Biography

To fully appreciate and understand the history of Some Girls, one needs to know something about the group that paved the way for them: the Blake Babies. A female alternative pop/rock trio with ties to Boston and Indianapolis, Some Girls was officially formed in 2001; however, two members of Some Girls (Boston singer/songwriter Juliana Hatfield and Indiana drummer Freda Love) had been working together since 1987, when they formed the Boston-based Blake Babies with guitarist John Strohm. Love and Strohm were originally from Indiana and had moved to Boston together to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music, while Hatfield was a New England native. The Blake Babies weren't superstars, but the group's melodic jangle pop did earn them a small and devoted cult following in the college rock/indie rock market in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. After recording three full-length albums for Hollywood Records--Nicely, Nicely, Earwig, and Sunburn -- as well as an EP titled Innocence and Experience, the Blake Babies broke up in 1991. Hatfield (who is known for her girlish, waifish vocal style) remained in Boston and went on to sign with Atlantic Records as a solo artist; Strohm and Love, meanwhile, returned to Indiana and formed the band Antenna with bassist Jake Smith (Love's husband) and guitarist Vess Ruhtenberg. After Antenna's demise in 1994, Love and Smith formed the Mysteries of Life with Vulgar Boatmen keyboardist Dale Lawrence -- and Strohm led a short-lived band called Velo-Deluxe before starting a solo career in the mid-‘90s and focusing on alternative country/No Depression. The late ‘90s found Love and Smith playing together in a band called Lola. Although Hatfield, Love, and Strohm had no problem staying busy after the Blake Babies' breakup, fans kept hoping for a reunion -- and a Blake Babies reunion did, in fact, come about in 2000. That year, Hatfield, Love, and Strohm toured North America as the Blake Babies and recorded their reunion album, God Bless the Blake Babies, which Rounder released in 2001. Although the Blake Babies' reunion wasn't permanent, Hatfield and Love wanted to keep working together -- and that was how Some Girls got started. Some Girls was officially formed when, in 2001, Hatfield and Love joined forces with a musician Love knew from Indianapolis: bassist Heidi Gluck of the Pieces. The group was named after a classic 1978 release by the Rolling Stones, whose Some Girls is widely regarded as the best album that they recorded during the second half of the ‘70s. The Stones are the among the artists who have influenced Hatfield, Love, and Gluck, and Some Girls' other influences (direct or indirect) range from the Vaselines, the Bangles, and R.E.M. to the Beatles. With Hatfield on lead vocals and guitar, Gluck on bass, keyboards, harmonica, and background vocals, and Love on drums and background vocals, Some Girls recorded their debut album, Feel It, in 2002; the album was released by Koch Records in 2003. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi