The day Horses, by Patti Smith, came out, I skipped seventh period and rushed to the PX at the nearby Army base to buy it. I then went to work at the Waffle House, second shift, until 11PM. I drove home and sat in the living room in the dark, with headphones on. I was hungry, so I got this giant bowl of cherries out of the Frigidaire and sat on the couch until morning, when I had to go back to school. I couldn’t stop listening to it. The record blew my shit away, and I got a terrific stomachache from the cherries. -- Michael Stipe in Spin, '93Such is the nature of the Tumblr beast -- when in doubt, reblog content from other, preferably long-forgotten, sources and file it under "nostalgia;" however, I thought this could be a good jumping off point for a larger discussion on musicians and their influences, specifically, how rare is it for a male musician to name a female musician among his influences. This is one of the few examples I've seen, though more recently, on the VMAs, Bruno Mars named Amy Winehouse and one of his influences.
This may come as a complete shock, but I never really wanted this blog to be a series of posts on various aspects of the music industry being underrepresented by women, but I don't know that many ways to be a feminist music blogger without repeatedly mentioning the large elephant sitting there. And it should come as no shock that mentoring and influence is another way women get the short end of the stick. It's disappointing that more male musicians don't name women as their influences, mentors, or even peers.
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