Women in Rock: Patti Smith vs Joan Jett

when I was ten or eleven I had the "Because the Night" b/w "Godspeed" single and I liked it so I wrote a fan letter to Patti Smith. Whoever was coordinating stuff for her sent back a multi-page Xeroxed fanclub kinda thing, very D.I.Y. looking, which I loved until I got to the printout of "Rock and Roll Nigger," which, I mean, my case against it was hardly a sophisticated reading ("saying that word means you are a racist") but it offended the shit out of me and I didn't really listen to her again until I got a cassette of Radio Ethiopia when I was 16. Which btw remains one of the great driving tapes of all time.

Patti is great and embarrassing at the same time, because she brought into the whole rock n' roll as liberation fantasy as only an ambitious, working class Jersey outsider could. So to me what makes her great is also what makes her seem like a complete fool. It's both sides of the same romantic rock fantasy. And there's no doubt she's important, while very few musicians quote her style directly, she's just too odd and eccentric, there wouldn't be a Pretenders, Raincoats, or Banshees without Patti. Plus, in that early 70's Mapplethorpe portrait, Patti looks downright vulnerable, so I'd claim just the opposite. What makes the picture so alluring is the absence of any attempt at control. But who knows, I'm not privy, to what type of relationship Patti and Mapplethorpe had. So Patti, yeah...

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Modern shamans: Patti Smith vs Jim Morrison

mods plz rename board thx

I'd never seen that SNL vers. of Gloria before:

http://you.video.sina.com.cn/b/7731156-1298996642.html

Speaking of Patti and SNL

\m/

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

my mind is so blown

Quick!

Women In Music: Meredith Monk vs. Kathleen Hanna! poll

Alice Coltrane v. Courtney Love

http://reduxfilms.com/img/James_Wah_Wah_lg.jpg

Joan's "Roadrunner" cover is so well-used in an episode of "The Wire," season two.

ILM ♥ iceberg lettuce

iceberg lettuce > wilted chard

Really?

Joan Jett wins!!!! Yeah! :) :)

I'm not a huge fan of her or anything but love the first two Runaways albums and her cover of Stooges "I Wanna Be Your Dog" is to die for. Didn't someone here say she covered some other cool stuff? I know about Crimson & Clover, but what else did she cover?

Noodle, much as I love Brian Eno, that James album is an absolute snoozefest.

oh sorry Roadrunner! must read thread before posting...

My love of Patti Smith is definitely not based on the nuanced sophistication of her poetic vision...

Bimbs that goes without saying but the title seemed appropriate.

Hahaha. :)

Hongroe like the wolf! Oh my god, Noodle, your screen names never fail to make me LOL. I really think we should all take you as an example for screen names.

To a kid looking up to me, life ain't nothing but zings and no money.

I loved the Roadrunner cover, wow, thanks ILM.

who the fuck would've voted for Patti Smith?!?

me! you got a problem with that?

"do you want to touch me (oh yeah)" is my favourite song ever

how to vote? For Joan?

Poll's over. Joan won.

Now that I've seen the Patti Smith doc on PBS where she and Flea talk about pee, I want to change my vote.

Sorry to be late to the party, but I think Patti is gorgeous. I love the Mapplethorpe photos, and the story of their friendship. I would love to have been there when all that was happening! And BTW Kenan, I LOVE that I can see her ribs :)

http://www.sohoblues.com/SoHoBluesBWPortraits/previewpages/preview10.jpg

Now that I've seen the Patti Smith doc on PBS where she and Flea talk about pee, I want to change my vote.

― Zachary Taylor

lol