Matt Cameron on Tina Bell:
"Tina was phenomenal. I mean I've worked with like, some of the greatest singers of my generation for sure, and she's right up there man, as far as just like charisma, power, and her lyrics are really fuckin cool.. uumm, yeah; she was one of the greats"!
Matt Cameron, Seattle Today - Episode 12, June 6, 2021.
Bam Bam
The band that should have been
Founded in Seattle by guitarist/producer Tommy Martin in June 1983, Bam Bam's original line up included Pearl Jam & Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron*, Called In Sic singer/guitarist Scotty Buttocks, and the stunning rock Goddess Tina Bell on vocals; one of the first African American women to front a punk, grunge, hard rock band.
Bam Bam were musical pioneers in Seattle; experimenting with sludged rhythms, chopped timings, odd scales, tunings, and styles.
Bam Bam was the first Seattle band to work with Reciprocal Recording Studios and producer Chris Hanzsek.
Their 1984 EP "Villians (Also Wear White)" was one of the first recordings released on the early Seattle scene; the first from Reciprocal Recording Studio {Billboard Magazine: Sept 17, 2011}. Bam Bam's single "Ground Zero" came out later the same year (also produced by Hanzsek at Reciprocal Recording).
{Billboard Magazine: The Lessons of Grunge. Sept 17, 2011, page 17}
https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2011/BB-2011-09-17.pdf
~Producers Chris Hanzsek and Jack Endino refer to Bam Bam as "part of Seattle history" on the "D" Show April 2, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htwomePI3T8&feature=youtu.be&t=1728
~Sopa Alternativa says: "The sound that Bam Bam made in the mid-1980s opened space for bands like Nirvana and Alice in Chains in the 1990s". {Oct 24, 2017} http://sopaalternativa.com.br/tina-bell-mulher-negra-grunge/
~Sonic Mosquito Soup says:
"A year prior to the birth of Green River, Seattle made acquaintance with an equally sludgy sound, the sound of Bam Bam. Fronted by the powerful voice of Tina Bell..Bam Bam are definitely a hidden gem of the Northwest and one of the most influential bands of the ’80s’ Seattle." {Feb 19, 2019}
https://thesonicmosquitosoup.wordpress.com/2019/02/18/bam-bam-%e2%80%8e-stress-1984/
~TINA BELL’S HIDDEN LEGACY: THE BLACK WOMAN WHO CREATED THE SOUND OF GRUNGE.
"Toying with off-kilter timings and slow, sludgy rhythms nearly ten years before the Seattle sound hit the mainstream, Bam Bam not only provided reference material for the movement, they were the first Seattle band to lay down tracks at Reciprocal Recording– the location of Nirvana’s famous demo session for songs featured on Bleach and Incesticide".
Jen Larson, writing for Please Kill Me, Sept 3, 2020.
~THE UNSUNG - TINA BELL INVENTED GRUNGE.
"Listen to Bam Bam’s imposing track ‘Ground Zero’ and it’s all there; the muddy, pulsing guitars, that aren’t quite heavy metal, but aren’t quite rock’n’roll either. It’s moodier and itchier, verging on the gothic but stopping shy of any overblown Sisters of Mercy style pomp. Songs like ‘Stress’ pick up the pace, a live version available online showing just what a dynamic performer Tina was, her strutting slick and pogoing pristine."
"They were the first band to set up shop at Reciprocal Recording – the studio where Nirvana would later cut the demos for ‘Bleach’ and ‘Incesticide’ – using it to record their 1984 EP ‘Villains (Also Wear White)’. This was months before Green River, the band who are regularly touted as the first proponents of the Seattle grunge scene, put out their debut EP. The Melvins would also open for Bam Bam too, back when Kurt Cobain was their roadie. "
The Unsung – Tina Bell invented grunge. by Leonie Cooper, writing for The Forty Five, May 26, 2021.
https://thefortyfive.com/opinion/the-unsung-tina-bell-invented-grunge/
~LOST GRUNGE PROGENITORS BAM BAM DON'T DESERVE OBSCURITY,
AND 'FREE FALL FROM SPACE' IS PROOF.
