Table of Contents

1. Riffin' the Scotch: From Blues to the Jazz Age
2. Stupid Cupid: Dream Babes in '50s Pop
3. The Real Thing: Motown, Spector and '60s Svengalis
4. Can the Can: Whatever Happened to the Rock Chick?
5. Final Girls: Punk, Performance Art and PMT Pop
6. Ladies of the Canyon: Female Singer/Songwriters of the Grand Hotel
7. Lipstick Traces: Madonna, Manipulation and MTV
8. She Wears the Trousers: Artistry, Androgyny and the Lesbian Question
9. I Wanna Dance with Somebody: Deconstructing the Disco Diva
10. In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: The True Story of Women in Rap and Reggae
11. Oye Mi Canto: Hear My Voice: Women in World Music
12. Talkin' Tough: the Enemy Within: Women and Protest Pop
13. Talkin' Business: Nuts 'N' Bolts and All the Necessaries
14. Girlpower!
Selected Discography
Selected Bibliography

About the Author

Lucy O'Brien is the author of two previous books - the bestsellers Annie Lennox (1991) and Dusty (1989, 1999). She has contributed to The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Observer, Marie Claire, Q Magazine, New Musical Express, and The Face, and worked extensively in TV and radio both as guest pundit and producer.

Reviews

"Illuminating ... She Bop can be enjoyed as a whole or dipped into as an enormously ueful reference work ... Many of the greatest performers, artists and musicians, both past and present, are women and this welcome volume both celebrates and puts them in the perspective of their own time." - Jools Holland

"Meticulously researched ... an astute analysis ... this is to be valued as a book written by an enthusiast who has not lost sight of the transformative energy that music can ignite." - The Wire

"This updated version features dozens of new interviews and concludes with an extra chapter covering such turn-of-the-millennium phenomena as Britney Spears. Offering a comprehensive overview of the female contributions to all musical genres, O'Brien's tone is both authoritative and anecdotal and casts a non-agressive feminist slant on rock history." - Q Magazine

"...everyone from dream babes...to guitar chicks...get a good going-over in true rock 'n' roll style...A fascinating glimpse into the world of female pop." - The Express

"Anybody who has shoved a bulging sock down their pants before picking up their 'guitar' should probably read this book. Prick is something that will happen to your finger if you simply practice enough."--Tori Amos

"...this tome is more than an encyclopedia; it's well-written, thoroughly researched, and uncompromising in its presentation of women as creators and innovators."-Nina MacLaughlin, The Boston Phoenix, Gift Books sec. 12/6/02

"Lucy O'Brien's everywoman approach makes for easy and absorbing reading....She Bop covers a great deal of pop territory, from blues to punk and from female big bands to Britney Spears."--Willamette Weekly, 1/29/03

"She Bop II is a contemporary classic of its kind, a definitive history of women in the world of popular music. Highly recommended. Don't miss this one, it's a keeper!...She Bop II entertains, and educates!" - Jazzreview.com

"She Bop II is an engaging read...[O'Brien's] skill as a matter-of-fact storyteller weaves the book's diverse subjects together and propels the reader through genres and eras...O'Brien treats Bad Girls and sweet-hearts with equal respect..." - BookForum

Mentioned by Leonie Cooper in The Observer, 2008.

"One of the biggest and best 'women in rock' tomes."
*Cosmopolitan*

"A must for any serious muso's bookshelf." - Maxim
*Mademoiselle*

"O'Brien has written a top-notch, impressively thorough history of women in the industry, including not only performers but producers and sound engineers."
*Publishers Weekly*

"This book is a joy on many levels: as a music journalist, O'Brien enthuses about music and rock stars so elegantly that one immediately has to seek out and listen to the records she describes...her book triumphs over other 'Women in Rock' tomes."
*Times*