Music mostly...who sings the song best
Jun. 15th, 2018 09:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. The absurd and somewhat depressing state of the United States continues...or what happens when you let Capitalism go insane or the Evils of Capitalism Personified.
Co-worker: They're voting on splitting California into Three States
Me: Really?
Co-worker: No, I'm serious.
Me: So, what...
Co-worker: Northern California, Mid, and Southern.
Me: In other words the state of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego? Why because they can't get along?
Co-worker: Pretty much.
Me: Oh just what we need more states. I can see Texas doing it...it's huge, but California? Really? Crazy people. I wish we could just take the New York through Maine and join Canada, just defect and become another territory of Canada.
Co-worker: I'm still looking into buying my own island.
Me: At this rate you might want to investigate a planet, islands aren't quite far enough away.
Anybody else miss the days when we didn't know this stuff?
2. Who Sings the Song Better? - the original song-writer, or someone else? (Answer: Depends on the song and the singers involved.)
Been playing about with music this week. And decided to play the following folks music against each other...or just playing around with them.
Reason? I'm writing a cotemporary and rather subversive romance novel about a female POC veternan whose mother was a hit R&B singer, and her ex-fiancee who thinks she is dead, was a singer. She loves doing drunken karaoke to relieve stress. And I've researching songs they'd sing in a contest -- cheesy karaoke numbers and hit rock songs. In particular songs that would lend themselves to the plot and act as metaphors for the character's inner lives and relationships.
A. I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston vs. Dolly Parton. (Warning -- this is an earworm song. It will stay in your head for days. I made the mistake of listening to it several times today and could not get it out of my head.)
Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" vs. Dolly Parton I Will Always Love You.
And...sorry, no contest, Whitney by a mile. Dolly sings and talks through her nose. And I don't think she can sing that well...her voice breaks when it reaches a certain octave and squeaks, hurting my ears like someone scraping a knife down a chalk board. I can't listen to her sing "I Will Always Love You" -- it's completely outside her range. I want to run away with fingers plugged in my ears. She wrote that for a voice like Whitney's not her own. She's best on songs like "9 to 5". Her voice just can't go that high without cracking. Dolly isn't an opera singer.
As an aside? I do not understand the appeal of the folksy nasal twang voice. She also talks half the song -- because she has a very narrow vocal range. Her vocal range is just too limited. To pull off I Will Always Love You, you have to have the voice of an opera singer. Lady Gaga could probably pull it off. Dolly Parton is not an opera singer, she's a country music folk singer.
For a long time I disliked country music, because everyone sounded like they were singing through their nose and had no vocal range. They'd hit the high note, and I'd want to switch channels (radio channels). Then along came Johnny Cash, and few folks who could sing without making me cringe, and I changed my mind. My mother feels the same way -- she also despised country music until she watched Nashville and realized, wait, people can sing country without sounding like they caught a cold. (I figured it out in college and law school -- when I got a hold of some better singers.)
Whitney on the other hand could belt it out of the park. She could go deep and high, she has a rich, deep, beautiful voice. And she's beautiful singing it. Dolly is a lovely person or so I've heard, but I don't feel it in her voice. It's folksy and quaint, and oh gee-shucks, but ugh. No. Stick to the folksy songs.
This is subjective personal taste of course. I mean it depends on what you like. I know someone who loves Dolly and hates Whitney. (SMH). It's like arguing which is better -- Prince or Michael Jackson (which I'll get to shortly) or Spike or Angel (and let's not do that again). Do you like pure soulful sound, that rings of gospel and a voice that holds an octave that you'd hear in a Cathedrale, or nasal folksy twang that you might hear some night around a rodeo camp fire?
Sort of like do you hear Yanni or Laurel.
B) I Will Survive -- also an earworm song.
Also re-discovered Gloria Gaynor who originated the hit I Will Survive. Who isn't quite as dramatic as Whitney and never had the presence of either Whitney or Diana Ross. But I Will Survive is a better song than I Will Always Love You. Has a bit more too it.
Weirdly, Lucifer did a better rendition of it. Also, it makes a great duet.
