Candi Staton - Wonderful Woman No. 126

Candi Staton - Born 1940
American Singer

Added to the album by Sarah, A Wonderful Woman

Her extraordinary voice, a soulful mix of euphoria and pain.
Dave Simpson, The Guardian

Never one to shy away from putting a little of my personal experience into the blog, regular readers will be well aware of my love of soul music and my particular love of all things disco, examples from Sharon Redd - Wonderful Woman No. 76 to Donna Summer - Wonderful Woman No. 113 (who was also one of Sarah's suggested album additions). Another booming voice of a true disco diva for today's blog entry, the fabulous and unmistakable Candi Staton.

From an early age, Candi's talent as a singer was clear to all, she began singing in her church gospel choir before joining a group of professional gospel singers. In 1968, Candi signed to Rick Hall's Fame Studios and began her solo career with a string of R & B hits, probably her most famous record Young Hearts, Run Free, released in 1976, had massive chart success both in her native USA and in the UK. Candi has released almost thirty solo albums, the most recent in 2009, marking her fifth decade in the music industry.

Like many people of my generation, the first time I came across Candi Staton was when she featured on You Got the Love with The Source, which was a Hacienda classic... this track made me aware of Candi Staton, a whole host of disco divas, and the concept of disco. It is only as I've got older that I've become aware about how disco fed into house.
Sarah

The release of The Source's 1991 club-hit You Got The Love, a track entirely representative of the rave-era, brought with it a fresh wave of success for Candi and a new generation of fans to enjoy her almighty voice.

Like many of the other Wonderful Women we have celebrated in this blog, such as Betty Ford - Wonderful Woman No. 24 and Amy Winehouse - Wonderful Woman No. 109, Candi has struggled with addiction. There were years lost to alcohol, an addiction she managed to overcome. As I have said many times, being a Wonderful Woman does not make one without fault or temptation, the fact that so much can be achieved despite these human blemishes is wonderful in itself.

A Wonderful Woman with a rich, emotive voice that for generations has had the power to touch and inspire... not to mention, with the ability to make any sell-respecting disco dolly throw her hands up in the air on a dancefloor, even though she may never have been born when the record was made.

Those songs were blessed. They raised your children, they bought you home.
Candi Staton

India Knight - Wonderful Woman No. 125

India Knight - Born 1965
British Journalist and Author

Added to the album by Sarah, A Wonderful Woman

I love India Knight. Reading her articles and book you feel more like listening to the words of a big sister or trusted friend than a faceless journalist or author.
Sarah

Of late, journalists in Britain have had something of a bad press, so it's refreshing and encouraging to see one nominated to the blog and given such praise from Sarah, my wonderful friend.

After studying Modern Languages at Cambridge, India Knight began a career in journalism. She writes a column for The Times, along with numerous other articles for newspapers and magazines. Her writing style is witty and full of charisma, often focusing on day-to-day topics that affect the average woman (or man) on the street, such as money management, dieting and marriage break-up, including documenting her own in The Observer magazine.

In addition to her work in journalism, India has written nine books to date, including works of both fiction and non-fiction and the children's book The Baby.

She is not afraid to call a spade a spade, which I find really refreshing. I think I would be lost without her!
Sarah

Throughout the blog I have commented on how wonderful it is to have suggestions from different people of women who should be featured in this album and hearing why these women have touched the lives of others is interesting, thought-provoking and inspiring. India is no acception and is thoroughly deserving of her place as one of our Wonderful Women.

It's not unfeminist to go on a diet.
India Knight

Lulu - Wonderful Woman No. 124

Lulu - Born 1948
British Singer, Songwriter, Actress and Television Personality

Added to the album by Tay, A Wonderful Man

With the obvious acception of my Great Aunt, Barbara Jackson - Wonderful Woman No. 17, there are few women in the album I can lay claim to having met in person. Lulu though, I did once have the pleasure of meeting, she came backstage to a show I was in years ago and was seemingly humble, lovely and was terribly complimentary about my performance. For that brief meeting alone, she will always be wonderful to me.

She's Lulu and I love her. There, I said it...
I could prattle on all night but suffice to say Lulu deserves a place in 'Wonderful Women'.
Annonymous, A Wonderful Lulu Fan

I've been lucky enough to receive some unique insights from the genuine Lulu fan quoted above (who asked to remain nameless). Often when women have been nominated to the album, little explanation is given and so it has been a great pleasure to have direct access to someone who can really explain and emphasis exactly how this Woman is Wondeful. One of the things I love the most about having created this celebration of women, is people contributing suggestions of women who have meant something to them, who have inspired them, represented them or touched them for another reason.

