For Woman's History Month - Top Ten songs/albums of women singers assignment

Would you be able to write a Top Ten songs/albums to hear for women singers? Doesn’t need a Lambs connection, but it would be nice if one or two do. I’m looking for 1940s-1970s songs that are streaming or available now for people to hear during the pandemic, not something they have to go find a rare record or collector. Any ideas? Not long, maybe 500 words max. By around March 1? Happy Women's History Month! Ok, Kevin, Here's the list with background information thereafter. Women Singers Peter Dizozza's Top Ten Album List 10. Without You I'm Nothing (1989) Sandra Bernhard 9. Radio Ethiopia (1976) Patti Smith - includes Ask the Angels 8. Knoxville Summer of 1915 (1990) Dawn Upshaw. 7. Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989) Janet Jackson 6. Close to You (1960) Sarah Vaughn 5. Dinah! (1956) Dinah Washington - includes More Thank You Know 4. Patti LuPone - Live (1992) Patti LuPone -includes I'm a Stranger Here Myself 3. My Name Is Barbra, Two (1965) Barbra Streisand 2. Bette Midler (1973) Bette Midler 1. Don't Go to Strangers (1966) Eydie Gorme' - includes What Did I Have and If He Walked into My Life Peter Dizozza's Top Ten Songs List 10. Ain't No Mountain High Enough (Diana Ross 1970 version) Ashford/Simpson's 9. One Less Bell to Answer (1970) Marilyn McCoo with The Fifth Dimension. songwriters: Bacharach/David's 8. Dream a Little Dream of Me (1968) Mama Cass, by Fabian Andre, Wilbur Schwandt and Gus Kahn. 7. There's No Business Like Show Business (1969) Mary Hopkins, by Irving Berlin, a Lamb. 6. A Hard Rain is Gonna Fall (1989) Edie Brickell, by Bob Dylan 5. Boys Night Out (1962) Patti Page Jimmy Van Heusen (music) and Sammy Cahn 4. Cornet Man (Broadway Soundtrack for Funny Girl version, 1964) Barbra Streisand, by Jule Styne, and lyrics by Bob Merrill. 3. My Man (Movie Soundtrack for Funny Girl version 1968) Barbra Streisand, by Maurice Yvain and Channing Pollock (English Lyric). 2. Our Love It Grows (1961) Myrna March, Songwriter: Ellie Greenwich 1. I Wanna Be Around (1966) Eydie Gorme' (from Don't Go to Strangers) by Sadie Vimmerstedt and Johnny Mercer. Honorable Mentions: I Move On (2002) Catherine Zeta-Jones / Renee Zellweger, by John Kander and Fred Ebb *** conducted by Paul Bogaev. Coffee Homegrown (1978) Kate Bush, by Kate Bush Down in the Depths (1936) Ethel Merman, by Cole Porter For sound quality, consider vinyl records vibrating an amplified needle, or 7 1/2 inch per second reel to reel tapes oscillating magnetic current in a coil. However, most recordings are digitized online such that if you speak to a device, such as a "Google Home Mini," you can consider their merits for yourself. For my evolving opinions on sound and singers and all things musical, I daily learn and defer to the reactions of my wife and our daughter. Although there are countless beautiful performances of choice songs by Lambs during Lo-Jinx, a survey of their selections and arrangements (mostly with Woody Regan and Paul Chamlin) is for another essay. While not including them here, I'll try to mention every other singer identifying as woman that I can think of to join in a conversation that is ever-evolving. When Lady Gaga (former NYU student Stefanie Germenotta) sang, with such power, a rhythmically modified Star Spangled Banner to begin our recent change of administration inauguration ceremony, I sensed in her ambition a bridge forming between pop vocal and opera vocal. May I express my limitations by the names that come to mind when I consider different musical genres? Jazz: Judy Garland, Eydie Gorme' and Nelly McKay to the extent she sounds like a young Ella Fitzgerald. Broadway: Carol Channing and Barbra Streisand. Folk: Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and Judy Collins. Pop: Lady Gaga, Madonna, Regina Spektor Classical: Patty Lupone, Dawn Upshaw, Teresa Stratas, Isola Jones, Kathleen Battle, Betty Allen Rock (I was born in 1958 so this list is more extensive): Stevie Nicks, Heart lead singer Nancy Wilson, Janis Joplin, and Grace Slick - a Castilleja High School debutante. I think my favorite female vocal rock recording is the Heart song "Barracuda." Progressive Rock went from Kate Bush to Tory Amos, both being singer songwriters. I experienced the popularity of Tory Amos in the 1990's, which remains iconic, but I would refer you only to Kate Bush's Cloudbursting, Coffee Homegrown, and Wuthering Heights. Patti Smith is