Candyeland

By Nate Byerley Catalyst

Send comments to: catalyst@wildcat.arizona.edu

photo by levon parian courtesy of sire records Performer Candye Kane aims to challenge societal taboos by assuming a number of seemingly contradictory roles. The mother, pianist, stripper, torch-song singer and porn star will perform her brand of "burlesque swing, roadhouse Texas torch songs, R&B and honkytonk" Oct. 2 at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St.

There are rumors that a new popularized form of feminism, espoused by the likes of the Spice Girls, embraces similar values of women's liberation, while remaining candy-coated and palatable to the pop sensibility.

Somewhere in between lies a different kind of candy. Spelled C-A-N-D-Y-E, Candye Kane fills a lot of shoes. As a diva, porn star performer, wife, stripper, and mother (in no particular order), Candye Kane embodies the notion that women may fill any number of roles, and in Kane's case, roles that society insists cannot coexist.

In a short interview from her home in Pasadena, Calif., Candye shared her opinions on the subjects of pornography and the porn industry, her progression as a musician, her life as a wife and mother, and her impressions of society as it views women and their bodies.

"One man's pornography is another man's erotica," Kane explained when asked her about her impression, as an insider, of the porn industry. It is interesting that she put it in terms of the male perspective, but as it stands, pornography is a male-dominated (both as suppliers and consumers) industry.

"When you portray people getting aroused, it's bound to evoke a lot of emotions," Kane said, "[however] most people's reactions are based on fear that pornography will poison the minds of young people.

"Yet how come you can turn on the television and see people being raped and killed?" Kane asked, with regards to the particular sensitivity of American audiences toward nudity in general. "That's the real porn."

Admitting that, at times, the porn industry is indeed a seedy scene, Kane pointed out some of the more beneficial aspects of pornography.

Speaking as a "(large)-sized woman in a skinny world" Kane explained that certain "fringe groups," which she defined as large men and women, hairy men and women, or others whom society marginalizes from the sexual experience, "are granted a certain sexual appeal."

"For this reason, pornography deserves a certain amount of respect, because it breaks taboos," Kane said.

"Pornography can be a sleazy industry," she admitted, "but it's no more sleazy than certain aspects of the music industry."

Kane speaks from experience. During the mid-1980s, working under the Epic label, Kane was expected to conceal the more, shall we say, colorful aspects of her past while maintaining a false image of a fallen country singer who underwent a religious transformation.

Under the record label Sire, "I have a lot more control over my image," Kane explained. Why, then, does she continue to emphasize her large size (Candye unabashedly admits that she sports a 200-pound body and a 52-inch bustline) and sexuality as a means of promoting her career as a musician?

"Sex sells," Kane said, plainly and simply. "It sells deodorant and cigarettes, and it sells music." The notion that 'sex sells' has proven to be true in Kane's life.

"I had a scholarship to USC music conservatory," she explained, "but I, like a lot of other girls, became more interested in getting a boyfriend."

At 16, Kane was pregnant.

"Now I don't recommend that every girl go out and sell their body to get some extra cash," said Kane, "but when I was on welfare and the mother of a child, [making money as a porn star] made me feel better about my body, it empowered me and allowed me to get back into music."

Perhaps one of Kane's greatest strengths as a sexual activist, is that she has the authority of speaking from experience.

"But really," Kane says, rather modestly, "I'm a pretty boring mom with a Volvo station wagon."

Her music has been described as "burlesque swing, roadhouse Texas torch songs, R&B and honkytonk" all in one breath. This Friday night, she will perform at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St., giving those intrigued by her provocative embodiment of feminism a chance to see this diva strut her stuff as a musician and performer. Showtime is 9 p.m., and tickets are $6 at the door. Phone 740-0126 for more info.