........

It was however one of those weird concoctions that all comes to gel to make something great. Horses her debut album is one of the greatest debuts ever from the cover version of Gloria to Free Money (later covered by Penetration) to the epic Horses featuring her rapping poetry over an extended intro. The album helped to launch and  define punk and link it to The Velvet Underground with John Cale producing .

She was also unconventional, a great performer proving that unconventional beauty, brains and some powerful songs could make just as much an impact as gross manipulation of the sexual card. The artwork was on her terms first featuring  her as an androgynous figure  and then on her breakthrough album 'Easter'  displaying hairy armpits many years ahead of Julia Roberts. Still brings a shiver to my spine hearing 'Because The Night' or 'Dancing Barefoot'.  She really is in a different class and I love her for it. Her influence stretches across punk to such unrelated figures as Kate Bush, Tori Amos and more.

After falling off stage and injuring herself and putting herself out of action for some months she came back a changed person. She recanted the opening of Gloria , didn't want to be a rock'n'roll star, made one last album Wave, married Fred Sonic Smith ex MC5 and settled down in domestic baby bliss till a few years back when she came back to recording. She's still going strong despite  personal tragedies.  I have no idea what half of her poetry is about !