A new album by a band you love, especially one that takes its time between releases is cause for celebration.
For me, that celebration takes on special meaning when it comes to BETTY, an all-female trio I have been following since the mid-1980s, during the band’s early years. Since that time, BETTY have amassed a sizeable following via its connection to “The L Word,” performing on the HBO/CTW series “Encyclopedia,” appearing in an original off-Broadway musical, and playing Pride and women’s music festival events. The newly released “EAT” (hellobetty.com) has everything we’ve come to know and love about BETTY: fabulous harmonies, a splendid cover tune, and songs with messages of empowerment, as well as humor. Alyson Palmer, and sisters Amy Ziff and Elizabeth Ziff generously made time for an interview to discuss the new album and their career.
For those few who may not be in the know, please say something about how BETTY, the name of the band, came to be.
Alyson Palmer: We just needed a name fast for a party for Dodie Bowers, dancer and music mogul who ran the legendary 9:30 Club on F Street in D.C. She invited us to sing without our full band at the time, On Beyond Zebra. There was a Nair ad on TV at the time when long-legged ladies walked past a besotted guy who said, “Helloooo, Betty!” and that’s what stuck with me. Surfer slang with a timeless appeal and just a smidge of street harassment.
Elizabeth Ziff: We said we would love to and thought she wanted the whole band, but she just wanted the three of us. We had no idea we would be BETTY for almost 40 more years.
Amy Ziff: BETTY is the all-American, smart, sassy, can-do gal with a twist. That’s us!
In BETTY’s early days, the band began selling t-shirts that read BETTY Rules (which are still available at hellobetty.com). How did that slogan come about?
AZ: It didn’t come from us! I think it’s a catchphrase that fans and friends started.
EZ: I remember that people would shout it to us on the street in D.C. It just stuck. It was better than BETTY rocks … and it’s stood the test of time. Some people have theirs from back in the day, but lots of new, young fans are buying them now and wearing them proudly. It’s definitely a cult [laughs].
In addition to BETTY, the D.C. music scene has produced some legendary musical acts including Roberta Flack, Mary Timony, Fugazi, Trouble Funk, Shudder to Think, Minor Threat, E.U., Tommy Keene, Crystal Waters, and Mary Chapin Carpenter. What does it mean to you that BETTY is part of that legacy?
AZ: It means a lot. I love being part of that incredible music community.
EZ: It means everything. We played with a lot of those people. Roberta Flack, Trouble Funk, MCC, and the list goes on. It was such a great scene in D.C. in the ‘80s. The underground go-go scene and the harDCore scene and the new wave scene. We all supported each other. As a matter of fact, Jason Carmer, who was in a lot of D.C. bands including 9353, is the producer on our new album “EAT.” D.C. was and always will be seminal to BETTY and our life.
AP: BETTY wouldn’t exist if it were for the bubbling gumbo of music, art, spoken word and politics that defined D.C. in the ‘80s. All of us were raging against Reagan and the diabolical, hateful conservatives who swept into town. Regardless of our mode of expression, we all poured our passion for a better world into our art. Because the scene was relatively small, we supported each other and ran from party to venue to see what and how other artists were busting out. Essex Hemphill and Wayson Jones were at packed house parties with Brenda Files and other poets like you Gregg, everyone snapping fingers at the smooth truths flowing. Trouble Funk played out on the street where we all danced wildly on swampy summer nights while Bad Brains showed us how to slam dance in steamy venues. Chapin sang at Kramer Books and pop idol Tommy Keene was everywhere. The nexus of all new music was the 9:30 Club where a wild blonde wailed an entire set from the top of a grand piano jammed onto the tiny stage with her band, soon to sing solo as Cyndi Lauper. Natalie Merchant hid behind drums, REM jangled, Iggy Pop bled, The Bus Boys preened, Red Hot Chili Peppers came out for their encore stark naked with just sweat socks covering their johnsons and Henry Rollins mesmerized the packed room of sweating punk boys by grinding slowly for long delicious minutes as he sang and grew the biggest bone I’ve ever seen on stage, literally having sex with the crowd and popping minds open left and right. Fine artists flourished, including Mapplethorpe causing scandal at the Corcoran with his show. It was an amazing time to be a feminist art rock trio with a lot to say!
