Sunday
Jul142019
Smashed Gladys - 'Social Intercourse'
Sunday, July 14, 2019 at 08:39AM
We never talk about Smashed Gladys. Kind of obscure but I always liked singer Sally Cato's voice. It's rough and smoky and very unique. I happened to notice a post on the top of the Hair Metal sub on Reddit about the band so I thought I'd take a listen to Social Intercourse again. All in all, not a band album. A little uneven but still really great glam from the pinnacle of 1988.
Smashed Gladys didn't have too much success and didn't last for very long. I always wondered what happened to the members of this band. Anyone know?
Smashed Gladys - Social Intercourse
Reader Comments (19)
Kickin’ myself for all the times I would see an ad for them in the Village Voice promoting an upcoming gig in NYC (where they were based) and somehow missed seeing them, as I played the livin’ h*ll out of “Social Intercourse” when it came out in 1988, the year I moved to NYC, and subsequent years after.
Aside from the killer music and lyrics (Steel Panther take note, this is how you do raunch and sleaze in a clever way), Allyson’s right to note Cato’s voice. Her vocals are surely the main reason they got a major record deal as her singing is a TKO!
Maybe you should get a clue as to why so many BBGers don’t comment much, if at all, these days.
Leave the humor to professionals like Funny Gary, Bob and others.
Look, I agree with you on Tyketto but Smashed Gladys ROCKS and you know it!
FYI, that’s Ozzy singing back up vocals on “Cast Of Nasties”.
Absent that, you end up making yourself feel good. And that is fine, I guess. I know I indulge(d) in that. I even admitted it on numerous occasions. But this thread is proof positive that I am no longer in a place where I want to spar with the peanut gallery . . . if only to share some thoughts I have on the music we love. It is tedious. It takes too much time that is better served doing other things. And I am guilty of expecting reciprocity. Most here provide(d) it. Some did not. And I will also admit: those that didn't made this a place where I now go to read, and rarely post. So be it. Win-win, right?
But, to Allyson's question: there is very little info out there about SG. Cato (I suspect a nod to Auntie Mame) did an interesting interview nearly ten years ago:
https://sleazeroxx.com/interviews/sally-cato-interview/
And I suspect the IMDb write up about her is also by her (as S.C. Mason). And I am guessing that the Sally Sarcastic Cato Facebook persona is also her (based on similarities in the overall writing style and the same pen name or real name). Actually, I am being coy. S.C. Mason is Cato. Her official website is:
http://www.thenewyorkoffice.com/
Good read.
But it takes some work to connect the dots. I like doing that. I like providing a bit of service with my sarcasm. I hopefully did so this time as well.
Back to the daily grind . . . and reading this site, as I love what Allyson does. But, again, I am going to pick my spots as regards posts.
One last pointed thought: humility isn't that hard to adopt. Try it. You might surprise yourself, Bkallday. Your posts are, often, an escape plan that serve only you. Metalboy! provides a bit more (actually a lot more, even if you also occasionally provide a flash of information, a dose of anecdotal experience, a bit of give to all that you take). So try to provide a bit more. No one doubts your passion for music. No one doubts his.
But I heave a weighty sigh every time you choose to make a point only to make it. What are you gaining in this 'win-win' round robin? Trust me. If you answer, don't worry that I will. And that breaks the rules. But I don't need to gratify my curiosity by pulling on a hook that I have baited, time and time again. Like I said, this is tedious (for me, for others reading it).
Bob and Captain Kid are actually lucky enough to have seen them and I only wish I had.
And something tells me, you may have never heard of Smashed Gladys, let alone heard them until Allyson did us the favor of posting this.
Based on what you’ve previously posted, I’m surprised you’re ranting so negatively about Smashed Gladys and, for whatever obviously bizarre reason, against Ms. Cato, when clearly, you like their style of music.
p.s. Thanks for speaking up, HIM! And for the link to the Sleaze Roxx interview, which I also read when researching the band BEFORE commenting, here. What a d*mn shame BK has driven so many away with all his as*inine personal comments. Oh, and BK, I’m all for Tes Lappard now that they’ve transformed into a much more ROCKIN’ act!!!
As a 13 year old at that time, I was just happy to be hearing about it.
ballads@thepowerballads.com
In answer to the question, what did she do after SG, Sally made her living for years as a graphic designer of posters, flyers, brochures, campaigns, mail art, PR art, album art and the like. I still remember how honored she was to work on the campaign of Diana Rigg, who I suspect was an influence on Sally's own costumes in SG. For as long as I knew her, all her work, paying and otherwise, was creative.
After she moved out of NYC, I lost track for many years but know that at some point, she remixed songs with an engineer friend and began focusing on prose. Since I'm a former keyboardist for S.G. and also had published a collection of fiction when I worked with her, Sally used to correspond with me about her ideas for novels and so forth. She had been passionate about songwriting -- even the math of it, in fact -- and was thrilled to be contemplating larger structures in screenplays, novels and plays.
I didn't get to see what she was working on at the end, but I know she'd been writing until she couldn't. She and that whole band loved mystery (I remember getting chastised for telling a fan about my real life), so I wouldn't be surprised if that's all we know for some time.
RIP