Frieda

Biography

Frieda was a performance art act. Frieda, an enormous doll, was a project of Barbara Lipp and her friend Tom Koken. Lipp controlled the doll, which sang, danced, and did math problems and ventriloquism skits. "Barbie Lipp...was the queen of disco, and she wore this long flowing dress up to the top of her head, and on top of her head she had a make-up Barbie head. It looked like this seven-foot-tall Barbie. She did all of her stuff on tape, and would dance around on stage to Barbie." Frieda released one single on Varla Records in 1987, Disco Lover / Plastic Rap, which featured John Flansburgh on guitar. Varla was a small record label made up of Lori Montana and Danie Johnson. Unfortunately, after a steam pipe explosion in Montana's apartment, many of the singles were destroyed, a financial blow which led to the dissolution of the label. Though Frieda did not have any other releases, it was a very popular cult act in New York City clubs, and, Frieda had a brief appearance on Late Night With David Letterman. Frieda also released a music video for an earlier recording of Plastic Rap, and Frieda! (The Movie), both in 1980. A video entitled The Mother Show starred Frieda and was released in 1991. All three were produced by Tom Rubnitz. Frieda performed at many New York City clubs throughout the 80s and 90s and has performed at Wigstock festivals to this day.