Season 5 · Episode 10
The sisters behind Manic Panic · Blondie's first backing singers · the Sic F*cks
Released 20 Aug 2025 · 52:15 as a podcast · AFTERPARTY launched 10 Nov 2026
131 references · 349 mentions
Tish & Snooky on singing in the first Blondie, opening Manic Panic on St. Marks Place in 1977, the Sic F*cks and the night the Mudd Club opened.
1 mention · in 1 AFTERPARTY · #32 of 33 guests
Pink hair, leopard lace and blazer / blue hair, choker and studded black
Side by side at the Manic Panic HQ under a pink neon sign: one with bright pink hair, pink pick earrings, leopard lace top and black blazer; the other with electric-blue hair, black velvet choker, silver necklaces and a studded black top
Electric blue hair
Fenton's first dye job, the colour of the sisters' trickiest early shade
The first punk boutique in America, opened on St. Marks Place on 7 July 1977 - later the semi-permanent hair-dye brand the sisters built up without investors from $250 each
Heard as “manic panic / manika / many panicked / panic music”
Guests: the Bellomo sisters from the Bronx - backing singers in the first Blondie, the Sic F*cks, and since 1977 Manic Panic, the shop on St. Marks Place that became the hair-dye brand
Heard as “scythian / snoky / snook / stooky / strookie / tish / titian”
The sisters' own band, in nuns' habits; at first they kept the name from their mother
Heard as “16th broadcast / sick bucks / sick fox / sick fuck / sick, folks / sick. fox / six bucks / six flux / six fucks”
The shop itself: everyone let in, the hosts rehearsing Proud Mary, a 50-cent badge as some days' takings, the first customer who needed a shopping bag
Heard as “the shop / the store / your shop”
Host; a Manic Panic regular in the club-kid years. He did the Downtown Dukes and Divas show with them
Heard as “james”
The sisters flew over with partner Gina from 1977, sold vintage sunglasses and biker rings and brought back hair dye not sold in the US
Heard as “england / uk”
The sisters' book: their story in their own words, other people's memories, hair-colour tutorials and a list of celebrity clients; RuPaul wrote the intro
Heard as “in the book / living in color / the book / your book”
Shopped for vintage at the store when she was still blonde, in Blue Angel days; the sisters say her leap into hair colour helped launch her career and theirs
Heard as “cindy / lauper”
Saw the sisters in a revue and invited them to Blondie rehearsals; took them thrift shopping in her 69 Camaro and showed them a warehouse of unworn vintage shoes
Heard as “debbie”
Fenton's first dye job, the colour of the sisters' trickiest early shade
FashionElectric blue hair
Heard as “blue hair / blue like / blue was / electric blue”
With Gorilla Rose he got Debbie and Chris to come and see the sisters - which is how they joined Blondie
Heard as “floralyn / tomato”
James wanted cotton candy pink in 84 when it didn't exist - you mixed Manic Panic with conditioner; today Pastelizer does it
FashionCotton candy pink hair
Heard as “cotton candy / pastel”
James admits Quaalude envy - he never tried one
Heard as “kralu / loots / playload / quaalude / wayludes”
Co-host; dyed his hair electric blue with Manic Panic as a student at Oxford, then had to dye it back black as an extra in Heaven's Gate
Heard as “fabian / fenton”
Co-host and co-founder of World of Wonder; one of the Fabulous Pop Tarts, with the sisters on backing vocals
Heard as “barredo / randy”
The sisters sang backing vocals in the early band; they say they were a little jealous when it made it without them, but got over it fast
Heard as “blondie / bondi”
The third partner at the start of Manic Panic; she left within the first year
Heard as “gina”
The sisters as free-spirited New Yorkers singing in dives in 1977 - and still singing in dives
Heard as “new york”
Thrift runs with Debbie; the punk bashers came from Long Island or Jersey
Heard as “jersey”
Big blonde number-one bouffant wigs, Nerf footballs cut in half for torpedo bras, tight dresses or polyester lounge-act jumpsuits from a thrift store
FashionBlonde bouffant wigs, torpedo bras, polyester jumpsuits
