4/28/09 Setlist for the Women on Women Music Program - Tune in Every Tuesday from 8 to 10pm on 88.7fm / wluw.org

ESG - "Be Good to Me" Step Off (Soul Jazz)
All Girl Summer Fun Band - "Oh No" Looking Into It (AGSFB)
J + J + J - "Jobs That Require Headphones" They Hump While We Go Nuts (Johann's Face/Circle Machine)
Scream Club - "Don't Mess With My Babies" Don't Bite Your Sister (Retard Disco)
Lesbians on Ecstasy - "Sisters in the Struggle" We Know You Know (Alien8)
The Raveonettes - "You Want the Candy" Lust Lust Lust (Vice)
Blondie - "Sunday Girl (live in Dallas, TX 1980)" Picture This Live (EMI/Capitol)
Mary Weiss - "I Just Missed You" Dangerous Game (Norton)
Dressy Bessy - "In Your Headphones" Holler and Stomp (Transdreamer)
Mates of State - "My Only Offer" Re-Arrange Us (Barsuk)
Saint Etienne - "Lose That Girl" Travel Edition 1990-2005 (Sub Pop)
Electrelane - "After the Call" No Shouts, No Calls (Too Pure)
Jennifer O'Connor - "Xmas Party" Here With Me (Matador)
Jessica Whiskey - "Pirate Girl (Sea Shanty Version)" S/T (S/R)
Rip, Rig & Panic - "Storm the Reality Asylum" V/A: Girlz: Women Ahead of Their Time (CDHW)
Ssion - "The Woman" Fool's Gold (Sleazetone)
Ladytron - "Runaway" Velocifero (Nettwerk)
Lady Sovereign - "Bang Bang" Jigsaw (Midget)
The Dials - "Happy After All" Amoeba Amore (No Fun)
Quinton & Miss Pussycat - "Love is Like a Blob" Swamp Tech (Tigerbeat6)
Gabby La La - "Boogie Woogie Man in a Black Dress" Be Careful What You Wish For (Prawn Song)
Gravy Train!!!! - "Ghost Boobs" Are You Wigglin'? (Kill Rock Stars)
Kate Havnevik - "Unlike Me" Melankton (Continentica)
Yo La Tengo - "From a Motel 6" Painful (Matador)
Mary Timony Band - "Window" The Shapes We Make (Kill Rock Stars)
Eleanor Murray - "Electric Sky" For Cedar (Anonymous Monk)
Brazillian Girls - "Internacional" New York City (Verve)
April March - "Chick Habit" V/A: Soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof" (Warner)

Ladies' Rock Camp!

We here at WOW have been big fans of Girls Rock! Chicago, the rock and roll summer camp for girls, since its inception a handful of years ago. And every time we talk about it on the show, or at benefits, or to our friends, we always hear the same thing: "Man! I wish that had been around when I was a kid!" Well, ladies, fret no more (or perhaps fret much more? Instant rimshot dot com!), the first annual LADIES Rock Camp is here!

The Ladies' Rock Camp is a benefit for Girls Rock! Chicago, and registration/tuition fees will go directly towards offsetting the cost of a camper's tuition this summer. Cost is $400, and is open to adult women age 19 or older. No prior experience necessary: they'll provide you with everything you need to learn an instrument, form a band, and write a song over the course of a three-day weekend! It's all happening May 23rd to 25th, at the Music Garage (a great practice space, to which I can personally attest). Registration is available now, and applications can be found here.

(Jenny, Elizabeth, and I are still arguing over who gets to play the bass in our band.)

Old Boys Club

Dear Perry Farrell,

In the words of one of your previous Lollapalooza artists "Suck my left one."

Once again, you have managed to make Lollapalooza a total white dude fest.

The stats:
Out of 81 total bands, only 21 have women in them. And out of 19 dj acts, only 2 have women in them.

Out of 18 bigger acts, only 2 are women. And only two have non-white members.
Out of 25 "medium" acts, only 8 are women or have female members.
Out of 39 smaller acts, only 11 are women or have female members.

These numbers are not good. They aren't even almost equal. And, to make it even worse, several of the bands have played the festival in recent years. So not only are you making it male dominated, you aren't even adding new talent!!

I know what you're thinking: it is all about the music. It isn't about the gender of the musicians. But when you don't put female musicians on the bills of large festivals, they don't get visibility. Which means less income. And girls not being able to see women rocking out. And it feeds into the myths that women don't belong in music, that women't can't play music, that women don't play music.

