Vixen

Cryin


Edge Of A Broken Heart

Vixen is an all female American Rock and Roll band which achieved success during the late 80s.

History
Vixen was formed in Minnesota in 1980 by guitarist Jan Kuehnemund while still at high school. Various line-up changes occurred when in 1895 the band moved to Los Angeles to be part of the LA rock scene. More line-up changes happened during the following years until the 'classic' line-up of Jan Kuehnemund (guitar), Janet Gardner (vocals & rhythm guitar), Share Pedersen (bass guitar) and Roxy Petrucci (drums) was formed. This line-up of Vixen was interviewed in 1987 along with many other rock artists of the day by Penelope Spheeris for her film The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years.

In 1988 the band were signed to EMI and they began recording their debut album Vixen which was released in September 1988. The next year was spent touring the world supporting well known acts such as Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions and Bon Jovi as well as headlining their own shows. The band returned to the studio in late 1989/early 1990 to record their follow up album Rev it Up which was released in July 1990. A year of touring followed including headlining their own shows and supporting acts such as KISS and Deep Purple. In mid 1991 the band split due to musical differences.

In 1997 Roxy Petrucci reformed Vixen with Janet Gardner on vocals, Gina Stile on guitar and Rana Ross on bass guitar. This line-up toured the US in 1997 and in 1998 Petrucci, Gardner and Stile recorded the album Tangerine. After the release of the new album Roxy's sister Maxine Petrucci was brought in to play bass guitar on a U.S. tour of 1998 but were sued for copyright infringement by Kuehnemund.

In 1999, Share Pedersen joined her husband's band the Dogs D'Amour, who were reforming after a long hiatus. She appeared on their 2000 album Happy Ever After, playing bass and keyboards and contributing prominent backing vocals. Share and her husband, Bam, also have their own band, Bubble, which is very popular in L.A.

In 2001 Vixen was reformed by Kuehnemund with a line-up consisting of herself, Janet Gardner, Roxy Petrucci and new bassist Pat Holloway. This line-up toured the US as part of the "Voices of Metal" tour, unfortunately half way through the tour disagreements caused the band to split up with only Kuehnemund remaining. Kuehnemund quickly recruited vocalist Jenna Sanz-Agero, bassist Lynn Louise Lowrey and drummer Kat Kraft to complete the tour. This line up is still together and as of early 2005 they are recording a new album and preparing to tour Europe and the US in the summer.

In 2004 VH1 approached the four members of the 'classic' line up to appear on their show Bands Reunited, the show was recorded in August 2004 and broadcast in the US in November 2004. Following the broadcast of the VH1 show EMI re-released the first two Vixen albums.

Members
"Classic" line-up
Janet Gardner - vocals, rhythm guitar (1983 - 1991, 1997 - 2001)
Jan Kuehnemund - guitar (1980 - 1991, 2001 - present)
Roxy Petrucci - drums (1986 - 1991, 1997 - 2001)
Share Pedersen - bass guitar (1987 - 1991)

Current line-up
Jan Kuehnemund - guitar (1980 - 1991, 2001 - present)
Jenna Sanz-Agero - vocals (2001 - present)
Lynn Louise Lowrey - bass guitar (2001 - present)
Kat Kraft - drums (2001 - present)

Other members
Gina Stile - guitar (1997 - 2000)
Rana Ross - bass guitar (1997 - 1998)[2]
Maxine Petrucci - bass guitar (1998)
Pat Holloway - bass guitar (2001)
Pia Maiocco - bass guitar
Liza Carbe - bass guitar (1983)
Tamara Ivanov - rhythm guitar
Laurie Hedlund - drums
Noelle Bucci - vocals
Gayle Erickson-DeMatoff - bass guitar
Cindy Boettcher - keyboards
Marlene Peterson - drums
Nancy Shanks - vocals

Discography
Albums
Vixen (1988) (Gold)
Rev It Up (1990)
Tangerine (1998)
Best of Vixen - Full Throttle (1999)
The Works (2004)
Extended Versions (aka Live in Sweden) (2006)
Live & Learn (2006)

Singles

Edge of a Broken Heart #51 UK, #26 US
Cryin' #27 UK, #22 US
Love Made Me #36 UK
Edge of a Broken Heart (re-issue) #59 UK
How Much Love #35 UK, #44 US
Love is a Killer #41 UK, #71 US
Not a Minute Too Soon #37 UK

External links
Official Vixen Page
Neil's Vixen Page
Metal Queens - Vixen
Vixen profile at MetalMaidens.com
Unofficial Vixen Page
Rana Ross' Home Page
Share Ross' (née Pedersen) knitting blog
VH1 Bands Reunited: Vixen
Share Ross' rock n roll video blog
Roxy Petrucci's site
Lynn Lousie Lowrey interview at BassGirls.Com
Roxy Petrucci History on Madam X & Vixen