Amos helps to shatter rock 'n' roll stereotypes one show at a time

It is a striking example of a phenomenon that has taken much too long to gain the attention it deserves. It is the voice of one of many talented women whose entire genre of music has been overlooked and underappreciated for years.

It is a statement that it has become possible to succeed in the music business as a woman with nothing more than a voice, an instrument and a brutally honest, emotional truth - even without massive sex appeal and the ability to belt out the highest note on the piano.

Mirroring practically every other business in the U.S., rock 'n' roll started out as a very male profession. Guys like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry topped the charts in the beginning, and were followed by The Beatles and The Rollin

ADRIANA YUGOVICH/Daily Tori Amos will hit the Breslin Center stage as her music, albums and tours continue to make the rock 'n' roll world a very different place.

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Not that girl groups didn't exist - The Supremes achieved astonishing success, but they weren't taken seriously by record companies. Successful women in music were vehicles for hit songs who could look cute and sing well - not creative, talented artists.

But the emergence of more folk-oriented rock into mainstream music benefited women who were talented singer-songwriters. With Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead came Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez, with raw guitar playing and meaningful, introspective lyrics.

Female singer-songwriters were still the exception, though, and the precedent of male-dominance remained unchanged and unthreatened throughout the '70s and '80s.

In more recent history, it is almost impossible to name more than a handful of female singer-songwriters whose music was incorporated into the mainstream. Sure, Celine Dion and Toni Braxton can sing and they even look good doing it. But they are by no stretch of the imagination ingenious songwriters and generally incapable of playing an instrument.

Radio stations generously supported boy bands and even the Janet Jacksons and Mariah Careys whose sex appeal could sell albums, but had no problem blatantly rejecting female singer-songwriters who should have been selling albums solely as a result of outstanding musical content.

But then something happened. People started to listen. The style started to sell. Out of the woodwork and onto top 40 charts came amazing artists like Sarah McLachlan, Melissa Etheridge and Tori Amos, who got the ball rolling for future singer-songwriters.

Instead of singing cheesy pop songs, they weren't afraid to be emotional - to openly present issues such as stalking and sexuality. Amos shocked listeners as she denounced religion in more than one song and told the tale of a fan who attempted to rape her in "Me and a Gun" in her '92 release, "Little Earthquakes." Some would say amazingly, she actually sold records.

Things started to change. Women in music became emotional. They became excited. They got sad. They got angry. Most of all, they became confident. And people wanted to hear what they had to say.

This realization became most apparent in '95 when Canada's Alanis Morissette ascended to America's biggest musical sensation. Her anger-inspired "Jagged Little Pill" became the no. 1 selling record in the country. Young women everywhere could relate to her and even some men became fans, out of respect for her work.

Morissette certainly wasn't one of the first artists to come out with this kind of music - by the time Morissette became famous, fed-up feminists, such as Ani Difranco, were veterans of brilliantly expressive songwriting. But Morissette made it mainstream. She made it popular. She made people listen.

And things could only get better for female singer-songwriters. The realization really started to catch on when McLachlan announced plans for Lilith Fair, a touring summer festival to celebrate women in music - an accurate definition of "girl power," non-Spice Girls style.

Critics said it was doomed to fail because no one would show up to a concert with no men on the bill. But as concert venue after concert venue produced sold-out show after sold-out show, the critics were silenced by legions of screaming fans across the country.

It was actually becoming normal to hear female singer-songwriters on the radio. Jewel, Sheryl Crow and Paula Cole topped the charts. Women like Shawn Colvin, who had been struggling to succeed in the music business for years were finally getting heard. The fame of already famous performers like McLachlan and Amos skyrocketed.

Amos never played at Lilith Fair, but she didn't have to. She and other singer-songwriters could finally headline their own shows. More women than ever could sell out venues, large and small, throughout the United States.

While female singer-songwriters may still not have an equal voice in the music business, their voices are louder and stronger than ever, and show no signs of quieting down.

Which is why tonight's appearance of Tori Amos at the Breslin Center in East Lansing represents more than just an artist making a stop to promote her latest album. It represents a successful result of the historic struggle of the female singer-songwriter.

12-03-98