4CD / 90 track set exploring the work of female artists in the decade following the punk explosion. From household names and legends – Alison Moyet, Toyah, Kirsty MacColl, Nico, Tracey Thorn, Chrissie Hynde, Neneh Cherry, Pauline Murray, Sinead O’Connor, Tracey Ullman, Cosey Fanni Tutti – to underground figureheads and unsung pioneers. Spanning the genres – from the punk howl of X-Ray Spex and the NWOBHM stylings of Girlschool to Cosey Fanni Tutti’s post-TG electronica, the experimental dub of Vivien Goldman and the the High Street pop of Bananarama.
Notwithstanding one or two isolated exceptions, it wasn’t until the mid-Sixties that independent female voices really began to be heard within the music industry. The feminist movement naturally coincided with the first signs of genuine musical emancipation. In North America, Joan Baez and Buffy Sainte-Marie emerged through the folk clubs, coffee-houses and college campuses to inspire a generation of wannabe female singers and musicians with their strong, independent mentality and social compassion, while the British scene’s combination of folk song revival and the Beatles-led pop explosion saw record company deals for a new generation of pop-folkies including Marianne Faithfull, Dana Gillespie and Vashti Bunyan.
Comprising pounding big beat ballads, the occasional guitar-driven nugget and other feminine pop gems of the stylish Italian variety, this much-anticipated sequel to “Ciao Bella!” offers further proof that there is musical life beyond the shores of English-speaking countries.
Five more CDs of Connie Francis, picking up right where Bear Family's earlier White Sox, Pink Lipstick set left off, in 1960 – although its 300-plus minutes of music only cover the period of 1960 to 1962. By this time, Connie Francis was established as one of the top female vocal talents of her generation, and she was ready to experiment – you hear her successful move into country music, wonderful outtakes, and never-issued songs from her early-'60s sessions…
The Shirelles were the first major female vocal group of the rock era, defining the so-called girl group sound with their soft, sweet harmonies and yearning innocence. Their music was a blend of pop/rock and R&B – especially doo wop and smooth uptown soul – that appealed to listeners across the board, before Motown ever became a crossover pop phenomenon.