HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's 2010, let the fun begin!

ROCK Sex: "I Like the Way You Walk!"

ROCK Sex likes 'the way you walk and the way you talk'.


Creativity compounds itself in unexpected directions. Here's another example. The original version of "Susie Q" was by unsung swampabilly guitarist DALE HAWKINS. (That slamming guitar break shows how Rock'n'Roll was the Punk of the times):

DALE HAWKINS -"Susie Q" (1957)



In the early to mid 60's, it was subsequently covered by luminaries like Lonnie Mack, Gene Vincent, The Rolling Stones, The Everly Brothers, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and even the early Velvet Underground.

But it was CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL on their debut album who had such a hit with it that most folks think it's their song:

CCR- "Suzie Q" (1968)



Glam queen SUZI QUATRO built her style out of 50's boogie-woogie and leather, and it was an easy association to make likening her to a real-life "Suzie Q" :

SUZI QUATRO -"Can the Can" (1973)



Suzi's image clearly inspired JOAN JETT and GAYE ADVERT, and her name may have inspired the Punk "Suzie Q", SIOUXSIE SIOUX; on their first gig, they were called 'Suzie and The Banshees' before the spelling change.

LADIES FIRST: "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood!"

LADIES FIRST wants to clear up any misunderstandings.


In today's installment of "she did it first", here is NINA SIMONE with the original version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". The song was written especially for her to record.

While it is a metaphor about emotional relationships, her vaunted activism gives it a broader social context. I responded to that by making this video:


NINA SIMONE -"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (1964)



THE ANIMALS released their international hit version the following year, making it a staple in many garage bands' set lists. It was propelled by the distinctive vocal of Eric Burdon, the guitar figure by Hilton Valentine, and organ harmony of Alan Price.

THE ANIMALS -"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (1965)



In the late 70's it took on epic dance dimensions by the disco group SANTA ESMERALDA. This version gained new street cred when its instrumental break was used in the film, "KILL BILL, vol. 1" (2004).

SANTA ESMERALDA -"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (1977)



The "KILL BILL" soundtrack included the Santa Esmeralda track as well as Nancy Sinatra's cover of "Bang Bang". Perhaps taking their cue from this, here is STRANGEFRUIT combining the guitar sound of Nancy's song along with Nina's version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood":

STRANGEFRUIT -"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (2009)

ROCK Sex: "Time Is Tight!"

ROCK Sex knows sometimes time is timeless.


The premiere instrumental Soul group BOOKER T & THE MG'S counted down the 60's with this proto-Funk classic:

BOOKER T & THE MG'S -"Time Is Tight" (1969)


(Notice their heavy influence on the sound of CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL, like for instance Down On the Corner" from the same year.)


Almost as quickly followed a Ska version of the song by SOUND DIMENSIONS:

SOUND DIMENSIONS -"Time Is Tight" (1969)



The song gained new life in 1978 as an into theme for THE BLUES BROTHERS, whose band included guitarist Steve Cropper and bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn from The MG's. (This was often combined with Otis Redding's "Can't Turn You Loose" which The MG's had done the backing on.)


About the same time it was covered by THE CLASH:

THE CLASH -"Time Is Tight" (1978)



ELVIS COSTELLO used it as the basis for his song "Temptation" (1980), and then SQUEEZE molded it into this song:

SQUEEZE -"In Quintessence" (1981)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

LADIES FIRST: "When the Levee Breaks!"

LADIES FIRST is about to weep and moan.


MEMPHIS MINNIE was a ferocious guitarist in the early decades of Blues music. She could hold her own in any guitar dual, and if you got out of bounds she whipped out her knife. While she sang most of her recorded songs, on this occasion the vocal was done by her then husband, Kansas Joe McCoy.

This song laments the terrible Mississippi river flood of 1927.

MEMPHIS MINNIE -"When the Levee Breaks" (1929)



Like the tremendous inspiration that they had from Joni Mitchell and Sandy Denny, LED ZEPPELIN likewise canonized Memphis Minnie's song with this evergreen...

ZEP -"When the Levee Breaks" (1971)



So tell your rockboy friends that "she did it first".

ROCK Sex: "Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego!"

Fresh


ROCK Sex says, "Yeah, that's right, it's time to set the record straight!"


Time for some Funk tag today...

