There are so many talented female songwriters out there. What’s interesting is that sometimes, a cover version of a song gets more notoriety than the original version. Here are some songs that were written by women and covered by men. There are many more songs than this playlist includes but this gives you a start to maybe start researching who wrote your favorite songs. “Running Up That Hill” (by Kate Bush) Placebo– Their cover of this song is extremely creepy. Kate Bush’s lyrics are a little unsettling anyway but Placebo’s version takes it to a whole new level. I’ve heard Placebo’s version in movie soundtracks and TV shows…
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Spring- “Everybody”
Last week we set the clocks forward and almost like magic spring happened. Suddenly it’s still sunny when I get off the bus from work. There’s daylight enough to take a walk before dinner. The hillside behind our house is filled with green shoots that will soon transform into color. Gaia bought a new green dress and the world is a better place. To celebrate, I walk over to the record shelf and grab Spring’s one and only album. A few years ago, my favourite old hippie friend decided that I was worthy of inheriting the boxes of records that his old roommate had left behind back in the early…
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Femme Fatale- March 20th, A Night that Celebrates Nurturing
Molly Morris and Ellie Mae Mitchell, whom comprise Cincinnati folk band, Harlot, saw a need for something in the music scene and acted on it. March 20th celebrates their 3rd Femme Fatale night, which is to continues as an on-going festival. Each Femme Fatale event has fallen around the turn of the seasons. It started because Harlot was “getting paired with bands that didn’t have the same interest as [they] did.” “We wanted to book our own bills,” says Molly. Their focus is to represent a “strong female front” and show diversity of what feminine can be. Acts from the previous nights have included Misty from The Newbees, Jess Lamb,…
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A Few Reasons Why Dolly Parton Is a Total Badass
The theme for our playlist this month is “Men Covering Songs Written by Women.” When I heard this I immediately thought of “Back In The Good Old Days (When Times Was Bad) as done by one of the toughest men in the country music cannon, Merle Haggard. Legend has it that Haggard was inspired to pursue a life in music when he was a prisoner at San Quentin and saw Johnny Cash perform. His album “Mama Tried” contains the title song which boasts “I turned twenty one in prison doin life without parole.” Probably the toughest song on the album though is “Back in the Good Old Days” with it’s…
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“The Staircase (Mystery)” by Siouxsie and the Banshees and Some History
I’ve been listening to The Scream a lot lately but I ended up choosing a song that didn’t originally appear on the album for the Song of the Moment. A spooky number for you to kick off spring, “The Staircase (Mystery)” should be the theme song to a horror show. The song was released as a single in 1979 and later appeared on a re-issue of The Scream as a bonus track. Siouxsie and the Banshees formed in 1976 so this song really captures their early raw goth punk feel. The mix on this song is awesome, specifically the different levels on the guitar mix. It creates a jagged feel…
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Abby Hart of Mr. Clit and the Pink Cigarettes Talks About the Band and Art
It was a beautiful *almost* spring day when I drove to Indianapolis to meet up with bassist, Abby Hart of Mr. Clit and the Pink Cigarettes. I met her at PNR Graphics where she works when she’s not on the road with Mr. Clit and we proceeded to a great sushi place to have lunch and chat about her start in music and upcoming adventures. Abby got her start playing music with her bandmate in Mr. Clit and the Pink Cigarettes, David. David was in a horror punk band called Room 21 and taught her to play bass for that band. “I only knew how to play our songs, I…
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“A Pin-Light Bent” by Joanna Newsom
If your idea of badass indie rock doesn’t include a harp, take a listen to Joanna Newsom’s fourth album, Divers. Like her first three albums (The Milk-Eyed Mender, 2004; Ys, 2006; and Have One On Me, 2010), Newsom brings the angelic instrument down to earth, grounding it with guitars, banjo, bass, keyboard, and drums. Although Newsom’s music is often described as ethereal, otherworldly, or even precious, it has always struck me as decidedly earthy. She is often lusty, even bawdy or coarse. But on “A Pin-Light Bent,” it’s just Newsom’s sinewy voice and lavish harp. Just two notes, at…
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In The Know- February 2016
As a Valentine’s Day follow up, February’s In The Know answers: What do you watch out for when meeting a potential significant other at a show? Miss Alex White (guitarist and vocalist of White Mystery)- “The most important thing in looking for a potential date at a show is the person’s behavior. Are they dancing? Are they talking with friends? Or are they belligerently drunk and pushing people around in the moshpit? I love respectful people who know when to keep their hands to themselves and also know how to communicate that they are interested in getting to know one another.” Also, check out this link…
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The Big Mamma That Gave Birth to Elvis and Janis
“My singing comes from my experience…My own experience. I never had no one teach me nothin’. I never went to school for music or nothin’. I taught myself to sing and to blow harmonica and even to play drums by watchin’ other people! I can’t read music, but I know what I’m singing! I don’t sing like nobody but myself.” For March, Women In Rock is planning on putting together a playlist of men covering songs written by women. As I was brainstorming ideas, I thought of “Hound Dog.” I think most people know this song as done by Elvis. I think fewer know that it was originally…
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Hi, I’m Francis
Ever since I remember; there’s been rock-n-roll. Music is the first thing my cognitive mind latched onto. I’m a child of the seventies and a teenager of the eighties. Punk rock once saved my life. What I dug about punk was that it was outsider art. Most importantly it broke down the star/audience paradigm that created the rock star/groupie mentality that made rock music such a sexist-boys club through much of its history. In the late eighties I was introduced to the D.I.Y. punk scene through a group called The Dayton Anarchist Collective. It was a scene that was fairly woman centric. (In fact we spent a lot of time arguing…
