So for those who felt that the Hottest 100 Women countdown was too 90s-heavy and too alternative-ish, head over to the Hummingbird 100 and enjoy their very very pop-py countdown! Some artists they included which we didn't, are P!nk (crazy popular in Australia), TLC (awesome R&B), Bic Runga (local-ish!), Kylie Minogue (we loved her when she was Charlene), Beyonce (that woman is astonishing - watch the Single Women video and tell me she isn't half Amazon!), and Kate Miller-Heidke (I think we're all ashamed she wasn't in the H100W). There is a clear focus on songs from the last decade or so, suggesting that the average Hummingbird voter was younger than the average H100W voter. There's also a preponderance of "mainstream"y music - songs you'd hear on Fox rather than on 3RRR (here in Melbourne).
Hey, it's not a countdown I would like to listen to - because I am a 90s alternative fan! But that's not to say that it isn't just as valid a countdown, or as valid a set of results (they had almost 10 times the votes that we did, after all). Are we all into "Women's Music - but only if it is Artistically Valid, which means She Can't Show Her Boobs, and There Will Be No Pop Melodies"? I admit there are elements of some of the Hummingbird artists that I dislike - the "raunch is empowerment" philosophy of Christina Aguilera, the "shock doesn't need to have meaning" of Lady Gaga (though I may be misinterpreting her whole schtick). But that doesn't mean that they are not artists. Their art is not my art. Their values are not my values. But hell, they are still artists, and their music IS music! Whether the countdown promotes as much of a variety of music styles - as much of a feminist flavour to the music - and as much musical invention and creativity as the H100W countdown - well, that's really a personal call. And as you could expect, as a left-leaning, feminist, alternative woman, I do prefer my own countdown. I don't like raunch culture. I don't like Fox FM. I don't like "post feminist" culture. But hey. That's me.
Just as the JJJ countdown should really have been called "Top 100 songs of all time by men", the Hummingbird countdown can be called "Top 100 noughties-heavy pop songs of all time by women", and the H100W countdown can be called "Top 100 90s-heavy alternative-cred songs of all time by women". We all have biases. There is no such thing as "better" music. Sorry!
(BTW, there will be another post with some fun comparisons in more detail.)
