Josie Cotton

“I knew we had something very special,” New Wave icon JOSIE COTTON says about her new rockabilly-drenched single and video “The Ballad of Elvis Presley,” a gorgeous twang-filled duet with Kevin Preston of Los Angeles’ acclaimed Wicked Cool Recording artists Prima Donna.  Released today, June 21, 2022 via Josie’s own label Kitten Robot Records, the single and video walk you past the horizon of a more innocent time. This is Elvis country, where Viva Las Vegas lives on forever .

“I avoided rockabilly and country music like the plague growing up, probably to annoy my Mom who was the world’s biggest Tammy Wynette fan,.. But when I left Texas to come to LA and met the Paine Brothers, they schooled me in how to write a real song and we started with who else but, yep ,Tammy Wynette,” laughs Josie, mentioning the production and songwriting team who helped launch her musical career,

“It was an obvious choice to implore Kevin to be my George Jones in this song. We’ve collaborated on a lot of projects but never anything like this,” Josie muses about the inspired pairing. 

Throughout the video Cotton and Preston time-travel their way across a musical terrain, materializing as obsessed Elvis fans and pop ups in a cowboy musical. They sweep the dance floor with a wink and nod to Wanda Jackson and say their goodbyes in the Church of Elvis.

“We all had the feeling we were making a little movie which we shot on location in a place called Pioneertown,” she explains. “A lot of western movies were filmed there back in the day. The actors and musicians, the crew … everyone there wanted to be there.  No one wanted it to end.”

Tapping well known photographer Piper Ferguson (Placebo, Save Ferris, Miranda Lee Richards) to direct the video, Josie, cast and crew captured the dusty and arid ambience of the Wild West and maintained a saturated level of Cowboy Noir, replete with a saloon, cowgirls, a little white chapel, and the obligatory montage on the high plains. “It was my first time working with a female director,” she smiles. “And I adored it.”

Originally written for Brian Setzer by Josie’s longtime songwriting/producer pal Larson Paine (who had written her iconic ‘80s breakthrough single “Johnny, Are You Queer?”), “The Ballad of Elvis Presley” was never officially committed to wax. “Larson had written it backstage while he and Brian were waiting to go on, then calling out the chords as he was singing it” laughs Cotton about the song’s genesis. “Brian never recorded it and it kind of sat there for years. I always thought it was the most beautiful song and hoped I could record it one day, but it never felt like the right moment.”

As she headed back into the studio to record her new record recently, she unearthed a cassette of the song she thought was lost. “I took it as a sign that if I was ever going to sing that song, it had to be right then,” she says. As she put it together, the pieces fell right into place with a special round of musicians to accompany her.

Josie’s band for the single included such notables as Clem Burke (Blondie) on drums, Lee Rocker (Stray Cats) on upright bass, Lee’s longtime guitar man Buzz Campbell, Marcus Watkins on lead guitar and Paul Roessler (Screamers, Nina Hagen) on piano. “When Clem came to play drums on a song on the new record, a rock song, I asked him if he’d ever played rockabilly before because I had this Elvis song,” she recalls. “I had no idea that he had made an entire rockabilly album with Wanda Jackson and every song on it was about Elvis. Beyond crazy! If anything, he was overqualified” jokes Cotton. “But he was the real deal… and that’s when I knew I had to get Lee Rocker to play upright bass on it.”

Josie returned to the forefront of the music world with new music as well on her own record label Kitten Robot, which has released celebrated alternative artists such as the dark and experimental CrowJane, Dark Mark vs. Skeleton Joe (featuring the late Mark Lanegan and his musical partner Joe Cardamone), and Spaghetti & Frank (featuring Supersuckers’ Eddie Spaghetti and The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs’ Frank Meyer). Over the last three years, Josie herself has released the singles “Ukrainian Cowboy”/ “Cold War Spy,” a holiday track “Every Day Like Christmas,” the album Everything Is Oh Yeah!, and remastered and re-released her albums Invasion of the B-Girls, From the Hip, Frightened By Nightingales, Movie Disaster Music, her breakthrough debut album Convertible Music, and her electro-pop masterpiece Pussycat Babylon.

“The Ballad of Elvis Presley” is a perfect homage to the Wild West and maybe to the three Western movies Elvis made that no one has ever heard of, but also to The King himself, Elvis Presley. It features Josie Cotton (vocals), Kevin Preston (vocals), Clem Burke (drums), Lee Rocker (upright bass), Buzz Campbell (electric guitar), Marcus Watkins (lead guitar) and Paul Roessler (piano). It was produced by Josie Cotton and Paul Roessler. It is released today, June 21, 2022 via Kitten Robot Records.

