Music Throughout the Ages

Females throughout history have always fought for equality. The term ‘women rights’ refers to the freedoms inherently possessed by women and girls of all ages, which may be institutionalized, ignored or suppressed by law, custom, and behavior in a particular society. Some of the issues associated with these rights include: the right to vote, to work, fair wages or equal pay,  to have marital, parental or religious rights; the right to own property; to obtain education. Along with obtaining these rights, it seems that the right to front a band comes naturally.

Sisters Band Together

The Pointer Sisters are an American Grammy Award-winning Pop/R&B recording act from Oakland, California that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. The group had its early origins when sisters June and Bonnie Pointer began performing in 1969 (without a record deal) as “Pointers, a Pair”. The line-up grew to a quartet when Anita Pointer joined, followed by Ruth, who joined in December, 1972, right before they recorded their debut album. They achieved their greatest commercial success later as a trio consisting of Anita, June, and Ruth, after Bonnie left the group to commence a solo career.

After leaving school Ruth was already married with two children Faun (born 1965) and Malik (born 1966), Anita also was married with a child Jada, but it was Bonnie who sought a show business career, and she convinced June to join her to form a duo, “Pointers, A Pair”. Shortly after this, Anita quit her job to join the group. They began touring and performing and provided backing vocals for such artists as Grace Slick, Sylvester James, Boz Scaggs and Elvin Bishop, and it was while supporting Bishop at a nightclub appearance that the sisters were signed to a recording deal with Atlantic Records in 1971.

Upon signing, they agreed that they did not want to follow the current trend of pop music, but wanted to create an original sound that combined jazz, scat and be-bop music. In searching for a visual style they remembered the poverty of their childhood and their mother’s ability to improvise, and used their experience to assemble a collection of vintage 1940s clothes from various thrift shops, that would comprise their costumes and give them the distinctive look they were searching for.

Their self titled first album, was released in 1973 and received positive reviews, with the group being lauded for their versatility and originality. The first single from it, a funk cover of “Yes We Can Can”, reached number 11 on the pop charts, and would go on to establish itself as an R&B classic. The following year they released their second album titled That’s a Plenty. It continued in the jazz and be-bop style of its predecessor but provided one exception that caused a great deal of interest.

The song “Fairytale” written by Anita and Bonnie was a country song, and reached number 13 on the pop charts, and number 37 on the country charts. Based on this success the group was invited to Nashville, Tennessee where they achieved the rare distinction of becoming the first black female singers to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. In 1975 the group won a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for “Fairytale” , and Anita and Bonnie were nominated as songwriters for the Grammy Award for Best Country Song. The song would later be covered by acts such as Elvis Presley.

Their third album, and arguably best, was released in 1975. Steppin’ produced their Grammy-nominated number one R&B single, “How Long (Betcha Got a Chick on the Side)”, which was later sampled by female rap icons Salt ‘N’ Pepa a decade later. They signed with producer Richard Perry’s Planet label, distributed by Elektra Records. After inviting her to contribute vocals on the group’s cover of Sly Stone’s “Everybody Is A Star”, Richard Perry convinced June Pointer to return to the group. With Perry the trio began working on an album of west coast soft rock which was released in 1978 with the title Energy. The first single, a cover version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Fire” climbed to number two on the US singles charts in early 1979.

Over the next few years they achieved their greatest commercial success and continued to demonstrate their versatility. In 1980 the soulful pop single, “He’s So Shy”, reached number three on the charts, and the following year a slow, sultry, country and western flavored ballad, “Slow Hand”, reached number two. The follow-up, “Should I Do It” was classic girl-group. Perry switched distribution of Planet to RCA in 1982. The first release from this new union was “American Music”, a patriotic themed modernized take on the girl-group sound while “I’m So Excited” was an influential frenetic dance track. All these singles were significant hits in the US and were also successful in Australia, where all but “American Music” reached the Top 20.