a definitive poet rocker. She recorded over-the-top pop vocal performances. I recommend her complete Easter album. I am only familiar with her original four albums from the seventies. Indelible memories are produced from hearing her Space Monkey, and Walking Barefoot. My favorite recordings by her are Kimberly and Redondo Beach. When I think of unamplified acoustic singing (ie., opera) I first remember Teresa Stratas. Her ever-interesting vocal album is Teresa Stratas sings The Unknown Kurt Weil. For pop opera fans, please note that Inva Mula is the Lucia di Lamamoor singer in The Luc Besson Fifth Element. Patti LuPone Live (1992) opens with a Kurt Weil song A Stranger Here Myself. I can report herein that the key change at the end of her version is also in the original score of One Touch of Venus. (Her precision is an inspiration to all singers, including those of opera.) Janis Joplin, I don't know what to say. She did it (With her natural musical precision she made screaming sound good.). I can't easily comment on the goddesses in my periphery. I know Nancy Lamott is a legend (Surrey with the Fringe on Beautiful Baby 1991). Joan Baez sang Barb'ry Allen. I guess my favorite album of hers is Joan Baez Vol 2 (1961) Some popular songs escape me. With regard to rock affected vocal, I often return to Patti Rothberg who offers a sweetly beautifully voice among rock singers, free of the attitudes too easily affected by singers aspiring to the level of rock in the wake of perhaps Pat Benatar or Joan Jett singing Allan Merrill's I Love Rock and Roll. I also defer to the barometer of our daughter, Zora, who greets the sound of Patti Rothberg with silent attention. Does anyone seriously consider Fiona Apple, or Alainis Morisette? The overlap into the realm of singer songwriter with attitude must include them. Fiona Apple as produced by John Brion in the "When the Pawn" album seems vastly superior to anything I've ever heard in general. Oh, I love Edie Brickell. I don't know what defining song of hers to suggest, but she sings the early Dylan song A Hard Rain in the Oliver Stone Fourth of July movie, blowing out all other content in that epic movie. Bette Midler singing her own words to "In the Mood" in a Barry Manilow arrangement is an all time hilarious audio highlight. (Arif Mardin Barry Manilow 1973). What she did with Moogy Klingman's You Got to Have Friends is also of note... Amy Winehouse, Liza Minelli? I don't know. I may never recover from hearing Ms. Minelli's "It was a good time..." More recently, Lady Gaga functions as a sequel to the pop of Madonna (in the wake of fashion by clothes designer Alexander McQueen?). I don't know what to recommend for Lady Gaga. Her pop songs seemed like covers of prior pop songs and it is not worth the trouble to consider which songs here. The reverence people feel toward her for her voice, acting (another star is born!) and most redemptive, her piano playing, are also too total for me to address here. However, she did interpret a fresh arrangement of The Star Spangled Banner to commence the Inauguration Ceremony for our United States' most recent change in administration. You can probably ask your smart speaker for that. Madonna sang "Borderline." It was so beautiful to see a deli guy behind the counter instinctively moving to that recording. Also "Like a Virgin," and "Dress you up in my love". I am partial to a song Madonna both wrote and recorded in 1986 called Live to Tell. Her Like a Prayer epic convingly crossed over into gospel. Baby One More Time by Max Martin is a bizarre Britney Spears recording. He also wrote (with Rami) "Oops, I did It Again," which may actually be a good song. The battle of the female vocalists (The Wilson Sisters? They are the band "Heart," but then there's the daughter of brian Wilson involved. What a great last name.) They, the three of them? may be heard to great effect in a song called These Dreams by Martin Page and Bernie Taupin. Ellen Foley is the woman singing with Meatloaf in his Paradise by the Dashboard Light recording for Jim Steinman. You can see and hear Ms. Foley in the 1979 Hair movie. It still hurts to hear her vocal in the Meatloaf Steinman song. Oh and then Steinman has his women singer ballads. Bonnie Tyler's vocal of his Total Eclipse of the Heart is totally over the top, almost horrifying in its greatness. WHAT IS A WOMAN SINGER? Peter Dizozza (he, it, them) While there is an ever evolving issue of gender-defining , the female voice