On my iPod this week - Strong Black Women

This week I've been having a Strong Black Woman vibe so here's what I've been listening to on my silver iPod shuffle:

Mary J Blige PMS - this track is a fierce and funny song from the Queen of Bling. It’s from the Mary album and, just in case you hadn’t guessed, it’s about pre-menstrual tension. Mary croons: ”My lower back is achin’ and my clothes don’t fit, now ain’t that a bitch!” Girl, I'm feeling it!

Diana Ross It's My House - ah, I love this song, it reminds me of a lazy summer's day.

Janet Jackson Got 'Til it's Gone - Janet's wonderfully mellow song which uses a sample from Joni Mitchell's song Big Yellow Taxi.

Mary J Blige No More Drama - from the sample of Nadia's Theme, the piano-driven theme song to the daytime drama The Young and the Restless, this song has Strong Black Woman all over it.

Alison Limerick Where Loves Lives - if ever a song takes you back to the second summer of love in 1988 it's this Balearic classic.

Donna Summer McArthur's Park - ok, so the dumb bitch found Jesus and turned her back on the gays, but that doesn't change the fact that Summer sang some of the fiercest disco songs back in the seventies. This remains my all-time favourite Summer song, written by Jimmy Webb and originally sung by Richard Harris in 1968 (his version is hilarious by the way, well worth a download!)