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2009 has been described by pop pundits as ‘the year of the woman’; signaled by the flamboyance of Florence and the Machine, electro pop falsetto La Roux, the continuing dominance of Beyonce and the everlasting cool of Karen O, to name only a few.
It’s been a damn good year for the girls, but let us not forget their musical mothers: for every Laura Marling there has been Joni Mitchell, before Beyonce came Tina Turner and it was Deborah Harry who wore the original rock ‘n’ roll cool, before Karen O picked it up at a vintage store. Here we celebrate them all.
Debbie Harry and Karen O
Karen O and Debbie Harry, both New Yorkers, both New Wave pioneers, making exciting raw, sexy and up front rock ‘n’ roll. The two frontwomen grew musically alongside some of the most influential bands of their era; Blondie alongside The Ramones, Talking Heads and Television, Yeah Yeah Yeahs alongside The Strokes and The White Stripes. Both possessing the ability to hold one half of a concert hall by their proverbial plums and influence the other half to join a rock ‘n’ roll band.
Blondie
Parallel Lines
Blondie committed the ultimate rock n’ roll sacrilege by going disco, but it’d take a heart of pure stone not to dance to Heart of Glass. Their most successful and best album, it’s a punk record in satin flares.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Fever To Tell
The three Yeah Yeah Yeahs albums are all great, but this, their debut, is a ferocious shot of garage punk that really got the kids sweaty with tracks like ‘Date with the night’ and ‘Y Control’ and with ‘Maps’ provided one of the decade's finest moments.
Leona Lewis and Minnie Ripperton
Arguably the only graduate of Simon Cowell’s X Factor to have gone beyond their designated fifteen minutes and make a considerable mark on popular music. Leona Lewis has one of the most impressive voices of the decade, but it has yet to be seen what she is capable of as an artist, away from the reliance on big ballads and Cowell’s music machine.
Minnie Riperton had a vocal range (allegedy 5 and half octaves) that even Leona would envy, yet was given the creative freedom and without mainstream pressures created songs with the timeless beauty of ‘Lovin’ You’, the orchestral summer soul explosion of ‘Les Fleurs’, the slow sexy funk of ‘Inside My Love’, and psychedelic groove of ‘Reasons’ are some of the many highlights of her remarkable brief recording career.
Minnie Riperton
Perfect Angel
With Stevie Wonder co-producing, playing various instruments and penning two songs during his most eclectic and inspiring period, coupled with Minnie Riperton’s astonishing voice, Perfect Angel was never going anything short of amazing.
Leona Lewis
Spirit
Leona Lewis with her collection of big soulful pop ballads made Spirit the fastest selling debut album in British music history and a US number one, making it the most successful album to come from a British reality TV star.
Joni Mitchell and Laura Marling
Joni Mitchell’s voice is rich and sweet, the delivery of her disgustingly spot-on lyrics is perfection and her guitar playing is unmistakable. It's little surprise, then, that she managed to turn two thirds of Crosby, Stills & Nash into besotted obsessives (both 'Guinnevere', written by Crosby, and 'Lady of the Island', by Nash, from CSN's debut are songs of adoration toward her). Similarly, Laura Marling has been capturing the hearts of mild mannered indie boys from Noah and The Whale and Mumford & Sons, luring them like a pied piper (swapping the whistle for 6 strings) with frank tales and bittersweet songs.
Joni Mitchell
Court & Spark
Lyrically her sharpest release; infused with jazz, folk and rock influences, Court & Spark flourishes with each irresistible listen and before long you’ll find you’ve fallen in love.
Among a sea of albums from female singer-songwriters it’s Laura Marling who, without courting hype and commercial trends, has created a sincere British folk album that has organically gained the attention and praise it rightfully deserves.
Tina Turner and Beyoncé Knowles
Sit yourself down Kanye, Beyonce may have had one of the best videos ever,‘Crazy in Love’ may quite possibly be the best pop tunes of the decade and she may well posses a behind that has no desire to quit, but Tina Turner has been making and shaking R&B stonkers since the 50s, with a voice that could dry a wet St. Bernard in seconds. Backed by Ike’s rocking funk stomp, onstage Tina is an unstoppable soul diva, funkier than a mosquito’s tweeter. Check out her 1969 to 72 output… dynamite!
Workin’ Together is as much a stomping piece of funk and soul as it is a Rock n’ Roll record. Tina makes Proud Mary and Get Back her own, while Funkier Than a Mosquito’s Tweeter couldn’t belong to anyone else.
Showcasing two sides of Beyonce Knowles, ‘I Am…’ is a Beyonce laid bare, personal and contemplative, the other half is an introduction to ‘Sasha Fierce’ a sexy R&B diva accompanied by crunchy beats and synths.
![Pretenders [Expanded & Remastered]](http://cdn.7static.com/static/img/sleeveart/00/001/530/0000153060_75.jpg)
