Jenny Woolworth’s Women in Punk Blog

The new mayor in Zurich, Switzerland is Corine Mauch, the first female and first openly gay person to be elected to the esteemed office. She has strong ties to the small but dedicated local women’s punk/pop/rock music scene which stretches over the decades from LiLiPUT to SheZoo. Mauch has played bass in two female rock bands in her native Aarau (Trugschluss and The Hoovers) and her partner, Juliana Müller shaped and directed Zürich’s office of sponsorship and support for rock/pop/jazz. Could this powerfrau duo herald a new renaissance for women in music in the city?
A precedence has been set in any case, looking back to the high point of the Zürich music scene in the late 70s when bands like Mother’s Ruin stormed the town. Formed in early 1978, by Markus Engelberger, Reto Ressegatti, Marcel Dubach, Freddy Stäheli and Silvia de Janeiro (né Holenstein) played their first concert in the summer of that year. They released their first single “Danny Hot Dog / No More Superstars” in January 1979  and “Godzilla” later that year. Two LPs followed in 1981 “Want More” and “Basta!” in 1983 before the band broke up indefinitely. The band reformed in 2007 surrounding the reunion/revival of the Swiss punk scene lead by the publication of Lurker Grand’s compendium book “Hot Love: Swiss Punk & Wave 1976-1980.”
Here’s a look back at some Mother’s Ruin early songs and videos.

Download: Mother’s Ruin - Danny Hot Dog
Download: Mother’s Ruin - Can’t Wait
Download: Mother’s Ruin - Plastic
Download:Mother’s Ruin - Godzilla