The Mo-dettes are often passed over when one starts waxing poetic about female punk bands of late 1970's from the UK. Certainly, almost everyone has heard of the Slits and the X-Ray Spex, and even the Raincoats are enjoying a renewed spot in the limelight thanks in part to Kurt Cobain's efforts to re-release much of their earlier material...but the Mo-dettes, even today, remain somewhat obscure, somewhat hidden in the sidelines, still waiting to be discovered...
The all-female Mo-dettes were formed in early 1979, originally calling themselves The Bomberettes. And although the assumption is that they were a mod band, this is incorrect: some called them punk, others thought they were more pop-punk, while still others compared their music to that of early Raincoats or Slits.
Guitarist Kate Korus, who had previously played with the all-female band the Slits, was originally from the States, although she'd lived in England since 1974. Bassist Jane Crockford was a teenage runaway whose claim to fame was briefly sharing a flat with Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten. Vocalist Ramona Carlier, a former ballet student from Geneva, Switzerland, had apparently moved to London due to the lack of punk culture in her home country (this was likely just before the rise of Kleenex/Lilliput - Editor). And drummer June Miles-Kingston met Kate on the set of the Sex Pistols' film The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, where they were both employed as musicians.
Their first and most highly-acclaimed release was White Mice, released in mid-1979 on their own Rough Trade-distributed Mode label. They released several more singles as well as one full-length album called The Story So Far (which unfortunately got poor reviews due to supposed "weak and uninspired production" - a true shame).
The Mo-dettes' last single was Tonight, released in June of 1981; they recorded numerous demos but never released anything else after that. A couple of months later, second guitarist Melissa Ritter joined the group, playing her first show with the band four days later. Ramona left in February of 1982. The official reason for the departure was: "...lack of record company support which has recently brought the band and its management close to liquidation." Before she was replaced with singer Sue Slack in May of that year, the group did several gigs with drummer June singing lead. At around the same time, Kate also parted company with the band, again due to management and record company pressure. The band tried experimenting with a more commercial approach under producer Chris Neil for the next several months, but this direction was perhaps a case of too little, too late; sadly, the Mo-dettes disbanded permanently on November 11, 1982, without a chance to do a farewell gig or even warn their fans.
Interesting epilogues: Jane was later married for a while to Woody (Daniel Woodgate) of the ska band Madness; since parting ways with Jane, Woody is now remarried and with a child. June re-emerged in the late 1980's as the drummer for the Communards; she also worked with Fun Boy Three and Everything but the Girl.
