Directors Wonderful Women 1 Draft (Vickie's rules) (1 Viewer)

[Andy Olivera]

My turn...

Michelle Pfeiffer

I was introduced to her with Batman Returns and she was one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen. I absolutely fell in love with her after seeing Ladyhawke...

 

[Vickie_M]

I just updated the first post. I'm putting an occupation/description beside each name. I realize that they're woefully inadequate in many cases. For instance, I know that Audrey Hepburn was more than just an "actress" because, for one, her humanitarian efforts are well known. And Zen's mother was of course much more than just "Zen's mother" but, the words are just meant to be short identifiers, to remind people at a glance about who someone is. For more in-depth information they can go to the nominating post. If anyone feels strongly about what's written beside the name of their person, please let me know.

Chuck, I'm glad you gave a couple of choices. It's nice to know about these people. I know who Moe is, but I didn't know about Papas Fritas. I'd heard the name, but haven't heard the music.

Helen Mirren ! I also loved her in Excalibur, and especially, Cal, a couple of years later, playing the wife of a slain Protestant police officer who falls into a relationship with the boy, a Catholic and reluctant IRA member), who was involved in his death.


Thank you Angelo, for that bio. I love this kind of information.

 

[Steeve Bergeron]

Vivien Leigh, she's magnificent in Gone with the Wind. A well-deserved Oscar, that was!

 

[Brad Porter]

It's been more than 12 hours and I need to post before I go to work.

Since Chuck already threatened to take my next pick (and there seems to be a run on girls that rock), I will act quickly to lock her away onto my team.

My musical tastes tend to run in phases. I maintain a fairly eclectic collection, but at any one time there are one or two artists that I am musically obsessed with - buying everything they have available and listening to it constantly. It was Genesis and Phil Collins (I know, but I was 13 years old!) in the early `80's, Pink Floyd and Roger Waters solo work in the late `80's. The early `90's brought me to Jackson Browne and Dire Straits. The middle `90's involved a broader base, mixing Leo Kottke, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Squirrel Nut Zippers, and Blood, Sweat, and Tears (I dub this my horny phase). For the past five years I've been bouncing between three different primary sources of musical entertainment: The Wainwrights (Rufus, Martha, and especially Loudon), The Finns (Neil and Tim's solo work and combined work, Crowded House, and Split Enz), and my next choice in the draft...

Aimee Mann



I freely admit that I am a bandwagon jumper on her career, since it was the major publicity push of Magnolia that finally convinced me to buy one of her albums. It didn't take long for me to discover that their was a ready-made hole in my brain sized just right for her music. It's similar to the way caffeine (or crack) is received by a willing brain - both the left and right hemispheres are alive with electricity. She writes in a palette of strong human emotions (despair, isolation, addiction, foolishness), but she doesn't distance the listener from the song. The protagonists are often gender neutral and the sentiments are fairly universal. At one time or another everyone feels like the last person picked for the ball game or the only person who gets the joke. Aimee provides a soundtrack for those feelings. As a bonus, her songs are wonderfully crafted, without relying on the studio trickery of the day or stunt guest musicians to hide a lack of talent. She has a voice that stands out above the din or today's manufactured pop, and I highly recommend her to anyone that is even slightly intrigued by my gushing praise.

You can listen to her entire latest album Lost In Space on her website free of charge.

Brad

 

[ChuckDeLa]

Been a Mann fan since the first Til Tuesday album was released. The only song of hers I don't like at all is "Put Me On Top".

 

[Vickie_M]

I have an embarrassing story to tell regarding Aimee Mann. I knew of her when she was with Til Tuesday, and I used to see her quoted all the time in music magazines. I swear, she kept saying the most idiotic, bubble-headed things that were just exasperating to hear. I finally got sick of it when she said (in Rolling Stone, I think) that she writes love songs because "what else am I going to write about, being on the road?" In case anyone doesn't know, I used to have a radio show (on a 100,000 watt Community station and later, a college station) devoted to female vocalists, and I devoted an entire show to her. It was an "Aimee, there are OTHER things you can write songs about besides love songs and being on the road!" show. They were all songs that told stories, from artists such as Kate Bush, Jane Siberry, Joni Mitchell, Suzanne Vega, 10,000 Maniacs and others, and not a love or road song in the bunch. That was a fun show!

