The 100 most important women in pop – places 44 to 40

Music knows no gender: the struck string, the stepped foot drum or the loop in the audio software – everything is completely gender-neutral. Nice thought, right?

But beyond the tone and beat, the charged theme certainly plays a role. Music, once it has left the instruments, is always context. Music depicts realities and also influences them.

There is no need to tell anyone today that pop and society have become more diverse over the decades. But anyone who likes to scratch their beard with all the movement and prefers to turn around again is a tradition-conscious pop culture canon. Countless lists are still topped by Dylan and the Beatles – Radiohead are still seen as young challengers here. This view may also have an appeal for some, but when it comes down to the argument that there are so few influential female musicians, then the lights dim.

We dedicate ourselves in the current MUSIKEXRESS hence all the influential women in the music business. As obvious as all of this may be, the impulses that female acts have given us in addition to their hits are still valuable. Keep it up, we’ve only just begun.

Here is a thirteenth teaser from the list of the 100 most important women in pop – places 44 to 40:

Place 44: Gudrun Gut

The musician, DJ and label maker Gudrun Gut still demonstrates to this day that musicians who are also scene activists also make fresher music. In 1981 she founded the iconic band Malaria with Bettina Köster, whose cool dark wave songs with bold Dadaesque lyrics amazingly still sound like the new hot shit in 2024. As well as her solo albums.

Without her and her label Monika Enterprise, exciting records by acts like Barbara Morgenstern, Cobra Killer or Quarks might never have been released.

(Sandra Grether)

43rd place: Alice Coltrane

Alice Coltrane brought the harp into jazz – in search of God’s love. The story goes that husband and jazz giant John Coltrane had the instrument sent to him shortly before his death in 1967. Alice Coltrane’s spiritual explorations on the harp later influenced jazz recordings by numerous artists, from US saxophonist Kamasi Washington to the British band Maisha.

Without that Using samples from their recordings, producer Flying Lotus would probably never have been able to create a sound path between the past and the present.

(Frank Sawatzki)

42nd place: Selena

As the “Queen of Tejano,” Selena was not only the antithesis to the male-dominated scene in Latin America, but also showed that bilingualism is a strength rather than a weakness. With a Hispanic background, she was born in the US state of Texas and learned Spanish for music. At the peak of Mexican migration, Selena represented both cultures and contributed to the rise of Latin music in the United States.

Without her Spanish-language songs would not have had such early commercial success in the USA.

(Christin Rodrigues)

41st place: Mamie Smith

The vaudeville singer was at the forefront of a revolution in 1920 that continues to have an impact today. Mamie’s “Crazy Blues” was the first blues record by a woman. It became a phenomenal success. The remarkable thing: Her audience was almost exclusively black and female – a target group that no label had previously taken seriously. Smith paved the way not only for the next generations of Black female musicians, but also for today’s fan armies like Beyoncé’s “BeyHive.”

Without her no Billie Holiday, no Aretha Franklin, no Beyoncé.

(Annett Scheffel)

40th place: Wendy Carlos

Their debut album SWITCHED-ON BACH played an important role in popularizing the synthesizer in 1968. The LP, with electronic versions of pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, was only the second classical album to receive a platinum award in the USA. Wendy Carlos, who was born a man in 1939, had gender reassignment surgery in 1972. She is considered one of the first prominent trans women.

Without her the Moog synthesizer would still be considered an exotic instrument today.

(Albert Koch)

+++ Our current issue has been in stores since February 9th. There is a complete list of the 100 most important women in pop. Here we often share excerpts from the rankings. +++