Phantom Blue-Going Mad

Bio By She Rox All Female Bands: Formed in 1986, in Los Angeles, California, Phantom Blue broke down the doors to the male dominated hard rock/heavy metal scene of the late 1980’s and proved that a female unit could be much more then pretty female fluff, with their intricate guitar playing and double bass drumming, rare for female drummers at this time, Phantom Blue helped solidified that women could be just as musically skilled as men in hard rock, yet in the bubble gum, hair metal inundated music scene of the late 1980’s, the much more seriousness of their musical skills and style left the band fighting to gain a more mainstream success in the U.S. that they did achieve in Europe. By 1989 the band released their debut self-titled album with then line up of Gigi Hangach on lead vocals, Michelle Meldrum and Nicole Couch on guitars, drummer Linda McDonald and new bassist Kim Nielson replacing Debra Armstrong, the album gained the band national attention and praise however the band left the infamous record label shortly after, Shrapnel Records, feeling they were being lumped into a bubble gum hair metal slot, when their music was far from such. Phantom Blue was destined to break through by 1994 with their second release now on major record label Geffen, “Built To Perform“ , however the masterpiece of this album went fairly unnoticed due to Geffen doing little to support it and the music scene shifting to a more popular grunge sound leaving hard rock to seem archaic, as well as being plaque with numerous member changes. The band forged ahead and released three more albums on their own, 1995’s Prime Cuts and Glazed Donuts, Caught Live in 1997, and their final release in 1998, Full Blown a five track ep, even though all strong efforts the band itself seem to have been on their last leg to the point that drummer Linda McDonald was indeed the only original member left by 1998 in what seemed to become a training ground for women musicians. Founder and guitarist Michelle Meldrum went on to form the hugely successful Swedish co-ed band “Meldrum“ providing her guitar skills with them until her death in 2008, Drummer Linda McDonald brought in seasoned guitarist JoJo Draven and Tina Wood (Listo) formerly of No Shame and current day guitarist for the long running all female cover band Thundherstuck, but fans grew less enchanted with the constant changes and with the departure of long time vocalist Gigi Hangach in 1997 and founding member guitarist Michelle Meldrum just a year before, the writing was indeed on the wall. Drummer Linda McDonald would become an integral part and member of several all-female cover bands, most notably founding The Iron Maidens. Phantom Blue would call it a day officially in 2000 after Linda reformed the band once again with its final line up of JoJo Draven (Josephine Soegijanty) on guitar, Amy Tung on bass, and former Cherry Bomb vocalist Jeannine St. Clair on lead vocals. This line up would be short lived as Linda McDonald and JoJo Draven would focus solely on the cover band the Iron Maidens that McDonald continues to thrive with current day. Going Mad, from the 1989 album, Phantom Blue. Gigi Hangach-Vocals, Linda McDonald-Drums, Michelle Meldrum-Guitar, Kim Nielson-Bass, Nicole Couch-Guitar.