the "Unexpectedly Affected" canon

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for those songs where the singer who previously has been very consistent vocally takes on a fucking strange voice.

Sometimes it's just for a laugh: AC/DC, "Big Balls"

Sometimes it's a sad harbinger of the future: Sleater-Kinney, "Milkshake & Honey" (the next album was LOADED with actory voices)

When was the first time Ray Davies went all actory with his voice? "Dedicated Follower of Fashion?" and what about Michael Stipe? was it around Fables or as late as "Tongue"? And what about Prince? Is there a good example before "If I Was Your Girlfriend"?

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 11 August 2003 18:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Beck - "Debra"??

― Sean M (Sean M), Monday, 11 August 2003 18:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me" counts if you know the guy is the son of Berry Gordy (and therefore shouldn't sound British).

Did John Lennon do it before he played the sailor on "Yellow Submarine"?

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 11 August 2003 18:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay" sounds absolutely NOTHING like him. I was shocked when I found out it was him!

― King Kobra (King Kobra), Monday, 11 August 2003 18:31 (twenty-two years ago)

David Sylvian's voice changed COMPLETELY somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd Japan album.

― Jack Battery-Pack (Jack Battery-Pack), Monday, 11 August 2003 18:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Phil Och's voice changed completely after he got strangled. But I guess that's different.

― King Kobra (King Kobra), Monday, 11 August 2003 20:16 (twenty-two years ago)

tom waits was a hack piano balladeer untill he got throat cancer and his voice became his signature quality. He's become progressively darker in style.

― sourflower (dustjacket), Monday, 11 August 2003 20:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Billy Bragg. Not only his voice, but his whole accent.

Went from Essex "mockney" to bizarro transatlantic after his first three (or four) records (hey, I just thought of dubbing it "Generican"). Certainly by the Sexuality EP and Don't Try This at Home, and yet, even more oddly, not on every song.

― David A. (Davant), Monday, 11 August 2003 22:23 (twenty-two years ago)

The 'disembodied spirit' bit in "Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres" was the beginning of the end for Geddy Lee

― dave q, Monday, 11 August 2003 23:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Peter Tosh's riveting portrayal of the Downpresser Man, laughing into his pink champagne. An actorly bit par excellence!

And some of Elvis's uniquely fancified inflections on "Surrender."

― brian nemtusak (sanlazaro), Monday, 11 August 2003 23:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Brian May on "Too Much Love Will Kill You" ("see, it was me who did those bloated operatics all the time")

― nestmanso (nestmanso), Tuesday, 12 August 2003 14:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I always found it ironic that the band Canned Heat's biggest hit "Rollin' Up the Country" featured their singer affecting a soft falsetto voice, whereas EVERY OTHER song they did, he had a husky gravelly baritone.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 12 August 2003 14:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Mike Patton's nasally rock-dude delivery circa FNM's The Real Thing wouldn't give you any indicator whatsoever of the breathy thick tone he's got on Lovage nor the full-lung dense howling of summa da best Bungle stuff nor the bordering-on-not-even-sounding-like-a-human-voice-anymore scrapes and scrawls of Fantomas stuff.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 12 August 2003 14:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Nas doing a weirdly cute/pandering Slick Rick pseudo-English accent and cadence on "I Can."

― Tom Breihan (Tom Breihan), Tuesday, 12 August 2003 14:34 (twenty-two years ago)

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