History of Women’s Music

Holly took her act on the road. Wherever she performed, church groups, radio stations and schools would ask her for recordings of her music. It had not occurred to her that people would want it. Like many non-commercial musicians of the 1970’s, she began recording her music on cassettes and sending them to her fans.

When the orders kept coming, Holly decided to make a record. Her father advised her to get a business license to sell the record. This was the beginning of Redwood Records. She rented a studio and had 2000 albums printed. Just like the Rappers of the 1980’s, Holly depended on her family for help in distribution. Her parents filled the orders since they had a stable address. Her father ran the business while her mother did public relations. Holly kept performing. In each town, she would tear from the yellow pages, the lists of record stores and radio stations. She would send the lists to her mother who would contact them to see if they would sell her records.

Holly did the performance bookings herself, although she usually pretended she was someone else because she was too embarrassed to negotiate contracts as herself. Even though Holly was making and selling her own records, she thought the mainstream music industry could provide her with more economic security.

Elektra, a company known for producing folk music, offered her a contract for seven albums. She turned it down because she only wanted to make one with them and see how it went. In addition, she thought life was too interesting to be committed for such a long time to what seemed to her, “a not too exciting music business.” She also spoke to other companies.

One music company executive told her she had a big voice and a lot of talent, but she could never be a pop artist because there was no element of submission in her voice. That was never her goal, so she continued on her own.

During the 1970’s, Holly became very active in the feminist movement. She was one of the first performers for women-only concerts. Holly was a favorite at these concerts. She has performed numerous times at the Michigan Womyn’s Festival. Her music was intended to inspire women to take action against the patriarchal society and to encourage women to work together.

The song Something About the Women was written by Holly and comes from her album Imagine My Surprise, recorded by Redwood Records in 1978. The song reflects the atmosphere of women’s concerts and the strength that women can draw from one another. It will never be a top-ten hit, but it is very popular among her fans.

Redwood records began adding new artists in 1984. They manufacture and distribute records, cassettes and CD’s under the name Redwood Cultural Work. It is now one of the largest and strongest multi-cultural organizations. The messages of all their artists are of peace, feminism and social justice.

Of course, Redwood Records and Olivia are just two examples of Producers of Women’s Music and for every musician I mentioned there are at least fifty more female musicians that have been apart of this genre. Nancy Vogel, a former member of the Berkley Women’s Music Collective and now a member of Olivia, says, “I hope as long as there are women there will always be women’s music.”

Vogel wrote the ultimate song that can only be played by women for women. It’s called the PMS Song. It is a humorous song that every woman can understand. Diane Davidson is a big woman with a terrifically- powerful voice. She sings a song called Built for Comfort, which reaffirms the fact that being larger, has its advantages.

According to musician Tret Fure, “There wouldn’t be as many women’s musicians of the caliber there are today, if it hadn’t been for women’s music.”