10B .The Michigan Daily Wekend Magazine --Thur day,'Odembei?9q$ 0 0 . The Michigan Da WVeekend Mag Amos helps stereotypes By Amy Barber Daily Arts Writer Tonight's appearance ofTori Amos at the Breslin Center in East Lansing rep- resents more than just an artist making a stop to promote her latest album. It is a striking example of a phenom- enon that has taken much too long to gain the tention it deserves. It is the voice of one of many talented women whose entire genre of music has been overlooked and underappreciated for years. It is a statement that it has become possible to succeed in the music busi- ness as a woman with nothing more than a voice, an instrument and a bru- tally honest, emotional truth - even without massive sex appeal and the ability to belt out the highest note on the piano. Mirroring practically every other business in the U.S., rock 'n' roll started out as a very male profession. Guys like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry topped the charts in the beginning, and were fol- lowed by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Not that girl groups didn't exist - The Supremes achieved astonishing success, but they weren't taken serious- ly by record companies. Successful women in music were vehicles for hit songs who could look cute and sing well - not creative, talente4 artists. But the emergence of more folk- oriented rock into mainstream music benefited women who were talented singer-songwriters. With Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead came Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez, with raw guitar playing and meaningful, intro- i .1 Ala Rasi pikr UmVO Ha V T O s to shatter rock 'n' roll one show at a time Museum plans fashion exhibit spective lyrics. Female singer-songwriters were still the exception, though, and the prece- dent of male-dominance remained unchanged and unthreatened through- out the '70s and '80s. In more recent history, it is almost impossible to name more than a handful of female singer-songwriters whose music was incorporated into the main- stream. Sure, Celine Dion and Toni Braxton can sing and they even look good doing it. But they are by no stretch of the imagination ingenious songwrit- ers and generally incapable of playing an instrument. Radio stations generously supported boy bands and even the Janet Jacksons and Mariah Careys whose sex appeal could sell albums, but had no problem blatantly rejecting female singer-song- writers who should have been selling albums solely as a result of outstanding musical content. But then something happened. People started to listen. The style start- ed to sell. Out of the woodwork and onto top 40 charts came amazing artists like Sarah McLachlan, Melissa Etheridge and Tori Amos, who got the ball rolling for future singer-songwrit- ers. Instead of singing cheesy pop songs, they weren't afraid to be emotional - to openly present issues such as stalking and sexuality. Amos shocked listeners as she denounced religion in more than one song and told the tale of a fan who attempted to rape her in "Me and a Gun" in her '92 release, "Little Earthquakes." Some would say amaz- ingly, she actually sold records. Things started to change. Women in music became emotional. They became excited. They got sad. They got angry. Most of all, they became confident. And people wanted to hear what they had to say. This realization became most appar- ent in '95 when Canada's Alanis Morissette ascended to America's biggest musical sensation. Her anger- inspired "Jagged Little Pill" became the no. I selling record in the country. Young women everywhere could relate to her and even some men became fans, out of respect for her work. Morissette certainly wasn't one of the first artists to come out with this kind of music - by the time Morissette, became famous, fed-up feminists, such as Ani Difranco, were veterans of bril- liantly expressive songwriting. But Morissette made it mainstream. She made it popular. She made people lis- ten. And things could only get better for female singer-songwriters. The realiza- tion really started to catch on when McLachlan announced plans for Lilith Fair, a touring summer festival to cele- brate women in music - an accurate definition of "girl power," non-Spice Girls style. Critics said it was doomed to fail because no one would show up to a concert with no men on the bill. But as concert venue after concert venue produced sold-out show after sold- out show, the critics were silenced by legions of screaming fans across the country. It was actually becoming normal to hear female singer-songwriters on the radio. Jewel, Sheryl Crow and Paula Cole topped the charts. ROCK 'N' ROLL Continued from Page 6B opportunity to wish they could go through life wearing such garbs as a Union Jack/Stars and Stripes cape big enough to choke the creatures climbing Pink Floyd's "The Wall" sculpture. As is almost always a problem in a romp through rock 'n' roll's history, some of the video presentations and full-length movies once again barf back the exhausted theme that it really is so very tough to be a rock star. Visitors can again hear the world's most bitter man - read aging rocker Pete Townshend - screaming at the camera: "Jimmi, Janis, Keith Moon - these were my friends! They may have been your icons but they were my fucking friends." But the museum's movies, found primarily on the fourth floor and ground level, and mountain of TV- screen presentations, located every- where else, also reveal the good and the bad about rock 'n' roll and rock 'n' rollers that has fascinated the world for more than four decades. From footage of life on the road, on- stage and in the studio with every- one from Bill Haley and the Comets to Etta James to the Smashing Pumpkins and from Aerosmith's Stephen Tyler's hyena laugh and realization that he "must have snort- ed all of Peru" to a full-length docu- mentary where a narrator pretends to tell the story of Elvis according to Elvis - all of the museum's video presentations are worth hitting the theaters for. The museum's fifth and sixth floor are devoted primarily to immortalizing The King. Visitors Dec. 3: Part What The Rock 'n' Roll Where: Downtown Cevi How: Take 1-23 South tc to the Ohio Turnpike 8C East to 1-480 East whit Follow 1-480 through Cl Street. You will pass Ja 'n' Roll Hall of Fame an can't miss it without pt How Long: 2 1/2 hours What's There: A history so much from Anthrax tc hours as easily as you cz not quite see everything wrote to Jim Morrison's ; after holding his son oi i first-ever guitar, the rock has at least something E strictly forbidden. You m era as you will be forced near anything interesting ADRIANA YUGOVICH/Dally Tori Amos will hit the Breslin Center stage as her music, albums and tours contin- ue to make the rock 'n' roll world a very different place. Courtesyi of Thie Rock Wn Roil Hall of Fame and Museumj The "Video Killed the Radio Star" showcases the Itense marriage of rock W'roll and music videos. Located on the museum's second level, the faster you can read and understand the numerous screens the more you will enjoy what you see. Women like Shawn Colvin, who had been struggling to succeed in the music business for years were final- ly getting heard. The fame of already famous performers like McLachlan and Amos skyrocketed. Amos never played at Lilith Fair, but she didn't have to. She and other singer-songwriters could finally headline their own shows. More women than ever could sell out venues, large and small, throughout the United States. A CAPPELLA Continued from Page 4B audiences." 58 Greene just completed its fall concert and is going into the stu- dio to record the follow-up to 1997's "Greenie Sexy Cool" CD. One of the more established a cap- pella ensembles at the University, Amazin' Blue was one of six groups to perform at Carnegie Hall this spring for the final round of the National Championship of College A Cappella. Jim Daly won Best Soloist for his "Time After Time," which can be found on Amazin' Blue's newest CD, "Alinighter." An alumnis of the group, Lyell Haynes, went on to join Blind Man's Bluff, a While female singer-songwriters may still not have an equal voice in the music business, their voices are louder and stronger than ever, and show no signs of quieting down. Which is why tonight's appear- ance of Tori Amos at the Breslin Center in East Lansing represents more than just an artist making a stop to promote her latest album. It represents a successful result of the historic struggle of the female singer-songwriter. professional a cappella company in Chicago. Recently, the "How Amazin' Blue Got its Groove Back" concert wowed listeners. Although particular nuances distin- guish one a cappella organization from another, all have at least two things in common: weekly rehearsals and an infatuation for human kinship and expression through voice. "I think the social and musical rein- force each other," 58 Greene music director Dave Fessler said. "If you know and love every person in the group, you can be totally comfortable and confident being on stage with them. You're suddenly a unit of 14 peo- ple, rather than 14 individuals who hap- pen to be singing together" interested in seeing all six floors of the hall of fame in one day should remember to pace themselves - when there, it seems as easy to spend six days as it does six hours within the rockified confines by Lake Erie. Finally, no visit would be com- plete without a visit to the museum's on-sight gift shop. Know before you go that the hall of fame's selection of rarities, bootlegs and other hard- to-track-down items by all of your favorite mainstream and off-the- beaten-path rock sensations may not be as excellent as your parents or older friends may have told you. Still, you will have little difficulty taking home tons of rock must-buys as long as a few extra dollars is no obstacle - especially if you are an Elvis fanatic. 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