'Liberation Conversation' - Feminist Soul

In this week's episode Tim and Jeremy explore one of the most important musical currents of the early '70s, Feminist Soul. Beginning with Aretha Franklin, they situate the music of these powerful, articulate and conscious female performers within the Women's Liberation and Black Power movements, alongside the scholarship of Simone de Beuvoir and Angela Davis, and in relation to the girl groups of Motown and the mid-'60s.

Through lyrical, musical and cultural analysis, Tim and Jeremy also consider the explicit revolutionary subjectivity of Nina Simone, marvel at the potency of Marlena Shaw, and link these musics with the Loft, the Gallery, and the emerging Disco scene.

Tim Lawrence and Jeremy Gilbert are authors, academics, DJs and audiophile dance party organisers. They’ve been friends and collaborators since 1997, teaching together and running parties since 2003. With clubs closed and half their jobs lost to university cuts, they’re inevitably launching a podcast.

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

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Tune in, Turn on, Get Down!

Tracklist:

Aretha Franklin - (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
Nina Simone - Revolution
Spanky Wilson - Sunshine of Your Love
Marlena Shaw - Liberation Conversation
Marlena Shaw - Woman of the Ghetto
Little Sister - You're The One
The Three Degrees - Dirty Ol' Man
Labelle - What Can I Do For YOu
Betty Davis - They Say I'm Different
The Pointer Sisters - Yes We Can Can