Rubyfruit played Birmingham and Chicago
1977
“Rubyfruit consisted of Caroline Hutton,
Lorna Eady and myself. Rubyfruit came about because some of us had been to Frankie
Armstrong’s voice workshops; Caroline Hutton took me along, so there
was already this interest in women's music, and all those Bulgarian
harmony things, it grew out of that. I was at that point sharing a
house with Caroline and several other people. We performed at the Gay
Community Centre and other places. We actually performed at Mountain Moving
Coffee House in Chicago, we went to Chicago and stayed with my family.
We performed at the Gay Community Centre, before that
disastrous Women's Liberation Conference in Birmingham, (1978) because Lorna
pretty much left feminism and lesbianism after that conference. There
were a number of women it just drove out and away completely.
I can remember three songs specifically written by Rubyfruit:
the ‘Birmingham Lesbian Song’ , ‘The Kerb Crawling Song’, and our own
version of Women's Army’ (is marching).
Women's Army - Rubyfruit version
Chorus:
'Oh sisters don’t you weep, don’t you mourn.
Oh sisters don’t
you weep, don’t you mourn.
The Women’s Army is marching.
Oh sisters
don’t you weep.'
We wrote a verse for each of the six demands of
the Women's Liberation movement.
'Contraception must be
free so we’ll only be pregnant when we want to be.
Abortion on demand must also be
free. No more unwanted pregnancies.
Twenty four hour nursery care.
While you work, leave your children there'.
I don’t remember the equal pay, equal
opportunities,or the sexuality ones.
(The words of the Birmingham Lesbian Song and the Kerb Crawling Song can be found in separate memories)
Contributed by: Betty Hagglund, 50