Anisette, photo via Vlassis13

Did you or anyone you know ever have the book “Unknown Legends of Rock ‘n’ Roll“ by Richie Unterberger?  The book catalogs and describes some of the most influential and original, often insane, musicians from the 1950’s – 1990’s who for one reason or another never attained mainstream success or fame, including Nick Drake (before that Volkwagon commercial came out!)

I bought the book in 2000 at Saint Mark’s Bookshop and so did a lot of my friends, mainly because it came with a kick-ass compilation CD of rare songs.  I listened to it so much that when I accidentally stepped on it and broke it I bought a second copy of the book just to get a new CD.

So I was thrilled to find out that Anisette, the lead-singer of the Danish 60’s rock band The Savage Rose, whose song ‘A Girl I Knew’ is on the Unknown Legends compilation CD, will be performing this Friday at Joe’s Pub.  As Unterberger notes in his introduction, The Savage Rose is one of the exceptions in the book, having achieved great commercial success in their homeland, Denmark, but are barely known in the United States.

I can also vouch for Anisette’s upcoming performance because last night I was lucky enough to see her sing one song as a special guest during her daughter Naja Rosa’s set at Spike Hill in Williamsburg.  Anisette went up on stage, barefoot like her daughter, dedicated the song to Malcolm X and went on to sing with such a captivating stage presence and strong voice that I felt privileged to experience every moment.

Last night at Spike Hill:

Friday, August 14, 2009
Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St, New York, NY
11:30pm
The Woodstock Celebration
featuring Anisette of The Savage Rose
Buy tickets

The Savage Rose – Official Site