You know, Perry - we really just want to be invited to the party. We can rock just as well, just as hard as men - and not just at Lilith Fair.
So, for next year, here's a list of the people I'd like to see on your invite list, just in case you need suggestions:

Bjork, Belle and Sebastian, The Breeders, Queen Latifah, Camera Obscura, P.J. Harvey, Amanda Palmer, Her Majesty, Princess Superstar, Celebration, Asobi Seksu, Mirah, Emily Haines, The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, Cyndi Lauper, Juana Molina, Dame Darcy, Feist, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Tori Amos, Rilo Kiley, Peaches, The 1900s, The Thermals, Joan Jett, The Pretenders, Blondie, Stevie Nicks, M.E.N., Tilly and the Wall, The Vaselines, Bahamadia, Rocktapussy, Rainer Maria, The Noises, The Gossip, Estelle...

I could go on.

Think about it? We don't need another year of cock rock, even if Depeche Mode is headlining....

xoxo
Elizabeth

Setlist for 4/21/09 Women on Women Music Program on WLUW 88.7fm / wluw.org

Kate Bush - "Rubberband Girl" The Red Shoes (Columbia)
Metric - "Help I'm Alive" Fantasies (Last Gang)
The Go! Team - "Universal Speech" Proof of Youth (Sub Pop)
Ladytron - "Destroy Everything You Touch" Witching Hour (Ryko)
Nicole Willis and the Soul Investigators - "Blues Downtown" Keep Reachin' Up (Light in the Attic)
The Magnetic Fields - "California Girls" Distortion (Nonesuch)
Epoxies - "Need More Time" S/T (Dirtnap)
The Amps - "Just Like a Briar" Tipp City EP (4AD)
Delta 5 - "You" Singles & Sessions 1979-81 (Kill Rock Stars)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Dragon Queen" It's Blitz! (Interscope)
18th Dye - "Aug." Crayon (Matador)
Pixies - "Bone Machine (live)" Live in Chicago 11/13/04 (S/R)
Miss Alex White & the Red Orchestra - "Space & Time" Space & Time (In the Red)
PJ Harvey & John Parish - "The Chair" A Woman a Man Walked By (Island)
Nita Rossi - "Untrue Unfaithful (That Was You)" V/A: One Kiss Can Lead To Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost & Found (Rhino)
The Gossip - "Coal to Diamonds" Standing in the Way of Control (Kill Rock Stars)
Kirsty MacColl - "Perfect Day (with Evan Dando)" Galore (IRS)
Yo La Tengo - "Stockholm Syndrome" I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One (Matador)
Nina Simone - "I Put a Spell on You" "I Put a Spell On You" b/w "Gimme Some" 45 (Philips)
Joanie Sommers - "Johnny Get Angry" "Johnny Get Angry" b/w "Theme from A Summer Place" 45 (Warner Bros.)
Cyndi Lauper - "Goonies 'R' Good Enough" "Goonies 'R' Good Enough" b/w "What a Thrill" 45 (Epic)
Marianne Faithful - "Crazy Love" Before the Poison (Anti-)
Mekons - "Diamonds" Natural (Quarterstick/Touch & Go)
Connie Smith - "Once a Day" The Essential Connie Smith (RCA)
The Triffids - "Beautiful Waste" Beautiful Waste & Other Recordings (Domino)
The New Pornographer - "Entering White Cecilia" Challengers (Matador)
The Reptoids - "15 Track" S/T EP (S/R)
Bratmobile - "The Real Janelle" The Real Janelle (Kill Rock Stars)

Day of Silence

Today marks the 13th annual Day of Silence, a day wherein students do not talk in order to raise awareness of anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. The day began in 1996 on the University of Virginia campus, and has spread across the nation, with the support of GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. This year, the day falls on what would have been the 12th birthday of Carl Walker-Hoover, a Massachusetts boy who hanged himself last week after being subjected to anti-gay taunts by bullies at his school.

I've spoken publicly before about a college friend of mine who died when we were 19, but I'd like to tell his story again to say why I think the Day of Silence is so important. My friend was gay, and in 1996 things were rather different than they are today. There was no social networking site to connect him with other gay people, no Will and Grace, no Milk, no hope of equal protection laws against housing or job discrimination much less marriage, no place for him in any religion. His gay role models were virtually non-existent, or were negative ones. He was under enormous pressure from his parents, who were from a traditional culture. Even our supposedly open and progressive theatre department saw him more as a novelty than anything else. I once asked him what he wanted to do after college, and he said he didn't see a future. Plainly put, he literally could not envision a life for himself, and I believe that faced with this reality, he began a slow suicide, and not long after, died of a drug overdose.

