Sylvia Vanderpool Robinson

The awesome woman of the day for Wednesday, July 4, 2012, is Sylvia Vanderpool Robinson, U.S. singer, record producer, and record label executive. Born March 6, 1934, NYC, NY, USA. Died September 29, 2011, Secaucus, NJ, USA.

Sylvia was probably best known as the Sylvia in Mickey and Sylvia ("Love is Strange")

However, Love is Strange is NOT the reason I am profiling her today. I learned this morning that Ms. Robinson was a co-founder of Sugar Hill records, that she co-wrote and produced "The Message":

... and that she was the genius who, the story goes, recruited the rappers on Rappers’ Delight by having her son drive her around Englewood, NJ. 

At the time, the conventional music industry wisdom was that the live energy of rap was impossible to capture on vinyl. Nevertheless, one hot August night in 1979 Robinson made her son Joey drive her around Englewood, New Jersey, looking for rappers. 

He told NPR in 2000 that he took his mother to a pizza place and introduced her to Henry Jackson. "He closed the pizza parlor down," said Joey Robinson about the man who would become Big Bank Hank. "He's got all this dough on him. He weighs about 300 to 400 pounds at the time. And he jumps in the back of my Oldsmobile and starts rapping."

The Robinsons kept driving around, people kept hopping into the car and The Sugarhill Gang was born. 

None of the rappers had ever worked together before. In the studio, Sylvia Robinson cued each one by pointing at them, and they recorded "Rapper's Delight" in one uninterrupted 14-minute take. Robinson personally mailed the single to radio stations and badgered them to play it. 

So much for conventional wisdom.

For more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Robinson

Joanna Johnson

The Awesome Woman of the Day for Wednesday, May 16, 2012 is Joanna Johnson (US actress, writer, and producer) born December 31, 1961. She is best known for her work on the Bold and the Beautiful, a television soap opera in the United States, but she just did something very very brave: she came out as gay and married in an industry - and a particular subset of that industry - in which conventional wisdom counsels performers to stay closeted.

Soap operas, in particular, are an intergenerational media outlet, and, by coming out, Ms. Johnson is reaching people of all ages who have been having her into their homes every day for years. And she does it at no small risk to her. This is a brave and helpful thing she has done. Awesome.

http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/soap-opera-star-joanna-johnson-im-gay-2012155

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanna_Johnson

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0425394/

Soap Opera Star Joanna Johnson: Iâ m Gaywww.usmagazine.comThe Bold and the Beautiful star worried she wouldn't "be employable as an actress" if people knew she was a lesbian

Joanna Johnson

The Awesome Woman of the Day for Wednesday, May 16, 2012 is Joanna Johnson (US actress, writer, and producer) born December 31, 1961. She is best known for her work on the Bold and the Beautiful, a television soap opera in the United States, but she just did something very very brave: she came out as gay and married in an industry - and a particular subset of that industry - in which conventional wisdom counsels performers to stay closeted.

Soap operas, in particular, are an intergenerational media outlet, and, by coming out, Ms. Johnson is reaching people of all ages who have been having her into their homes every day for years. And she does it at no small risk to her. This is a brave and helpful thing she has done. Awesome.

See:

Soap Opera Star Joanna Johnson: I'm Gay 
www.usmagazine.com 
The Bold and the Beautiful star worried she wouldn't "be employable as an actress" if people knew she was a lesbian...


See also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanna_Johnson 
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0425394/

Lizz Winstead

Today Tuesday February 21, 2012 The WOD is Lizz Winstead. Born August 05, 1961 in St. Paul Minnesota Lizz Winstead is a famous political satirist.

She is the co-creator and former head writer of “The Daily Show” and is one of the founders of Air-America Radio. Her ability to educate, enlighten and at the same time entertain is a rare and impressive talent.

Lizz Winstead has emerged as a critically acclaimed political writer and producer. As a performer, Winstead brought her political wit to "The Daily Show" as a Correspondent and later to the radio waves co-hosting "Unfiltered," Air America Radio's mid morning show with citizen of the world and Hip Hop legend Chuck D, and political big brain Rachel Maddow.

Winstead has appeared numerous times on television including HBO's "Women of the Night,""The US Comedy Arts Festival" in Aspen, Comedy Central Presents, and too many basic cable stand-up shows and VH-1 "50 Greatest This" and "100 Greatest That" to mention. As well as writing and producing for air and television, Winstead performs in clubs and theaters across the country in recurring shows like "Shoot the Messenger" at Ace of Clubs. She is also busy filming episodes of her Internet series "Bad Gift Road Show" for Lifetime.

Her comedic talents have been recognized in Entertainment Weekly's 100 Most Creative People issue, and she was nominated Best Female Club Performer by The American Comedy Awards. Winstead is also featured in the film, "American Cannibal."

Recently, Lizz wrote and produced an independent pilot of her Off-Broadway hit, “Wake Up World,” a scathing satire about morning chat shows that Rachel Maddow called, “The funniest thing I have seen in years.”

Her weekly segments on “The Ed Show” on MSNBC and HLN’s “The Joy Behar Show” feature her hilarious spin on breaking news.

And now Lizz Winstead is hitting the road in support of Planned Parenthood! Lizz's "Planned Parenthood, I Am Here For You" Tour! Her unique talent to educate through humor is a breath of fresh air and in my opinion makes her worthy of her being our WOD.

