This is about Zuzu’s Petals, a band from Minneapolis, who existed between 1989 – 1994.
A heartstring-tugging line from the classic film, “It’s A Wonderful Life”, transcends it’s initial message of realization and redemption and is reincarnated in three talented young women from Minneapolis who have adapted the phrase as a band name.
[from a 1991 interview with Zuzu’s Petals which appeared in The New Puritan ReView]
Coleen Elwood : vocals, bass
Laurie Lindeen : vocals, guitar
Linda Pitmon Wynn : drums
What follows is a handful of live recordings which the former drummer of Zuzu’s Petals – Linda Pitmon Wynn – has graciously allowed me to share here with other past, present and future fans. I would like to dedicate this series as a celebration of the life of Laurie Lindeen, who left us too soon in July 2024, while this collection was still being curated.
[links to recordings provided in posts below]
I heartily encourage those who have not done so to seek out any of the band’s officially released material, including the 2008 compilation, Kicking Our Own Asses: The Best Of ZuZu’s Petals; as well as Laurie’s 1998 solo release, A Pregnant Pause. I would also like to recommend checking out Laurie’s delightful and whimsical literary essays at laurielindeen.com, and her 2007 memoir, Petal Pusher: A Rock and Roll Cinderella Story.
Zuzu’s Petals 1990-12-07
Mpls, MN • Uptown Bar & Grill
This would have been the first time I recorded Zuzu’s Petals, which coincided with a piece I was writing for my ‘zine, The New Puritan ReView. I had heard of them previously, but up until this point, had only managed to see part of a set one night whilst walking home past the Uptown Bar. Their manic energy carried out in to the street, and I was immediately compelled to step in and catch the tail end of their set, sticking around to exchange some conversation and phone numbers so we could carry on further at a later date. Which in turn led to a karaoke bar, and Linda loaning me The Can Book – which I finally returned in 2009, in Portland, where Linda was playing drums with The Baseball Project – some of which is captured HERE
I can not recall who else would have played on this bill, but it seems obvious that Zuzu’s Petals were indeed the headliner. Based on some comments toward the end of the set, it sounds like Carolyn Rush and Rachael Olson [AKA: Ana Voog) from The Blue Up? may have been in attendance, although it’s unconfirmed whether they also performed that night. A pretty lively if not spirited crowd in more ways than one, which seems to capture the essence of the venue pretty well around that time. The band took the constant heckling in stride, all of which seemed to be fairly good-natured, and gave back as much as they got; we even got multiple drum solos by request!
And if you think that’s the end of it, it gets better or worse, depending on your perspective…
Circa 2002, most of my ‘zine archives were destroyed in a backed up sewage basement flood in South Minneapolis. C’est La Vie, as they say. That would seem to be the end of it…. however….
In 2022, my wife located a bookseller in NYC who had a copy of the my ‘zine – specifically, it was the *very issue* in which my interview with ZuZu’s Petals appeared, back in 1990. Now that is a band that will claim its place in the annals of rock history!
That 1990 interview can be viewed RIGHT HERE
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Zuzu’s Petals 1991-03-21
Mpls, MN • Uptown Bar & Grill
Bill:
Zuzus Petals
Technique Niquée
This was a great night of music, with two of my favorite groups of the day sharing the bill. Technique Niquée were old pals, going back to the early ‘80s, when they shared a handful of bills with a band I worked with until 1985, Borrowed Time. Zuzu’s Petals were a current favorite, and for this set, they raised the bar in lieu of an encore, with a six-song mini-set Laurie introduced as “Welcome To Cover-Land”. Fifteen minutes celebrating the fame (or infamy?) of radio hits and deep cuts alike, including their romping version of Melanie’s “Brand New Key”, which UK fans would be able to pick up the following year on the How Long CD single.
It sounds like Rachael Olson [AKA Ana Voog; The Blue Up?] was at this show. And Mike Crabtree [Contras, Carpetbaggers]. In a bow tie. Your typical Uptown crowd.
Other Minutia [“Welcome To Cover-Land”]:
Nobody Does It Better : from the original soundtrack album for the motion picture film, The Spy Who Loved Me, released in 1977, performed by Carly Simon. The song was written and composed by Carole Bayer Sager (whose lifetime career as a hit songwriter was launched while she was still in high school, having penned A Groovy Kind Of Love, which was a number one hit for The Mindbenders in 1965), and her then romantic partner, Marvin Hamlisch, who was also a celebrated composer and conductor.
Brand New Key : (AKA The Roller Skate Song), from Gather Me, the fifth album by Melanie Safka, released in 1971. Remarkably, the song was banned by some radio stations at the time due to a perceived Freudian innuendo couched in the lyrics.
