Lady you should know about: Wendy O. Williams

Where to even start with Wendy O. Williams? She is definitely one of the most groundbreaking artists of our time - if not the most. She's best known for fronting the Plasmatics, but she was also an artist, daredevil, film and TV actor, animal rights activist and even worked for a time as a macrobiotic cook!

Williams was born in 1949 and left high school to travel around the world. In 1976 she arrived in New York City and met Rod Swenson, who would become her life-long partner and collaborator. Williams and Swenson formed the Plasmatics, an ever-changing lineup of musicians centered around Williams and guitarist Wes Beech, with Swenson acting as the band's manager. the band embarked on a career of outlandish performances that often became violent spectacles, status quo-challenging statements and a trademark punk-metal sound.

The Plasmatics became huge in the NYC punk underground in the late '70s and were a mainstay of the CBGB's lineup. They eventually started attracting larger audiences, drawing famous fans like Gene Simmons of KISS, and signed to Capitol Records (who later dropped them) in 1982. Williams' unpredictable and chaotic performances - one of which resulted in her being arrested for obscenity and beaten - included chainsaws, nudity and explosives, even driving a car through a wall of televisions for a video. Williams embarked on a solo career after the band parted ways in the mid-'80s and recorded a duet of Tammy Wynette's "Stand by Your Man" with Lemmy of Motorhead (which you just might hear on the show tomorrow...). Williams and Swenson eventually moved to Connecticut, where Williams committed suicide (after two previous attempts) in 1998.

Through her music, attitude, appearance, lyrics and articulate outspokenness Williams questioned and challenged how we perceive just about everything from femininity and violence to materialism and music genres. And for that, she is a lady you should know about.

Lady you should know about: Psalm One

Psalm One is the only woman signed to influential local label Rhymesayers (home to Atmosphere and Brother Ali). Born in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago and educated at the University of Illinois, Psalm One worked her way from performing at her college's student union to opening for artists like 50 Cent and being part of Warped Tour. Oh, and did we mention: she also happens to be a chemist? By night in the 2000s, she was hard at work on her prolific hip-hop career. But by day, she was hard at work testing nutritional values for food manufacturers.

We of course love her for her music (although we bet her chemistry's not bad either). Her signing to Rhymesayers and her subsequent release, The Death of Frequent Flyer (her fourth album) brought her even further into the national spotlight, and Psalm One will be releasing her long-awaited follow-up to Frequent Flyer in 2011. To tide us over, she's released three (yes, three!) albums on her own in 2010 - a series called Woman@Work. The best part? You can download them for free on her Bandcamp page.

Check out her video for the song "Woman at Work" and an interview with her on the status of women in hip hop.

Lady you should know about: Miriam Makeba

South African musician Miriam Makeba wasn't just a Grammy Award-winning singer, she was a living, breathing testament to the global fight for equality. After making a name for herself as a successful musician and forming her own group, the Skylarks, Makeba left Africa in the '60s and, with the help of Harry Belafonte, became well-known in the Western world for her distinct jazz-meets-folk-meets traditional African sound. Together with Belafonte, she won a Grammy in 1966 for Best Folk Recording.

After testifying against apartheid before the United Nations, Makeba - who became known as "Mama Afrika" because of her civil rights work - found out her passport was revoked and she had been essentially exiled from her home country. By this time, Makeba had started to gain popularity in the United States, but after her marriage to civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael in 1968, her record deals and tours were canceled. Makeba moved to Guinea (serving for a time as one of that country's delegates - and as a Goodwill Ambassador - to the U.N.) and later to Brussels and back to South Africa, as Nelson Mandela himself had asked Makeba to return. Makeba continued to perform until her death in 2008.

Ladies you should know about (and our subsequent Girls on Film): Tribe 8

Tribe 8 emerged out of the revolutionary and political pro-GLBT environment in San Francisco in the early 90’s. Considered one of the first queercore groups and self-professed ‘dyke punks’, Tribe 8 broke new ground for female musicians and feminists alike. Anchored by vocalist Lynn Breedlove, the band featured several different musicians over the years that they played together, yet all players shared common ground in their identities as powerful, queer feminists.

Their sound caught the attention of Dead Kennedy’s front man Jello Biafra, who quickly signed them to his Alternative Tentacles label (where the band released 3 significant albums- Fist City, Snarksim, and Role Models for Amerika.) Tribe 8 is known for their radical performances; Breedlove has been known to perform topless and often wears a dildo on stage. Their rebellious praxis has earned them scorn and praise alike, but the band has remained faithful to their feminist political roots in the face of criticism.

Filmmaker Tracy Flannigan captures 5 years in the career of this revolutionary all-female band in her documentary Rise Above: The Tribe 8 Documentary. The film includes many performances and behind-the scenes footage, plus intimate interviews with band members. We at Girl Germs are really excited to have a chance to screen this film for a bigger audience, as we celebrate the careers of these groundbreaking female artists.

