NPR's 150 Albums Made by Women

Think you could make a strong case for Make Way for Dionne Warwick, her third studio album ('64). It's got "Walk on By" and lots else.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_Way_for_Dionne_Warwick

Oh damn, Betty Davis is missing.

Lists are pretty dumb, especially when you're casting the net so wide.

I still like the idea of this list, but I do think it would have been a bit more meaningful if they declined to rank the albums. Yes, that would put Baby One More Time on the same level as Blue and all that, but I think that forgoing the competitive method of ranking would have been more in keeping with the spirit of what they are trying to accomplish here.

ricki lee jones was complaining on twitter, i'd make a case for her first album

i dunno, seems like a lot of weird picks...

obv love the band but Sonic Youth seems a little odd to me for the purposes of this list

some recent stuff being way overrated but that's the case with every list ever

loved that this made it, what an amazing record:

78. The Bulgarian State Radio & Television Choir
Le Mystère Des Voix Bulgares (Nonesuch, 1987)

agree w/whoever said Mary Margaret O'Hara Miss America should have made the list

Melt Banana was robbed!!

MC Lyte's Act Like You Know should have been on the list

are we at the point where we're just listing people we would have personally included?

Stereolab, Broadcast, Betty Carter, Blossom Dearie, Hellen Merrill, Betty Davis, Gal Costa, MC Lyte, Wanda Jackson, Lee Ann Womack, Kacey Musgraves, Asha Bhosle, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Delta 5, Concrete Blonde, THE CRAMPS (maybe the most unforgivable imo), Damon & Naomi, Deerhoof, Digable Planets, Fiery Furnaces/Eleanor Friedberger, New Pornographers/Neko Case, the Geraldine Fibbers, Lynn Collins, Unrest, Mazzy Star, Opal/Kendra Smith, Nancy Sinatra, Royal Trux, Suzi Quatro, the Vaselines, X

xpost I mean...you and I may feel that Melt Banana was robbed, but this is NPR we're talking about here.

if Sonic Youth is eligible idk why stuff like the Velvets or White Stripes wouldn't also merit inclusion

xp

Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares should have been a lot higher, IMO

now that i think about it, i believe this list is designed to inspire further lists -- good strategy!

heh

xpost I mean...you and I may feel that Melt Banana was robbed, but this is NPR we're talking about here.

― Chock Full of Love and Sexy Feeling (Old Lunch), Tuesday, July 25, 2017 12:21 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

My first reaction was "no Scissor Girls?!" But yeah considering the source...

i was kinda kidding about melt banana (tho i do think they are better than stuff that made the list)

Ricki Lee Jones & Mary Margaret O'Hara (and Jefferson Airplane if they they include X and Sonic Youth) I'm more surprised that they didn't make it

MC Lyte I think that's a bit of an injustice (imo)

actually looking at Outic's list I AM kinda surprised Mazzy Star didn't make it

there's a lot of more recent critical faves that have faded from view (aforementioned tUNEyARDs, YYYs, etc.) that aren't included. They seem to fall into that middle ground of not-old-enough-to-be-a-shoe-in and too recent to have any sense of potential lasting impact/relevance. (In that respect the more poptimist - sorry Alfred - nominees got it easier, since they are validated by chart presence and continuing prominence as pop avatars)

maybe put Lana Del Rey into that recent critical faves category too? Lily Allen?

Lorde?

I thought Rickie Lee Jones did make it in? Pirates.

Five to fifteen years after a critical fanfare seems to be a dead zone where it remains to be seen if the next generation of music obsessives latch on to a record. Especially in recent decades when a those types of artists often have years between releases.

Pixies a big omission, imo. Shocked Lorde didn't make it in.

Pixies a big omission, imo

Last Splash >>>>> every Pixies album

I don't know about that, but definitely more women in the band.

X were in there Οὖτις, but yeah Royal Trux is a good shout. More soul and funk might have been good, the mention of Betty Davis upthread OTM. Fever Ray were on the Fader list but The Knife would be a good addition.

so yeah loads more possibilities but lots and lots of great stuff to check out on the NPR list!

ah sorry about X, missed that

xp

Cibo Matto a definite oversight. Sheesh, it's almost as if there are more than 150 great albums made by women!

So... how much of what we're seeing is a schism between "female artists male critics like" and "female artists female critics like" (since it was an all-female jury that compiled the list)?

Glasser doesn't have enough of a profile/impact to appear on lists like this but I wish she did because both albums I've heard by her are astonishing.

might also be an NPR vs not NPR schism xp

Seriously. It's a little shocking that only one Norah Jones album made the cut.

(NB, I enjoy the musical stylings of Norah Jones.)

i don't believe it's a schism so much as a nudge

Pirates was 49, yes. This is RLJ's response

Pirates NPR DJS vote'49th greatest female LP of all. 50 greater lps by women? i dont think so!! maybe 25.or30. but not 50. Mbarrassed.

— Rickie Lee Jones (@RickieLeeJones) July 25, 2017

NPR say "RickieLeeJones"NOT 1ofthe IMPORTANT female records!(chuck E, lastchanceTexaco)btFanny,YokoOno&Raincoats,Runaways&GraceJones ARE!

— Rickie Lee Jones (@RickieLeeJones) July 25, 2017

ha I almost listed Glasser, Dan. I like that first album a lot but it seems p obscure idk

Mbarrassed @ @RickieLeeJones

<3 that first RLJ tweet (no need to bash Fanny, Yoko, the Raincoats, the Runaways or Grace Jones, though)

is rickie lee not performing all of pirates at the launch party for this list

Heavenly - Le Jardin de Heavenly,

Seconded. Maybe there would've been an indie pop album in the next 50.

maybe put Lana Del Rey into that recent critical faves category too? Lily Allen?

― Οὖτις

When talking about recent critical favourites, St Vincent has to be the most surprising omission for me.

ooh yes good catch

I'm happy to see Cocteau Twins on the list (even though it's about 140 places too low) but I would have also liked to see Saint Etienne, Lush, The Sundays, Sterolab and Broadcast on there too.

Going back to Dionne Warwick, I can't say I've heard many of her albums but Just Being Myself from 73 is definitely worth a place. It's one of many great 70s soul albums I'm disappointed missed out. Caught Up by Millie Jackson, either of the first two Syreeta albums, Betty Wright's Hard To Stop, any of those brilliant Rufus/Chaka Khan albums, Woman To Woman by Shirley Brown, Ann Peebles, Margie Joseph and the biggest omission of all, no Minnie Riperton. They could have picked any of her first three albums, they're all incredible.

unsurprisingly I wish kristin hersh and stina nordenstam were on the list but am not surprised they're not. the surprise for me is Karin Dreijer/The Knife

also I would have chosen The Idler Wheel or When the Pawn over Tidal and From the Choirgirl Hotel or Boys for Pele over either of the ones on the list

I'm surprised The Knife didn't show up, as well.

I like Fader's list a lot more but disappointed Rachel Stevens didn't make it to either list :(

And why not?

http://themuse.jezebel.com/the-150-worst-albums-made-by-men-1797242454

Now we're getting somewhere! Though putting Slint on there at all, and placing Metal Machine Music at 27, is disappointingly challopsy.

I was all in on that list until this entry

7. Bob Dylan, Christmas in the Heart

which is one of the greatest Christmas albums ever made

haha kid A just to piss off the world love it

Yeah true Slint is the worst shit ever uh

Last Splash >>>>> every Pixies album

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, July 25, 2017 2:07 PM

otm