小简介
美国青少年摇滚机器
即使在已有女性摇滚乐传统的欧美乐坛，女子摇滚乐队还是会相对比较容易造成“新闻事件”，比如最近已经把红火烧到了中国的“贵妇人”（The Donnas）乐队。
这支全女子车库朋克摇滚乐队在加利福尼亚的Palo Alto成立，成员分别是主唱布莱特·安德森［Brett Anderson，a.k.a Donnas A，与“山羊皮”（Suede）主唱同名！］，鼓手托里·卡思蒂莱娜（Torry Castellano，a.k.a Donnas C），贝斯手玛雅·福特（Maya Ford，a.k.a Donnas F）和吉他手艾丽森·罗伯逊（Allison Robertson，a.k.a Donnas R）。组队时她们正在八年级（估计相当于我们的初二吧），正值那种典型的中学生活时期：为考入一个好的大学而焦头烂额（她们可没有初高中，就是中学，然后大学）、为周末舞会找一个合适的舞伴而搅尽脑汁等等。但这四个个性鲜明的姐们儿，因为一门心思地钟情于摇滚乐，都对金属和朋克非常钟爱，她们走到了一起并成为好朋友。她们刚认识时，是属于被那些Palo Alto的富家子弟排斥的一群。在学校的社交圈里，她们与别人的关系简直糟透了，被别人视为十足的怪人。所以她们对周围的Shitty生活和那些她们无法相处的人竖起了她们的中指并最终产生了“贵妇人”。对这四个女孩来说，她们只是选择了和别的女孩不一样的方式来表达她们的青春期焦虑症和怒火，因为处理它们的方式有很多种，比如组乐队。
不过，刚组队的时候她们可不叫“贵妇人”，当时乐队名叫“银幕”（Screen），很快又改为了“拉加迪·安妮”（Ragady Anne），后来还叫过“电刑”（The Electrocutes）。1993年年末时乐队第一次参加名为“乐队战役”（Battle of the Bands）的演出，当时就把在场的人都给“轰”了下去！由此足可见她们有多么猛。在发行了一张7寸黑胶盘后，乐队签约到了“超量”（Superteem）唱片旗下。后来接受了公司老板的建议以青少年反叛的形象出现，并转型进化成一支像20世纪70年代的“逃亡者”（Runaways，早期女子朋克／硬摇滚鼻祖之一）那样的电声凶猛的硬摇滚乐队，来演奏“雷蒙斯”（Ramones）式的歌曲。1995年时，乐队更名为“小妇人”并在“超量”旗下发表了几首单曲。此后，她们在对外称呼上统一用Donnas+姓氏的头词，比如主唱布莱特·安德森叫做Donnas A（知道开头的a.k.a是何了吧？）。这招明眼人一看就知道——“雷蒙斯”早就这么做过了，他们统一用Ramone来做姓氏。当时她们的音乐正有如当年的“雷蒙斯”，简单有力，迅猛快捷。但如果你据此又认为“雷蒙斯”是她们唯一的学习前辈时，你又错了——像“逃亡者”、L7、“比基尼杀戮”（Bikini Kill）、“吻”（Kiss）、“莫特里·克鲁”（Motley Crue）等都是她们的学习对象。
变性雷蒙斯
1997，她们以嚼着口香糖的“雷蒙斯”式不良少年，穿着一致的T-shirt和大声咆哮的烈焰红唇形象正式登场，发表同名LP唱片《贵妇人》（The Donnas）。但她们并不被外界接受，被指摘过多地模仿了“雷蒙斯”，整张唱片听上去像是一首歌。但她们的三和弦朋克歌曲有一种天真的疯癫气息，就像她们大部分歌词都是关于青春期的叛逆故事、涉毒经历[《人人都在飞》（Everybody's Smoking Cheeba）]等一样。而唱片中音乐的节奏、低保真的录音质量和背景中高中女子啦啦队队长的声音则令唱片非常有趣。作为投石问路的第一张唱片，无疑她们做得还是相当好的——即使真如批评所说像是一首歌，至少也是一首好歌。
随后在唱片公司的支持下乐队以“贵妇人”（The Donnas）的名义首次在日本举行巡回演出，并在5月份的时候首次被MTV台专访。但因为她们演奏的朋克乐并不太符合她们对20世纪80年代以吉他为主线的乐队的热忱，很快她们便开始录制她们自己的歌[其实第一张唱片中的歌多半都是她们的伯乐、唱片公司老板戴林·拉菲力（Darin Raffaelli）所写]，再配上吉他手Donnas R所钟爱的狂野的艾思·弗莱利（Ace Frehley，Kiss乐队吉他手）所赋予灵感的吉他独奏加以完善。
