The Women of 1970's Rock, Part 1! (Part 2 video: "X-RAY SPEX -DAY THE WORLD TURNED DAY-GLO (1978)") In the wake of Jimi Hendrix and More

The Women of 1970's Rock, Part 1! (Part 2 video: "X-RAY SPEX -DAY THE WORLD TURNED DAY-GLO (1978)") In the wake of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, the flood of modern Rock women was unleashed in the early 1970s. Routinely written off by the foolish and the threatened, nevertheless these hellions rewrote the future we live in. It's time to give them their due: The instigators: FANNY, the first all-female band signed to make albums in 1970; "THE CARRIE NATIONS", the stars of the outrageous movie "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls"; and MAMA LION, whose leader LYNN CAREY actually sang as well as co-wrote all those songs they lip-synched; SWEET LINDA DIVINE, a San Francisco soulster from the rock band Loading Zone; and her Bay Area peer, LYDIA PENSKE, with her rockin' soul group, COLD BLOOD; from Holland comes the deeply underrated SHOCKING BLUE with their axis MARISKA VERES; out of the pyschedelic group Daisy Chain came the ferociously rocking all-female BIRTHA who prompted Alice Cooper to wear their T-Shirt, "Birtha's Got Balls"; transcending typical blues-boogie to map out the avant-garde future of music was conceptual artist and punk godmother YOKO ONO; English freespirit RUTH COPELAND kicked out the jams backed by FUNKADELIC with guitar-god Eddie Hazel; SONJA KRISTINA unwound the boundaries with progressive-rockers CURVED AIR; the Scottish blues band STONE THE CROWS was fueled by MAGGIE BELL; Japan was ransacked by the SADISTIC MIKA BAND and its 'eccentric' livewire, MIKA KATOH; leaving her Detroit sisters in the Pleasure Seekers, SUZI QUATRO found fame in England with Glam Rock, inspiring teen Joan Jett and legions of others; the English boogie soul of VINEGAR JOE was fronted by Robert Palmer and siren ELKIE BROOKS; in California, LINDA RONSTADT was giving rock her own soulful swagger; having backed Lou Reed on "Walk On the Wild Side", the singers called THUNDERTHIGHS found some success among the British glam scene; with her star turn in the Who's 1975 film "Tommy", TINA TURNER declared her independence from Ike belting out rock songs; riding the Glam wave, FANCY scored with an intensely sensual take on "Wild Thing" moaned by Anne Kavanagh; the theatrical NOOSHA FOX lit up the prog-pop group, FOX; from Goldie & the Gingerbreads rolled Genya Ravan with her eclectic troupe, TEN WHEEL DRIVE; while her former bandmates Carol MacDonald and Ginger Bianco resurrected in the all-female funk-rock octet ISIS; meanwhile, the hardcore queen of funk-rock, BETTY DAVIS, scorched stages and turntables and record execs' rulebooks; and in New York, an edgy club called CBGB's was the womb for the new music to come, first hearkened by iconoclast Patti Smith; and then BLONDIE with its divining rod DEBBIE HARRY, the prototypes of the new wave rising; out of Los Angeles teen boredom exploded the revolutionary RUNAWAYS, an all-female harrrrd rock band of 16-year-old ballbusters; if Robert Plant had channeled Janis and Joni, then ANN and NANCY WILSON rechanneled Zeppelin with their group, HEART, which solidified all the hard work of the women before them into breakthrough success for those to follow; and funking up peoples' radio-programmed minds, MOTHER'S FINEST mixed it all up hard rock style propelled by hellcat JOYCE KENNEDY. About The RUNAWAYS: The L.A. scene was weak in the early 70's. Teens hung out at decadent Glam clubs, desperate for kicks and something new. Joan Jett started a female trio with the express purpose to actually Rock and rock hard. With producer Kim Fowley the quintet got its name, a record deal, many promises, and a lot of heartache. They were called puppets, groupies, and jailbait by an industry that couldn't see the future in front of them. Now it's crystal clear that the Runaways were a brutally powerful band who hinged us into Punk and Heavy Metal. They deserved better than they got, and they gave us better than we deserved. Here are the original Runaways roaring live in Japan and kicking your ass flat. To be continued in Part 2, "X-RAY SPEX -DAY THE WORLD TURNED DAY-GLO (1978)"! (All rights reserved by the owners. Fan-made video to promote awareness and appreciation.) http://www.youtube.com/funknroll Tym Stevens
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Country: Dolly Parton Biography Born on Jan. 19, 1946, in Locust Ridge, Tenn., into a poor family that would eventually include 12 children, Dolly More