I have always believed that if he had been able to hang on for a few more years, he could have seen, if not a future he wanted, a tiny glimmer of hope on the horizon. So today, if you're reading these words, and you think there's no hope for you, I want to say to you, there is. I think especially of teenagers, and my message is - it really can be better. It might really suck right now in your school or your family or your church or your small town, but the reality is that if you can hang on until you are 18, you can move to a bigger city, get a job, choose a liberal school, find a welcoming church, and create a family of friends who will love you no matter who you are. It's not easy, for sure, and GLBT people are still oppressed even in big cities, but if you can just hang on for a little while, I think you'll find that the good days will eventually outnumber the bad, and you can create the future you want. In the meantime, here are some resources that can help -

GLSEN - Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network

Scholarships for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Students - list

Directory of "welcoming churches", specifically open to and supportive of GLBT people

Housing services for homeless GLBT youth - list

Recommended Reading list for GLBT teens from the San Francisco Public Library

The Trevor Helpline - free 24/7 suicide prevention hotline and online forum specifically targeting GLBT youth

Howard Brown Health Center - health services for GLBT Chicagoans

Center on Halsted - variety of services, organizations, grouped in the GLBT community center in Chicago

Bookmark this page. Save it to your desktop. Email it to someone who needs it.

Video Fridays: Susan Boyle

Down with cynicism, up with hope and dreams and the love of music!

Embedding has been disabled by request, but trust me, you want to watch *this*.

:D

Would you like to buy more records? Sure, we all do!

It's the 7th annual CHIRP Record Fair and Other Delights, happening this weekend, April 18th and 19th!

This weekend, dozens upon dozens of record stores, record labels, independent dealers, crafters, publishers, artists, non-profit organizations, bands, and DJs will come together to make the magic happen. The obsessive, nerdy, audiophile magic.

And this year, the magic includes beer!

The Fair will be held at the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers' Union, located at 1340 W. Washington. (New location! Map here.) Doors open at 10am on both Saturday and Sunday, and close at 5pm. Admission is $7 at the door, $5 if you present a CHIRP ad or a receipt from a record store dated 4/18/09. (Special pre-admission is available for Saturday morning from 8 to 10am, for $25.)

For more information, as well as a full list of vendors and schedule of bands, visit the website at chirprecordfair.com.

The Chicago Independent Radio project (CHIRP) is a non-profit organization formed to bring a new community radio station to Chicago. This station would be independently owned and operated by the group, and would provide a voice for independent music and views. In order to be able to apply for a new station, CHIRP is working to encourage the FCC to make a rule change, and Congress to pass the Local Community Radio Act, which would open up new frequencies for low power FM radio licenses in urban areas. Right now, such signals are restricted to rural and exurban areas. For more information, please visit their website.

Women on Women setlist for 4/14/09 - listen live every Tuesday from 8-10pm, 88.7fm in Chicago, wluw.org everywhere else!

The New Pornographers - "All the Old Showstoppers" Challengers (Matador)
Patti Smith Group - "Easter" Easter (Arista)
Eleanor Murray - "River" For Cedar (Anonymous Monk)
Lily Allen - "I Could Say" It's Not Me, It's You (Capitol)
All Girl Summer Fun Band - "The Only Ones" Looking Into It (AGSFB Music)
The Type - "Twenty-One" That Just Happened (S/R)
Vivian Girls - "Where Do You Run To?" S/T (In the Red)
The Reptoids - "Mexico Fiasco (Live)" S/T (S/R)
The Amps - "Empty Glasses" Pacer (4AD)
Selda - "Ince Ince" S/T (B-Music/Finders Keepers)
Essential Logic - "The Beautiful & the Damned" Fanfare in the Garden (Kill Rock Stars)
Kimya Dawson - "Lullaby For The Taken" Hidden Vagenda (K)
Laura Gibson - "Come By Storm" Beasts of Seasons (Hush)
Lady Sovereign - "Bang Bang" Jigsaw (Midget)
Asobi Seksu - "Glacially" Hush (Polyvinyl)
The Pipettes - "It Hurts to See You Dance So Well" We Are the Pipettes (Memphis Industries)
Blondie - "Union City Blue" Eat to the Beat (Chrysalis)
The B-52s - "Hero Worship" Nude on the Moon: The B-52's Anthology (Rhino)
Tilly and the Wall - "Falling Without Knowing" O (Team Love)
The Rogers Sisters - "Fantasies Are Nice" Three Fingers (Troubleman Unlimited)
Metric - "Patriarch on a Vespa" Live it Out (Last Gang)
Neko Case - "This Tornado Loves You" Middle Cyclone (Anti-)
Marissa Nadler - "Mary Come Alive" Little Hells (Kemado)
Jennifer O'Connor - "Xmas Party" Here With Me (Matador)
Rose Melberg - "Spin" Cast Away the Clouds (Double Agent)
Prototypes - "Who's Gonna Sing" S/T (Minty Fresh)
Butter 08 - "9MM" S/T (Grand Royal)
Coupleskate - "Bless the Bees" Don't Scare the Horses (S/R)

Iowa Is For Lovers!

