Strong Sisters

Much more than mere music, our Strong Sisters Essentials is a manifesto, proof positive that the legendary ladies of pop are not now, and have never been, afraid to strut their stuff or fight the power. Hardly anybody these days remembers that “Respect” was written (and originally recorded) by the King of Soul, Otis Redding, because when soul’s Queen, Aretha, turns loose that voice on it, she owns it . . . body and soul. Come the disco era, Gloria Gaynor’s dance-floor tale of triumph over tribulation, “I Will Survive,” set the gold — no, make that platinum — standard for dogged determination, and still shows up as a ladies’-night-out karaoke favorite 30-plus years later. And Madonna throws off the last shred of the “women should be seen and not heard” absurdity in her synth-slathered sensation “Express Yourself.”

In our Next Steps, our dazzling divas put on some boots made for walkin’ . . . right up to the mic.

From breakups to breakdowns to breakouts, our Next Steps features women who sing straight from their hearts to yours. When Nancy Sinatra lays down the law in her a-go-go masterpiece, “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’,” she’s drawing a pretty clear line in the sand, telling a heel he’ll be feeling her heels . . . real soon. On the other hand, singer-songwriter Carole King lets her man know he’s a do-right kinda guy in the soulful joy of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.” And new-wave luminary Debbie Harry of Blondie splits the difference between the two in “One Way or Another,” throwing a velvet glove over an iron fist as she informs her intended that surrender is his only option.

In Deep Cuts, we’ll hear the musical godmother of Women’s Lib roar . . . and more.

We couldn’t possibly close out our Strong Sisters set without turning back the clock more than four decades to give some much-deserved props to the woman who gave a generation of women a rallying cry, Helen Reddy, and her all-time anthem of empowerment, “I Am Woman.” But women live in a world nearly half-filled with men, and soul singer Jean Knight makes it plain that she’s not gonna take any guff from a guy, in the razor-sharp taunt of “Mr. Big Stuff.” Kate Bush proves that strength isn’t all about flexing one’s muscle in the reflective delicateness of “This Woman’s Work,” originally featured in the soundtrack to the John Hughes film She’s Having a Baby. And Meredith Brooks drops the façade to let the chips fall where they may in her take-me-as-I-am tell-all, “Bitch.”

Keepin’ it real, stayin’ strong, not lettin’ anyone, anything, anywhere get between you and where you want to go . . . that’s what our Strong Sisters Essentials is all about. In the ’60s, it was Aretha demanding some r-e-s-p-e-c-t; in the ’70s, it was Helen Reddy letting out a liberated roar in “I Am Woman”; in the ’80s, it was Debbie Harry of Blondie asserting her new-wave will in “One Way or Another”; in the’90s, it was Alanis Morissette’s explosion of pent-up rage in “You Oughta Know”; at the turn of the millennium, it was the Dixie Chicks getting riled up for a rumble in “Not Ready to Make Nice”; and today, it’s Lady GaGa flaunting her own fabulous self in “Born This Way.” Across the decades, across the radio dial, sisters have been doing it for themselves, and we want to give a shout-out to the strength they’ve shown us all, so well, for so long.