Pop: Female Voices

Prostrate yourselves, young mortals, before the goddesses of pop — celestial songbirds who unlock our hearts with a triple-whammy of shimmy, hook, and pure sensation. Madonna (who else?) takes pole position with the ABBA-tastic "Hung Up", closely followed by the dream distaff double-act of Beyoncé & Shakira, on a slinky remix of "Beautiful Liar" by Freemasons.

The sisterhood of sound swells its ranks, in Next Steps.

The decades will roll away like hair curlers, when you hear the elder stateswomen among our artistes, like Petula Clark, who released "Downtown" in 1964, Suzie Quatro, who tempered her feisty chart rock with the ballad "If You Can't Give Me Love" in 1978, and Diana Ross, who spearheaded her '80s revival with the Bee Gees-penned "Chain Reaction".

In one bat of a false eyelash you'll find yourselves over in Deep Cuts.

From grand-dame of British pop Cilla Black (who used to be a hat-check girl at the Cavern, in Beatles-era Liverpool) to 21st-century chavtronic supergirl Kate Nash ("Caroline's a Victim"), all these women dip their tunes in a tub of molten charisma before delivering them with a sugar-coating of irresistible panache . . . and that even goes for notorious lip-syncher Whigfield ("Saturday Night").

There's no finer sight than a pop goddess in all her finery, belting out a smash hit at the peak of her powers, living in the spotlight's adoring glare . . . as the rest of us are held captive, willing slaves to her rhythm. This collection of chart-busters is a homage to all the great female performers in pop history, a place where Whitney Houston rubs shoulders with Olivia Newton-John, where Louise shares space with Cher, and where the great tradition of popular female voices extends, alphabetically at least, from Aaliyah to Yazz.