Needless to say, Aimee Mann "got better" and I have nothing but respect for her now.



Up next: Zen Butler, who can choose twice, because I'll be leaving for several hours, and I have no fears that my next 2 choices will be taken.

On deck:

Brad Porter
Angelo.M (who still needs to choose for this round too)
Steeve Bergeron

 

[Angelo.M]

Jean Heller


History will likely not remember Jean as much more than an obscure footnote, but what an important footnote she is.

Jean Heller is a reporter for the Associated Press who, in 1972, blew the whistle on one of the most horrendous acts ever committed in the name of science: the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. In its aftermath, the Experiment became a touchstone for medical ethics in the United States.

I'll stop there, unless folks want to know more.

 

[Zen Butler]

without a doubt my second choice goes to a quirky girl (woman) from Iceland Bjork



amazing voice that you either get or don't. Have loved her for years and is amazing live.

 

[Zen Butler]

Well, with Vickie being very loose with the rules and to widen the scope a bit. My next pick is a fictional character. She has been a sense of wonderment since I was a young boy. This next pick is a girl really, who challenges the conduct of us adults even years later. Any further debate or discussion I'll leave for books that do it(her) much better justice. I choose her out of sheer favoritism only. Lewis Carroll's Alice

 

[Brad Porter]

My list feels very threatened at this point. I hope I can keep Angelo from stealing my great women of science and technology and keep Zen out of my fictional women list!

For the moment, I'll stay in my list of real life entertainers. I was all set to draft Lorelai Gilmore, but I couldn't quite decide between the mother or the daughter. Then it occurred to me - these women are just meat puppets for the writer/creator. So my next pick is for my favorite television dialogue writer...

Amy Sherman-Palladino



In person, she would probably drive me crazy with her manic energy and her wacky hats, but when her ideas are presented through the fictional town of Star's Hollow and its quirky residents, she seems to know exactly which buttons of mine to push to generate laughs, smiles, and I-can't-believe-she-just-said-that shock. As one of the best relationship centered shows currently airing, Gilmore Girls constantly surprises me with its ability to mix teen-appealing romance and conflict with an incessant litany of often obscure and always hilarious pop culture references. I know that many of the witticisms are sailing right over the heads of the advertiser's target demographic, and that's OK. There are plenty of people in the audience like myself who are able to enjoy every not-so-subtle nuance of the show. Above all else, I appreciate that the show was based around a teenage character a) who isn't constantly depressed or angst ridden, b) who is goal-centered (not a slacker) and c) has a healthy, loving relationship with a parent. If anyone reading this hasn't taken the time to watch an episode of Gilmore Girls, you owe it to yourself to spend some time with Luke, Miss Patty, Kirk, Dean, Paris, Babette, Michel, Sookie, Lane, Jess (that smarmy little punk), Richard & Emily, and Lorelai & Rory. They are easily as much fun to watch as the residents of Stuckeyville and Cicely, Alaska, and that's high praise coming from me. Thank you, Amy Sherman-Palladino!

Brad

 

[Steeve Bergeron]

Jenny Agutter

 

[Andy Olivera]

The nice thing about this draft will be not having to worry about all the currently popular girls getting taken and actually being able to make a truly definitive list...

Naomi Watts

No, not because she's popular, but because I find her eyes and smile to be mesmerizing. Plus, from certain angles she looks exactly like my first(and only, so far) love...

 

[Vickie_M]

My next pick is Happy Rhodes, a fascinating singer/songwriter/musician. She's obscure because she's never had a major label contract and has had to (still does) work day jobs. When I first discovered her music (er, became addicted) in 1988, she was working in a gift shop and was a waitress. I don't know what she's doing now (job-wise).

She started playing guitar at age 11 and writing songs at 13. When she was 17 she started working as an apprentice at a recording studio. To learn the equipment and how to do things like overdubs and whatnot, she recorded her own songs, such as Oh The Drears. When the studio owner introduced her to a fella named Kevin Bartlett, she had a bunch of songs recorded. Kevin had a cassette-only label called Aural Gratification and in 1986 he talked her into putting the songs together onto cassette. She had enough for 3 "albums", and soon for a 4th! (Rhodes I, Rhodes II, Rearmament and Ecto, all quite wonderful. For me, as a fan, I love them not only because I think they're VERY good songs, beautifully written and sung, but because these recordings were never meant to be heard by others when they were made. There's no "oh my, this is my first album!" feeling to the songs, where she would be conscious of how other people would hear them. They're personal songs made even more personal because of it.)

