As I began to research my next musical post, it dawned on me that most of my musical ravings have been centered on male musicians and bands. Where are the women of rock? Well, this one is dedicated to all those “bad girls out there that play that rock-n-roll”  and dominate our ears, hearts, and prepubescent crushes! Musical crushes. I would wager that we have all had one or two or more musical crushes in the course of our lives. My first musical crush was Donna Summer. The first time I saw her on the album cover of  Bad Girls, I was infatuated! She was very beautiful and her voice was golden.  I immersed myself in all things Donna! 

Around that same time, I also began listening to a little Swedish band by the name of ABBA. And like almost everyone else in the world, I fell in love with Agnetha Fältskog, the blonde beauty of the quartet. No one wore a mini-skirt better than Agnetha! And her golden vocals matched her golden hair. 

As I entered eighth grade and then moved on to high school, my musical tastes transitioned from R&B and pop songs to rock-n-roll. And now there was Stevie Nicks, the beautiful,  raspy,  gypsy-like vocalist of Fleetwood Mac. I was smitten with puppy love once again! As my musical tastes expanded, I began  listening to The Pretenders, Pat Benatar, Blondie,  and soon became hopelessly infatuated with Chrissie Hynde, Pat, and Debbie Harry! These powerhouse women of rock carried me through to adulthood.

And then out of the Midwest came Sheryl Crow. Awesome songwriter and singer. And I think she loves me! I was at a show on the C’mon C’mon Tour in North Carolina sitting seventh row from the stage. The crowd became silent as she walked over to a piano and introduced the song “Safe and Sound”. In the midst of that silence fueled by a few beers and a good contact high I stood up and yelled, “I love you Sheryl!” She smiled, looked right at me, pointed at me,  and said, “Hey, I love you too!”.  I was on cloud nine the rest of the show. 

Around the same time as Sheryl Crow, I began listening to Shakira. My first exposure to Shakira’s music came in the form of a CD of songs a friend “burned” for me and it contained no pictures, liner notes, or album art, so it was just the music plain and simple. I fell in love with her voice. It was so different from what I was used to hearing. About a year later, I found her CDs in a Hawai’ian record shop. Beautiful and talented! 

Currently there are three powerhouse women rockers that have occupied my ears: Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale, Dorothy Martin of the band Dorothy, and Nita Strauss of Alice Cooper’s current band. All three of these women rock! 

And now I present to you my top ten women of rock songs! (Yes, there are a couple of disco tunes!)

1. Hot Stuff – Donna Summer
2. Message of Love – Pretenders
3. Edge of Seventeen – Stevie Nicks
4. Dancing Queen – ABBA
5. Diamond Road – Sheryl Crow
6. Maria – Blondie
7. Heartbreaker – Pat Benatar
8. Whenever, Wherever – Shakira
9. Killing Ourselves to Live – Halestorm
10. Flawless – Dorothy

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