The American pop charts today are dominated by women, which has to be a sign of progress (hip-hop is a glaring exception). That dominance, however, is based on a narrow platform. All of big names are singers; few play any instruments, and, with rare exceptions, when they do they are not playing rock. The image of the singer-songwriter, male or female, strumming an acoustic guitar while crooning about love or heartbreak (think of Joni Mitchell or early James Taylor), is a staple of Western popular music. But a woman who picks up an electric guitar, or bashes away on the drums, is either seen as transgressive or dismissed as a curiosity.
Good post, but it looks like you put the same Pleasure Seekers YouTube video (for "What a Way to Die") up twice instead of the Motown song discussed in the post.
Good post, but it looks like you put the same Pleasure Seekers YouTube video (for "What a Way to Die") up twice instead of the Motown song discussed in the post.