Back in my college days, a friend of mine remarked, after seeing my music cassette collection, that I had a thing for chick singers. I looked at him funny and said “What?” and he said that most of my tapes were of female singers. I looked them over and sure enough most of them were. My favorite chick singers back then, and still are, Blondie, Pat Benatar, the Go-Go’s and Madonna.
Why female singers? I really don’t know. I just seem to like a woman’s voice singing.
My first recollection of Blondie was seeing them on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve in 1978 or 79. It was at that time I learned they had come up from the Punk scene of New York performing at CBGB’s along with the Talking Heads and other soon to be stars of the 80’s New Wave scene. Of course Debbie Harry was easy on the eyes but the music is what made me a fan.
Although I love “Heart of Glass” my favorite Blondie song is “Dreaming” with the staggering drum line by Clem Burke leading the charge.
The first female singer I fell in love with was Pat Benatar and who wouldn’t. She was hot. I owned every single album through “Seven the Hard Way:. Her music was so popular it garnered a mention in the cult classic “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”. Her voice was so powerful – having trained awhile in classical music – and the music rocked. She also had a great drummer – Myron Grombacher who added flair to the music.
My favorite song is “Heartbreaker”
A whole band of chick singers who came up through the punk and club scene in LA. Their music had a dash of Surf music in it and that’s probably why I liked it so much. It is ironic that their videos showed them as wholesome while in real life they partied hard – very hard.
My favorite song has to be “Head Over Heels” from the album “Talk Show”
Seeing Madonna vamp around on the gondola in the video for “Like a Virgin”, I knew she would be a star. I just didn’t think she would still be popular some 20 years later. She was fierce, independent, and not afraid to reinvent herself from time to time. She came up through the disco and club scene in New York so most of her early music is dance music. I am still a fan of the early albums even after she moved on to more “adult” tones and content.
My favorite song is “Holiday” off the album before “Like a Virgin” called simply “Madonna” issued in 1983.
I still like women singers but only if they are similar to the women mentioned above. That is they have real talent and aren’t just eye candy who “sing”.
