I think it’s fantastic that Björk, PJ Harvey, and Tori Amos each made career-redefining albums in the same year. Biophilia is set to redefine what an “album” actually is, Let England Shake won PJ Harvey her second Mercury Prize (making her the only musician in the award’s history to achieve this feat), and Night Of Hunters has garnered the best critical acclaim Tori’s seen in well over 10 years. These women are pioneers in music, and I love all three more than any other group of musicians on the planet.
Q Magazine, 1994:
Q: Do you have, or have you ever, felt in competition with each other?
Björk: no way.
Polly: No.
Tori: Never. It’s funny for women because journalists pit women against each other. If you think about Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton they were all much more similar to each other than we are. We have tits. We have three holes. That’s what we have in common. We don’t even play the same instruments. It really disappoints me when some sort of competition has to be manufactured for their little minds and fantasies. That’s not growing, that’s not support. There is room for everybody on the planet to be creative and conscious if you are your own person. If you’re trying to be like somebody else, then there isn’t. We see things from different points of view and that affects people in different ways and I think that should be encouraged. It shouldn’t be like, two tits too many. Like with radio in America, they tell you, well, we’re already playing one female this week. They wouldn’t think about that with guys.
YES.
