Wanda Jackson

Our local “rock” station would not play recordings by female artists. That was in 1998. They had some kind of “programming” argument to support it. Didn’t fit in well with their format they said. And listeners didn’t want to hear it.

It wasn’t just offensive on principal. It was musically stupid as well. Isn’t the format narrow enough already, I thought, without making it narrower.

The truth is, though, that female performers haven’t had a huge roll in rock and roll (as opposed to pop, folk, country etc). That’s not to say they had a zero roll. But how many bona fide female rock and rollers can you think of offhand? I thought so.

So Wanda Jackson stands out for being a true rock and roller in an era when she may have been the only one. She is still around and kicking, played here recently.

Sadly, though, my collection consists of only two of her five hit singles.

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Wanda Jackson:

• Let’s Have A Party – And isn’t that what it’s all about. She lets out all the stops here, sounding like she’s just ingested a large amount of helium.
I never kissed a bear
I never kissed a goon
But I can shake a chicken
In the middle of the room
Couldn’t have said it better. From the fall of 1960.
• In The Middle Of A Heartache – This torn between two lovers tale is reminiscent of Brenda Lee. From late 1961.