100 years, 100 moments: How women shaped a century of music

To commemorate Women’s History Month, World Cafe is looking back on a century’s worth of music history. Every week in March, we’re pinpointing distinct moments of every year from the past 100 years, a quarter century at a time.

Last week, we explored 1950 to 1974. Before that, we took a look at 1925 to 1949. Today, we’re digging into moments from 1975 to 1999, which include one of the greatest developments in contemporary music: the birth and rise of hip-hop. Starting with its inception as a recorded genre in the late ’70s, hip-hop would come to represent the zeitgeist by the end of the millennium.

The late 20th century also gave rise to incredible commercial success for solo women artists: Albums released by the likes of Whitney Houston, Shania Twain and Alanis Morissette are still among the best-selling records of all time.

1975: Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder record “Love to Love You Baby,” which becomes a moderate hit in Europe. A year later, Casablanca Records president Neil Bogart presses Moroder to re-record the song and make it longer. The nearly 17-minute version will spur the development of 12-inch singles, which become a staple in disco and dance music.

1976: In the midst of a series of tumultuous recording sessions with her band, Christine McVie records a new song at the piano at the Zellerbach Auditorium in Berkley, Calif. Wanting to capture the song live in one take, McVie’s session goes on through the early morning. “Songbird” will be one of four songs written exclusively by McVie on Fleetwood Mac’s multi-platinum record, Rumours.

Siouxsie Sioux performing at My Father’s Place in New York City in 1980. | photo via Malco23/Wikimedia Commons

1977: Siouxsie and the Banshees premiere a new song, “Metal Postcard,” during a session with John Peel for BBC Radio. Their gothic, post-punk sound, anchored by vocalist Siouxsie Soux, will influence future generations of alternative rock bands.

1978: Inspired by a BBC adaption she’d seen a few years earlier, a 20-year-old singer-songwriter from England named Kate Bush releases her debut single, “Wuthering Heights.” Bush becomes the first woman artist to achieve a No. 1 hit for an entirely self-written song.

1979: Sylvia Robinson opens the door to hip-hop

In the fall of 1979, Sylvia Robinson, who co-owned Sugar Hill Records with her husband, was struggling to find rappers willing to record a song for the nascent label. At the time in New York, hip-hop was mainly experienced live in a communal setting.

Instead, Robinson assembled her own trio to lay down a track: Henry “Big Bank Hank” Jackson, Michael “Wonder Mike” Wright and Guy “Master Gee” O’Brien. Under Robinson’s direction, The Sugarhill Gang captured lightning in a bottle. “Rapper’s Delight” would become the first rap record to become a top 40 hit on Billboard, and it’ll be credited with introducing hip-hop to a wider audience.

As a producer, Robinson would continue to pave the way for hip-hop’s ultimate cultural takeover. In a few years, she’ll convince Grandmaster Flashand the Furious Five to record “The Message.”

Written in response to the 1980 New York City transit strike, “The Message” would speak plainly about poverty and police brutality, imbuing a sense of social commentary into the genre.

1980: Known as the “Mother of the Mic,” Sha-Rock releases “That’s the Joint” with the rap group, Funky 4 + 1. The Sugar Hill Records track — a blend of rap, disco and funk — will be influential in the development of hip-hop.

1981: Inspired by Grandmaster Flash and the hip-hop scene in Brooklyn and The Bronx, Blondie releases “Rapture,” with Debbie Harry intermingling sung and rapped vocals. It becomes the first U.S. chart-topper to feature rap vocals.

1982: Electronic music composer Pauline Anna Strom releases her debut album under her pseudonym, Trans-Millenia Consort. Born blind, Strom uses an array of synthesizers and other electronic instruments to depict otherworldly sonic worlds, rich with spirituality.

1983: Ellen Taaffe Zwilich becomes the first woman composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, for Symphony No. 1.

1984: Nearly 30 years after recording her first song with Ike Turner, Tina Turner, who has struggled for years to find success as a solo act, pulls off one of the greatest comebacks in music history with the release of her fifth solo album, Private Dancer. The pop rock album becomes a massive, global commercial success for the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

1985: New Jersey-born singer Whitney Houston releases her self-titled debut album. Though it takes a few months to heat up, the album will eventually produce three chart-topping hits and, by the end of the millennium, Whitney Houston will become the best-selling debut album by a solo artist in history. Houston will go on to release the best-selling album by a woman and the best-selling soundtrack (The Bodyguard) and the best-selling single by a woman artist (“I Will Always Love You”). She will also be the first and only artist to release seven consecutive No. 1 singles.

