Anyone else partial to female vocalists? (1 Viewer)

[Pamela]

I have a lot of female artists in my collection (probably about 60%). Funny, but I have male friends who, after perusing my CDs, make the comment, "Gee, you have a lot of female artists." As if there were something wrong with that...

My fave of the moment is Patty Griffin. I've been a big fan since her first, "Living with Ghosts." I recently saw her in concert and she is amazing live.

Others on my list:

Maria McKee

Aimee Mann

Jonatha Brooke

Shawn Colvin

Sam Philips

I just picked up the new CD from Julia Fordham, who I've never listened to, before. Some good stuff. Real mellow.

 

[Zen Butler]

yes, I am.

Bjork

Cowboy Junkies

Morcheeba

Massive Attack

Portishead

Sade

Sneaker Pimps

PJ Harvey

to name a few

 

[Mike Broadman]

I'm just starting to get into woman singers myself a little, but it's slow going, as I tend to gravitate towards instrumental music.
I love Joni Mitchell. While I may enjoy other singers, she is the only woman who I personally rank as a top artist in my book, with the likes of Charles Mingus and Frank Zappa.
A few days ago, I bought a Sarah Vaughan CD (we're allowed to include jazz singers, right? ) Amazing voice.
I have a Kate Bush CD. Weird stuff, but enjoyable. I do plan on getting more.
I heard a woman singer in the record store the other day. I think it may have been Norah Jones, but I don't remember. Something with acoustic guitar. It was pretty nice.
Ella Fitzgerald and Tori Amos are two artists I want to start getting into eventually.
NP: Trey Gunn, Live Encounter, CD

 

[Jeff Pryor]

Hope Sandoval. She was the lead vocalist for Mazzy Star, now she's got a band called the Warm Inventions.

As a teen, I listened to a lot of Kate Bush. Still do sometimes.

Natalie Merchant

Pat Benatar

Fiona Apple

Jewel

Madonna

Stevie Nicks, though I must lament she's not what she used to be.

Sheryl Crow

 

[David R. Hendrickson]

man, no one listens to Loreena McKennitt?

i also like (in no particular order):

Holly Cole

Diana Krall

Stevie Nicks

Christine McVie

Björk

Olivia Newton-John

 

[MatthewA]

I am partial to:

LaVern Baker

Petula Clark

Ella Fitzgerald

Aretha Franklin

Judy Garland

Lesley Gore (underrated voice from the mid 60s)

Peggy Lee

Helen Reddy

Diana Ross

Dusty Springfield

Big Mama Thornton

Dionne Warwick

 

[Martin Fontaine]

Anyone else likes Alisha's Attic? 2 British Sisters in their early 30's... Probably the only band that I still enjoy as much as if I just discovered them 2 and a half years later...

I also like:

Alicia Keys

Aimee Mann

Amanda Marshall

Avril Lavigne

Brandy

Cleopatra

The Corrs

Damhnait Doyle

Dido

Heather Nova

Lene Marlin

Lili Fatale

Maren Ord

Melanie C. (Not a Spice Girls fan but her solo album is great)

Melanie Doane

Melissa Etheridge

Natalie Imbruglia

Nelly Furtado

Pink

Sarah Harmer

Tara MacLean

Tegan & Sara

Tori Amos

Vanessa Carlton

 

[JoeyT]

This was fun to read all the lists. Funny how much overlap ther is (even some of the more obscure stuff).

I agreed with:

- Fiona Apple

- Tori Amos

- Kate Bush

- The Darling Buds (even Crawdaddy)

- POE

A few others you may want to check out:

- Mae Moore

- Jonatha Brooke (incredible vocals especially on the LIVE ablum)

- Angel Fish (The gal from Garbage I believe)

- Killing Heidi (The new album Weir is awesome)

- Toni Childs

- IVY (She has a cashmere type voice - vetty nice)

I am sure I will remember a million others later!

 

[mike_decock]

The first 5 or 6 years I really got into music, it was all male artists (except that The Bangles/Susanna Hoffs snuck in their somehow). I was mostly into progressive rock (Yes, Rush, Pink Floyd) and the guitar heroes (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Steve Morse) as I was really into playing guitar.

I think the only other female artist I picked up during the next 5 years was Tori Amos. I'd say my collection at that point in my life was 99% male.

I happened to hear Sarah McLachlan's "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy" while I was working at a record store, bought it and played it pretty much daily for 3 years. That album changed my (musical) life. Ever since then 75% of the new music I pick up is female vocalists.

I think the only reason I don't buy ALL female vocalists is that I really love harmonized vocals like The Beach Boys and The Beatles. I just haven't run across any female groups that do a whole lot of that.

-Mike...

 

[Joel Fontenot]

My list of music was always heavy on bands with female vocalists too.

Heart

Pat Benatar

Blondie

Berlin

Katrina and the Waves (I have thier first 3 UK albums - the first one under just the name "The Waves" - before thier first US "Walking on Sunshine" album which was just a re-recording and/or remixing of songs from 2 earlier UK albums)

Missing Persons

Fleetwood Mac (although there is a mix there)

Stevie Nicks (solo)

Kim Wilde

B-52's (also a mix)

Throwing Muses

Belly

Curve

Bangles

Edie Brickell & New Bohemians

Kate Bush

Cocteau Twins

Blake Babies (also a mix until...)

