Loleatta Holloway - Wonderful Woman No. 93

Loleatta Holloway - 1946-2011
American Singer

Added to the album by Lee, A Wonderful Man

Like me, Lee, the man who added Loleatta Holloway to the Wonderful Women album is a little bit obsessed by disco and the disco era. If ever there was a person who personified the word disco, Loleatta is it. And if ever there was an artist whose records I could listen to all day and all night, Loleatta is it.

You may remember in the entry for Gwen McRae (Wonderful Woman No. 89), I wrote about how her music reminded me of the club night Out of the Gloom which I ran in Manchester, England for five years... well, the same can be said of Loleatta, mixed in with a host of other great memories such as The Southport Weekender, Body & Soul and Lee's own night Northern Disco (with which I also had some involvement). Her music is ingrained in the happiest section of my memory bank, a very wonderful place indeed.

Put her right up at the top as one of the greatest voices in the world.
Carol Williams, Singer and Friend

After a childhood filled with singing in gospel choirs, Loleatta first signed a recording contract at the beginning of the 1970s. Her first release was an emotional, deep, soul-filled cover of the Curtis Mayfield track Rainbow, retitled Rainbow '71 to determine it's year of release. Throughout the 1970s, she released a string of soul and disco records, including a number with the Salsoul Orchestra. Notable releases include Hit & Run, Love Sensation, Runaway and Re-light My Fire with Dan Hartman (all of the above are firm favourites of mine).

The soul, the emotion, the disco - everything about Loleatta Holloway.
Gilles Peterson, DJ and Record Label Owner

During the 1980s, Loleatta's career continued, as she moved into recording house tracks. And then in 1989, the dance group Black Box had a massive hit with Ride On Time, which heavily used sampling from Love Sensation (though Loleatta was not credited on the release). She went on to have another dance hit with the band Capella's release Take Me Away. And in 1991, she appeared on the single Good Vibrations with Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.

Her career spanned into the 2000s, giving her four great decades in the music industry. She released nine albums, as well as her amazing discography of singles. She was adored by disco lovers the world over and her records remain in the bags of DJs every Friday and Saturday night, a few bars of Runaway and the dance floor is full of arms raised in the air - a truly wonderful sight!

I was genuinely saddened when I heard of her death last year, we did a spotlight tribute night on the radio show I presented at the time, it seemed right that we marked the passing of someone whose records we played consistently and someone who had been another part of the soundtrack of our lives. The thing is with a voice like hers, they never really die, they go on living through music and the happiness, the shared joy and the expression of emotion the music brings into our lives... and that is incredibly wonderful.

I would always put myself in the situation of the song: if this was me in this situation, what would I do? What would I say? So when it started I’d just go straight from the top of my head whatever I felt from the moment. In ‘Dreamin’’, for example, that is the stuff I would’ve said to another woman.
Loleatta Holloway

Jennifer Saunders - Wonderful Woman No. 92

Jennifer Saunders - Born 1958
British Comedienne, Actress and Screenwriter

Added to the album by Sarah, A Wonderful Woman

It seems like a very long time ago that I wrote about Victoria Wood (Wonderful Woman No. 21), the only other Comedienne in the blog so far (though there are others in the album, who will follow). My wonderful friend, Sarah's suggestion of Jennifer Saunders was most welcome and I am in complete agreement about the wonderfulness of this woman.

There are many moments of television that I fondly remember and am thankful to Jennifer Saunders for, most notably her hillarious sketchs with Dawn French (Another Wonderful Woman) and the brilliance of the series Absolutely Fabulous.

After graduating as Drama Teachers, Jennifer and her fellow student and housemate Dawn began to perform their comic act together under the name The Menopause Sisters, in various theatres. In the early 1980s, the duo were signed up to become members of the stage and television crew The Comic Strip, their femininity playing a part in their acception as until that point, the group had consisted entirely of men.

In 1985, Jennifer co-wrote and starred in the British sit-com Girls On Top, the show ran for two series and was a ratings success. Jennifer has appeared in a great many sit-coms since Girls On Top, including Happy Families, The Young One's and American shows such as Friends and Roseanne.