Remarkably, Lulu's singing career began when she was in her pre-teens. She was signed to her first record label while still only fifteen and throughout the sixties had a string of chart hits, including possibly her most famous record Shout! In a singing career that has spanned six decades, Lulu has recorded over twenty studio albums and has had singles chart success in every decade since she started, including a UK Number 1 with Take That in 1993, where she competently covered Loleatta Holloway - Wonderful Woman No. 93's vocal on Dan Hartman's disco classic Relight My Fire.

In 1969, Lulu represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Boom Bang-a-Bang. She was tied in first place, a victory for the UK and an excellent win for Lulu, especially as she claimed never to have liked the song.

It seemed like Lulu owned Saturday nights. She must have made countless appearances on Summertime Special and the like.
Anon

As well as an outstanding recording career, Lulu appeared on and presented a number of television shows, including her own shows Lulu's Back In Town, Happening For Lulu, Lulu and It's Lulu. She has also proved herself to be a fine Actress, appearing in seven feature films, including the outstanding To Sir, With Love (featuring brilliant Sidney Poitier, if I were ever to write about Wonderful Men, he would be high on the list of inclusions).

Now in her sixties, Lulu continues to perform and be ever-present and popular in the public eye, I have written many times about how wonderful it is to see women with lengthy and successful careers. Lulu is a great ambassador for women in music, a true star and what a voice!

You have to be driven and very, very focused and hard work cannot frighten you. If you can develop those characteristics then you can stay in your job for a very long time.
Lulu

Mo Mowlam - Wonderful Woman No. 123

Mo Mowlam - 1949–2005
British Politician

Added to the album by Howie, A Wonderful Man

Serious, smart, fun and a fighter... A hell of a woman.
Neil Kinnock, former Labour Leader

Those who have read A Note About The Album, will be aware that I did make some ground rules about who I would accept to be nominated to the album. I asked that religious figures, royalty and British MPs not to be nominated, mostly because of the possible differences of opinion these may create (admittedly, also in part due to my own views on religion and monarchy). Sometimes however, rules should rightly be broken, and in the case of Mo Mowlam, I strongly feel that she is deserving of her place here amongst the Wonderful Women.

Mo joined the Labour party in her first year at Durham University, where she studied Sociology and Anthropology. She took her seat as a Member of Parliament in 1987 and joined the Shadow Cabinet in 1992, initially as Shadow Secretary of State for National Heritage and later as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, under Tony Blair's leadership.

Her persistence, toughness and good humour were legendary. All of us who worked to support peace in Northern Ireland owe her our gratitude.
Bill Clinton, Former President of the USA

In the 1997 general election, Labour gained power in a landslide victory and Mo became Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. It was her dedication to peace in Northern Ireland for which Mo is best remembered. She worked with such vigour to instill an IRA ceasefire and held talks with Ulster loyalists in Maze Prison. The work she carried out was dangerous, she met face-to-face with convicted terrorists, she took unprecedented steps and did so with strength and conviction rarely seen in politicians of either sex. In 1998, Mo oversaw the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, the starting point of shared power and the beginning of the Northern Ireland Assembley. Today Northern Ireland is a very different country, Belfast a metropolitan centre and the region a growing tourist destination, one wonders if this would have all happened so quickly were it not for one woman.

Aside from politics, Mo set up the charity MoMo Helps, which assisted drug users after their rehabilitation and provided support for families and carers of those affected by drug addiction. The use of drugs was of particular interest to Mo, in parliament, she had called for international legalisation, citing countries like The Netherlands as places were legalisation had been successful and making the argument that the government would benefit from TAX on drugs and the financial gain would be taken out of the hands of criminals. Unusually for a person in power, she also made public that she had smoked cannabis whilst at university.

Shortly before Labour won the 1997 election, Mo had been diagnosed with a brain tumour. She had kept this fact secret for sometime, until the press started to comment on her loss of hair. In 2005, aged just 55, Mo lost her battle with the tumour and died in hospital.

Such a strong, determined and honest woman. Truly Wonderful and unforgettable.

Everyone has got to give a little. No-one is going to get 100% of what they want. If everybody is willing to accept some change, we can do it.
Mo Mowlam

Whoopi Goldberg - Wonderful Woman No. 122

Whoopi Goldberg - Born 1955
American Actress, Comedienne, Writer & Television Personality

Added to the album by Owain, A Wonderful Man

I must thank Owain for nominating Whoopi Goldberg to the album as, though I have seen her in many films, I knew nothing of her as an individual before beginning to research for this blog. She certainly is an interesting and inspiring woman, who has rightly earned her place amongst the other Wonderful Women of this album.

After already having established herself as a comedienne and television and stage actress, Whoopi's big break came in 1985 with the seminal film The Colour Purple (for which she won a Golden Globe). Her appearance in Ghost in 1990 gifted her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, she was the first black woman to be bestowed with an Academy Award in almost fifty years. Whoopi has appeared and

continues to appear in some of cinema's best loved films, such as; Sister Act, Girl, Interrupted and For Colored Girls. A real Hollywood star, her name an instant sign of a quality production.

