The Singer, Not the Song

Jarboe Frank Black Al Green Ben Weasel Mick Jagger Louis Armstrong Wayne Coyne Cat Stevens Michael Gira Elvis Presley

Strangely I don't know if I've ever thought about this before. But I can easily name ten that I like a fair deal: Mimi Parker, Bob Dylan, Corrin Tucker, Tricky, J. Robbins, Aidan Moffat, Q-Tip, J. Spaceman. I should stop now because I'm starting to deliberate. (Oh look, I named a rapper. Oops.)

All my favorite singers couldnt sing.

Geez, that's hard. I'd probably have to say: Jessye Norman
Dave Gahan
Martin Gore
Thomas Quasthof
Patti Labelle
Donna Summer
Christine Goerke
Ian Bostridge
Maynard Keenan
Take 6 (yes, I know that's cheating)

The frustrating thing is that there are a bunch of others who could on this list... Prince, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, Robert Smith, Morrissey, Siouxsie Sioux, Ian Curtis, Shara Nelson, Liz Frasier, Beth Gibbons, Louise Rhodes, Jarvis Cocker, Sinead O'Connor, Kurt Ralske, Toni Braxton, Marvin Gaye, Bjork, etc... I could really just go on for days.

morrissey stephin merritt michael gira siouxsie sioux lydia lunch nagamani srinath pandit bhimsen joshi david hykes

the other 2 later.

nick drake

Off the top of my head:

Neko Case George Jones Elvis Presley Iris Dement Sam Cooke Al Green Buju Banton Bruce Springsteen Jeff Buckley Corin Tucker

I'm sure there's a thousand better singers that I can't think of right now.

Ten could be tough. Number one by a long shot for me is Nina Simone. I only have a few things by her, but the way she uses her voice seems to me about the most "artistic" of anyone I could name. Too many crappy songs, though. Tom Waits is another favorite. Stephen Malkmus. Johnny Hartman. Kurt Cobain. Patsy Cline. Elvis (esp. the falsetto on "Blue Moon" on The Sun Sessions, another Great Pop Moment by the way.) Dylan. Yeah, vocals matter, a whole lot I'd say. But fortnately there are so many ways to be a great singer.

coming up with ten i guess makes it easier to choose obvious stuff like roy orbison, carl wilson, sam cooke, harriet wheeler, lesley gore, jeff mangum, the nasal guy from omd, mary wyer, liz fraser, ian masters, chris knox

jerry garcia, bjork, johnny cash, willie nelson, bob dylan, chan marshall, adam duritz, nico, janis joplin, nick cave

I listen to indie and the singers voice is important for me but mostly that I like it and that it's special and unique in some way not that it sounds like Celine Dion but at the same time I very much enjoy "good" vocalists like Jeff Buckley etc. The vocals on the JJ72 track that is on the latest NME-cd is amazing! Makes my hair stand on my arms.

josh: if i thought you'd answer this question, i probably would've bet you as the first to name a rapper. as it was, i didn't think you placed a premium on singing so that you could name ten singers you liked! you named dylan, and so have a number of you actually. what is it that you find appealing about him, because it is his voice that puts me off of him. to me, he works best covered. as for me:
ray charles
sam cooke
al green
george jones
roy orbison
otis redding
frank sinatra
dusty springfield
levi stubbs
scott walker

honorable mention: aretha franklin (right now, she just strikes me as too good, so much so that her impact is lessened -- it's like rooting for the yankees. but it could be different tomorrow), wilson pickett, rod stewart, stevie wonder, james carr, elvis presley, johnny cash, little richard, etc.

Rapping is not singing. Ergo, if you want rappers named, you need to use the phrase "Best vocalist". Which would really be more appropriate anyhow because we are not talking about the technical merit of their singing, necessarily, although that could enter into it. Pedantry, but...

Anyhow, erm, these are semi-random choices and I might just change these from day to day, honestly. It depends on my mood. These are pretty good choices I think though: Debbie Harry, Jarvis Cocker, Ronnie Spector, James Dean Bradfield, Al Green, Isaac Hayes, Ian Curtis, Roger Daltrey, Stevie Wonder, Sam Cooke.