Although KD Lang is not at all bad...and may be better, she has more range and an interesting interpretation. Still? My favorite is the Tom Ellis and guest star duet...that was good.
C) Hunting a decent duet from the 1990s is not as easy as it looks..or the 80s for that matter
No Doubt's Don't Speak which is rather cool and has a great sound, it mixes two different sounds and works rather well, and I love the lyrics, but the video is crap. Gwen Stefani is the lead singer by the way.
Glee does a better job with it actually, as a duet no less. --
Pit this against, Don Henley and Patti Smith's Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough -- I was looking for duets, which by the way are hard to find. There just aren't that many good duets particularly for the 1990s. [Also No Doubt's Don't Speak isn't a duet.] Patti Smith's song actually has been done as a solo number and a duet. But it works better as a duet in my opinion.
I like this one, nice blend of voices. And good video. Also, I am admittedly a fan of Don Henley. (Yes, I liked the Eagles. Had a friend in college who adored The Eagles, Jimmy Buffet and the Go-Gos. I could understand the Eagles, the other two...eh, they are okay.)
And Kenny Rodgers and Sheena Easton's We've Got Tonight" -- I prefer the male country singers to the female because they aren't as twangy and don't sing through their nose. Also their voices don't squeak. Sheena Easton, an old 1980s pop singer (who I actually prefer to today's pop stars. Taylor Swift also squeaks and makes my ears hurt).
Oh, for the curious, here's the 2012 version of the same duet, with the singers much older We've Got Tonight in 2012. I think his voice held up slightly better than hers. (Kenny Rodgers reminds me of Johnny Cash -- and Sand Sheff, he tells stories with songs -- takes you inside different people he meets along the way.) But of the two songs...I prefer the video and the vocal mix of Patti Smith and Don Henley...their voices meld better and the lyrics have more depth and the play on metaphor grabs me more.
D.) When Doves Cry -- Prince vs. well everyone else (Michael Jackson and Sam Perry)
Jumped over to Prince and The Revolution's classic hit When Doves Cry" -- which I think may make a good duet...oh look Michael Jackson and Prince actually did THAT.
(And it didn't work. Ugh. Michael Jackson can't sing that song correctly. Also it felt photoshopped, so not sure it is real.) But it does lend itself to a duet.
And this weird rendition of it by Sam Perry. I didn't really like it. Some of it is interesting, but a lot of it...felt like it lost bits of it.
E. Putting out Fires with Gasoline David Bowie vs. Tina Turner
David Bowie's classic "Putting Out Fire With Gasoline" from Cat People. Sung by Tina Turner and David Bowie -- sorry Tina, but David wins this contest by a mile. This song really has to be sung a certain way and in a certain voice. Bowie makes slow love to the words. His voice is almost a purr to begin with, low and husky, then he hits that impossible high octave. The range is astonishing. His voice seduces the ear and has a haunting echoing quality that Tina's doesn't quite possess. This unlike Dolly Parton's I Will Always Love You, is a song that needs to be sung by the songwriter, and seems to fit the original writer's voice best.
F. Live and Let Die Paul McCartney vs. Guns & Roses Axel Ross.
This takes me to Wings or Paul McCartney's classic Live and Let Die, lets give McCartney the credit he's due -- few have had as varied and lengthy a creative career as he has. And he's written with just about everyone. And has a wide range. Also his songs speak to the soul. But, Live and Let Die simply sounds better as sung by Guns & Roses, it requires that heavy metal, hard rocker, raspy, cigarette chocked vocalization, with the violence and rage of Axel Ross. McCartney sings it with piano, melodious, and almost too sweet, it doesn't have the raw, hard-lived edge that Ross provides. Nor does McCartney provide the hard driving electronic guitare. And he needs the special effects, Ross doesn't. Like Dolly's I Will Always Love You -- this song is sung far better by someone other than the original creator.
So to wrap up?
