She Bop 2: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop and Soul [Paperback]

Lucy O'Brien (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2002 | Series: Bayou Press

Popular music grew out of ragtime, vaudeville and the blues, to become global mass entertainment. Women like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith were the original pop divas, yet 80 years after they blazed a trail, have their successors achieved the recognition and affirmation they deserve? Or has the only way to success been to slot into saleable images of the cute babe or sexy chanteuse? This text refuses to look at women artists simply as personalities, problems or victims. From dream babes to rock chicks , this is the uncompromising story of women as creators and innovators. It aims to provide a history of women in rock, pop and soul - on stage, on camera and working behind the scenes in a male - dominated industry. This edition includes an additional chapter and dozens of extra interviews, covering trends such as Girlpower, Lilith Fair rock, and the rise of the corporate Diva.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lucy O'Brien is the author of two previous books: the bestsellers Annie Lennox (1991), and Dusty (1989, 1999), which has been adapted for the forthcoming Maverick/VH1 film The Dusty Springfield Story.

Product Details

• Paperback: 530 pages
• Publisher: Continuum Intl Pub Group; 2nd edition (June 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826457762
• ISBN-13: 978-0826457769
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.7 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,550,534 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars She rocks & folks & pops & souls, August 11, 2007

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Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: She Bop II: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop and Soul (Bayou Press Series) (Paperback)

She Bop II is an encyclopedic work on the history of women in blues, country, folk, pop, rock, soul and world music. This 2nd edition updates the story until 2001 with major new interviews and an additional chapter on millennial trends like Girlpower, Alanis Morissette and Lilith Fair, soul singers like Erykah Badu and Lauren Hill, plus pop singers like Mariah Carey and Britney Spears.

In the Prologue the author tells of her own introduction to the music world in a girl group in Southampton, England in 1979. They were called The Catholic Girls. Following this, in the Introduction O'Brien details some key changes for women in music since the publication of the first edition of She Bop in 1995.

Based on more than 250 interviews conducted between 1984 and 2001 plus many secondary sources, She Bop is not a simple chronological history but rather an exploration of themes, trends and genres. It looks at how women have negotiated their place in the music industry, the importance of role models and even the internecine rivalry.

It examines the issues that have challenged women from the blues through 1940s swing to MTV at various stages in the development of pop, for example how they deal with stardom, how they negotiate everything from contracts to image, the genres in which women predominate and women on the business side: managers, executives, publicists, journalists, producers and A&R people. In addition, the author discusses women as consumers of music.

The chapters are as follows:

Riffin' The Scotch: From Blues To The Jazz Age

Stupid Cupid: Dream Babes In 1950s Pop

The Real Thing: Motown, Spector And 1960s Svengalis

Can The Can: Whatever Happened To The Rock Chick?

Final Girls: Punk, Performance Art And PMT Pop

Ladies Of The Canyon: Female Singer/Songwriters Of The Grand Hotel

Lipstick Traces: Madonna, Manipulation And MTV

She Wears The Trousers: Artistry, Androgyny And The Lesbian Question

I Wanna Dance With Somebody: Deconstructing The Disco Diva

In Search Of Our Mothers' Gardens: The True Story Of Women In Rap And Reggae

Oye Mi Canto: Hear My Voice - Women In World Music

Talkin' Tough: The Enemy Within - Women And Protest Pop

Talkin' Business: Nuts `N' Bolts And All The Necessaries

Girlpower: The New Generation

The book concludes with 15pp of Notes, a Selected Discography, Selected Bibliography, Index Of Names and Index Of Albums and Singles. There is one color plate with photographs of Madonna, Mary J Blige, Debbie Harry, Billie Holiday, Alanis Morissette, Lauren Hill, Janis Joplin, Britney Spears and Diana Ross, plus many black & white photographs throughout the text.

Because of its length, this is quite a daunting tome but it soon enough becomes an engaging read. There are some factual errors, probably because of sloppy editing (the 6-day War took place in 1967 not 1957) and a few other contradictions often on the same page. Also, O'Brien's feminist theorizing can become tiresome at times, but her knowledge and enthusiasm for the music ultimately make She Bop II a gripping read. It is also a superb reference work.

Angry Women in Rock: Volume One

She's a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock and Roll

We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The True, Tough Story of Women in Rock