Like Mike I also browsed my record collection and I was quite surprised at the number of female vocalists that I've taken a shine to over the years. Many of them do tend to fall in to the period of late 70s through early 90s with very few in the last 20 odd years. Similar to Suzanne Vega I suppose.

The likes of Kate Bush, Siouxsie Sioux (from the Banshees), Liz Frazer of the Cocteau Twins, Clare Grogan of Altered Images, Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star, Bjork (with and without the Sugarcubes), the lovely Harriet Wheeler of the Sundays, Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab, Beth Orton, Michelle MacAdorey of Crash Vegas and Natalie Merchant were all a big part of my life through my late teens and twenties.

More recently I've enjoyed Neko Case, MIA, Tujiko Noriko and Emily Haines both her solo work and her music with Metric.

If I had to pick any one of these as a standout it would probably be Liz Frazer. Her ethereal voice, an almost indecipherable musical language and the complete lack of information about the band on their record sleeves (in a pre-internet age, pipping Belle & Seb by about a decade) lent an air of mystique to her that will likely go unsurpassed and unrepeated now that I'm a rather jaded and cynical music fan in my mid 40s.

Given the number of live shows I've seen over the years it's strange that with the exception of Neko Case and Stereolab I didn't see any of these artists in concert. When I see somebody live I usually hope to hear a band rock out and bring something more that just a regurgitation of a record to the concert hall. Is it possible then that with the exception of the Pretenders, as Brian brought up the other night, there just aren't that many female fronted bands or solo artists that are likely to bring that to the table?