Faces & PlCES
Middle-aged friends bring laughter in leopard print and song
For16 years, Beth Anderson, Sharon Englund and LaVonne Garcia have brought their unique music and humor to Minnesota with songs like The Minnesota State Fair, Who Slipped Tina the Jalapeno Pepper? and One Cold Beer.
“I want to give laughter to people,” Englund said. “I think it’s essential to laugh.” Anderson agrees.
The group presents a variety of original music — sometimes jazzy, sometimes country, but truly an array of styles that is always humorous. “These are story songs that don’t really fit into any category,” said Anderson, a piano teacher. She composes the songs, sometimes with input from her cohorts.
“Beth pulls from real life,” Englund said of the inspiration behind the songs. “People can relate to them (the songs). That’s what makes them so funny.”
Songs like Big Butts Are Comin’ Back is an audience favorite. “It’s the fashion news from Paris thing. Big butts are coming back,” Englund laughs. Other popular songs include My Legs Are Blue From Waitin’ on You and Wildkats Opera.
“I think there’s honesty to our songs,” said Anderson, who performs on-stage as Liz Ranes. “…honesty for middle-aged women.” Audiences find that appealing. Satire is also thrown into some songs.
In addition to addressing the issue of aging, WILDKATS! songs cover current news topics, life’s problems and even Minnesota-themed subjects. Last Week I Had Butter, Cozy Middle-Aged Man and Saxy Bill (as in former President Bill Clinton) are among the 70 songs in their repertoire. And don’t forget Pastor’s Wife. Englund, known as LaDonna Rose on stage, is a pastor’s wife and a fiber artist. She designs the group’s costumes and incorporates leopard print into every outfit.
Take in a WILDKATS! production and you will discover these three middle-aged women in costumes like tutus, fruit basket headpieces, green satin jumpers and leopard tennies. It’s all part of the WILDKATS! image. The performances by Englund, Anderson and Garcia, who goes by the stage name Vonnie Valdez and who works as a nurse by day, are outrageous, funny and twisted, Englund said.
About once a month the trio takes to the stage, singing at parties, conventions, service organization gatherings, corporate events, public venues and elsewhere. They’ve even performed at the Minnesota State Fair. Every other year they plan a special Mother’s Day show that includes a sleazy emcee, Vic Vegas, and Jayne Fondue, a prop girl. They jokingly say they will perform anywhere there is food. “We’re chubby and we like to eat,” said Anderson.
The WILDKATS! have also recorded their music on two CDs, Done to Purrr-Fection and On the Prowl. Another selection, Tastefully Tacky, is recorded on audio cassette. In 2006, they published a memoir, WILDKATS! Our Life in Leopard — Confessions of a Middle-aged Girl Group. That humorous book includes photos, lyrics and a CD sampling of their songs.
For more information about the WILDKATS!, their recordings and book, log onto www.wildkats.net..
The Minnesota State Fair
When I was a young girl, we’d drive in from Albert Lea
To see what there was to see, at the State Fair
Excited as I could be, thinking of all we’d see—
The rides of the Midway—would I win a teddy bear?
What is so fine as the Minnesota State Fair?
What is so fun as a day at the Fair?
Roller coaster, merry-go-round, Ferris wheel, tilt-o-whirl
Sometimes we’d spin all day, then we would hurl!
My dad was a kidder, a Norwegian kidder
He’d play the same joke on us, year after year
“The Midway’s been closed, kids—don’t look so morose, kids.
We’ll go to Machinery Hill—you can ride the John Deere!”
Oh, what is so fine as the Minnesota State Fair?
What is so fun as a day at the Fair?
Climbing those big green things—what are they? Don’t care.
It was something to do while our parents stood there.
In time I appreciated the State Fair exhibits
Queens cut in butter, prize-winning breeds
World’s largest pumpkin and world’s fastest blender
I became a big spender—had my portrait done in seeds!
Oh, what is so fine as the Minnesota State Fair?
Culture and sophistication so rare
You can have the Metropolitan, Guggenheim, Louvre
I’ll take the Art Barn at the Minnesota Fair.
Can we talk? I’d like to talk about carnies
Calling to us with their worldly leer
Chest hair and back hair, biceps and tattoos
“Join up with us, honey—there’s more to life than this here.”
But I said—what is so fine as the Minnesota State Fair?
What is so fun as a day at the Fair?
And what is so sexy as Minnesota farmers?
Don’t you love what a feed store cap does for their hair?
There’s just one more topic that I’d like to cover—
Caloric consumption at every turn
Milk—economical, food—gastronomical
I’ve got an ulcer, but it’s worth the heartburn!
Oh, weenie on a stick, pickle on a stick,
Ice cream on a stick—can I have a lick?
Cheese on a stick, candy on a stick,
Pizza on a stick—come on, that’s a trick!
Chicken on a stick, apple on a stick,
Walleye on a stick—that would make me sick!
I think I’ve had enough of the Minnesota Fair.
But wasn’t it grand at the Minnesota State Fair!
(Reprinted with permission of the WILDKATS!)