同年8月份，乐队跳槽到了“当心”唱片（Lookout！Records）公司旗下。在来年的1月份乐队发表了第二张专辑《美国青少年摇滚机器》（American Teenage Rock 'n' Roll Machine）。凭借这张唱片，乐队获得了当年两项“加利弗尼亚州音乐奖”（California Music Awards）：一是获得“杰出独立唱片”奖，二是获得“杰出朋克艺术家”奖。同时，这张唱片还被当地的BAG杂志评为当年加利福尼亚州最好的唱片。“在摇滚乐的龙头领域，就是要看你演奏得有多棒，”吉他手Donnas R说道，“男人们永远等在那看你出糗。”但显然，“贵妇人”们不仅继续坚持着并变得比任何人所预料的都要好。“我们从来都不想伪装成朋克，”鼓手Donnas C说道，“我们一直想尽可能地成功。”而要再重点加一句的是：到完成第二张唱片，她们还没从中学毕业！
在小有成就后，乐队成员从中学毕了业，并继续在演出和排练中成长。1999年的6月乐队发行了更加成熟的第3张全长专辑《紧身》（Get Skintight）。在外人看来，她们似乎是还来不及经历地下状态就已经是朋克界和记者们的最爱了，至少从发行第一首单曲开始她们就是当地乐坛的焦点话题乐队之一。毕了业的她们也携着这张“雷蒙斯”风格的流行朋克专辑《紧身》杀进了男性主宰的主流摇滚乐坛。和第一张唱片相比，这张唱片在音乐上没什么大区别，但她们以更好、更有吸引力和更猛烈的现场表演吸引了众多的乐迷。
有乐评这样拿她们来和“雷蒙斯”相比：“雷蒙斯”是反讽的后现代人，抨击那些软绵绵的泡泡糖摇滚舞曲和虚假做作的青少年快乐景象。这些使他们的音乐能引起共鸣、多样性并且有深度，同时还很有趣；而早期的“贵妇人”虽然形式上学习了“雷蒙斯”，但并有像他们的前辈那样具有讽刺的锋利性，做的只是直接简单的聚会音乐。其实这种对“贵妇人”的批评是吹毛求疵的，因为《紧身》本来就是一张出色的适于在聚会上播放的朋克唱片。但“贵妇人”并非就是没有“火药味”的淑女，对那些伪善的没有任何真材实料的少女歌手和男孩组合，她们照样会表达她们的不爽。“你周围的每个人都问‘你们认为米歇尔·布兰奇（Michelle Branch）怎样？你们想和她较量一下吗？你们是否会爆发口水大战？’，” 吉他手Donnas R说道，主唱Donnas A插了句：“也许我不喜欢‘某些人’的音乐，我一听它就想吐，但我并不想中伤她们！”而鼓手Donnas C则冷淡地说道：“不，我们没有想和瓦内萨·卡尔顿（Vanessa Carlton）比试高下，即使她认为我们在《年轻人》（Teen People）杂志上的照片风格是最独特的。”嘿嘿，姐儿几个还挺会说话的。而像纽约的“包打听”（Hipsters，纽约当地一男孩组合）和他们的《脏棉衣》（Dirty Denim）造型则受到了她们特别的“照顾”：“你花了200美圆就穿成那样/你为什么不去廉价拍卖网解决？”
出阁：贵妇人21岁了
2001年乐队发行了在巡演路上完成的第四张专辑《贵妇人21岁了》（The Donnas Turn 21）。这张唱片在音乐上有了些改变，更接近“逃亡者”而“雷蒙斯”的痕迹少了，更女性化了。她们在歌曲里嘲笑条子、穿性感的热辣短裤、藐视那些攻击评论、嬉笑怒骂狂欢饮酒、翻唱“耶酥犹大”（Judas Priest，经典金属乐队之一）等等，年龄的增长似乎并没有让她们收敛点，反而是变本加厉。唱片中那种严肃的声响标志着乐队能够进入合格艺术家的行列。这也是一张具有转折性的唱片，正是它架起了通向成熟的桥梁。
这一年，乐队的事业更上了一层楼，她们与主流的“亚特兰大”（Atalantic）唱片公司签约了！这标志着她们被主流认可。“我妹妹非常迷恋她们，”帮助她们签到“亚特兰大”唱片公司的玛丽·歌莉（Mary Gormley）说道，“她们很机智诙谐，是很出色的音乐人，我认为她们可以在未来十年继续出唱片。”
签约8个月后，乐队第5张专辑《欢乐今宵》（Spend the Night）热辣出炉，其乖乖小妇人的封面不啻是个讽刺。对那些从来没有听过她们音乐的人来说，它还是很吸引——美女美图，很可能是张女子甜组合哦！这样，正中她们下怀，在幕后嘿嘿地偷笑着阴谋得逞。这张唱片可以说是乐队目前最优秀的唱片，能经受那些严肃批评家们挑剔的眼光巡检。它干净，坚持自我，硬摇滚并伴有明确的目标：永远开心地享受生活——让男孩成为她们的附属。基于女性角色和朋克本性，乐队在词作中把上述两点发挥得淋漓尽致，既有完全颠覆了上个世纪80年代长发金属中大男子主义的活力四射的颂歌《脱下它》（Take It Off），也有那种老套的关于撬走你的男人的故事的《你的可怜女孩》（Too Bad About Your Girl），还有像《后座》（Back Seat）这种令你浮想联翩的歌。这张专辑也进一步使她们从“雷蒙斯”的雏形进化成一支成熟的硬摇滚乐队。
