'80s Ladies

“Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” sang Cyndi Lauper on her ’84 breakout smash, but when it came to the surging power and popularity of ’80s ladies, the so-unusual chanteuse may as well have sung, “Girls just want to rule the world.” After decades of back-seating it, women took the decade by the eardrums, as longtime legends tried on new sounds (Tina Turner and her pop-smash ballad “What’s Love Got to Do With It”), new divas sprouted like neon-colored wildflowers (the late Whitney Houston and “How Will I Know”), and, instead of just providing vocals and good looks, girl groups like the Go-Go’s (“We Got the Beat”) wrote and played their own hits, thank you very much.

In Next Steps, ’80s Ladies keep on having fun.

If the ladies truly came into their own in the ’80s, it was due in no small part to the pop pioneers who came before — women like ’70s rock runaway Joan Jett, who had a fine ’80s time with glamorama hits like “I Love Rock ’N Roll,” or soul queen Chaka Khan, who staked her ’80s claim to continuing fame on the scintillating sensation “I Feel for You.” Following hot on their trailblazing heels? Everyone from teen-dream boppers (Debbie Gibson, “Foolish Beat”), to folk-style songbirds (Tracy Chapman, the aching “Fast Car”), to new wave one-hit wonders (Nena, “99 Luftballons”).

Cher wonders what would happen “If I Could Turn Back Time”? We do just that, in Deep Cuts.

One of the best things about ’80s ladies? They come in all styles and sounds. So while soul-pop siren Pebbles is issuing a sultry invite to check out her sweet ride on “Mercedes Boy,” percussion queen Sheila E is getting a Latin-spiced taste of “The Glamorous Life.” Future Aussie superstar Kylie Minogue takes her first step into the limelight with the crazy candy-pop of “The Loco-Motion,” while funktastic trio the Mary Jane Girls step out from behind the late impresario Rick James’ shadow and show how things are done “In My House.”

Yes, the rise of MTV face time was kind to those with beautiful faces, but ’80s ladies were about much more than a good-looking video. It was a time when women seized control of their musical destinies, when the idea of sexy expanded to include strong and self-sufficient, and when being part of a song’s creation was as crucial as serving as its figurehead. Primed by ’70s godmothers like Heart (“These Dreams”) and Dolly Parton (“9 to 5”), the world was more than ready for the femme-centric sounds of Kim Carnes and the indelible “Bette Davis Eyes,” for the rough-edged power of post-punk provocateurs the Pretenders (“Back On the Chain Gang”), and for the take-no-prisoners pop of one legend-in-the-making (Madonna, “Like a Virgin”). Now, decades later, we’re bringing the best of them together, in one long-playing, very Essential set.