I Will Always Love You -- Whitney Houston (caveat - I don't like the song that much, it's overly sentimental and too much on the nose. I think Dolly's songs that are more story oriented and sing too her roots and vocal talents are far better. She wrote this for the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and it doesn't quite work. Whitney saves it, but mainly because the woman has an opera singer's vocal chords.)
I Will Survive? Tom Ellis Duet, although Gloria Gaynor is good too
Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough - Don Henley and Patti Smith as a duet
When Doves Cry - Prince (This is an amazing song and hard to sing well.)
Putting out Fires with Gasoline - David Bowie (Also an amazing song and impossible to sing well.)
Live and Let Die - Guns and Roses
Co-worker: They're voting on splitting California into Three States
Me: Really?
Co-worker: No, I'm serious.
Me: So, what...
Co-worker: Northern California, Mid, and Southern.
Me: In other words the state of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego? Why because they can't get along?
Co-worker: Pretty much.
Me: Oh just what we need more states. I can see Texas doing it...it's huge, but California? Really? Crazy people. I wish we could just take the New York through Maine and join Canada, just defect and become another territory of Canada.
Co-worker: I'm still looking into buying my own island.
Me: At this rate you might want to investigate a planet, islands aren't quite far enough away.
Anybody else miss the days when we didn't know this stuff?
2. Who Sings the Song Better? - the original song-writer, or someone else? (Answer: Depends on the song and the singers involved.)
Been playing about with music this week. And decided to play the following folks music against each other...or just playing around with them.
Reason? I'm writing a cotemporary and rather subversive romance novel about a female POC veternan whose mother was a hit R&B singer, and her ex-fiancee who thinks she is dead, was a singer. She loves doing drunken karaoke to relieve stress. And I've researching songs they'd sing in a contest -- cheesy karaoke numbers and hit rock songs. In particular songs that would lend themselves to the plot and act as metaphors for the character's inner lives and relationships.
A. I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston vs. Dolly Parton. (Warning -- this is an earworm song. It will stay in your head for days. I made the mistake of listening to it several times today and could not get it out of my head.)
Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" vs. Dolly Parton I Will Always Love You.
And...sorry, no contest, Whitney by a mile. Dolly sings and talks through her nose. And I don't think she can sing that well...her voice breaks when it reaches a certain octave and squeaks, hurting my ears like someone scraping a knife down a chalk board. I can't listen to her sing "I Will Always Love You" -- it's completely outside her range. I want to run away with fingers plugged in my ears. She wrote that for a voice like Whitney's not her own. She's best on songs like "9 to 5". Her voice just can't go that high without cracking. Dolly isn't an opera singer.
As an aside? I do not understand the appeal of the folksy nasal twang voice. She also talks half the song -- because she has a very narrow vocal range. Her vocal range is just too limited. To pull off I Will Always Love You, you have to have the voice of an opera singer. Lady Gaga could probably pull it off. Dolly Parton is not an opera singer, she's a country music folk singer.
For a long time I disliked country music, because everyone sounded like they were singing through their nose and had no vocal range. They'd hit the high note, and I'd want to switch channels (radio channels). Then along came Johnny Cash, and few folks who could sing without making me cringe, and I changed my mind. My mother feels the same way -- she also despised country music until she watched Nashville and realized, wait, people can sing country without sounding like they caught a cold. (I figured it out in college and law school -- when I got a hold of some better singers.)
Whitney on the other hand could belt it out of the park. She could go deep and high, she has a rich, deep, beautiful voice. And she's beautiful singing it. Dolly is a lovely person or so I've heard, but I don't feel it in her voice. It's folksy and quaint, and oh gee-shucks, but ugh. No. Stick to the folksy songs.
This is subjective personal taste of course. I mean it depends on what you like. I know someone who loves Dolly and hates Whitney. (SMH). It's like arguing which is better -- Prince or Michael Jackson (which I'll get to shortly) or Spike or Angel (and let's not do that again). Do you like pure soulful sound, that rings of gospel and a voice that holds an octave that you'd hear in a Cathedrale, or nasal folksy twang that you might hear some night around a rodeo camp fire?
Sort of like do you hear Yanni or Laurel.
B) I Will Survive -- also an earworm song.