BETTY has also made a name for itself via the activism of its members, including the founding of the 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization The BETTY Effect. Is being an activist something that was ingrained in you by your family, or was it something you came to on your own?
AP: Great question, Gregg! I think each of us had formative experiences that made us warriors. My dad grew up with severe corporal punishment and tried to lessen the degree with my brother and me but used it liberally. I found it abusive, unfair and unacceptable even at a young age – not so much for myself, but when this raging giant of a man would lash my gentle, artistic brother I couldn’t take it. When I was about 10, I threw myself between the two of them and yelled from my soul that never again would I allow him to take out his anger on a small defenseless being, never. He never did again. I became a protector. Some would say bossy, but I can’t tolerate unfairness and cruelty to weaker beings.
EZ: It was ingrained in me as a kid. We were Air Force brats living overseas, and we grew up Jewish in some very anti-Semitic places. Paris, Virginia, etc. So, I learned at a very young age that life wasn’t fair, and people could be mean for no reason. I grew up knowing that girls were getting the raw end of the deal, and I wanted things to be fair … it’s never stopped. The more you know, the more you become aware of the wrongs in the world, the more you want it to be right.
AZ: BETTY was born in D.C. We knew early on that it was our responsibility and privilege to speak (and sing) out as artists about things that needed to change, and causes we believe in.
Please tell the readers something about the mission of The BETTY Effect.
AP: The BETTY Effect is an organization that uses music and performance techniques to help strengthen, embolden and empower women, girls and LGBTQ+ folks. BETTY has found that anything can be achieved if done in harmony with community, no matter how long it may take. That’s why we travel around the world holding workshops and concerts to connect people in need of bolstering with the beauty of their inner rockstar, with their possees, and with local organizations that can serve their immediate needs and continue to help grow confidence. At the end of the day, that’s all it takes – believing in your mission and believing you are the right messenger. It’s so simple but can seem impossibly hard, until you have your crew who believes in you. The BETTY Effect builds crews from inside out.
In late August, BETTY performed at the Women’s Equality Day event at Kennedy Center. What is that like for each of you playing for the hometown crowd?
AZ: Wonderful!
AP: I love D.C. So many memories! Parties, playing and protests, like our first Pride Day hidden-away behind the trees on 21st Street to protect the still-closeted, Take Back the Night Rallies, and glorious Adams Morgan Day. At Kennedy Center we received our first award, “Entertainer of the Year,” so it’s a delight to be back at such a gorgeous place for celebrating all the arts, the best D.C. has to offer.
EZ: It’s been a long time since we’ve lived in D.C. I love it there but consider myself a full-on New Yorker at this point. I still love going back to D.C. It’s so cool there and political and fun. And it’s beautiful and the Kennedy Center is very posh, so I’ll have to wear clothes [laughs].
“EAT” is BETTY’s first new full-length album in a number of years. Were all the songs written over the course of the period or were they written in one burst for the purpose of the album?
AZ: Great question! Some were written recently, and a couple were actually rewritten and changed while recording.
AP: Every seven years, we get the itch and pop out another album. Some songs have been incubating for quite a while but two burst out from skeletal beginnings in the studio with our fabulous producer, Jason Carmer and Human Fader, who are wildly creative and fun artists to create with in sexy Mexico City.
EZ: Some songs have been churning around and changing and forming for a few years, some were written during the pandemic, and some came together for this album. All of them are new in the way that they have changed and grown.
“EAT” opens with the song “Together,” which was originally recorded in a rock/funk version on 1999’s “Betty 3,” and is now heard in a dance music version. Please say a few words about why you chose to re-record that song.
AP: I am 1000% about community. The older I get, the more I see that having a tribe, village, family, your bevy is everything. To accomplish the biggest goal, the actual changing of society, the only way is by connecting a web of like-minded souls to rise against an unfair status quo and create change. Ever since that nauseating November day when we woke to understand that America had elected a hateful, ignorant boor for president instead of a brilliantly over-qualified woman, it has been my daily mission to correct that wrong. As Gloria Steinem says, outrageous rebellions start with everyday acts. Creating unity with joy is a radical act, especially with music, together. It can’t be said enough.
