Singers Who've Kept Their Voice

https://youtu.be/BWz0IqNHA3Q?t=1553

It's a from a few years ago, but this is a Judy Collins show I heard on the radio. She seems pretty cool.

Dave Gahan from Depeche Mode hasn’t changed it much and I think he has even improved it “playing the angel” onwards.

yeah, I agree re DG.

Love Reign etc was in the set I saw at MSG, sounded very good fwiw

― mott the hoopleheads (voodoo chili), Thursday, July 4, 2019 12:04 AM (eleven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Huh, for some reason I thought they'd dropped it. But yeah, Daltrey sounds great in all the clips I've seen of the current tour.

On a similar note, Bettye LaVette sings the he11 out of "Love Reign O'er Me". Awesome voice.

Saw Jonathan Richman the other day, age late 60s now, and while he was hardly ever a classically tuneful singer, he's lost seemingly none of the boyish playfulness and vibrancy. Close your eyes and he sounds little different from the Modern Lovers days.

Dave Gahan started vocal lessons and care after he got clean.

Paul Buchanan, if not the range, the effect seems the same to me.

Neil Young. I saw him yesterday in the Waldbühne and when he sang "Old Man" he sounded almost exactly like almost 50 years ago and his impersonation of the "young man" still convinced me though when I looked at him I realised that his "old man" - if he still lives - might be a centennial now. I think for singers with high voices it might be easier to preserve their voice.

He's also been nominated in the "singers who've lost their voice" thread.

I agree with Alex, saw him at a small theater, solo acoustic this year and I think his voice is still great

hard to say with neil since he always had a creeky, goofy voice.

Neil’s def lost some of his upper register

James Dean Bradfield

he sounds like Neil Young still, maybe he lost some top end but I'm telling you not much

compared to joni mitchell he hasn't lost a lot of his top end...

what about tom waits? the voice he is sharing with the public hasn't changed a lot, has it? it's not his normal voice, i think but that is another story.

James Dean Bradfield

not that old yet (just now 50 - the Manics started real young) but yeah no decline I've noticed

not that old yet (just now 50 - the Manics started real young) but yeah no decline I've noticed

Yeah, I wondered whether to get a relatively young singer in, but he's been singing for a long time with pretty amazing consistency. I remembered how my wife walked in the room when I had their last record on & she asked me if the guy ever aged, as the vocals seemed unchanged from their earlier albums.

Saw Jonathan Richman the other day, age late 60s now, and while he was hardly ever a classically tuneful singer, he's lost seemingly none of the boyish playfulness and vibrancy. Close your eyes and he sounds little different from the Modern Lovers days.

on a similar note...Gary Wilson. his comeback albums, despite being 30 years after the fact, feature the exact same voice. its kinda creepy.

Green Gartside (Scritti Politti) has kept his voice intact. I saw him on the last Scritti tour a few years back, and it's pretty impressive that THAT voice comes out of such a tall, bearded man...

Robert Smith is the best example I can think of. Remarkable how good he sounds 40 years into The Cure's career. Can't speak on Bono but I feel like he's preserved - can anyone confirm?

Reminds me of this piece she wrote
http://diamandagalas.com/writings/the-greek-vampire-a-threat-to-the-enemies-of-artists/

Until his recent passing (or at least into 2014, when Soused came out) Scott Walker seemed to have kept his voice pretty well.

I also remember being impressed by Robert Smith when I saw the Cure a couple of years ago — certainly hearing that voice perform so well was the best part of the show.

some indie-ish singers have gotten better with age simply because they learned how to sing. ...mac mccaughan...

You think? If anything his voice has gotten higher and screechier which is a big part of why I don't ever revisit any recent Superchunk album.

I agree with Alex, saw him at a small theater, solo acoustic this year and I think his voice is still great

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, July 4, 2019 1:35 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

still kicking my own dumb self for not making time to go to one of those shows what the FUCK was i thinking

Bono's definitely lost something in recent years. on their latest album, he doesn't go for the high notes as much and he sounds more tired (doesn't help that the album is bad)

bono's voice started sounding compromised and strained in 2000

that's a fair assessment. even "Beautiful Day" doesn't have the ease of his singing in the Zoo TV era. but I was struck by Songs of Experience, he sounded like he just couldn't put feeling into those songs

Alice Cooper.

John Fogerty sounds amazingly good in 2019.

oh yeah that’s v true

Little Anthony

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3tyP2bDvX4

there's something about hearing these old-school doowop songs that still have some original members still performing and keeping the shit alive a little longer.

I saw the O'Jays once with Eddie Levert sometime in 2006 and it was awesome

this is even fuckin better and this was just last year!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU9EM0PPv7s

Cool!

Mind boggling that this was 15+ years ago, but I saw the Pixies on their reunion tour in 2004 and I was floored by Frank’s voice. I went into it not expecting much because I thought his voice sounded pretty rough on some of his solo work. But he was on point. He belted out the screaming on Tame like it was nothing, it was like his voice could just erupt out of himself on command. Not sure how he is sounding now but I was impressed then.

youtube often is very interesting in that regard. sometimes i waste hours looking for live videos just to see how an aging vocalist sounds in 2020

Both Arthur Lee and Patti Smith's voices seemed to have improved when I saw them around the turn of the millenium.

Surprised no one's mentioned Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith already; their voices are still as beautiful and strong as ever.

Also, I must live up to my stereotype and mention Simon Le Bon.

Terri Nunn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EDDT9aHRr0

Not going to pretend Al Green sounds like he did in the 1970s, but was pretty amazed to hear how well is 77-year-old voice is holding up on his new cover of Perfect Day (just hope he has some better material in the pipeline).

Another Al, Al Stewart (whose own thread was recently revived), is still sounding good at 78. His delivery was always very clipped and he never really cut loose live, so it's not surprising his vocal cords are still in good shape.

Cathal Coughlan ;_;

xp Ian Anderson has completely lost it, and his voice and delivery has always struck me as similar to Al Stewart's, I figured he'd be well set up for the long haul.

What little I have heard of Smokey Robinson's recent album leads me to believe he deserves to be included in this thread.

xxp: I hadn't heard of Cathal Coughlan's passing until now. I never got totally into his music, but my best friend and I did our best to spread the gospel of Fatima Mansions to the other 8th graders after seeing Only Losers Take the Bus on 120 Minutes one night.

second Richard Thompson

from footage posted by friends on FB and IG of Duran Duran's performance at the Minnesota State Fair, I rather surprised to be nominating Simon LeBon to this thread.

second Richard Thompson

from footage posted by friends on FB and IG of Duran Duran's performance at the Minnesota State Fair, I rather surprised to be nominating Simon LeBon to this thread.