Also re-discovered Gloria Gaynor who originated the hit I Will Survive. Who isn't quite as dramatic as Whitney and never had the presence of either Whitney or Diana Ross. But I Will Survive is a better song than I Will Always Love You. Has a bit more too it.
Weirdly, Lucifer did a better rendition of it. Also, it makes a great duet.
Although KD Lang is not at all bad...and may be better, she has more range and an interesting interpretation. Still? My favorite is the Tom Ellis and guest star duet...that was good.
C) Hunting a decent duet from the 1990s is not as easy as it looks..or the 80s for that matter
No Doubt's Don't Speak which is rather cool and has a great sound, it mixes two different sounds and works rather well, and I love the lyrics, but the video is crap. Gwen Stefani is the lead singer by the way.
Glee does a better job with it actually, as a duet no less. --
Pit this against, Don Henley and Patti Smith's Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough -- I was looking for duets, which by the way are hard to find. There just aren't that many good duets particularly for the 1990s. [Also No Doubt's Don't Speak isn't a duet.] Patti Smith's song actually has been done as a solo number and a duet. But it works better as a duet in my opinion.
I like this one, nice blend of voices. And good video. Also, I am admittedly a fan of Don Henley. (Yes, I liked the Eagles. Had a friend in college who adored The Eagles, Jimmy Buffet and the Go-Gos. I could understand the Eagles, the other two...eh, they are okay.)
And Kenny Rodgers and Sheena Easton's We've Got Tonight" -- I prefer the male country singers to the female because they aren't as twangy and don't sing through their nose. Also their voices don't squeak. Sheena Easton, an old 1980s pop singer (who I actually prefer to today's pop stars. Taylor Swift also squeaks and makes my ears hurt).
Oh, for the curious, here's the 2012 version of the same duet, with the singers much older We've Got Tonight in 2012. I think his voice held up slightly better than hers. (Kenny Rodgers reminds me of Johnny Cash -- and Sand Sheff, he tells stories with songs -- takes you inside different people he meets along the way.) But of the two songs...I prefer the video and the vocal mix of Patti Smith and Don Henley...their voices meld better and the lyrics have more depth and the play on metaphor grabs me more.
D.) When Doves Cry -- Prince vs. well everyone else (Michael Jackson and Sam Perry)
Jumped over to Prince and The Revolution's classic hit When Doves Cry" -- which I think may make a good duet...oh look Michael Jackson and Prince actually did THAT.
(And it didn't work. Ugh. Michael Jackson can't sing that song correctly. Also it felt photoshopped, so not sure it is real.) But it does lend itself to a duet.
And this weird rendition of it by Sam Perry. I didn't really like it. Some of it is interesting, but a lot of it...felt like it lost bits of it.
E. Putting out Fires with Gasoline David Bowie vs. Tina Turner
David Bowie's classic "Putting Out Fire With Gasoline" from Cat People. Sung by Tina Turner and David Bowie -- sorry Tina, but David wins this contest by a mile. This song really has to be sung a certain way and in a certain voice. Bowie makes slow love to the words. His voice is almost a purr to begin with, low and husky, then he hits that impossible high octave. The range is astonishing. His voice seduces the ear and has a haunting echoing quality that Tina's doesn't quite possess. This unlike Dolly Parton's I Will Always Love You, is a song that needs to be sung by the songwriter, and seems to fit the original writer's voice best.
F. Live and Let Die Paul McCartney vs. Guns & Roses Axel Ross.
This takes me to Wings or Paul McCartney's classic Live and Let Die, lets give McCartney the credit he's due -- few have had as varied and lengthy a creative career as he has. And he's written with just about everyone. And has a wide range. Also his songs speak to the soul. But, Live and Let Die simply sounds better as sung by Guns & Roses, it requires that heavy metal, hard rocker, raspy, cigarette chocked vocalization, with the violence and rage of Axel Ross. McCartney sings it with piano, melodious, and almost too sweet, it doesn't have the raw, hard-lived edge that Ross provides. Nor does McCartney provide the hard driving electronic guitare. And he needs the special effects, Ross doesn't. Like Dolly's I Will Always Love You -- this song is sung far better by someone other than the original creator.
