuehnemund – lead guitar
• Share Pedersen – bass
• Roxy Petrucci – drums
Vixen - Edge of a Broken Heart
Vixen - (Live) I Want You To Rock Me
Vixen - Cryin
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