Shabbat Music Break

Today's edition of "Women who Should Be in the Rock Hall but Aren't" features the amazing Pat Benatar. Pat has always been a trailblazer and a true original in the rock world. In fact, she didn't even start out singing rock until her early twenties. Classically trained with thoughts about opera and musical theatre, she turned down a spot at Julliard in order to pursue a very different musical dream. Armed with that killer voice, a high kinetic stage presence, and an image of tough sexuality, Pat charged up the charts in the '80s and '90s. She is a four-time Grammy winner for Best Female Rock Vocalist and was nominated three additional times. Two multi-platinum albums, five platinum albums, three gold albums and 15 top 40 singles, including three Top 10 hits, should have solidified her entrance into the Hall, but sadly she has never once been nominated. What more does see need to do to be considered?

**Note: I really wanted to use a live version for this song so that you could witness Pat's performing prowess. The problem here is that there is a full minute of audience screaming before the song begins. Skip ahead to about 1:03.

Shabbat Musc Break

Today's Shabbat Music Break edition of "I can't believe that she's not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" is devoted to the Queen of Rock and Roll. The argument generally used to explain away why Tina Turner  has not been inducted is that she is already there along with her ex husband Ike. But, if Eric Clapton and Paul McCartney can be inducted three separate times each, then the time has certainly come to recognize the brilliance of Tina's solo career. Tina Turner had arguably the greatest comeback and second act in rock history. Without her lead, performers like Janet Jackson and Beyonce wouldn't even exist today. She toured more than any other solo female act for almost twenty years, with perhaps the exception of Cher, and her high energy shows are legendary. It stuns me that Tina Turner has never once been nominated for induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist, and frankly it is long overdue.

Shabbat Music Break

Today's Shabbat Music Break continues the discussion of women who have been sorely overlooked for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, while lesser artists (mostly male) of their generations have been admitted.

Today we examine the case for Carly Simon. If we accept the premise that the Hall has accepted that singer/songwriters like Carly are justifiable inductees, then we have to look at her case as being an egregious oversight by Hall voters. James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, and Laura Nyro are already enshrined in the Hall, while Carly has been consistently overlooked. She had 9 top twenty singles and 8 top twenty LPs, including No Secrets which spent five weeks at number 1. She has won several Grammy awards including Best New Artist in 1971, and an Academy Award and Golden Globe for "Let the River Run" from Working Girl in 1988. She was also awarded with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award for "You're So Vain" (the quintessential revenge song...Take that, Taylor Swift!) in 2004 and was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fall in 1994. While I would argue that Nyro was deserving of her place in the Rock Hall, her resume cannot even come close to matching Simon's. Carly Simon is long overdue for induction.

Shabbat Music Break

Welcome back National Blog Posting Month.

I would like to say that I've missed you, but frankly it would be a lie. Thirty posts in thirty days. A herculean task to be certain.

I will have more to say about NaBloPoMo tomorrow, but since the month is beginning on a Saturday, my sabbath, I will continue my practice of music breaks on these days as a way of separating the sacred from the profane. (Although it is quite possible that many of you may find my choice in music an expression of profanity.)

This year I decided that Shabbat Music Breaks would focus on what I see is the travesty that continues to be the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's lack of female content in their performer inductees. All of the Shabbat Music Breaks for NaBloPoMo will be women whom I believe have been sorely overlooked by the Rock Hall for far too long, while lesser (my opinion) male fronted acts have been celebrated far too soon.

Today I give you Joan Jett, who is finally on this year's short list for induction.

Active since the early 70s and still touring today, it isn't a stretch to call Joan one of the Queen's of Rock and Roll. Her feminist lyrics and hard-driving guitar styles have made her a role model for women in the industry for more than 40 years. Here's hoping for a successful and long overdue induction to the Rock Hall this year.

Where are the Women??

This past summer The Husband and I made our first pilgrimage to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. I will admit that we had ulterior motives in making the five hour drive around the lake that didn't involve visiting the shrine, but while we were there we knew that we needed to finally see the place. It was a fantastic experience and one that I would gladly repeat again and again. A music lover's paradise. One of my greatest thrills during our trip to the Rock Hall was viewing the remarkable exhibit set up to honour Women Who Rock. It was like Cleveland knew I was coming and designed a special showcase just for me. We spent hours perusing and listening to all of the greats. It was pure joy.

We finally made our way into the screening room to view the film that honours all of the hall's inductees. I enjoyed it thoroughly, but was tremendously dismayed at the dearth of women who have actually been inducted into the hall. Did you know that while the Rock Hall has been open since 1983, it took until 1987 for them to induct their first woman, Aretha Franklin? There have been 619 total people inducted and only a handful of them women, some of whom were members of bands that were ushered in collectively like The Mamas and the Papas or Fleetwood Mac.

So I need to ask the question, "Where are the Women"? Where are the likes of Heart, Pat Benatar, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King (as a performer), Cyndy Lauper, Donna Summer, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The GoGos, Janet Jackson, or The Carpenters? And this is just a list of the obviously missing. How does a group like the Red Hot Chili Peppers make it this year and not the Wilson sisters who paved the way for them? One might start to wonder if a gender bias exists in Cleveland?

Look it is obvious that rock and roll has traditionally been a guy's game, but women have forced their way into the picture and can no longer and should no longer be ignored. These omissions are neon-lighted slights that need to be corrected. Will they also ignore Melissa Etheridge when she becomes eligible next year? Travesties!

While we wait and hope for these errors to be corrected, we can and should acknowledge the great Laura Nyro who made the cut this year as the ONLY woman inductee. In the meantime, if you have a chance to get to the Rock Hall to see the Women in Rock exhibit I highly recommend it. It is on display until February 2012.