So to wrap up?
I Will Always Love You -- Whitney Houston (caveat - I don't like the song that much, it's overly sentimental and too much on the nose. I think Dolly's songs that are more story oriented and sing too her roots and vocal talents are far better. She wrote this for the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and it doesn't quite work. Whitney saves it, but mainly because the woman has an opera singer's vocal chords.)
I Will Survive? Tom Ellis Duet, although Gloria Gaynor is good too
Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough - Don Henley and Patti Smith as a duet
When Doves Cry - Prince (This is an amazing song and hard to sing well.)
Putting out Fires with Gasoline - David Bowie (Also an amazing song and impossible to sing well.)
Live and Let Die - Guns and Roses
no subject
Date: 2018-06-16 01:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-06-16 02:47 pm (UTC)Six states? Really?
And even if you did get it passed, Congress would shoot it down. I can see it now..."And the State of California wants to be split into three states.."
Congress: Eh? Really? No. We'd have to let NY become part of Canada. Next?
no subject
Date: 2018-06-16 03:51 pm (UTC)I prefer the male country singers to the female because they aren't as twangy and don't sing through their nose.
Some of the males do, and most of them who do are really annoying to me. Willie Nelson sings through his nose and is twangy, but somehow it works for him.
Tina Turner- I don't know what to call what Tina Turner does, but wouldn't call it singing. It's fine that she's popular and all, but I'll pass.
no subject
Date: 2018-06-16 11:33 pm (UTC)“I Will Always Love You” was covered by Whitney Houston and recorded for her 1992 film The Bodyguard. The song was originally written by Dolly Parton and released on June 6, 1974 as the second single from her thirteenth solo studio album, Jolene.
Houston’s cover has since become one of the best-selling singles of all time and contributed to The Bodyguard being the top-selling soundtrack of all time. Kevin Costner, Houston’s male opposite and one of the film’s co-producers, is actually responsible for suggesting this song for Houston to cover in the film’s first track release. He brought the original song to composer David Foster, who rearranged it as a pop ballad for Houston.
It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for fourteen consecutive weeks; at the time, this was a record for longest number one. It also reached #3 on the Hot 100 after Houston’s death in 2012.
The song Whitney sings isn't really the same song that Dolly wrote, the composer David Foster rearranged it for Whitney to sing. What he did was turn it into an operatic number or R&B pop ballad. Pop tends to go higher than country and jumps from low to high octaves. You have to actually be able to sing to do R&B pop, you don't have to be able to sing to do rock and country.
But if you look at the lyrics? There's nothing there, except continuous repetition. It's not the lyrics that make the song -- it's the arrangement or composition. And how you sing it. If you don't sing it a certain way, it's a horrible song and not memorable. When Dolly sang it no one remembered it and it didn't do that well.
Dolly:
If you read through it, Dolly's version is shorter, there's no real bridge or octave jump. She does the chorus three times not five.
So Whitney goes " I...I..WILLLL ALWAYSSS L..OVVVVVE You, YouUUU...My....DARLLLING YOu." While Dolly goes "I ----Willll---ALWAYSS Love you."
Dolly can't jump her voice up five octaves. It cracks on the fourth. So her arrangement is shorter. Country songs have shorter arrangements. We don't tend to get the sopranic or bass...vowel drawn out.
“I Will Always Love You” was released on June 6, 1974 as the second single from Dolly Parton’s thirteenth solo studio album, Jolene. Recorded on June 13, 1973, Parton wrote the song for her one-time partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, from whom she was professionally splitting at the time.
With “I Will Always Love You,” Parton became the first artist ever to earn a number one record twice with the same song as a singer, and three times as a writer. “I Will Always Love You” is the second song ever to reach the top three on the Billboard Hot 100 in separate chart runs. Parton also sang the song in the film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
Whitney Houston recorded a version of the song for the 1992 film The Bodyguard and it stayed on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a then-record of 14 weeks. It became one of the best selling singles of all time, and it is widely misconstrued that Whitney Houston wrote the song.
