1. The Girl Singer
Female singers in Popular Music
since the 1950s

2. Books
 Bayton, Mavis (1998): Frock Rock (Oxford, OUP)
 Garr, Gillian, G (1992): She's a Rebel
(Washington)
 McClary, Susan (1991): Feminine endings, music,
gender, and sexuality (Minnieapolis: Minnesota
University Press)
 Reynolds, Simon and Press, Joy (1995): The Sex
Revolts: Gender, Rebellion and Rock'n'roll
London, Serpent's Tail)

3. The Message
 That the trajectory of women in popular
music - as singers, song writers,
instrumentalists, DJs, producers and
commercial directors/company owners - has
mirrored and in some ways led the way
towards equality of opportunity in Western
Society.
 Because popular music pervades modern life
the images and messages about gender in
popular music matter in the world of sexual
politics.

4. 1950s Female singers of Jazz
and R&B
1. Heritage of great Jazz singers -
Bessie Smith, Billy Holliday. Film
of Billie Holliday
2. 50s saw solo performers
(e.g.Peggy Lee) give way to girl-
singer groups both black and
white. E.g. Bobbets, Chantelles,
Shirelles

5. 1960s and the formula
 Once a winning formula had been identified it
was repeated in subsequent singles until the
hits ended. (Shirelles)
 Shangri Las and Crystals - White teenage
angst - Example of Shangri Las - Leader of
the pack
 Manufactured bands with no control
(Ronettes).
 Svengali producers (Phil Spector).
 Recording label held all the cards.
 Singers in tradition of chanteurs - to be sexy,
look pretty and do as they were told.

6. Supremes – Diana Ross

7. Back to solo singers
 Case of Supremes and the promotion of
Diana Ross - Video
 Brassy soulful white singers using black
singing styles - Petula Clark, Dusty
Springfield, Sandie Shaw, Lulu, Cilla
Black –
 Ex. Dusty Springfield.

8. Talkin `Bout a Revolution
 Female singers become empowered
 Aretha Franklin - Respect (1967) A clarion for
female rights
 The Case of Tina Turner
 Joan Baez
 Mama Cass
 Janis Joplin
 Carole King

9. You don’t own me – Leslie
Gore 1964

10. Women’s Liberation
 Helen Reddy - Hear my Prayer. The
impact of feminism.
 Olivia Records - female owned
recording company
 Girl groups begin to come back - The
Deadly Nightshades, Svelts
 Gay Beginnings - Redwood Records
 Case of Karen Carpenter

11. Diverse Directions
 Female Singer Songwriters - Carole King, Joni
Mitchell, Judy Collins, Carly Simon - play
Carole King and Joni Mitchell
 British female Singer Songwriters and the folk
connection
 Black singer songwriters - Joan Armatrading,
Tracy Chapman

12. Carole King

13. Pre-Punk
 Suzi Quattro and the break-through into
metal
 Experimentalism and Yoko Ono -
underground art scene
 Patti Smith and US scene

14. Punk Liberation
 All girl groups - Slits, Penetration, Delta
5, B-52s
 Performers - X-Ray Specs, Siouxsie,
Toyah Wilcox, Hazel O’Connor
 Punk influenced rock/pop lead fronted
by a distinctive female singer -
Pretenders, Blondie

15. Post Punk - Girls in Control
 Go Gos - all girl band
 Laurie Anderson - mixing pop with art
music
 Individualist female singers - Kate Bush,
Annie Lennox,
 Girls in rock - Pat Benata,

16. The 70s and dance
 US all girl disco groups - e.g. Sister
Sledge,
 Donna Summer
 European disco and ABBA

17. Donna Summer

18. The 80s and the girls on top
 The Madonna phenomena - dance
based singers with huge video potential
 The influence of MTV
 Eurythmics and gender play
 KD Lang and the gay angle

19. Madonna

20. 90s phenomenas
 Bjork
 The all girl `manufactured’ band with
attitude - Spice Girls, All Saints,
Destiny’s Child
 Multi Media personalities and `R&B’

21. Spice Girls – 1990s
Cologne