BIOGRAPHY – Manhole

Long before she was the screaming singer of My Ruin, Tarrie B was known in the mid-1990s for her blend of rap and metal in the short-lived group Manhole. Having found her first break as a rapper under Eazy-E’s label Ruthless/Comptown, Tarrie’s solo album Power of a Woman enjoyed minor cult status when it was released in 1990 but it would be after seeing Ice T perform with Body Count at the Foundation Forum that she decided what style she wanted to try next. Searching around the L.A. hardcore scene, she eventually found three musicians who had already played together and Manhole was formed. Their reputation soon grew as a support act for bands such as Fear Factory and Type O Negative before they entered the studio to record their album.

All Is Not Well would be a collection of aggressive songs with a raw production sound, whilst Tarrie would scream about such themes as sexism and rape. Not simply wishing to be commercial, their single Victim would be an autobiographic account of sexual violence. Despite the acclaim that the band had received they were contacted by a Texan group who owned the rights to the name Manhole. After attempting to pay for the title, and even crediting themselves as Manhole Los Angeles, the group was forced to change their name, eventually deciding on Tura Satana (after the cult actress). Ironically, soon afterwards the Texan group Manhole split, but by this point Tura Satana were already at work on their second album, 1998′s Relief Through Release, whilst All Is Not Well would also be re-issued under their new name.