Legendary Women of Rock – Patti Smith & Marianne Faithfull

This episode, we look back at two hugely influential women artists – Patti Smith, whose 1975 “Horses” album inspired so many artists, and Marianne Faithfull, whose passing in January, 2025, is a huge loss.  “Horses”, with its confrontational approach - “Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine” - changed the landscape of rock music for the next few decades.  Produced by John Cale, of Velvet Underground fame, the album opened the door for so many women, including Debbie Harry of Blondie and Siouxsie Sue of Siouxsie & The Banshees, and so many English punk and new wave bands.  We talk about why we like this album, its influential impact, and how Patti Smith developed over later years. Marianne Faithfull has long been one of our favourites, and we talked about “Broken English” in Season 3. (If you haven’t heard that episode, here’s the link.) Tributes have come from every corner of the industry, all saying one thing – Marianne was inspirational to everyone she worked with, from The Rolling Stones to Metallica to Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. Banging our own drum for a moment, we’ve just been named as one of the top Australian Music Podcasts by monitoring service, Feedspot, which compiles the most comprehensive list of Australian Music Podcasts on the web. Great subjects.  Great episode.  Enjoy.  References:  Marianne Faithfull, Patti Smith, Andrew Loog Oldham, Sister Morphine, Girl on a Motorcycle, Samuel Beckett, homelessness, Hipgnosis, Storm Thorgerson, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, “The Memory Remains”, Metallica, Lars Ulrich, Warren Ellis, She Walks in Beauty, Graham Coxon, Blur, TOTO, “Africa”, “Hold The Line”, "Rosanna”, Robert Dimery, 1001 Albums You Must Listen to Before You Die,  Jim Morrison, oil shortage – 70's, Robert Mapplethorpe, Allen Lanier, Blue Öyster Cult, Tom Verlaine, Television, "Break It Up",  John Cale, “Gloria”, Van Morrison, “Marquee Moon”, “Land (Horses)”, “Radio Ethiopia”, “Wave”, “Easter”, “Because the Night”, Siouxsie Sioux, Siouxsie & The Banshees, R.E.M.,  Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Morrissey, Johnny Marr,  Courtney Love, Hole, PJ Harvey Episode playlistHorsesBroken EnglishMarianne Faithfull - Series 3, Episode 14Send us a message, so we know what you're thinking!