WAYNE COUNTY

Wayne County was a seminal figure of the NYC rock 'n' roll scene in the early 1970s. Originally from Georgia, County injected a high-camp theatrical presence into straight-ahead rock 'n' roll sounds. During her (explanation later) tenure with the Back Street Boys (yeah, that's what they were called!), Wayne recorded the theme for the legendary New York club Max's Kansas City. Due to a lack of commercial appreciation in the U.S. (though she'd drawn national attention by smashing Handsome Dick Manitoba's [from the NYC band The Dictators] face in with the butt end of a microphone stand after being heckled), Wayne relocated to the more friendly (musically speaking) climes of England.

After setting up shop, County enlisted a largely new backing band. She rechristened them The Electric Chairs. They recorded three albums in 1978-79 that weren't released statewide (a damn shame when an American artist can't get domestic vinyl). Several songs from these recordings like "Rock 'N' Roll Enema," "Toilet Love" and "Dead Hot Mama" date back from 1971 -- when Wayne formed her first band called Queen Elizabeth.

By now, you're probably asking: "What's the deal with these misplaced pronouns?" That question is best answered in the opening lines of "Man Enough To Be A Woman" ("I've got a transsexual feeling/It's hard to be true/To the one that's really you"). Not long after the third album, Wayne become Jayne -- onstage and off.

Although this course of action would cause some to look at Wayne/Jayne as a curious novelty, it's a mistake to ignore the recordings. Rock 'N' Roll Cleopatra, a twenty-song compilation, collects tracks from all three Electric Chairs albums. "Rock 'N' Roll Resurrection" strings together words and images of rockers past (Morrison, Brian Jones, etc.) with one great guitar riff. "Worry Wart" makes light in the face of a paranoiac junkie scene ("You're six feet tall/You weigh 93 pounds/And you worry about being fat"). "Eddie And Sheena" tells a two-part tale of a couple from two different sects who have a baby ("And they named the little brat Elvis...ROTTEN!"), complete with deadpan Johnny R-like snarls. "Toilet Love" has playfully disgusting lyrics that are guaranteed to cause uncontrollable laughter ("Your underarms are more than I can bear/And you never, ever change your underwear"). "Evil Minded Momma" swings with a cool rockabilly jaunt. "Fuck Off" tells it like it is ("In other words, if you ain't got time to take a walk with me on my meat rack, then you can just get the hell outta my bread line").

Think I won't put my running shoes on for that request, but you'd have to be a vegetarian in a butcher shop to pass on this outstanding collection.