Electric Barbarellas

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The Electric Barbarellas were an American all-female alternative rock group whose career with producer Midi Mafia was depicted in a short-lived, critically panned, eponymous reality show that ran for one season on MTV.[1]

Background[]

In 2010, Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone personally paid over $500,000 to fly the group to New York to meet with record labels while filming a reality-TV series based on the trip. Redstone then forced Viacom-owned MTV to air the series. MTV executives originally balked at airing it because it was "so bad" but their resistance almost cost MTV's then-CEO Judy McGrath her job.[2] The series ended with a phone call from a record executive provoking much shrieking, but the group quickly faded into obscurity once the show ended.[3]

The group performed on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on May 27, 2011.[4]

Members[]

  • Heather Naylor, Chelsea Costa,[5] Gynger Fluellen, Missy, and Raven[6][7]

Discography[]

  • Strange World (2011) album
  • "Electric Barbarellas" (2011) single

The Alectrix[]

Two years later group founder Heather Naylor moved forward with her dream of having an all-female electro-pop music group by hiring Joe Simpson (father of Ashlee and Jessica Simpson) to audition new members for the group, now named The Alectrix.[8] Again, the ordeal was filmed as a reality-TV series and aired on MTV.[3] And again, soon after the series ended, the group faded quickly into obscurity.

Later, Naylor was sued by Sumner Redstone's girlfriend Sydney Holland for allegedly stealing her laptop. Naylor counter-sued, claiming Holland negatively influenced Redstone to intentionally interfere with the success of The Alectrix, however Naylor eventually dropped the lawsuit.[9]

References[]

  1. ^ Lyons, Margaret (2011-05-06). "The Electric Barbarellas Might Be the Phoniest Reality Show Ever". Vulture. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  2. ^ Lauria, Peter (2 June 2010). "Sex War at MTV: Sumner Redstone and his All-Girl Band, the Electric Barbarellas". The Daily Beast.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Hale, Mike (2013-06-03). "Girl Group Just Wants to Be Famous (Again)". The New York Times.
  4. ^ "This Week's Guests". The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Archived from the original on December 21, 2010. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  5. ^ Conover, Patricia (2011-05-12). "Irvine woman seeks stardom on MTV's 'Barbarellas'". Orange County Register. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  6. ^ Tanya Ghahremani (25 May 2011). "Interview: MTV's Electric Barbarellas Talk About Girl Groups & In-Fighting". Complex. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  7. ^ "The Meet & Greet: The Electric Barbarellas". Celebuzz. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  8. ^ Friedman, Molly (28 May 2013). "MTV takes a different route to discovering stars with 'The Alectrix'". New York Daily News.
  9. ^ "Former MTV Star Drops Legal Claim Against Sumner Redstone's Girlfriend".

External links[]

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