The Yo-Yo Gang

Canada

1992

29 Min

Color

English

Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
1
2
3
4
5

|

PROD Jürgen Brüning, G.B. Jones

DP G.B. Jones, Jena von Brücker

CAST Caroline Azar, Bruce LaBruce, Beverly Breckenridge, Donna Dresch, G.B. Jones, Leslie Mah, Deke Nihilson, Suzy Sinatra, Anita Smith, Jena von Brücker, Klaus von Brücker

ED G.B. Jones

Synopsis

The Yo-Yo Gang is a thirty minute ‘exploitation movie’ about girl gangs released in 1992 that has become a cult film.

Directed by G.B. Jones, this ‘no budget film’ follows the exploits of two girl gangs, the “Yo-Yo Gang” and the “Skateboard Bitches”, as a gangwar erupts between them. The tag line for the film reads: “Gang girls frequently out-curse, out-fight and out-sex every boys’ gang around”.

In between fighting, the film features scenes of the girls getting tattooed, piercing each others ears, beating up boys, playing arcade games, riding scooters and talking on the phone.

The film was made using Super 8mm film format. It was shot in Toronto, ON., Canada, and in San Francisco, CA., U.S.A. Posters and stills from the film are featured in the book named after the director, G.B. Jones.

The theme song, “Yo-Yo” is performed by Fifth Column and the film also features songs by Human Ashtrays and by Anti-Scrunti Faction, seen performing their song “Frat Boy”. The soundtrack, including these bands and songs, was a cassette tape only release on Bitch Nation Tapes.

The film stars a number of notable musicians, including both members of Anti-Scrunti Faction, Leslie Mah, also of Tribe 8, and Tracy Thomas; Donna Dresch of Team Dresch; and Caroline Azar, Beverly Breckenridge, and Anita Smith, all Fifth Column members.

The cover of the Fifth Column album 36-C features a still shot of Jena von Brücker from the film. The cover of the Fifth Column 7 " single, “All Women Are Bitches”, features a still shot of Anita Smith from the film, and the flipside, “Donna”, features a still shot of Donna Dresch from the film.

The Yo-Yo Gang has played at film festivals around the world since its release and continues to do so today.

Previously, G.B. Jones had directed the short film The Troublemakers, released in 1990. After The Yo-Yo Gang, she directed the feature film The Lollipop Generation, released in 2008. –Wikipedia

Director

G.B. Jones

G. B. Jones is a Canadian artist, filmmaker, musician, and publisher of zines based in Toronto, Canada. Her drawings have been featured at galleries around the world, and her films screened at numerous film festivals, both in Canada and abroad. Her most recent collaboration has been with Opera Arcana, featuring Minus Smile of Kids on TV.

In the early 1980s Jones joined her first band, the experimental industrial synth punk group, Bunny & the Lakers. Led by songwriter Peter Morgan and including Howard Pope, the band released one limited edition LP called Numbers, which has since become a collector’s item. The trio performed live only once in Toronto.

From the early 1980s to the late 1990s, Jones performed with the experimental post-punk band Fifth Column, playing drums, guitar and background vocals, and was one of the co-founders of the group. The band’s first album, To Sir With Hate was released in 1985. The same year saw the release of the influential fanzine J.D… read more

G. B. Jones is a Canadian artist, filmmaker, musician, and publisher of zines based in Toronto, Canada. Her drawings have been featured at galleries around the world, and her films screened at numerous film festivals, both in Canada and abroad. Her most recent collaboration has been with Opera Arcana, featuring Minus Smile of Kids on TV.

In the early 1980s Jones joined her first band, the experimental industrial synth punk group, Bunny & the Lakers. Led by songwriter Peter Morgan and including Howard Pope, the band released one limited edition LP called Numbers, which has since become a collector’s item. The trio performed live only once in Toronto.

From the early 1980s to the late 1990s, Jones performed with the experimental post-punk band Fifth Column, playing drums, guitar and background vocals, and was one of the co-founders of the group. The band’s first album, To Sir With Hate was released in 1985. The same year saw the release of the influential fanzine J.D.s, which Jones founded and co-published with Bruce LaBruce, the initials ‘J.D.s’ standing for Juvenile Delinquents. Among other things, the editors wrote a manifesto for the punk publication Maximum Rock ‘N’ Roll and, at the end of the decade, released a cassette tape entitled J.D.s Top Ten Tape, which featured bands from the U.S.A., Canada, New Zealand, and the UK.

Jones has directed and appeared in a number of underground films. In 1990, the two J.D.s editors held J.D.s movie nights in London, Toronto, Montreal, Buffalo, New York and San Francisco, showing their no budget films made on Super 8 mm film. The Troublemakers premiered at this time and proved influential, although rarely screened afterwards till the mid 2000s. In 1991, she starred in the feature filmNo Skin Off My Ass by Bruce LaBruce, which has been said by Gus Van Sant to be Kurt Cobain’s favourite movie ⁴. To date, her own films have all been made on Super 8. Her best known work from this period is perhaps The Yo-Yo Gang, released in 1992, a 30-minute exploitation movie about girl gangs. The film stars a number of well-known musicians, including Fifth Column members Caroline Azar and Beverly Breckenridge.

The group went on to release three singles and two more albums. All-Time Queen Of The World was released in 1990 and a video for the song “Like This” was produced. Their last album, 36-C, contained perhaps their best-known and most controversial song, “All Women Are Bitches”. Released prior to the album as a single by K Records in 1992, “All Women Are Bitches” was reviewed by Everett True and chosen “Single of the Week” by the UK paper Melody Maker. Along with the “36-C” album, the band released two more singles and also appeared on a number of compilation albums and film soundtracks. —wikipedia

read less