I have a terrible feeling that this may well the least read album in this series as it is, by any definition, somewhat of an obscurity. It's the only real album to be made by the Californian all girl four-piece, is surrounded by tragedy and hints at a band who, in my opinion, could and indeed should have gone on to rule the world. It is also quite possibly the most foul-mouthed record that I have ever heard yet it also possesses a sense of charm and innocence that makes it an album very easy to adore.

I have long held the belief that those of us who love rock/metal all have an album that is very precious to them that they believe deserves to be heard by a wider audience. Are You Man Enough? is mine. Apart from holding an important place in my collection because of its influence (more of that shortly), it is also an absolute corker from the beginning of Hell on Wheels until the end of Rock ‘N’Roll 69. It has shitloads of attitude, balls and fifteen great tunes – of which only No Integrity isn’t a total swearfest. No wonder mainstream success never beckoned.

I took a gamble on Are You Man Enough? as Betty Blowtorch supported Nashville Pussy in the States and that was good enough for me as I hadn’t been utterly blown away by anything musically for a good while. Throughout much of the 1990’s I felt somewhat lost musically; I hated grunge in almost all its entirety and Nirvana and Kurt Cobain in particular. Britpop didn’t really do it for me (Blur representing the English working-class? Fuck right off) and don’t get me started on dance music. Instantly upon hearing this album I was completely smitten. It spoke to me in a way that nothing else had for ages. It cared about hair metal, Lita Ford, Whitesnake, Crue and even referenced those bands and many more on the glorious Big Hair Broken Heart – a song that might just as well been written for me. This song, more than any other, gave me hope that others were out there who remembered a time before the style police came and decided what was “cool.”

It there’s ever been a more exciting opening song than Hell on Wheels, then want to hear it very badly. Its sweary, infectious and designed to make anybody with a pulse sit up and take notice. It’s also the song that the band regularly chose to end their live show with. Everywhere you care to listen there’s something spellbinding on this record; take for instance, I’m Ugly and I Don’t Know Why (sung, I believe by the brilliantly named Sharon Needles) which initially comes across as a paean to lost first love before becoming a vicious aural assault on a love rival (aged seven) and then memorably leads into the final chorus with, “And do you know what she had the nerve to say to me that little c**t?” Offensive yet brilliant.

Shut Up and Fuck – can you guess what that was about? What about I Wanna Be Your Sucker? It was, to me, as if metal had become alive again and permission to rock just for the sake of it had been granted. Obviously it couldn’t be too true. I don’t know of a single other person who owns this record and nobody else that I know cared when, on December 17th 2001, Bianca Butthole Nee Halstead) died whilst a passenger in a car driven by a drunken fan. By that point the band had already imploded anyway with Judy Molish and Sharon Needles departing in the middle of the night leaving Butthole and Blare N Bitch to continue on the road to tragedy, so I guess the road to cultdom was already beckoning.

A posthumous collection of outtakes Last Call was issued but didn’t really attain the same heights as Are You Man Enough? but a DVD entitled Betty Blowtorch and Her Amazing True Life Adventures is also available but if you remember 80’s metal but hated the 90’s, do yourself a favour and grab a copy of this record. You will not regret it in any way, shape of form.

Let us know your views on Are You Man Enough

Track Listing

Hell on Wheels
Love/Hate
Size Queen
I Wanna Be Your Sucker
I'm Ugly and I Don't Know Why
Shut Up and F**K
No Integrity
Frankie
I Wish You Die
Big Hair, Broken Heart
Part Time Hooker
Rock My World
Dresses
Strung Out
Rock N Roll

Line Up

Bianca Butthole - Vocals/Bass
Blare 'N Bitch - Guitars
Sharon Needles- Guitars
Judy Molish - Drums