The Donnas
The Donnas can be booked through this site. The Donnas entertainment booking site. The Donnas
is available for public concerts and events. The Donnas can be booked for
private events and The Donnas can be booked for corporate events and
meetings through this The Donnas booking page.
Unlike most middle agents that would mark
up the performance or appearance fee for The Donnas, we act as YOUR agent in
securing The Donnas at the best possible price. We go over the rider for
The Donnas and work directly with The Donnas or the responsible agent for
The Donnas to secure the talent for your event. We become YOUR agent,
representing YOU, the buyer.
In fact, in most cases we can negotiate for
the acquisition of The Donnas for international dates and newer promoters
providing you meet professional requirements.
The Donnas Biography
Aspiring to nothing more than a good old-fashioned rock &
roll party, the Donnas won a cult following and considerable media
attention in the late '90s after scoring a record deal right out of
high school. Early on, they were invariably described as the Ramones
meet the Runaways, with a definite emphasis on the former (they'd even
adopted identical first names as a tribute). But their bratty
high-school-delinquent image was clearly indebted to the latter, as
their songs concerned themselves mostly with boys, booze, drugs, and
hated classmates. As the Donnas grew up and polished their technical
abilities, their music evolved into a distinctly female take on
cock-rock metal, drawing more from AC/DC, Kiss, and Motley Crue than
from punk. Some critics praised their cheerfully crude adoption of male
sexual bravado; others complained that the band's music never
transcended its vintage influences, and remained suspicious that their
naughty-girl packaging was a bigger part of their appeal.
The Donnas were originally formed in May 1993, when all four members
(all born in 1979) were still in the eighth grade together in Palo
Alto, CA. Calling themselves Ragady Anne at first, they played covers
of groups like R.E.M., L7, the Muffs, and Shonen Knife, and entered a
junior-high battle of the bands just one month after forming. During
high school, they kept practicing virtually every afternoon, and soon
moved into riot grrrl territory with inspiration from bands like Bikini
Kill and Bratmobile (though it was more musical than political). In
early 1995, Ragady Anne released a 7 EP on the local Radio Trash
label, but soon changed their name to the Electrocutes and adopted a
trashy jailbait image and a loud-fast-rules aesthetic. They gigged
around the Bay Area that year and were spotted by Darin Raffaelli, a
onetime member of trash-punkers Supercharger and head of the small
Radio X label. Raffaelli had written a cache of Ramones-style songs for
a hypothetical girl band, and approached the Electrocutes about
recording them.
Deciding that the songs didn't fit the Electrocutes' metal-queen style,
the girls created Ramones-worshipping alter egos known as the Donnas,
even going so far as to mock them in Electrocutes interviews as though
they were different people. Thus, vocalist Brett Anderson, guitarist
Allison Robertson, bassist Maya Ford, and drummer Torry Castellano
became Donna A., Donna R., Donna F., and Donna C. Before 1995 was out,
they played their first gig as the Donnas, and released their first
single under that name on Radio X. Two more followed in 1996, the last
one on Raffaelli's new imprint, Super*teem. Meanwhile, they hadn't yet
abandoned their identity as the Electrocutes, and in fact recorded an
album called Steal Yer Lunch Money during 1996; however, it wasn't
released until three years later, when Sympathy for the Record Industry
acquired the rights in the wake of the Donnas' eventual success.
In 1997, the Donnas recorded a self-titled debut album for Super*teem,
using songs ghostwritten by Raffaelli. Critics charged that Raffaelli
was acting as the band's Svengali, likening their relationship to that
of Kim Fowley and the Runaways; both sides vehemently denied that that
was the case, and eventually severed their professional relationship to
avoid fueling more speculation. Following the release of The Donnas,
the group took a week off from its senior year of high school to tour
Japan. After graduation, they postponed plans for college and accepted
an offer to sign with Bay Area indie Lookout, the original home of
Green Day. Their label debut, American Teenage Rock 'n' Roll Machine,
was released in early 1998, and did feature some uncredited songwriting
input from Raffaelli. The Donnas quickly became underground punk
favorites, and even landed some attention from mainstream media like
MTV.
The Donnas' third album, Get Skintight, appeared in 1999 and marked the
first time the band composed its material with no outside assistance. A
distinct hard rock influence began to creep into their compositions,
underlined by their cover of Mötley Crüe's Too Fast for Love ; they
even opened a show for Cinderella. That year, they also appeared in the
teen comedies Jawbreaker and Drive Me Crazy, the latter as the
Electrocutes. In early 2001, the band issued The Donnas Turn 21, which
continued their move away from punk and toward the hard rock mainstream
of 15-20 years previous (this time the cover was Judas Priest's Living
After Midnight ). The album received some of their weakest reviews to
date, generally from critics who felt that their party-hardy subject
matter was starting to feel forced.
Nonetheless, the Donnas caught the attention of major label Atlantic,
who signed them up in late 2001. Launched with a new wave of publicity,
the Donnas' label debut, Spend the Night, arrived in 2002 and became
their first album to break into the Top 100 of the pop charts. It also
earned them their biggest radio hit to date in the single Take It
Off, whose video also got some MTV airplay. In the summer of 2003, the
Donnas played the main stage on the revived Lollapalooza tour. ~ Steve
Huey, All Music Guide
Written by Steve Huey