彼此
从某种意义来说，“贵妇人”表现了最老式的自相矛盾的朋克摇滚：外表坚强，内在却很柔弱。她们并不为是一支全女子乐队而感到羞耻，反而觉得这很摇滚。她们似乎是继“出走”（The Go-Go's，一支活跃于20世纪80年代早期和新千年的新浪潮全女子乐队）后另一支能最大发挥乐队整体能量的女子乐队。几个姐们儿经历过风雨后，更显得风采亮丽。吉他手Donnas R已经成长为一名出色的吉他手，同时也是乐队中唯一已婚的，她认为这个世界是令人疲倦厌烦的，但她连自己都不知道自己到底有多棒；而贝斯手Donnas F，是乐队中最安静的，一个永远不会假装自己有多聪明的杰出的词作者；Donnas A，性感的主唱，总是很无趣和粗鲁，说话时还有些口齿不清；鼓手Donnas C，最善谈的一个，喜欢收集小动物，她的房间里还有面“吻”乐队的旗帜（也是Kiss的拥趸）。在不做音乐的时候，她们和任何女孩一样每天过着不安定的生活，一旦站在舞台上，她们就是一群亮丽的明星，仿佛是一支获得了重生的精力充沛的摇滚乐队。
“所有女性都有适合她们做的事，”Bratmobile乐队（另一支非主流Riot Grrrl乐队）吉他手史密斯（Smith）说，“‘贵妇人’（The Donnas）是一支人们见过的最独特的女子乐队。”或许应该回忆一下在她们之前出现的那些女子乐队，从“罗尼特”（The Ronettes）到“逃亡者”（Runaways）——鼓手Donnas C笑了，“我们是彼此的灵感，”并俏皮地加了句，“也是彼此的操纵者。”
by Steve Huey
Aspiring to nothing more than a good old-fashioned rock & roll party, the Donnas won a cult following and considerable media attention in the late 90s after scoring a record deal right out of high school. Early on, they were invariably described as the Ramones meet the Runaways, with a definite emphasis on the former (theyd even adopted identical first names as a tribute). But their bratty high-school-delinquent image was clearly indebted to the latter, as their songs concerned themselves mostly with boys, booze, drugs, and hated classmates. As the Donnas grew up and polished their technical abilities, their music evolved into a distinctly female take on cock-rock metal, drawing more from AC/DC, Kiss, and Mötley Crüe than from punk. Some critics praised their cheerfully crude adoption of male sexual bravado; others complained that the bands music never transcended its vintage influences, and remained suspicious that their naughty-girl packaging was a bigger part of their appeal.