Her first "real" album was Warpaint in 1991, and since then she's released 5 more, and is working on her 11th. She releases an album, sells enough to pay the costs and then records another one when she can.

She is the very definition of an Indie Artist and while it's frustrating to be a fan (I think she should be at least as well-known as Kate Bush, but ambition has always taken a back seat to her home and her cats), I love her music and her voice and her lyrics and always will. She's also a really nice, very down-to-earth person. I've seen her play live several times, most recently a couple of weeks ago in New Haven, CT. She hadn't played live for a couple of years because she badly cut and had to have surgery on her left hand. Fans feared she would never play guitar again, but she's made a great recovery. Since she had no medical coverage, her fans got together and raised money for her. As a thanks she gave us a bunch of un-released 'fans only' type songs (most of which sound worth putting on albums to me!) on a fan-made CD. But that's how she is, she didn't want to take the money without giving something back.

I just got some web space, but I only have room for 2 mp3s on it. Here's another one: Words Weren't Made For Cowards

I used to have Shoutcast when we had DSL, but the DSL company went out of business and our cable modem company won't allow it. Maybe someday I'll get it back.

 

[Vickie_M]

Jean Heller - she sounds fascinating! I would love to know more.
Amy Sherman-Palladino - I must admit, I've never seen the Gilmour Girls. I'll set my Tivo for it.

Alice, Bjork, Naomi, Jenny? WOW! Great choices you guys! I'm loving all your picks!

 

[Vickie_M]

My next choice is Jane Siberry, a Canadian singer/songwriter/musician who is also going Indie nowadays, though she did once have a couple of hits north of the border. I've been a fan since 1984, and she never disappoints, even while testing out several different styles.

Sheeba (Jane's own site)
No Borders Here

 

[ChuckDeLa]

Wow, Mondo. That was a cool magazine. I remember that issue, too.

 

[Angelo.M]

coco chanel

she was quite far from sainthood, but coco was as important a part of the modern movement as were Picasso, Cocteau and their contemporaries

Cocteau on Chanel: "she has, by a kind of miracle, worked in fashion according to rules that would seem to have value only for painters, musicians, poets"

her life story makes an interesting read if you have the time

 

[ChuckDeLa]

I'm about to listen to those Happy Rhodes mp3's. Here's a couple of Papas Fritas songs:

Guys Don't Lie

Explain

 

[ChuckDeLa]

These songs are very Kate Bush-ish... to the point where it's kinda distracting. There's a touch of Grace Jones in there, too. I like "Words Weren't Made for Cowards" the best out of the two. But I'd have to listen several more times to get beyond that nagging "Kate ripoff!" feeling.

Vickie, I assume you've heard Anne Clark? If not, you might check her out, I think you'd like her.

 

[Vickie_M]

I get a "This Page Cannot Be Found" on both of your songs Chuck.

These songs are very Kate Bush-ish...

Yep. Considering she learned how to sing by singing along to Kate's album The Kick Inside, it's no wonder. As I said, Oh The Drears was recorded strictly so that Happy could learn the equipment at the recording studio she worked at. She sounds like Kate on all the early songs, at least, when she sings the high notes. Her low notes of course, don't sound anything like Kate. And she has lots of songs using a high voice that isn't Kate-like at all.

Please don't use the word "rip-off" in relation to Happy. She adores Kate, and would never consider herself to on Kate's level (though I think she's pretty close). Homage isn't even the word. She learned to sing to Kate, but really, can she help that her vocal cords can even do it? I could sing to Kate for 15 hours a day for 20 years, and never sound like Kate. Some have suggested that she just not ever use her high voice to avoid the comparison, but that would be a real shame. It's so beautiful.



You want low? We got'cher low, boy. Try these

Beat It Out (as early as Oh The Drears, 1986 or earlier)

Tragic (1998)

I did have some Anne Clark LPs, I probably still have them. I liked them, but the ones I had were a bit more dancy than what I liked. I don't dance, unless it's Nina Hagen's NunSexMonkRock or Danielle Dax's Dark Adapted Eye, and I'm all alone.


"Words Weren't Made For Cowards" is one of my favorite songs.


I'm off to go shopping, then I'm going to see a few movies. Later!