Vocalist LORRAINE LEWIS Reflects On The Rise And Fall Of FEMME FATALE - "The Label Cleaned House, And Then The Excitement Was Focused Around PRETTY BOY FLOYD" (Video)
January 23, 2024, 11 months ago
Vixen singer Lorraine Lewis - formerly the voice of Femme Fatale - guested on The Bay Ragni show for a career-spanning interview. In the clip below she discusses her career in TV casting, Femme Fatale's former record label MCA, going from MTV to nothing, joining Vixen, and more.
On the rise and fall of Femme Fatale
Lewis: "MCA, we were their favourite baby band. They had never had a rock 'n roll band before on the label. We were the ones. I had th ebest group of people working for us, I know that they loved us. Then there was a shakedown at the record company at Christmas, after we got off tour with Cheap Trick, and we lost our cheerleaders. They cleaned house with everybody that was rooting for us, they brought in a new crew, and then the excitement was focused around Pretty Boy Floyd. They wanted to keep me as a solo artist, and I was interested until all of the videos, the touring and e verything that was paid for for Femme Fatale was now going to be my responsibility. I would have been in the red starting my label deal with them."
Femme Fatale was formed in 1987 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Later on that year, the band moved to Los Angeles and signed a recording contract with MCA Records after a well-received showcase. Their self-titled debut album, released in 1988, peaked at #141 on the Billboard 200 the following year. MTV gave heavy airplay to the videos for "Waiting For The Big One" and "Falling In And Out Of Love". The airplay helped the album to sell nearly 225,000 copies. Femme Fatale broke up in 1990.
Photo by Mark Weiss