Some Girls

To fully appreciate and understand the history of Some Girls, one needs to know something about the group that paved the way for them: the Blake Babies. A female alternative pop/rock trio with ties to Boston and Indianapolis, Some Girls was officially formed in 2001; however, two members of Some Girls (Boston singer/songwriter <a href="spotify:artist:4L1danWWAgSc0b7nBgY9CB">Juliana Hatfield</a> and Indiana drummer Freda Love) had been working together since 1987, when they formed the Boston-based <a href="spotify:artist:73ZEvY32YduH2FODwWLTlP">Blake Babies</a> with guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:1IIKkfiZvxmTfhSHuIhMzb">John Strohm</a>. Love and <a href="spotify:artist:1IIKkfiZvxmTfhSHuIhMzb">Strohm</a> were originally from Indiana and had moved to Boston together to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music, while <a href="spotify:artist:4L1danWWAgSc0b7nBgY9CB">Hatfield</a> was a New England native. The Blake Babies weren't superstars, but the group's melodic jangle pop did earn them a small and devoted cult following in the college rock/indie rock market in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. After recording three full-length albums for Hollywood Records--Nicely, Nicely, Earwig, and Sunburn -- as well as an EP titled Innocence and Experience, the Blake Babies broke up in 1991. <a href="spotify:artist:4L1danWWAgSc0b7nBgY9CB">Hatfield</a> (who is known for her girlish, waifish vocal style) remained in Boston and went on to sign with Atlantic Records as a solo artist; <a href="spotify:artist:1IIKkfiZvxmTfhSHuIhMzb">Strohm</a> and Love, meanwhile, returned to Indiana and formed the band <a href="spotify:artist:3l69kdXzDArFaz0XsPK1dJ">Antenna</a> with bassist Jake Smith (Love's husband) and guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:7ojU9yhYfaNVKcle7qhqHw">Vess Ruhtenberg</a>. After <a href="spotify:artist:3l69kdXzDArFaz0XsPK1dJ">Antenna</a>'s demise in 1994, Love and Smith formed <a href="spotify:artist:2hdsVD71CxrR7Gtn5PxQxq">the Mysteries of Life</a> with Vulgar Boatmen keyboardist Dale Lawrence -- and <a href="spotify:artist:1IIKkfiZvxmTfhSHuIhMzb">Strohm</a> led a short-lived band called <a href="spotify:artist:0feTGVoltDQEi9CVuHc3uP">Velo-Deluxe</a> before starting a solo career in the mid-‘90s and focusing on alternative country/No Depression. The late ‘90s found Love and Smith playing together in a band called Lola.

Although <a href="spotify:artist:4L1danWWAgSc0b7nBgY9CB">Hatfield</a>, Love, and <a href="spotify:artist:1IIKkfiZvxmTfhSHuIhMzb">Strohm</a> had no problem staying busy after the Blake Babies' breakup, fans kept hoping for a reunion -- and a <a href="spotify:artist:73ZEvY32YduH2FODwWLTlP">Blake Babies</a> reunion did, in fact, come about in 2000. That year, <a href="spotify:artist:4L1danWWAgSc0b7nBgY9CB">Hatfield</a>, Love, and <a href="spotify:artist:1IIKkfiZvxmTfhSHuIhMzb">Strohm</a> toured North America as the Blake Babies and recorded their reunion album, God Bless the Blake Babies, which <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rounder%22">Rounder</a> released in 2001. Although the Blake Babies' reunion wasn't permanent, <a href="spotify:artist:4L1danWWAgSc0b7nBgY9CB">Hatfield</a> and Love wanted to keep working together -- and that was how Some Girls got started. Some Girls was officially formed when, in 2001, <a href="spotify:artist:4L1danWWAgSc0b7nBgY9CB">Hatfield</a> and Love joined forces with a musician Love knew from Indianapolis: bassist <a href="spotify:artist:7pXGNhld8QtGYHR98CVD1O">Heidi Gluck</a> of the Pieces. The group was named after a classic 1978 release by the Rolling Stones, whose Some Girls is widely regarded as the best album that they recorded during the second half of the ‘70s. <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">The Stones</a> are the among the artists who have influenced <a href="spotify:artist:4L1danWWAgSc0b7nBgY9CB">Hatfield</a>, Love, and Gluck, and Some Girls' other influences (direct or indirect) range from the Vaselines, the Bangles, and R.E.M. to the Beatles. With <a href="spotify:artist:4L1danWWAgSc0b7nBgY9CB">Hatfield</a> on lead vocals and guitar, Gluck on bass, keyboards, harmonica, and background vocals, and Love on drums and background vocals, Some Girls recorded their debut album, Feel It, in 2002; the album was released by Koch Records in 2003. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi