Where are the british female singers?
 

Why are there so few british female singers/musicians? I have been thinking about this for a days now.

I thought of P.J. Harvey, Annie Lennox, Kate Bush. And then Spice Girls, Sugababes. And Elastica, Echobelly.

But where is the british Suzanne Vega, Joan Baez, Karen Carpenter, Joni Mitchel, Courtney Love, Kim Gordon, Laurie Anderson, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Christina Aquilera, Billie Holiday?

Great Britain produced some of the finest music ever (Beatles, Stones, Bowie, Queen, Smiths, Stone Roses, Happy Mondays), but it's all men. Where are the ladies???

It's a very good question actually. I'd never really considered it before. You forgot Sleeper, but it's a bit grabbing at straws.

We've got Lady Sov, MIA and you won't find a city without its fair share of Annie diShit-o alikes. There's plenty of the stuff you're asking for, but most of it is pretty marginal and not very good. In terms of local scenes, I can think of loads of the sort of ladies you're after, but no-one of any substance. Still, we have got MIA, and she's better than everyone else (apart from Diamanda, obviously).

There's loads of British female singers, but they're all doing middle-of-the-road singer-songwriter stuff. I wouldn't say there's been any period when there's been a lot of good female fronted bands since the late eighties.

I wondered if it had anything to do with America's obsession with political correctness and emancipation movements, but I don't believe that's the answer.

MIA is great.

There's these bands: http://www.ladyfestnewcastle.co.uk/line_up/

if you're counting past artists like the beatles and karen carpenter then don't forget the raincoats, the slits, siouxsie, x-ray specs, etc, etc

or... eh, julie andrews, vera lynn and charlotte church.:D

what'sherface from fairport convention, marianne faithfull, shirley collins, there have been a number of notable mixed gender bands from the uk such as my bloody valentine, stereolab, the delgadoes, the pastels, the vaselines, belle & sebastian, the delgados, urusei yatsura, the marine girls, daisy chainsaw, pentangle, lush, vibracathedral, bolt thrower, throbbing gristle, where th' faith healers mixed? quickspace certainly were. there's also mira calix, neotropic, coleen, shystie...

also, broadcast, beth gibbons, the one who sang with tricky, kaffe matthews

PJ harvey is lovely, i am waiting for her to release another album.

Anne Briggs, Shirley and Dolly Collins, the Watersons, Mellow Candle, Midwinter, Axe.
Look to UK folk and folk-rock, and you will find an enormous amount of talent from the ladies.

her dad, not her husband. her husband was john dunbar.

mick jagger might also ring a bell, but she wasn't married to him.

What about Lush?

I don't think they're around anymore...their drummer killed himself, things like that tend to make bands break up...

Mira Calix (Mrs. Autechre) is South African. She is pretty fantastic though.

Bolt Thrower? You slipped that one in there thinking nobody would notice?

mira calix is not british,i think.

I just said that. Have you got me on ignore again? Was it all the punk threads?

Ops!Sorry spookie i hadn't read your post yet.

OK!And i've just apologized.:rolleyes:

The band Howling Bells is described as “The sound of PJ Harvey hitching a ride with the Velvet Underground through Twin Peaks.”
You might like them.

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i know she's south african, but i was granting her honorary status because she owes her recognition to being in the UK

Fair enough. She's talented enough to be called British.

i dunno, my mate saw her play live and said it was shite

Oh well,that must be it then.

Are you in a bad mood? You keep saying things are shite.

i'm not in a bad mood, and i didn't say mira calix was shite, my mate did. but i don't take his word for it, yet seeing as how she's a laptop musician i can imagine how it would be the case, that she is rubbish live.

Laptop musicians should really just stay home and release recordings.

Some might say that guitarists still keep on strumming the thing but nothing that has already been done a million times before will ever come out of it again.I'm pretty sure that it is not far from the truth at all.

they might be true, and i'm not saying mira calix or laptop music in general is bad, just that it seldom makes for good live performance. something guitar music doesn't have as much of a problem with.

That seems more reasonable.

Has anyonne mentioned The Duke Spirit yet? Laila's a great female vocalist.

I saw them live at the 'old blue last' about a year ago and they were rubbish.She's one fit girl though.And she happens to be mates with Lady Sov wich is cool.

speaking of females and that name, there's also Leila, who put out a couple of excellent records.

I'm definitely a fan. 'Cuts Across the Land' was the best LP of last year. Did you think they were bad, or just not so good live?

Oh yeah,her.I had almost forgotten about her.I've never heard that second record.In fact i didnt even know that she made a second one at all.

All the decent British female vocalists seem to be involved with dance music, for whatever reason.

I have never heard a single studio track of theirs so i wouldnt know.They were kinda shabby live.Out of curiosity,does the record sound a bit like PJ Harvey by any chance?

she made a second one called courtesy of choice. it came out in 2000 i think, i picked it up recently is selectadisc/sister ray for a fiver or something.

Any good?I'm trying to remember,didn't she do vocals for Roni Size or something like that?

she played keyboards for bjork.

anyway it's good. i'll put it on now i think.
i think i remember hearing somewhere that she's got a new record on the way too.

A bit harder/heavier.