In light of The Last American Sellout, I'd like to talk about an important woman. For those of us who were there in the 90's there were a couple-a-few years there where Jane's Addiction was on the cutting edge of the mainstream alternative rock movement. From the get-go they were the best kind of subversive artists. They looked outrageous, they were passionate musicians, and the subject matter of their songs was controversial and confrontational. They also had some cool fucking album covers.

Now, we were led to believe that the man responsible for this openly drug fueled rock'n'roll blitzkrieg was frontman Perry Farrell (real name, Simon Bernstein). He was the mastermind behind the concepts, the subject matter, the visuals, and the sound. What we didn't know, at first, was that his girlfriend, Casey Niccoli was an equal partner in the fruition and success of Jane's Addiction. Before Kurt and Courtney, they were the alternative nation's power couple. And JA might never have gotten off the ground artistically if it were not for Casey. Go get your copy of Nothing's Shocking and take a good look at the photography and the graphic design. The button pushing sculpture on the cover was a Farrell/Niccoli collaboration but pretty much everything else about the packaging is all Casey. Ditto for the follow up Ritual de lo Habitual. She also made two films for the band and if I am not mistaken the video for Been Caught Stealing as well. In my book that all counts as major contribution. Let's talk about Mr. Farrell for a minute.

Perry was a great lyricist. His gutter punk takes on drugs, sexuality, power, and the general state of the world were unflinchingly honest and thought provoking. He was not an amazing singer. He got a lot of milage out of his passionate delivery and a liberal use of vocal effects. He also liked being the guy in charge of the band. His bandmates did not always enjoy that aspect of working with him. He was also kinda greedy. When Jane's Addiction signed with Warner Brother's to make Nothing's Shocking, he demanded that his bandmates give him 50% of the royalties and split the remaining 50% among themselves. The band pretty much broke up before they recorded a note, and their management had to intervene to keep them together. And he got his way. Lots of other tales about his asinine behavior and demands are out there if you want to look for them, his recent on-stage dust up with guitarist Dave Navarro proving that he's still at it. Anyway, we're here to talk about what happened to Casey.

So, when Niccoli realized her lifestyle was going to kill her and wanted out of the Jane's Addiction sphere she took a lump sum payout and disappeared. Pretty much overnight Farrell took out all the “we did this” references to her collaboration with the band and replaced them with “I did this” and thus she was forgotten.

I stated earlier that Perry wrote some great lyrics. Like “such a classic girl/ gives her man a great idea/ hears you tell your friends/ hey man, won't you listen to my great idea.' When I heard that for the first time it was a revelation that changed my behavior towards women. I guess he was just articulating his MO. 

I think Casey coming forward with her story all these years later at 60 years of age is an altruistic action. I've seen some thread comments about her looking for a payout. I haven't seen a thing about her seeking financial compensation. I think she wants some recognition and credit for her significant contributions to the success of Jane's Addiction. And in my humble opinion, she deserves it.