1984: The Raspy Show-down. Head-to-Head Bonnie Tyler vs. Laura Branigan

“I’m Holding Out for a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler (1984)

“Self Control” by Laura Branigan (1984)

In retrospect the ‘80’s looks all carefree and colorful, but it was likely still difficult for female artists. Things were still not as progressive as maybe one might think. Were they bimbette airheads? Or, under the multi-colored ultra-teased hair, leg warmers and spandex were they artists?

Where were all the pioneering women of rock and what had they accomplished? The forgotten singer-songwriters like Joni Mitchell and Carole King soldiered on in ‘80s – very much out of style. How things had changed - so much but so little.

MTV drove a male definition of what feminism should have been in the 1980’s. MTV drove fantasy, not reality. Who needs that? Capitalizing on the appearance of female artists like Pat Benatar, Kate Bush, and Deborah Harry of Blondie was standard for record companies in the early ‘80’s. Sex symbols were alive and well – it sold records. Would Big Mama Thornton who died alone and impoverished in 1984 tell them not to do it? No Mam!

Like Lena Lovich¹ and Souxsie Sioux (the Banshees) from the punk movement of the late ‘70’s it was trendy for women to be exclusively singers – it was hard to drum and strut around in a video in the latest fashions. They were to appear wandering down the street or rolling on a bed not playing a guitar like would  later happen in the ‘80’s.

Was the pop song “Watch Her Strut” by Sheena Easton a response to Prince who she once dated? Some women embraced the use of their femininity. Did Deborah Harry know what she was doing? Damn right she did.

Still sane... You may think you're crossing the line... Still sane... You may think you're losing your mind

Well Worth a Listen

“Still Sane”, by Carolyn Mas (1979)

In the same vein as “Hold Your Head Up” by Argent or “Don’t Let is Show” by the Alan Parsons Project, “Still Sane” is one of those ‘self-help’ songs. It, like the other songs on her debut album of the same name, has an undertone of defiance, yet vulnerability. It always puzzled me why Carolyn Mas did not have better commercial success.

Born in NY, Carolyn’s father invented the battery charger. I didn’t know that when her debut self-penned album “Carolyn Mas” came out in 1979, but that is a good enough reason for me to listen if I had not already. Classically trained in voice, piano and guitar, in her early years she listened to Cole Porter, the Beatles, Dylan, and all kinds of classical and folk music.

It wasn't the one that you gave to me that night down south between the trailers. Not the early one that you wish upon not the northern one that guided the sailors

Fun Fact of the Week

In 1970 Joni Mitchell wrote “This Flight Tonight”, but most people know, and have heard only the 1973 Nazareth version. In 1971 it appeared on her notable album “Blue”, which many argue is one of her very best.  In 2000 the New York Times called it one of the 25 albums that represented "turning points and pinnacles in 20th-century popular music".

Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone

Hip to be Square

“Big Yellow Taxi”, Joni Mitchell (1970)

I remember listening to “Both Sides Now” coming from the funky little yellow radio my Dad had in the kitchen that he snapped on every morning – which seemed like he had been doing every morning since the dawn of time. I heard a lot of songs on that radio. I had my toast with peanut butter at the arborite table, wondering if I would be on the Green team or the Red team for ‘Sports’ day. Listening to Joni, I made special note to look at the clouds when I sat on the schoolyard waiting my turn for long jump or high jump or whatever else they made us do.  It seemed to me I had never really looked at clouds at all.