Juliana Hatfield (...went solo)

The Sundays

Mazzy Star

Rosie Vela

Tori Amos

Sarah Mclachlan

Suzanne Vega

Velocity Girl

Sam Philips

Heartbreakers (all of one CD)

Darling Buds

If I went through my stored album collection, I'd find even more that I experimented with like...off the top of my head...

Strawberry Switchblade

The Breaks

The Device

Xmal Deutschland

and many other early to mid 80's bands that never had any hits at all. But I liked the music anyway.

I guess that's enough.

Joel

 

[Mike Broadman]

Update: that singer I heard in the record store was not Norah Jones, it was Alisson Krauss.

 

[Vickie_M]

I just posted this in a thread about Music review sites, and realized I should have posted about this place ages ago!
---
Here's an interesting site that takes reviews/comments/blurbs from a music mailing list (called Ecto, going strong since 1991) and compliles them by artists. It's heavily slanted toward female artists, but it's not exclusive.
The Ectophiles Guide to Good Music
Note, this is an ongoing project put together by volunteers who love music. It's not a commercial site in any way.
---
While I'm here I'd like to put in another recommendation for Happy Rhodes. She really is quite amazing. Her range is so wide that it's like hearing two different singers in practically every song. Her music is hard to define. It doesn't fit into any particular genre as such. Some of her songs are heavily electronic, some are just her and a guitar, but she's not folk, not rock, not pop. She is an entity unto herself, but would "fit in" with other similarly hard-to-define-the-genre artists such as Kate Bush or Tori Amos. Her lyrics are always interesting. Sometimes they're very personal (especially on her earlier albums), sometimes they tell stories, several songs are inspired by/based on movies (Blade Runner, The Hunt For Red October) and she has a fondness for Science Fiction and Horror lyrics. Her lyrics are very eclectic.
She has 10 albums, all wonderful and is working on an 11th, paying for it herself. She currently has no record contract (and has never had a major label contract) and no videos. She's strictly about the music.
She's having a sale of her CDs currently on her Link Removed (where you can also hear short samples of her music). Any money spent would go directly into Happy's pocket and help pay for the next album. No middlemen!
(Disclaimer: I have no professional/monetary interest in Happy Rhodes, I'm just a fan who wants another album asap! )
Vickie

 

[MatthewA]

By the way, who is it that sings "It Had to Be You" in the Match.com commercials?

 

[Al B. C]

Doesn't anyone listen to Ani Difranco?

"Sorry I am"

"Beautiful Face"

"32 Flavors"

"Amazing Grace"

"Adam & Eve".......... Wow I could go on!

 

[Vickie_M]

My Shoutcast is up and running (keeping fingers crossed that it will stay that way), but it only takes a few listeners at a time.

The current playlist is around 700 songs, mostly female vocals. There's some Peter Gabriel, Tom Waits and Thomas Dolby, along with the occasional duet, otherwise it's artists like Happy Rhodes, Kate Bush, Susan Voelz, Sheila Chandra, Milla, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Tori Amos, Marta Sebestyen, Sandy Denny, Kirsty MacColl, Innocence Mission, Bjork, Bel Canto and several others.

Go to:

Sorry, it's down

to see playlist and connect to listen. (I know a connection via Winamp will work, and perhaps Real. I'm not sure about anything else)

I'm off to see a couple of movies. Good luck!

Vickie

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

I’ve long been partial to female vocalists. Heart’s Wilson sisters were awesome!
Speaking of sister acts, my son spent 6 years in a rock band called Link Removed that was fronted by two sisters – both awesome vocalists. Great harmonies, intelligent arrangements, catchy tunes you can’t get out of your head, etc. They put on a great show, very energetic and professional looking for an unsigned band, routinely blowing away the acts appearing before and after them. Unfortunately they recently separated – a shame, they should have been big. I think they still have some MP-3’s at their site.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Basia. She has three albums, but I think she may be out of the biz now. Excellent stuff, but hard to categorize with jazz/rock/samba etc. influences. Many of her songs are driven by nifty bass lines, which I dig (speaking as a bass player myself).

The Corrs

I’m surprised this list got so far before they were mentioned! Capable vocalists, but not outstanding. My only complaint with them is they need better songs. I have their first three albums, and there are only a few stand-outs on each one.
Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Brian Glaeske]

I find that female singer/songwriters are much more musical than male counterparts. It could also be that I tend to like more relaxing music when I listen to music and women tend to not get to stressful (except for a couple).

I just wanted to add a couple that nobody has mentioned (at least that I noticed) ...

Leah Andreone

Eden White

Lisa Loeb

Chantal Kreviazuk

Sophie B. Hawkins

Brenda Weiler

 

[Martin Fontaine]

Chantal Kreviazuk

Sophie B. Hawkins

Like them too, I forgot to put them in my list.

 

[Dave F]

This makes me so happy! I've always had a penchant for female vocalists, but figured it was just some odd quirk! And to hear that there are others that enjoy the Milla album is just fantastic...
Just a few that haven't been mentioned so far:

• Link Removed (often compared to Garbage)
• frente! (similiar to a happier version of the Sundays)

-Dave

 

[Dave F]

Oooh, and the Cardigans!
...and Michelle Branch!
-Dave