Hello again friends,
and thanks for tuning into Kyle’s Radio Dial! Tonight, we head back
to the late ‘80s, an era in which hard rock and pop metal dominated
the hot 100 singles chart. But instead of taking a look at Poison,
the Scorpions, or Bon Jovi, the Dial has fine tuned a frequency
containing a quartet of lovely ladies that know their way around a
catchy hook and a tasty riff. In short, these gals ROCK!
Spray on some Aqua
Net, and slip into those leather pants, as we check out “Edge of
a Broken Heart” by Vixen!
Hailing from St. Paul Minnesota, Vixen was formed in 1986 by lead
guitarist Jan Kuehnemund, and lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist
Janet Gardner. Soon bassist Share Ross, and drummer Roxy Petrucci
joined the group, creating what is now recognized as the “classic
lineup”.
“Edge” tells the
story of a female protagonist giving the kiss off to a controlling
boyfriend. He wasn’t treating her the way she deserved, so she
takes control of the situation, ends the relationship, and begins her
search for somebody new, but not before reminding the guy that he’ll
be sorry “when it’s over”.
Peaking at #26 on
the Billboard Hot 100, “Edge” was Vixen’s top 40 chart
breakthrough. Personally, I assumed it charted much higher, based on
the frequency on which I heard it on Q107 out of Washington DC back
then. Usually, rock songs that don’t peak rather high on the top 40
score much higher on the US Mainstream Rock singles chart, but
surprisingly, “Edge” only got to #24 there. Vixen’s immediate
follow up “Cryin’” did a little bit better by reaching
#22 on both of the aforementioned charts, but neither song was the
blockbuster the ladies deserved. Both singles were pulled from their
1988 eponymous debut.
The late ‘80s was
definitely the peak era for pop metal. Though Vixen definitely had a
unique angle with being an all female hard rock band, they were still
playing in a crowded field overall. They were fighting for record
sales and airplay spins against Def Leppard, Whitesnake, White Lion,
Guns N Roses, Skid Row, Cinderella, etc, not to mention the “harder”
metal groups that barely got radio airplay, yet sold tons of albums
and had legions of devoted fans like Iron Maiden, Metallica, and
Judas Priest.
Certainly, there
weren’t that many ladies that dabbled in hard rock back then. You
had Joan Jett and Lita Ford, mega successful solo artists who both
began as members of The Runaways in the ‘70s, and Tina Turner,
Cher, and Janet Jackson each recorded a hard rock flavored song here
and there, but the genre was always male dominated. There were a few
all girl groups like The Bangles and Bananarama, and of course The
Go-Gos several years before them, but none of them were metal or even
close to hard rock.
Simply put, Vixen
should have been bigger. I think if the hard rock field had been less
bloated, they could have stood out more and earned a greater
popularity. Unfortunately, the ‘90s were right around the corner
with the “one-two death punch” of hip-hop and grunge which
effectively crushed the dominance of pop metal and hard rock on the
singles charts.
Now here’s a fun
fact. “Edge” was written by Fee Waybill and Richard Marx! Yes
THAT Richard Marx, the ‘80s hitmaker that brought us “Don’t
Mean Nothing”, “Endless Summer Nights”, “Angelia”,
and several other hits from ‘88-’91. Fee Waybill, while not a
household name, is best known as a member of The Tubes, who hit the
top 10 in 1983 with “She’s a Beauty”. Watch the music
video to spot a quick cameo by Marx, and a couple of visual shout
outs to Cher and Poison, which are fun to catch.
Vixen’s tune is
not to be confused with an identically titled single from the
previous year by aforementioned rockers Bon Jovi. This OTHER “Edge
of a Broken Heart” (a different song altogether) was released
in 1987 for the soundtrack of the movie “Disordelies”,
however, since no commercial single was produced, it was not eligible
to chart on the hot 100. However, it did manage a showing of #38 on
the US Hot 100 Airplay chart (which measures only the airplay of
songs, not the sales of singles).
Sadly, Jan
Kuehnemund passed away on October 10, 2013 at the age of 59 after losing her battle with cancer. The band has persevered, and still
features Share and Roxy on bass and drums, though Janet left the
group in 2019 to focus on her family. Newcomers Britt Lightning
(assuming the lead guitarist role) and Lorraine Lewis (as lead
singer) complete the current line-up.
Give these ladies a
listen below, and let me know… do you think Vixen deserved to be
bigger? What are some of your favorite pop metal/hard rock tunes that
got overlooked? Drop me a comment and start the conversation!
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