WXPN's 885 Greatest Songs By Women

As they have done many times in the past, WXPN, 88.5 FM - a non-commercial, alternative radio station licensed to the University of Pennsylvania - is hosting a fall countdown. This year, listeners are asked to vote for their 885 favorite songs spotlighting women singing lead vocals. Your selections can be from any genre of music, any era of music.

This year's extravaganza came about because both station employees and listeners are tired of the same classic rockers finishing at or near the top of the list every year. Legends such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, U2 and a few other obvious hall of famers always ranked high on the lists regardless of whether we were asked to vote for our favorite song, album, or artist. Women rarely made it into the top ten.

According to the radio station's website, Kristen Kurtis, XPN's morning host said, “I’ve been told by too many bosses over my 20 years working in radio not to play women back-to-back. I am excited to break that rule over and over again 885 times!”

All ballots are weighted. Your #1 choice will receive ten points and your #10 pick will receive only one point. You have until November 6, 2023 to vote. After all of the entries are tabulated WXPN will begin counting down every song on the air beginning on December 5th with #885 until they conclude the whole affair with the #1 song.

If you want to participate in the fun you can find the entry ballot here. One lucky winner will score two free tickets to one to the station's concert series all during 2024.

I have already submitted my ballot, and to celebrate I'll post a separate blog entry for each of my choices starting at #10 later this week until all of my favorites have been discussed. I'll finish sometime during XPN's on-air countdown.

All I will tell you at this time is seven of my ten picks are songs written by someone other than the lead singer, but not all of them are cover versions. Two are cowrites with the vocalist and only one was written solely by the performing artist. Two songs pre-date America's involvement in World War Two. There are two songs from the 60s and two more from the 70s. There is one song each from the 80s and 90s, and there are two from the 21st century. My wide diversity of choices, spanning many decades, is not deliberate.

In the meantime, here - in chronological order - are a few honorable mentions that didn't make the top ten.

Peter, Paul & Mary - Blowin' In the Wind (1963)
Heat Wave - Martha and The Vandellas (1963)
Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz - The Girl From Impanema (1964)
Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit (1967)
Renaissance - Ocean Gypsy (1975)
The Pretenders - My City Was Gone (1982)
Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (1983)
Mary Chapin Carpenter - Passionate Kisses (1993)

Comments

  1. Anonymous3:33 PM, December 05, 2023

    I got here from looking up something else, but you have me hooked, and it’s a great subject. I’m happy to see that your “Honorable Mention” includes Ocean Gypsy. Annie Haslam had, in the day, the most beautiful voice in the broad Prog/Pop/Rock genre. She still sounds great! (I’d also like to recognize Loreena McKennit, Maddy Pryor, Judith Durham and Sandy Denny.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:11 PM, December 08, 2023

      Thank you for the kind words. I'm glad you like my choices.

      Delete

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