Supersuckers frontman Eddie Spaghetti pays tribute to the Knack‘s hit “My Sharona” by putting on a skinny tie and recreating the song’s classic video.

Spaghetti and Frank Meyer of the Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs spent lockdown making an album. Drawn by their mutual love for the Knack’s 1979 No. 1 single, they decided to track down that band’s guitarist, Berton Averre, and ask him to play on a cover version.

It was a Hail Mary worth going for, says Spaghetti. “I have a friend that knows Berton, so we reached out,” he explains. “He was free like the rest of the world and agreed to do it.”

Nashville Pussy guitarist Ruyter Suys, a longtime friend of Spaghetti and Meyer’s, subs for Averre in the video. “We looked just like the Knack,” she notes. “Or waiters.” You can watch the exclusive premiere of the video below.

The group did its best to make the video a true homage to the original clip. “The opening and closing shots, plus the stuff around the end of the solo and drum break, are all frame-by-frame recreations of the Knack shots,” Meyer says. “Of course, we all wore white dress shirts and skinny black ties.”

The “My Sharona” cover appears on Spaghetti and Meyer’s new album, Motherfuckin’ Rock ‘n’ Roll. In addition to the Knack tribute, there’s a Kix cover song. The other tracks on the LP are originals.

The ‘80s was a period of musical transition. Instead of solely listening to music on the radio or vinyl, another option arose, MTV.  It was now possible to not only listen to music, but to also see your favorite artists on the tube.  A “new wave” of musical artists sprang out of this new medium with a new look and sound featured in videos.  After the seriousness of the ’70s, a brand of music that was humorous and light hearted became popular. 

One of the artists to emerge from this “new wave” was Josie Cotton.  She is known for humorous and quirky songs like “Johnny Are You Queer?”, “He Could Be The One”, and “Jimmy Loves Maryann”.  I remember seeing her for the first time in the cult classic Valley Girl starring Nicolas Cage. She instantly became one of my major teen crushes. To this day, whenever Valley Girl pops up on TV I always wait for her scenes in the movie.

Josie has returned to the forefront of the music world with new music as well as her own record label Kitten Robot that has released some of the most celebrated alternative artists such as the dark and experimental CrowJane, Dark Mark vs. Skeleton Joe (featuring Mark Lanegan and Joe Cardomone), and Spaghetti & Frank (featuring Supersuckers’ Eddie Spaghetti and The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs’ Frank Meyer). Over the last two years, Josie herself has released the singles “Ukrainian Cowboy”/ “Cold War Spy,” a holiday track “Every Day Like Christmas,” the album Everything Is Oh Yeah!, and remastered and re-released her albums Invasion of the B-Girls, From the Hip, Frightened By Nightingales, Movie Disaster Musicand her breakthrough debut album Convertible Music. 

Her latest release is Pussycat Babylon for which she wrote a majority of the songs.  The album was produced by Paul Roessler and Cotton and features Marcus Watkins (guitar), Princess Frank (drums), with guest appearances by Geza X (guitars) and Kira Roessler (bass). “Pussycat Babylon was my journey into electro-pop and public nudity,” says Cotton. “I reveal everything on this record, stripped to the bone, curled up in the fetal position. I eat my own arm.”

Pussycat Babylon is not Josie Cotton trying to reinvent herself. It’s a throwback to the New Wave sound of the early ‘80s.  Synthesizer and digital drums dominate the sound of the album. “Calling All Girls” is Cotton at her best with it’s catchy chorus line of “here kitty, kitty”.  She discussed her motivation for the song, “Even as a little girl, I could see that females weren’t taken very seriously and that bothered me a lot. It bothered me so much so that by the time I was 9 years old, I decided I would have my boobs removed so I wouldn’t have to live in the world as a female. It’s always been about controlling women’s bodies, their minds, the choices they make and even how they perceive themselves.”

She continued “This song and video are just my twist on an advice column for girls, young and old. I always like using humor as a device to say what I want to say without anyone noticing unless they’re really listening. But even if no one gets my meaning, I think it’s a fun ride with robots in giant wigs and go-go dancers in outer space… things that are always going on in my brain anyway!”

