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I am pleased to present our second installment in this new series. This month, we focused on our favorite songs by women. These are all songs that were suggested, upvoted, and chosen again via poll to be included in this video. The repertoire reflects an eclectic and varied musical sensitivity, and I had a blast making the video.

The Repertoire Is:

- Fast Car (Tracy Chapman)

- Smile of the Beyond (Mahishnu Orchestra, feat. Gayle Moran)

- Dog & Butterfly (Heart)

- Gypsy (Fleetwood Mac/Stevie Nicks)

- Bring Me To Life (Evanescence)

- River (Joni Mitchell)

- Heart of Glass (Blondie)

- Piece of My Heart (Janis Joplin)

- Boato (Elza Soares)

- Wuthering Heights (Kate Bush)

Files

Songs By Women - Fan Favorites (Episode 2)

Comments

JP Donnelly

Cocteau Twins Blue Bell Knoll album would be a good extended play reaction.

John Clark

What happened to The Great Gig in the Sky? I'm assuming that the overwhelming response to The Dark Side of the Moon meant that it wasn't included here so that it could be heard in the full context of the album, and allow another song to be included here? Obviously, if you address all this is the video itself I will be red-faced for charging in like a bull in a china shop.

Jeannine Doyle

Just a comment Richard Dick Kermode Janis’s organ player was a friend of mine from my hometown

Fabian J Lelo

Also check out the lovely Anneke van Giersbergen too not to mention Ms. Lee Douglas from Anathema...

Allen

Did Tori Amos ever get a nomination? Her work is fantastic and, if I'm not mistaken, she writes all her own material. Another interesting female is Loreena McKennitt ("Marrakesh Night Market" might warrant a future look).

David Marshall

Next time you include some Joni, please consider Amelia from the Hejira album. Musically interesting, and lyrically, a beautiful extended metaphor- some of her best poetry, IMO.

Gary Thobaben

Oh man Hejira next time for Joni for SURE please!

MrWondrous David Beckwith

Connections is weird. So it is circa 1980, and I'm digging me some Messiaen, and catch wind that Tashi is going to be in town, playing "Quartet for the End of Time". I grow anxious, excited. Tashi is a quartet made of Peter Serkin, Ida Kavafian, Fred Sherry and Richard Stoltzman, who would, years later, be directed by maestro MTT Michael Tilson Thomas in a wondrous performance of Copland's mellifluous Clarinet Concerto. So seeing that you would be playing MTT, along with Mahavishnu and both orchestras...supernal, elysian! Heavens to Murgatroyd! Plus Joni and Tracy! Tracy earned her creds on the mean streets of Harvard Square, where competition est maximus. The women artists are basically smarter than the men. Debbie Harry was wickedly meretricious. Great salad, Mister Dailydoug! My ears are giving your a standing ovulation!

David Crossen

I wish I'd put forward the song "Against The Clock" by Allan Holdsworth from the album Wardencliff Tower. The vocal by Naomi Star (the late wife of Chad Wackerman) is stunning.

Neil Roberts

Kate Bush was found by Dave Gilmour. So the guitar solo is said to be Gilmnour himself. But I have never found if it was. But Gilmour and EMI gave Kate time to get use to the studio before the recordings.

The Black Queen

Kate Bush's voice is very unique and, for most people, tends to need getting used to. I was luckily one of those who just loved her voice immediately. But in all fairness, she was but 18-19 years old when she recorded her first album, of which Wuthering Heights was on, so it makes sense that her type of whistle register is as thin and narrow as it is. It was also an artistic choice and only lasted her first three albums. 1982's Dreaming was when she really matured her voice. But in all honesty, I prefer her earlier vocals. Something about that really high vocal register I just admire!

Jeff Koke

Pat Benatar does a cover of Wuthering Heights on her Crimes of Passion album that's a bit more approachable if you don't care for Kate Bush.

John Gamesby

Next time you do this try Renate of Amon Düül 2 from the Kraut prog rock scene.

John Gamesby

Sorry Douig but found this list totally Boring except for "Piece of My Heart (Janis Joplin)" and "Wuthering Heights (Kate Bush)". You can't please all of the people etc. Sorry just me.

yes.elp.krimson

Did you notice in the tags for this episode, you wrote "Doug and Butterfly" ... 😀

Michael Brown

Sorry that Sandy Denny didn't make the final, but still worth a Doug listen

John Clark

Kate was recommended to Gilmour by a mutual friend I believe. He doesn't appear on The Kick Inside as a player but is credited as an executive producer on two tracks. The core band for that album is mainly a band called Pilot who were successful in the UK for an album or two, and had a number of singles chart successes too. They went on to become the core of the Alan Parsons Project as he had produced them prior to them playing on the Kate Bush album. The guitar solo in question is played by Ian Bairnson whose style is readily recognised if you have heard any of the Pilot songs.