The sketch show French and Saunders began in 1987 and has reappeared on British television at various times ever since, an integeral part of the BBC and a show ingrained on the British public's mindset. As is, Absolutely Fabulous, created by Jennifer in 1992, hugely popular in the United Kingdom and America, the show ran for thirteen years and was recently revisited, Jennifer's character Edina and Joanna Lumley's (Another Wonderful Woman) Patsy both cult icons and instantly recognisable.

In addition to her comedic work, Jennifer has written a number of screen plays and shows, starring in some. She also appears in acting roles in a number of feature films including; In the Bleak Midwinter, Muppet Treasure Island and the voice of the deranged Fairy Godmother in Shrek.

She is twice a BAFTA winner, an International Emmy Award Winner, a Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award winner, as well as being acknowledged with a plethora of other industry awards. She is a great among her peers and loved by both the British and American public.

She is wonderfully funny, wonderfully talented and wonderfully womanly.

Men would find it much harder because men have such odd personal relationships with each other. They don't really emotionally connect, whereas women do. I think women become very close.
Jennifer Saunders

Nina Hagen - Wonderful Woman No. 91

Nina Hagen - Born 1955
German Singer, Songwriter and Actress

Added to the album by Sandy, A Wonderful Woman

A reoccurring theme in this album is women who are completely unique, incomparable with any other female, women who have carved an entirely new way of existing out for themselves. Since reading more about and listening to the music of Nina Hagen following Sandy's suggestion, it is clear that Nina Hagen is another prime example of women who have not followed the female protocol, who are themselves and like no-one else. And again, I find myself acknowledging how truly wonderful the ability to do this is.

Nina was born in the former communist East Germany, from which she escaped following the dramatic expulsion of her step-father in 1976. Indeed, some of her early recordings make reference to the communist regime and sterility of living within.

In the 1970s, Nina fronted the German punk group Automobil. After two albums with the band, she went solo under the moniker Spliff and then later using her own name. Nina has released 16 studio albums, the latest in 2011. In addition, she released two E.P.s and a number of compilations. Her performance style has always been edgy and provocative, in the late 1970s she was heavily critised for a televised performance in which she demonstrated female masturbation (though fully clothed), her performances are highly charged, aggressive and filled with a message of female sexual liberation.

In addition to her music career, Nina has appeared in a number of feature films and has presented television shows both in Germany and other countries, including Britain.

A woman with her own style, her own attitude and her own way of living... definitely wonderful.

You have to see my show to believe that I'm the only unique Nina Hagen on this planet.
Nina Hagen

Judy Blume - Wonderful Woman No. 90

Judy Blume - Born 1938
American Author

Added to the album by Natalie, A Wonderful Woman

Her books taught me a lot when I was growing up... every girl (and boy) growing up should read Judy Blume books.
Natalie

Good call!
Gemma, Another Wonderful Woman

I must admit that I have never read a Judy Blume book myself, though I have heard many women of my generation speak of her and of how her books played a significant educational narrative to their teenage years. In particular, my wonderful friend Andrea has mentioned on many occasions how these stories were of importance in the transition from childhood to womanhood.

In total, Judy wrote almost thirty books over five decades. Her stories tackled controversial issues, in particular those affecting teenagers. She wrote about the troubles of adolescence, menstration and masturbation, about sex, relationships and love, there were stories about racism and other prejudices, about divorce, bullying and religion.

Her books were often critisised due to their content and suitability for young readers. They created discussion and debate and faced censorship a number of times. This censorship lead to Judy joining the National Coalition Against Censorship, believing that there must always be freedom in literature.

Her books have been successful internationally and she has won many awards for her writing, including the Library of Congress Living Legends award in the Writers and Artists category for her significant contributions to America's cultural heritage.

For her services to anxious teenagers everywhere, Judy really is a wonderful woman.