The Donnas were originally formed in May 1993, when all four members (all born in 1979) were still in the eighth grade together in Palo Alto, CA. Calling themselves Ragady Anne at first, they played covers of groups like R.E.M., L7, the Muffs, and Shonen Knife, and entered a junior-high battle of the bands just one month after forming. During high school, they kept practicing virtually every afternoon, and soon moved into riot grrrl territory with inspiration from bands like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile (though it was more musical than political). In early 1995, Ragady Anne released a 7 EP on the local Radio Trash label, but soon changed their name to the Electrocutes and adopted a trashy jailbait image and a loud-fast-rules aesthetic. They gigged around the Bay Area that year and were spotted by Darin Raffaelli, a onetime member of trash-punkers Supercharger and head of the small Radio X label. Raffaelli had written a cache of Ramones-style songs for a hypothetical girl band, and approached the Electrocutes about recording them.
Deciding that the songs didnt fit the Electrocutes metal-queen style, the girls created Ramones-worshipping alter egos known as the Donnas, even going so far as to mock them in Electrocutes interviews as though they were different people. Thus, vocalist Brett Anderson, guitarist Allison Robertson, bassist Maya Ford, and drummer Torry Castellano became Donna A., Donna R., Donna F., and Donna C. Before 1995 was out, they played their first gig as the Donnas, and released their first single under that name on Radio X. Two more followed in 1996, the last one on Raffaellis new imprint, Super*teem. Meanwhile, they hadnt yet abandoned their identity as the Electrocutes, and in fact recorded an album called Steal Yer Lunch Money during 1996; however, it wasnt released until three years later, when Sympathy for the Record Industry acquired the rights in the wake of the Donnas eventual success.
In 1997, the Donnas recorded a self-titled debut album for Super*teem, using songs ghostwritten by Raffaelli. Critics charged that Raffaelli was acting as the bands Svengali, likening their relationship to that of Kim Fowley and the Runaways; both sides vehemently denied that was the case, and eventually severed their professional relationship to avoid fueling more speculation. Following the release of The Donnas, the group took a week off from its senior year of high school to tour Japan. After graduation, they postponed plans for college and accepted an offer to sign with Bay Area indie Lookout, the original home of Green Day. Their label debut, American Teenage Rock n Roll Machine, was released in early 1998, and did feature some uncredited songwriting input from Raffaelli. The Donnas quickly became underground punk favorites, and even landed some attention from mainstream media like MTV.
The Donnas third album, Get Skintight, appeared in 1999 and marked the first time the band composed its material with no outside assistance. A distinct hard rock influence began to creep into their compositions, underlined by their cover of Mötley Crües Too Fast for Love; they even opened a show for Cinderella. That year, they also appeared in the teen comedies Jawbreaker and Drive Me Crazy, the latter as the Electrocutes. In early 2001, the band issued The Donnas Turn 21, which continued their move away from punk and toward the hard rock mainstream of 15-20 years previous (this time the cover was Judas Priests Living After Midnight). The album received some of their weakest reviews to date, generally from critics who felt that their party-hardy subject matter was starting to feel forced.
Nonetheless, the Donnas caught the attention of major label Atlantic, who signed them up in late 2001. Launched with a new wave of publicity, the Donnas label debut, Spend the Night, arrived in 2002 and became their first album to break into the Top 100 of the pop charts. It also earned them their biggest radio hit to date in the single Take It Off, whose video also got some MTV airplay. In the summer of 2003, the Donnas played the main stage on the revived Lollapalooza tour. That September, after a full year and a half of touring and promoting, the girls took a break to rest up.
When the foursome reunited in 2004, they made a conscious decision to shake the Ramones comparisons by making a record that drew from their various other influences. They entered the studio with Butch Walker (Avril Lavigne, Injected) and created the highly polished and semi-poppy Gold Medal album, released in October that year. The following album found the group embracing their hair metal influences, resulting in a record heavier than their last, but cleaner than their early punk efforts. With the help of producer Jay Ruston (the Polyphonic Spree, Meat Loaf), they released Bitchin on their own independent label, Purple Feather, in September 2007.