The 3rd installment of our Girls on Film series happens this Sunday, July 18th at the 501 Club in Minneapolis. Music starts at 8, and the movie starts at 8:30. Retweet our event on Twitter to get entered to win a signed DVD copy of Margaret Cho’s ‘Revolution’! Look forward to a chance to win a pair of tickets to see Cho on tour, October 15th at the State Theater!

Lady you should know about: Rita Lee

A founding member of Brazilian psych-rock band Os Mutantes, Rita Lee left the band and struck out on her own in the early '70s. She partnered with Lucia Turnbull to form Cilibrinas do Éden, and eventually became a solo rock artist with Tutti Frutti as her backing band.

There is some debate as to whether Lee left Os Mutantes voluntarily or not, but either way - she's had a successful run on her own. With more than 20 solo releases, Lee is not only a gifted singer and actress, but she's made her career on her own terms, even refusing to join the most recent Os Mutantes reunion. Lee has also written children's books and hosted a radio comedy show and a TV talk show, and she's well known as an animal rights activist.

A superstar in Brazil, but barely known in the United States, she's collaborated with everyone from Marisa Monte to Caetano Veloso. And as of 2009, at age 62, Lee was still touring. Not too shabby!

Lady you should know about: The Seven Fields of Aphelion

Tobacco and Father Hummingbird often receive most of the credit for Black Moth Super Rainbow's unique brand of creepy, psychedelic pop, but The Seven Fields of Aphelion (a.k.a. Maux Boyle) is the lady behind all those crazy synth sounds. If you've ever seen BMSR or Tobacco live, you probably recognize her as the tiny figure hunched over a laptop and a pile of vintage synthsizers.

Also an accomplished photographer (she specializes in multiple-exposure 35mm prints that combine industrial images with natural ones), The Seven Fields of Aphelion released her debut solo LP, Periphery, on Graveface back in February. It's more ethereal than BMSR, as the schizophrenic glitchiness and hip hop elements have been stripped away and replaced with haunting, magical soundscapes that are harmonious with her visual work.

Our friends at Now Like Photographs, Radio K's epic instrumental show, featured Periphery as their record of the week . Listen to The Seven Fields of Aphelion's music here and check out her photography here.

Lady you should know about: Mia Zapata

Mia Zapata was the lead singer of The Gits, a band that infused elements of blues and soul into their garage-punk sound. The Gits were one of the mainstay acts of the early '90s Seattle scene. But unfortunately, despite being an extremely talented songwriter and vocalist (and an enigmatic frontwoman), Zapata is more widely recognized for her death than for her life. After leaving a bar and stopping at a friend's house in the early hours of July 7, 1993, she was raped, beaten and murdered on her way home.

Zapata's tragic and shocking death did have a positive result. It inspired fellow musicians and friends to start Home Alive, a nonprofit that offers anti-violence education and outreach as well as self-defense classes on a sliding scale. The organization released a compilation in 1996 that included Fastbacks, Nirvana, 7 Year Bitch, Lydia Lunch, Joan Jett and more. Jett also performed and recorded with the surviving members of The Gits as Evil Stig, covering several Gits songs.

Be sure to tune in this Tuesday as we'll not only be joined by Erica of Sharp Teeth, but we'll be talking about Take Back the Night, which Radio K and Girl Germs are sponsoring (the rally and march will be happening Friday, April 23 and Girl Germs will be handing out Radio K merch from 6 to 7pm). Come take back the night with us, and of course BE SAFE.

Lady you should know about: Isobel Campbell

Much more than just "the girl from Belle and Sebastian," Isobel Campbell is a composer, cellist, songwriter and vocalist who had a solo career during her days with B&S, and has continued to do so since her departure in 2002. She's successfully transitioned from the indie-pop world into the folk, jazz, rock and traditional music genres.

This Scottish lady recorded under the name the Gentle Waves while she was still in B&S before releasing her debut solo record under her own name, Amorino, in 2003. She's also well-known for her collaborations - both with jazz artist Bill Wells (with whom she recorded an album of Billie Holiday covers) and with Mark Lanegan of Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age.

It is her collaborations with Lanegan that have drawn the most attention recently. But did you know that Campbell is the one who composed the music and wrote most of the lyrics for their three releases together (the latest is Sunday at Devil Dirt, which came out in 2008)? Campbell wrote and recorded the songs herself in Glasgow, then sent them to Lanegan in Los Angeles for him to record his portion of the vocals.

Lady you should know about: Dawn Penn

Bet that when you think of Jamaican reggae, you think of a bunch of dudes. But did you know that Dawn Penn is the queen of Jamaican reggae? She worked with some of the most well-known Jamaican artists and producers in the '60s, retired for a while, and had a comeback in the '90s. She defies Jamaican gender (and musical) stereotypes and is still generally awesome!

And, umm...Ghostface Killah has even sampled her. Whoa!

Lady you should know about: Buffy Sainte-Marie

If you're a fan of Donovan, Dylan or Devendra, you MUST know about Buffy Sainte-Marie (you may recognize her from her years on Sesame Street, btw). The lady is a LEGEND and she's led a revolutionary life. Also check out a great profile of her in the Oct/Nov '09 issue of Bust magazine.