The reason a lot of Dolly fans hate Whitney is they blame her for robbing Dolly's song. Mainly because it has been widely misconstrued that Whitney wrote it when Dolly did. Except, in a way, it was rewritten for Whitney. It's not the same song. David Foster rearranged it. The lyrics don't make the song, the arrangement does. So, Dolly got the credit and the royalities for the lyrics, but she didn't do the composition -- that's all Foster and Whitney.
People don't seem to see that. I'm not sure why. Just listen to it -- it's obviously not the same song. Dolly also got applause three times for it. And it's a crappy song. LOL! The only, only thing that makes it worth listening to is Whitney Houston's voice and ability to hold that high octave for so long, without a crack or a wobble in her voice. That's what made a great artist.
no subject
Date: 2018-06-16 11:40 pm (UTC)It depends on what you listen to. Proud Mary -- is a good example of her talent, she also can dance and really pull in an audience. Also her voice jumps octaves too.
But, she has to have the right song and arrangement. Certain songs just don't work for her. She's deep and dirty R&B hits Pop. And there's a raw anger in her voice that has echoes of Aretha Franklin, although not as smooth.
I like her a lot better than Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson, less nasal. ;-) Also, I adore the song Proud Mary. That's a good song.
no subject
Date: 2018-06-16 11:46 pm (UTC)Who Sings It Best?
Date: 2018-06-17 03:25 pm (UTC)There have been a number of occasions when the original artist heard a cover version of a song and flat out admitted the cover was better. Dolly pretty much conceded that point. (But the royalties from Whitney's version paid for the Dollywood theme park, so--everybody wins!) Otis Redding reluctantly bowed to Aretha with "Respect"; and when Howling Wolf heard the Clapton-era Yardbirds do a live version of "Smokestack Lightning" he said their version was "definitive." Highest compliment ever.
As for Bowie...
He did TWO versions of "Cat People"--one for the movie soundtrack and a rock-ier one for Let's Dance, with Stevie Ray Vaughan(!) on guitar. I actually prefer the slower, moodier soundtrack version.
Now--do you prefer "Got to Get You Into My Life" from The Beatles or Earth Wind and Fire?
"Nothing Compares 2 U": Prince or Sinead?
P.S. I can't stand Whitney, for reasons I've explained before, but she DOES bring more heft to the song than Dolly. I guess...
Re: Who Sings It Best?
Date: 2018-06-17 10:35 pm (UTC)Oh well. We'll just have to respectfully agree to disagree on that front. As long as you aren't a Doofus supporter, all is well. ;-) (That's my proverbial line in the sand.)
I was thinking of other song comparisons...such as All Along the Watch Tower - Jimi Hendrix vs. Bob Dylan, and Not Fade Away - Buddy Holly vs. The Grateful Dead.
In those comparisons...Jimi Hendrix, and ...The Grateful Dead, they did better arrangements of the songs. Sort of did the same thing David Foster and Whitney did with I Will Always Love You -- added a lot of composition and instrumental to it -- changing the song from a ditty to a classic. Although, to be fair to Dylan and Holly, All Along the Watch Tower and Not Fade Away are amazing songs, requiring little improvement and not ditties, while I Will Always Love You is just a ditty.
I prefer Sinead O'Connor's Nothing Compares to You, don't remember Prince's at all and I have both on my MP3 player.
And the Beatles' Got to Get You into My Life, have no memory of Earth Wind and Fire. The Beatles version is just ...more relatable somehow.
Whitney
Date: 2018-06-18 02:47 am (UTC)I'm going to give it one more try to explain my aversion to Whitney Houston's music, then I'll let it go....
First of all, I don't pretend to know anything about Whitney Houston the person. Oh, I know who her parents were, where she grew up, her professional output--but I have no idea how that combination of factors made her who she is. I have no opinion about the private person, one way or the other. Frankly, it's none of my business. I'm only going to talk about the music.