Heard as “bouffant / jumpsuit / torpedo”
Where the sisters grew up and still lived with their mother when the shop opened, commuting in
Heard as “bronch / bronx”
Every club kid came into the store and got the 20 percent rock-star discount; James calls the sisters their godmothers
Heard as “club kid / club kits”
What Manic Panic sold to the punks: pointy stilettos, 60s Beatle boots and sharkskin suits
FashionPointy stilettos, Beatle boots, sharkskin suits
Heard as “beetle boots / shark / stiletto”
Promoter who put the sisters in his lounge act as his New Jersey Nightingales; ran the upstairs at the Limelight and helped with Downtown Dukes and Divas
Heard as “elmista / fred / mista / rocco”
Where the sisters' mother worked; they say the name Manic Panic came from there
Heard as “psychiatric”
Homemade for opening night; after the fight she kept pulling it down, then put it on the mannequin and sold it the next week
FashionHomemade super-short dress
Heard as “dress down / super short”
Fred Rothbell-Mista's lounge act with the sisters as backing singers in blonde bouffant wigs and thrift-store polyester jumpsuits; booked in Atlantic City in 1984
Heard as “night in galen / night in gales / nightingale”
Where they met Fred Rothbell-Mista, who ran its upstairs for years; later, nights there with the club kids
Heard as “limelight”
Their mother later did art therapy there; a student told her about the Sic F*cks - maybe Keith Haring, they joke
Heard as “visual arts”
Opening night: Snooky remembers a street fight with punk bashers outside on White Street that ended with her knocked down
Heard as “mud club / mud cob”
Suburban kids coming into town to beat up punks, as the sisters remember it
Heard as “beat up punks / beat up the punks / punk bashing”
Became the haunt of almost everyone; Studio 10 was down the block
Heard as “c. b. g. b / cbgb”
Hangout in the Yippie building on Bleecker, down the block from CBGB, with a sign: crash for three days, then move on - no death drugs
Heard as “e of ten / stu / studio 10”
Gabriel Rotello's show: the sisters rehearsed Proud Mary in the shop with the hosts, in Tina Turner wigs and sequinned dresses
Heard as “dukes and divas”
Filmed the Downtown Dukes and Divas Proud Mary and the Club 1018 Christmas show - on YouTube today
Heard as “nelson”
The sisters and the hosts in Tina Turner wigs and sequinned dresses for Downtown Dukes and Divas
FashionTina Turner wigs and sequinned dresses
Heard as “sequined / tina turner wig”
With Tomata du Plenty, invited Debbie and Chris to see the sisters' revue
Heard as “gorilla / guerrilla”
Came with Debbie to see the sisters and invited them to Blondie rehearsals
Heard as “chris and debbie / debbie and chris”
Thrift shopping in New Jersey in Debbie's 1969 Camaro
FashionThrift-store finds
Heard as “camaro”
Debbie's tip: a place full of unworn vintage shoes from the 20s to the 60s - "dying and going to shoe heaven"; they still keep some
FashionUnworn vintage shoes, 1920s-60s
Heard as “read street / reed street”
Ramones lighting man who turned the sisters on to a place on 14th Street full of 50s and 60s sharkskin suits with the tags on
Heard as “arturo”
Bought sharkskin at the 14th Street place; partner Gina gave him a peace-sign tie he said he'd never wear - he wore it that night
Heard as “costello”
In the audience at the Nightingales - Fred always packed the room
Heard as “dillon / dylan”
The X-Ray Spex singer came to the shop right at the start
Heard as “skye's diary / x-ray spec”
The store opened on 7/7/77 and the press covered it straight away - TV, magazines, fanzines
Heard as “7777 / july 7”
Snooky's handmade shirts: the killer's letter written front and back, blood stains, a cigarette-burn bullet hole; she says Bob Gruen bought the original
FashionHandmade Son of Sam T-shirt
Heard as “son of sam”
A student at Visual Arts - the sisters joke he may be the one who told their mother about the band
Heard as “herring / perry”
A Kardashian with pink hair sent everyone after cotton candy pink; Kim is on the book's client list
Heard as “kardashian”