First the scandelous FUNKADELIC recorded this twisted ditty...

FUNKADELIC -"Loose Booty" (1972)



Then SLY STONE liked the title so much he made a new song...

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE -"Loose Booty" (1974)



Then THE BEASTIE BOYS sampled Sly's chant of the biblical nobles, "Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego" in their song...

BEASTIES -"Shadrach" (1989)

---

After refining their Funk chops by playing to Sly records, The Beasties twistedly did a cover of another Sly song in a Punk update...

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE -"Time For Livin' " (1974)


BEASTIES -"Time For Livin' " (1992)

(note the t-shirt at 0:10)



"Find yourself some room to let it all hang out/
Get into some dancing, do what it's all about!"

LADIES FIRST: "Hanky Panky!"

The Raindrops


ROCK Sex is debuting a new feature that will rotate regularly in the future: "LADIES FIRST".

This spotlight could also be called "She Did It First". Rock'n'Roll was always made by men and women from all genres and backgrounds. But at the end of the day, sexist marketers and lazy journalism reduced it to a cock fight; male male white man yadda yadda yeah. This blog is one long reality check in general, and here very specifically.

Many of the songs we grew up on assuming were originated by tough men were in fact trailblazed by cool women. Here's our first example...


Famed hitmakers Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich wrote scores of classic songs that we all love. For one of their girl groups they had to come up with a throwaway B-side in twenty minutes. So THE RAINDROPS recorded this song...

THE RAINDROPS -"Hanky Panky" (1963)


Soon after, another girl group did their take on it...

THE SUMMITS -"Hanky Panky" (1963)


TOMMY JAMES heard a local Indiana garage band cover it. He was unsure of the lyrics, from that quick impression, so in true "Louie Louie" fashion he kind of fudged and improvised them. It became a leftfield hit that ignited his career...

TOMMY JAMES & THE SHONDELLS -"Hanky Panky" (recorded 1963, hit in 1965)


In Singapore women again took up the call. But this time RITA CHAO sang James' version phonetically (making an unintentionally delightful lesbian anthem), and NANCY SIT sang it in her own language...

RITA CHAO & THE QUESTS/ NANCY SIT -"Hanky Panky" (1967)



"Hanky Panky" was meant as filler, but it lasted because it was so brazenly about sex and being proud to love having sex. What's cool is that despite all the changes in its handoff, that core randiness never gets lost. Now that's Rock'n'Roll...the very name of which came from slang for rockin' and rollin' in bed.

New STARSTRUCK article from Publishers Weekly!

Publishers Weekly has a new article spotlighting the galactic grrrl space opera, STARSTRUCK! Check it out here.

Smart art for hip people!



StarstruckComics.com

ROCK Sex: "When WIRE Met Elastica"

ROCK Sex sees how "a vital connection is made".


I love ELASTICA because they were the sum result of a lot of great influences. Every act is the sum of their parts, it's true, but sometimes someone pulls it together just right for you. It's the difference between laying all the ingredients out on the table versus cooking them with your own touch.

Elastica expanded on some melodies from the great PostPunk band WIRE, and get no end of grief for it from literalists. Whatever. I enjoy what they brought to already fine songs.


WIRE -"Three Girl Rhumba" (1977)


"Connection" (1994)




WIRE -"I Am the Fly" (1977)


"Line Up" (1995)




Perversely, in light of all the flak they got in '95, Elastica returned in 2000 to also do a song called "Nothing Stays the Same", which did new moves from the melody of Wire's "Kidney Bingos". And also this one...

The original "Lowdown" was done by Wire in 1977...

WIRE -"Lowdown" (live, 2008)


"Human" (2000)

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Elastica's leader, Justine Frischmann like the arpeggiated use of guitars in the riff for this song...

THE STRANGLERS -"No More Heroes" (1978)


Though The Stranglers didn't get any grief from Bach for their baroque moves, Elastica didn't escape so lightly for using the same approach with their own song.

"Waking Up" (1995)



I say it's all good. We're lucky to have had both and get such great work between them.

ROCK Sex: "Sonic Screwdriver!"

ROCK Sex says "the Doctor is IN!".


One cool thing added to another another cool thing gives you a third cool thing. It's like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, the spectrum, and babies.