"The bones of what grunge would become are here in plain sight, especially when the band slows down for the brittle “I’m Dead” and the magisterial “Ground Zero. The latter is the record’s centerpiece, a long, measured candle-burner built from detuned, chorused guitars, molasses-like bass, and downcast lyrics.
It’s a rare instance where Bell turns the heat down to croon mournfully about Cold War dread; everywhere else has her in high-octane mode, fluctuating between a versatile vibrato, a menacing low and a full-throated scream".
On “It Stinks” she channels her frustration about the minimization of her voice against speedy punk riffs; it’s followed up by an equally speedy ode to tripping on “Free Fall From Space,” on which Bell lets out an insane wail that seems to bend time. Throughout this octet, she’s a dynamic hurricane that gamely upgrades whatever the band throws down."
Retrospectreview: Lost Grunge Progenitors Bam Bam Don’t Deserve Obscurity, and “Free Fall From Space” Is Proof. Rob Moura writing for THE TAPE DECK, April 20, 2021.
https://tapedeckpodcast.com/bam-bam-free-fall-from-space-review/
~EastCoast Entertainment - Black Music History Month: Punk, Metal, and Hardcore.
"As we look to Black artists who contributed to music genres that have historically swept their names aside when the history books are written.. Bell is not the only Black trail blazer whose name has been strangely missing from the common rock music history".
Jenny Langer.
https://www.bookece.com/blog/2020/06/15/black-music-history-month/
~TINA BELL HAUNTS MY THOUGHTS.
Om Johari writes: "The unwritten voice of grunge in the Seattle scene...(Tina Bell's) presence and the band she fronted, Bam Bam, starting a musical genre that would later forget she existed." https://omjohari.wordpress.com/2015/11/18/tina-bell/
~Never Mind The Nirvana & Pearl Jam, Here Is Bam Bam".
Hrvoje Bubić - KLFM.org.
"It's so sad that even though they are among the first bands who made this style of rock music, Bam Bam has never received the recognition they deserve. It’s time to fix that" http://klfm.org/evermind-the-nirvana-pearl-jam-here-is-bam-bam/
~GRUNGE: THE LAST GREAT ERA.
"The music was unpolished, aggressive, and most of all, ahead of its time. They were laying the groundwork for the future of music whether they knew it or not".
Kidman J. Williams, Gonzo Today, May 1, 2021. https://gonzotoday.com/2021/05/01/grunge-the-last-great-era/?fbclid=IwAR1zSR0JkfSDfcjIsfSy1Y3fxpnIpdmbNtI9OT7mERsJDufO37NdI4TX66s
~10 Things Zine, Dan Halligan.
"Bands like Bam Bam, Green River and The Fartz seemed to play Gorilla Gardens a lot, but the venue also pulled in good-sized touring bands like The Ramones, Circle Jerks, Guns'n'Roses, Sonic Youth, Violent Femmes, Hüsker Dü and Butthole Surfers". Dan Halligan 10 Things Zine, September 21, 2007.
http://10thingszine.blogspot.com/2007/09/gorilla-gardens.html
With Kurt Cobain as roadie, The Melvins started their first tour opening for Bam Bam on May 5, 1984 at Behind The Grey Door in Seattle.
Bam Bam performed at the first two Hempfests, The Sounds Of Seattle Festival, the Pain In The Grass Festival, toured US, Europe, and/or played with Alice In Chains, Temple of the Dog, Guns n Roses, Ywengie Malsteen, Bob Mould, Soundgarden, Faith No More, No Means No, The Fastbacks, The U-Men, Skin Yard, Napalm Beach, SadHappy, The Refuzers, R Gang...
Friends in film school gave Bam Bam the rare opportunity to make videos in the 1980s, most notably for the 1984 single "Ground Zero".
Bam Bam were one of the first NW bands on the telly (NW Rocks, The Spud Goodman Show), and were twice honored as Best NW Band on KCMU/KEXP listener polls.