There is a trend in popular music that I like to call "the belter" -- a trend that includes Celine Dion, Michael Bolton and the like. You take a vocalist of considerable power, surround him or her with an army of producers, and hand pick songs that:
a) appeal to the largest possible audience
b) are simple to arrange
c) allow the belter to utilize his or her full range.
This formula does not usually lend itself to great or even good songs. (Dolly's being the exception.) But the song is not the point; the singer is the point. It is not a vehicle to express a particular experience or emotion; it's a way to hear the belter let it loose.
This was the formula that Arista Records megamogul Clive Davis used for Whitney when she signed to his label in 1983. It was massively successful. And why not? There's no question that Whitney's voice was a magnificent instrument, as clear and powerful a mezzo soprano that ever recorded a song. But I found the songs themselves supremely dull and uninteresting, polished by the production to a glassy sheen. It was like listening to a Stradivarius play "Hot Cross Buns."
Now, I'll admit to a certain personal preference here. I don't care if a voice is technically perfect as long as the vocalist effectively nails the emotion of the song. The rock group Big Star (early 1970s) had two lead singers whose voices cracked and were only vaguely acquainted with pitch. But their harmonies would break your heart every time. For the most part, there was no real emotion in the songs picked out by her producers. And without that feeling, her vocal acrobatics were mere technique.
What can I say, 'kat? It's a "thing." I can't take the belters. I love the music of all the other women in Whitney's family: her mother, Cissy, is one of the great gospel singers of American pop music; her cousin, Dionne Warwick, found the soul in Burt Bacharach and made his complex arrangements top ten material; and her "aunt" Aretha--you know how I feel about Aretha.
As for Whitney....I wish she could have stretched out and found more material worthy of her voice. But that's not how it worked out.
Re: Whitney
Date: 2018-06-18 12:20 pm (UTC)Ah. It's not that you don't like Whitney, it's that you don't like a certain type of musical style -- you probably can't stand to listen Celine Dione or Michael Bolton either or anyone in that category. I get that. Of them, I like Whitney, but I admittedly cannot stand listening to Bolton and Celine Dione irritates me to no end. Whitney, I'm more forgiving of...for the reasons expressed above. Also there's a handful of good songs in there.
The musical style I can't listen to is Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lyn, Willie Nelson -- ugh. Hurts the ears. ;-) But people love them. Go figure.
Re: Whitney
Date: 2018-06-18 12:46 pm (UTC)Although...I've always found taste or perception to be interesting in how it varies from person to person. It really shows how impossible it is for us to completely understand each other.
For example? One of my friends loves Patsy Cline but hates Frank Sinatra, I'm the exact opposite. She can't stand the crooners. She also hates Wizard of OZ, love Gone with the Wind, and despises Meet Me in St. Louis. I love Meet Me in St. Louis, Wizard of Oz, and am ambivalent about Gone with the Wind.
On David Bowie's Putting out Fires? We agree. The slower version that Bowie did for the movie soundtrack works better than the jazzed up one, which is the arrangement that Tina Turner performed and Bowie performed on his Serious Moonlight and Let's Dance tours.
Michael Bolton Washes Up on Lonely Island
Date: 2018-06-19 04:37 am (UTC)But sometimes, even a belter can surprise you. The "Jack Sparrow" video he did with Andy Samburg and Lonely Island was actually a heck of a lot of fun. I liked him there! Yes, it's kind of the musical equivalent of late-period William Shatner, who wants to show everybody that he's in on the joke. OTOH, maybe it's just Michael Bolton singing a song that's weird and funny for a change--and selling it beautifully.
(I've noticed that a good sense of humor can soften me on an artist sometimes. I used to think that Rush was a bunch of humourless Canadian prog rock dorks; then Geddy Lee did "Take Off!" with Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis and I saw a whole new side of him. I watched an interview or two with the band and Geddy had this quiet, low-key sense of humor that was very appealing. This was about the time "Spirit of Radio" came out as a single, which was the first time I could describe Rush as "loose." Yes, Neal Peart's motto as a lyricist was still "Why settle for one word when you could have ten?", but I developed an appreciation for the band.)
