I'm pretty lucky to have a multitude of strong women in my life. Once upon a time long long ago, the trend was for women to be submissive and to basically exist as wallflowers or window dressings. While that might seem like the easier path in some cases, I have always preferred a woman who will push back a little and challenge me to be a better man. Thankfully, the world is starting to realize that as well.
My wife is one of the strongest people I know, she has been through a lot and she deals with a lot on a daily basis. There is pretty much nothing that shocks her anymore when it comes to what the students at our district have to deal with in them home lives. She takes it all in stride and somehow manages to keep me under control as well.
She's just amazing.
Then we have my nieces. If you follow my 
Of course the ladies who raised all of them are pretty phenomenal as well. I don't think they would have turned out half as awesome as they are if that wasn't the case. Finally, my first great niece, the surprise that none of us realized we wanted or needed in our lives. She is an absolute miracle and I can't wait to see her this weekend. Before we know it she will be a toddler, then off to school and finally a strong woman changing the world in her own right.
Trust me, I could gush about my family for pages if you let me, but this is actually a post about music. #threetunetuesday to be specific, sponsored by the one and only 
The Pretenders is one of those groups that never really pinged on my radar when I was younger. Sure, I knew the songs that they played on the radio, but I never quite appreciated them. Today on the other hand, I have come to realize just how amazing they are. So much so that I would probably easily put them in my top ten list of all time favorite bands. They are just that good. Let's say I had to make a playlist of specific songs, and that playlist is the only one I can listen to for the rest of my life.
I'm going to be generous and say that the playlist is something like 200 songs, I mean it's the rest of my life right? Limiting it to only ten or twenty would be a bit sadistic. If I were going to do that you may as well clamp some clothes pins to my nipples for good measure or something.
Anyway, there is a good chance that at least three of the songs on that limited 200 song playlist would be from The Pretenders. Chrissie Hynde is just amazing and although "Tattooed Love Boys" isn't one of those songs that would make it to that list, it's still a really good song and a nice representation of The Pretenders. Plus, the songs that I would most likely include in said playlist I have already shared with you so I am trying to avoid repeats!
I still remember when Roxette first blew up on the US radio. "The Look" had that gritty sound that we have come to know and love from the band. I know a lot of people might think that all of their songs sound the same, but I would argue with that. There are some familiar pieces between some of the songs, but for the most part they all stand alone on their merits.
Most people from the 80's fully remember their ballad from the Pretty Woman soundtrack, but I actually prefer more of their fast stuff versus songs like "It Must Have Been Love". For some reason, Swedish bands don't seem to hit as hard in the US as they do elsewhere. Either that or they don't get the recognition they deserve until it is much too late.
ABBA is a perfect example of that. People love them now, and they liked their hits back in the day, but did they have the following in the US like they do now? I mean they have musicals based on their music after all. Is it possible one day we will see a musical based on the music of Roxette? That would be a pretty sweet show, I'll pre-order tickets and plan my trip to Broadway NYC right now!
It's sad that Marie Fredriksson has passed on. She was a treasure and Sweden was lucky to have someone as amazing as her. She was strong, she was amazing, and she was "Dangerous".
Finally, I would be a bit remiss if I didn't include Heart in my list of Ladies That Rock. Sure, "Dreamboat Annie" is one of their more mellow songs, but I still think it rocks. If you actually dig back into their much earlier stuff, you get to hear some gems where they cover Zeppelin and things like that. It's quite amazing how well they do and just how totally they rock.
I've never had the chance to see Heart in concert, they are definitely on my bucket list, though I don't know how possible that is with the one sister having cancer issues over the past half decade or so.
They are truly a band that has kind of stood the test of time. I'd kind of compare them to Bon Jovi who was still able to manage great success across the 80's and the 90's. The only difference would be Heart did it across the 70's and 80's.
So there you have it my Ladies That Rock. Of course, there are countless others, but do you really want to read a 100,000 word post?
All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or 
