polls for favourite girl singer
THERE WAS a time when girl singers really did dominate the charts when they were known just by their first names. Lulu, Sandie, Dusty, Cilla, Petula, Shirley, Diana, Not now. It’s tough for the girls. The established ones have to fight every inch of the way to make the Top Thirty. And new ones establish themselves on a freek-type hit - one top fiver single builds a reputation that lasts for a year or two.
Raise no eyebrows at Diana Ross coming top of the International Girl Singer section. Diana Ross has class, is a thoroughbred stayer. Diana Ross split from the world’s top girl group the Supremes, and she was tempted into movies and she damn near won an Oscar for her magnificent performance as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings The Blues.
Diana Ross is something special. There’s a touch of mystique about her enchantment which loses nothing from the fact that she’s American and thousands of miles away for all but a few days of the year.
Take Lulu. She gets her own television series on a regular basis, and the top stars queue up to guest for her. But Lulu doesn’t get hit records nowadays. Despite having tried just about every style and every kind of producer.
So in the Top Ten international ladies, there’s four British girls listed, Shirley Bassey who has been written off countless times as a disc artist and then returns to confound her confounded critics, and Olivia Newton-John, whose popularity seems to be unaffected by not getting giant hits now; and Linda Lewis, who is just beginning to get recognition, though some us have been shouting about her talents for ages.
And Sonja Kristina, who looks good, sounds good and receives poll justice where apparently there is none for the magnificent Elkie Brooks.
But how about Suzi Quatro She’s American, but would she have found fame in the States?.. or was it pre ordained that she had to find it in London, supported by star-making Mickie Most, probably the world’s most successful producer?
Anyway, Suzi is the big NEW one of the year. Roberta Flack strayed in from the jazz field to score with class songs like Killing Me Softly With His Song, since recorded by everybody short of Hurricane Smith or the Who.
No, it’s always been a long hard fight for most girl singers. I feel a bit sorry for Karen Carpenter, who wasn’t placed, simply because she’s one half of a group. But her crystal-clear voice has had a good influence on the 1973 charts. The wondrously moulded Tina Turner has even had a look in, at long last, in, recent months, And Kiki Dee Gawd knows how long she’s had to wait to make the charts, but Elton John finally administered the plug-power by signing her to his own label, then producing her.
Di Lee, of Peters and Lee well, she’s in the same position as Karen Carpenter. As for Marie Osmond one wonders how fast she’d have made it if her name had been Marie Sidebottom.
All credit to those who have maintained their popularity. All commiserations to those who know they’ve got talent but find it’s not a case of “ladies first” in pop music.