On Friday, April 3, 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court held that a 1998 law that limited marriage to heterosexual couples was unconstitutional. The case, Varnum v. Brien, originated when two women applied for an Iowa marriage license and were denied because they are a same-sex couple - instead of just walking away, they decided to sue.
The Court's unanimous decision declared that the law violated the equal protection rights of the state's gay and lesbian couples. People across the country expressed disbelief that Iowa, a heartland state, was one of the first to fully legalize gay marriage. However, Iowa has a long history of taking first steps in civil rights work. They were first state to allow women into the practice of law, and were among the first to allow interracial marriage and strike down segregation.

Cheers to the six plaintiff couples who were part of the case from beginning to end, allowing their lives to be scrutinized, and to the many Iowans who showed their support of the LGBT community.

This is a tremendous step in the continuing battle for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights.

Below, two of my favorite clips about this historic decision. First, a clip from Iowa Public Television of the press conference held directly after the decision came down. Second, a homemade video from a very thankful Iowan.

Happy Holidays!

We at the Women On Women Music Program wish you a happy celebration of Spring, as well as Passover and Easter for those who celebrate. At this time of seasonal renewal and reflection, we hope for a brighter future for our world, our city and the coming year! Have a wonderful weekend!

setlist for the Women On Women Music Program on WLUW 88.7fm / wluw.org - every Tuesday from 8pm to 10pm!

Yo La Tengo - "By the Time it Gets Dark" Little Honda EP (Matador)
Sarge - "A Torch" The Glass Intact (Mud)
L7 - "Lackey" Slap-Happy (Wax Tadpole/Bong Load)
The Butchies - "Insult to Injury" Population 1975 (Mr. Lady)
Starball - "You" Holstein Park (Pussycat)
Poster Children - "Mr. Goodnight" New World Record (Spinart)
Sleater-Kinney - "I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone" Call the Doctor (Chainsaw)
The Donnas - "I Didn't Like You Anyway" Get Skintight (Lookout)
The Muffs - "Better Than Me" S/T (Warner Bros.)
The Slits - "Typical Girls" Cut (Island)
Lesbians on Ecstasy - "Tell Me Does She Love the Bass" S/T (Alien8)
Mars - "Helen Forsdale" Seventy Eight + (Widowspeak)
RTX - "Dude Love" Western Xterminator (Drag City)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Dull Life" It's Blitz! (Interscope)
Prototypes - "Gentlemen" S/T (Minty Fresh)
The Go! Team - "The Power is On" Thunder Lightning Strike (Memphis Industries)
Lily Allen - "The Fear" It's Not Me, It's You (Capitol)
Petra Hayden - "Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand" Sings the Who Sell Out (Bar None)
Blonde Redhead - "Dr. Strangeluv" 23 (4AD)
Regina Spektor - "Ode to Divorce" Soviet Kitsch (Sire)
The Shangri-Las - "Out in the Streets" Myrmidons of Melodrama (RPM)
Ladytron - "Destroy Everything You Touch" Witching Hour (Ryko)
The Kills - "Telephone Radio Germany" No Wow (RCA)
The Raveonettes - "Love in a Trashcan" A Touch of Black (Columbia)
P.J. Harvey - "The Sky Lit Up" Is This Desire? (Island)
The Spinanes - "Kid in Candy" Arches and Aisles (Sub Pop)
Rose Melberg - "Deep Purple" Portola (Double Agent)
Belle & Sebastian - "My Wandering Days Are Over" Tigermilk (Matador)

Poet, Activist, Loudmouth Staceyann Chin Coming To Chicago

Women and Children First, Chicago's feminist bookstore, will host performance poet Staceyann Chin on Wednesday April 8th at 7:30pm. Chin will read from her recently released book, The Other Side of Paradise: A Memoir. Says the store:

Outspoken queer performance poet Staceyann Chin electrifies audiences wherever she performs, from New York’s Nuyorican Poets Café to Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway or the International Gay Games Opening Night Ceremonies at Chicago’s Soldier Field. In her searing and ultimately inspiring new memoir, she recounts her poignant story from heartbreak and tragedy to determined survival and finally thriving. Dorothy Allison raves, “[Chin] shows me a culture I knew far too little about—the everyday life of young people in Jamaica and the threat of violence over anyone who might be too independent or queer or outrageous. How wonderful that this outrageous, talented, determined woman has given us her story.”

And what a story it is. Born on the floor of her grandmother's home in Jamaica to a women who didn't want her and a man she didn't know, Staceyann Chin escaped Jamaica's brutally cruel anti-homosexual society, moving to New York to "live in exile", as she puts it. Life in exile has been busy though, as she's not only become a well known poet, performer and writer, but she's also taken nearly all top poetry awards, had her one-woman show go international, appeared on TV and in films, and still found time to work for justice and equality, especially for GLBT people in her homeland.

After seeing her read at the opening ceremonies of the Gay Games several years ago, I can only promise that this will be one night you won't soon forget. Need a sneak peak? How about this video: