The would-be golden age of female rockers stalled out in the U.S. after the early 1980’s, but that doesn't mean women stopped rocking. It’s just that not many broke through commercially. Those that did mostly made it with vocal-focused, romantic ballads, or fizzy pop, the stuff women were expected to do. A lot of that is down to both music industry sexism and audience sexism. Some bands started off doing punk and stuck to their guns, and they were every bit as good as the male punk and thrash bands that actually made it big. Change is happening, but it's slow, and it's particularly slow in the U.S. Women are still fighting for the right to express rage and lust without being judged.
(Note: I focused here on bands in which women play the instruments. There are a lot of bands fronted by female lead vocalists. Several such bands are featured in my posts on New Wave, Rock meets Opera, and Symphonic Rock. Check them out!)
The Go-Go’s: “Our Lips are Sealed”
Founded in 1978, the Go-go’s merged bubble-gum pop, rock and a bit of the emerging New Wave esthetic into something uniquely their own. The second all-female rock band to play all of their own instruments and to chart (the first were the Runaways). They remain the most successful such act to come out of the U.S. This is from 1981, at the beginning of the New Wave era.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3kQlzOi27M
The Bangles: “Hero Takes a Fall”
One of the first all-female rock bands to break through, after the Go-Gos, their biggest hits were not rock songs, but ballads, because the market still treated rock as a male thing. This is a rock song, and in my opinion is better than their best-known work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAbYsxd3ADg
Bikini Kill: “Rebel Girl”
The definitive Riot Grrl band, their thing was straight-ahead hard-core punk. They were politically radical, and had to cope with people who came to their concerts to assault them. The lead singer sometimes took it upon herself to act as bouncer in the middle of their sets, throwing out some of the trouble-makers. This video is delicious, setting their biggest hit to a propaganda video from Mao-era China.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZxxhxjgnC0
Seven Year Bitch: “Hip Like Junk”
Founded in 1990, they were a punk band with a distinct 60’s throwback vibe. They were influenced by the Riot Grrl movement, and were overtly political, with songs like “Dead Men Don’t Rape”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhSuph-lRAo
Hole: “Violet”
Courtney Love pushed the envelope harder than just about anyone. Her band went through a lot of instability and lineup changes, but one thing stayed constant: almost all the instrumentalists were women. Her relationship with Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) is of course legend. He may have been more commercially successful, but I think her best stuff is better than anything Nirvana did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH_rfGBwamc
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