Rocktober Begins Tomorrow!

Rocktober is nearly upon us!  As I do every October, I am going to inject you with a daily dose of rock, at least on the weekdays where I'm in the office or have access to a computer.  This year, I'm calling it the Glorious Ladies of Rocktober, and I'm featuring a different song each day by female artists or female-fronted bands.

I have two young daughters, and I try my best to expose them to awesome music.  It's inevitable that they will hear popular music, and that most of the female-sung music that they will hear will be pop, R&B, or hip hop.  I have nothing against those genres, but I try to make it a point to show them that not all women in music are signing about how boys like a little more booty to hold at night, coming at you like a dark horse, or never ever ever ever getting back together.  For instance, when, say, Heart comes on the radio to tell them, "These are two sisters.  One sings, and one plays the guitar.  They rock."

There is a misconception that women can't rock, and I feel it's my parental duty to show my girls that women can play instruments, write their own songs, kick ass, and most importantly, be more than just a pretty girl on stage.  So, even if they know too many Taylor Swift songs for a kindergartner and a preschooler, they can also recognize "Barracuda" within the first few notes of that magnificent riff.

Remember that this is Rocktober, so these will all be songs that rock.  The intent is not to highlight the many great female artists other genres, like pop, soul, R&B, blues, jazz, or folk.  Rather, the intent -– as with all Rocktobers –- is to highlight rock and fucking roll.  There will be hard rock, classic rock, metal, grunge, garage rock, punk, and alt rock, among others.  I am going to try my best to feature bands and artists that are rock-focused, as opposed to bands or artists that may trend more poppy and have a handful of harder rocking songs.  So expect Janis Joplin to make an appearance, but don't expect Stevie Nicks.  Expect Pat Benatar, but not Sheryl Crow.  Veruca Salt, but not The Cranberries.  You get the picture.

As always, Fridays will feature songs from the hair band genre (and yes, there are women that fit that mold), and the week of Halloween will feature songs with dark, evil, or macabre themes.  Retro Video of the Week will be suspended during Rocktober, but Hair Band Friday will continue to thrive.