Midnight Oil

[Powderworks] More on untrained singers

Tom Davies minuteparticular@yahoo.com.au
Sat, 17 May 2003 02:00:37 +1000 (EST)


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I can't really tell who's a trained singer and who's not, but it seems to me that one of the attractive things about rock is that most of the singers sound like ordinary people. It makes them easy to identify with -- and to sing along with. What separates great rock singers from the rest is something other than technical skill -- emotional intensity, (or, conversely, emotional subtlety), uniqueness of style, great lyrics. (I'm thinking especially of Billy Corgan and Tom Petty right now.)
 
What about Chris Cornell -- does he have any training?
 
td

Beth Curran <bcurran@columbus.rr.com> wrote:


OK, this is driving me nuts.  After the thread on "real" lead singers, I've been flipping through my CDs, and (limiting this discussion to rock only, no soul or country or world or whatever) I found exactly one person in the bunch who's a real singer with a trained voice - or at least, what passes for one:  Kate Bush.  I seem to have this preference for not-real-singers:  Garrett, Fagan, Knopfler (definitely can't sing), David Byrne, Richard Butler (reeeeeally reeeeally can't sing), Springsteen, the list goes on.  Joe and I started discussing this, and he proposed Elvis, which I think is barely possible, and Freddie Mercury - powerful, yes, trained, no.  I always thought somewhere under Billy Idol's posturing was a real nice baritone - but you only ever got glimpses, beside his voice was always muffled from having his head up his ass.  Can somebody propose a real singer among male rock leads before I lose my mind? - Beth

 

 



Opposition is true Friendship.

William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell


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<DIV>I can't really tell who's a trained singer and who's not, but it seems to me that one of the attractive things about rock is that most of the singers sound like ordinary people. It makes them easy to identify with -- and to sing along with. What separates great rock singers from the rest is something other than technical skill -- emotional intensity, (or, conversely, emotional subtlety), uniqueness of style, great lyrics. (I'm thinking especially of Billy Corgan and Tom Petty right now.)</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>What about Chris Cornell -- does he have any training?</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>td<BR><BR><B><I>Beth Curran &lt;bcurran@columbus.rr.com&gt;</I></B> wrote:</DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">OK, this is driving me nuts.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN>After the thread on "real" lead singers, I've been flipping through my CDs, and (limiting this discussion to rock only, no soul or country or world or whatever) I found exactly one person in the bunch <SPAN class=GramE>who's</SPAN> a real singer with a trained voice - or at least, what passes for one:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN>Kate Bush. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</SPAN>I seem to have this preference for not-real-singers:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN>Garrett, Fagan, <SPAN class=SpellE>Knopfler</SPAN> (definitely can't sing), David Byrne, Richard Butler (<SPAN class=SpellE>reeeeeally</SPAN> <SPAN class=SpellE>reeeeally</SPAN> can't sing), Springsteen, the list goes on.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN>Joe and I started discussing this, and he proposed Elvis, which I think is barely possible, and Freddie Mercury - powerful, yes, trained, no.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN>I always thought somewhere under Billy Idol's posturing was a real nice baritone - but you only ever got glimpses, beside his voice was always muffled from having his head up his ass.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN>Can somebody propose a real singer among male rock leads before I lose my mind? - Beth<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Opposition is true Friendship.<br><br>William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell<p><br><hr size=1>
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