Band who ran down White Street to help when punk bashers started the fight
Heard as “shrapnel”
The sisters went after Max's, brought there by Jayne County
Heard as “82 club / eighty two club”
A fan of the Sic F*cks who came by with Dan Aykroyd, parking the Bluesmobile out front; he once introduced the band on stage
Heard as “belushi”
Possibly where Belushi introduced the Sic F*cks - the sisters aren't sure
Heard as “hurrah”
Fenton's first Manic Panic, as a student there, around 1980
Heard as “oxford”
Fenton had to dye his blue hair back to black to be an extra in it - "one of the biggest bombs"
Heard as “heaven's gate”
The number the sisters and the hosts did at Downtown Dukes and Divas
Heard as “proud mary”
Fenton and Randy's band - the sisters sang backing vocals on lots of their tracks
Heard as “pop-tart”
Where Nelson Sullivan's tapes of the Proud Mary night and the Club 1018 show can be watched
Heard as “youtube”
The original album - the sisters sing the "Starbooty" hook
Heard as “star booty”
Wrote the intro to the sisters' book; Tish and Snooky are the voices on the original Starbooty album
Heard as “rue”
Where Manic Panic opened in 1977 - the only shop on the block, they say, that let everybody in
Heard as “saint mark”
Where the sisters sang in a wacky vaudeville-style revue, one act after another
Heard as “bauer lane”
Some of the Trockadero performers were in the same revue
Heard as “truckadero”
The place Arturo Vega found, full of 50s and 60s sharkskin suits with the tags still on
FashionDeadstock sharkskin suits
Heard as “fourteenth street”
Got the male lounge-act jumpsuit from the Nightingales' thrift find - the sisters hope he still has it
Heard as “muster”
Where the Nightingales got booked in 1984 - still under-rehearsed, the sisters say
Heard as “atlantic city”
James recalls Ann telling them she saw a defaced shop sign on her first trip to New York and knew she was home
Heard as “magnus”
The band dressed up as nuns
FashionNuns' habits
Heard as “nuns”
What getting stopped at customs with shoes stuffed with hair dye felt like
Heard as “midnight express”
Told Snooky at a party that he was opening a club called the Mudd Club
Heard as “steve moss”
Where the punk-bashing fight broke out on the Mudd Club's opening night
Heard as “white street”
Their first hangout, in the glam days
Heard as “max's”
Took everyone in somebody's van to Club 82 and turned the sisters on to it
Heard as “jane county”
A bit more highfalutin than the punk bars
Heard as “university place”
The early-90s comeback of coloured hair, with grunge and the ravers
Heard as “riot girl”
The kind of cool, music-minded buyer the sisters could picture for their brand
Heard as “branson”
Where the sisters last saw Blondie play; the band put them and 13 relatives on the list
Heard as “argentina”
The hosts and sisters miss him - gone so young
Heard as “john sex”
As the sisters tell it, his first booking as a promoter was Tish and Snooky at Club 1018 for a Christmas show
Heard as “alec”
The sisters' Christmas show there, as Michael Alig's first booking
Heard as “1018”
A friend whose college-party story about Quaaludes gets told on the show
Heard as “clancy”
Side by side at the Manic Panic HQ under a pink neon sign: one with bright pink hair, pink pick earrings, leopard lace top and black blazer; the other with electric-blue hair, black velvet choker, silver necklaces and a studded black top
FashionPink hair, leopard lace and blazer / blue hair, choker and studded black
Heard as “On camera”
Sheer pale-pink ruffled blouse and red rectangular glasses, in front of his bookcase and the Buster Crabbe poster
FashionPale-pink ruffle blouse, red glasses
Heard as “On camera”
Grey cardigan over a navy-and-white Breton striped T-shirt, thin wire glasses, in front of sunflower wallpaper and a Brillo box
FashionGrey cardigan, Breton stripes
Heard as “On camera”
Tan Carhartt cap, round dark glasses and a green-and-rust plaid flannel shirt, in front of a painted street scene and his Emmy
FashionCarhartt cap, plaid flannel
Heard as “On camera”
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