Women in music history

Kassiani

I usually post music on Saturdays. Today is also International Women’s Day, which was created in large measure to commemorate actions involving labor and suffrage. The first hits I found in a search for “Women in music history”:

THE HISTORY OF WOMEN IN MUSIC, 2022.

“In the history of music, sisters have always been doing it for themselves.” This refers to the Aretha/Eurythmics song, Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves.

“The first female composer, according to the history books, was Kassiani, an 8th Century nun, who composed Byzantine chants.

“However, women have rarely been given the same accolades and recognition as their male counterparts, and have often faced greater challenges to have their voices heard.

“In this overview, we look at who is the most successful woman in music, what percentage of musicians are female, and why it’s still challenging for women to be successful in the music industry.

“Plus, we’ve profiled the most revolutionary, pioneering, influential and unique female artists, composers and producers through history.

“Load up our Kick Ass Women playlist for inspiration as you read…

Lists

Trailblazing Women in Music History You Should Know, 2023, PBS

Most Influential Female Musicians: 40 Trailblazing Women, 2023

27 of The Most Influential and Pioneering Women in Music History, 2016

The lists were rather diverse, and there was far less overlap than I had thought. Some women who showed up on more than one list:

Sister Rosetta Tharpe – This Train

Linda Ronstadt – Long Long Time

Missy Elliott – Gossip Folks

Patsy Cline – Lovesick Blues

Dusty Springfield – The Look of Love

Tina Turner – Better Be Good To Me

Ella Fitzgerald with Duke Ellington – It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)

Aretha Franklin – Rock Steady

The blogger turns 72

eastern part of St. Lawrence County

The blogger turns 72. He likes the number 72; it’s 2 ^3 * 3 ^2. Who can’t love that, arithmetically speaking? So, of course, this means that 72 is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 18, 24, and 36.

“New York State Route 72 (NY 72) is a 15.36-mile-long (24.72 km) state highway in the North Country of New York. The road is an east–west highway located entirely within the eastern part of St. Lawrence County.”

I will remember how old I am. Probably. Remembering 71 was hard, 70 was easy, and 73 will be terrible.

As I’ve hinted at, I’m working on a project. I won’t tell you what it is yet.

One of the things that fascinated me was that when we were working on getting the daughter to go to South Africa, we had this god-awful list of things to do before she could get her visa. I realized that it took up an inordinate amount of psychic energy. It wasn’t just the time it took directly. Other tasks fell by the wayside even when I wasn’t doing anything about the visa.

Double-billed

At the beginning of February, I had two different Medicare supplement policies in effect, which I couldn’t have. When I applied through an intermediary, I thought they would tell the earlier one that I was no longer interested in using them. That was not the case, so money for both policies came from my checking account, making me feel very poor. I had to write a letter to the old company saying, “I don’t want you anymore. Give me back the two months of payments I made.”

There were bills I was late in paying. I was working on getting speakers for the Albany Public Library book reviews/author talks right up to the very last minute, and I hate doing that. Newspapers, which don’t take that long to read the newspapers, went untended.

So January was pretty much a bust in terms of what I wanted to achieve, but life is semi-normal – whatever the heck that means.

The picture I took on January 31st is a selfie, and I hate selfies. I despise them, particularly when I needed a haircut, but there was no time. I suppose I could take another one, but meh!

Rico and Becky married 20 years (tomorrow)

Rebecca Jade and Rico Curtis

Rico and Rebecca in the center, at a birthday party for Rebecca, October 2024

I’m having one of those “It can’t be that long ago” moments. Rico and Becky married 20 years ago in San Diego 2 on March 7th, 2005. It was a Monday.

Who gets married on a Monday? Why March 7th? When she played basketball for UC Berkeley, her uniform number was 5. Rico’s number when he played football in college and later professionally was 37. 3/7/05. And the service was supposed to start at 3:57 p.m., though it was about 23 minutes late.

Becky’s uncle Roger came from Albany. My wife stayed home to care for our almost-one-year-old newborn. We knew a transcontinental flight with an infant who didn’t travel well was ill-advised.

I didn’t have a blog in March 2005; I started it two months later. So, I wrote an extensive piece about the wedding around their 1st anniversary.

Wipeout

The next time I saw Rico, and the first time my wife and daughter did, was on television. In September 2010, Becky and Rico were in a competition program called Wipeout. A host dubbed them Thunder and Lightning, which was quite weird. At 2:36 in this video, Rico really excelled. If you have Hulu, you can watch the whole show: season 3, episode 16.

My daughter met Rebecca at my mother’s funeral. However, my wife and daughter finally met Rico when he and Rebecca attended my cousin Anne’s Thanksgiving dinner in 2013 in New Rochelle, New York. Now that I think of it, I have seen Rico only once since, in 2018, when sister Leslie had her bicycle accident.

Of course, Rebecca’s been singing, and we got to see her near Elmira and in New Haven in 2024. Rico is involved in real estate.

I’m happy that Rebecca and Rico traveled extensively together because of her singing. They started in Greece and the eastern Mediterranean for the Dave Koz tour, then Portugal for an event, and Indonesia for the Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta.

I wish them both a happy 20th anniversary tomorrow. I always remember the date because it’s also my birthday!

Don’t forget to vote daily for Rebecca Jade in the San Diego Music Awards in the category #21, Best R&B, Funk or Soul Song, Evan Marks & Rebecca Jade – Hello It’s Me.