Soul Survivor : from Exile On Main St., released in 1972; either the 10th or 12th LP from The Rolling Stones, depending on whether you live in the UK or the US.
Rattlesnake : from The Replacements‘ debut LP, Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash, released in 1981, and one of only two songs on that release which was credited to the whole band.
Lean Woman Blues : from the Electric Warrior LP, released in 1971; the sixth album from T. Rex, since their incarnation as Tyrannosaurus Rex [but only the 2nd LP released under the T.Rex moniker]
Bar-B-Q Pope : from the Butthole Surfers‘ debut LP [AKA Brown Reason To Live], released in 1983.
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Zuzu’s Petals 1992-02-09
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
[Original notes provided by Regtrademark in 2019]:
This soundboard recording came from the collection of another taper, known as Minnesota Mike, who made audience recordings of shows in the Minneapolis / St. Paul area between 1978 and 1992. Originally identified as an audience recording, a mutual acquaintance, Regtrademark, confirmed in 2019 that “this is actually a soundboard tape. He [Mike] got a copy from a member of a band that was playing that night.”
[These are my additional notes in 2025]:
This fileset was discovered on a bit-torrent site in 2019, but was removed at a later date, likely due to a lapse in activity.
This show was originally dated 16 February 1992, but the date doesn’t coincide with the 1st Ave calendar for that month; which suggests this is from 9 Feb, on a bill w/ Arcwelder / Skeleton Ed, so I’ve assigned that date to this fileset.
Track 13 is an instrumental jam that doesn’t appear on any of the band’s official releases, but was performed as a segue from Dork Magnet, during several early sets back in the day. It was also performed at the Uptown Bar on 1990-12-07, and was written on the setlist as Turkey Jam. Another Uptown set from 1991-03-21 also included the same track, listed simply as: Jam.
It seems likely that the sound person recorded the tape from the sound booth, so that’s what I’ve listed here. Bill Batson was a stage manager / sound engineer at 7th St Entry, who also lent technical assistance as a producer for several regional releases and was the vocalist for a number of prominent Minneapolis bands: King Kustom & The Cruisers, The Hypstrz, The Mighty Mofos.
Okay, enough with all the technical jibber-jabber – turn this one up and rock out, already!
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Zuzu’s Petals 1993-04-17
BBC Radio 1 • John Peel Session
The session features three tracks from their 1992 debut LP, When No One’s Looking, and one which would turn up on their follow-up LP – The Music Of Your Life, released in 1994.
This transfer came from a cassette tape received in trade circa 1993 from across the pond, and it seems to be a pretty low-generation at that. Several of the UK taping pen pals I traded with back in the day recorded the Peel Sessions straight from the radio broadcasts, and I believe this is one of those, which would make this transfer a 1st-gen.
When I received this tape in ’93, the session was listed as a John Peel session; but in 2025, it was brought to my attention that the session may have actually been with Mark Goodier, so I’m including that information here.
The session features three tracks from their 1992 debut LP, When No One’s Looking, and one which would turn up on their follow-up LP – The Music Of Your Life, released in 1994. The date provided was April 17th, which is most likely the broadcast date, with the actual recording session taking place a bit earlier. I’ve never seen this session listed in any of the online resources for John Peel Sessions, and it was likely recorded in Maida Vale Studio 4, although that is unconfirmed. When I sent this to Linda Pitmon Wynn in February 2025, she was pleasantly surprised, and said that she didn’t believe she had heard this session since the day it was recorded.
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Zuzu’s Petals 1994-07-08
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
Here’s a short, sweet and rockin’ set from ZuZu’s Petals, one of the featured showcase bands during the 1994 Minnesota Music Academy Icebreaker conference; performing most of their LP, The Music Of Your Life.
1994 MMA Showcase #2 of 3:
Carpetbaggers
ZuZu’s Petals
Bone Club
• • • •
I haven’t heard any talk about MMA or Icebreaker since 2001, so I can’t confirm whether they are still active, but they certainly put together a few terrific bills during this three-day showcase in July of ’94. It seems I may have had to forgo the festivities on night 3 due to work obligations, but I was lucky enough to catch seven bands across the first two nights, culminating (for me, anyway) in this fast and furious set from Zuzu’s Petals. Following a fairly incendiary set from Bone Club, the band turned up the heat even more before they would turn the stage over to the “award-winning Carpetbaggers”, as Laurie laughingly quipped a few times during their set. Wasting no time, they ripped through eight of the eleven tracks from that LP from their current album, The Music Of Your Life, along with three favorites from their 1992 debut LP, When No One’s Looking, and wrapping things up with their cheeky version of the Randy Bachman-penned Star Baby, which features a clever nod to The Rolling Stones, in case anyone missed it. At this point in time, it seemed like the band was at the top of their game, and if you had tried to tell me that they would soon call it a day, I would never have believed it. Ah, the wild and wacky world of rock ’n roll. Dig it while you can!
