[fromlanasbigboobs.com]: Candye Kane was born in Ventura, California and was raised in east LA where she got into gang life early. At 17 she got pregnant with her first son. When she turned 18 she turned to adult modelling and stripping to make some cash and appeared in over 150 magazines from 1983 to 1985. Eventually she worked as a columnist for Gent as well.
At the same time she also began singing in a punk rock band and getting a following for her passionate performances and amazing voice. She used the money from porn to help her out in punk but the going wasn't easy. Disheartened by another rejection in 1986 because of her 'checkered' past, she was dropped by her label and Candye moved to San Diego, got married, had another son and attended a local Community College.
It was during this time she discovered the blues and had a brief porn comeback in 1998
Signonsandiego.com: OCEANSIDE — Oceanside blues singer Candye Kane recalls the moment she first felt the allure of the spotlight – and seized it.
Beaten down by the shushing of bespectacled librarians, the bored East Los Angeles child was sitting on a bench in front of the library when she began belting out tunes by her idol, Judy Garland.
“I didn't like being in a library much because I had to be quiet all the time,” recalled Kane, 46. “I found out early on that by singing I could get positive attention from strangers. People would come up and say, 'Oh, that's lovely. Sing some more.' ”
Kane's raucous, at times risqué ride to prominence as a blues artist takes flight in “The Toughest Girl Alive,” a new musical based on her childhood and early adulthood.
Directed and arranged by San Diego Ballet director Javier Velasco, the musical includes songs from Kane's award-winning, nine-CD career, performed by Kane's adult son Evan Caleb, pianist Sue Palmer, guitarist Laura Chavez and bassist Paul Loranger.
Workshop-style presentations of the musical will be held at 8 p.m. Thursday through Feb. 1 at the Diversionary Theatre in San Diego.
Kane is featured in “The Rolling Stone Jazz and Blues Album Guide” and in “Elwood's Blues: Interviews with Blues Legends and Stars” by Dan Aykroyd and Ben Manilla.
Her music appears on “Essential Women in Blues,” released by the House of Blues record label.
Although Kane is candid about her colorful past and youthful indiscretions, which include a foray into the adult entertainment industry, the musical production mines darker material gleaned from her memoirs – including a shoplifting mother, rape, gang violence and the murder of her friend “Tiny,” an El Cajon prostitute who was stabbed 32 times.
The material is presented in a nonjudgmental way, Velasco said, and is interspersed with Kane's upbeat tunes to convey the universal struggle of overcoming adversity.
“She has such a positive spirit ... (and) her songs are very positive songs,” Velasco said. “Even after all this stuff has happened to her, (it's) what is inside that allows her to still be an optimist.”
Whether the challenges were the result of a dysfunctional family or self-induced, Kane said her only regret is having done adult films.
“The world could have lived without the cultural contributions of 'Bouncin'in the U.S.A.' or 'I Want it All: Part III' or whatever some of the classy names of the films were,” Kane quipped.
“That didn't do anything for my self-esteem. It didn't make me a whole lot of money. And, in fact, (it) has haunted me more than blessed me in my life.”
Kane recently lost a gig in Coos Bay, Ore., because the club owner was concerned the material wouldn't be appropriate.
“The (owner) never returned my calls or my e-mails, so I couldn't assure them that my show was empowering and family-friendly,” she said.
A part of the burgeoning alternative country scene of the 1980s, Kane landed a recording contract with CBS Records in 1986.
An advocate for the dignity and rights of plus-size people, the then-rotund singer refused to lose weight as industry executives requested. She was dropped from CBS when the record label discovered her controversial past.
“I was honest about (my past) from the beginning,” Kane said. “I always said that this would never be able to be swept under the rug, so I want to be the ultimate authority on it. I want to be the one to say why I did this and what it meant for me in my life.”
After moving to Oceanside in the early 1990s, Kane discovered the music of blues greats such as Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith, voluptuous women who succeeded despite similarly storied pasts. The blues proved a more forgiving genre than country, and Kane found a niche incorporating stories from her past into onstage monologues at adult venues.
Although the struggles recounted in “The Toughest Girl Alive” are a thing of the past, life has continued to throw curve balls at the singer.
Last year, Kane survived a bout with pancreatic cancer, during which blues artists around the country staged benefit shows to help with medical expenses.
Kane has since lost 100 pounds, and when not on tour in the United States or abroad, she bikes along The Strand in Oceanside for exercise.
“I'm feeling great,” Kane said. “I can run upstairs. I can move quicker. I'm physically more light on my feet.
“I had a test in September, and they said I'm cancer-free, but I have to have that test every six months for five years before it's official.”
Meanwhile, the down economy has hit musicians hard, Kane said.
“It's going to get worse,” she said. “I'm going to be selling a bunch of my stage costumes on eBay. I lost 100 pounds, so I can't wear half of it.
“I think it's going to be a very creative period for musicians. ... you're going to see a lot more musicians teaming up in packages ... a lot more collaborative efforts.”
Although Kane was raised in a nonreligious home, spirituality has always been a part of her life, she said.
“My parents were Bohemian hippies,” she said. “My childhood was quite turbulent, and so to escape the lunacy of my household, I used to go to church with the Mormon family down the street.”
Although Kane's singing was encouraged at church talent nights, she was excommunicated at age 16, when she became pregnant with her first son.
Kane converted to reform Judaism five years ago.
“I've always been a seeker of religious peace or spirituality, (but) Judaism spoke to me on several levels as an adult, because of, No. 1, tikkun olam, which means 'repairing the world.' ”
Kane said she also incorporates aspects of Buddhism into her life.
“I really had a sense – especially after fighting cancer – of the importance of being in the moment, and of kind of letting go of the outcome and letting the universe provide for me what the universe is going to provide.”
As an artist who once wrote a song titled “The Lord Was a Woman,” Kane said she was impressed that her rabbi was open to the possibility that God could be female.
“That was just a huge turning point for me in my spiritual quest.”
Although the musical is largely adult-themed, the first two performances, Thursday and Friday, will be slightly toned down, so parents can choose to bring their high-school-age teens.
“It's not in bad taste, but the subjects are adult,” Velasco said. “Especially with +a story like this, I didn't want to pussyfoot around as far as what was going on. There are 16-, 17-, 18-year-olds who should be listening to this dialogue, whose parents would be OK listening to this dialogue.”
Kane said she wants to ensure that the story and music leave the audience feeling hopeful.
“I don't think that my life is particularly unique or unusual,” Kane said. “What's unique and unusual about it is that from a very early age, I had the determination and the feeling that I could change things for myself. ... I believe everyone can do that, but not all of us realize that our strength comes from within us.”
