TS: Dave Gahan vs. Simon Le Bon

Your head is full of chopstick and I don't like it!

Oh blummin.

My own answer? As much of a fan as I am of the latter's band, I would have to go with the former. Why? Because while Dave Gahan has had a longtime reputation for being fantastic to the fans, Simon Le Bon can vary from day to day, with 65% of the fan encounters taking place while he's a smackable asswipe and the other 35% taking place while he's being a real charmer.

Message to Simon: Get over yourself. You are not a teen idol anymore, no matter what your deluded fans make you think.

Message to Dave: Please stay clean and as fantastic as you were when a friend of mine met you in Toronto.

Though Simon's voice has improved drastically since the Rio days. Unless he's "rusty", as he was when I saw the band back in January 2003.

Stevem: You do bring up some interesting points. I guess, disconnected from everything but the music, Simon's versatility and Dave's delicate fluttering would make this a tie race. However, I've got too much of a back history to not incorporate all those little side things that one might consider inconsequential into my discussion.

Point to ponder, BTW -- Simon and (Sir) Elton John attended the same primary school, twelve years apart. This is something they must've discussed while DD visited the set of his "I'm Still Standing" video, which was directed by the force behind DD's most famous videos (and a good friend of the band's), Russell Mulcahy.

simon le bon: he has a porn name and is a narcistic twat.

i prefer dave.

Also, Simon was a church choir boy (and a child actor) and his first recording was done when he was just 12 years old. It's not too hard, really, to find an MP3 copy of him singing "Feelin' Groovy" when he was about that age, you know. (I guess that's also to help possibly explain how he could get to sounding the way he does.)

(Either I'm going to regret this thread in the "morning" or I'm going to LOVE that I started it. Funny thing, what insomnia can do!)

(I know what you're getting at there, BTW. *laugh*)

I bet he knows how to spell "narcissistic", though.

Doesn't make up for the fact he's a twat.

English is my 349829th language.

Simon could probably sing the entire DM catalogue quite capably without breaking a sweat. Gahan would have no chance with "The Reflex", "Hungry Like The Wolf", "Rio", "Wild Boys" ...

Duran Duran songs on which Gahan would sound amazing: "All She Wants Is", "Union of the Snake", "Ordinary World" (if you think about it, it's very similar to "Condemnation").

i'm thinking abou that really hard.

similar? well, in that it's a song, yes ...

;)

The melodies aren't the same, rather, the similarities to my ears are mainly in the singing.

lebon's higher range hits these weird dog frequencies and is really, really thing, the very picture of a guy crushing his nuts for a high A.

Dave has developed a comely richness in his tone, his technique sometimes verges on the Mel Torme-y, and he's been shaving more lately.

It's far more accurate to say 'Dave Gahan and his on-stage histrionics.'

"GOOD EVENING PASADENA! AWRIGHT, YEAH!"

It's an incorrect characterization of the vocals. There's nothing inherently wrong with histrionic vocals.

They're not so much vocalists as frontmen, no? They seem more about charisma than anything else.

All the drugs made him think he was in the Doors. I can still remember the first time I saw him in his leather pants touching him *there*. I of course HAD to buy the album the same week. That's what I liked about Dave: he was a little dorky guy who wanted to be rock so much, but you always knew it was just an act.

"Awright New Yawk! You ready to rock!"

Which is exactly why I didn't "get" Songs Of Faith And Devotion when it came out. I remember shaking my head at DG on the cover of Details and thinking "Where's Dave Gahan and what have they done with him? Who's this Chris Cornell stunt-double?"
It took me years to get over my preudice and admit that SOFAD was as a good a record as Violator.

Dave's actual singing voice has improved drastically since he cleaned up. On the older stuff you can often hear him reaching for notes and not quite hitting them, like he's too tired/strung out for a retake. On the new stuff you can tell he gives a shit again, and it's not just Pro Tools and Auto-Tune - he's really singing.

See also: prejudice.

Oh damn, you're right! That *would* have been cool! Hey, wait a sec! Neither of them are gone from this earth just yet! There's still time!

My opinion on this matter really hasn't changed, BTW; I still think this would be a tie race as far as pure vocal quality is concerned, but that Dave Gahan is a much better man than Simon Le Bon is or possibly could ever hope to be (sadly). I would love to eat my words here, though; if I hear of Simon halting his consumption of Peruvian Marching Powder and actually acknowledging in multiple high-profile interviews that the band's 1986 - 2000 period actually bloody EXISTED (let alone produced some of the band's finest output), I will welcome Simon back into my heart. Otherwise -- sorry, Le Bon.

Vice versa? "A Question Of Trust" or any other DM song ML Gore has sung on.

oh yes, Dave "Pelvis" Gahan - i do like DM but I felt a bit embarrassed when I saw them live. Anyway, Gahan seems to be a nice guy.