美国青少年摇滚机器
即使在已有女性摇滚乐传统的欧美乐坛，女子摇滚乐队还是会相对比较容易造成“新闻事件”，比如最近已经把红火烧到了中国的“贵妇人”（The Donnas）乐队。
这支全女子车库朋克摇滚乐队在加利福尼亚的Palo Alto成立，成员分别是主唱布莱特·安德森［Brett Anderson，a.k.a Donnas A，与“山羊皮”（Suede）主唱同名！］，鼓手托里·卡思蒂莱娜（Torry Castellano，a.k.a Donnas C），贝斯手玛雅·福特（Maya Ford，a.k.a Donnas F）和吉他手艾丽森·罗伯逊（Allison Robertson，a.k.a Donnas R）。组队时她们正在八年级（估计相当于我们的初二吧），正值那种典型的中学生活时期：为考入一个好的大学而焦头烂额（她们可没有初高中，就是中学，然后大学）、为周末舞会找一个合适的舞伴而搅尽脑汁等等。但这四个个性鲜明的姐们儿，因为一门心思地钟情于摇滚乐，都对金属和朋克非常钟爱，她们走到了一起并成为好朋友。她们刚认识时，是属于被那些Palo Alto的富家子弟排斥的一群。在学校的社交圈里，她们与别人的关系简直糟透了，被别人视为十足的怪人。所以她们对周围的Shitty生活和那些她们无法相处的人竖起了她们的中指并最终产生了“贵妇人”。对这四个女孩来说，她们只是选择了和别的女孩不一样的方式来表达她们的青春期焦虑症和怒火，因为处理它们的方式有很多种，比如组乐队。
不过，刚组队的时候她们可不叫“贵妇人”，当时乐队名叫“银幕”（Screen），很快又改为了“拉加迪·安妮”（Ragady Anne），后来还叫过“电刑”（The Electrocutes）。1993年年末时乐队第一次参加名为“乐队战役”（Battle of the Bands）的演出，当时就把在场的人都给“轰”了下去！由此足可见她们有多么猛。在发行了一张7寸黑胶盘后，乐队签约到了“超量”（Superteem）唱片旗下。后来接受了公司老板的建议以青少年反叛的形象出现，并转型进化成一支像20世纪70年代的“逃亡者”（Runaways，早期女子朋克／硬摇滚鼻祖之一）那样的电声凶猛的硬摇滚乐队，来演奏“雷蒙斯”（Ramones）式的歌曲。1995年时，乐队更名为“小妇人”并在“超量”旗下发表了几首单曲。此后，她们在对外称呼上统一用Donnas+姓氏的头词，比如主唱布莱特·安德森叫做Donnas A（知道开头的a.k.a是何了吧？）。这招明眼人一看就知道——“雷蒙斯”早就这么做过了，他们统一用Ramone来做姓氏。当时她们的音乐正有如当年的“雷蒙斯”，简单有力，迅猛快捷。但如果你据此又认为“雷蒙斯”是她们唯一的学习前辈时，你又错了——像“逃亡者”、L7、“比基尼杀戮”（Bikini Kill）、“吻”（Kiss）、“莫特里·克鲁”（Motley Crue）等都是她们的学习对象。
变性雷蒙斯
1997，她们以嚼着口香糖的“雷蒙斯”式不良少年，穿着一致的T-shirt和大声咆哮的烈焰红唇形象正式登场，发表同名LP唱片《贵妇人》（The Donnas）。但她们并不被外界接受，被指摘过多地模仿了“雷蒙斯”，整张唱片听上去像是一首歌。但她们的三和弦朋克歌曲有一种天真的疯癫气息，就像她们大部分歌词都是关于青春期的叛逆故事、涉毒经历[《人人都在飞》（Everybody's Smoking Cheeba）]等一样。而唱片中音乐的节奏、低保真的录音质量和背景中高中女子啦啦队队长的声音则令唱片非常有趣。作为投石问路的第一张唱片，无疑她们做得还是相当好的——即使真如批评所说像是一首歌，至少也是一首好歌。
随后在唱片公司的支持下乐队以“贵妇人”（The Donnas）的名义首次在日本举行巡回演出，并在5月份的时候首次被MTV台专访。但因为她们演奏的朋克乐并不太符合她们对20世纪80年代以吉他为主线的乐队的热忱，很快她们便开始录制她们自己的歌[其实第一张唱片中的歌多半都是她们的伯乐、唱片公司老板戴林·拉菲力（Darin Raffaelli）所写]，再配上吉他手Donnas R所钟爱的狂野的艾思·弗莱利（Ace Frehley，Kiss乐队吉他手）所赋予灵感的吉他独奏加以完善。
