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The Lita Ford
Interview
September, 2000
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Lita Ford is a cool chick. You can say she's sexy onstage and you can wonder about the rumors that she's a hard headed musician to work with, but alls I know is that when Lita is offstage and just sorta hanging out she is totally cool. One such experience is documented elsewhere at this site. (Check The Runaways story on the 'Flashback' page.) Even at the height of popularity she made herself pretty accessible. There was no way she'd let some 250lb. security guard stand between her and the fans.
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I remember one time after a show some of us star struck kids waited for Lita at the backstage door - not exactly on the same wacko level as Eve Harrington in the movie All About Eve, but you get the picture right? So Lita comes out to talk and sign some autographs. I didn't know what to say so I just asked for one of her guitar picks - these picks were kinda funny lookin' and had a pot leaf emblem on 'em. So Lita works her hand into the back pocket and then the front pocket of her leather pants. While it seems she's havin' a heck of a time pulling her hand back out she asks if I play guitar. I shyly shake my head, no. She crams her other hand into the other pocket of her rather snug leather pants as someone sticks an album cover and magic marker in her face. Lita smiles at the denim and leather clad boy as she struggles to free her hand from her front pocket. No picks to be found. I tell her it's okay and I liked the show. Lita tells the denim and leather clad boys to hold on a second and then says to me that she's gonna go back into the club and get me one of her guitar picks out of an equipment trunk. I try to tell her not to bother but she's already stepping back into the club.
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Two minutes later she comes back to me and hands me her way cool guitar pick.
Lita Ford has been the hardest rockin' heavy metal guitar goddess for the last two decades, but as of late she has put her time and energy into other things.
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Me: How's the family?
Lita: We are all healthy and happy! Getting ready to build another house.
Me: How old is your son now? What's his name, by the way...
Lita: My son, James Lenard, is 3 years old now.
Me: I bet that's a 'fun' age right? Is he a 'James Jr.' or...
Lita: He's named after his daddy, who is a 'James' - but I call him 'Jim' - and my daddy, who was a 'Lenard'. And, Jim's daddy, who is a 'James Lawrence' - but we call him J.L. James is also a 'J.L.' It keeps the guy-thing going in the family.
Me: What's been the best part so far of being a mom?
Lita: When my son hugs and kisses me and says "I love you mama!"
Me: Are you ready for another?
Lita: Oh gawd! I do not think I will ever be ready for another child. But, being an only child myself I do hope that my son gets a brother or sister.
Me: Someone told me you were living in Mexico? But then someone else told me Florida. I've always thought of you as strictly an L.A. kinda chick...
Lita: I lived in Los Angeles most of my life. After I got married we went in search of another place to live - haven't found it yet. We are in Florida for the moment, but we are building a new house in The Turks and Caicos Islands where we will put our son through school. They are a British Colony. They're very friendly, healthy, and have a zero crime rate..
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[These islands, if I'm not mistaken, are in the South Atlantic ocean. Somewhere near the Bahamas I think.]
Me: What are you listening to these days?
Lita: I listen to whatever my son wishes to hear, which is usually mommy singing - me!...I don't pay too much attention to most music these days.
Me: No new bands out there that interest you?
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Lita: A fan from Mexico wrote me a letter and in it he said "We had the fortunate opportunity of living in a unique era...None of these poor, new-generation bands would ever survive for very long."
Me: I think I agree. So then, what are your thoughts on the fusion of rap and rock and roll?
Lita: Yeah, at least there's some sort of rock and roll under all the rappin'!
Me: What was the last band you saw live?
Lita: Lynard Skynard and ZZ Top at the Nashville Arena. It was James Lenard's first concert. He loved it. I could feel it.
Me: Okay, you recently released a CD called 'Lita Ford: Greatest Hits Live!...gimme the details...
Lita: It's (from) one show, recorded at a club on the West Coast. We added one studio track ("Nobody's Child") that was co-written by Glen Burtnick (Patty Smythe) and Michael Dan Ehmig (Lita Ford band). It's got a lot of energy and is a very UNproduced CD. This is what's so special about it. You feel as if you're right there in the audience.
Me: I really like "Nobody's Child" and "Bad Love". Refresh my memory, though. To date, how many records have you put out?
Lita: Crap, I don't know. The Runaways did more than half a dozen, and there's more than a half dozen LITA records out there...
Me: Ever hear a really good bootleg of your band?
Lita: No. That's one of the reasons I decided to put out a 'live' CD.
Me: Now that you've got your live material out, when will you be recording in the studio again?
Lita: The last thing I did in the studio was remixing 'Lita Live'. After we move to our new house and get settled I'll then be able to concentrate on writing a new record.
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Me: You've got such a large body of music now, can you pick a favorite recording?
