michelej1
10-17-2008, 04:22 PM
This is an old article (1997) but I just saw it.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/97779?tid=relatedcl
The Selling Of Girl Power
Lilith Fair Conquered, Jewel Ruled And Stevie Nicks Twirled Again. In 1997, Women Rocked--For Better And For Worse.
YEAH, YEAH, 1997 WAS A GREAT year for women in pop music. There was Lilith Fair, the all-female summer tour that clobbered the boy-centric competition (Lollapalooza, H.O.R.D.E.) in the ticket-sales department. There were the Spice Girls, those fun-loving, musically challenged dynamos whose debut, ""Spice,'' sold 18 million copies around the world and hit No. 1 in some 30 countries. There was Jewel, the folkie ingenue whose whisper-to-a-bellow voice and Dylanish lyrics helped sell 7 million copies of her debut album, ""Pieces of You.'' This year was so kind to women, even Stevie Nicks had a comeback: she sang the Fleetwood Mac chestnut ""Silver Springs,'' and we all melted. But before we get too excited, let's gain a little historical perspective. Just about every year is good for pop women. Think about, say, 1967. Aretha Franklin sang ""Respect.'' Janis Joplin tore up audiences at the Monterey Pop Festival. Diana Ross was grabbing top billing with the Supremes. Media putzes back then must have noticed: women in rock weren't just on the sidelines anymore!
But 1997 did bring one startling evolutionary change. Never in pop history have female singers been quite so aggressively, shrewdly marketed on the basis of gender alone. The Spice Girls had the most commercial cake. Attaching their name to everything from Pepsi and potato crisps to backpacks and lollipops (though the wallpaper had to be recalled when people realized Baby Spice's nightie said F--- OFF on it), they plotted their course of ascendancy like savvy politicians. Their platform was Girl Power; their slogans included ""G-Force With a Zoom!'' and ""Silence Is Golden But Shouting Is Fun.'' World domination took mere months. Nelson Mandela said meeting them was ""one of the greatest moments of my life.'' Prince Charles recently quipped that he might consider taking over as their manager. The Spice cycle is already on the downturn: sales of the follow-up album, ""Spiceworld'' (packaged nearly identically to ""Spice''), have been disappointing. Not to worry. ""Spiceworld,'' the movie, isn't due until late January. Then there will be the inevitable rigmarole of tours, breakups, solo careers, marriages. They'll be Spicing our lives for some time yet.
The girl-friendly marketing ruse has proved surprisingly effective. No one seems able to refuse the Spice Girls. What girl wants to speak out against Girl Power? It's practically a betrayal of the female species. Lilith Fair seemed cloaked in a similar mantle of moral irreproachability. This was no mere road package--it was a blow for equal tour rights! Critics seemed to forget that women could make lousy records as well as great ones. Every bit of half-baked pop fodder by a female artist--No Doubt's ""Just a Girl,'' Meredith Brooks's ""Bitch''--became culturally significant, even if the actual songs were inept or unoriginal. Rolling Stone's 30th-anniversary ""Women of Rock'' issue was certainly well intentioned, with its glowing, earnest endorsements of musicians from Ma Rainey to Ronnie Spector to Ani DiFranco. Yet it read as tediously as homework. All that pro-woman consensus was suffocating. God bless Kim Gordon, bassist and guitarist for Sonic Youth, who dared dissent, at least on one topic. Asked what she thought of the Spice Girls, she said, ""I think they're totally ridiculous. Something out of Disneyland . . . They're masquerading as little girls. It's repulsive.''
Gordon understands that Girl Power is less than it seems. When gender alone dictates whether a singer's output is worthwhile, then the truly exceptional, creative work gets lost in the shuffle. Two of my favorite pop moments this year happened to involve women. One is Beth Orton's album ""Trailer Park,'' a graceful melding of '60s-style folk and trip-hop. Orton's melancholic voice and string-lilted arrangements recall the great British singer-songwriter Nick Drake; her cool rhythms and jazzy textures have their roots in the rave scene. The other is Stevie Nicks's songs on the Fleetwood Mac reunion ""The Dance.'' ""Landslide'' and ""Rhiannon'' serve as a reminder that few rock songwriters have ever conveyed vulnerability as effortlessly as Nicks.
