Sex, punk and indecent exposure: Watch the wild erotic performances of Wendy O Williams
Sex was central to punk. Whether it was Vivienne Westwood’s shop, Sex, the pistols thereof, or the lurid bravura of bands like Television who helped to kick the whole thing off. Eroticism had escaped the flowery world of prog-rock and folks like Wendy O. Williams were determined to bring it back.
With her punk and heavy metal hybrid band the Plasmatics, she did just that. In fact, she did it to such an extreme that she was even arrested by undercover police in Milwaukee. They had already been tipped off that she might have been bearing more than her soul as a frontwoman when they attended the gig.
So, when Williams began simulating that she was penetrating herself with a sledgehammer while wearing a fishing net so spare that even a caught cod would’ve felt self-conscious, they quickly slapped the cuffs on her—an act that she probably rather enjoyed. Fans feared that the wild ways of the Plastomatics would sadly become a thing of the past after this.
They needn’t have worried. A few shows further down the line she was up to her old tricks to such an extent that she was arrested once again after the whipped cream covering her breasts did what whipped cream will do and melted simply leaving some slightly milky and sticky chesticles on full display.
However, this was during the days when rock ‘n’ roll had already sprung liberation and on all occasions, the charges were dropped. This left the American singer free to go about her wild ways. Hell, she even fired a live shotgun at one show. It seems the wildness was simply in her blood, she lived for the thrill of being lewd in front of an audience.
In actual fact, she even started her performative career in live sex shows. She then moved on to star in her one and only porn video, Candy Goes to Hollywood. Before realising that music was once again becoming a trailblazing force thanks to the punk movement in 1976. So, she fronted the Plasmatics and made three records, before starting up a solo career during which she worked with Limmy, Gene Simmons and even starred in The Rocky Horror Show.
All the while, her image was a world away from the person beneath, proving that music really was a vessel for exultation rather than a debauched pursuit. As her former manager and long-time companion, Rod Swenson, told the Democrat & Chronicle of her when she found solace in music: “[Wendy] was a consummate professional, always working on her craft, working on the show. She would work out hours every day, she would run six miles a day. She was a total vegetarian, totally into health food. When we were on the road, she always made sure the band was well fed. No processed meats, no white bread.”
So, when she left the music industry in 1990, she ended up working in a food co-op and rehabilitating sick animals. And while her life may have sadly ended through suicide in 1998 as the daemons of her pre-music past took their toll, her liberated worldview lives on. Now, she is remembered as the ‘Queen of Heavy Metal’, and it’s easy to see why.
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