In 1983, the Pointer Sisters released what became their biggest-selling album ever with Break Out.  With the advent of MTV the sisters were able to exploit their visual style and extend their audience. In 1984 they achieved four Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles in a row. “Automatic” reached #5; “Jump (for My Love)” reached #3; a remix of “I’m So Excited” was added to the album almost a year into its shelf life and reached #9; and another single from the album, “Neutron Dance”, also featured on the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack, reached #6.

They received Grammy Awards for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for “Jump (For My Love)”, and Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices for “Automatic”. These songs also followed “Slow Hand” into the UK Top 10, with “Automatic” peaking at number 2 in that country. These Planet singles marked the end of their run of Top 10 hits in the US, with their subsequent RCA releases “Dare Me” in 1985.

In 1994 they were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and began touring with a production of the Fats Waller-based musical Ain’t Misbehavin’. In 1995 Pointer Sisters recorded “Feel For The Physical” as a duet with Thomas Anders (of Modern Talking fame) for his album Souled. They were also one of the featured acts at the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. The sisters were inducted to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2005.

Heart

Heart is a rock band formed in Bellevue, Washington (a suburb of Seattle) and Vancouver, British Columbia. Going through several lineup changes, the only constant members of the group are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music. The Wilson sisters grew up in Southern California and Taiwan before their Marine Corps father retired to the Seattle suburbs. After attending college, they returned to Seattle with Nancy working as a folk singer and Ann joining a hitherto-all-male local group in 1970. The group went under the name “Hocus Pocus” in the early 70’s before going back to “White Heart”, and then shortening that to “Heart” by the time Nancy joined in 1974.

“Dreamboat Annie” upon release in Canada, the album sold an impressive 30,000 copies (no doubt benefitting from Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) Canadian content regulations). In the US, Siegel released the album first in Seattle where it quickly sold another 25,000 copies. With two hit singles, “Crazy on You” (#35, 1976) and “Magic Man” (#9, 1976), “Dreamboat Annie” eventually sold over 1 million copies. “Little Queen”, with the hit “Barracuda” (#11, 1977), became Heart’s second million-seller; “Magazine” and the double-platinum “Dog and Butterfly” followed suit in 1978.

In 1984, Ann Wilson recorded a duet with Mike Reno of Loverboy called “Almost Paradise”. The song was featured on the soundtrack of the movie, “Footloose” and hit #7 on the pop charts. Then Heart’s first album for Capitol, simply titled, “Heart” (#1, 1985), sold 5 million copies on the strength of 4 Top-10 hits: “What About Love?” (#10, 1985), “Never” (#4, 1985), “These Dreams” (#1, 1986) and “Nothin’ at All” (#10, 1986). By that time, Heart had abandoned their earlier hard rock aspirations to make slick, radio-friendly pop music.

In June 1986, Nancy Wilson married journalist, screenwriter and director Cameron Crowe. She made a cameo appearance in his movie, “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” in 1982, as ‘Girl in Corvette’. Heart’s next album, “Bad Animals” (#2, 1987), too, contained a chart-topper, in the power ballad “Alone” (#1, 1987), as well as “Who Will You Run To?” (#7, 1987), and “There’s The Girl” (#12, 1987). In 1989, Ann Wilson and Cheap Trick’s lead singer, Robin Zander, had a #6 hit with their duet, “Surrender to Me”. “Brigade” (#3, 1990) became Heart’s 6th multi-platinum LP and added 3 more Top-25 hits to its catalogue, the most notable of which was “All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You”.

In 1998 Ann toured again without Nancy, this time billed as Ann Wilson & Heart. The lineup was the same as it had been in 1995, but without Scott Adams. Nancy kept busy scoring her husband’s movies “Jerry Maguire”, “Almost Famous” and “Elizabethtown”. In 1999 Nancy released a solo album, (”Live at McCabe’s Guitar Shop”). Also in 1999, Nancy and Ann embarked on a tour of their own, this being the first time that they had done so. In 2002, Ann and Nancy finally returned to the road with a brand-new Heart lineup that included Scott Olson, Ben Smith, former Alice In Chains bassist Mike Inez, and keyboardist Tom Kellock.

