lovely lita

the final metalhead pays tribute to another leading lady of leather and lace. lita ford began her rock and roll fantasy alongside joan jett as a member of the runaways. when the group disbanded in the late 70's, she didn't just pack up her axe and go home. she set out on her own and struck a chord with rock audiences around the world. after acquiring the managerial services of one sharon osbourne, she hit the metal nail on the head with her 1988 release of "kiss me deadly."

I went to a party last Saturday night
I didn't get laid, I got in a fight,
Uh, huh
It ain't no big thing
Late for my job and the traffic was bad
Had to borrow ten bucks from my old man,
Uh, huh
It ain't no big thing
...
But I know what I like
I know I like dancin' with you
And I know what you like
I know you like dancin' with me
Yeah, yeah
Kiss me once
Kiss me twice
C'mon pretty baby, kiss me deadly

the shiny black of lita's leather on a backdrop of her white-blond hair, accented with a deadly kiss of the hottest pink. meet lovely lita, the metalhead that's tough and tender, sultry and sophisticated. she knows that the men think metal is their game, and she's here to play and steal their hearts away. tuck this gorgeous glamazon under your arm like lita slings her six-string over her shoulder. it's ladies' night.

the iron maiden

let's continue our trip down metal memory lane and introduce the next member of the metalhead gang. the iron maiden is a sturdy, steely number that gets her name from a group that became a legend in the world of hard rock. they were certainly a band with a bad reputation and a frightening stage presence thanks to their mascot eddie, the freaky creature whose ugly mug is all over everything maiden from album covers to tennis shoes to aluminum lunch boxes.

besides the monstrous eddie, the other defining characteristic of iron maiden is the voice of bruce dickinson. amazingly operatic in the highest octave, he floated a high flying melody above the crushing guitars and punishing drums. the subject matter of the songs that he bellowed also bordered on the bizarre. this chickadee once terrified a room full of well mannered birthday party people with her rendition of bruce's vocals on "run to the hills" during a rock band showdown.

take a look at the iron maiden in repose...collecting her thoughts while she waits to collect your treasures in any of her array of internal pockets. a shimmering silver is set off by lilac that does not lack its own sparkle. she'll be taking the stage along with her fellow metalheads at crafty bastards (silver spring edition) on june 28th. be there, or we're sending eddie after you...

shout at the devil (who does not wear prada)

i confess, this chickadee was addicted to sixx at an early age. when he came prancing into my living room (courtesy of early mtv) in his impossibly tight leather pants and hair halo, he certainly did have the looks that kill. not that i wasn't tempted by tommy lee's stick twirling and vince neil's sultry soprano, nikki sixx won out because he also had the coolest name. mick mars, who rounds out the mötley crüe square, was always a bit off-putting and never in the running for my preteen affections, when i was indeed too young to fall in love. as far as my brother and i were concerned, the crüe rüled.

their 1983 shout at the devil release cemented their status on our turntables by providing us with 34:47 minutes of screaming guitar and screeching vocals. and it included a cover of helter skelter that was so amazing that when i heard the beatles' original a few years later i thought it a cheap, albeit chronologically impossible, imitation.

the years have been hard on the crüe, some might say the years have been a hot, ugly mess for them. but to me, they'll always be the guys with that weird, tribal, football player paint on their faces slithering across the stage with shimmery scarves trailing. so here is this chickadee's dedication to the way they were...back in their glamorous early days before heroin addiction and hepatitis c brought them down from their silver studded tower. meet the next metalhead, the red hot shout at the devil bag:

joan jett's blackheart bag

for those about to rock, this chickadee salutes you with four new flamboyant gig bags. put your hands together and please help me welcome them to the stage, chickadee central's very own metalheads. each 16" x 13" tote is amped up with three slip pockets and a zipper compartment to hold a host of hair accessories, guitar picks and set lists. a magnetic closure at the top snaps shut to keep the party from spilling out into the streets and disturbing the neighbors.

ready to rock? let's kick things off close to home with a metalhead named after rockville md's own axe-grinding angel. that's right, joan jett rolled around the suburban streets of mo. co. before running away to form the runaways in los angeles. black and brash and slick like silver, this is one lady that you won't hate yourself for loving.