Tina Bell left in late 1990, and Bam Bam continued as a three piece instrumental with guitarist Tommy Martin, bassist Nick Rhinehart (Jerry Cantrell) and drummer Mike Peterson (the Accused). Both Nick & Mike had joined in 1989 after a series of temp players.**
In 2012 TJ Martin, son of Bam Bam's Tina Bell and Tommy Martin, won the Academy Award for Best Director of a Feature Length Documentary for his film Undefeated. Portions of Tina Bell's last interview were aired on ABC's broadcast of the Academy Awards that year.
Bam Bam endured for nearly ten years despite racism and misogyny, a "squatter" tour of Europe, busted in England, personnel changes, and passionate internal pressures. Plans for a Bam Bam reunion were quickly dashed with the heart wrenching death of singer Tina Bell on Oct 10, 2012. Guitarist Tommy Martin died Oct 16, 2019. We carry their loving memories and their music forever in our hearts.
Bam Bam. The Band That Should Have Been.
*Replaced by Tom Hendrickson (Runaway Trains, The Fuzz).
**Paul Hinklin (SadHappy), Ted Szelag. Garey Sheldon, Galen Martindale, Tommy Gunns, and for 1 night; Duff McKagan at his own going away party hosted by Bam Bam..
FOR MORE ON BAM BAM-
"Grunge at Ground Zero: The Story Of Bam Bam".
https://thesonicmosquitosoup.wordpress.com/2019/04/24/grunge-at-ground-zero-the-story-of-bam-bam/
"Solin Live interview with Scotty 'Buttocks' Ledgerwood".
http://www.solin-live.com/index.php/hrvoje-bubic-intervju-sa-scott-ledgerwood/
"Rock Trio Adds Lead Singer, Turns Itself Into Mommy".
https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19931112&slug=1731334
More Bam Bam press links
~HOW SEATTLE'S STORIED ROCK SCENE IS SHATTERING THE GENRE'S WHITE MALE IMAGE.
'In March, KEXP aired a story about Tina Bell, a Black woman who fronted the proto-grunge band Bam Bam, which for a time, also featured Matt Cameron — later of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam — on drums. A dynamic singer and performer, Bell and Bam Bam’s first EP predated what are widely considered the earliest grunge recordings by about a year'.
The grunge origin stories have been mined and regurgitated ad nauseam for decades, yet Bell and Bam Bam are rarely (if ever) included in those conversations, her legacy largely unknown even in Seattle. The piece sent shock waves through the local music community'.
“That is a perfect example within our own city, there’s a whitewashing, an erasure of Black people,” Cameron Miles Lavi-Jones of the band Gypsey Temple says. “We were just trying to get on bigger and bigger stages. We didn’t realize at the time that we were a part of a legacy of brown bands in Seattle that have been working to do the same,” Jones says, pointing to Bell and the mighty Maktub as examples.
By Michael Rietmulder, Seattle Times May 21, 2021.
~PIONEERING WOMEN IN HARD ROCK AND HEAVY METAL MUSIC
"Before Pearl Jam and Nirvana, there was Seattle band Bam Bam, fronted by Tina Bell. Dubbed the “Queen of Grunge Punk,” a 1984 demo of Bam Bam’s “Villains [Also Wear White]” finds Bell’s bluesy, powerhouse vocals atop punky musicality, while additional tracks, including the speed-demony, attitudinal “It Stinks,” are collected across various streaming services. A 2012 article in Seattle’s The Stranger opined that “Bam Bam struggled, in part because audiences weren’t on board with an African American female punk singer.” As the late singer’s son observed, “The press compared her to Tina Turner, as if that made any sense.” Despite their too-short tenure and Bell’s subsequent death, Bam Bam’s groundbreaking influence and songs are not forgotten".
Pioneering Women in Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Music,
Katherine Turman writing for uDiscoverMusic, March 30, 2021.
https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/pioneering-women-in-heavy-metal/