FROCKSTAR
GWEN STEFANI
One mind-numbingly boring Sunday afternoon when I was 11, I robotically flicked through the TV stations and landed on the Chart Show (a cult viewing that counted down the Top 20 without a host, quirky at the time, it was actually a talking point a school…anyway, where was I? Oh yes, close the bracket). There, I was introduced (visually, not verbally since there was no host) to a white blonde red lipped beauty holding a peach up to her face singing with that captivating vocal that is distinctly Gwen. 'Don't Speak' got me hooked enough to peg it down to Discland after school the next day to buy Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt's third studio album, and by far the most successful.
Gwen Stefani was the single most coolest and stylish girl I had seen fronting current music at that time. Her feminine beauty coupled with her edgy, funky and at times tomboy style inspired me to think that I could be a musician one day without having to ensure I had a brazilian wax before I go on the stage or down the street, or get intimate with a shovel or something, hypothetically speaking you understand. Ahem.
Still Gwen epitomises the 'cool female', 'the sexy but not overtly so', 'not trying to prove anything' kind of persona, which as a wide-eyed 11 year old going on 16, I desperately wanted to emulate (is that an oxymoron?). She represented a feminine force that was universally undeniably attractive while simultaneously managing to retain a chic sophistication. She was and is still in my eyes, the perfect combination of style, elegance and edge. Her track Just a Girl is one of my all time favourites, simply because it rocked my world as that 11 year old, and it opened up a world of possibility where females can be powerful and sexy without selling their souls.
Gwen Stefani, Frockstar Salutes You!
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