New book in the library - She's so fine

For those who are interested in gender and music a new book has just been added to the library

She's so fine: reflections on whiteness, femininity, adolescence and class in 1960s music edited by Laurie Stras covers the topic of British and American women singers during the 50s and 60s. The book includes chapters and sections on Sandie Shaw, Tina Turner, Welsh pop star -Mary Hopkin, Marianne Faithfull, Cilla, Lulu, Dusty and a section on vocal techniques of girl singers in the 60s.

A review by Lee Barron (principal lecturer, department of media, Northumbria University. His research focuses on celebrity, gender and popular music.) in the Times Higer Educational Supplement states:
"The book's standout chapters include those written by Jacqueline Warwick, Annie J. Randall and Susan Fast. Warwick analyses He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss), detailing the ways in which Gerry Goffin's lyric appears to condone male domestic violence in a mainstream pop-song setting, while Randall charts Dusty Springfield's emergence from the Mod "revolution" and her later reign as Britain's "White Queen of Soul". Both chapters approach the issue of gender in differing, but highly convincing ways" Read more of the book review...