Yes, there are some voices I just can't get past, Bob Dylan being a huge one - he's just grating, I don't understand the appeal and I too would like a Dylanist to explain why they're into him, what is it about their voice...

chuck d, levi stubbs, and bruce springsteen are probably my top three...here are a bunch of others: frank sinatra, roy orbison, ronnie spector, johnny cash, elvis costello, prince, paul westerberg, LL Cool J, ice cube, kurt cobain, q-tip, snoop dogg, britt daniel

I think singing counts for a lot. That's not to say that a voice has to be technically great, but there has to be something there to grab you and pull you into the song. In no particular order...

Scott Walker Dusty Springfield Mary Wells Morrissey Bryan Ferry Smokey Robinson Karen Carpenter Johnny Cash Serge Gainsbourg Ronnie Spector

Mmmh. Some really strange answers strike me. Jerry Garcia? The "nasal guy from OMD"? ("Enola Gay" is way cool, but "Joan of Arc" is a crime.) Ian Bostridge? Who is that? Sounds like he could be in Disco Inferno, or any glum Glasgow band, someone please enlighten me... Some names feel as odd as if I said Wayne Hussey. Some joker (or really earnest Mish freak ) will soon say Wayne Hussey, just you wait... Tastes and emotional responses seem so random. As Mark Richardson puts it: "there are so many ways to be a great singer".

What's a great voice anyway? I mean, if you take the term "singer" strictly as "vocalist". Does Celiiine have a great voice, really? How can we compare Cave to Morrissey, or Lisa Gerrard to Stevie Nicks, on a strictly vocal basis? We can't, so surely charisma and songs must constitute a great part of what we consider to be a great singer. Besides, a great vocalist with bad songs is ultimately a bad singer, I reckon. Somehow, as much as we might try to, it appears impossible to fully dissociate the interpretation and the voice itself from the type of music/appreciation we have of a particular type of music or band.

So, midnight ramblings aside, Simon says |-- at random --|

Bob Marley, Mick Jagger, Loran/François of Bérurier Noir (counts as one), David Bowie, Barbara, Anita Lane, Stiv Bators, Nina Hagen, Bruce Springsteen, Ronnie Spector.

I don't like the idea of having favorite singers, not today at least. But here are some I enjoy:

Scott Walker
Nick Cave
Dusty Springfield
Corin Tucker
Andre 3000
Pig Pen
Stephen Merritt
John Fogerty
Method Man
Yamatsuka Eye
Blind Willie Johnson
Jeff Mangum
Captain Beefheart

With some people, grating is kind of the point. If I like the music, chances are I'll like the voice. Robert Wyatt can suck me off.

Ian Bostridge is the "new" classical tenor from the UK. He's known as something of an expert on Britten and won a Grammy last year for a CD of Britten art songs. I heard him sing the tenor part to Britten's "War Requiem" and was absolutely blown away. (That's when I also heard Christine Goerke and Thomas Quasthof.)

Since I'm babbling about classical singers, I forgot to mention Renee Fleming, Rene Pape, Frederica Von Stadt, and Susanne Metzner.

Celine Dion and Mariah Carey both have excellent voices, but often do dubious material (especially Celine, who I believe has yet to release something that wasn't yawnworthy). Christina Aguilera has a strong, full, excellent voice, but her rampaging refusal to stop riffing renders her almost unlistenable. Whitney Houston is one flat crackhead.

This reminds me, Rachelle Farrell and Cassandra Wilson are both excellent, as well, as are Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, and I'm stopping now so that I can get some sleep.

Vince Niel (unique voice for the hair metal period), Freddie Mercury (amazing vocals), Bruce Dickinson (listen to him scream at the end of Run for the Hills), Van Morrison (unique, I always enjoy it), Anthony Kietis (funky and spiritual, just like the music), Pat Benetar (professionally trained, results showed), Axl Rose (down and dirty hard rock, the only vocalist that could have worked for that band), Robert Plant (although he sometimes sounded like someone was tugging on his balls, he could sure reach some good ones).

My least favorite lead singers: Dave Mustaine (great guitar, shitty voice) and Roger Daltry and Pete Townsend (they think nasal pinched is in)

The last answer reminds me - Chris Cornell.

Fred - just because I like indie music doesn't mean I can't like singing. It also doesn't mean I can't like the "good" kind of singing that you are thinking of. I like music, period. That means I place a premium on everything, at some time or another. I think at the moment I'll let someone else explain Dylan's appeal, though (hint: the mumbling and nasal tone etc. are good points, not bad points).

Jennifer Herrema is hands down the best singer of all tine.

After that i go for lots of 'weak' voices: Astrud Gilberto, Stevie Nicks, Bjork, Patti Smith, Method Man, Rakim, Bryan Ferry, Francoise Hardy, Johnny Rotten, Kate Bush.

