Dinah Cancer deserves much credit for being the true Queen of Death Rock! Okay, I know Siouxsie should get some mention as well, but I always thought of Siouxsie as more "Goth" (or, in her earlier days Punk) than Death Rock, although of course she'd kick me in the balls for calling her Goth! Hahaha..but anyway, back to Dinah...she was, of course, responsible for forming the first Californian Death Rock band, 45 Grave! Yes, they predated both Christian Death and TSOL. Of course they gained attention due to their spooky sound and image, and of course Dinah Cancer's charismatic stage antics. I should also throw in that she dated Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue in their real early days! But anyway, after releasing a couple EPs they released one of my favorite albums of the 80's "Sleep In Safety"! Yes, this is totally killer...if I don't get it back soon, someone's gonna die.
A couple years later, their single "Partytime" was featured in one of the greatest movies in the history of film "Return of the Living Dead". I wish Dinah was in that film, though, it would've been cool if she partied with Trash in the cemetery! Their following album "Autopsy" was a lot faster than their other stuff, unfortunately I haven't gotten it yet but I've heard it is the 45 Grave equivilent of "Earth A.D."! So of course I'm sure it's a classic as well, I really need to find it. After that 45 Grave pretty much dissolved and one of it's other members died so there's no chance of a reunion. But Dinah is still busy with another Death Rock band, Penis Flytrap. Unfortunately I haven't heard them either, but I plan to in the near future. There's a link from the website below if you're interested. Check it out!
