MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
At the turn of this century, a guy-girl rock duo from Detroit exploded onto the scene dressed all in red and white and black. They formed the backbone for the next 20 years of rock 'n' roll.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FELL IN LOVE WITH A GIRL")
THE WHITE STRIPES: (Singing) Fell in love with a girl. I fell in love once and almost completely.
KELLY: That band was the White Stripes. The guy half - that would be frontman Jack White - has been recognized as a catalyst for a new era of rock from the beginning. His wheeling, chaotic energy demands to be noticed. But you should also pay attention to the other half. That would be drummer Meg White.
That's what Talia Schlanger, host of WXPN's World Cafe, argues for NPR's Turning the Tables project, which explores how women and nonbinary artists are shaping the music of our moment. Here's her warning not to underestimate Meg White just because she lets her drumming speak loudly for itself.
TALIA SCHLANGER, BYLINE: So Jack and Meg White were married. They got married in '96. And actually, Jack took Meg's last name. His maiden name - I don't know if you (laughter) call a guy a maiden name - his bachelor name was Gillis. One night, he asked his wife Meg White, who had not played the drums before, to play a simple beat for something that he was working on.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE WHITE STRIPES SONG, "SCREWDRIVER")
SCHLANGER: And this electric thing happened, or so the legend goes. I mean, I obviously wasn't in the room.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SCREWDRIVER")
THE WHITE STRIPES: (Singing) I got a little feeling going now. I got a little feeling going now.
SCHLANGER: You can hear Meg's personality on the drums pretty much from the get-go. It's deceptively simple, which is why people often don't give Meg the credit that she deserves. But there a brilliance in that simplicity.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE WHITE STRIPES SONG, "SCREWDRIVER")
SCHLANGER: Jack has always said that the White Stripes are about the liberation you can find through limitation and how simplicity is an incredible breeding ground for creativity.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE BIG THREE KILLED MY BABY")
THE WHITE STRIPES: (Singing) The Big Three killed my baby.
SCHLANGER: Meg as a drummer is the perfect example of that. And yet, that was the primary source of criticism that people lobbied against her as a musician. It was pretty much from the get-go that everyone jumped on Meg and called her childlike or criticized her for being out of time. And I can't think of a different situation where you would question whether somebody had earned the right to a seat at the table that they had basically built. She originated these songs, and to talk about her as if she's not worthy of playing them is so bonkers.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE BIG THREE KILLED MY BABY")
THE WHITE STRIPES: (Singing) Well, I've said it now. Nothing's changed. People are burning for pocket change. And creative minds are lazy. And the Big Three killed my baby.
SCHLANGER: So good music is all about telling stories with sounds. And I defy you to find somebody who tells stories with sounds on the drum kit quite like Meg White does. And if you listen to their songs and if you watch them in live performances, you'll see that they're kind of a comedy duo - right? - where Meg is the straight man to Jack's wild, frenetic energy. She's the Abbott to his Costello.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE WHITE STRIPES SONG, "GIRL, YOU HAVE NO FAITH IN MEDICINE")
SCHLANGER: Have a listen to "Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine," for example. There's this moment in the song where Jack is building towards absolute vocal and guitar hysteria. And you can hear him sort of running to the edge of the cliff, and Meg is following him with the drums. And his tiptoes are hanging off the edge. And he says...
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GIRL, YOU HAVE NO FAITH IN MEDICINE")
THE WHITE STRIPES: (Singing) Give me a sugar pill and watch me just rattle down the street.
SCHLANGER: And then she waits. She doesn't give in. And instead...
(SOUNDBITE OF THE WHITE STRIPES SONG, "GIRL, YOU HAVE NO FAITH IN MEDICINE")
SCHLANGER: She lets him fly off the cliff. Like, she's laughing her high-hat head off on that ts-ts-ts-ts-ts (ph) and just watching him rattle.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE WHITE STRIPES SONG, "THE HARDEST BUTTON TO BUTTON")
SCHLANGER: Even if you miss seeing the White Stripes live in concert, if you pull up any video of them, at the end of any given performance, Jack White has crumpled into this sweaty, cathartic mess of a puddle. And Meg White, who has the way more athletically demanding job of the two, she is bone-dry. She is cool as a cucumber.
And people confuse that all the time with an air of maybe not caring. But if you really pay attention to what she's doing, she is smashing out these carnal and funny and urgent stories of the human experience. And she is the anchor of our attention when we listen to the White Stripes. And maybe she's why we love the band in the first place.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE HARDEST BUTTON TO BUTTON")
THE WHITE STRIPES: (Singing) The hardest button to button.
KELLY: That's Talia Schlanger, host of WXPN's World Cafe, celebrating Meg White for NPR's Turning the Tables project.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TRUTH DOESN'T MAKE A NOISE")
THE WHITE STRIPES: (Singing) Her stare is louder than your voice because...
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