Cocktail Slippers

Cocktail Slippers is a five-piece, all-female, rock band from Oslo, Norway.

Cocktail Slippers
Cocktail Slippers
Background information
Origin	Oslo, Norway
Genres	garage rock, rock and roll, power pop[1]
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Wicked Cool Records
Members	Hope (vocals) Rocket Queen (guitar) Vega (guitar) Sugar (bass) SMASH (drums)
Past members	Miss A Okay (drums) Squirrel (guitar) Bella Donna (drums) Piper (keyboard) Aurora De Morales (bass) Tammy Lee Sticks (drums) Modesty Blaze (vocals/keyboard)
Website	thecocktailslippers.com

Cocktail Slippers was formed in 2001 and has released five studio albums. They are known for their energetic live performances and have played alongside artists such as Nancy Sinatra, Crowded House, Elvis Costello and The Strokes.^[2][3] The band is continuously touring Europe and the US.

The band's main musical influences are 70's rock, like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, as well as 90's Scandinavian rock.^[4]

Background

In early 2001, Cocktail Slippers was formed out of another all-female band called The Barbarellas:^[5][6]

Bass-player Astrid "Sugar Cane" Waller was one of the original members of The Barbarellas. Stine "Rocket Queen" Bendiksen and Ingjerd "Modesty Blaze" Sandven Kleivan (also known as "Lisa Farfisa") joined after the then-guitar and keyboard players left. When The Barbarellas split up in 2000, Sugar Cane (later shortened to simply Sugar), Modesty Blaze and Rocket Queen hooked up with a new drummer to continue the project. Shortly after it was decided that it would be better to rename the band.^[7] The new name was Cocktail Slippers.

The band recorded their first album, Rock It! in early spring 2001 with Modesty Blaze on vocals and keyboard, Rocket Queen vocals and guitar, Sugar on bass and Tammy Lee Sticks on drums. Later that year, the album Rock It! was released on the Norwegian label MTG Records.

In 2004 the band recorded their follow-up album Mastermind, which was also released on MTG Records. In the same year, a cover of Wham!'s "Last Christmas" was released as a limited edition CD single. The song was made available as a digital download in 2009.

In 2007, Cocktail Slippers was signed by Steven Van Zandt ("Little Steven") on his label Wicked Cool Records.^[8]

In 2009, Cocktail Slippers recorded and released their third studio album Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. The album was produced by the band together with Steven Van Zandt and co-produced by Jean Beauviour (Kiss, Blondie, The Ramones). The album features 12 tracks, with the US vinyl release including two additional tracks. Besides own material, the album features cover versions of Lesley Gore's "She's a Fool" and Connie Francis' "Don't Ever Leave Me".

The record also holds two songs written by Little Steven: "Saint Valentine's Day Massacre" and "Heard You Got a Thing for Me". The album received positive reviews worldwide with respected critics such as Rolling Stone magazine's David Fricke describing the band as "Norwegian Devil Dolls" that "sing their you-done-me-wrong songs with avenging-angel-army-harmonies".^[9] Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad called the women "Norwegian Rock heroines" that "pick up where Blondie left off".^[10]

Cocktail Slippers was submitted to one of the largest music festivals in the US, South by Southwest, both in 2010 and 2011.^[7] They performed at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park, London in the summer of 2012.

In 2012, they participated in the national finals of the Eurovision song contest.^[11]

Cocktail Slippers was featured in the episode "The Flamingo" in the Norwegian/American mafia comedy Lilyhammer.^[12]

Visual style

The band has always been conscious of its visual expression, and over the years has experimented with different looks. They’ve performed as sailor girls, tennis players, and gangsters. More recently, they’ve collaborated with the designer Cårejånni Enderud, who has added glam and glitter to their costumes.^[13] The idea is to convey a sense of girl power, in a style reminiscent of WWE wrestling with exaggerated costumes – superheroes covered in glitter.^[14]

Camp is important both for their stage names and overall style. The band name references the look of Alexis from the TV soap Dynasty.^[14] They typically use the show’s theme song to start their concerts.^[15]

Personnel

Members

Current members Stine "Rocket Queen" Bendiksen – lead guitar, backing vocals (2001–present) Astrid "Sugar" Waller – bass, backing vocals (2001–2012, 2016–present) Maria "Smash" Storaas – drums, percussion (2022–present) Silje "Hope" Hope – lead vocals (2011–present) Sara "Vega" Andersson – lead guitar, backing vocals (2018–present)

Former members Modesty Blaze/Lisa Farfisa – lead and backing vocals, keyboards (2001-2011) Tammy Lee Sticks – drums, percussion (2001-2008) Miss A Okay – drums, percussion (2019-2022) Aurora de Morales – bass, backing vocals (2012-2016) Piper – keyboards, backing vocals (2011–2016) Squirrel – guitar, backing vocals (2005-2012, 2015–2018) Bella Donna – drums, percussion (2008–2019)

Timeline

Discography

Albums

• 2001 - Rock It!, MTG Records, Norway (CD)
• 2004 - Mastermind, MTG Records, Norway (CD)
• 2009 - Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, Wicked Cool Records, US (CD + digital download)
• 2009 - Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, Wicked Cool Records, US (vinyl w/2 bonus tracks- Go Get It! and Good Luck Charm)
• 2014 - People Talk, Wicked Cool Records, US (Vinyl, CD + digital download)
• 2022 - Shout It Out Loud!, Wicked Cool Records, US (Vinyl, CD + digital download)

EP, singles

• 2003 - Housewives From Hell, Attitude Records, Finland (Limited 12" vinyl)
• 2004 - Last Christmas/Kids In America, Flipside Records, Norway (Limited CD single)
• 2007 - Coolest Songs Of The World Vol. 2, Wicked Cool Records, US (compilation CD)
• 2007 - Mastermind, Wicked Cool Records, US (CD + digital download)
• 2008 - Christmas A Go-Go, Wicked Cool Records, US (compilation CD + digital download)
• 2009 - Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, Wicked Cool Records, US (7" vinyl)
• 2009 - Rock It!, Wicked Cool Records, US (CD + digital download)
• 2009 - Last Christmas, Wicked Cool Records, US (digital download)
• 2010 - It's Christmas, Wicked Cool Records, US (digital download)
• 2012 - Keeps on Dancing, Wicked Cool Records, US (digital download)
• 2012 - Soul Salvation of Love, Wicked Cool Records, US (digital download)
• 2015 - "Deaf Before Compromise... A Volume Brutale Tribute to Backstreet Girls", Voices of Wonder, Norway (Vinyl + digital download)
• 2018 - "Excuse Me", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download)
• 2020 - "Night Train", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download)
• 2020 - "Like A Song Stuck In My Head", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download)
• 2020 - "City On Fire", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download)
• 2021 - "She Devil", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download w/1 bonus tracks-Too Good To Be True)
• 2021 - "Be The One", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download)
• 2021 - "I'll Be Here For You", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download)
• 2023 - "Enda Mere Julepønk i Norge", Fucking North Pole Records (vinyl + digital download)
• 2023 - "Good Love", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download)
• 2023 - "123", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download)
• 2024 - "I Still Dream You", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download)
• 2025 - "Back Where You Belong", Wicked Cool Records, US (single + digital download)