BlogHer - The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame: Where Are The Women? - Comments

Unsung Rock n Rollers

mel is a — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 21:01:32 -0500

There are so many people who will never be acknowledged. The creators of rock n roll who sang what was then referred to as race music. When I think of female original rock n rollers I think of the late great LaVern Baker--I am so sure there are many others I have never heard of. There are originators and there are duplicators. Each has their place in history. My salute goes to those who created the ultimate American art form who will never get the recognition they so rightly deserve.

maybe this is odd, but...

Sallybelle75 — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:48:26 -0500

I'm so wowed by Kathleen Hanna that I think she belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of something if not the Hall of Fame. Her voice is a tall glass of seismicly, sulky sexy brilliance.

Sally Belle
http://thatscrazee.blogspot.com/

I Nominate Wendy O Williams

Gena Haskett — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 18:51:22 -0500

She may or may not deserve to be nominated but that kid was radical to me. I was raised in the Soul/Funk tradition but when I saw Wendy on the TV show Friday's she dropped my jaw. It was the first time I had seen what the world later called Punk.

True it might have been the electrical tape that passed for clothing but all she wanted to do was play punk and play it hard. She left the world too soon because the music industry couldn't make a path for a woman who didn't want to fit into a music straight jacket.

I still can see her whipping the Mohawk back and forth and beating the hell out of the guitar.

Gena - Out On The Stoop

Where is Melanie?

tarbabyjim — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 17:39:08 -0500

Why isn't Melanie in yet?

Please help her.

http://LetHerIn.org

Justin Timberlake

kperfetto — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:14:29 -0500

I think he was just trying to be funny or was probably a little starstruck, but I agree, it just didn't seem right.

Available Light & Five Dollar Radio

Not to mention...

litchic — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:58:27 -0500

I completely agree! In addition, Justin Timberlake's speech when he presented her with her award also didn't sit quite right with me. Although I understand Madge's enormous role as perhaps THE sex icon of the latter half of the 20th century, I'm not sure if Timberlake's speech had to include quite so many innuendos. He came off like a teenage boy with a hard on while Madonna was presented as a "cougar" whose primary talents come from her sexuality. In my opinion, her status as a sex icon is secondary to the major contribution she made to pop music and culture.

"ladies, i’m having an epiphany! the world is made up of two kinds of girls, the simple girls and the katie girls, i’m a katie girl!”

https://litchic.wordpress.com

First woman Rock n Roll artist is not in Hall of Fame

conniereece — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:28:14 -0500

How about Wanda Jackson? She was the first woman to ever record a rock 'n roll song in the 1950s and has yet to be inducted into the good ol' boys of music industry fame. At age 70, Wanda is still packing in fans at concerts, and the Smithsonian Channel promoted a documentary of her life at the SxSW Film Festival this year. The Sweet Lady with the Nasty Voice features performers like Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello asking the same question: why has Wanda Jackson not been inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame?

Connie Reece
Principal, Reece & Company
Founder, Every Dot connects
Executive Director, Social Media Club
Fairy Godmother, Frozen Pea Fund

The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame: Where Are The Women?

kperfetto — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:29:15 -0500

Earlier this month, Madonna was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Totally deserving, considering her influence, and not exactly a shock to anyone, unless you consider that out of the 200-plus artists in the Hall, only twenty of them are women. Another seven women who were nominated as part of a band: (Tina Weymouth from the Talking Heads, Debbie Harry of Blondie, Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac..)

Twenty. That's not many.

Seven new acts made the cut this year. Madge takes her place alongside John Mellancamp, Leonard Cohen, The Dave Clark Five, surf-rockers The Ventures; sideman Little Walter, and songwriter/producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. (Last year women fared marginally better with seminal punk goddess Patti Smith and sixties girl-group The Ronettes getting their due.)

Pinky Von Bloom from The Rich Girls Are Weeping wrote this wonderful tribute to Madonna:

Listing Madonna's contributions to popular music is a pretty moot point. The reality is that there was always some way to rationalize being a fan, no matter what else I was listening to at the time. There was a good chance that what Madonna was doing might ultimately more important than that Book of Love record I was all about in 1986, Depeche's Music for the Masses in 1988, Peter Murphy's Deep in 1990, Sisters of Mercy's Some Girls Wander by Mistake in 1992, or Seefeel's Quique the year after. For any and every record on my formative roadmap, there's an offering from Madonna--resplendent with bubblegum, glitter, steam, fresh scandal, and a new eyebrow configuration--to which I've forgotten none of the words

And many bloggers were eager to post the video of punk rock's resident godfather, Iggy Pop, covering her hit "Ray of Light" at the ceremony. This from Sweetney:

And the resulting video footage is CRINGETASTIC. Nothing beats watching a bunch of people dressed to the nines squirm in their seats. Even Madonna looks like she might be thinking: "Oh crap, what did I do?"

But is it all a little too late for other women in the music industry? As someone who's listening habits have always always leaned a little left of the fringe, I used to rooting for underdogs. Patti Smith's inclusion last year was probably the only time I wanted to jump up and say, "Yes! I told you so!" And that was after being eligible for the last half-decade or so.

The Beauty Alchemist thinks Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, and the ladies of Heart should be considered for the Hall of Fame:

Now I remember when there was such a stink for years that Black Sabbath wasn't being inducted. Right. So where is the righteous indignation on behalf of these ladies? Thankfully Blondie and Chrissie Hynde finally made it, but lets hope that wasn't a bone thrown to the ladies who wait in the wings.

I feel the same way; that some of these inductions were just "bone-throwing." Not that I don't think any of the women inducted into the hall of fame were undeserving. On the contrary, I think the handful of women recognized by the Hall of Fame worked incredibly hard to get where they are, but it's no secret the music industry hasn't exactly been women-friendly. Who would you like to see in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? (You can find out when your favorites are eligible for the Hall of Fame here.)