Genya Ravan (born Genyusha Zelkowitz; April 19, 1940), also known as Goldie, is an American rock music singer and music producer. She was lead singer of the Escorts, Goldie and the Gingerbreads, and Ten Wheel Drive.
Early life
Genyusha Zelkovicz was born in Łódź, Poland
in a Jewish family in 1940 and emigrated to the United States in 1947, accompanied by her parents and one sister. They were her only family members who had survived the
Nazism The Holocaust in Europe.
Two brothers, grandparents, and multiple aunts and uncles died in concentration camps.
The family did not speak any English when they arrived. Genya was named 'Goldie' by her mother, who claimed Genyusha was not American enough.
Career
Early success and Goldie and the Gingerbreads
Goldie's career started in 1962 in a
Brooklyn club called The Lollipop Lounge, which is also the title of her autobiography published by
Billboard Books. On a dare, she jumped up to sing, which she states was the first time she had heard her voice. She was asked to join the band the Escorts, which featured
Richard Perry as one of the members. After signing to
Decca Records subsidiary
Coral Records and being produced by Henry Jerome, she found success with a cover of "Somewhere" from
West Side Story, which went to number one in parts of the Midwest.
In 1963, she formed Goldie and the Gingerbreads after meeting drummer Ginger Bianco in a Greenwich Village bar. After seeing the band at a party for the Rolling Stones, Atlantic Records Chairman Ahmet Ertegün signed them to Atlantic subsidiary Atco Records.
While playing at New York City's hot spot The Wagon Wheel on 45th Street in Times Square, Mike Jeffries, Eric Burdon, Hilton Valentine, and Chas Chandler spotted them and wanted them to come to England. Goldie and the Gingerbreads toured with the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, the Kinks, the Hollies and Manfred Mann. They released their hit song "Can't You Hear My Heart Beat" in 1965, which reached number 25 on the UK Singles Chart.
Ten Wheel Drive and solo career
Billed as "Goldie", she released the original version of the
Carole King-
Gerry Goffin composition "Goin' Back" in the spring of 1966.
However, this single was withdrawn within a week by producer Andrew Loog Oldham due to disagreements with Goffin and King over altered lyrics.
The song was covered by Dusty Springfield three months later, making the top 10 in the UK Singles Chart.
In 1969, Ravan and partners Aram Schefrin and Michael Zager formed Ten Wheel Drive, which lasted three years.
Ravan performed at the Atlanta Pop Festival, twice at Carnegie Hall and twice at Madison Square Garden, along with various clubs in Boston, and Philadelphia, and New York City, including the famous CBGB. She appeared on television shows including The Mike Douglas Show, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Della, and The Dick Cavett Show.
2000s
Many Ten Wheel Drive tracks have been sampled by
hip hop artists, including "Ain't Gonna Happen", which
Jay-Z used in his song "1-900-Hustler" on the 2000 album
. He also sampled Ravan's version of "Whipping Post" from her album
Goldie Zelkowitz for his song "Oh My God" on the 2006 album
Kingdom Come.
In 2011, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum included Goldie and the Gingerbreads in their "Women in Music" exhibit, which traveled from state to state. Genya Ravan toured in 2013, selling out New York City's Iridium.
In 2013, Ravan appeared at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, alongside legends like Wanda Jackson, Martha Reeves, Maria Muldaur and Tracy Nelson as part of the museum's "Women Who Rock" exhibit.
A retrospective of her career is the subject of the Off Broadway musical Rock and Roll Refugee, which was profiled on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday on February 14, 2016.
Producer
Ravan has worked as a producer for multiple record labels. Among others, she was responsible for the debut album
Young Loud and Snotty by the
punk rock band
Dead Boys (1977),
and the comeback album
Siren by
Ronnie Spector (1980).
[ She also contributed vocals to the latter album. In 2001 Ravan discovered Tripod at CBGB and produced their demo Compact disc, adding backup vocals to one track. She brought David Lasley and his blue-eyed soul group Rosie to Mike Berniker at RCA Records, got them a deal and produced their album Better Late Than Never.]
Radio host
In 2006, Steven Van Zandt recruited Ravan to host two monthly radio shows: Chicks and Broads, playing women from the 1950s to the present day, and Goldies Garage, which featured unsigned bands. Genya Ravan said, "So much talent out there and not enough places for them to be heard anymore" on Van Zandt's Underground Garage radio channel, aired on SiriusXM Satellite Radio in North America and on SiriusXM Internet Radio worldwide. Ravan joined a team of hosts that includes original Rolling Stones manager/producer Andrew Loog Oldham, whom she worked with as Goldie.
Discography
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Construction #1, Ten Wheel Drive with Genya Ravan, 1969
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Brief Replies, Ten Wheel Drive with Genya Ravan, 1970
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Peculiar Friends, Ten Wheel Drive with Genya Ravan, 1971
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Genya Ravan, 1972
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They Love Me, They Love Me Not, 1973
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Goldie Zelkowitz, 1974
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Urban Desire, 1978 - AUS #66
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...And I Mean It!, 1979
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Best of Ten Wheel Drive Compilation, 1995
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For Fans Only!, 2003
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Genya Ravan Live, 2006
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Undercover, 2010
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Cheesecake Girl, 2013 Aha Music
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Icon, 2019 Aha Music
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Genya Live at CBGB (recorded in 2005) 2020 (Remaster/Reissue of 2006 CD) (Rum Bar Records)
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Thinking About the Good Times: Complete Recordings 1964-1966 Compilation, Goldie and the Gingerbreads, 2021 Ace
Publications
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Lollipop Lounge, Memoirs of a Rock And Roll Refugee, Genya Ravan, 2004, .
Stage production
In early 2016, Royal Family Productions produced a workshop for a musical based on the life of Genya Ravan titled Rock and Roll Refugee.
Movies
In the movie The Warriors (1979), the song that plays when Cochise, Rembrandt and Vermin are in the Lizzie's HQ is "Love Is a Fire" by Genya Ravan. The song is featured on The Warriors soundtrack album.
Ravan was portrayed by Stana Katic in the 2013 film CBGB.
Sources
External links
