The Leather Nun

Leather Nun once shocked an audience by showing a porno movie at a concert. While Sweden is often seen as the country that spawned disco queens ABBA, Leather Nun are its bastard sons. Careening from garage rock to goth and industrial, Leather Nun became cult heroes in their native land. Naming themselves after a London stripper, Leather Nun was formed in Goteborg, Sweden, in 1979 by Jonas Almqvist (vocals), Bengt "Aron" Aronsson (guitar), Freddie Wadling (bass), and Gert Claesson (drums). Inspired by both Throbbing Gristle and Lou Reed (Almqvist's half-spoken, half-sung vocals were obviously patterned after Reed's), Leather Nun recorded their debut EP, Slow Death, in 1979. Wadling left Leather Nun in 1982 and joined Blue for Two. A handful of singles followed before Leather Nun released their first LP, Alive, in 1985. The group's imported singles found their way onto U.S. college radio stations, earning substantial airplay with "Pink House," a deadpan parody of John Mellencamp's "Pink Houses." Leather Nun's American audience eventually eclipsed their small following in Sweden as they never took off at home. In 1988, Leather Nun were reviewed in Rolling Stone magazine, rare mainstream media coverage for the band. Aronsson recorded a solo album, Purification, as Sister Aaron in 1993.