Girls, Groove, and Glitter

 

GIRLS, GROOVE, AND GLITTER

Women, Rhythm, and Power on Rock’s B-Sides

This Is Not About Influence. This is not about who women inspired.

This is not about who stood beside them. This is about women alone, in full control of the groove.

On the B-side — where expectations drop and instincts take over — women in rock didn’t compete for volume.

They set the rhythm, owned the mood, and defined style on their own terms.

These are songs that move, shimmer, sway, and sting.

Girls only.

B-sides only.

No permission asked.

1. Groove as Authority

Pretenders – “Cuban Slide”

Loose, funky, effortless. Chrissie Hynde doesn’t perform — she inhabits.

This is groove as confidence. No chorus trying to hook you. No drama.

Just a woman who knows exactly where the beat belongs.

Power here is relaxed — and that’s the point.

2. Glitter With Teeth

Blondie – “Rifle Range”

Debbie Harry always understood that style could disarm and attack at the same time.

“Rifle Range” is sharp, urban, and cool — fashion-forward without being hollow.

This is glitter as armor.

The B-side lets the persona breathe — less pop, more poise.

3. Soul, Controlled

Siouxsie and the Banshees – “Tattoo”

Hypnotic and restrained, “Tattoo” doesn’t rush or resolve.

Siouxsie doesn’t overpower the track — she commands it through stillness.

This is rhythm as hypnosis.

Strength without spectacle.

4. Seduction as Control

Sade – “Keep Looking” (early-era B-side energy)

This is where rock-adjacent soul slips into the conversation — and owns it.

Sade doesn’t push. She pulls. Her power lives in restraint, timing, and tone. Groove here isn’t decorative — it’s authority.

This is femininity without performance. Emotion without exposure.

A masterclass in knowing when not to move.

5. Swagger, Unbothered

The Slits – “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (flip-side energy)

A familiar song twisted into something elastic and fearless.

Ari Up doesn’t imitate — she reclaims. The groove lopes. The confidence is absolute.

This is female swagger without posturing.

6. Cool Without Distance

PJ Harvey – “Down by the Water” (early flip-side era)

Stripped, physical, and utterly unbothered by expectations.

Polly Jean doesn’t dress this up — she lets the rhythm bruise.

This is groove with grit. Not loud. Not pretty. Just real.

PJ’s B-sides are where you hear her trust instinct over polish — and that instinct hits hard.

Why Women’s B-Sides Hit Different

The A-sides had expectations. The B-sides had freedom.

Here, women:

explored rhythm instead of riffs

used style as language

trusted restraint

told the truth without smoothing the edges

These songs didn’t chase charts. They claimed space.

Girls, Groove, and Glitter — B-Side Edition

Pretenders – Cuban Slide

Blondie – Rifle Range

Siouxsie and the Banshees – Tattoo

Sade – Keep Looking

The Slits – I Heard It Through the Grapevine

PJ Harvey – Down by the Water

Listen here 

Rhythm Remembers Who Led

Rock history loves to mythologize the loudest voices.

But the groove remembers the women who moved it forward — quietly, stylishly, and on their own terms.

No features.

No footnotes.

Just girls, groove, and glitter — living where the real magic always hid:

the B-side.