Joanna Spock Dean
Founder of L.A. seminal punk band Backstage Pass, Joanna “Spock” Dean played bass and was one of the primary singer/songwriters in the band. The mostly-female Backstage Pass had been formed in 1976 and would play extensively in Southern and Northern California on bills with Devo, The Mumps, Wall Of Voodoo, The Nuns, Elvis Costello (opening his first US tour), The Screamers, The Weirdos and others. Other members of the group included such notable musicians as Marina Del Rey (Marina Muhlfriedel), Genny Body (Genny Schorr), Ché Zuro and Holly Beth Vincent. The band dissolved in 1979, but Dean continued to play with a number of local bands as bass player and percussionist and would go on to be influential in the L.A. music scene of the 1980’s and beyond especially in the formation of the “Paisley Underground”, with the apartment she shared with Steve Wynn (of The Dream Syndicate) and Vicki Peterson (of The Bangles) becoming known to locals as the “Spock Hotel”.
She collaborated with Redd Kross on a cover of her own Backstage Pass song “Legend (Come On Up To Me)” as well as two songs she did with White Flag “You Got Me” and “Hot Bitch (With An Electric Guitar)” for the 1984 soundtrack to the film Desperate Teenage Lovedolls (credited for lead vocals on all three songs under the pseudonym ‘Joanna “Spockola” McDonald’). She would go on to manage Redd Kross a few years later during their Neurotica album period in the late 1980’s. Sadly, Joanna “Spock” Dean passed away on May 8, 2024.
Upon hearing of Joanna Spock Dean’s death in May 2024, the following post was made to the official Redd Kross instagram account:
“We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Joanna “Spock” Dean. She co managed Redd Kross during our Neurotica period and collaborated with us on the Desperate Teenage Lovedolls soundtrack where we backed her up singing “Legend (Come On Up To Me)”, under the pseudonym of the Lovedolls (featuring Joanna “Spockola” McDonald)❤️❤️.
We knew of her first as fans of her band Backstage Pass where she sang and played bass . Their aforementioned song ‘Legend (Come On Up To Me)’ originally appeared on the Saturday Night Pogo compilation in 1978 which was an early inroad for us learning about the burgeoning LA punk and new wave scenes. A few years later we would meet Spock when another scene was beginning to coalesce around her housemates at the “Spock Hotel”, an apartment she had on Crescent Heights Blvd in Hollywood. Roommates Steve Wynn of the Dream Syndicate and Vicki Peterson of the Bangles were helping to shape a musical movement that would be dubbed the “Paisley Underground” by journalist and fans alike. Spock was in the center once again, the connective tissue often bringing together other wise disparate elements of people, places and things helping to make all of it happen. As Vicki Peterson recently said “Spock shined a light on all of us”, and this is most definitely true for Redd Kross.
She was a unique character who loved rock ‘n’ roll and embodied its spirit in a myriad of ways. To be in her rock ‘n’ roll light of love was a privileged and glorious experience for which we are eternally grateful. She will be sadly missed but never forgotten. Rest in peace Spock."