She left home at age sixteen and supported herself by working as a lifeguard, stripper and macrobiotic cook before traveling to Europe, ending up in New York City by 1976. She performed in Rod Swenson's live sex shows there until they decided to form a band that would break all the rules.
Debuting at punk mecca, C.B.G.B's in the late 70's. The Plasmatics' live shows were a mix of self-described “Wreck and Roll” with the sole aim of shocking audiences out of complacency. Television sets were bludgeoned with sledgehammers. Guitars were sawed in half. Eventually, cars would be blown up as all while Wendy cavorted, sometimes topless, covered in whipped cream. The Plasmatics' early music was simple proto-punk, like a sped up, much more threatening version of The Ramones. The lyrics attacked consumerism, sexism and conformity. The songs had equally provocative titles: “Butcher Baby,” “Sex Junkie,” and “Black Leather Monster” among them. Their third release, Metal Priestess, featured a budding new hybrid of punk and heavy metal with Wendy's androgynous vocals growing from grunts to a more melodic singing style. In 1981, Wendy was arrested on obscenity charges following a performance in Milwaukee. She was reportedly thrown to the ground and kicked in the face, requiring stitches. Rod Swenson was beaten unconscious when he tried to intervene. She was acquitted of all charges. She was arrested in Cleveland on the same charge but was again acquitted. The band wrote a song about the
The group made several unforgettable appearances on television on shows such as “Fridays” where Wendy was the first woman to appear on national television with a mohawk. She was also the first woman to be featured on the cover of metal magazine, Kerrang!” in 1984. She made the cover of Vegetarian Times magazine also in 1984. She did a pictorial for Playboy, skydiving nude, in1986.
Ever ahead of their time, their fourth album, Coup d'Etat, was recorded in Germany by Scorpions producer, Dieter Dierks who gave them a more metallic edge. This album included their cover of Motorhead's “No Class.” and demonstrated once and for all that the band could truly deliver their doomsday messages with competent musicianship. This album is also where Wendy's vocals became much more intense and she 's recorded some of the most unrelenting screams from any rock vocalist I've ever heard, male or female, which was, of course, her goal. After each recording session, she had to travel to Cologne to be treated against permanently damaging her vocal chords. Coup d'Etat failed to sell even with a video, 'The Damned” receiving some play on MTV and Capitol Records dropped the band in 1983. This would be the last Plasmatic's record until a reunion in 1987 produced the thrash punk concept album, Maggots:The Record.
Wendy released her first solo effort “W.O.W.” in 1984. Gene Simmons of Kiss produced it and members of Kiss played on several songs. She was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 1985. Kommander Of Kaos followed in 1986 and a rock-based rap album, Deffest and Baddest credited to Wendy O. Williams' Ultra Fly and The Hometown Girls, would be her final release in 1988. She starred in the camp film, Reform School Girls in 1986 and made an appearance on the popular TV show, MacGyver” in 1990. She then disappeared to Storrs, Connecticut to live with Swenson in the geodesic home he had designed. During this time, she worked at a food co-op and as a wildlife rehabilitator. She'd been a staunch vegetarian since 1996. Sadly, she took her own life in 1998 but left behind a legacy that has been highly influential. To quote writer John Patrick Robbins: “She was a bad ass. She lived at a hundred miles per hour.”
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