Ten Musical Pioneers You've Never Heard Of: The Girls

Nisha and Amber AKA The Broken Hearts.

Ed's note: The Broken Hearts are East London-based turntable goddesses Amber and Nisha. The jet-setting duo are essentially music nerds in mega babe bodies, decked out in impeccably co-ordinated outfits—from their pointed bangs to the tips of their Vivienne Westwood heels. The DJs also host their own radio show (on Jazz FM in the UK), are responsible for designing several capsule collections for London boutique, Beyond the Valley, and Amber is a sought after fashion historian. Basically, they rule, and crucially, the pair take great pleasure in flicking through old vinyl, dusting off those old 45s and encouraging people around the world to get swinging. Below is their list of 10 super-stylish, trailblazing female musicians you may not have heard of. Their list of boys will be coming soon too…

10. Sister Rosetta Tharpe - "Strange Things Happening Every Day"

Sister Rosetta Tharpe basically invented rock and roll. She started out as a gospel star in the 30s, but soon started to mix in blues and jazz influences during her performances. Pretty outrageously for a God-fearing gospel singer, Rosetta thought nothing of performing in nightclubs surrounded by half naked showgirls. This, unsurprisingly, pissed off some of her more religious fans, but led to her being an inspiration for everyone from Elvis to Johnny Cash and Aretha Franklin to the Noisettes. Her song "Strange Things Happening Every Day" has been called the first rock and roll record.

9. Gladys Bentley - "Wild Geese Blues"

On

our radio show

we like to celebrate the jazz age women that get left out of history. The incredible singer and drag king, Gladys Bentley, is a perfect case in point. She cut quite the dash on the streets of 1920s Harlem as her favorite outfit was a white tuxedo topped off with her cropped black hair. She performed at the brilliantly-named Harry Hansberry’s Clam House—a notorious gay speakeasy—where she flirted with female patrons and even performed some of her numbers with a chorus line of drag queens. Despite her progressive routine her fame grew and she was signed to Okeh Records in 1929.

8. Miriam Makeba - "Pata Pata"

Miriam Makeba is one of the coolest humans ever. You think we're exaggerating? Well get this: not only was she a Grammy winning South African vocalist—known as Mama Africa—who popularized African music all over the world, she was also a tireless campaigner anti-apartheid. Additionally, she married a Black Panther and performed with Paul Simon as part of his Graceland Tour. Her 1957 song, "Pata Pata," is probably her best known hit. It’s amazing. Listen and learn.

7. Gloria Parker - "Gloria's Dilemma"
The glass harp—who knew that was a thing? Gloria Parker certainly did as she shot to fame in the 50s playing glasses filled with various amounts of water. But Gloria was more than just a novelty act. She started her musical odyssey at the tender age of three, and by 14 she was conducting her own all-girl orchestra. The choir mistress was also a prolific songwriter, penning tunes for some of the best selling artists of the 50s and 60s, which have in turn been the source of a few court battles. Remarkably, she wrote the song that became Mary Poppins' signature tune: "Supercalifragilistic Expealidocious." More remarkable still, she lost the suit she filed against Disney for its use in the film, even though they sound IDENTICAL.

6. Memphis Minnie - "I’m a Bad Luck Woman"
Memphis Minnie lived out every child’s dream and ran away with the circus. Eventually she wound up in Memphis and made a name for herself by busking on street corners. As one of the only female musicians in the Memphis Blues scene, Minnie had to be pretty tough to get by. She was known for her brawling and tobacco chewing and often had to resort to prostitution to make ends meet. Most of her songs are based on her own life, like this one, where she has a moan about the uselessness of the opposite sex.

5. Josephine Baker - "Don’t Touch My Tomatoes"
Icon of the jazz age, it’s a little known fact that Josephine Baker is actually much more than the sum of her banana skirts. Josephine arrived in Paris in 1925 to star in a revue, and by the following year she was the most photographed woman in the world, while dolls of her in the infamous banana skirt were sold in the thousands. She was an avid believer in human rights and was awarded the Croix de Guerre, Rosette de la Resistance AND the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur for her work helping the Resistance in France during WWII—she worked as an "Honorable Correspondent" by smuggling secrets written in invisible ink on her sheet music. Yes, she was a real life spy and a bonafide war hero. It’s kind of a tragedy that today she’s only remembered for her banana skirt.

4. Lovie Austin - "Wild Women Don’t Have The Blues" (with vocals by Ida Cox)
Considering Lovie Austin was one of the top two female blues pianists of the 20s, it’s a surprise she’s not better known. She used to hold her own against all the male musicians, conducting them in her band, legs crossed, cigarette hanging out of her mouth, playing the piano with her left hand and writing music with her right hand. And when she wasn’t working she was careering round Al Capone’s Chicago in her car which she’d customised with leopardskin seats. Here she accompanys Ida Cox on the amazing feminist track "Wild Women Don’t Have The Blues."

3. Betty Hutton - "Blow a Fuse (It’s Oh So Quiet)"

Sounds familiar, right! Turns out Icelandic music pixie Bjork didn’t actually write this track in 1995. The song started life in 1948 with a totally different name, "Und Jetzt Ist Es Still," recorded by German-Austrian singer Horst Winter. It was then covered in 1951 by Hollywood movie star Betty Hutton, who recorded it in between filming

Annie Get Your Gun

and

The Greatest Show on Earth

with Charlton Heston.

2. Sophie Tucker - "He Hadn't Up Till Yesterday"
Sophie Tucker’s songs were so risque when she was recording in the 20s she became known as The Last of the Red Hot Mamas. Hailing from a family of Russian immigrants, she started out singing for tips in her family’s restaurant. From there, she graduated to vaudeville and she was soon booked for the Ziegfeld Follies. Tucker was never one to shy away from expressing her rampant sexuality, and she’s been cited as an influence on generations of subsequent female performers from Mae West to Joan Rivers, Roseanne Barr and Mama Cass. Miley Cyrus eat your heart out.

1. Mamie Smith - "Crazy Blues"
This record changed history. It’s the first blues record by a black vocalist, and sold over a million copies in less than a year when it was released in 1920. What was revolutionary was that it was bought by African American audiences, a market which record companies at the time had refused to believe existed. The success of Mamie Smith’s "Crazy Blues" opened up the market for African Americans to make music for African Americans and paved the way for all the black music and musicians since. Miley Cyrus eat your heart out. Again.

The Broken Hearts are on Twitter and you should follow them - @BrokenHeartsDJs

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