Ron Grainger may have composed the theme for "Doctor Who" on paper, but everyone knows it was DELIA DERBYSHIRE who performed her sonic wizardry in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop to make this Electro classic what it is:

DELIA DERBYSHIRE/ RON GRAINGER -"Doctor Who Theme" (1963)



As a flipside to his Glam Rock single "Rock'n'Roll", GARY GLITTER did this epic instrumental. Long before it was massacred by your local sports event. (Gary made a handful of cool songs, but Gary himself...well, that's a sad story.)

GARY GLITTER -"Rock'n'Roll, Part 2" (1972)



And The KLF, under the alias The Timelords, combined the two in this dance club hit.

THE TIMELORDS/ KLF -"Doctorin' the Tardis" (1988)




"Hey, your chocolate is in my peanut butter!"

New FACEBOOK pages for STARSTRUCK!

STARSTRUCK, the illustrated Sci-Fi masterpiece where Riot Grrls take over the galaxy, has new pages on FACEBOOK!

You can join the Group page...

...and also become a Fan...




We all know that the 80's renaissance of comix included WATCHMEN, DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, AMERICAN FLAGG, MIRACLEMAN, and LOVE & ROCKETS.

But easily as bold, much more ambitious, and far more funny was STARSTRUCK. Yet the acclaimed series by Elaine Lee and Michael Kaluta was criminally overlooked. And let's face it... it's because it starred kickass funny women instead of terse aggro men. Now it has returned in monthly issues with expanded art and stunning color.

Time to catch up to the better revolution and support STARSTRUCK today!

StarstruckComics.com

ROCK Sex: "We Can Beat Them, Forever And Ever!"

ROCK Sex wants to "steal time, just for one day".


Okay, you're going think I'm crazy on this one, but what's new?

File this in the "A + B= C" category. Combine the surging sway of the rhythm section in this song...

QUESTION MARK And The MYSTERIANS -"96 Tears" (1966)



...with the rhythmic intro riff of this song...

REDBONE -"Come and Get Your Love" (1973)



...and see if you don't hear them in this song: that sing-song sway, and the riff in the guitar figure...

DAVID -"Heroes" (1977)



Maybe it's just me.

ROCK Sex: "We Got a Thing Goin' On!"

ROCK Sex is trying to keep up with the Jones'!


Evidently everybody is getting a bit of the jones as they make the rounds around and around.


BILLY PAUL -"Me and Mrs. Jones" (1972)



LORDS OF ACID -"She and Mr. Jones" (explicit version, 1998)



AMY WINEHOUSE -"Me and Mr. Jones" (2006)



"While the jukebox plays our favorite songs..."

ROCK Sex: "Push it real good!"

ROCK Sex says, "Get up on this!"


The essence of creativity is that two cool things make a new third cool thing. Here's where two different songs lead to a third song.

A...

THE BEACH BOYS -"Don't Worry, Baby" (1964)



...plus B...

SALT-n-PEPA -"Push It" (1987)



...equals C...

GARBAGE -"Push It" (1998)



Keep on pushing forward!

ROCK Sex: "She sends out an aroma of undefined lust"

ROCK Sex is 'headed for the pleasure burn'.


Today's baton handoff evolves from devolution. DEVO starts it with the great Electro anthem "Girl U Want":

DEVO -"Girl U Want" (1980)



Later, SOUNDGARDEN slows it down to a grunge grind:

SOUNDGARDEN -"Girl U Want" (1992)



Devo, ever re-evolving, then remade it for the 1995 "Tank Girl" soundtrack taking Soundgarden's cue.



And lately the cool and underappreciated BOYSKOUT admitted she's just the girl they want:

BOYSKOUT -"Jesse James" (2004)



"You hear her calling everywhere you turn/
You know you're headed for the pleasure burn"

ROCK Sex: "Slipping Into Darkness!"

ROCK Sex 'takes your mind beyond the dreams'.


Another musical relay race today, where one song changes hands and sounds and names.


