The Sadista Sisters: Punk before punk at the Newcastle Festival 1976
Looking back through the programme for the 1976 Newcastle Festival, the gig that brings back the most vivid memories is the Sadista Sisters, who played a residency at the Centre Hotel. The Sisters were a right-on out-there feminist theatre cum rock cum punk act, with elements of cabaret and performance art, who had been a massive hits at the Edinburgh Festival the previous year. The Sadista sisters were Theresa D’Abreu,
Judith Alderson,
Linda Marlowe, and
Jacky Taylor. They wore outrageous costumes which blended gender, and their songs/performances were crazy and quite unsettling. And the programme says that their performance was sponsored by Pernod, and we all got a free glass! I also saw the Sadista Sisters perform at the Reading Festival that year, and in the same year they released their only album. They folded a few years later, having build up a cult following. They seem largely forgotten now, but at the time their performance was powerful and challenging stuff. Looking through the programme, I also attended Eric Burdon, supported by the Steve Brown Band, at the City Hall. There are a few gigs listed that, in hindsight, I wish I had gone to, including Diana Dors in cabaret, and in conversation at the Centre Hotel, and Larry Adler in concert. Now there are two gigs that I wish I had gone to!
5 Jun
Vintagerock's Weblog. 
Posted by carol rocke on September 25, 2016 at 6:08 pm
I remember many of the gigs at the festival. I worked in the festival office. I saw Diana Dors, Larry Adler, amongst others.