Both of these singers make unflinchingly feminine music. Yet gender isn't what makes them special. It's Nicks's and Orton's ability to express themselves so clearly and graciously. They're individuals. And compared with the power of an individual, Girl Power seems pretty weak.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/97779?tid=relatedcl
The Selling Of Girl Power
Lilith Fair Conquered, Jewel Ruled And Stevie Nicks Twirled Again. In 1997, Women Rocked--For Better And For Worse.
YEAH, YEAH, 1997 WAS A GREAT year for women in pop music. There was Lilith Fair, the all-female summer tour that clobbered the boy-centric competition (Lollapalooza, H.O.R.D.E.) in the ticket-sales department. There were the Spice Girls, those fun-loving, musically challenged dynamos whose debut, ""Spice,'' sold 18 million copies around the world and hit No. 1 in some 30 countries. There was Jewel, the folkie ingenue whose whisper-to-a-bellow voice and Dylanish lyrics helped sell 7 million copies of her debut album, ""Pieces of You.'' This year was so kind to women, even Stevie Nicks had a comeback: she sang the Fleetwood Mac chestnut ""Silver Springs,'' and we all melted. But before we get too excited, let's gain a little historical perspective. Just about every year is good for pop women. Think about, say, 1967. Aretha Franklin sang ""Respect.'' Janis Joplin tore up audiences at the Monterey Pop Festival. Diana Ross was grabbing top billing with the Supremes. Media putzes back then must have noticed: women in rock weren't just on the sidelines anymore!
But 1997 did bring one startling evolutionary change. Never in pop history have female singers been quite so aggressively, shrewdly marketed on the basis of gender alone. The Spice Girls had the most commercial cake. Attaching their name to everything from Pepsi and potato crisps to backpacks and lollipops (though the wallpaper had to be recalled when people realized Baby Spice's nightie said F--- OFF on it), they plotted their course of ascendancy like savvy politicians. Their platform was Girl Power; their slogans included ""G-Force With a Zoom!'' and ""Silence Is Golden But Shouting Is Fun.'' World domination took mere months. Nelson Mandela said meeting them was ""one of the greatest moments of my life.'' Prince Charles recently quipped that he might consider taking over as their manager. The Spice cycle is already on the downturn: sales of the follow-up album, ""Spiceworld'' (packaged nearly identically to ""Spice''), have been disappointing. Not to worry. ""Spiceworld,'' the movie, isn't due until late January. Then there will be the inevitable rigmarole of tours, breakups, solo careers, marriages. They'll be Spicing our lives for some time yet.
The girl-friendly marketing ruse has proved surprisingly effective. No one seems able to refuse the Spice Girls. What girl wants to speak out against Girl Power? It's practically a betrayal of the female species. Lilith Fair seemed cloaked in a similar mantle of moral irreproachability. This was no mere road package--it was a blow for equal tour rights! Critics seemed to forget that women could make lousy records as well as great ones. Every bit of half-baked pop fodder by a female artist--No Doubt's ""Just a Girl,'' Meredith Brooks's ""Bitch''--became culturally significant, even if the actual songs were inept or unoriginal. Rolling Stone's 30th-anniversary ""Women of Rock'' issue was certainly well intentioned, with its glowing, earnest endorsements of musicians from Ma Rainey to Ronnie Spector to Ani DiFranco. Yet it read as tediously as homework. All that pro-woman consensus was suffocating. God bless Kim Gordon, bassist and guitarist for Sonic Youth, who dared dissent, at least on one topic. Asked what she thought of the Spice Girls, she said, ""I think they're totally ridiculous. Something out of Disneyland . . . They're masquerading as little girls. It's repulsive.''
Gordon understands that Girl Power is less than it seems. When gender alone dictates whether a singer's output is worthwhile, then the truly exceptional, creative work gets lost in the shuffle. Two of my favorite pop moments this year happened to involve women. One is Beth Orton's album ""Trailer Park,'' a graceful melding of '60s-style folk and trip-hop. Orton's melancholic voice and string-lilted arrangements recall the great British singer-songwriter Nick Drake; her cool rhythms and jazzy textures have their roots in the rave scene. The other is Stevie Nicks's songs on the Fleetwood Mac reunion ""The Dance.'' ""Landslide'' and ""Rhiannon'' serve as a reminder that few rock songwriters have ever conveyed vulnerability as effortlessly as Nicks.
Both of these singers make unflinchingly feminine music. Yet gender isn't what makes them special. It's Nicks's and Orton's ability to express themselves so clearly and graciously. They're individuals. And compared with the power of an individual, Girl Power seems pretty weak.