Between 1970 and 1977, you couldn't go up against WAR. This formidable Funk troop could take down all comers with their scary chops and continuous hits. Here's the abstractly anti-drug anthem, "Slipping Into Darkness". (Apologies for the weak bass sound in the clip, it couldn't be helped):

WAR -"Slipping Into Darkness" (live, 1972)



Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer spliced that riff into their spliff with this classic of their own:

THE WAILERS -"Get Up Stand Up" (1973)



Meanwhile the deluge of covers began. Here's a survey of the different slants everybody brought to the groove. THE 19th WHOLE goes with vibraphones, organ, and peels of acid guitar:

THE 19th WHOLE -"Slipping Into Darkness" (1972)



Ohio grew great Funk like it was grass (Bootsy Collins, Ohio Players, Zapp). Here's THE DAYTON SIDEWINDERS putting some hard kick into the song:

THE DAYTON SIDEWINDERS -"Slipping Into Darkness" (197_)



Now original groover RAMSEY LEWIS sasses some Jazz razzmatazz on it:

RAMSEY LEWIS -"Slipping Into Darkness" (1973)



CARL BRADNEY goes Marley one better by giving it the full-on Reggae treatment:

CARL BRADNEY -"Slipping Into Darkness" (197_)



Later, this song was covered again by dreadheads BLACK UHURU,
and as a departure point by rapper TUPAC.


There's a "War" touring around nowdays, but it's just one guy with a legal name-grab. Instead, go see THE LOW RIDER BAND, which has all the surviving members in great form!




"Where I talk to my brothers who never said their names."

ROCK Sex: "Different Strokes For Different Folks!"

ROCK Sex has been known to be "the longhair who doesn't like the shorthair for being such a rich one who will not help the poor one".


Starting off today's relay, here's the godly SLY & THE FAMILY STONE talking about you and me:

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE -"Everyday People" (1968)


(Sly's original phrase, "Different strokes for different folks," was the inspiration for the name of TV's "Different Strokes" series ten years later.)


JOAN JETT grabs the baton and twists it to her own satisfaction:

JOAN JETT -"Everyday People" (1983)



And ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT flip it for the finish line:

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT -"People Everyday" (1992)




"We've got to live together!"

ROCK Sex: "Some Kind of Psychedelic Wallflower?"

ROCK Sex is putting on its red shoes to dance the blues.


Here's DAVID BOWIE's dance hit, which helped launch the career of guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan:

DAVID BOWIE -"Let's Dance" (1982)



Here's P-Funk commander GEORGE CLINTON meeting him back at the turnaround:

GEORGE CLINTON -"Last Dance" (1983)



And here's CRAIG DAVID putting some new steps in the relay:

CRAIG DAVID -"Hot Stuff (Let's Dance)" (2007)

ROCK Sex: "You Can't Hurry Love"

ROCK Sex thinks you can't beat a great beat.


The SUPREMES amped up the Motown beat to spectacular effect in their "You Can't Hurry Love":

THE SUPREMES -"You Can't Hurry Love" (1966)



IGGY POP turned that same beat around on his own "Lust For Life":

IGGY POP -"Lust For Life" (live, 1981)



The neo-Mods THE JAM used the beat in this song. At the time, the classic film "A Town Like Alice" had just been remade, and the title punned off of that:

THE JAM -"Town Called Malice" (1982)



From Japan, here's another spin on it:

SHEENA & The ROCKETS -"Sweet Inspiration" (1984)



And the Glasgow all-female band LUSTLEG put their own spin on Iggy with "Lust For Leg" in 1997. (Hit 'Play' on the rightside player when the window comes up.)

ROCK Sex: "Walk On the Wild Side"

ROCK Sex wants everybody to come.


Previously we explored the themes of "I'm a Man" and "I'm a Woman". That's a couple of colors, and now let's get into the rest of the spectrum.

Rock'n'Roll is all about dancing your way out of your constrictions. From the beginning it laughed at 'either/or' deadends like race, status, and age. It also cocked a snook at gender and sexuality barriers, too.

What better avatar of androgony than the ever fabulous LITTLE RICHARD, from whom Jimi Hendrix, Prince, and Rupaul all descend?

