''Positively Phranc'' is an album by the American musician

Phranc Phranc (born Susan Gottlieb; August 28, 1957), is an American singer-songwriter whose career began playing in several bands in the late 1970s Los Angeles punk rock scene. Her musical style later shifted during the 1980s as a solo artist, into ...

, released in 1991. Phranc promoted the album by touring with Morrissey. Phranc was dropped by Island Records after the album's release.

Production

"Gertrude Stein" is Phranc's

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of Jonathan Richman's "

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

"; D.J. Bonebrake played drums on the song. "Tipton" is a tribute to

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

musician Billy Tipton. " Surfer Girl", a duet with Syd Straw, is a cover of the

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

song. "Outta Here" is about the deaths of friends due to AIDS.

Dave Alvin David Albert Alvin (born November 11, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He is a former and founding member of the roots rock band the Blasters. Alvin has recorded and performed as a solo artist since the late 1980s a ...

played guitar on "Hitchcock".

Two Nice Girls Two Nice Girls were a self-styled " dyke rock" band from Austin, Texas, featuring singer-songwriter Gretchen Phillips. They were together from 1985 to 1992, releasing three albums on Rough Trade Records. History The group formed in 1985, ori ...

sang on "I'm Not Romantic".

Critical reception

'' The Gazette'' wrote that "Phranc proves that all anyone really needs is six strings and a point of view." The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' opined that ''Positively Phranc'' "is miles ahead of her first two albums, offering wit, a sense of balance, musical diversity and polished artistry that simply wasn't there before." ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' noted that the album "intermittently brings tasteful electric accompaniment into the picture while narrowing the lyrical focus to mostly concentrate on romance." ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' lamented that "Phranc pens ironic little ditties, high on giggles but low on the insights that should come out of a lesbian's daily life in the straight world." Robert Christgau considered "'64 Ford" to be the album's best track.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Phranc; except where indicated # "I Like You" # "I'm Not Romantic" # "'64 Ford" # "Hitchcock" # "Tipton" # "Dress Code" # "Why?" # "

Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny West neighborhood and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris ...

" ( Jonathan Richman) # " Surfer Girl" ( Brian Wilson) # "Outta Here"

Personnel

- Producer, vocals, guitar * Warren Bruleigh - Producer

Release details

References

External links

Advocate review
{{Authority control Phranc albums 1991 albums Island Records albums