Courtney Love may be best known for her relationship with Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, but her music left a mark for the ages to appreciate.
Kim Deal from Pixies and the Breeders, did too, plus there’s been Alanis Morissette, L7, Veruca Salt, Babes in Toyland, Elastica, Dolores O’Riordan of the Cranberries, and Shirley Manson of Garbage.
Females in the music industry have made an enormous yet underappreciated impact on alternative music in the United States, but Mad Max with Rage FM in the Wheeling area and the Original PJ’s Pizza in Moundsville and New Martinsville will celebrate the ladies who put their personal touch on the grooviness of grunge.
“When I was younger and experiencing women artists breaking through and being more able to express their emotions and their sides of the story, it was empowering,” recalled Erika Donaghy, co-owner of the pair of Original PJ’s Pizza shops. “Ever since, it’s okay to be a mother, a ‘bitch,’ a hard worker and not have to apologize for being them all. Gender roles really were continuing to be pushed aside and music was a catalyst in that change.
“We were breaking out of expectations because that groundwork had been laid for us over decades,” she said. “It felt like women were tearing down so many walls and the music reflected that.”
Mad Max will host “Left on the Dial” Sunday evening on 96.5 FM from 8-10 p.m.
“Much like other walks of life, women don’t get the credit they deserve for their contributions to music in general let alone rock,” the host explained. “Their impact is immeasurable. From the jazz singers of the first half of the 20th century to girl groups of the 50s and 60s to the female-led rock bands of the 70s like Heart and the Runaways, women have always had a dominant presence on the scene.
“Currently there’s an abundance of female-led groups … Halestorm, Pretty Reckless, and Dorothy to name a handful,” Mad Max said. “And part of their DNA stems from the 90s women that we’ll be playing Sunday night.”
Hear The Message
Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the United States began in 1985 thanks to a push made by several organizations, including The American Academy of Family Physicians, and it promotes females to get tested because early detection is the best way to defeat the disease.
Each year, according to the federal Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, an average of 268,000 Americans is diagnosed with breast cancer each year and more than 40,000 pass away from the disease.
“I am very fortunate to not have personal experience with breast cancer. I will say that whether or not you are close to someone experiencing it, as women, we always have that worry,” Donaghy said. “But I think it’s great that a local radio station is doing what Max will do on Sunday on Rage.
“If this ‘Left on the Dial’ show reaches someone that needs to hear that message, then that’s fantastic,” she said. “Hopefully it starts a conversation that leads to more attention and to more saved lives.”
Max, though, has been touched by the disease in his personal life and those experiences have provided the motivation for this Sunday evening’s tribute.
“We’re as dependent on our wives, girlfriends, mothers, and other female relatives and friends as the air we breathe or the food we eat. So, when the women in our lives get sick or worse, we’re lost,” the radio host admitted. “Who would take care of us? Actually, a nurse once told me that women in general have the tendency to put the needs of their family and others first, neglecting their own self-care.
“As much as I don’t want this to turn into ‘male DJ tells women to do something,’ I want to honor the women in the Upper Ohio Valley that have dealt with this disease,” Mad Max added. “And I hope it encourages women to get their annual mammograms as well as reinforce to the men listening that they should encourage women to take the time to care for themselves.”
