Biography
Salon Betty is the raucous and sleazy dark cabaret art rock project formed by singer, songwriter and performance artist Betty X during years of 1994 to 1997. Betty cites the idea as being born in Prague while she was living there during the winter of 1992, from a dream that she had about a lurid and crazy Czech hair salon — A den of decadence and art, ala John Waters and David Lynch.
Salon Betty has been widely credited as being a major influence in the dark cabaret genre. They were the first band in North America to revive the new wave/punk/art movement during the grunge era of the mid-90's, thus spring-boarding the dark punk cabaret revival and paving the way for current acts of the genre. In fact, Betty X has officially been credited with coining the terms "death lounge" and "gothabilly".
Without doubt, Salon Betty was the sleaziest, weirdest, most outrageous, and funnest circus to grace the stages of legendary Northwest venues such as Moe's, The Showbox, The Crocodile, Bumbershoot, Music West and Pride Rally — gaining infamy for crazy stage antics, whipped cream, novelty toys, bubbles, blue baby dolls, blow up dolls, glitter, sausage logs, and half-nude performances in front of Bumbershoot's "family-oriented" audience.
The troupe maintained a "revolving door" policy, where musicians and artists could come and go, with only two permanent members; Betty X and Hate (f.k.a. Tattoo, the Bat Fink). Although the quirky troupe toured sparingly across the Northwest, they did achieve notable international attention as being one of the first bands to broadcast a live show via Internet from Seattle's legendary industry rock venue, Moe's (R.I.P.) in 1995. After several independent releases and hundreds of live performances, the project went on hiatus in 1997 when Betty returned to Prague. The project was officially retired in 1998, after a special limited engagement and final farewell show at ManRay in Cambridge, MA.
PRESS:
"The tough goth girl contingent goes invisible a lot of the time, staying bound to its separate set of clubs and bars and its subculture status. It takes the sheer camp brilliance of someone like Betty X to bring it to our attention. Betty X is a goth/industrial/rockabilly diva who got her start as part of the local troupe Salon Betty in the late 1990s. She's been skulking around the dark corners of the city since…" Tizzy Asher , The Seattle P. I. 03/13/2004
(Betty, formerly of Salon Betty "…to this day the influence can be felt in Seattle's gothabilly, circus noir, and sci-fi new wave revivial, that was viturally non-existant before") THE STRANGER 2004
"If Scully and Mulder popped a tape in the player, cruised off on an alien craft to a rockabilly sock hop, and tossed back a few martinis along the way, Salon Betty would write their soundtrack. Inspired by bands like the Cramps, the B-52s and the Thrill Kill Kult, this is electronic retro wave for adventurous and intoxicated listeners." RIFFAGE 2000
"A Swanky CocktailShaken, Not StirredSB is the best of the Roaring '20's, Nifty '50's and the New Wave '80's!" Most of Salon Betty's music is derived from paranormal experiences, and urban folklore and set against an everchanging kaleidoscope of intrigue, sci-fi new wave, rockabilly and outer space party music. SOUNDCLICK 1998
IF JOHN WATERS WAS A DRAG QUEEN…
He'd be Salon Betty! This vampy, campy punk rock queen (frontwoman of Salon Betty And The Big Hair Circus) is never anything short of a full package of fun: fabulous 'do's, immaculate goth-meets-punk make-up, fishnets for days, honey! And now, you can get yourself not just a piece of the group's music, but their good looks as well! The Salon Betty catalog comes complete with music, t-shirts and mood rings and a new line of nail polish! There's "Bettephile Black", "Baby Doll Blue" and "Spike Venus Silver". - DAILY ALTERNATIVE MUSIC NEWS 1996
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