Fanny was an American rock band that was formed in 1969 and broke up in 1975, notable for being one of the first important bands to be all-female, and the first all-female band to release an album on a major label. Their reputation was almost completely eclipsed by punk and their records were out of print for, literally, decades, but since the early 2000s the increasing visibility of women in rock has seen a revival of interest in the band, which was sealed when Rhino Records brought out a boxed set of their first four albums and a collection of live tracks and out-takes.
Sisters June and Jean Millington were born in the Philippines but moved with their family to Sacramento in 1961. There, they formed a high school band called the Svelts, with June on guitar, Jean on bass, and classmate Brie Berry on drums. The Svelts didn't last long, with Berry leaving to get married, and when they disbanded, drummer Alice de Buhr formed a band called Wild Honey which the Millington sisters then joined. Wild Honey moved to Los Angeles and secured a deal with Reprise Records, whereupon the band recruited Washington, D.C.-born keyboardist Nickey Barclay and changed its name to Fanny. Berry (now using her married last name, Brandt) rejoined the group as their lead singer, but producer Richard Perry wanted the group to stay a four-piece and pushed her out.
The original lineup made the band's canonical first four albums, Fanny (1970), Charity Ball (1971), Fanny Hill (1972) and Mothers Pride (1973), and also worked as session musicians, with all four of them playing on Barbra Streisand's 1971 album Barbra Joan Streisand. June Millington and Alice de Buhr left the band in 1974, and were replaced by Patti Quatro (Suzi's sister) and the returning Brie Brandt, with the group making one more album (Rock and Roll Survivors) before disbanding.
The peculiar thing about Fanny's reputation is that, in the aftermath of their breakup, the band was essentially written out of popular music history. Before the internet, histories of women in popular music tended to leap from the 60s singer-songwriters to punk-era performers such as Chrissie Hynde, Debbie Harry, The Slits and Lydia Lunch. Fanny's albums were generally unavailable even second-hand; no critics saw fit to mention them or recall their work, and the only glimpses to be had of them were the occasional re-broadcast of their few appearances on early 70s TV shows such as Germany's Beat-Club. June Millington worked as a producer and organised a music camp for young girls; Jean Millington worked as a herbalist and married David Bowie's guitarist Earl Slick; Brie Howard-Darling (her second married name) became a session and touring drummer. The Millingtons occasionally played together, but resisted attempts to revive the band as its own tribute act. Alice de Buhr gave up working as a professional drummer and eventually founded her own video production company; Nickey Barclay ditched her "Nickey" persona and went on working under her real name (Nicole), gigging, writing music for TV and mentoring young musicians, before chronic illness forced her to retire from performing around 2000.
In 1999, David Bowie gave an interview to Rolling Stone in which he gave the band its most visible tribute in years: "[Fanny] were one of the finest fucking rock bands of their time, in about 1973. They were extraordinary: they wrote everything, they played like motherfuckers, they were just colossal and wonderful, and nobody's ever mentioned them. They're as important as anybody else who's ever been, ever; it just wasn't their time." With the rise of the internet, and a generation of music fans interested in finding role models and precursors, Fanny was rediscovered. The 2002 boxed set First Time In A Long Time collected their first four albums and a bunch of other tracks. In 2018. the Millingtons reunited with Howard-Darling and formed a new band called Fanny Walked The Earth, and in 2021, a Rockumentary was released called Fanny: The Right To Rock.
No connection to 1961 Leslie Caron flick Fanny.
The band's most stable lineup:
- June Millington: Guitar, vocals (1969-1974)
- Jean Millington: Bass, vocals (1969-1975)
- Nickey Barclay: Keyboards, vocals (1970-1975)
- Alice de Buhr: Drums, vocals (1969-1974)
Studio discography:
- Fanny (1970)
- Charity Ball (1971)
- Fanny Hill (1972)
- Mothers Pride (1973)
- Rock and Roll Survivors (1974)
- Fanny Walked The Earth (2018)
Fanny's work features the following tropes:
- Band of Relatives: In addition to the Millington sisters, they've also had Jean's son Lee fill in for her on bass in recent years.