AZ: Now, more than ever, we need unity. Otherwise, the world will not survive.
The anthemic “Pride,” the first single from “EAT,” was released in advance of Pride 2024. What does BETTY’s embrace by the LGBTQ community mean to you, as either a member or an ally?
EZ: Being a big lez, and also a gay man in lesbian clothing, I’m all about it. I pretty much assume everyone is gay until I find out shockingly that they’re not.
AP: It. Is. Everything. The two times I felt myself break bounds I realized that society had wrapped around me were the first time I saw LaBelle on TV as a child, where, terrified, I saw for the first conscious time that women could be fantastical and scary and explode with power without caring what men or anyone thought, and my first Pride Parade in D.C. Seeing the riot of wit and color unleashed by people who had just as much right as anyone to love and be loved, but had to fight to exist, I had the epiphany that I stood surrounded by joyful warriors. They risked it all, proud on the streets, snapping their fingers under the nose of anyone who tried to deny them. I saw they were the evolved ones, the ones who lived like artists at least at that moment, freely, and I fell in love spiritually, not physically, with this tribe I understood.
“Pride,” as well as “Flow,” “Soundproof,” “Gangway,” and “Big Size Love,” have irresistible dance energy. Have you ever been at a club and heard a DJ spin a BETTY song? If so, how did it feel?
EZ: I’m a DJ (DJ ezgirl), so I’ve spun them, and it feels great to watch people dance to our music. Recently, we had the pleasure of hearing our song “Pride” and the remix by Bill Coleman and Peace Biscuit spun by the amazing and infamous DJ Lina Bradford in front of thousands of new folks, and they dug it. So, that’s amazing. Let’s hope DJ’s all over the world spin our stuff.
AP: It’s a rollercoaster! At first, you think. “I know this song. Who IS this?” Then you realize. Then you’re slightly embarrassed. Then you fling yourself into the experience with joyful abandon, loving it even more as it’s released into the wild!
AZ: Seeing people groove, dance, and respond to our music is what it’s all about!
BETTY is no stranger to cover tunes. Over the years BETTY has covered The Association (“Windy”), The Beatles (“Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”), and Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen (“High Hopes”), to name a few. “EAT” contains BETTY’s rendition of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “What the World Needs Now Is Love.” Please tell the readers why that song was chosen.
AP: That was Elizabeth’s idea. We’re all mad for slinky cool vocals like Dionne Warwick and Shirley Bassey, so when she suggested it, we all dove right in!
EZ: We fought so much when we were arranging this song acapella. It’s so hard to sing and was intense to work out, but all three of us love this song and we chose to put it on this album because it’s acapella and important to us to do that. Also, in this time of division and strife, it’s important to us to remember that love is what we all need.
AZ: The world is upside down now. Especially since Oct. 7. I’ve never seen so much hatred and misinformation spewed in my lifetime. I’ve also never felt more unsafe being part of the Jewish community, for myself and my family. If love can’t find a way to survive and thrive, I worry for us all.
BETTY has some tour dates this fall. What are you most looking forward to about those shows?
AZ: Playing our new songs, seeing old friends, and connecting with new people. And wearing groovy new clothes and getting lots of prezzies from fans [laughs].
EZ: Playing our new music and meeting new fans. And, of course, continuing our wonderful career that never ends.
AP: I love playing live! Like I said, flinging yourself with wild abandon into a song you adore as it’s amplified into the wild is a thrill everyone should have a chance to feel. Like a chef serving a great meal to a crowd or an athlete moving with the stands cheering her on, experiencing the flow of your creative energy connecting with the electric desire of others is a feeling that ignites your whole being like a lighthouse. People flowing along with us by singing along to our songs feels absolutely incandescent.
Are there more tour dates in the works?
AP: Always. That’s the profound beauty of what we do. No matter how terrible (and there have been nightmares) or how glorious a show is, there’s always another one. Another adventure is waiting just ahead, with friends old and new to share it. We’re taking EAT to beloved Provincetown Oct. 17-20 for Women’s Week at the Post Office and 2025 has some great escapades brewing. The BETTY Rulers on our email list (hellobetty.com) are always the first to know!
