"Kiss Me Deadly"
Let's face it. The rock scene of the 1980s was, by and large, a boys' club (and a white boys' club, at that). So much of the culture—the lyrics, the videos, etc.—revolved around sex, and the idea of women expressing their sexuality isn't something that American society is particularly comfortable with even here in 2019, to say nothing of the aggressively conservative Reagan era.
A handful of women did manage to find a measure of success, however, and Lita Ford was at the forefront. Her 1988 album Lita produced two monster hits: this one, plus "Close My Eyes Forever," her duet with Ozzy Osbourne, both of which still get airplay on classic rock radio. The funny thing about the time is that I don't remember ever hearing anything else from her. I know she had other singles and videos, but I can't say I ever heard them on the radio or saw them on MTV. That could easily be just my memory playing tricks, or it could be an example of how much harder it was for a woman to be a star.
So other than those two hits, I mostly missed out on Lita during the glam metal heyday. I'm working on correcting that now, checking out her music and adding her tracks and albums to my library. I'm also looking forward to checking out her book at some point, Living Like a Runaway.
No comments:
Post a Comment