Grace Jones has a theory that “men need to be penetrated…at least once in their lifetime.” The singer, actress and muse thinks it would help men “understand what it is like to receive,” which could (perhaps) “...help take some of the aggression out of the world.”
It’s a theory Jones has perhaps held for a while, as during the making of the movie A View to a Kill, in which she played villain May Day against Roger Moore’s James Bond, she (jokingly) tried out her theory. In a seductive scene between May Day and Bond, Jones surprised Moore by disrobing to reveal a large rubber strap-on attached to her body. She then pounced on the unsuspecting 007. The prank left Bond shaken, but not apparently stirred.
Grace learned all about male aggression from an early age. She was brought up by her grandparents, who were devoutly Christian, tough, hard, and violent. She was frequently whipped by her grandfather over anything he considered to be a misdemeanor.
“Sometimes we’d have to climb a tree and pick our own whips to be disciplined with. When you had to pick your own whip, you knew you were in for it.”
Such aggressive behavior taught Grace to hide her emotions form her family, though later it did inspire her to create a fearsome alter ego.
“I think the scary character comes from male authority within my religious family. They had that first, and subliminally I took that on. I was shit scared of them.”
A few years later, Grace moved to America to be with her parents. Without the brutish discipline of her grandparents, Grace started to rebel, and gave up religion for the world of music, art and theater. She became a model, and started to hang-out with Andy Warhol and his Factory scene, and in the late 1970s, she began recording.
Her collaboration with artist and designer Jean-Paul Goude produced several decade-defining fashions, music promos, and ads. In 1982, this perfect balance of Grace and Goude produced a video of Jones’ concert A One Man Show, which along with Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense is one of the best concerts of the 1980s—a brilliant piece of theater and music, which is long overdue a full release on DVD. Track listing, “Warm Leatherette,” “Walking In The Rain,” “Feel Up,” “La Vie En Rose,” “Demolition Man,” “Pull Up To The Bumper,” “Private Life,” “My Jamaican Guy,” “Living My Life,” and “Libertango/Strange I’ve Seen That Face Before.”
Bonus!
Grace Jones rarities. After a lot of hard work and constant searching, YouTube user ScorpioJoe has compiled a selection of the “living legend’s rarest and sought-after tracks.”
01. “7 Day Weekend” [radio edit]
02. “Love Bites” [7-inch fright night mix]
03. “Sex Drive” [hard drive mix]
04. “Typical Male” [the real mix]
05. “Living My Life” [7-inch radio edit]
06. “Ring Of Fire” [demo]
07. “Man Around The House” [demo]
08. “She’s Lost Control”
09. “Evilmainya”
10. “Let Joy & Innocence Prevail”
11. “Storm”
12. “Volunteer” [demo]