| Contents |
Riffin' the scotch: from blues to the jazz age -- Stupid cupid: dream babes in 1950s pop -- The real thing: Motown, Spector and 1960s svengalis -- Can the can: whatever happened to the rock chick? -- Final girls: punk, performance art and PMT pop -- Ladies of the canyon: female singer/songwriters of the Grand Hotel -- Lipstick traces: Madonna, manipulation and MTV -- She wears the trousers: artistry, androgyny and the lesbian question -- I wanna dance with somebody: deconstructing the disco diva -- In search of our mothers' gardens: the true story of women in rap and reggae -- Oye mi canto, hear my voice: women in world music -- Talkin' tough, the enemy within: women and protest pop -- Talkin' business: nuts 'n' bolts and all the necessaries -- Girlpower!: the next generation. |
| Abstract |
Popular music grew out of ragtime, vaudeville and the blues to become global mass entertainment. Women like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith were the original pop divas, yet eighty years after they blazed a trail, have their successors achieved the recognition and affirmation they deserve? Or has the only way to success been to slot into saleable images of the cute babe or sexy chanteuse? Since its publication in 1995, the first edition of this book has garnered worldwide acclaim. This fully revised and updated edition, with an additional chapter and dozens of extra interviews, is the ultimate hands-on history of women in rock, pop and soul. Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Dusty Springfield, Patti Smith, Madonna, Joni Mitchell, Whitney Houston, Courtney Love, Alanis Morissette, Destiny's Child--all the key names are here. But this book refuses to look at women artists simply as personalities, problems or victims. From Dream Babes to rock chicks, Riot Grrrls and ragamuffins, Girlpower, Lilith Fair rock, and the rise of the corporate Diva, this book is the uncompromising story of women as creators and innovators. |