In a number of films, such as the Sister Act movies, Whoopi has also shown herself to be an excellent singer and musical performer, indeed she has released five studio albums, including the soundtracks to the Sister Act films.

As well as her Golden Globe and her Oscar, Whoopi has recieved a plethora of other awards, perhaps most notably with regard to this album and our celebration of the achievements of women, is her Women in Film Crystal Award for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry.

Aside from her work within the entertainment industry, Whoopi dedicates much of her life to actively campaigning and working as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. She is also a supporter of the Give a Damn campaign to bring a wider awareness of discrimination of the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual community.

She is also a children's writer, having published nine books so far. This, despite suffering from dyslexia.

A hugely successful and talented women, yet mindful and thoughtful too.

I am an artist, art has no color and no sex.
Whoopi Goldberg

Josephine Butler - Wonderful Woman No. 121

Josephine Butler - 1828–1906
British Political Activist

Throughout this album, pictured are many women for whom it has been their lives work to improve the world around them for other women; from Emmeline Pankhurst - Wonderful Woman No. 19 to The Dagenham Four - Wonderful Women No. 49 (collectively) to Simone Veil - Wonderful Woman No. 107, to name just a few. Today's entry to the blog, Josephine Butler, is another such woman, vehement and never-faultering in her efforts.

In 1863, the youngest of Josephine's four children and her only daughter, Evangeline, died at the age of six. So devastated by this experience, Josephine sought to improve the lives of other women who endured suffering such as she.

Among the many feminist issues for which she campaigned, Josephine particularly tried to help prostitutes. Though she thought the act sinful, Josephine recognised that the women were often exploited and that male oppression and control was often the driving force behind women turning to this way of making a living. A particular campaign that Josephine drove forward in support, was to raise the legal age of consent in the United Kingdom from 13 to 16, thus making child prostitution less prevalent and somewhat easier to control. In another campaign, Josephine fought against the Contagious Diseases Acts, which allowed the police to force any woman they suspected of being a prostitute to have a genital examination for disease and detain anyone with a disease for months in hospital until they were cured, Josephine had been known to refer to the procedure as "surgical rape" and campaigned that these acts were an infringement of civil liberties. The acts were finally repealed in 1886.

For a woman to speak publicly on matters concerning sexual health and prostitution in this era was highly unusual and Josephine was often met by shocked and appalled response. However, her stance was strong and she never shied from speaking out about the issues on which she felt so strongly.

Josephine also believed that women had the right to be educated. She was part of a group who pressured Cambridge University into providing further education courses for women, eventually leading to the opening of a female-only college at Newham. She was appointed president to the North of England Council for the Higher Education of Women in 1867. She also wrote a great many papers and essays.

In nowadays, the meaning of feminism can sometimes appear to be a little blurred, so I say look to Josephine Butler, a true feminist. A woman unafraid of social boundaries and expectations, a woman who believed in equality and liberty.

A superb example of what it is to be a Wonderful Woman.

God and one woman make a majority.
Josephine Butler

Twiggy - Wonderful Woman No. 120

Twiggy - Born 1949
British Fashion Model, Actress & Singer

Added to the album by Howie, A Wonderful Man

When I wrote about Mary Quant - Wonderful Woman No. 117, I wrote of how a woman stylised 1960s Britain through design, what I neglected to mention then was the Quant-look was personified by one person, Twiggy. In a time when Britain was leading a cultural and sexual revolution, Lesley Hornby - nicknamed Twiggy due to her stick-like frame, became the iconic Face of 1966 and an international symbol, not just of British fashion but of the modern age and theSwinging Sixties.

If you remember back to the blog post on Jamie Lee Curtis - Wonderful Woman No. 111, I confirmed that being pleasing on the eye is not qualification enough to be included as a Wonderful Woman but beauty does not hold one back either, like Jamie Lee, Twiggy is here as a woman who has achieved much and as a woman who is now into her 60s and continues to work hard and be successful in her career.

Often proclaimed to be the World's first Supermodel, Twiggy began her career in 1965, aged just sixteen. She appeared in the most fashionable magazines and was employed to show-off the clothes of the greatest designers and given opportunities to work with designers and bring out ranges

in her own name. Now, more than forty years later, Twiggy continues to work as a high-profile model, in particular with Marks and Spencer in the UK.

Aside from a long and successful career in fashion, Twiggy has appeared in several film and television productions, as well as great success in stage, such as her Golden Globe winning performance in the stage musical The Boyfriend. She is also a capable singer and has released several albums from the 1970s, right up to her latest release just a year ago.

A hugely successful and interesting woman, hard-working and still full of sparkle in her sixtieth decade, most definitely qualifying as a Wonderful Woman.

Being a grown-up woman doesn't mean you can't look beautiful, individual and different.
Twiggy