Fifth Column (band)

:otheruses2|Fifth Column

Fifth Column is an all-women experimental post punk band from Toronto, which came about during the early 1980s. Originally the group had been known as Second Unit, but they took the name "Fifth Column" after a military manoeuvre by Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War, in which nationalist insurrectionists within besieged Republican Madrid, called 'the fifth column', would aid the four columns (north, south, east and west) outside the perimeters.

The name of their first full-length recording "To Sir With Hate" was a play on the theme song from the British school film, To Sir With Love, performed by Lulu. A song from this LP, "The Fairview Mall Story" was based on true events concerning media publication of the names of men arrested after being entrapped by police and was instrumental in paving the way for the emergence of the queercore scene.

Their live shows often included films played overtop of the band and a 'go-go' boy dancing. They were frequently accompanied by guest musicians who played instruments as varied as saxophone, trumpet, flute, or violin.

Independent-minded, they released their recordings, including their second full length recording "All-Time Queen Of The World", themselves. The band also appeared on a number of compilations. In 1992 they released a single, "All Women Are Bitches", on the independent record label K Records. Despite being controversial and receiving little airplay, the recording was voted "Single Of The Week" in the UK music publication Melody Maker. This song was included as well on their last full-length recording, "36-C", also released by K Records. The band's latest release was in 2002, on the Kill Rock Stars compilation, "Fields And Streams".

The band performs live in the film named for them, "Fifth Column at the Funnel", directed by Toronto experimental filmmaker John Porter, and in "She's Real, Worse Than Queer" by Lucy Thane. All of the members of the most recent line-up, and some previous members, appear in the G.B. Jones' movie "The Yo-Yo Gang" for which the band recorded the theme song.

In 2004 the song "All Women Are Bitches" was covered and sampled by the band Lesbians On Ecstasy on their self-titled debut album, Lesbians On Ecstasy, retitled as "Bitchsy", and, in 2005, by Kids on TV for the compilation album "Giggles In The Dark".

Band members have performed with other groups as well. Caroline Azar has recorded with Kickstand from New York, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, Greek Buck and Hidden Cameras from Toronto. Beverly Breckenridge was also a member of Phono-Comb. G.B. Jones has recorded with the Italian dark ambient group Mariae Nascenti.

Albums

* "To Sir With Hate" (1985) Hide Records
* "All-Time Queen Of The World" (1990) Hide Records
* "36-C" (1994) K Records

ingles

* "All Women are Bitches/Donna" 7" on K Records (1992)
* "Don't" 7" split single with God Is My Co-Pilot on Outpunk Records (1994)
* "I Love You, But" 7" split single with Trailer Queen on Dark Beloved Cloud Records (1995)

Cassettes

* "Work" (1989) Hide Records & Tapes; soundtrack for the video by Paulette Philips, cassette only release

Compilations

* "The Fairview Mall Story" on "J.D.s Top Ten Homocore Hit Parade Tape", Hide Records & Tapes (cassette only) (1990)
* "Like This" on "Brave New Waves", CBC Records (1991)
* "Yo-Yo" on "The Yo-Yo Gang", Bitch Nation Records & Tapes; soundtrack for the film by G.B. Jones (cassette only) (1992)
* "Chewing Gum" on "Keep On The Sunny Side: A Tribute to the Carter Family", Amoeba Records (1993)
* "All Women Are Bitches" on "International Hip Swing", K Records (1994)
* "Don't" on "Free to Fight", Chainsaw Records and Candy Ass Records co-release (1995)
* "Erotic Thriller" on "Rock Stars Kill", Kill Rock Stars (1996)
* "Imbecile" on "Fields And Streams", Kill Rock Stars, (2002)

oundtracks

*"Fifth Column at the Funnel", directed by John Porter (1985)
*"Work", directed by Paulette Philips and Geoffrey Shea (1989)
*"The Troublemakers", directed by G.B. Jones (1990)
*"The Yo-Yo Gang", directed by G.B. Jones (1992)
*"A Gun For Jennifer", directed by Todd Morris (1996)
*"She's Real, Worse Than Queer", directed by Lucy Thane (1997)
*"", directed by Scott Treleaven (1997)
*"The Law of Enclosures", directed by John Greyson (2000)

Most recent line-up

*G.B. Jones (drums, guitar, vocals)
*Caroline Azar (vocals, organ, guitar)
*Beverly Breckenridge (bass; 1987 -) (also of Phono-Comb)

Previous members

*Anita Smith (bass; 1985-1987)
*Charlotte Briede (guitar; 1985-1990)
*David Keyes (of The Polkaholics) (drums; 1989)
*Joel Wasson (drums; 1990-1992)
*Michelle Breslin (of [http://www.sadoceanspacebear.com Sadoceanspacebear] ) (guitar; 1992-1995)
*Don Pyle (of Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet and Phono-Comb) (drums; 1992-1993)
*Donna Dresch (of Team Dresch) (guitar; 1994)
*Torry Colichio (drums; 1993-1995)

ee also

*List of all-women bands
*List of bands from Canada

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/fifthcolumntribute Fifth Column Tribute on MySpace]
* [http://www.punkrockacademy.com/stm/int/fifth.html Interview with Fifth Column]
* [http://www.killrockstars.com/bands/factsheets/fifthcolumn/ Fifth Column Factsheet]
* [http://www.krecs.com/Shop/product_info.php?cPath=21_25&products_id=118 Fifth Column at K Records]
* [http://www.geocities.com/punk_sjc/fcindex.html Fifth Column Fan Page (in Portuguese)]