Barbie

The Story Behind Barbie

Barbie was Alexander Bard‘s second project, for which he slipped into drag to interpret the role of Barbara Hitchcock, the lovechild of Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy. As the legend tells, the baby was abducted by the FBI and sent to Mars with the intention of avoiding controversy. Twenty-four years later, Barbie eventually returned to earth and managed to land in the middle of Stockholm’s archipelago.

If you want to hear the whole story, listen to  “Barbie Goes To Mars”

How It All Began

In the autumn of 1984, Alexander moved back to Sweden after spending several years in Amsterdam and Berlin, respectively, where he gathered experience in the video art field.

Despite having released one of the first synth-punk singles and receiving acclaim for his work, he was not thinking about devoting more time into music. He rather focused on continuing his studies in Political Science and Economics (for which he later collected a Masters Degree). Alexander was busy preparing an essay about the social-economic effects of AIDS.

One day, however, he and his friend, Jan Sörman, suddenly came up with the idea of creating Barbie. At first they were looking for a girl who could portray the character, but since the realization had proven to be difficult, Alexander figured that he might as well do it himself.

The birth of Barbie: Alexander in drag

The Motivation

“Rock is boring shit! It’s excruciating to see people on stage who play drums, guitars and bass. I want to do something original in order to provoke reactions.” ( – Alexander Bard, 1986)

‘Nuff said, right?

The Inspirations

Alexander’s favourite artists at that time were Grace Jones and – who would have thought – Divine. But while rehearsing for shows, he would often watch some of Marlene Dietrich‘s old performances.

“Dietrich is the biggest stage artist of all time – she hypnotized the audience – and we stole as much as possible from her appearances.” ( – Alexander Bard on Marlene Dietrich)

Miming And Causing Controversy

The first “concert” was sponsored by a local sex shop in Stockholm. Barbie was prancing around on high heels with a bilious green feather boa around her neck; and she happily mimed to a cassette player whilst waving around with various toys from the store and using a dildo as a microphone.

As the venues started to get a little bigger, Mrs Hitchcock even performed at Le Palace in Paris, where she stunned the audience with her outfit.

“I was completely cluttered with clothes and jewels, and wore a half-meter-high lace-decorated hat. The jewellery and the garments were so heavy and big that I almost couldn’t touch myself, which meant that the slightest move became a torture.” ( – Alexander Bard)

Barbie’s gig at Ritz (Stockholm’s premier rock club during the 80′s) left a lasting impression on the people – not necessarily because of the show itself, but because of the startling invitation cards. Those featured an image of Barbie sitting on a dirty toilet and eating an indefinable brown… erm, object.

“It was easy to provoke the people. All of them were cursing and saying that they definitely wouldn’t come to the Ritz – and all were there.” ( – Alexander Bard)

Hitting The Record Shelves

Barbie’s antics stirred interest and discussion, which prompted five record labels to contact Alexander shortly after the concerts.

The first single, “Prostitution Twist”, saw the light of day in August 1985. The cover had a 60′s feel to it with plastic and garish colours. The release shifted close to 8.000 copies within a brief timespan.

The album followed in the Autumn of 1985 and was received with both good and bad reactions – but those were appreciated by Alexander.

“Of all things, indifference is the worst. Rather a negative reaction than no reaction at all.” ( – Alexander Bard)

Barbie And Friends

During the process of recording a sophomore album for Barbie, Alexander was accompanied by Katanga and Farouk (later known as La Camilla and Jean-Pierre Barda) as well as the corpulent dancer Yazmina Chantal.

“I was completely taken away by Barbie’s show. I pushed myself upon Alexander and said that I’m willing to do anything just to be part of the line-up.” ( – Camilla Henemark)

Whilst the first few months had all people that were involved in the project hiding their identities, the fans quickly found out who was behind the “concept”: Next to Alexander, who wrote and produced most of the songs, Camilla Thulin designed the costumes and outfits whereas Jean-Pierre Barda – who was responsible for the make-up – and Camilla Henemark functioned as background dancers. Regardless of being busy with her own band Surprise Sisters, Yazmina joined Barbie for several club shows.

Barbie with part-time band member Yazmina (left) and Army of Lovers’ future line-up (right)

Barbie Goes Around The World

In the autumn of 1986, the first and only Barbie video, “Barbie Goes Around The World” was shot in London.

Click to watch the “Barbie Goes Around The World” video

Fanclub

The fanclub, which was led by co-founder Jan Sörman, published a fanzine entitled Barbie-cue. The magazine contained questionable articles among various gossip and diet tips. Additionally, they offered interesting “merchandise” items: How about dirt from the underside of Barbie’s fingernails for only 640 Swedish crowns?

Comeback?

In 2009, a reporter asked Alexander if there’s a chance that he might revive the project. His answer was clear:

“No, that was a student horseplay. Moreover, I don’t feel particularly comfortable in women’s stockings.” ( – Alexander Bard, 2009)