Neil Roberts

Thanks for that information. Fills a little more about Kate Bush for me.

Jools Lee-Webb

Kate. Bush was discovered by Pink Floyd’s Dave Gilmore. Gilmour was responsible for bringing Kate Bush to public attention. While she was still at school, her family produced a demo tape with over 50 of her compositions, which was turned down by record labels. Gilmour received a copy of the demo from Ricky Hopper, a mutual friend of Gilmour and the Bush family. Impressed with what he heard, Gilmour helped the sixteen-year-old Bush get a more professional-sounding demo tape recorded that would be more saleable to the record companies. Three tracks in total were recorded and paid for by Gilmour.

Itsfun2listen

I lost my attention at The Mahavishnu Orchestra, far too long and found myself skimming so have to agree with you. Probably not the Kate Bush track I would have chosen as it really does not show off her real talent. Some great tracks on her first album like Kick Inside and Man with the Child in his Eyes. The Dreaming would always be one, where she decided to detach from EMI, set up her own studio and choose her own unique path. River is good on the list, but it was drowned by the mediocre

Murdock Moriarty

Great series. The 'Apocalypse'-album is one of a kind, even in the Mahavishnu discography. Also happy to see "Gypsy" here. I like my pop music, and this track isn't often mentioned with regard to Fleetwood Mac's hit years.

Murdock Moriarty

For a further list of female artists, I think St. Vincent hasn't been mentioned, yet.

John Gamesby

Yes I agree with you totally about Kate Bush, But she is a dancer at heart and her art is the track and the story being told visually in song and dance.

Sugar Mouse

Tracy Chapman is a genius ...

Martin Broten

I do love Kate Bush. It's amazing how fast she got from this song (on her first album) to the music of "The Dreaming", her fourth album. That album is probably one of the most experimental albums ever released by an established artist. It's pretty out there...but truly great. She pulled back a bit for her fifth album "Hounds Of Love", which has more accessible songs on side one with the second side taken up by "The Ninth Wave" - which is brilliant (IMHO). "Hounds of Love" is definitely one of my favorite albums to come out of the '80s. But, as with all music, your mileage may vary...

John Clark

I still think that Doug should do side two of Kate Bush's The Hounds of Love album, The Seventh Wave suite. It's much more representative of the breadth of her talent.

yes.elp.krimson

Sting once said, "Love Is The Seventh Wave," but that Ninth Wave is the killer... 🙂

Douglas W Gann

So hello everybody. This is my first post here so mock me freely. :) Ever hear of the genre called "Ecto?" Imagine Kate Bush and Tori Amos having many babies at Loreena McKennitt's house that go on to create interesting strange ethereal music. So if you dig the sounds, here are a few underappreciated songs and artists: Cocteau Twins (Elizabeth Friazer) - "Song to the Siren." - Jeff Buckley Cover. Happy Roads - "Ecto," "Building the Colossus" (while not strictly Ecto, Happy's new band is called Security Project, which only plays Peter Gabriel covers) The Magnetic Fields (Susan Anaway) - "Crowd of Drifters" Dead Can Dance (Lisa Gerrard) - "Rakim" The live version from toward the within, I think Ms Gerrard's voice could be used as a weapon. Kendra Smith "Bold Marauder" His Name is Alive "This World is not My Home" Area - "The Perfect Dream" Off to explore the Niel Morse Band and Transatlantic, neither of which I have heard of, but if you all dig it, it's going to be worth a listen.

Douglas W Gann

All of the above were products of the 1990s, but the band Still Corners is a more current version. Soundtracks for psychedelic road trips.

Jukka Alanen

You shouldn't say sorry Doug, you should really say sorry Patreons. I'm with you, I mean Heart of Glass is a nice 80's pop song but come on, the world is full of genius music written and performed by women! But I guess that's why they call it popular music, go figure. ;)

Brett Lehman

The better version of Wuthering Heights is found on The Whole Story. Kate re-recorded the vocals and remixed the over all track and it greatly improves the track.