And put me in the "Bob Dylan what's the fuckin'deal?" group.

Dylan's one of my favourite singers, but thinking about it a bad Dylan song is not improved by his singing. So I think more than ever that it's down to the tone and the phrasing i.e. he needs good material to work with. His voice is at its best on cryptic hipster put-down stuff where a stray emphasis can turn around the whole meaning of the song. And he could do storytelling stuff and tender stuff too, as a listen to Blood On The Tracks suggests.

Dylan's folksinging stuff has him sounding much less exciting than the electric stuff - the thrilling thing about the electric stuff is how he seemingly electrified his *voice*, too: the music on Highway 61 Revisited and the singles from around that time has a realy abrasive aesthetic to it. Everything - the voice, the music, the harmonica, is new and rough and angular sounding.

With later Dylan the voice is even 'worse' - froggier, more morose - but nobody does world-weary quite as well.

Other people? Well I like soul singers a lot but I'm not listening to much soul at the moment so I'll only say Al Green, the only one I *never* get bored of. There's something mystical about his voice. I think a lot of people writing about soul voices are really lazy - they take it as holy writ that Aretha etc. have amazing voices and never really try to get inside what makes them amazing.

Julie London. Peggy Lee I love what I've heard but I need to hear more. The male crooners don't appeal much currently, for whatever reason.

Nobody's mentioned Lydon yet which surprises me. Again, like Dylan, he's very dependent on his material.There's a miniature vocal tradition of kind of soul-punk crossover singers in UK indie and I almost always enjoy it - Vic Godard, Edwyn Collins, Kevin Rowland. Trampled now by the rock bellow and bluster of Gallagher etc.

I find it easier to think of amazing vocal performances than I do singers. Vocals are enormously important to me but I don't really follow singers.

---- Nobody's mentioned Lydon yet which surprises me. ----

ahem, I did. Although as Rotten :) Best sneer ever and maybe the best r-sound in pophistory. Expample: "I want to go underrrrrr the Berrrrrrlin Wall". Or is there per chance another Lydon?

Ray Davies. Mary Lorson (Madder Rose/Saint Low). Mark E Smith. Johnny Thunders. Claudia Brucken. Billy MacKenzie. Shaun Ryder. Ella Fitzgerald. Steve Marriot. Alex Chilton.

And about 300 others...

I do wish I had the energy or the inspiration to say something cogent and compelling on this topic, rather than just trot out an unannotated list which looks the same as everyone else's, but there we are...

Mary Margaret O'Hara Julie London Margaret Fiedler Kristin Hersh Emmylou Harris Ana da Silva Martina Topley-Bird Tricky Jane Siberry Scott Walker Colin Blunstone Bamale Pyerr Anita O'Day Chet Baker Bobbie Gentry Katherine Whalen (based on that one song) Blossom Dearie (based on the name, and the cover photo to her '56 debut) Howard Devoto Griff Rhys-Jones

I hit a carriage-return after every single one of those names...

Bah, you can stick this forum up your arse. FT is bollocks, btw.

One great singer that no one has mentioned yet is Levon Helm of The Band. Worst singer in a band I otherwise love has to be Tim Armstrong from Rancid. A couple of people here have mentioned Jeff Mangum, and at first I thought they meant Jim Mangrum from Black Oak Arkansas, which would have been freakin' hilarious.

My ten favourite singers are, in no order: J Mascis; Brett Michaels; Carl Wilson; Mike Love; Jeff Magnum; Billy Corgan; Jon bon Jovi; Alice Cooper; Dave Mustaine; Sebastian Bach. Come to think of it, I really don't think about singers that much...alot of vocalists sound the same to me, I've chosen vocalists I can recall!...so I guess it's what they are singing rather than how they sing it that appeals. Worst vocalist is definitely that guy from the Stereophonics *puke*.

hm, i actually like Dave Mustaine's voice. That's the only reason i even have a Megadeth album. I also like Robert Plant. And Billie Corgan. I don't know why. But as for my top ten, right now, i'd say billie holiday, jarboe, the woman who sings in amp, robert smith, martina topley-bird, prince, bjork, one of the guys from massive attack, tina root, mike patton

Sam Cooke's voice and those strange intervals he hits are the most amazing thing ever, other than that: Ozzy Osbourne, Billie Holiday, John Lydon, Mark E Smith, Christine Sixteen, Iggy Stooge, Mary J Blige, Gerry Rosalie, Iris Dement, John Fogerty, and loads of others. Rappers aren't singers, as Ally pointed out. Vocals are extremely important; in rock, vocal charisma is generally what separates garage bands from interesting bands, and in pop, if the vocals aren't part of the hook in some way you're pretty much nowhere. Joy Division is probably the classic example of a band I can't get into, solely because of the vocals.