In 2003, Heart released their critically acclaimed concert DVD “Alive in Seattle” which has since been certified Platinum by the RIAA (platinum status requires one million in sales). The DVD included such hits as “Alone”, “Barracuda”, “Crazy on You”, “Magic Man”, “Straight On”, “These Dreams” and many more. In 2004 the Wilsons released “Jupiter’s Darling”, their first studio album as Heart since 1993. It featured a variety of songs that include a return to Heart’s original sound as well as a blend of pop and new textures. Stand-out tracks included “Make Me”, “Enough”, “Oldest Story In The World” and “Lost Angel”.

Heart was honored at the 2nd annual VH1 Rock Honors (24 May 2007), and also performed along with Ozzy Osbourne, Genesis and ZZ Top. This, along with the inclusion of “Crazy on You” in “Guitar Hero II” and “Barracuda” in the “Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock” video game, renewed interest in Heart once again. By the mid-1990s, Heart left their 80’s sound and went back to their hard rock roots which they continue to play today. They have sold over 30 million albums worldwide.

Girl Powered Groups

Girl eighties groups such as Expose and Bananarama were powerful female performers with fun wardrobes and great vocals. Exposé alternated lead vocals among its members and are known best for their album Exposure which feature songs such as “Come Go with Me”, “Let Me be the One”, “Point of no Return”, and  “Seasons Change”. Bananarama is an English girl group best known for the dance songs. They spawned hits like “Cruel Summer”, “Venus”, “I Heard a Rumor” and “Love In the First Degree”.

R&B and Hip Hop girl groups of the nineties battled against the male groups  holding steady and at times surpassing the male groups at that time. Groups like En Vogue, TLC, Salt N’ Peppa and Destiny’s Child solidified their volcanic talent with powerful vocals that captivated their audience and lead to hit records and singles that broke world records.

TLC was a Grammy-winning American music group, whose repertoire spanned R&B, hip hop and pop. They are one of the best selling female groups and R&B groups of all time. According to RIAA, TLC has sold over 22 million of album copies in the United States alone, making them the second best selling female group and best selling R&B group in American music history. Their second album, CrazySexyCool (1994), was the first album by a female group to be awarded diamond certification by the RIAA for selling over 11 million copies. Billboard ranks the group as one of the greatest musical trios of all time. According to Billboard Magazine, TLC has the 4th most #1’s of the 90’s with Creep, Waterfalls, No Scrubs and Unpretty.

En Vogue was formed In 1989, with the original members were Cindy Herron, Maxine Jones, Dawn Robinson, and Terry Ellis. Born to Sing was released on April 3, 1990 . The album charted at number twenty-one on the Billboard 200 and number three on Billboard’s R&B Albums Chart. The first single, “Hold On”, became a crossover pop hit, reaching number two on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles charts, and number one on both the R&B singles and Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts.

En Vogue’s second album, Funky Divas The albums first two singles: “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)” and “Giving Him Something He Can Feel”. The album went on to sell more than three million copies, won an American Music Award for “Favorite Soul/R&B Album,” and was nominated for five Grammy Awards. The dazzling music video for “Free Your Mind” earned the group three MTV Video Music Awards for “Best Choreography,” “Best Dance Video,” and “Best R&B Video.” They were also honored with Soul Train’s prestigious “Entertainer of the Year Award.” In addition to this, the group were featured in Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Essence among other major publications.

No Doubt is a rock band fronted by female vocalist Gwen Stefani from Anaheim, California, United States, founded in 1986. The band’s diamond-certified album Tragic Kingdom helped to launch the ska revival of the 1990s, and “Don’t Speak”, the third single from the album, set a record when it spent sixteen weeks at the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart, later broken by the Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris”.

The group released its next album, Return of Saturn, four years later, but despite positive reviews, the album was considered a commercial failure. Fifteen months later, the band reappeared with Rock Steady, which incorporated reggae and dancehall music into their work. The album was primarily recorded in Jamaica and featured collaborations with Jamaican artists Bounty Killer, Sly and Robbie, and Lady Saw. The album produced two Grammy-winning singles, “Hey Baby” and “Underneath It All”.