Lita: Unfortunately, my favorite recordings always seem to be the demos, which no one except the musicians involved ever gets to hear. "Nobody's Child" - on the new 'Lita Live' CD - is a demo, so it's safe to say it's a favorite. It's the only demo released to date.
Me: I really like that one a lot. Y'know, I don't ever remember hearing about 'Lita Ford, The Producer' - have you produced any bands? Or, would you wanna?
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Lita: I've not yet produced another artist, but, gawd!, I'd love it. Being in the studio is one of my favorite things about rock and roll.
Me: But the demos you cut are all under your control, right?
Lita: I've produced all of my demos. They seem to have so much more personality - and raw energy - than the 'produced' tracks.
Lita played San Francisco quite a bit when she was supporting her debut, 'Out For Blood', in 1983. And when it came time to support her second album in 1984, 'Dancing On The Edge', Lita came back for some more of our warm and metal crazed hospitality. The big radio hit off the latter album was "Gotta Let Go". But, in concert the big hit with We, The Fans was the power ballad "Just A Feeling", off her debut. That's what we always waited to hear at every show. And all we wanted to see was Lita play her double neck B.C. Rich guitar, which is the git she always played on that song. At one of Lita's later appearances in San Francisco (probably toward the end of 1984) Lita had dropped the song "Just A Feeling" from her set list. The sold out audience at one of the bigger clubs in The City chanted for the song but Lita told us she couldn't play it cuz she didn't have the double neck with her on this tour. The chanting did not cease. Seemingly blown away by the enthusiasm for such an old song, Lita relented and managed to play the song for us on your standard single neck guitar. And she had a pleasant smirk on her face all the while.
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Me: Hey, do you still have that double neck guitar?
Lita: Of course I still have my white double neck! I call it The Twins. I'm saving it for my son.
Me: Do you still play B.C. Rich guitars exclusively?
Lita: I enjoy playing lots of different guitars. They all are special. They have so many interesting things and have so many sounds. My favorite that I own is my Telecaster.
Me: Here's a tech question for the musicians: What gauge strings do you use?
Lita: .009's on electrics and .010's on acoustic.
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Me: Y'know what man, the last time I saw you play was in 1994 I think. You barely played guitar that night! You left most of the guitar stuff to the guy in your band. Was there, like, a time in your gigging that you preferred to do 90% of the set solely as the singer?
Lita: Well, every night is different with me. I have to wear so many hats. The lead singer, the lead guitarist, the front woman. When I hire a guitarist to tour with me he usually learns most of the guitar parts in the show, so if I don't play on a song or two he can cover for me. Sorry! Next time I'll try to play more.
Me: Well, after the show you came out into the lobby were some of us had gathered and that was cool. I'm wondering, like, now that you're in a kind of domestic setting is it getting harder to spontaneously book a gig?
Lita: I'm not doing any gigs this year. For the first time, I'm just a mom. My manager is constantly turning down tours.
Me: Hmmm, well, if a hard rock version of the Lilith Fair were to organize would you want to be part of it?
Lita: My manager is toying with the idea, actually.
Me: Yeah? So what are your thoughts on the Lilith Fair as a concept?
Lita: My ex-drummer was in the Lilith Fair and he said if he had to hear one more depressing song sung by girls with hairy armpits and sandals he was going to blow his brains out. I think I gotta agree.
Me: I hear ya!
Lita: I mean, what happened to the 'show' part of showWOMANship!
Me: What other artists are you a fan of that might surprise people? You know, like, does it bother you that maybe people only think of you as a heavy metal guitarist with limited interests musically?
Lita: Well, I don't think that my fans think that way. It would be pretty stupid if people just assumed that becuz a musician performs in a particular genre - be it metal or classical guitar or whatever - that they would have limited interests musically. My musical tastes run from Etta James to Elton John to Phil Collins to Lita Ford.
Me: So, let's talk about the Internet and your website.
Lita: I don't have time to play on the 'Net. I'm busy chasing around a very active 3 year old. But I'm really happy with my site: www.litaford.com. We just redesigned it for the release of my new CD. And we're adding some interviews with friends of mine.
Me: Hmmm, can you be more specific?
Lita: Their names you all know, but can't be revealed at this time!
