Saluting the Women of New Wave
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 12:27 pmWe’ve had some good conversations about who was the hottest female new wave artist. I think we ought to recognize the other contributions they’ve made to the genre too. I’m not a flag waving, sensitive feminist kind of guy, but I do like women singers a lot. For me, trying to find a true alternative to the typical AOR radio in the ‘70’s meant seeking out something very different – which was women as vocalists & musicians.
Think of the big female rock performers of the 60’s and 70’s – few and far between. I always felt they were held to a higher standard than their male counterparts, a women rocker had to be attractive, have a great voice, and have a hook or identifiable image. If they played an electric instrument, it was an oddity.
Punk changed that. Women were seen as being as viable and as important as the male performers, not just singers, but musicians, writers, producers, and they didn’t have to be pretty, or sexy. Punk was such an equal opportunity genre. It was cool to see not only guys that were angry upstarts, but it was exciting to hear a different kind of voice too.
There was no one like Patti Smith. Her impact wasn’t because of her gender, but her vision & talent. When I think of the architects of punk – Patti is absolutely in the top 5. She brought such an immediacy and art to her music, and did something that was unique, visionary, fearless, and 100% original.
I never thought Debbie Harry fell into the pretty girl singer category. Deb had a vision, she carried an intelligence with her and no one but she controlled her career or dictated what kind of music she would sing. She was beautiful, smart, knew how to market herself and truly experimented with musical styles.
I remember how Joan Jett inspired several of my friends to actually start bands. She could have been anyone of us and proved that even we could be in a band and make it. I appreciated that Lene Lovich and Toyah could be as bizarre and strange as they wanted, and weren’t looked at as novelties, but as artists. I loved how there was such a hoopla about an all girl band like the Go Gos, but by their second album, they were part of the mainstream.
I can’t think of another sub-genre of rock music that embraced female performers the way that New Wave and punk did. Think of the wide variety of performers and the diverse messages from Berlin to the Au Pairs, Siouxsie to Kim Wilde, The Slits to Claire Grogan, Martha Davis to Poly Styrene. All of them different, but as important and memorable as any male performer.
It was a great time, and I just wanted to salute all the women who didn’t play folk, didn’t sing ballads, wore Mohawks, bleached their hair and left a lot of roots showing, could care less if they were fat, had acne scars, or had an overbite, picked up guitars, played hard, sang rough, blew up TVs, redefined what attractive was, redefined who could sing what kind of music, made a mark on the genre, and didn’t do stuff that appealed to just girls – but everyone.
Think of the big female rock performers of the 60’s and 70’s – few and far between. I always felt they were held to a higher standard than their male counterparts, a women rocker had to be attractive, have a great voice, and have a hook or identifiable image. If they played an electric instrument, it was an oddity.
Punk changed that. Women were seen as being as viable and as important as the male performers, not just singers, but musicians, writers, producers, and they didn’t have to be pretty, or sexy. Punk was such an equal opportunity genre. It was cool to see not only guys that were angry upstarts, but it was exciting to hear a different kind of voice too.
There was no one like Patti Smith. Her impact wasn’t because of her gender, but her vision & talent. When I think of the architects of punk – Patti is absolutely in the top 5. She brought such an immediacy and art to her music, and did something that was unique, visionary, fearless, and 100% original.
I never thought Debbie Harry fell into the pretty girl singer category. Deb had a vision, she carried an intelligence with her and no one but she controlled her career or dictated what kind of music she would sing. She was beautiful, smart, knew how to market herself and truly experimented with musical styles.
I remember how Joan Jett inspired several of my friends to actually start bands. She could have been anyone of us and proved that even we could be in a band and make it. I appreciated that Lene Lovich and Toyah could be as bizarre and strange as they wanted, and weren’t looked at as novelties, but as artists. I loved how there was such a hoopla about an all girl band like the Go Gos, but by their second album, they were part of the mainstream.
I can’t think of another sub-genre of rock music that embraced female performers the way that New Wave and punk did. Think of the wide variety of performers and the diverse messages from Berlin to the Au Pairs, Siouxsie to Kim Wilde, The Slits to Claire Grogan, Martha Davis to Poly Styrene. All of them different, but as important and memorable as any male performer.
It was a great time, and I just wanted to salute all the women who didn’t play folk, didn’t sing ballads, wore Mohawks, bleached their hair and left a lot of roots showing, could care less if they were fat, had acne scars, or had an overbite, picked up guitars, played hard, sang rough, blew up TVs, redefined what attractive was, redefined who could sing what kind of music, made a mark on the genre, and didn’t do stuff that appealed to just girls – but everyone.