- Break-Up Song: "Changing Horses" is this, although being combined with Screw This, I'm Outta Here it's a notably upbeat one.
- The Bus Came Back: Brie Brandt, who played drums on Rock and Roll Survivors, had been the drummer for their previous band and until shortly before they started recording.
- Career-Ending Injury: Shortly after making the Fanny Walked The Earth album, Jean suffered a stroke that paralyzed the right side of her body. Downplayed in that while she did mostly recover, her right hand is still weak enough that she's unable to play bass, though she can still sing.
- Cast Full of Gay: June and Alice are lesbians, while Nickey was bisexual.
- Cover Version: They mostly wrote their own material but had some notable ones, including "Hey Bulldog" by The Beatles, "Ain't That Peculiar" by Marvin Gaye, "Special Care" by Stephen Stills, "Young and Dumb" by Ike Turner, "Last Night I Had a Dream" by Randy Newman, and "Badge" by Cream, among others.
- Girl Group: The third one ever to sign to a major label, and the first one to release an album. Pioneers, people.
- Hard Rock: This was their genre, though Nickey Barclay brought heavy blues and soul influences when she joined.
- Lighter and Softer: This was enforced on them by their producer Richard Perry, who according to June persistently turned her amp down in the studio. Live tracks, outtakes and rehearsal takes reveal that they were a lot louder and heavier than much of their studio output makes them appear to be.
- This also applies to Rock And Roll Survivors, as explained under New Sound Album.
- Long Hair Is Feminine: During most of the band's existence, Alice, Jean, and June had hair down to their mid-backs which they wore loose and would swing around as they played. Nickey had the shortest hair cut, with only parts of it reaching to her shoulders.
- Monochrome Casting: Averted: the Millingtons are half-Filipina, while the other members were all Caucasians.
- Ms. Fanservice: Averted, at least in the band's early days: they went on stage in whatever they happened to be wearing at the time, partly to avoid accusations of being this. They only started dressing more glamorously after they'd earned respect as musicians.
- New Sound Album: Rock And Roll Survivors, the album recorded after June and Alice left, is more Pop-friendly compared to the Hard Rock of their previous albums.
- Ominous Pipe Organ: "Special Care" breaks down halfway through into a section of ominous Hammond organ, which then gets louder and louder until the band kicks back in again.
- Pun-Based Title: "Charity Ball", which is basically an invitation to anyone who fancies them.
- Putting the Band Back Together: The Millington sisters, along with original drummer Brie Howard-Darling, reformed Fanny in 2018 and recorded a Self-Titled Album under the name "Fanny Walked The Earth".
- Record Producer: Richard Perry for the first three albums, Todd Rundgren for Mothers Pride, and Vini Poncia for Rock and Roll Survivors.
- Self-Titled Album: Their debut.
- Stage Name: "Nickey Barclay" is a stage name. The real "Nickey" is extremely private and does not take part in reunions, etc., although she is pleased by the revival of the band's music and wishes the others well. She's also been affected by chronic health problems and has stated she physically couldn't rejoin even if she wanted to.
- Studio Chatter: "Changing Horses" has a long, quiet piano intro in which one bandmember appears not to have noticed that the tape is rolling, because she's telling some story just off-mic about meeting a cute guy walking his dog; eventually she strays within range of the mic and is hushed by one of the other musicians.
- Visual Pun: On the back cover of Fanny, the band is standing shoulder-to-shoulder smiling at the camera. On the front, it's the same pose as seen from behind, but Alice is reaching down and grabbing June's ass. Doubles as a Stealth Pun when you know that Alice and June were closeted (to the public, at least) lesbians, though they were never in a romantic relationship themselves.
- Vocal Tag Team: Every member of the band sang lead vocal at some point, but mostly this was the Millington sisters and Barclay. June had the strongest and most rock-ish voice; Jean's was lighter and more vulnerable-sounding; Nickey was throatier and more soulful.
