Dusty

Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane

Fanny.

I know we've not got Janis to yet, but I just wanted to get my Fanny shout in, because they were were awesome; even David Bowie thinks so:

"One of the most important female bands in American rock has been buried without a trace. And that is Fanny. They were one of the finest... rock bands of their time. They were extraordinary... they're as important as anybody else who's ever been, ever; it just wasn't their time."

Joni Mitchell has been an inspiration to many women, more than most I would say since this was recorded.

Single came out in November 1973, honest - album followed in '74.

We should bring back the superlative 'singerest-songwritinest' immediately.

But by starting in 1965 you miss out these top pop sensations:

The Marvellettes - Please Mr Postman (1961)

I was gutted to be out of email contact over Christmas and New Year, so I couldn't send in my entry to the Jan 2010 issue Caption Comp. The picture of Bernie Bresslaw just threw into my head:

"The kids weren't impressed, and the rumours about Lady Gaga seemed just that bit more plausible."

great song and not a one-hit wonder as she also had I'll never fall in love again

who as one of my favourites deserves a mention if we're talking evolution. 1975 anyone?

Possibly this? The album Perfect Angel, whence it came, was released in 1974 but, as the 4th single it charted in April 1975

A former back-up singer for Stevie Wonder, Deniece Williams was initially backed by Earth, Wind & Fire.

Chrissie Hynde with The Pretenders (huge, steaming pile of Big Macs just out of shot)

Song is from 1980, this performance from the following year

Apols for being cack-handed with the mouse and posting twice...

that's some run from 77 - 81 or in my terms 12 to 16 years old. I must have been in a permanant state of flux!

and we cross to Wales

More Kate Bush

If so, this is my suggestion:

1984

Gave Ga Ga goth?

It has to be:

complete with memorable armpit under hand-drier moment

take it away, Margo from Canada

and I dare to offer her cover of Sandy Denny's classic

we are able to enjoy music regardless of the gender that produces it.Hooray for the enlightened!

Ya bunch of sissies!

If enjoying this makes me a sissie then I plead guilty

70s:

80s:

Neneh Cherry 'Buffalo Stance'. Seem to recall her performing on TOTP while pregnant caused a bit of a stir at the time. Hard to believe today. Yer know what I mean?

Glad nobody's posted any Sonia clips.

finally, another decent singer songwriter arrives:

A bit of Kylie to get things moving? The 90's are a bit of a wasteland aren't they?

One-hit wonder. WTF are the lyrics about, anyone?

In the 1990s women songwriters started to reassert themselves, would be my view. To judge by the submissions on this thread for the 1980s, that decade yielded little of lasting value (the obvious exception being Kate Bush). In the 90s, we had Shawn Colvin, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Emmylou got together with Dan Lanois, Alanis Morrisette, Beth Orton, Beth Gibbons, Eddi Reader.....

Anyway, from 92, a bit of feminism for ya:

...and she makes a welcome reappearance, 35 years on and with a great, self-penned song.

I have scrolled down this thread and all the female entries are present with the exception as the always perfect Emmylou.

Kristen Hersh - Throwing Muses

The track is Cottonmouth from one of the finest EPs I have ever bought. I say this without any irony but Kristen Hersh is the single most important woman in rock in the Bisto house. When I was at uni she helped me understand women and, more importantly, helped me to converse with women "intellectually". That probably sounds pretentious but what I mean is that the women I met who liked her music really attracted me in ways I never knew before. I wouldn't say I had a sexist attitude to women but I was naive and ignorant to a degree that her music and influence on female peers helped me recognise.

Betty Boo - Doin' The Do

Just 'cos she reminds me of my wife when I first met her and it's great pop music

Kate Rusby - Playing of Ball

I love this track

this is just a list of 'women in pop' you might as well have a 'from elvis to chipmunk' thread - how did we get from the king of rock n roll to er, the donny osmond of grime. there is no connection or continuum from lulu (why start with her anyway?) to gaga any more than there's a line to be drawn from say paul robeson to mf doom (well, they're both y'know BLACK)- women...in rock!!!!! not in my lifetime!

Britney Spears 1998

This track was playing when the best looking girl in the club asked me to come back to hers. The best night of my life. Sadly only a one night stand but I still hold a torch...

The divine Miss M.

Sade in the 80s ?
Tracey Thorne in the 90s ?
Norah Jones in the noughties?
Natalie Merchant/10000 Maniacs all over the shop ?

wot abaht Polystyrene & X-Ray Spex? I can see her now on TOTP with her braces singing 'Germ Free Adolescents' (although I lack the nous to put any Youtube stuff on this post)

and I know we've missed a few years in the noughties but the circle is complete.