seems a very specific achievement and dare I say, ultimately only possible to be done by women. I realize the historic reverence for the castrati, but I'm suggesting that the woman's voice is a genre unto itself and no one else (meaning men) can come close to achieving it. Yes, I learned a lot from the lip syncers of Fire Island about great female vocal recordings, but they were lip syncing. Their big discoveries offered to me and now shared with you are Ashford/Simpson's Ain't No Mountain High Enough (Diana Ross 1970 version) and Bacharach/David's One Less Bell to Answer (Marilyn McCoo). I guess Carol Channing has a deep voice but I would propose that her unique sound is that of a woman. I suppose Julie Andrews (why think of her here? is it because of Victor Victoria?) was lucky to sing songs of the Sherman Brothers. Richard Rogers wrote "I Have Confidence" for her, and that's the best recording she made I think. I have one solo album from when she was in Camelot, which displays the various shades of her voice (It is Broadway's Fair Judy, 1962, when she was in My Fair Lady) Her great performance in Camelot is to me contained in the song, "I Loved You Once in Silence." ** The challenge with Barbra Streisand is to find the right overthetop recording of My Man, that popular french torch song. Well, I'm going to find it, and meanwhile please refer to her 1962 Funny Girl performance of Cornet Man, and also refer to the reason I ever bought a CD player, which is... because it included a bonus track of her singing Adelaide's Lament on her 1985 broadway album. I Got Plenty of Nothin is on Her Barbra Two Album. I love that because I'm always partial to those swinging sounds. There is no more swinging vocal artist than Eydie Gorme. I refer you to the album that my mother liked and coincidentally it is fantastic for the following hilarious versions of What Did I Have that I Don't Have (Lamb Lerner) and the vendetta song, where revenge is sweet, Ms Vimmerstadt's I Wanna Be Around. Judy Garland strikes me as highly problematic because she is an original jazz singer but she was under contract as a movie star. In addition to her acting and dancing she could not help but interpret when she sang any song. My favorite vocal performance from her would be the TV episode (1963 episode 6 of her show) with Jane Powell... She sang "San Francisco" to close out the night and it is frighteningly commanding. Her fun end song is Maybe I Will Come Back to You by Mel Torme, no it is not... it is by Charles L. Cooke and Howard C. Jeffrey. It's on her 1956 "Judy" Capital album. When we bridge into the opera singer consider achieving the miked vocal impact from unplugged singing built upon the natural acoustics of the house. I also mention here and recommend less well known singer songwriters Diane Cluck, Shilpa Ray, and I guess the now very well known Regina Spector I heard of a supernatural experience from listening to Vanessa Williams on a needle vibrating vinyl record, but I have not yet done so. In a "vinyl" world there is a high regard for the Casino Royale record pressing of Dusty Springfield's vocal of Bacharach/David's The Look of Love. As for Dusty Springfield's work, thanks to Pulp Fiction I also became familiar with Ms. Springfield's Son of a Preacher Man recording. Some recordings taken on new importance because of their use. Instead of experiencing the diminishing returns from seeing many movies, I often turned to Tarrantino who offers a hundred movies in one. He also offers instruction such as how to feed a dog in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. In his leasurely way he gives us, in Pulp Fiction, a lesson in reel to reel tape playback with that reminder of Dusty Springfield's Son of a Preacher Man recording. I'm realizing that Quentin Tarrantino has often offered his movie audience many song suggestions, but always first I thank Stanley Kubrick for hitting me over the head with the greatness of the Dame Vera Lynn 1953 We'll Meet Again recording (song by Ross Parker and Hughie Charles). I love and recommend Mary Hopkins version of Lamb Irving Berlin's There's No Business Like Show Business. Her slowed-down adaptation follows in the wake of the Barbara Streisand/George Williams 1962 slowed-down version of Milton Ager's Happy Days Are Here Again. It makes me sad to hear Whitney Houston sing Saving All My Love for You. The people responsible for writing this song are Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin.