February Playlist - "B" Mine Lady Rockers

Oh, my sweet honey mustard lady rockers. I have wondered many a time why there is no female equivalent to the Rolling Stones. Being a girl myself, and a fan of bands like the Runaways, the Bangles, Heart, I know all too well what some of the issues are. Boys that think girls can't rock. Bands that break up when members get married, have babies, get domestic. The girly appeal of pop music.

It's a shame, because women can wail, be it with a mike or a whammy bar.

For Valentine's Day, I am givin' my love to some choice lady rockers and including them in my playlist for the day. Whether they are talkin' about love remains to be seen.

For fun, we will stick with the B's on my iPod.

The Bangles, Going Down to Liverpool: I loved this band in high school. Their couple of albums were packed tight with hits, hooks, and harmonies. What was fantastic about this group is all four members sang. While Susanna Hoffs gave a voice to the biggest hits, sisters DEbbie and Vicki lent honeyed, husky (more h's!) vocals to songs like Walk Like an Egyptian and To Be With You. Michael Steele, she of former supergroup the Runaways, showed off her rich interpretation on songs such as Following.

I chose Going Down to Liverpool because I love the jangly harmonies, but that rings true for most any of their songs. They rocked an old Simon and Garfunkel tune, they popped up a gift from Prince, torched the place with a throwback torch song. They so ruled.

Barbra Striesand, Evergreen: This is on the list without irony, without camp value. Two of my favorite old movies from the 70s feature Babs, the first being The Way We Were, the other A Star is Born with Kris Kristofferson. This song is sweet and gentle in its harmonies but lyrically powerful and magnetic. Gives me chills. Bravo Babs.

Bettye Lavette, Choices: Speaking of chills... I admit that I never heard of Bettye until she performed The Who's Love Reign on Me at the Kennedy Center Honors. Bettye knocked the stilletos off one of the other KCH recpient - Barbra Striesand! - who was shown leaning over to Pete Townsend, asking "YOU wrote this?!" She also performed "A Change is Gonna Come" at Obama's Inauguration.

I had the honor of seeing her open for Heart in 2009, and this was the one song that she ripped through and I swear you saw her heart beating on her cap sleeve. I was captivated and electrified. I've listened to the song at least once a week since and can hear something new every time.

Bjork, Venus as a Boy: Bjork is a very, very different girl, an exotic songbird from Iceland which undoubtedly influences her art. This song is as otherworldly as she is, girly, sensual, pretty. But it's the kind of bold, jarring pretty you experience by seeing shocking pink coupled with orange. It's not your conventional candy box pink, but captures your imagination.

Blondie, Rapture: Debbie Harry is the singer every girl who ever sang into a hairbrush wanted to be. She's pretty, she's tough, she's sexy, she's cutting edge. Rapture was the first exposure most of the country had to rap music, combining her sweet singing with her throaty scat about Fab Five Freddy. Visually, the black gauzy dress, stilettos, supergloss lipgloss, the wispy blonde hair, and kickass light up shades knocked the gator off our 'tween polo shirts. So effin' cool... Yeah, all the girls wanted to be Debbie.

Bobby Gentry, Ode to Billie Joe: And sometimes, ypu're just blown back by engaging storytelling. Research into this song tells me this is considered Southern Gothic storytelling with a classic country and western melody. Gentry's delivery is similar to Johnny Cash, almost spoken word reading of this hypnotic tale. The question that has never been answered is why Billie Joe jumped; but Gentry feels that is beside the point, the real story is with the people who lived and how the mother and daughter relate having suffered similar fates in the loss of their loves. So many layers in a scant 3 minutes.

Bonnie Tyler, Total Eclipse of the Heart: Bonnie Tyler 80s opus has had a very long shelf life in my personal soundtrack. It was a hit, a huge hit, when I was a freshman in high school. Powerful dramatic vocals that made absolutely NO sense. The over-the-top theatrical interpretation music video that made NO sense. It was a confusing mess of young bodies, big choruses, melisima, wind machine blowing around huge gauzy curtains. As a dreamy-eyed 14 year old that had AT LEAST 3 crushes simultaneously on different boys, I sighed in pleasure at the ache that made no sense while belting out the chorus "I really need you tonight! Forever's gonna start tonight! Once upon a time I was falling in love, but now I'm only falling apart..."

Flash forward, 2008. While commuting through Canada on our way to Lake Placid, an iPod shuffle brought this gem to the forefront, and thus a legendary addition to the soundtrack of adult figure skating. We sang it in the car, we sang it in the bar, it was a group sing with a coach in the shower, a group in the stands and finally, a final parting rendition at the competitor's party.

Bow Wow Wow, Do You Want to Hold Me?: The video makes absolutely no sense, as Annabelle wears various Disney character outfits while avoiding cutouts of buses, donuts and the like from hitting her and her band mates doing a love train. The African drum beats are complimented by the heavy, rhythmic bass line, and it's a catchy piece of pop music overshadowed by their big hit I Want Candy. It's worth the 99 cents on iTunes.