rjc@cstr.ed.ac.UK (Richard Caley) (04/20/91)
I was trying to sort out the mess that is my bedroom the other day and got as far as the CDs, tapes etc. It occured to me that there is a decided bias in my collection... Where are all the men? Consider the following artists KT, Laurie Anderson, Toyah Willcox, Suzanne Vega, Danielle Dax, Jane Sibbery, Janis Joplin, Tanita Tikarum, Sally Barker, Sinead O'Connor, Michelle Shocked, Enya. Now, try and construct a similar list of men... Peter Gabriel, Fish, David Bowie, Chris DeBurgh, David Silvian, BB King ... And that's just about it. I suppose there is Roger Waters, but he is well out of his class in this company IMHO. Since I am not yet willing to give up on my half of humanity, I assume there are loads of male artists out there I have never come across simply because I lean heavily on r.m.gaffa for hints and we seem to have a decided bias towards women here. So, can anyone help me end my blatently sexist buying practices? There must be some Gaffaish male artists out there. Some `Ground Rules': No groups -- That opens the field too wide. No composers -- for similar reasons. No Des O'Connor -- I sometimes read news at lunchtime:-) -- rjc@cstr.ed.ac.uk A good bookshop is just a genteel black hole. - Terry Pratchet `Guards! Guards!'
graham@UG.CS.DAL.CA (Michael Graham) (04/20/91)
hmm...most of the male (non-band) artists I listen to are primarily instumentalists: Joe Satriani, Jaco, Pat Metheny, Stu Hamm, John Patitucci, Jimi Hendrix... Michael Hedges, - all guitarists and bassists. err...there is always Sting, but I don't listen to him much. When I was in junior high a friend taped me Sparkle in the Rain, by Simple Minds - I liked and lost it. I bought it again and it is incredible! ...but they are a group... that's all I can think of now. mike -- Michael Graham |"Say you were going to sing in a club tomorrow - graham@ug.cs.dal.ca | what kind of stuff would you sing?" mgraham@ac.dal.ca |"Something nice...something very, very nice...a song - graham@iris1.ucis.dal.ca| a tune, a ballad perhaps" - Diane Keaton on Letterman
colburn@handel.CS.ColoState.EDU (Alex Colburn) (04/22/91)
In article <RJC.91Apr19232421@brodie.cstr.ed.ac.uk> rjc@cstr.ed.ac.UK (Richard Caley) writes: > > >I was trying to sort out the mess that is my bedroom the other day and >got as far as the CDs, tapes etc. It occured to me that there is a >decided bias in my collection... > >Where are all the men? > How about: Adrian Belew, Warren Zevon (or Hindu Love Gods), Brian Ferry ( Roxy Music), Lou Reed, They Might Be Giants, Johny Cleg, (juluka and/ or Savuaka), Michael Hedges, Dave Stewart, and you can't forget Prince. Well, Maybe you should forget about Prince. Alex.
dwelch@DEVNULL.MPD.TANDEM.COM (Dan Welch) (04/23/91)
I've come to think that women writers/singers are just BETTER than most men . . . but the a man that I listen to as regularly as women is Stevie Ray Vaughan. Could just be a local bias, since I'm from Austin, but I'll stick by it. Interestingly enough, my CD collection is biased in favor of men, by just a little bit; I just listen to the women more often, even excluding Her CDs. Thinking back, as far as I can remember, the last 13-14 CDs I have bought have had female singers most/all of the time. The last male singer I can remember buying is (yup) Stevie Ray. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Daniel Welch | "Kate Bush is the sort of performer | | Tandem Computers, Inc. | for whom the word 'superstar' is | | Austin, TX, USA | belittling." | | halley!tzone!dwelch@cs.utexas.edu | | | OR | Mike Davies, _Melody_Maker_ | | dwelch@devnull.mpd.tandem.com | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
graham@UG.CS.DAL.CA (Michael Graham) (04/23/91)
In article <9104221913.AA04501@tzone.mpd.tandem.com> dwelch@DEVNULL.MPD.TANDEM.COM (Dan Welch) writes: >I've come to think that women writers/singers are just BETTER than >most men . . . but the a man that I listen to as regularly as women is >Stevie Ray Vaughan. Could just be a local bias, since I'm from Austin, No bias - I'm from Nova Scotia and I think he was the best electric blues guitarist EVER. I was lucky enough to see him twice - HERE! mike -- Michael Graham |"Say you were going to sing in a club tomorrow - graham@ug.cs.dal.ca | what kind of stuff would you sing?" mgraham@ac.dal.ca |"Something nice...something very, very nice...a song - graham@iris1.ucis.dal.ca| a tune, a ballad perhaps" - Diane Keaton on Letterman
lawtonj@project4.COMputer-science.manchester.ac.UK (S89) (04/24/91)
In article <9104221913.AA04501@tzone.mpd.tandem.com> dwelch@DEVNULL.MPD.TANDEM.COM (Dan Welch) writes: >I've come to think that women writers/singers are just BETTER than >most men . . . but the a man that I listen to as regularly as women is Possibly, but here's some thoughts on the matter. I sat down & worked out my favourite song-writers, whether in groups or not, and it turns out that most men are in groups, and most females are solo artists. But wait I thought.... Surely Suzzane Vega & Kate Bush use a core of musicians on most of their LPs that is their 'band', and many of the 'bands' I like use enough session/guest musicians to not count as bands at all. Then you've got Roger Waters late period Pink Floyd stuff, which was really Waters solo(not my fave band, but an example) There's also a few one-man bands like Another Sunny Day, or Brighter, or The Hit Parade (Ok the last two are duos now) (who are they all, you ask - ah, that would be telling) where one person covers themselves with a group identity. What about The The (Matt Johnson). Then you've bands that are collections of great songwriters, like the Blue Aeroplanes, or the Fieldmice, where any of the songwriters could easily make a solo career too. And it occured to me - marketing! - basically it's easier to sell a female singer/songwriter (which is why I guess they have more prescence as a label is more likely to sign something marketable), whatever their qualities as a songwriter. In fact I'd guess it's easier to market a solo artist without her band, than as a band with a female lead member. What about the 'Patti Smith Group' - anyone remember the one's who weren't Patti Smith? Blondie - remember the 'Blondie is a group' advertising campaign? and who still associates the word with Debbie Harry? Still - I can't really come up with a contemporary male Bush (OK George Bush! but you know what I mean) or Mary Margaret O'Hara yet, whether they are in groups or not,but that's probably because they write from a very feminine perspective. Julian Lawton - University of Manchester. Flames to lawtonj@p4.cs.man.ac.uk.