BETTY: Girlband the podcast

For over 36 years, girlband BETTY has been together through thick and thin. Sisters Amy and Elizabeth Ziff and their best friend Alyson Palmer tell coming of age stories of three girls who come together to play music, then tumble into a lifelong adventure of activism, humor, and all the trappings of rock and roll along the way. Together, the three friends find everything but fame. Why have they been together this long? What makes them stay together? Listen and follow their unexpected, fun, intense journey. Fasten your seat belts, it’s gonna be a bumpy musical ride. BETTY: Girlband the Podcast is sponsored by TomboyX.

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Episode 1

The beginning. The truth about how Amy, Alyson and Elizabeth first got together in the basement of their parents house in 1980. Their first band, Quiver was formed and they moved into Southeast DC and the craziness began.

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Episode 2

Their first all girl punk band gets a name and a reputation in D.C. Sex becomes a huge part of their lifestyle in ’80 and ’81. They have exciting gigs. Alyson and Elizabeth get arrested. Amy gets pregnant. The three start discovering feminism. Tension begins in the band. And this is just early days!

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Episode 3

Amy, Alyson and Elizabeth’s first band Quiver breaks apart. They stay together. Alyson gets a new job at a hot tub emporium. The beginning of AIDS and singing in hospitals. They start a new art/new wave band called On Beyond Zebra. 9:30 Club. Their first gay pride show hidden away in D.C.

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Episode 4

Elizabeth, Amy, Alyson consciousness raising time in the early 80’s. OBZ plays gigs. BETTY’s first appearance at the original 9:30 club. How they got the name BETTY. Alyson meets her important man. Elizabeth collapses in a lezzie disco. BETTY bombs at the Bayou. The put on a “show” at D.C. Space.

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Episode 5

BETTY is getting weird and doing their own thing. Amy, Alyson and Elizabeth talk about what made the performers. Amy gets a girlfriend. Elizabeth’s mom rejects her sexuality. Alyson’s talks about her mom. They talk about their favorite drink from Kramer Books in DC.

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Episode 6

BETTY in DC late 80’s. Bands they saw at 9:30 club. The drinking. The girlfriends. Filling up on things when feeling vulnerable from writing and performing. The horrifying republicans. D.C. Space the bar and what went on after closing. The cool salons for music and art in dc. Amy chugs frat guys under the table. BETTY gets their first tour.

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Episode 7

Late 80’s BETTY tours the mid-west and starts doing radio for the first time in Chicago. First cell phones. Drinking and f*****g their way through the Edinburgh fringe festival and getting booked in London for months. Meeting lifelong friends and touring, touring, touring…They meet producer Mike Thorne who looms large in their career. They still don’t get signed.

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Episode 8

BETTY ON TOUR! Amy, Alyson, and Elizabeth talk for a minute from Germany on tour.

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Episode 9

The last gasp of the 80’s for BETTY. They’re discovered by HBO and picked up to do a children’s tv series called Encyclopedia. They do the music up in the Berkshire theater festival with director Michael Grief. They all go through the death of a mother.

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Episode 10

BETTY’s Pride episode! Celebrating LGBTA rights past, present, and future. It’s early 1990’s in NYC and BETTY travels to Toronto and meet Miss Maggie Moore. Lesbian chic hits NYC with clubs like Sunday’s at Café Tabac. BETTY meets Gloria Steinem for the first time. The Early 90’s are fagtastic! Oh and there’s a new BETTY baby in town….

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Episode 11

BETTY’S first few years living in New York City are crazy and filled with music, art and the promise of great things to come. Or is it? They blow a big TV meeting deal, hang with the B-52’s and get into the music scene in the the early 90’s in New York.

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Episode 12

BETTY comes into the world of the east village in the mid 90’s. They find themselves at Wigstock in the thick of the drag revolution. The perform at Carnegie Hall, they get their first stalker and they put out their 2nd album called Limboland. New York is full of freaks and fun at the time.

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Episode 13

BETTY completes the last episode of season one by answering questions that listeners have written in to them on Instagram IM @bettyrules. More music, more sex, more laughing. Thanks for a great season. Spread the BETTY gospel.

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Ep. 14 - Holiday podcast

A holiday special podcast from Amy, Alyson and Elizabeth. Cookies, songs, politics and cheer in a very crazy time in the world. HAPPY HANUKKAH, MERRY XMAS, JOYOUS KWANZAA and LIT SOLSTICE! unwrap and listen. Thanks for a great year.

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Ep. 15 - Special Election 2020

After months of separation, Amy, Elizabeth and Alyson sit down together in the East Village of NYC to discuss the upcoming election and the intensity of what the outcome will be. Don’t despair there is anger, laughter, fear, hope, outrage and most of all the music they create together. Vote for your lives. Biden/Harris and turn the Senate blue.

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