One of the things you notice as a female rock fan is the absence of kick ass female fronted or all female rock bands but women can kick just as much musical ass as men, if not more, so in an homage to those women and the amazingly badass pioneer women of rock, Erin and I decided to assemble this playlist for you guys.
Badass songs by badass women
First, the originals:
Edge of Seventeen–Stevie Nicks. It’s Stevie Nicks. *Mic drop*
Bad Reputation–Joan Jett. The original rock badass chick. Please feast your eyes on this epic 80s video because Spotify does not have it available. Fun fact–this song is the theme song to Freaks and Geeks, one of Jana’s all-time favorite shows.
Crazy on You–Heart. Ann and Nancy Wilson. Rock music queens.
White Rabbit–Jefferson Airplane. Grace Slick slays on this song.
Left off but not forgotten: Janis, Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin, Debbie Harry
Now the next generation:
Celebrity Skin–Hole. Probably Courtney Love’s finest hour save for her stint on SOA.
Take it Off–The Donnas. I don’t know what to say about this song except it’s fun and edgy and you should know it. Fun fact: this is the band featured in Drive Me Crazy. The 90s movie. Not that Britney shit.
I Think I’m Paranoid–Garbage. This was Erin’s pick and since I, Jana, am writing the post, I have nothing witty to say except I really liked Garbage when I wasn’t confusing them with The Cranberries.
Kiss Me Deadly–Lita Ford. She hung in there as essentially THE ONLY female rep for the hair band era (except for Vixen, who went platinum during the same time. Edge of a Broken Heart is a great song, by the way).
Left off but not forgotten: The Cranberries, Tori Amos, Alanis, Ani DiFranco
The current ladies:
I Like it Heavy–Halestorm. Lzzy Hale is one of my favorite female singers probably of all time and to pick one song by Halestorm is HARD, y’all. But this one seemed the most apropros for this particular playlist.
Rush You–Baby Animals. Aussie band led by the beautiful Suze DeMarchi. Fun fact: her ex-husband and babies’ daddy is Nuno Bettencourt from Extreme fame.
America’s Sweetheart–Elle King. This song is in heavy rotation in Jana’s playlists because THIS is how you do a female empowerment song.
Make Me Wanna Die–The Pretty Reckless. Erin says she was initially judgemental knowing that a young actress from Gossip Girl was just being a poser and playing dress-up, but she’s actually fucking good. Jana concurs with this assessment.
Left off but not forgotten: Amy Lee, Paramore, Flyleaf
Ladies who cross generations and don’t fit neatly anywhere, even though they all transcend decades:
Just A Girl–No Doubt. The scathing indictment of the way women are treated dressed up as a fun pop song. Wolf in sheep’s clothing, indeed.
U & UR Hand–P!nk. Both of us, Jana and Erin, had this incredible woman on our lists and this song is such a fuck you to the douchebag men in bars and clubs and society in general that it’s impossible not to include it on this type of playlist.
Other women we could have included: Dolly, Reba, Beth Hart, Pat Benatar, Cyndi Lauper. I’m sure there’s more so let us know. Who did we leave off?
