Ladies of Rock N’ Roll – The 80’s

Ahhh the 80’s!  There is nothing like it!  Well, except for the “retro 80’s” stuff they’re trying to pull off now but they can never hold a candle to the crazy eighties.  For starters, I think today’s youth is far too jaded by technology and way to silicone spoiled for their own good!  When you look at a Keytar as a new and exciting toy…you were born in the 90’s sometime!  And day-glow?  Madonna was wearing those things at the start of her career…New Wave kids, not techno!

This will most assuredly not be the last blog on the 80’s by a very, very, very long shot.  You see, I was watching this local station in town that had retro music videos from the early years of MTV.  Anyone remember those?  Do you miss them?  Me too!  I miss the hand held camcorder looking videos with either no plot, famous celebrity appearances,  or midgets running through the fields.  Damn those were good years!  I saw a few videos that I have not seen in so many years and I wish to share some with you, but then I could get boring with it.  So, to help up the ante I decided on honoring the women of rock…80’s style.

This tribute goes out to a small list of incredible women who made the rock in the 80’s what it was.  Now, to spare you, I am not going to mention Madonna or Janet for the soul reason that you hopefully all know them!  They still are popular, they still make music, I don’t think I need to remind you all of them being in the 80’s since you should know that!

Nah…this is for the lesser known women, but popular in the music world.  Let me start with a woman whose 80’s look I wish to eventually have after I go under the knife in my forties since time was not kind to her at all.

Roxette’s Marie Fredriksson.  She had the quintessential 80’s frock.  Short and frosted!  You may know Roxette for it’s classic hits The Look (which is the video that inspired this blog to begin with) and It Must Have Been Love which earned them a spot of the soundtrack to Pretty Woman.  Marie has also had a few solo albums and the band has had enormous success in their home country of Sweden.  If anything, I want the thigh high stilettos!

Warlock’s Doro Pesch.  Again, someone who reminds me of a frosty barbie doll..only far more awesome…and German!  I was in the Hard Rock in Orlando when I saw the video for All We Are and I loved the whole metal without a plot video.  Well, I guess it had a plot…cars in traffic whose solemnity was interrupted by a few guys plopping very 80’s stereo equipment (the equivalent size of a Smart car only far more useful) on top of said cars and then Doro and the rest of Warlock rocking out…just trying to make the traffic that much more bearable.  The real treat was the brief appearance by the warlock…hence the bands namesake.  Believe it or not, Doro still makes music and her English has gotten much better….thank the metal Gods!

Lita Ford, originally from The Runaways.  Though her beginnings were somewhat a gimmick and she and the rest of the band were jailbait, Lita did pretty damn good for herself!  Since a great deal of the music in the 80’s was New Wave, Synth Pop, or metal Lita dominated the lighter pop metal genre in the mid 80’s working with legendary Ozzy on Close My Eyes Forever.  She has not only been featured in the popular Guitar Hero series, but she has lent her voice to Brutal Legend as a character known as Rema.  That’s how you become immortal nowadays…video games.  I honestly do believe that!  I’m actually not making fun…isn’t that a weird thought?

Joan Jett, another original member of The Runaways and later The Blackhearts.  I have put her on this list for two reasons: 1. She is bad ass!  Look at her!  Just…bad ass!  2. When I told my friends about this blog, they both said “Joan Jett!”  when I wasn’t going to list her to start with.  Everyone knows her (she has a doll for Pete’s sake!), but I suppose an exception to the rock list can be made.  If you don’t know (and truly, if you don’t you should at least ask someone!  Do the world a favor!) Joan is the master behind I Love Rock N’ Roll and I Hate Myself For Loving You.  She is the grandmother of punk (so sayeth the masses anyway.  I even heard that from a 12 year old once!) and even went on to America’s Most Wanted to encourage that capture of the murderer of her deceased friend Mia Zapata, sadly now a member of the Forever 27.  That alone makes her awesome!

Susanna Hoffs from The Bangles.  Who used to rock out to Walk Like an Egyptian?  Who used to get that crappy promise in the back of a Chevy Spectrum while listening to Eternal Flame?  I know I didn’t, but this was standard courting rituals in the late 80’s people!  But you have to admit, it was rather catchy!  I bet if you saw that video Manic Monday with Tracy Ullman you would think…”What the hell is going on?”  Not in the 80’s my friend!  That was awesome then.

Though this list could go on for a while, I will allow you to savor these bits for now.  The 80’s will never truly be gone from our minds.  Firstly it only happened thirty years ago, it’s not like Flapper times you know.  Secondly, I think of the 80’s like a Wacky Wall Walker.  Remember those?  You would throw them on the wall and they would creep down and then pop down in the dirt…in which case they were nasty and didn’t really stick to the wall.  That pretty much sums up the 80’s for me.

Well, until my next bout of great inspiration comes around again…