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One last comment on what I like in singers, especially about conveying emotion in performance:
This weekend, I saw the video for "The Dance", Fleetwood Mac's 1997 reunion concert. Lindsey Buckingham was back and the classic Rumors line up was together for the first time in over a decade. Now, this version of the Mac has always been a prime time soap opera with a killer soundtrack. But when Nicks started "Silver Springs"--a song cut from Rumors over her screaming objections--the drama went up to 11. At the end, with Buckingham singing harmony, Nicks stared right into his eyes and practically taunted him that "You'll never get away from the sound of the woman who loves you." Translation: "Fuck you and your pretty little girlfriend, Lindsey! This voice will haunt you until you die. UNTIL YOU DIE!" Buckingham, still singing perfect harmony, stared back as if to say: "I know, Stevie--God, I know! But holy shit, dial it back a few notches, willya?"
That, kids, is entertainment.
Re: Michael Bolton Washes Up on Lonely Island
Date: 2018-06-20 02:13 am (UTC)But, take me to a musical, a ballet, or something that involves dancing and storytelling - highly entertained. Opera tends to bore me though, because someone just stands and sings.
I love listening to people sing, while I'm doing something else. Either studying. Writing. Walking. Sleeping. Cooking. Surfing the net. Reading. But I can't just sit and watch them sing or listen without getting bored.
I'll never be a groupie. Telling me that you saw so and so in concert isn't going to impress me. I wandered through the David Bowie exhibit and was mesmerized by his theaterical and film performances, how he put the music together, the costumes, and set design, but bored silly by his musical performances. I remember the friend I was with at the time insisting on watching him sing "When We are Heroes" and while I love the song, I found watching him sing it? Boring. And I had to go to the bathroom. My brother saw him in concert, I think I would have preferred to see him in The Elephant Man.
Former BFF used to drag me to musical concerts, I wanted to leave them. Crowded. Couldn't hear the music. Performance was well nothing ground-breaking, they sign, they yell, I'm bored.
So, you're talking about whether Michael Bolton will break a vessel singing? I've never really watched him sing. I have no interest in watching him sing. He has a good voice but I don't really like his songs that much -- too over the top, and I don't find him attractive. Music videos? I need a story. I rarely watch them. I will listen to them. American Idol? I got bored fast. The Voice? Bored. Remember being taken to the NY Philarmonic once -- and almost fell asleep. Watching someone play an instrument doesn't entertain me. Listening to them do it does.
Better yet? Watching a movie with it being the music behind the story? Cool.
I've tried to explain this to people over the years and get nowhere. "Oh come and watch me sing my choral music." Me: Do I have to? Sigh. Okay. Will try not to go to sleep. It's easier for me to watch people who sing Broadway tunes -- because usually I can hear the lyrics. But usually in live performances? I can't hear the music at all. The sounds are muffled or lost. And watching someone bounce about, eh.
I will say that James Marsters was highly entertaining performing with Ghost in the Robot. His music I couldn't hear, the feedback was atrocious, and it sounded like loud white noise for the most part. But he pranced about on stage like a bloody acrobat meets chip-n-dale dancer with a lollipop in his mouth. I spent most of the concert trying to figure out how he managed to do a back-flip, with a lollipop in his mouth, singing, and in such a small space without killing himself. And he did it twice. Made even more entertaining by the absurd pre-act which was an unintentional satire on Marsters performance. Now that stuck with me. I'm not sure I'd want to see it again. But it was entertaining. The music sucked. But the peformance was a hoot.
Rush? I like the song Tom Sawyer. Don't like anything else.
Whitney? I think how she song I Will Always Love was amazing. I don't like the song, I don't own it. It's an earworm of the worst caliber. And I don't like any of her other songs. "The Greatest Love of All" is...well..shudder.
But I prefer belters to twangers, don't hurt my ears. But prefer the songs of the twangers -- as long as they are sung by anyone else. Bob Dylan -- can't watch him peform, don't like his voice, love his songbook. Love his songs. So I put up with the fact that the man cannot sing to save his life.