Country: Dolly Parton Biography Born on Jan. 19, 1946, in Locust Ridge, Tenn., into a poor family that would eventually include 12 children, Dolly Parton learned early to escape the hardships of life through her vivid and far-ranging imagination. Before she learned to read and write, she was "making up" her own songs. She got her first guitar when she was 8 and began singing on a Knoxville, Tenn., radio station at age 11. That same year, she made her first recording on Gold Band Records, a tiny independent label. She made a name for herself locally while still in high school, but she dreamed of a bigger stage. The day after she graduated in 1964, she moved to Nashville. Her first charting records on Monument Records included "Dumb Blonde" and "Something Fishy," both in 1967. At about this time, Porter Wagoner was looking for a new "girl singer" for his syndicated television show. Parton accepted the job in 1967, signed with RCA Records in 1968 and joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1969. However, she left Wagoner's show in 1974, as her solo releases -- such as "Joshua," "Coat of Many Colors" and "Jolene" -- were out-charting their collaborations. After their split, Parton wrote the song "I Will Always Love You" for Wagoner, and it reached No. 1 for the first time in 1974. As a solo artist, Parton also snared the CMA's female vocalist award in 1975 and 1976 and won the entertainer trophy in 1978. Still, her TV variety series lasted only one season, in 1976. Her musical style grew closer to pop music, but fans responded as "Here You Come Again" spent five weeks at No. 1 in 1978. She also grew more interested in movies, starring in 1980's 9 to 5 -- the title song earned her an Oscar nomination -- and 1982's Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Taken from the Whorehouse soundtrack, "I Will Always Love You" reached No. 1 again in 1982. A Bee Gees-written duet with Kenny Rogers, "Islands in the Stream," topped the country charts in 1983. Parton returned to her acoustic roots when she recorded the 1987 landmark album Trio with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. Four of its singles reached the Top 10, and "To Know Him Is To Love Him" reached No. 1. After signing to Columbia Records, she returned to No. 1 as a solo artist in 1989 with "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That." That same year, she starred in the hit movie Steel Magnolias with Olympia Dukakis, Daryl Hannah, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine and Julia Roberts. A 1991 duet with Ricky Van Shelton, "Rockin' Years," reached No. 1 in 1991, but Parton's greatest commercial fortune of the decade -- and probably of all-time -- came when Whitney Houston recorded "I Will Always Love You" for The Bodyguard soundtrack, and both the single and the album were massively successful. In 1993, she recorded the album Honky Tonk Angels with Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette. Parton re-recorded "I Will Always Love You" with Vince Gill, and they won a CMA award for vocal event in 1996. Taken from the album Trio II, a cover of "After the Gold Rush" won a Grammy for best country collaboration with vocals in 1999, and Parton was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame later that year. However, she was frustrated by her fruitless attempts to secure a solo hit single in the 1990s. Instead, she teamed with respected independent label Sugar Hill Records and offered the back-to-basics acoustic album The Grass Is Blue in 1999. An instant favorite among critics and longtime fans, it won the International Bluegrass Music Association's album of the year and a Grammy for best bluegrass album. She followed it with Little Sparrow in 2001 and Halos & Horns in 2002. The patriotic For God and Country appeared in 2003 and was followed by the CD and DVD Live and Well a year later. Those Were the Days from 2005 found Parton covering her favorite pop songs from the '60s and '70s. In 2006, she earned her second Oscar nomination for "Travelin' Thru," which she wrote specifically for the film Transamerica. She also returned to No. 1 on the country charts later that year by lending her distinctive harmonies to the Brad Paisley ballad, "When I Get Where I'm Going." Parton also changed the landscape of her Tennessee stomping grounds when she opened the Dollywood theme park in 1985. It remains among the most popular vacation destinations in the South. She has also donated more than 1 million books to pre-school children across the United States and provides scholarships to high school students in Sevier County, Tenn. In return, the county honored her with a life-size statue in front of the courthouse.
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