These Boots Are Made For Walkin’

Polly Vinyl & The Plastic Boot Band Presents: These Boots Are Made For Walkin’

A celebration of two decades of trail-blazing female singers and songwriters

These Boot are Made for Walkin’– after Nancy Sinatra’s iconic song from 1966 – is a dynamic show celebrating the fabulous tunes from this era of musical empowerment. If you love powerful songs from the late sixties and seventies, with big soulful female vocals and harmonies, then this is an experience not to be missed!

The girl group phenomenon of the early 1960s was a product of a predominantly male music-business, which fitted artists into traditional stereotypes… Doe-eyed young women singing about their hopeless devotion to their handsome, straying men, forgiving them in the name of love. Then things began to change; in 1964 a teenage girl appeared on American TV alongside predominantly male acts from the ‘rock n roll’ hall of fame: Chuck Berry, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones. She stepped up to the mic and began to sing her latest hit single, “Maybe I Know.” The lyrics suggested that she knew her boyfriend had been unfaithful, “But what can I do?” she crooned. Then, suddenly Gore began to sing another song… “You don’t own me, I’m not just one of your many toys.” She seemingly gave a satisfied smile as she belt-out, “Don’t tell me what to do… Don’t tell me what to say”. Her name was Lesley Gore.

And so began the first wave of bold young women, who knew that music belonged to them. The door opened for others to find their voices in a time of social change. A man still loved a woman, and a woman still loved a man, but sisters were doing it for themselves. Women began to sing about making the same choices, mistakes, and regrets as their male counterparts. It led to a decade, and more, of gutsy women with soulful voices, challenging pre-conceived ideas, and rocking the charts with heart and soul.