Steady Mike - what's the problem? I really love so many of the artists you mentioned: eg, London Margaret (didn't Butler base the 'Mrs London' character on her?), Harris ('Harry') Ana, Martina (usually known as Navratilova too! - but I guess you big tennis fans get to feel intimate with them), Tricky Jane (I love her 'Janey Does Tricks' ep, 1997, especially), Siberry Scott (Selina's sister a one-hit wonder with 'Shetland Clouds Cry For Me' in May 1985), Walker Colin (loved that summer single 'A Rambler Will I Be' - 87, was it?), Blunstone Bamale (Tigers of Wooze, 93 - amazing the way he clashed Malaysian exotica with that Bolton working-man's-club vibe), Baker Bobbie (that 1988 Good Friday 45 about the buns!! classic!), Gentry Katherine (best, I think, and at her most polemical, on the 1984 LP 'F*** The Proletariat, and the Bourgeoisie Too, Louisa'), and Whalen (based on that one song) - yes, it's true, the song of the whalen' industry is singular yet haunting, and somehow conveys the blue-hued blueness of the deep depths).

My god, nobody has mentioned Kim Deal yet...her voice is so i dunno a word with lot of ssss's, ah well delicious will do.

Tom Verlaine, Lawrence from Felt, Lloyd Cole, Bernard Sumner (he's good at 'ows!'), Stuart Murdoch, Alasdair Maclean

Kate McGarrigle, Anna McGarrigle, Sandy Denny, Pam Berry

With male vocalists, my choices are based on whether or not I like the voice. I prefer female vocalists with high voices. With female vocalists, ability matters, but overall, it doesn't matter enough for me to pursue the female vocalists that I like on account of their abilities. I'm hoping this will change because it seems awfully sexist.

It will come to me later.

aw, 'joan of arc' is great!

others-russell moose, keith blueboy, ant from hefner, davey butler, euros childs

Ok, I suppose I should put down some names...Hank Williams,Morrissey,Stevie Nicks, John Lydon, Elvis Presley, Tom Waits, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain,Snoop Dogg and there's a Brazilian singer called Virginia Rodrigues who is awesome.

scott walker;rakim(the greatest rapper of them all);karen carpenter;donna summer;beth orton;levi stubbs;roger daltry;chaka khan (primarily for 'ain't nobody);ian curtis;marvin gaye.thanks.

I've never been here before, but I just peeked in and I have to give my two cents worth. Not that anyone cares.

Thom Yorke (anyone who doesn't have a Radiohead album is seriously missing out. They always give you something new, something thoughtful, something you were never quite ready for. I listen to Ok Computer twice a week for the last four years)

Tim Armstrong (raw and powerful, this guy sings with conviction to a crowd that has been brought up by faux punk bands, willing to snarl at the corporate piggies and croon to a lost love, one of the only punkers out there with true credability)

Roger Waters (who doesn't like Pink Floyd? And does anyone out there have any respect for these heathens?)

BB King

John Popper

Billie Joe Armstrong (great fake english accent....it's just damn fun)

Bono (best live show I've ever seen)

Dave Grohl

•Thom Yorke
•Björk
•Teresa Salgueiro (Madredeus)
•Kristin Hersh
•Beth Gibbons
•Louis Armstrong
•Jeff Buckley
•Jón Thór Birgisson
•Elvis Costello
•Billie Holiday

I feel like that list is a bit of an obvious one. Hmmmmm...I'll think of more, better ones later.

Oooh...and Ade Blackburn.

revive

I think it's more about delivery and vocal quality than singing ability, though the latter can help. Favorites:

David Berman
Guy Picciotto
Skip James
Louis Armstrong
Paulinho Da Viola
Bill Callahan
Kris Kristofferson
Johnny Cash

Annie Lennox
Cyndi Lauper
Maynard James Keenan
Nick Cave
Ronnie James Dio
Elvis Costello
Robert Smith
Patsy Cline
Johnny Cash
Willie Nelson
Chris Cornell

hon mentions: Lucinda Williams, Mike Ness, Joey Ramone