Wendy O. Williams, was the mohawk crested, boundary pushing, chainsaw wielding, semi-naked front woman of New York’s self-styled, “Worlds Ultimate Rock Band” – the Plasmatics.
Born in Rochester in upstate New York, Wendy went on to describe her parents as “cocktail zombies” “They wanted me to get a 9-to-5 job and all the fringe benefits. I said, ‘No way.’ she told People magazine in 1983, “I was an outcast, a loner. I never felt like I fit”. Ejected from the Brownies for flirting with the boys on a canoe trip, the young Wendy gravitated towards both performance on the one hand, and rescuing stray animals and wounded birds on the other,
“The thing about animals is that they don’t judge you”.
At the age of 16 Wendy dropped out of school, first hitch-hiking to Colorado, then onto Florida where she worked as a lifeguard, sold vitamins and made her own macrame swimsuits. In 1974 she headed to Europe bartending in Amsterdam, getting arrested for shoplifting in London and spending time in an Italian jail on counterfeit money handling charges.
In 1976, back in New York and desperate for both adventure and direction, Wendy answered an ad placed by radical artist and Yale University graduate Rod Swenson, for performance artists for his experimental “Captain Kink’s Theatre.” It was scripted live sex shows, but under an “arts” umbrella.
Already regulars at CBGBs, Swenson and Williams, now a couple, then decided to construct their own band, The Plasmatics who played their debut show at CBGBs in July 1978.
Williams created an entire persona for herself which she called “The American Dream Girl Gone Nightmare,” involving a bleached blond mohawk, very few clothes and deep growling vocals and a chainsaw.
Allegedly beaten by the arresting officers, her injuries are obvious in the police mug shots, Williams launched an ultimately unsuccessful civil lawsuit against them, and eventually all charges from both sides were
Due to the publicity generated by the trials, and their new notoriety, the Plasmatics and Williams experienced a massive surge in interest, which led to them appearing on TV talk shows and playing in front of the huge TV audience of the 1980s. The band, now clearly more identified with Metal more than Punk
Juggling both sides of her personality, in July of 1984 Wendy became the first woman to appear on the front cover of rock magazine Kerrang, while simultaneously taking the front of the Vegetarian Times.
Moving with Swenson back to the suburbs of Connecticut in the 1990s, the rock career all but over, Wendy spent her time caring for animals as a veterinary assistant, helping people with dietary choices at a health food store, jogging and weight training.
Living back in the suburbs, and no longer performing, it wasn’t long before Wendy felt the return of that old familiar feeling of not fitting in, and tragically on April 6th 1998, Williams walked into the woods at the back of her home and put a handgun to her head. She was 48.
Wendy’s memorial service took place at CBGBs, and featured ex members of the Plasmatics , playing together one last time.
The Plasmatics were not really my musical cup of tea, but their white and red splatter 7″ of “Butcher Baby” should be in any home where Punk matters. I actually enjoy its Ramones-VS-Motorhead speedbuzz thrash and the visual of the record itself is perfection in form and content. I liked seeing The Plasmatics on the comedy series SCTV in 1981! The show would feature musical guests from Tony Bennett to the Boomtown Rats, and they all performed in the comedy as well as sang [or lipsynched] their latest song. One of their skits was “The Fishing Musician” a Canadian combination angling/music show where bands went on a safari with the host before playing a song. Amazing. Especially in America in 1981. But poor Wendy. I remember when she committed suicide. She seemed like her early life had been very hard. It’s a relief to finally see her on the Vegetarian Times cover for a change! I can’t say I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing her au naturel – and I don’t mean naked!
Well I don”t know where my head was at in 1998 but I’d always thought Wendy died a natural death, I’d have confidentially blown the million pound question on who wants to be a millionaire on that one
Yuh learn something every day
Great blog
Hi punkontherun, good to hear from you, and you’re right about learning something new every day!