• • • •
[This was a post-show review which appeared in my self-published ‘zine, The New Puritan ReView]:
Zuzu’s Petals
Mpls. 7th St. Entry
8 Jul 94
Someone remarked to me that Zuzu’s Petals used to perform in t-shirts and jeans, now every time you see ’em, they look as though they just left the beauty salon. I had never really thought about it much, but it seemed true enough and it made me think: in a very understated manner, these three women are running ahead of the pack because they’re not afraid to take themselves seriously. Did it ever occur to anyone that being a woman in a rock band doesn’t require an apology or a revisionist dress code? More than just the “chemistry” that many bands like to talk about but often lack, Laurie, Coleen, + Linda mesh in a carefree collision of laid-back charm + die-hard rocker attitude, and are also a hell of a lot of fun to watch play.
Their set here, part of the Minnesota Music Awards showcase, was highlighted by a spirited version of The Guess Who’s “Star Baby”, with a rousing refrain from The Rolling Stones “Star Star” (“Starfucker” – you know the one) tossed in for good measure. Now here’s a band that actually deserves groupie recognition, but seem too smart to care. This set also featured a smattering of tunes from their upcoming release, The Music of Your Life, and the newer material proudly displayed a sharper edge than the songs from their debut LP, When No One’s Looking, keeping everyone on the tips of their toes the whole time. Zuzu’s Petals haven’t become merely slick – like a lot of groups who meticulously ponder over every note – just cooler, if you know what I mean.
J.Free © 1994, 2025; The New Puritan ReView
• • • •
[The following historical info is presented courtesy of wikipedia and the Internet Archive Wayback Machine]:
The Minnesota Music Academy is a non-profit music institution in Minnesota; established in 1985 to promote the accomplishments of the Minnesota music community, and to provide recognition for Minnesota musicians who made exceptional contributions to the vitality of Minnesota music.
The MMA also operates a music festival / conference called The Icebreaker, which is held in conjunction with the Minnesota Music Awards presentation each year, and is designed to promote and educate the Minnesota music community.
During the Icebreaker Conference, the MMA arranges for as many music venues as possible to book only Minnesota acts, in order to showcase that year’s nominees at various music venues throughout the state.
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Zuzu’s Petals 1994-09-10
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
This was the first of two back-to-back record release shows for the album The Music Of Your Life, presenting ten of the eleven tracks on that album, and just over half of their earlier debut LP, When No One’s Looking.
In some ways, culturally speaking, ’94 was a rough year for a lot of music fans. Fortunately, moments like this could make you feel like there was hope for the troubled indie music scene. This was the first of two back-to-back record release shows for the album The Music Of Your Life, presenting ten of the eleven tracks on that album, and just over half of their previous LP, When No One’s Looking, plus a couple of tunes from The Guess Who and Johnny Thunders, to boot. I’m not sure who else was on this bill; and I do not seem to have anything else from this date, but it seems pretty evident from listening to this performance just who everyone was there to see, and they definitely gave it everything they had. Unfortunately, I missed a cue to flip the cassette before they kicked into “White Trash Love”, so there is a bit of a cut in that track, and I opted to leave it that way, rather than try to patch it together.
Apparently there was also an All-ages record release show the next day – Sunday 11 September 1994; but I wasn’t available to record that one, and I’d be willing to bet that’s my loss. As it turns out, this was the last time I had an opportunity to see the band, and I heard shortly thereafter they had called it a day. By the end of the year, I had taken a bit of a road sabbatical myself, so I wasn’t keeping up with a lot of the comings and goings back in the local scene for a while. When I returned to Mpls the following year, Linda was playing drums with Fauna, then left Mpls in October for NYC to work with Steve Wynn – and the rest is history, as the saying goes.
Well, I reckon it’s true that nothing good lasts forever, but we were fortunate to have had them in our little scene for the few years that we did. And from my personal perspective, this seems like a terrific way to remember them – in their prime, and going out on a bunch of great notes.
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Zuzu’s Petals 1994-11-09
San Francisco, CA • Bottom Of The Hill
![Bottom Of The Hill • San Francisco, CA [Photo: The Zender Agenda]](https://sonicarchives.com/wp-content/uploads/bottom-of-the-hill-signage_1-1024x768.jpg)
[from Shayne Stacy]:
Here is Zuzu’s Petals from Minneapolis, playing at Bottom of the Hill. The band was Coleen Elwood, Laurie Lindeen, and Linda Pitmon. They had a couple of LP’s on Twin/Tone in the early 1990s. Linda went on to play with Golden Smog, Steve Wynn, The Baseball Project, Filthy Friends and many more.