Joan Jett

Today’s Awesome Woman is Rock Goddess Joan Jett. As frontwoman for The Runaways, Joan Jett became a female pioneer in the male-dominated world of rock music. She is also a songwriter and producer. I adore Joan Jett. In the 80s she was my style icon - her kick ass swagger combines with leather and enough attitude to out macho the guys. There was nothing coy about her. Her iconic song “I Love Rock’n’Roll” was anthemic. This year Joan is being inducted into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame.

At age 15 Joan was a founding member of the punk-pop all female band The Runaways, along with Lita Ford, Cherie Currie & Micki Steele. The band was the subject of the biopic The Runaways, a film based on Cherie Currie's biography Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story. Joan served as an executive producer on the project, and assisted actress Kristen Stewart with her portrayal of Jett. ‘The band was ahead of its time in many ways, with its hard-rock sound emerging during an era when disco music was king. They also felt dismissed by audiences and critics because of their young age and their gender; the public didn't seem to know what to do with five girls who sang about sex, rebelling, and partying. The musicians' fashion choices also alienated them from mainstream fans; Currie chose to wear lingerie on stage, and Jett often appeared in her trademark red, leather jumpsuit.’ (1) Although The Runaways were poorly received in the US, they were popular in Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada and South America.

In 1980, Jett tried to get a record label to distribute her new album, but she was rejected by 23 different companies. Out of frustration, she and producer Kenny Laguna and songwriter Ritchie Cordell founded Blackheart Records in 1980. Joan toured with her band, the Blackhearts, and put together another album. I Love Rock 'n' Roll became a huge hit, driven in large part to the title track, which hit the top of the pop charts in early 1982.

Although she has not since reached the commercial success of that era, Joan continues to tour extensively. She produced Riot Grrrl acts Bikini Kill and L7. Biography.com notes, "She has also taken an active part in signing bands to her record label. 'We made Blackheart Records what we wanted it to be,' Jett said. 'It's a place where girls can feel comfortable to be—both in a work environment and on an artistic level.'”

Away from work, Jett devotes much of her time to social causes. She is active with Farm Sanctuary, an animal protection organization.” The rock 'n' roll legend has served as a PETA spokeswoman for several years, encouraging others to become vegetarian.

1) http://www.biography.com/people/joan-jett-531004
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Jett

Joan Jett Biography

www.biography.com

Check out the aggressive and popular music of punk pioneer, and women's role model, Joan Jett at Biography.com.

Donna Reed

Todays WOD is Donna Reed, now hear me out before you judge, I know that she is known as the epitome of the subservient, pearl wearing, high heeled stepford wife of the 50’s, but she was oh so much more!

Donna Reed was born in the Midwestern town of Denison, Iowa, on January 27, 1921, as Donna Belle Mullenger. She wanted to become a teacher but since she could not afford to go to college she moved to LA at 16 to go to secretarial school. She was noticed for her striking beauty and was bombarded with offers from agents and studio executives. After receiving several offers to screen test for studios, Reed signed with the prestigious Feldman-Blum agency, after which she gave an impressive screen test for MGM, Reed eventually signed with MGM, but insisted on finishing her education first. She played many small roles for years with MGM but was lent out to Frank Capra's Liberty Films for the independent picture, It's a Wonderful Life (1946). The film, which featured Reed as Jimmy Stewart's wife (Mary Hatch Bailey), barely got off the ground at the box office, but went on to become a perennial holiday favorite. Although it was a great role for her, it caused her to be typecast to squeaky clean roles. She endured many uninteresting one dimensional roles that were not fulfilling to her as an artist. However in 1956, she staged a remarkable comeback when she was cast in the prized role of Alma, the dancehall prostitute in From Here to Eternity (1953). Featuring the stellar cast of Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr and Frank Sinatra, the film swept the 1954 Oscars securing a total of eight wins, including a Best Supporting Actress Award for Reed.

Despite the accolades she received for her role of Alma, her film career came to a screeching halt. So she took matters into her own hands and along with her husband created their own production company. Todon Productions launched The Donna Reed Show (1958-66), which provided the perfect vehicle to display the actress as the picture of sophisticated charm. In 1958, the family sitcom premiered and Reed came to personify the quintessential mother of suburban America. The series enjoyed an eight-year run, during which she received four Emmy nominations.

So besides being a pioneer in the television industry by becoming one of the first female producers, in her personal live she was a pretty kick ass woman as well. During the Vietnam War in the 1970s, she was a fervent anti-nuclear weapon and anti-war activist, co-chairing the protest organization "Another Mother for Peace. Another Mother for Peace was founded to educate women to take an active role in eliminating war as a means of solving disputes between nations, people and ideologies. AMP is a non-profit, non-partisan association. AMP encourages its members to do Peace Homework by writing to elected government officials to express their desire for peace.

In 1986, the resilient actress lost her two-year bout with pancreatic cancer. She was 64 years old. In 1987, Grover Asmus (Reed's widower), actresses Shelley Fabares and Norma Connolly, and numerous friends, associates, and family members created the Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts. A non-profit organization to memorialize Donna Reed's accomplishments and perpetuate her deep commitment to youth, education, and the performing arts. Based in Reed's hometown of Denison, the organization grants scholarships for performing arts students, runs an annual festival of performing arts workshops, and operates "The Donna Reed Center for the Performing Arts".


http://www.anothermother.org/

http://www.donnareed.org/

Pamela Anderson

Todays Awesome Woman is Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian American actress, model, producer, author, activist, and former showgirl. Pamela Anderson spends much of her time working with organizations and charities to support the numerous causes she believes in. Since becoming a vegetarian in her early teens, she has become a powerful advocate for animal rights.

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