In early 2001, Cocktail Slippers was formed out of another all-female band called the Barbarellas. Bass-player Sugar Cane was one of the original members of the Barbarellas. Rocket Queen and Modesty Blaze joined after the then-guitar and keyboard players left. Eventually, the Barbarellas split up in 2000, but Sugar Cane, Modesty Blaze and Rocket Queen hooked up with a new drummer to continue the project. Shortly after it was decided that it would be better to rename the band. The new name was Cocktail Slippers. The band recorded their first album, Rock It! in early spring 2001 with Modesty Blaze on vocals and keyboard, Rocket Queen vocals and guitar, Sugar Cane on bass and Tammy Lee Sticks on drums. Later that year, the albumRock It! was released on the Norwegian label MTG Records. In 2004 the band recorded their follow-up album Mastermind, which was also released on MTG Records. In the same year, a cover of Wham!'s "Last Christmas" was released as a limited editionCD single. The song was made available as a digital download in 2009. In 2007, Cocktail Slippers was signed by Steven Van Zandt on his label Wicked Cool Records. In 2009 Cocktail Slippers recorded and released their third studio albumSaint Valentine's Day Massacre. The album was produced by the band together with Steven Van Zandt and co-produced by Jean Beauviour. The album features 12 tracks, although the USA vinyl release includes 2 bonus tracks as well. Besides own material, the album features two cover songs: Lesley Gore's "She's a Fool" and Connie Francis's "Don't Ever Leave Me". The record also holds two songs written by Little Steven—"Saint Valentine's Day Massacre" and "Heard You Got A Thing For Me". The album received positive reviews worldwide with respected critics such as Rolling Stone magazine's David Fricke describing the band as "Norwegian Devil Dolls" that "sing their you-done-me-wrong songs with avenging-angel-army-harmonies". Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad called the women "Norwegian Rock heroines" that "pick up where Blondie left off". Cocktail Slippers was submitted to one of the largest musicfestivals in the USA—South by Southwest both in 2010 and 2011. They performed at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park, Londonin the summer of 2012. Cocktail Slippers was featured in the episode "The Flamingo" in the Norwegian/American mafia comedyLilyhammer.
Personnel
Members
;Current members
Rocket Queen – lead guitar, backing and lead vocals
Sugar Cane – bass, backing vocals
Squirrel – guitar, backing vocals
Bella Donna – drums, percussion
Hope – lead vocals
Piper – keyboards, backing vocals
;Former members
Modesty Blaze/Lisa Farfisa – lead and backing vocals, keyboards
Tammy Lee Sticks – drums, percussion
Aurora de Morales – bass, backing vocals
Timeline
Discography
2001 - Rock It!, MTG Records, Norway
2003 - Housewives From Hell, Attitude Records, Finland
2004 - Last Christmas/Kids In America, Flipside Records, Norway
2004 - Mastermind, MTG Records, Norway
2007 - Coolest Songs Of The World Vol. 2, Wicked Cool Records, USA
2007 - Mastermind, Wicked Cool Records, USA
2008 - Christmas A Go-Go, Wicked Cool Records, USA