Tina Bell: Unsung Goddess of Grunge
In Our Headphones
KEXP
4.6 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 12 November 2021
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today, we bring you the story of Tina Bell, from KEXP's Sound & Vision podcast.
Bam Bam was a Black woman-fronted grunge band in Seattle in the early '80s — before grunge was a defined genre. Larry Mizell Jr. tells the story of Bam Bam and the life of frontwoman Tina Bell. He also explores why we’ve never heard of this group before and why their story has been erased from Seattle music history.
For more stories like these, including recent interviews with The War On Drugs, Tori Amos, and Mudhoney's Guy Maddison, check out KEXP's Sound & Vision wherever you listen to podcasts.
Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey, Song of the Day listeners, it's Larry Myzele, Jr. host of the afternoon show on KEXP. |
| 0:07.0 | I hope you enjoyed the last few tracks featured here on Song of the Day. |
| 0:11.2 | I actually had the chance to curate this week's picks. |
| 0:14.3 | And today's track is by Seattle-based artist Talia. |
| 0:17.8 | Did you know that Song of the Day features a local artist every Friday? |
| 0:22.0 | And did you know that we at KEXP produce another podcast called Sound and Vision, |
| 0:26.4 | where you're not only going to get local music, but the stories and context behind it? |
| 0:31.1 | I co-host Sound and Vision with Emily Fox. |
| 0:33.8 | And today, I'm sharing with you one of my favorite episodes from the series, |
| 0:37.8 | where I tell the story of Tina Bell, Seattle's unsung goddess of grunge. |
| 0:45.0 | Tina Bell, a black woman, fun at the band band band before the genre of grunge, |
| 0:50.1 | was even thought of or named. |
| 0:53.1 | But I'd never even heard her name somehow until the year 2020. |
| 0:57.2 | I spoke with some important figures from the story, |
| 0:59.3 | and we discussed why this group was basically erased from Seattle music history. |
| 1:03.9 | So keep listening right here for that story. |
| 1:06.3 | And if you enjoy stories like these, go ahead and subscribe to KEXP Sound and Vision, |
| 1:10.4 | wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 1:17.2 | Just a few months ago, I'm on my phone scrolling through the void, |
| 1:20.5 | and get a message from one of my most trusted homeboys. |
| 1:23.9 | What do you know about band-band, he asks? |
| 1:27.1 | So I'm about to say something about Pebbles when he sends a YouTube link. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KEXP, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of KEXP and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