同年8月份，乐队跳槽到了“当心”唱片（Lookout！Records）公司旗下。在来年的1月份乐队发表了第二张专辑《美国青少年摇滚机器》（American Teenage Rock 'n' Roll Machine）。凭借这张唱片，乐队获得了当年两项“加利弗尼亚州音乐奖”（California Music Awards）：一是获得“杰出独立唱片”奖，二是获得“杰出朋克艺术家”奖。同时，这张唱片还被当地的BAG杂志评为当年加利福尼亚州最好的唱片。“在摇滚乐的龙头领域，就是要看你演奏得有多棒，”吉他手Donnas R说道，“男人们永远等在那看你出糗。”但显然，“贵妇人”们不仅继续坚持着并变得比任何人所预料的都要好。“我们从来都不想伪装成朋克，”鼓手Donnas C说道，“我们一直想尽可能地成功。”而要再重点加一句的是：到完成第二张唱片，她们还没从中学毕业！
在小有成就后，乐队成员从中学毕了业，并继续在演出和排练中成长。1999年的6月乐队发行了更加成熟的第3张全长专辑《紧身》（Get Skintight）。在外人看来，她们似乎是还来不及经历地下状态就已经是朋克界和记者们的最爱了，至少从发行第一首单曲开始她们就是当地乐坛的焦点话题乐队之一。毕了业的她们也携着这张“雷蒙斯”风格的流行朋克专辑《紧身》杀进了男性主宰的主流摇滚乐坛。和第一张唱片相比，这张唱片在音乐上没什么大区别，但她们以更好、更有吸引力和更猛烈的现场表演吸引了众多的乐迷。
有乐评这样拿她们来和“雷蒙斯”相比：“雷蒙斯”是反讽的后现代人，抨击那些软绵绵的泡泡糖摇滚舞曲和虚假做作的青少年快乐景象。这些使他们的音乐能引起共鸣、多样性并且有深度，同时还很有趣；而早期的“贵妇人”虽然形式上学习了“雷蒙斯”，但并有像他们的前辈那样具有讽刺的锋利性，做的只是直接简单的聚会音乐。其实这种对“贵妇人”的批评是吹毛求疵的，因为《紧身》本来就是一张出色的适于在聚会上播放的朋克唱片。但“贵妇人”并非就是没有“火药味”的淑女，对那些伪善的没有任何真材实料的少女歌手和男孩组合，她们照样会表达她们的不爽。“你周围的每个人都问‘你们认为米歇尔·布兰奇（Michelle Branch）怎样？你们想和她较量一下吗？你们是否会爆发口水大战？’，” 吉他手Donnas R说道，主唱Donnas A插了句：“也许我不喜欢‘某些人’的音乐，我一听它就想吐，但我并不想中伤她们！”而鼓手Donnas C则冷淡地说道：“不，我们没有想和瓦内萨·卡尔顿（Vanessa Carlton）比试高下，即使她认为我们在《年轻人》（Teen People）杂志上的照片风格是最独特的。”嘿嘿，姐儿几个还挺会说话的。而像纽约的“包打听”（Hipsters，纽约当地一男孩组合）和他们的《脏棉衣》（Dirty Denim）造型则受到了她们特别的“照顾”：“你花了200美圆就穿成那样/你为什么不去廉价拍卖网解决？”
出阁：贵妇人21岁了
2001年乐队发行了在巡演路上完成的第四张专辑《贵妇人21岁了》（The Donnas Turn 21）。这张唱片在音乐上有了些改变，更接近“逃亡者”而“雷蒙斯”的痕迹少了，更女性化了。她们在歌曲里嘲笑条子、穿性感的热辣短裤、藐视那些攻击评论、嬉笑怒骂狂欢饮酒、翻唱“耶酥犹大”（Judas Priest，经典金属乐队之一）等等，年龄的增长似乎并没有让她们收敛点，反而是变本加厉。唱片中那种严肃的声响标志着乐队能够进入合格艺术家的行列。这也是一张具有转折性的唱片，正是它架起了通向成熟的桥梁。
这一年，乐队的事业更上了一层楼，她们与主流的“亚特兰大”（Atalantic）唱片公司签约了！这标志着她们被主流认可。“我妹妹非常迷恋她们，”帮助她们签到“亚特兰大”唱片公司的玛丽·歌莉（Mary Gormley）说道，“她们很机智诙谐，是很出色的音乐人，我认为她们可以在未来十年继续出唱片。”
签约8个月后，乐队第5张专辑《欢乐今宵》（Spend the Night）热辣出炉，其乖乖小妇人的封面不啻是个讽刺。对那些从来没有听过她们音乐的人来说，它还是很吸引——美女美图，很可能是张女子甜组合哦！这样，正中她们下怀，在幕后嘿嘿地偷笑着阴谋得逞。这张唱片可以说是乐队目前最优秀的唱片，能经受那些严肃批评家们挑剔的眼光巡检。它干净，坚持自我，硬摇滚并伴有明确的目标：永远开心地享受生活——让男孩成为她们的附属。基于女性角色和朋克本性，乐队在词作中把上述两点发挥得淋漓尽致，既有完全颠覆了上个世纪80年代长发金属中大男子主义的活力四射的颂歌《脱下它》（Take It Off），也有那种老套的关于撬走你的男人的故事的《你的可怜女孩》（Too Bad About Your Girl），还有像《后座》（Back Seat）这种令你浮想联翩的歌。这张专辑也进一步使她们从“雷蒙斯”的雏形进化成一支成熟的硬摇滚乐队。