1986: Sade, fronted by Nigerian-British vocalist Sade Adu, earns the Grammy Award for best new artist, following the success of their sophomore album, Promise.

1987: A 16-year-old rapper from New York City named MC Lyte releases her first recording, called “I Cram to Understand U.” A year later, Lyte will be the first woman rapper to release a solo studio album. Her 1993 single, “Ruffneck,” will be the first gold-certified song by a solo woman rapper.

1988: After recording a decay-rich performance in a subterranean water tank in Washington, Pauline Oliveros and her bandmates coin the phrase “deep listening.” The concept, as well as Oliveros’ work, will help inspire a wave of experimental electronic music focused on capturing and perceiving the smallest details in sound.

Pauline Oliveros | courtesy of Mills College

1989: Madonna embarks on her Blond Ambition World Tour, in support of her fourth album, Like a Prayer. Pope John Paul II called it “one of the most satanic shows in the history of humanity.” The Toronto police would threaten to arrest her on obscenity charges. Despite the controversies, the record-setting tour introduces a level of theatricality and creative production that sets a new standard for live pop acts.

1990: Sinéad O’Connor releases her cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.” The song and its music video catapult O’Connor to dizzying heights of international fame. In a few years, the Irish singer-songwriter will put her career on the line when she openly protests the Catholic Church on Saturday Night Live. Despite a massive backlash, TIME will name O’Connor the most influential woman of 1992.

1991: Janet Jackson helps usher in a wave of blockbuster recording deals in the ’90s when she signs the first of two record-breaking, multimillion-dollar contracts with Virgin Records. The deal is estimated to be between $32 and $50 million, the largest music contract at the time.

1992: Facing mounting skepticism from critics that she was incapable of delivering her impressive vocals in a live setting, Mariah Carey films a concert at the Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York for MTV Unplugged. The performance would silence her critics, and she would go on to become the solo artist with the most No. 1 singles in history.

1993: Hole, fronted by Courtney Love, begin recording material for their sophomore album, Live Through This. They’ll become one of the most commercially successful alt rock bands fronted by a woman.

1994: Selena, the “Queen of Tejano Music,” releases her fourth studio album, Amor Prohibido. The ensuing tour will break attendance records in Houston and Miami. The following year, the 23-year-old Mexican American singer will be assassinated by her former manager. Selena’s posthumous release in 1995, Dreaming of You, will become one of the best-selling Latin albums in U.S. history.

1995: Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira releases her third studio album, Pies Descalzos. It will prove to be the 18-year-old’s breakthrough in the Latin music world. Later, her successful “crossover” into the U.S. music market will become a blueprint for future Latin American acts.

1996: Brooklyn-born rapper Lil’ Kim‘s Hard Core will be the most successful debut album from a female rapper at the time. On top of opening creative doors for women in hip-hop, Lil’ Kim’s affinity for audacious and extravagant fashion statements will influence the likes of Rihanna, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj and many more.

1997: Possibly inspired by the advent of the internet and its exciting reimagining of our collective future, a flurry of women somehow simultaneously create some of the greatest and most inventive pop records of all time.

In June of 1997, Madonna and producer William Orbit begin recording sessions in North Hollywood. After enduring a string of technical difficulties and a lesson in Sanskrit arranged by the BBC, she will release her magnum opus, Ray of Light, the following year.

Simultaneously, Icelandic singer Björk is running behind schedule on the completion of her third studio album. In September of 1997, she will release her magnum opus, Homogenic, to widespread acclaim.

From left: Madonna’s Ray of Light, Bjork’s Homogenic, a still from Janet Jackson’s “Together Again” music video, Kylie Minogue’s Impossible Princess | courtesy of the artists

In a month, Janet Jackson will release her magnum opus, The Velvet Rope. Heavily influenced by an emotionally turbulent period following an extensive world tour, Jackson’s record will speak bluntly on a number of topics: domestic abuse, self-harm and the AIDS epidemic, among others. The Velvet Rope will become a template for the burgeoning alternative R&B genre.

At the same time, Australian singer Kylie Minogue will release her magnum opus, Impossible Princess, after a two-year recording process. The experimental dance pop album will be widely misunderstood at the time, but future generations will justly re-evaluate its merit.