Wildgirl
Wildgirl (born Ericka Peterson, January 12, 1958) is an artist and former WFMU deejay. Through the late 1980s and early-'90s, her Saturday night radio show, "Wildgirl's Rockin' Racing" and her "Wildgirl's Go-Go-Rama" live shows at the Coney Island Sideshow helped to define the east coast garage rock scene, give birth to the go-go and burlesque revivals, and bring hot rods, drag racing and "Kustom Kulture" into vogue. In addition, her artwork and jewelry has been displayed in galleries and boutiques worldwide, and featured in films including "Hiding Out" and "Slaves of New York".
Born in Michigan and raised in suburban Chicago, Ericka began designing and selling jewelry to downtown boutiques before she was in her teens. After attending college in Michigan, she attended graduate school at New York University, and worked at the ground-breaking Franklin Furnace gallery in Tribeca. During the early 80's heyday of the downtown art scene, she began making art under the trademarked name "Wildgirl", while performing as a dancer in the last of the old-time go-go bars in nearby New Jersey under the name "Sandy Beach". During this period she also assisted in the reopening of the Coney Island sideshow, performing for a season as "Serpentina", snake handler and contortionist.
She began as a volunteer deejay at WFMU radio in East Orange, New Jersey, and later became one of the stations most popular on-air personalities, along with "The Hound", Irwin Chusid,Bill Kelly and Glen Jones. Her Saturday night show "Wildgirl's Rockin' Racing" featured classic hot rod songs,current garage bands and interviews with legends of racing and kustom kulture, including several appearances by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth (he later mentioned her in his autobiography), Don Garlits, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Shirley Muldowney, Evel Knievel and others.
In the hope of rescuing go-go dancing from the growing strip-joint scene, she produced the first "Wildgirl's Go-Go-Rama" show at the Sideshow by the Seashore in 1987 and featuring 7 dancers. The shows became an instant success, and by the height of Go-Go-Rama, it was featuring 35 dancers of all ages and sizes, including artists, musicians, writers and professional dancers. Live bands included The A-Bones, Drag Racing Underground, DeGeneration, The Voodoo Dolls and The Fleshtones, who she later toured with. In 1996, filmmakers Addison Cook and Annie Ballard produced "Wildgirl's Go-Go-Rama", a documentary on the last Coney Island show, which won several awards, including best documentary at the Chicago Underground Film Festival.
In 1997, Wildgirl, along with her husband and family of rescued Brooklyn alley cats, bought a farm in central Iowa and left New York. They established Catnip Farm - an organic farm and sanctuary for feral felines. She continues to make artwork and jewelry, as well as manufacturing and marketing organic cat products. They also own and operate a boutique, "Feral!", in downtown Iowa City, featuring vintage jewelry, apparel, outsider & folk art, vintage and lowrider bicycles and other curiosities. She guest deeJays at clubs and is an occasional guest on "Backtracks", the Saturday night rock and roll history show hosted by Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Bob Dorr on KUNI, Iowa Public Radio.