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In 1987, our friendly webmaster chick Punky was the lead guitarist in a band called Leathur Panteez with vocalist Jayne Reaction and guitarist Shandi. The band scored the opening slot for the Lita Ford Band at The Stone on Broadway in San Francisco. As far as I know, that was the first time Lita had ever played on a bill with an all girl band. One of the other 'famous' rumors about Lita that was circulating back in the '80s was that she would not allow an all girl band to open for her NO MATTER WHAT. We assumed it had to do with The Runaways backlash happening at the time. I dunno. But, obviously, that rumor was totally shot to hell on that January
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night in 1987. And, I don't know how I was able to swing it but Lita also let me photograph her band from the stage. She said it'd be okay to hang around where ever I wanted onstage and take as many photos as I wanted. So I did. Don't know if I was drunk or just stupid that night but my photos turned out pretty lousy. But, like, just a couple years earlier Punky and I were two star struck fans watching Lita Ford from the audience and all of a sudden we were working side by side with the rock queen herself. Leathur Panteez had a considerable fan base of their own, and when the girls played The Runaways song "Wasted" for their encore they made a lot more fans that night. Lita told me later in the night that that was the first time she'd ever heard any other band cover a Runaways song. She said she opened the door to her dressing room and stuck her head out to hear the song better. And, she wanted to run out onstage too, but she wasn't wearing any pants.
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Me: Do you have any desire to write a book of memoirs?
Lita: I started a Runaways book years ago, but it never really got any further than that. But, yes, some day I will do my autobiography - as soon as I have an ending! (Laughs Out Loud) Actually, my manager is working on that too. But, I want to do a new record first.
Me: Are you okay with the documentary that your ex-bandmate, Vicki Blue, is producing?
Lita: Am I 'okay' with it? You bet. Vicki is doing an amazing job. She just sent me a clip and it sent shivers up my spine.
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Me: What's it gonna be called? And, what's it about?
Lita: "Edgeplay" is the name of it. We all did interviews for it - except for one of us. And it has...well, I can't tell anymore. Vicki is keeping a lot of it under lock and key.
Me: Do you think this documentary project is a good thing to happen right now?
Lita: Oh, I think any time is a good time. The band broke up 20 years ago.
Me: Hey, does it surprise you that the rock and pop music worlds are producing such young players today? You know, a lot of teenagers....
Lita: Surprised? No. We, The Runaways, paved the way for the teenager 'thing'. Actually, both parts - the 'teenage' AND the 'girl' part. Don't forget the Jackson 5. They were all kids too.
Me: Have you heard any of the teen artists?
Lita: Britney Spears has got a lot of talent. So does Hanson.
Me: What about Kittie and The Donnas?
Lita: Kittie, I can live without. I'm not sure if I've heard The Donnas.
Me: So, what would be your advice to these kids, as far as longevity in music?
Lita: Stay healthy, work hard, and keep those hits coming.
Me: Do you think you'd encourage little James Lenard if he wanted to get into any facet of the entertainment biz?
Lita: My son already has 'stage presence' at 3 years old...scary! I want him to be happy, and be whatever he wants to be. If he wants to be in the music business I'll give him all the help I can.
Me: What type of movies do you like?
Lita: I mostly watch kids' movies. And, we don't do too much TV. I don't really see too many adult films, but my favorite would be a comedy. I loved 'Something About Mary' and 'Happy Gilmore'.
Me: Are you a collector of anything?
Lita: When I lived in California I used to collect PIGS. But, since we moved to the beach my pigs just don't fit the house. So, I'm saving them for our log cabin that we haven't built yet.
Me: ...PIGS...?
Lita: I've always liked the little oinkers! I even had a dog named Porky, Now I have one named Pork Chop!
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Me: Okay, here's the weird Q & A part...favorite scene in 'Spinal Tap'?
Lita: I love that movie. I don't have one favorite part. Just the whole thing!
Me: Are you a top or a bottom when sleeping on bunk beds?
Lita: I like the bottom so my little doggies can get in and out with no problem.
Me: When you hear the song "Relax" on the radio do you sing along?
Lita: What song is that?
Me: If I were a bartender and you were a drink, what would I call you?
Lita: Concheeta Concerto.
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Me: The Simpsons or South Park?
Lita: South Park.
Me: Penthouse Forum or Rolling Stone?
Lita: Rolling Stone.
Me: East Coast or West Coast?
Lita: West Coast.
Me: Patti Smith or Natalie Merchant?
Lita: Patti Smith.
Me: When was the last time you saw the sun rise, and where were you?
Lita: This morning while lying in my bed. I don't sleep much!
Me: What were you doing today before this interview?
Lita: I was trying to pull a plastic fishing hook out of my hair. My son thought I was a fishy.
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Me: Last book read?
Lita: Victoria's Secret catalog.
Me: If you believe in reincarnation, what other era do you think you've lived?
Lita: This one is the first. I'll be back next lifetime to watch my son.
Me: Do you want to say anything to your fans?
Lita: I've received so many incredible fan letters that have touched my life. You all are very special people to me and I wish all of you the best of everything. Thanks for being there for me. Thanks for helping to make my dreams come true.
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