EXCLUSIVE: Writer Helen Mullane Shares The Real Life Inspirations Behind ComiXology’s ‘Groupies’

With Groupies #2 out today on ComiXology by writer Helen Mullane and artist Tula Lotay we have been allowed to share with you a specially written post by Mullane in which she shares a short ‘deep dive’ list into the real world of groupies and rockstars in the ’60s/’70s. A fascinating read from an era of rock and roll that could never be replicated today. For good and bad. So, buckle up and read on folks, as Mullane looks at both the excessive and darker sides of this era and offers up some background reading for the more avid fan of the digital-first comic book series and the era it covers:

The real world of the groupies in the sixties and seventies was full of fun and adventure. It could be glamorous and there were moments of magic. But when you examine the scene through modern eyes there’s no escaping the darkness. Groups of girls dominated the LA scene who were so young they were dubbed ‘The Baby Groupies’. Girl’s were kidnapped, girls too young to go on tour were made the legal guardians of their boyfriends, many rockstars loved the girls in private but were disgusted by them in public. 

None of this changes who the girl’s actually were, or how they appear to themselves. Not just exploited, but People with insatiable thirsts for excitement, horny, gorgeous, incorrigible. 

Here’s a multimedia selection of sources that went into my research that showcase the good, the bad and the ugly of the groupie scene.

I’M WITH THE BAND: CONFESSIONS OF A GROUPIE

I read a host of memoirs researching this story, and the one that really stands out is I’m With The Band by Pamela Des Barres, and her follow-up Let’s Spend The Night Together. Des Barres writes with warmth and wit about her time on the rock scene. Her story, alongside other fantastic books like The Last Living Slut by Roxana Shirazi, is to a large extent the only way to get a full, kind-hearted perspective of women who are often flattened by the male gaze into broken cyphers, shadows of the real people. 

GROUPIES

This documentary from 1970 features famous groupies like Pamela Des Barres and Cynthia Plaster Caster talking about the scene, in the midst of the scene. Unfettered by nostalgia, the documentary is a very unglamorous look at the life of the cool kids, the bands and the girls (and guys) that adored them. The movie features some incredible live footage of bands who were massive on the scene at the time, but who never quite reached the dizzy heights of Led Zepellin, The Rolling Stones et al, like 10 Years After and Spooky Tooth. 

GROUPIES AND OTHER GIRLS 

This 1969 article from Rolling Stone is credited with first coining the term Groupies. It’s fascinating to read the reporters Jerry Hopkins, John Burks and Paul Nelson’s take on the girls who orbited the rock scene. Featuring an amazing selection of photos of the most iconic girls at the time, and interviews with groupies and rock stars alike, this is an amazing time capsule of a less credulous time. Like is so often the case, women enjoying the fruits of the sexual revolution were treated with a disdain never visited upon the men. 

STAR MAGAZINE

A celebration of the girlhood of the early seventies or a cheap piece of exploitative trash? The jury’s out but there’s no denying that Star magazine is an incredible curio. The magazine, produced in LA for about a year before it shuttered, billed itself as the magazine for foxy ladies, and featured photo shoots with ‘Baby Groupies’ like Sable Starr and Queenie, who dominated the scene and famously bedded a whole stable of superstars when they were far too young to do so. 

Groupies #2 is out now with Groupies #1 available here.