geocities rescue

Female Vocalism

A couple of years ago I was filtering through my CD collection working out what I would end up selling at Vinyl Exchange. I realised that other than film soundtracks and compilations, all I seemed to have was the work of female vocalists and particularly, obscure female vocalists. The list reads like a ‘who’s who’ of ‘who the hell’ . . . odd thing is how many actually have official web sites.

The only the conclusion I can come to as to why I’ve less Travis and more Tori Amos is reality. Other than this new wave of bands, your Semisonics and Stereophonics, male writers tend to write about the fantasy of a situation whereas your average angry grrrl will offer the reality.

It’s the on-going contrast between the shutdown emotions of the male and the open feelings of the female. Looking at the male members of my music collection I begin to see a trend. Bob Dylan, REM, Hootie and the Blowfish and The Devlins tend to write about their feelings, certainly more than the Bryan (I was twelve in 1969) Adams’ of this worlds.

Plus there is definitely a lot more expression in the voice of the average Lisa Loeb. In a female vocal track, there is more likely to be that heartbreaking note which scares the bejesus out of you.

Discuss . . .