Valentine’s Day Grinch
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Straw–actress, rock ‘n’ roll singer, songwriter, scenester, and raconteur of the first order–is known for a couple of things that happened some years ago. Her distinctive voice marked Visions of Excess and Blast of Silence, two of the better late- 80s experiments by the Manhattan art rock ensemble called the Golden Palominos, a downtown supergroup that included ringleader Anton Fier, Michael Stipe, Bernie Worrell, Bill Laswell, and Chris Stamey, among others. In 1989 she released her only solo album, Surprise, a slightly off-kilter enterprise in which her sensitive songwriting, folksy approach, good taste in covers, and extravagant, soaring voice all married to create a lasting charmer. While at least one song–her plangent version of Peter Holsapple’s “Think Too Hard”–got some radio play, the record never took off and remains a buried classic of the prealternative era.
Straw was born to LA actors, but did most of her growing up with her mother in Vermont. After high school she moved to New York to become an actress; there she took acting lessons, did walk-ons on Saturday Night Live, and met the right people in the music business. Her thirst for collaboration is famously unbounded (“I’ll back ’em up, front ’em up, side ’em up–I don’t care,” she once said). The massive guest list that makes up the credits of Surprise includes Stipe, Richard Thompson, Marshall Crenshaw, Dave Alvin, Don Was, and Van Dyke Parks.
After a long hiatus from recording anything other than one-shots, Straw’s currently preparing to record a full new album, paring down a large group of songs built up over the last few years. “I’m interested in writing more and moving forward,” she says. “I’ve got to get these kids off my chest and onto the bottle.” She’s currently negotiating with a number of labels. Among the new songs are a couple of terrific tunes: “The Toughest Girl in the World” and a full-throated roarer called “CBGB’s (Hey, Remember Me),” a twisted true tale of a one-night stand with a bartender at the New York nightclub.