The album is moderately up-tempo, but Cotton does slow things down for “See The New Hong Kong”, “If A Lie Was Love”, and “Super 8”. She found a place for ‘70s icons punk rocker Iggy Pop and martial arts legend Bruce Lee with the songs “Stop Iggy Pop” and “All I Can See Is The Face of Bruce Lee”. The closing tracks “Hey Now” and “Hi, I Like You” have a surf music vibe to them with the latter sounding like a song out of a spaghetti western.

Pussycat Babylon is what you would expect from Josie Cotton.  Humorous lyrics with catchy choruses set to a backdrop of techno pop music. It you were into Josie during the ‘80s like me, then you will definitely dig this album. She has several US live shows lined up through January to support the release of the album.  Sadly, she will not be coming to my area, but if you live in any of the cities below then get out and check her out.

“This record changed everything for me,” says infamous pop icon JOSIE COTTON about her debut album CONVERTIBLE MUSIC which will be reissued in digital form on August 4, 2020 via her own label Kitten Robot Records. “I was the annoying girl with demo tapes getting turned down all over town.”

Originally released in 1982 by Elektra Records, Convertible Music kicked off a storied and perennial career of one of New Wave’s most iconic voices. Famously featured in the seminal 1983 film Valley Girl (the second feature by director Martha Coolidge that starred Deborah Foreman, E.J. Daily and was the leading man debut of Nicolas Cage), Josie performed at the prom her two breakthrough singles from this album “He Could Be The One” and the controversial and often misunderstood “Johnny, Are You Queer?”

This reissue of the album includes the punk freakout “(Let’s Do) The Blackout” as a bonus track.  “I’m very excited about [releasing this song],” she says. “It was on the B-side of the original 12″ for ‘Johnny, Are You Queer?’ Not many people have heard it except my hardcore fans.”

Now available on all streaming and downloading platforms!

“Josie Cotton has made the unlistenable unforgettable” -John Waters.
Invasion of the B-Girls is my take on theme songs from the best and worst B- movies one can endure. Other worldly, hilarious and always bordering on the dark underbelly of society.
Revamped, Remastered, New Artwork, New song order and Bonus Track!

Now available on all streaming and downloading platforms!

Today’s the day all my fellow misfits and outsiders…after years of depriving the world, I’m finally releasing my ode to the king of filth himself, John Waters’ “Female Trouble”. So get on your favorite cha cha heels and let’s all circumgyrate over to the dark side. Available now on all streaming platforms.

From the music sensation who asked “Johnny, Are You Queer?,” the incredibly talented Josie Cotton, comes this long lost album originally recorded in 1986 but never released…UNTIL NOW!

This album was to be the follow up to Josie’s second album for Elektra, the critically acclaimed From The Hip!

Features special guest appearances by Brian Setzer of The Stray Cats, Hunt Sales (Iggy Pop, Tin Machine), producer Geza X (Dead Kennedys, Germs), Paul Roessler (45 Grave, Nina Hagen) and more!

Will be promoted with a full scale publicity campaign that includes a beautifully animated video for the excellent title track!

Available on both CD as well as a special limited edition PINK vinyl (only 300 made)!

“I’ll be back / Before I’m gone / I’ve been traveling / For so long / Across the mountains / Through the snow.” And then the gorgeously addictive chorus: “There’s a hole in my soul as big as Russia.”

The video blends visuals akin to A Fistful of Dollars fused with Dr. Zhivago, as Cotton, wearing a white dress, rides a horse across the screen, followed by playing her guitar caparisoned in a glitzy, kitschy cowgirl outfit complete with Dolly Parton-like big hair. During her ride, she comes across Russian soldiers standing at attention or dancing, a marching band, and a balalaika playing bear.

“Ukrainian Cowboy” is perfectly balanced, replete with an infectious rhythm, grand vibrant harmonics, eloquent yet flamboyantly melodramatic lyrics, and Josie Cotton’s sumptuous voice. The combination of over-the-top visuals with the swaggering new wave country-pop music coalesces into a surreal audio-visual experience of unprecedented delight.

||| Watch Video below

We’re thrilled to announce we’ve released a 7″ for the one and only power pop Queen JOSIE COTTON!!! For the first time on vinyl Josie’s boppin version of the Ramones’ classic “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” as well as an alternate never before heard version of her self-penned “Systematic Way”! Amazing sleeve art by Tony Autoharp Arena! Get all hopped up and ready to go kidz! Out on July 19th! http://surfinkirecords.bigcartel.com/