彼此
从某种意义来说，“贵妇人”表现了最老式的自相矛盾的朋克摇滚：外表坚强，内在却很柔弱。她们并不为是一支全女子乐队而感到羞耻，反而觉得这很摇滚。她们似乎是继“出走”（The Go-Go's，一支活跃于20世纪80年代早期和新千年的新浪潮全女子乐队）后另一支能最大发挥乐队整体能量的女子乐队。几个姐们儿经历过风雨后，更显得风采亮丽。吉他手Donnas R已经成长为一名出色的吉他手，同时也是乐队中唯一已婚的，她认为这个世界是令人疲倦厌烦的，但她连自己都不知道自己到底有多棒；而贝斯手Donnas F，是乐队中最安静的，一个永远不会假装自己有多聪明的杰出的词作者；Donnas A，性感的主唱，总是很无趣和粗鲁，说话时还有些口齿不清；鼓手Donnas C，最善谈的一个，喜欢收集小动物，她的房间里还有面“吻”乐队的旗帜（也是Kiss的拥趸）。在不做音乐的时候，她们和任何女孩一样每天过着不安定的生活，一旦站在舞台上，她们就是一群亮丽的明星，仿佛是一支获得了重生的精力充沛的摇滚乐队。
“所有女性都有适合她们做的事，”Bratmobile乐队（另一支非主流Riot Grrrl乐队）吉他手史密斯（Smith）说，“‘贵妇人’（The Donnas）是一支人们见过的最独特的女子乐队。”或许应该回忆一下在她们之前出现的那些女子乐队，从“罗尼特”（The Ronettes）到“逃亡者”（Runaways）——鼓手Donnas C笑了，“我们是彼此的灵感，”并俏皮地加了句，“也是彼此的操纵者。”
by Steve Huey
Aspiring to nothing more than a good old-fashioned rock & roll party, the Donnas won a cult following and considerable media attention in the late 90s after scoring a record deal right out of high school. Early on, they were invariably described as the Ramones meet the Runaways, with a definite emphasis on the former (theyd even adopted identical first names as a tribute). But their bratty high-school-delinquent image was clearly indebted to the latter, as their songs concerned themselves mostly with boys, booze, drugs, and hated classmates. As the Donnas grew up and polished their technical abilities, their music evolved into a distinctly female take on cock-rock metal, drawing more from AC/DC, Kiss, and Mötley Crüe than from punk. Some critics praised their cheerfully crude adoption of male sexual bravado; others complained that the bands music never transcended its vintage influences, and remained suspicious that their naughty-girl packaging was a bigger part of their appeal.