2025 OSCAR® NOMINATED Live Action Short Films

The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent; Anuja; I’m Not a Robot; A Lien; The Last Ranger

My wife and I saw the 2025 OSCAR® NOMINATED Live Action Short Films at the Spectrum Theatre on a Tuesday in mid-February.

The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent CROATIA/13 MINS/2024

Director Nebojsa Slijepcevic

1993, Bosnia and Herzegovina. A passenger train is stopped by paramilitary forces in an ethnic cleansing operation. As they haul off innocent civilians, only one man out of 500 passengers dares to stand up to them.

Anuja INDIA, USA/22 MINS/2024

Director Adam J. Graves

ANUJA tells the story of a gifted nine-year-old girl who, alongside her sister Palak, faces a life-changing opportunity that tests their bond and mirrors the struggles of girls worldwide.

I’m Not a Robot

NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM/22 MINS/2023

Director Victoria Warmerdam

After repeatedly failing CAPTCHA tests, music producer Lara spirals into obsession, haunted by the disturbing question of whether she might actually be a robot.

A Lien USA/15 MINS/2023

Director David Cutler-Kreutz, Sam Cutler-Kreutz

A young couple face up to and deal with a dangerous immigration process.

The Last Ranger

SOUTH AFRICA/28 MINS/2024

Director Cindy Lee

When young Litha is introduced to the magic of a game reserve by the last remaining ranger, they are ambushed by poachers. In the ensuing battle to save the rhinos, Litha discovers a terrible secret.

Whatcha gonna do?

In some ways, all of the films are about choice. From here re: Silent: “Each of us is faced with the question posed by the film’s protagonist: should we stand up to violence even if we are not its immediate targets?” Somehow, the heroism was too muted for me.

Anuja was more fully realized, with Palak repeating a story to Anuja that their mother used to tell. Palak is resigned to working at the factory, but math wiz Anuja has another option. Will she take it?

If you have ever been frustrated by CAPTCHA – I certainly have! – Robot is LOL funny early on. If Lara is a bot, what free will does she possess? Very relatable. You can see it for free here.

“A Lien brings you into the tense, intimate moment of a green card interview that could change three people’s lives forever.” It gets very intense and entirely believable. You can see the film for free here or here. Here’s an interview with the directors.

The Last Ranger is a story about limited economic opportunities in the region and choices made. From Kindred Films: “The rhino population in South Africa has been decimated by poaching in the last decade. The Last Ranger is a narrative story about the rangers who risk their lives daily to protect these magnificent creatures.” This was a strong concluding film.

The return of Sunday Stealing

FBH

I welcome the return of Sunday Stealing. It returned this past weekend, but I had stopped looking for it, so I didn’t notice it until today. I was going to dash through those Questions and then start on the new ones this weekend. My dashing, alas, failed. So here it is.

1. Where were you three hours ago? Eating breakfast with my wife, which is almost always oatmeal, mostly because it’s quick and dependable in terms of my diet.

2. Make a confession. I recorded the Grammys and the Oscars. Since it was filling up my DVR, I thought maybe I should watch some of this, so I finally watched the Grammys. So that’s who Chappell Roan and Teddy Swims are.

3. Bad habits? Staying up too late. The trick is that when I go to bed and am not tired, I toss and turn for a while; that seems inefficient.

4. Favorite color? Green probably or some variation thereof

5. Can you drive? No, I’ve had seven driver’s permits in my life, 6 in New York State, and one from North Carolina

6. 3 pet peeves: People who block sidewalk access. They park their cars to block part of the sidewalk, or they don’t clean the sidewalk after it snows. Loud music on the bus. Stuff left on the steps that I’m likely to trip over.

7. Last person you hugged: My wife. This was institutionalized in terms of an FBH, once in the morning and once in the evening. The Full-Body Hugs were partly derived because my wife usually goes to bed before I do. Sometimes, I didn’t even know that she had gone to bed, and she didn’t say good night or anything. I felt discombobulated by that.

8. Something you miss. My 401K is melting because of some stupid tariff that someone thinks is going to make America a lot of money.

Alto Knights

9. What song is stuck in your head at the moment? I went to the movies several times in the past couple of months. There’s a tease about a film called The Alto Knights coming out later in March, which I have no intention of seeing. But the trailer uses a song called Natural Blues by Moby from Play, an album I own. Then I discovered that it’s a remix of a Vera Hall song called Trouble So Hard.

10. Favorite quote. I don’t have one, so I Googled one: “Tell me, and I forget. Teach me, and I remember. Involve me, and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin. This is how I learn.

11. Favorite band. I’m going to pick the last group I played, which was the Supremes. Going Down For The Third Time

12. Something you’re excited for. Working on the Project.

13. Favorite movie. IDK. Possibly my favorite recent movie is Conclave. Certainly my favorite short film is The Only Girl in the Orchestra. I recommended the former to my wife and the latter to a blogger buddy, and they both loved the choices.

14. What type of phone do you have? I have an AT&T landline with three locations, one downstairs and two upstairs, and an iPhone 8 (which I had to look up).

15. Favorite animal: Probably cats. By the way, I liked the movie FLOW very much. I was waiting inside the Spectrum, and some folks talked about it. One woman said it should have had a narrator or subtitles, which would have defeated the film’s purpose.