Music: Crowdsourcing Ladytunes, 2011

Before we begin, ask yourself, “Am I a 14 year old girl biologically related to the author of this post?” If the answer is yes, you are a 14 year old girl biologically related to the author of this post, make the wise decision to go read something else. Go on, navigate to another post. I can wait.

Alright, is it just us non-biologically related folks left? Good, let’s talk Ladytunes.

Last year, I wrote about one of my family’s holiday traditions, the Ms. Claus Party Mix. As a young child, MiniBelle once asked why she never heard many lady singers on the radio ““ and it was true, at the time. The FM airwaves were dominated by male singers or groups of various stripes, particularly in the rock genre stations I tended to tune to. Mainstream rock music still seems to be a wang-dominated arena, which is nothing a little ole cultural critic like me can change, but I do like to strike a blow for gender balance and relevancy by crafting our annual compilation of female singers. Also, it’s a not-so-secret feminist indoctrination technique, so there’s that too. Give a mouse a cookie and maybe they’ll think that they should be picking up a guitar and starting a band too, exercising their lady singing muscles, and all that.

It is also a tradition that I reach out to my Internet friends for suggestions to include on the CD. We are but two simple parents and despite our admittedly impressive musical knowledge, there’s always someone out there doing or listening to something fantastic that neither of us have heard yet. I want to know what singers/groups other people love, what songs they can’t forget, and what singers they wish more people knew about. And when I use the word “people,” I basically mean you, dear readers.

We’ve been at this for many years now and usually the song list draws from many styles and decades, but I’ve been thinking about crafting a thematic compilation this year ““ either best singers of the 80s or an all-covers theme. I would be tickled by suggestions for either, as well as anything else you might like to throw my way.

My suggested guidelines for making recommendations for the Party Mix (cribbed from last year’s post):

• Music must be age appropriate. In my case, MiniBelle is 14. Peaches’ “Fuck the Pain Away” is still not going to be included on my track list no matter how much I personally like it.
• Duets are acceptable, but mostly male-lead tracks with female backing vocals are not.
• When she was younger, I peppered the mixes with holiday songs to keep with the Ms. Claus theme. I still try to include one or two, but my personal preference is to include holiday general vs. Christmas-specific music.
• Only one track per artist.
• Variety. In my case, I grew up in the punk scene in the 90s, so if I just drew on my personal CD collection, she’d end up with the same Siouxsie Sioux and Bikini Kill singles every year. And MiniBelle already knows all the words to “Rebel Girl.”

That’s it! Can’t wait to hear about what you’re listening to. My post on the final track list from last year’s collection can be found here.