LITTLE RICHARD -"Lucille" (1957)



While the sensual abandon and preening glamour of Elvis Presley unnerved the squares, imagine how they must have felt about the legions of young Rockabilly women who belted it out just as strong. ALIS LESLEY went beyond mimicking his name to wearing his clothes, doing his moves, and styling her hair in a pompadour with spitcurls for sideburns!:

ALIS LESLEY -"He Will Come Back" (1957)



It's always been common for singers to keep the lyrics of a song the same without changing the gender context, such as Ella Fitgerald covering "Lady, Be Good". THE BEATLES' version of The Shirelle's "Boys" is one of those. But for an act who had already rattled the androgony limits with their haircuts, this song must have had a special import to certain fans:

THE BEATLES -"Boys" (1963)



As proven out by the subtext of this song by Ray Davies and THE KINKS:

THE KINKS -"David Watts" (1967)



Singapore's RITA CHAO was probably just reproducing the Tommy James hit song "Hanky Panky" phonetically, but it takes on a deeper dimension nonetheless when she sings it. I made this video to illustrate the history of women in love throughout our centuries:

RITA CHAO & The Quests/ NANCY SIT -"Hanky Panky" (1967)



By the late 60's, with long hair, free love, liberation movements, and tribal bonding, a more open attitude about gender, sensuality, and orientation came out. Previously Paul McCartney had made an unintended crossdressing implication by mis-singing the lyrics to "Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da". This time he does it on purpose:

THE BEATLES -"Get Back" (1969)



Enter Ray Davies and THE KINKS again with one of the most loaded moments in Rock lyric history; "Then I looked at her, and she at me...:

THE KINKS -"Lola" (1970)



The Rolling Stones had dressed in drag on the cover of their 1966 single, "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby (Standing In the Shadows)". A lot of artists would make a career from that revelatory moment. Here's the former Wayne County of New York being man enough to be a woman:

JAYNE COUNTY (1972)



LOU REED hung out in Andy Warhol's Factory scene with those who put the free in freak. Here's his transversive travelogue:

LOU REED -"Walk On the Wild Side" (1972)



Why choose between being The Rolling Stones and The Shangri-La's when you can have it all?

THE NEW YORK DOLLS -"Jet Boy" (1973)



John Lennon opined that Glam Rock was "Rock'n'Roll in lipstick". Here's the almighty Alien Androgyne to declare the rouged rebellion:

DAVID BOWIE -"Rebel Rebel" (1974)



For those gandering at the spruce gooses, here's a gander goosing it up herself. (Who writes this stuff? Oh, heh heh, it's me.) From SUZI QUATRO we get Joan Jett and The Runaways, Gaye Advert of The Adverts, and myriad more riot grrls:

SUZI QUATRO -"Can the Can" (1973)



From Bryan and Brian here's a song title that sums it all up:

ROXY MUSIC -"re make/re model" (1972)



PARLIAMENT/ FUNKADELIC was as glam as anyone, with their platforms, make-up, and flash costumes:

FUNKADELIC -"Jimmy's Got a Little Bit Of Bitch In Him" (1975)



The all-female Funk collective known as ISIS was led by Carol McDonald, who wrote openly about her lady loves in her songs. Evidently guys could get away with the genderbender thing while women couldn't, which is why few people have ever heard of this great and neglected band:

ISIS -"Ain't No Backin' Up Now" (1975)



This movie was a disastrous flop when it came out, but forged a hardcore fandom that would have astounding influence on the next decade:

"THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW: Sweet Transvestite" (1975)



Funk-Rock shocker BETTY DAVIS was so fierce that sometimes her voice became a gutteral lion's roar that would possess even Linda Blair to twist to attention:

BETTY DAVIS -"This Is It" (1975)



If Keith Richards had a sister who didn't give the slightest damn about your gender ideas?...

PATTI SMITH -"Pumping (My Heart)" (live, 1979)



They say this video killed QUEEN's career in America. Maybe just with people who have no sense of humor:

QUEEN -"I Want To Break Free" (1981)



'What's the buzz, cock?' We're all human, pass it on...

PETE SHELLEY -"Homo Sapian" (1981)



If Rita Chao had sung Tommy James' "Hanky Panky" in innocence, then JOAN JETT knew exactly what she was doing with his "Crimson and Clover":

JOAN JETT -"Crimson and Clover" (1983)



Bowie's daughter tears the roof off the sucker:

GRACE JONES -"Demolition Man" (1981)



Bowie's other daughter opens up heaven wider:

EURYTHMICS -"Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This" (1983)



Here's Boy George with this soulful Lover's Rock classic:

CULTURE CLUB -"Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" (1982)



This retooling of Prince's song makes an already enticing menage a troi even more evocative:

CYNDI LAUPER -"When You Were Mine" (1984)



There's a pleasing symmetry to having a threesome for three days...

