Elli Medeiros was the lead singer in the French punk rock band, Stinky Toys, which makes her possibly the very first French Punk Girl.
“I arrived in France at the age of fourteen, I was bilingual Spanish – English, and I didn’t speak a word of French. I had to learn very quickly, I took classes to integrate, but it was quite a long time before I really got used to the language. That’s why, when I started writing and then singing, my lyrics were mainly in English, and also in Spanish.”
On the 20th September 1976, on the invitation of Malcolm McClaren, the Stinky Toys were the first band onstage for the first night of the infamous 100 Club Punk Festival along with the Sex Pistols, Clash (before they grew a The), Subway Sect, and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
“The Stinky Toys were my closest friends, it was for me the ideal formula, the group, the collective. It was the beginning of my true life.”
Like everyone else on the bill that night, it wasn’t long before they were schmoozed by record labels, and in 1977 Stinky Toys released the single “Boozy Creed” on Polydor. Receiving what are politely called “mixed reviews” for their work, Polydor downsized their involvement, although continued to release the band’s material in their native France.
After two albums, the band split up in 1979, but Elli and guitarist Jacno continued to play together in electro-pop duo Elli and Jacno, before both branching out on solo careers.
“Although I still had so much to learn, I had discovered music as a creator. I had always written or drawn before … but with the Toys I was no longer a spectator, a listener, but an actor.”
Elli has since worked with other musicians such as Etienne Daho, and has a second career as an actress, especially with the film director Brian de Palma. She is still based in Paris, and can be found at;
Elli quotes above from ellimedeiros.com