It's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.
Judy Blume

Gwen McRae - Wonderful Woman No. 89

Gwen McRae - Born 1943
American Singer

I once said on a radio show I was presenting that I thought Gwen McRae was my all-time favourite female vocalist. That is a bold statement and since I started writing this blog, I have written at length how I have been moved by great singers from Billie Holiday (Wonderful Woman No. 4) to Sharon Redd (Wonderful Woman No. 76), well, Gwen is right up there with them for me.

And when I hear her music, happy memories come flooding back; A boyfriend I adored presenting me with a CD of her music; DJs at the club night I ran for five years dropping one of her tracks into their sets. She reminds me of the good times and, I know I have written this about singers before, her voice is like an old friend, instantly recognisable, always welcome.

Gwen grew up singing in church and then from a young age was performing in clubs in her home state of Florida in the United States. In 1963, aged just twenty, she met and married a sailor named George McRae. It was with her husband that she first began a recording career. The couple enjoyed some chart success with their duos but it was separately that they both were catapulted to fame, George with Rock Your Baby and Gwen with Rockin' Chair. Gwen has released fourteen albums, including one with George, between 1974 and 2006.

Her voice is an inspiration and influence on many artists and she has been sampled extensively, most notably (to my ears, anyway) by the amazing French House producers Cassius on their 1999 track Feeling For You which sampled All This Love That I'm Giving.

With soul music lovers everywhere, the name Gwen McRae brings a smile to our faces. Bringing such happiness to the lives of music lovers is magnificently wonderful, I am privileged to have her music in my life.

I touch a lot of souls and speak of love when I sing.
Gwen McRae

Sophia Loren - Wonderful Woman No. 88

Sophia Loren - Born 1934
Italian Actress

Added to the album by Natalie, A Wonderful Woman

I've loved everything about her since I was a bambina.
Natalie

It feels nice to be writing about a wonderful Italian woman as I now reside here on the beautiful island of Sicily, filled with women oozing style and an unmistakable air of Italian elegance. Perhaps for me personally, this album entry is also a nod to the strong Italian women I see every day... there is a line in The Godfather that states 'In Sicily, women are more dangerous than shotguns," I am not sure how true that is but living here has really shown me how important women are in this society and I am lucky to be experiencing that.

After waiting on tables in her family's restaurant, Sophia first entered show business as film extra in the 1951 film Quo Vadis, which was set in Rome. From that point on she made a steady stream of appearances in Italian films and then in 1957 she made her Hollywood début. In total she has appeared in more than ninety films and television shows, the latest being in 2011 with a voice performance in the Italian version of the animated film Cars II. She was the first actress to win an Academy Award for a role in a non-English speaking film (Two Women - 1960), she went on to receive a further Academy Award for lifetime achievement in 1991. She has won a plethora of other industry awards, indeed, she appears in the Guinness Book of World Records as Italy's most awarded actress.

Sophia is considered a style icon the world over and her very name conjures up many iconic images. Her curvaceous Italian physique and ever-present glamour still remain, though she is now approaching her 80th year.

A style inspiration for women and girls the world over, a fantastic actress and an excellent representation of Italian women, Sophia is entirely wonderful indeed.

There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will have truly defeated age.
Sophia Loren

Sophie McShera - Wonderful Woman No. 87

Sophie McShera - Born 1985
British Actress

Added to the album by Lee, A Wonderful Man

I must admit that when Lee gave the name Sophie McShera as an addition to the Wonderful Women album, I did not actually know who she was. Thank goodness for Google! A quick search told me that she is, in fact, the young actress who plays the dowdy scullery maid in the British television series Downton Abbey.

Throughout her early life, Sophie was determined to have a career as an actress and performed from an early age. She graduated with a degree in Modern Drama from Brunel University. She first started to appear on British television in 2007, in a number of minor roles. In 2009, she landed a long-term challenging role in the BBC drama Waterloo Road. After leaving Waterloo Road, she became one of the original cast members of Downton Abbey, the series has been very popular both in the United Kingdom and overseas and has won a number of awards.

Sophie has also appeared on stage as Cinderella and in a role on London's West End.

Another woman who has been successful in her career of choice. Wonderful.

Men keep coming up to me in the street and saying, ‘I don’t usually watch these dramas.
Sophie McShera