Bill:
Everclear
ZuZu’s Petals
Baby Snufkin
This recording is one I did not personally record – I received it in 2023 from an old tape trading pen pal from the ‘90s named Shayne Stacy. In recent years, Shayne has been digitally transferring much of his own audio archives, including many different collections along with his own collection of 10,000+ tapes, and sharing them online at:
Shayne and I had lost touch with each other over the years, and when we re-connected in 2023, he mentioned that he didn’t have much free time to devote to our old shared hobby – generally about enough time to put together one post per day. This Zuzu’s Petals set came from his digital transfer of the cassette master, which was part of a collection of tapes originally recorded by a friend of his named Rick Arroyo. The complete bill was determined by going through a number of posts on Shayne’s site and matching the venue and date.
This had been listed on Shayne’s site as an FM source, but it is clearly an audience recording. Although I know that some community radio stations would sometimes play audience recorded bootlegs on the air, I was curious if there actually was a soundboard tape of this show, or if possibly the notes for this had gotten mixed up with another show. I reached out to Shayne again in 2025 with a few questions, and he provided this update:
“Here’s everything I know:
Rick Arroyo contacted me a couple years ago about taking on some KALX reels from their archive. He went by the DJ name Rick Sylvain and hosted a radio show called Friday Night Live, where local bands would play live in studio. He brought me 3 big boxes of tapes – about 100-ish cassettes and at least 50 reels. Most of the tapes I received from him were those Friday Live sessions. There are other KALX tapes that are not Friday Live sessions in the boxes, which is where the Zuzu’s Petals comes from. After going through a lot of cassettes and a few reels, I can confidently say that yes, the DJ’s would take the portable reel to reel, interview the band, then record mediocre audio from the audience.”
At any rate, I did spend some hours working with this recording – tracking it out, adding titles and tags, and adjusting levels in places where the volume jumped around a bit, and also patched one song where it sounded like a tape flip might have repeated part of a verse. I did not add anything like EQ, normalizing, etc, but just balancing the levels in places helps it quite a bit, I think. There was not much I could do to fix the first track, which sounded like the tape had gotten mangled at some point. It is what it is.
Despite the caveats about sound quality, the band sounded like they were having a great time playing, and it sounds like it would have been a blast to have been in attendance that night, two months after the last time I ever saw them. During the first of two encores, they attempted to pull out one of their oldest songs, “Shipwrecked”, and then launched into another song with a Joan Jett meets AC/DC vibe, which was allegedly built out the ashes of that single. Wrapping things up for the send encore, a Johnny Thunders cover which only ever appeared on their 1993 UK EP Cinderella’s Daydream.
This recording has already been on the internet in its raw form – via Shayne’s site, and also youtube:
Sacramento Music Archive – Zuzu’s Petals
Photo Credit: The Zender Agenda
from
Uptown Almanac
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![CMU • Moorhead, MN [photo: H.K. Barnett]](https://sonicarchives.com/wp-content/uploads/CMU.jpg)
Zuzu’s Petals 1995-01-14
Moorhead, MN • Minnesota State University
Comstock Memorial Union Ballroom
This is the only recording I’ve ever seen of Zuzu’s Petals after 1994, so there is some merit in that alone, which hopefully makes up for the lo-fi audio quality. I don’t know the story behind this show, but it could very well be one of the last shows the band ever performed at the time.
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I had ducked out of the local scene for a bit before 1994 was over, and it seemed Zuzu’s Petals had called it a day during that time. In 1995, Linda was playing drums with Fauna, then moved NYC to work with Steve Wynn, which turned into quite the fruitful collaboration over the years.
This recording came from a cassette received in a tape trade around that same time, from a former pen pal in North Dakota named Steve Hanson. It’s pretty lo-fi all the way – a pretty low signal to noise ratio [the noise floor of the tape alone hovers around -20dB], and a pretty under-powered mic that can barely handle the volume in the room. Still, those of us who used to record bands in this manner would never be sure if anyone else was documenting the same bands, and this is the only recording I’ve ever seen of Zuzu’s Petals after 1994, so there is some merit in that alone. I don’t know the story behind this show, but it could very well be one of the last shows the band ever performed at the time.
The soundcheck was also recorded, but there didn’t seem to be any real reason to include it with this fileset, since the first part was just establishing instrument levels, followed by a few quick run-through takes to dial in the live mix. For the show itself, about the only thing I did was make a few slight adjustments to the levels, in the hopes of achieving a better balanced stereo image. It’s a raucous little set that somehow matches the edgy sound quality, and I’m sure someone who hears this will remember having been there that day, so I hope it brings back some good memories!
Venue Photo: H.K. Barnett
courtesy: CardCow.com
Recorded by: Steve Hanson
Transferred by: J.Free / Sonic Archives
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