The Donnas were originally formed in May 1993, when all four members (all born in 1979) were still in the eighth grade together in Palo Alto, CA. Calling themselves Ragady Anne at first, they played covers of groups like R.E.M., L7, the Muffs, and Shonen Knife, and entered a junior-high battle of the bands just one month after forming. During high school, they kept practicing virtually every afternoon, and soon moved into riot grrrl territory with inspiration from bands like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile (though it was more musical than political). In early 1995, Ragady Anne released a 7 EP on the local Radio Trash label, but soon changed their name to the Electrocutes and adopted a trashy jailbait image and a loud-fast-rules aesthetic. They gigged around the Bay Area that year and were spotted by Darin Raffaelli, a onetime member of trash-punkers Supercharger and head of the small Radio X label. Raffaelli had written a cache of Ramones-style songs for a hypothetical girl band, and approached the Electrocutes about recording them.
Deciding that the songs didnt fit the Electrocutes metal-queen style, the girls created Ramones-worshipping alter egos known as the Donnas, even going so far as to mock them in Electrocutes interviews as though they were different people. Thus, vocalist Brett Anderson, guitarist Allison Robertson, bassist Maya Ford, and drummer Torry Castellano became Donna A., Donna R., Donna F., and Donna C. Before 1995 was out, they played their first gig as the Donnas, and released their first single under that name on Radio X. Two more followed in 1996, the last one on Raffaellis new imprint, Super*teem. Meanwhile, they hadnt yet abandoned their identity as the Electrocutes, and in fact recorded an album called Steal Yer Lunch Money during 1996; however, it wasnt released until three years later, when Sympathy for the Record Industry acquired the rights in the wake of the Donnas eventual success.
In 1997, the Donnas recorded a self-titled debut album for Super*teem, using songs ghostwritten by Raffaelli. Critics charged that Raffaelli was acting as the bands Svengali, likening their relationship to that of Kim Fowley and the Runaways; both sides vehemently denied that was the case, and eventually severed their professional relationship to avoid fueling more speculation. Following the release of The Donnas, the group took a week off from its senior year of high school to tour Japan. After graduation, they postponed plans for college and accepted an offer to sign with Bay Area indie Lookout, the original home of Green Day. Their label debut, American Teenage Rock n Roll Machine, was released in early 1998, and did feature some uncredited songwriting input from Raffaelli. The Donnas quickly became underground punk favorites, and even landed some attention from mainstream media like MTV.
The Donnas third album, Get Skintight, appeared in 1999 and marked the first time the band composed its material with no outside assistance. A distinct hard rock influence began to creep into their compositions, underlined by their cover of Mötley Crües Too Fast for Love; they even opened a show for Cinderella. That year, they also appeared in the teen comedies Jawbreaker and Drive Me Crazy, the latter as the Electrocutes. In early 2001, the band issued The Donnas Turn 21, which continued their move away from punk and toward the hard rock mainstream of 15-20 years previous (this time the cover was Judas Priests Living After Midnight). The album received some of their weakest reviews to date, generally from critics who felt that their party-hardy subject matter was starting to feel forced.
Nonetheless, the Donnas caught the attention of major label Atlantic, who signed them up in late 2001. Launched with a new wave of publicity, the Donnas label debut, Spend the Night, arrived in 2002 and became their first album to break into the Top 100 of the pop charts. It also earned them their biggest radio hit to date in the single Take It Off, whose video also got some MTV airplay. In the summer of 2003, the Donnas played the main stage on the revived Lollapalooza tour. That September, after a full year and a half of touring and promoting, the girls took a break to rest up.
When the foursome reunited in 2004, they made a conscious decision to shake the Ramones comparisons by making a record that drew from their various other influences. They entered the studio with Butch Walker (Avril Lavigne, Injected) and created the highly polished and semi-poppy Gold Medal album, released in October that year. The following album found the group embracing their hair metal influences, resulting in a record heavier than their last, but cleaner than their early punk efforts. With the help of producer Jay Ruston (the Polyphonic Spree, Meat Loaf), they released Bitchin on their own independent label, Purple Feather, in September 2007.
