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Original poster

Great music by women

268 replies

IAmAmy · 14/11/2016 22:42

This may not be the right place or forum for this thread but just in case: I feel music is far too dominated by men. What great songs are there by women? I know most of my favourite songs are by women, I'd love to hear more.

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tootsietoo · 23/11/2016 22:11

Did anyone mention Sonic Youth? And I am loving Stevie Nicks and The Dixie Chicks at the moment. I can never get bored of Goodbye Earl.....

tootsietoo · 23/11/2016 22:08

Lucky for your mum that she's got you to share bands with! My daughters are 8 and 10, their favourite songs at the moment are by The Vamps Confused. I am looking forward to when they have some decent taste in music and I just hope they can discover all these amazing bands and artists for themselves (with maybe a little help from me)

Original poster
IAmAmy · 23/11/2016 21:51

tootsie I love PJ Harvey too! I'll look up the other bands you've posted about. Wolf Alice are definitely my favourite band, I've introduced my mum to them too Grin

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TheRollingCrone · 23/11/2016 21:50

Anything by Joan Armatrading

tootsietoo · 23/11/2016 21:47

I absolutely love this thread. I work from home and have a YouTube soundtrack going everyday. I'm going to work my way down the lists of bands on this thread!

I'm 42, and grew up on PJ Harvey and all the early 90s indie. It was very male dominated, but there were bands like Lush, Sleeper, Echobelly, Belly, Elastica, The Breeders. So I'm ashamed to say that I only, for the first time ever, listened to Horses by Patti Smith this week. Incredible. It sounds so so modern to me, yet it's as old as I am. So that's one to add to the list. Also been YouTubing punk girl bands - The Slits, X-ray Spex (Poly Styrene), Siouxsie and the Banshees. Has anyone read Viv Albertine's memoir? Brilliant. She has made more music again recently - punk for the mumsnet generation! Have a look. Really like Wolf Alice too.

PJ Harvey is the ultimate for me. She is incredible.

Original poster
IAmAmy · 23/11/2016 21:28

Prawn I know of her but wasn't that familiar with her music, this is great!

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Prawnofthepatriarchy · 23/11/2016 19:51

Ooh, Amy... Please tell me you haven't come across Annie Lennox? Sisters are Doing it for Themselves? Great feminist anthem.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=drGx7JkFSp4

Original poster
IAmAmy · 20/11/2016 20:53

Thank you for all the brilliant suggestions!

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Ellie7878 · 20/11/2016 20:37

Anything by Throwing Muses. Kristin Hersh is a genius.

wherearemymarbles · 16/11/2016 12:43

Depends what kind of music you like but
Joan Baez would/should the on this list.

Also janis Ian - both would be regarded ad folk singers.

Otherwise
Siouxsie and the banshees - showing my age!
Pretenders

Billy Holiday if you like that type of jazz/blues.
Also Ella Fitzgerald but i guess you will know of these 2 anyway

RufusTheSpartacusReindeer · 16/11/2016 10:52

Meredith brookes

Unless someone has mentioned her before

Unusual voice and very woman centered songs

DeviTheGaelet · 16/11/2016 09:42

Erykah Badu
Florence and the Machine
Lauryn Hill
Sheryl Crow

I love tons of their stuff, couldn't pick a favourite

Xenophile · 15/11/2016 22:34

ThatStewie

Yay!

Original poster
IAmAmy · 15/11/2016 22:27

I very much like this song:

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LassWiTheDelicateAir · 15/11/2016 14:18

I'm sure we can all think of more mainstream examples of female artists who have songs written for them, produced for them etc and they are just the pretty bit at the front of stage, rather than their music being 'by' women

I'm sure there are loads more but off the top of my head, I don't think Frank Sinatra wrote his own material; Rod Stewart wrote some but by no means all of his material (Reason to Believe, First Cut is the Deepest, Sailing aren't his)

Does anyone seriously think either of them are not significant and major artists because of that? Why should a female interpretive singer be just "the pretty bit at the front of the stage "?

Or, as in the case of say Linda Ronstadt, who assisted the careers of many other songwriters by her interpretations , is she to be dismissed because, yes, she was (and still is) a beautiful woman?

YonicProbe · 15/11/2016 13:37
Grin
ThatStewie · 15/11/2016 13:30

I just couldn't remember my old log-in!

YonicProbe · 15/11/2016 13:22

I thought That (ba da boom tish) might be you but didn't want to ask in case you were incognito!

YonicProbe · 15/11/2016 13:13

Wooo!

ThatStewie · 15/11/2016 13:09

(Hit post too soon!)

Currently listening to Tanya Tagaq who is an Inuit singer. Did just have on Bratmobil and Azaledia Banks whose album in incredible and I remain utterly bereft at the destruction of her career. She behaved appallingly but that's never stopped men before.

ThatStewie · 15/11/2016 13:07

I'm here!!! And I fucking love these threads!!

Original poster
IAmAmy · 15/11/2016 13:07

She's the frontwoman, guitarist and songwriter. I wouldn't have included them otherwise, it's nothing like a female vocalist who has songs written for her to perform. She's the key member of a band playing songs she's written.

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TaurielTest · 15/11/2016 13:03

This playlist that Lauren Laverne put together for Woman's Hour is a lovely place to start:
www.bbc.co.uk/music/playlists/zzznnc

KickAssAngel · 15/11/2016 12:56

I think that when talking about bands and wanting to hear music by women, then a band with one female member and three males is questionable. Of course, if the main vocalist is also the main writer that counts more as 'by' a woman. But if it were a band where the men write the music and the woman just sings their words I would think it probably doesn't count.

I'm saying this as a general comment, rather than arguing about any particular band. I'm sure we can all think of more mainstream examples of female artists who have songs written for them, produced for them etc and they are just the pretty bit at the front of stage, rather than their music being 'by' women.

Original poster
IAmAmy · 15/11/2016 10:11

As Yonic said I don't think I ever said "feminist" bands but great music by women. I don't want to derail the thread as there's so much great music by women/female artists here I'm looking forward to listening to and looking up but as far as I'm aware Wolf Alice think of themselves as feminists (doesn't mean their music is "feminist") and have rightly supported the "Girls Against" group which was set up by a group of girls to combat sexual harassment/groping at gigs.

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