Women can't play music apparently. Who knew?
Sophie Cunningham
July 14
As Kim, over at Larvatus Prodeo observed today, jjj's Hottest 100 was a women free zone. She went onto quote comments made that, 'Only 10 songs on the hottest 100 list were made by a band who had any women in it, ever (if we include Massive Attack, who, technically, only ever had female guest vocalists); the highest of these was placed at no. 20 (The White Stripes, “Seven Nation Army”). The only two songs with female lead vocals are the two by Massive Attack. Finally, no solo female artists at all made the list.' and Mel Campbell, at The Enthusiast, the situation for women in rock is getting worse, not better as the years go by. 'In the 1989 poll, 15 songs included female performers; the 1990 poll had 22 female-contributed songs; the 1991 poll had 11; and the 1998 poll had seven songs involving female artists.' Campbell also asks a question about gender balance at triple j but there are no easy answers to be found there. 'Of the 40 on-air staff and regular guests featured on the station’s website, 15 are women. Anecdotally, women are highly represented among the off-air producers, and its management team is all-female.' In the September edition of Meanjin Ben Eltham writes on jjj - let's see what he has to say about the station.
The list is weird in other ways as well. Totally biased to the nineties. No Bob Marley till 84, and then one of his sappier songs. Hendrix clocked in at 30 but was one of the few black men represented. And, forgive me, but Back in Black at 94. Ahem. If we're talking rock, that should have been in the top 20. The only song I don't really have an argument with is the winner, Smells Like Teen Spirit. I mightn't have put it first, but it's up there. I suppose my ramblings show that the whole thing is subjective, and jjj is a very particular audience - but it does concern me that women don't even seem to come to people's mind these days when voting in a survey like this. I know it's only rock n roll, but I don't like it.
Anyway, here are some rock (and a folk) ladies I would have put in.
Update: Clem Bastow from the Age, on all of the above. (And she likes Joni Mitchell, too.)
Update: Here's a list of awesome women who should have been included.
Our Friends
- Overland
- Alien Onion
- Ampersand Duck
- Andrew McDonald
- A Pair of Ragged Claws
- Arts Victoria
- Australia Council for the Arts
- Ben Eltham
- Bookshow blog
- CAL
- City of Tongues
- Crikey
- darkly wise, rudely great
- David Astle
- Elmo Keep Does Stuff
- The Ember
- Fly the Falcon blog
- Going Down Swinging
- Griffith Review
- Hackpacker
- Harvest
- HEAT
- Island
- Killings blog
- Literary Minded
- Lorraine Crescent
- Lynden Barber
- Mandy Ord
- Marcus Westbury
- Matilda
- Meanland
- Melbourne University Publishing
- Mel Campbell
- The Monthly
- Musings of an Inappropriate Woman
- Oslo Davis
- Paul Callaghan
- Read, Think, Write
- Sleepers Publishing
- Sorrow at Sills Bend
- SPLOG
- Tom Cho
- Virgule
- Wet Ink
- Wheeler Centre
Comments
14 Jul 09 at 10:14
Yeah, it's a common problem. My eldest daughter (2 and a half) has this excellent picture book called "M is for Metal" - an ABC of rock, but there are no women to be seen, apart from "G is for Groupies" and "C is for Carol, who checks the guest list".
I've been playing about with the idea of making some supplementary pages for the book just to balance it out - C could be for Chrissie (Hynde), J for Janis (instead of Jimi - I know it's a big call but there you go), S for Suzi (instead of the Stones - again a big call, but hey) and P for Patti (instead of Pop, which is just a bad boy-band joke anyway).
Anyone have any other suggestions for other letters?
...14 Jul 09 at 12:40
How about D is for Debbie (Harry) and K is for Kim (Deal or Gordon, take your pick.)
...14 Jul 09 at 12:57
A is for Aretha or Annie Lennox B is for Bjork, Beyonce, or Babs! C is for Connie Mitchell (Sneaky Sound System) D is for Debbie Harry or Dolly Parton G is for (Alison) Goldfrapp, Gwen Stefani or Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane) J could also be for Johnette (Concrete Blonde), Joni Mitchell or Joan Jett K is for Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) or Kate Bush M is for Missy Elliot or Madonna! N is for Neko Case P is for PJ (Harvey), Pink or Patti... R is for the Runaways S could also be for Siouxsie Sioux, Stevie Nicks or Shirley Bassey T is for Tina Turner...
...14 Jul 09 at 13:06
Yes, yes for D is for Debbie. I should have put Heart of Glass up as well.
...15 Jul 09 at 0:09
i think in 5-6 years time female musicians will be voted into a new hottest 100 of all time. pop– in the manufactured, glitzy sense of the word– is almost cool again, and with it comes a slew of pidgen-holed female artists that have previously been ignored.
on the actual list though: i was hoping Bjork would get a song in, i thought her oh so quiet one would, even if I prefer many other songs of hers. i voted for joanna newsom knowing she wouldn't get in, which is a shame, because she's phenomenal. I'd hoped air's all i need would also get in (and i realise it just features a female vocalist).
...