“My favourite shit”: Kathleen Hanna’s favourite album of the 1980s
Kathleen Hanna is a formidable force. As the frontwoman of Bikini Kill and the subsequent leader of the riot grrrl underground third-wave feminist punk movement of the 1990s, it’s fair to say she’s seen and done a lot in her time, spurred on by the multitude of injustices that women face not only in the music industry but in the world at large. But for someone who, sonically and politically, is so inspiring in her own right, there must have been music that invigorated her soul towards becoming the person she now is.
That would be a correct assumption because, as it turns out, many albums and artists soundtracked her formative years. In a 2005 interview for Spin, she cited everything from Carole King to Lauryn Hill as providing inspiration, but one special album from the 1980s stood out above the rest as the one she loved the most.
That came in the form of Upstairs at Eric’s by Yazoo, which spawned classic hits such as the ballad ‘Only You’ as well as timely songs like ‘Goodbye ‘70s’. Hanna gave the album glowing praise, saying it was “my favourite shit”. She detailed her memories of the record, explaining: “I used to hang in friends’ basements in the ’80s and listen to music. That’s how I got into Soft Cell and Echo & the Bunnymen.”
But there was something different about Yazoo, known simply as Yaz in Hanna’s native US. “I was obsessed with Yaz. I didn’t have this record — I didn’t actually have very many records in junior high and high school — but I’d hear it at teen dance clubs. [During the 1990s], I got into it again because they had it on the jukebox at a club I worked at in D.C. as a dancer.”
The album clearly made a lasting impact on Hanna as she grew up and formed an identity for herself. Released in 1982, Upstairs at Eric’s was the debut record of the British double act, comprised of blues singer Alison Moyet and former Depeche Mode star Vince Clarke. Its sound epitomised the height of the new wave era, a bold offering of synth-pop and technological production.
In tracks such as the aforementioned ‘Goodbye ‘70s’, it’s easy to see how Hanna was inspired towards the basis of her career and ethos, given the song’s exploration of the disillusionment experienced by many, brought about by the ending of the 1970s punk era. It would be a genre that Hanna would one day reinvigorate and reinvent on her own terms, giving rise to an entirely new feminist movement of its own and creating a lasting impact on the course of women’s history.
Realising the throughlines between artists and exploring each of their influences is one of the most fascinating aspects of music history. When it comes to Hanna and Moyet of Yazoo, there is no exception. Knowing that the seismic societal shifts Hanna has created so far in her life and career were, at least in part, influenced by the pioneering pop music that came before her reveals the tangible impact that all kinds of art can have on its audiences. It makes you wonder what music of today will inspire the next generation and how far the reach of icons of the past can stretch.