JANE'S ADDICTION -"Three Days" (1990)



"Everybody loves you when you're bi!" Hello!

LIVING COLOUR -"Bi" (1993)



Who's your Mama now?:

TRIBE 8 -"Femme Bitch Top" (1995)



Out and upward, the march toward Queercore begins:

PANSY DIVISION -"I Really Wanted You" (1994)



Go, team!:

TEAM DRESCH -"Fagetarian and Dyke" (1995)



Bowie strobes through this like alternating current:

BLUR -"Girls and Boys" (1994)



If Bill Wither's original was charged with paranoia, MESHELL ramps up the sexual intrigue:

MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO -"Who Is He and What Is He To You?" (1996)



This quill goes for the kill:

QUEEN PEN, w/ Meshell Ndegeocello -"Girlfriend" (1997)



It's not the length, it's how you use it:

"HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH" (2001)



Glam, bam, thank you, man:

GARBAGE -"Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go)" (2004)



Prince's daughter says, "Come on, baby, let's go!":

PEACHES -"I U She" (2004)



Of course a queer Argentinian band would sing a New York Dolls song:

SHE DEVILS -"Personality Crisis" (live, 2007)



In their song "School of Etiquette", BOYSKOUT declared, "I don't need your boys school of etiquette/ I don't need to be something I'm not/ This is who I am so take me as I come". Go scout out their records:

BOYSKOUT -"You Act Strange" (2007)



Is lesbian short for 'let's be friends'? That's my outlook on it, at least...

LESBIANS ON ECSTASY -"Sedition" (2007)



'Where the wild things are'? Everybody you know.

ROCK Sex: "I'm a Woman"

ROCK Sex knows that "woman is the other half of the sky".


Yesterday we followed how the threadline of the statement "I'm a Man!" twines through pop music. Today we tilt through more of the human quilt with the statement "I'm a Woman!"

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote dozens of classic Rock'n'Roll songs, including "I'm a Woman". This used the same blues vamp as Muddy Waters "Hoochie Coochie Man", which of course was the inspiration for Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man". Here's a version from a recent Broadway show based on Leiber & Stoller's many hits:

'Smokey Joe's Cafe: "I'm a Woman"'



When it was written in 1963, PEGGY LEE scored the chartbuster with it, becoming a key song in her repertoire:

PEGGY LEE -"I'm a Woman"



In 1972. HELEN REDDY hit #1 during the rise of Women's Liberation with this empowerment anthem, a different song with a similar name and more advanced outlook:

HELEN REDDY -"I Am Woman" (live, 1975)



Bar none, YOKO ONO was the strongest Feminist in Rock history, one of the actual reasons she is still resented by dwindling lunkheads. In her work "the personal was political" and she took the full brunt of dumb hate while opening the door for The Slits, The Au Pairs, The Poison Girls, Lydia Lunch, Kim Gordan, Bikini Kill, The Gits, Tribe 8, MeShell Ndegeocello, and Le Tigre after her:

YOKO ONO -"Woman Power" (1973)


(The soul power choruses anticipate the same move in the 1976 "Wonder Woman" theme. Hmmm.)

---

As a parallel track to that, there's John Lennon. As a young man he wrote the song "Girl", a catchy ode with a young man's attitude. Here's another take on that:

KIERSTEN HOLINE-"Girl" (2007)


Later, as his politics became more sophisticated, he joined his wife Yoko in the humanist struggle for empowerment, and made a "grown-up" response to his earlier song:

JOHN LENNON -"Woman" (1980)



Here's NENEH CHERRY with a different song of the same name that has very Lennon-esque use of ballad pace and strings, a style also used often by Lenny Kravitz:

NENEH CHERRY -"Woman" (1996)

---

If Peggy and Helen sung as one strong person that many women identified with, then CHAKA KHAN decided to be completely universal in this classic:

CHAKA KHAN- "I'm Every Woman" (Live)



Broadening the concept even wider are DAME EDNA and k.d. lang:

DAME EDNA & kd lang - "I'm Every Woman" (2008)

---

And here's two advocation Asians of powerful persuasion to kick it correct:

YELLOW RAGE -"I'm a Woman, Not a Flava" (2007)