Cynthia Albritton, ‘Plaster Caster’ Groupie, Lifeless at 74

Cynthia Albritton, the groupie recognized for taking plaster molds of well-known rock stars’ penises, has died on the age of 74 after reportedly battling a “lengthy sickness.”

The Chicago native stumbled upon her pastime whereas in faculty. An everyday live performance attendee, she initially had issue introducing herself to bands.

“I used to be a shy, fledgling, virginal goofy lady that needed to get laid by cute British boys with lengthy hair and tight pants,” she recalled to Rock Scene journal in 2012. “However I wasn’t skilled or seductive, and the one manner I might go about getting the zippers down was, it needed to be in a goofy, humorous manner.”

Inspiration struck the younger music fan throughout one in all her artwork lessons.

“When my artwork instructor advised me to make a plaster solid as my homework project of one thing that might retain its form. One thing strong,” she defined. “And I’d heard by way of the grapevine that penises received strong, though I had but to see that occur.”

It didn’t take lengthy for Albritton to seek out her first topic.

“I took up the topic with Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and the Raiders, who was on the town that very night time,” she continued. “And he was joyful to assist me with my homework project, besides that the fabric my artwork instructor advised me to make use of to make the unfavorable impression was sand and water, which was not gonna be conducive to a strong state of penis. However that’s okay, not essential. Extra importantly, I misplaced my virginity to Mark Lindsay simply on account of speaking about it.”

So started a novel hybrid between groupie fandom and experimental artwork that spanned a long time. Albritton turned often known as Cynthia “Plaster Caster,” a legend in music circles. Albritton loved her status and infrequently had bother discovering volunteers.

“Again then, in the course of the sexual revolution, you had a social obligation to dip your dick into one thing new and completely different,” she famous. “And we had one thing completely different for dipping.”

Jimi Hendrix, Wayne Kramer of the MC5, Gene Simmons of Kiss and Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks have been amongst her most well-known casts.

Although not one in all her topics, Frank Zappa befriended Albritton and helped transfer her to Los Angeles with a purpose to pursue an artwork exhibition. After her condominium was robbed in 1971, Albritton agreed to offer the casts to Zappa’s enterprise associate, Herb Cohen, for safekeeping. This later proved problematic as, in an odd flip of occasions, Cohen refused to offer them again. The discourse ended up going to court docket, with Albritton ultimately recouping all however three of her casts.

There have been many tributes and homages to Albritton over time. In 1977, Kiss launched the tune “Plaster Caster,” impressed by the groupie. The observe included such strains as: “The plaster’s gettin’ more durable / And my love is perfection / A token of my love / For her assortment, her assortment.” Jim Croce’s “5 Brief Minutes” was additionally impressed by Albritton, with lyrics akin to: “Effectively, like a idiot in a rush I took her to my room / She casted me in plaster whereas I sang her a tune.”

Her assortment reportedly swelled to greater than 100 items, with filmmakers and artists added into the combination. Later in her profession, Albritton made casts of feminine rock stars breasts, with Suzi Gardner of L7 and Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs amongst them.

“I don’t wish to play favorites,” Albritton as soon as admitted of her famed casts. “I really like all of them. And all of the experiences have been equally thrilling and peculiar and completely different from one another.”