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Meet the most ground breaking rock group you’ve never heard of… yet. “FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK” – May 22 at 10 pm
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“FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK”
DIRECTED BY BOBBI JO HART IS SET FOR ITS USA BROADCAST PREMIERE AND STREAMING LAUNCH STARTING MAY 22 ON PBS, PBS.ORG AND THE PBS APP
Groundbreaking All–Female Rock Band – Fanny, Hailed as the “Female Beatles”, are Celebrated in this Joyous Film Featuring Interviews with Musicians Including Bonnie Raitt, Todd Rundgren, Kathy Valentine, John Sebastian, Cherie Currie, Charles Neville, Kate Pierson and More.
The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) and PBS announce the May 22nd broadcast premiere and streaming launch for the critically– acclaimed documentary FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK. The film, directed by Bobbi Jo Hart and winner of the coveted Hot Docs Audience Choice Award, chronicles the life and revival of this groundbreaking all–female rock group in 1970s America, revealing the fascinating untold story of a phenomenal band that were dubbed the “female Beatles”. FANNY THE RIGHT TO ROCK will premiere on PBS nationally Monday, May 22,10 p.m. ET, and stream on PBS.org and the PBS App.
Sometime in the late 1960s, in sunny Sacramento, two Filipina American sisters got together with other teenage girls to play music. Little did they know their garage band would evolve into the groundbreaking rock group Fanny, the first all–women band to release an LP with a major record label (Warner/Reprise w/ Grammy winning producer Richard Perry). Yet, despite releasing five critically acclaimed albums over five years,touring with famed bands from SLADE to CHICAGO and amassing a dedicated fan base of music legends including David Bowie, Fanny’s groundbreaking impact in music was written out of history…until now.
With incredible archival footage of the band’s rocking past, intercut with its revival with a new rock record deal, the film includes interviews with a large cadre of music icons, including Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott, Bonnie Raitt, The Go–Go’s Kathy Valentine, Todd Rundgren, The Runaways’ Cherie Currie, Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian, The B–52s’ Kate Pierson, Charles Neville and David Bowie guitarist and bassist Earl Slick and Gail Ann Dorsey. Fighting early barriers of race, gender and sexuality in the music industry, and now ageism, the incredible women of Fanny are ready to claim their hallowed place in the halls of rock ‘n’ roll fame.
Dennis Harvey of VARIETY hailed the film in his review writing: “FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK remains thoroughly engaging thanks to the demonstrable talent and brassy forthrightness of its central personalities. There’s no whiff of “nostalgia act” to their current music — these women are born rock lifers who clearly never stopped evolving creatively,
even if the hoped–for commercial rewards never quite arrived.”
“I am honored to celebrate the untold story of Fanny’s vital – yet buried – contributions to Rock & Roll with the public,” says the award–winning director Bobbi Jo Hart. “Just like Sister Rosetta Tharpe inspired ELVIS, Fanny shattered the glass ceiling of the genre to lay crucial groundwork for future bands of women to succeed, from The Runaways to The Go Go’s, and continue to do so today. Fanny deserves nothing less than to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2024.”
In the December 1999 Millennial issue of Rolling Stone Magazine, David Bowie hailed Fanny: “One of the most important female bands in American rock has been buried without trace: Fanny. They were one of the finest rock bands of their time… They’re as important as anybody else who’s ever been, ever…. Revivify Fanny. And I will feel that my work is done.”
On May 22 through the film FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK, audiences will discover one of the most important rock groups you’ve never heard of and Fanny will be revivified!