Your favorite "Terrible" singing voices:

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Mine is probablly Tom Verlaine's

― FreighTrainMan, Monday, 26 February 2007 14:04 (eighteen years ago)

There is some NME band where the singer sounds so much like Tom Verlaine it's not funny. I can't remember which band maybe Razorlight?

― the next grozart, Monday, 26 February 2007 14:23 (eighteen years ago)

Biz Markie
Robert Forster (not "terrible", but certainly awkward)
Jamie T

― henry s, Monday, 26 February 2007 15:23 (eighteen years ago)

Chie Mukai of Ché-SHIZU. wonderful, horrible voice.

― Mr. Hal Jam, Monday, 26 February 2007 15:28 (eighteen years ago)

I will add Fee Waybill (The Tubes) to my list as well...

― henry s, Monday, 26 February 2007 15:29 (eighteen years ago)

Captain Beefheart
John Lydon

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Monday, 26 February 2007 17:58 (eighteen years ago)

I love biz marky's voice! Damn, sounds like he has a tomato crammed into his sinuses or somthing...

― FreighTrainMan, Monday, 26 February 2007 18:25 (eighteen years ago)

Robert Smith. When I was 14 I asked for "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me" for X-mas without ever hearing the Cure before because it was the hot rock group to know about in high school. I was ecstatic when I opened the cassette on Christmas morn, but before I could play it our new puppy got a hold of it and thought it was his chew toy. He pulled most of the tape out of the cassette. My dad fixed it, but when we put it in the cassette player we weren't so sure. When Robert comes in half way through "The Kiss", I'll always remember my dad asking me "Are you sure this is what it's supposed to sound like--like two cats fighting in a sack?" Having never heard the Cure before I wasn't sure. I thought the tape may have been ruined by our dog--to a kid raised on copious amounts of Hall & Oates and Lionel Richie, "The Kiss" can certainly sound like a ruined cassette. I soon came to love the Cure and Robert's voice and learned that yes, it usually does sound like two cats fighting in a sack.

― MC, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:21 (eighteen years ago)

hey that reminds me!:

Luke Jenner, of The Rapture

― henry s, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:26 (eighteen years ago)

also:

Jim Dandy of Black Oak Arkansas

― henry s, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:27 (eighteen years ago)

David Byrne back before he learned to sing, probably greater than David Byrne after he learned to sing.

― nickalicious, Monday, 26 February 2007 22:48 (eighteen years ago)

Also:

Jello Biafra
Michael Stipe
Joanna Newsum lol

― nickalicious, Monday, 26 February 2007 22:49 (eighteen years ago)

vini reilly

― electricsound, Monday, 26 February 2007 22:56 (eighteen years ago)

David Gedge
Calvin Johnson
Jello Biafra
Doc Corbin Dart

― Colonel Poo, Monday, 26 February 2007 22:58 (eighteen years ago)

Captain Beefheart has a reallyy strong voice and can really carry a tune. I think he's a very good singer.

― Tim Ellison, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:00 (eighteen years ago)

reallyy he does

― Tim Ellison, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:00 (eighteen years ago)

Mark E Smith
Mick Derrick

― emil.y, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:08 (eighteen years ago)

Neil Young
Lee Marvin
Chas (of Chas & Dave)
Andy Fairweather Low
Joe Strummer (and Mick Jones)
Phil Oakey (Human League)
Shane MacGowan
Lily Allen

― roger whitaker, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:32 (eighteen years ago)

Phil Oakey has a bad singing voice? I'll grant that it's unique.

― Tim Ellison, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:36 (eighteen years ago)

John Jacob Niles, David Thomas, Tom Waits

― blunt, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:37 (eighteen years ago)

Robert Smith.

― Geir Hongro, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:38 (eighteen years ago)

Dan Treacy
Mark E. Smith

― molly mummenschanz, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:38 (eighteen years ago)

The Residents

― blunt, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:38 (eighteen years ago)

Tunito Takahashi

― JW, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:41 (eighteen years ago)

Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Exene Cervenka

― blunt, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:41 (eighteen years ago)

Nico

― blunt, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:43 (eighteen years ago)

"Phil Oakey has a bad singing voice? I'll grant that it's unique.

Tim Ellison"

I bet Simon Cowell wouldn't rate him : )

I admit he was borderline for me - but his Love Action vocals are great and terrible

― roger whitaker, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:43 (eighteen years ago)

i love the man, but Lee Perry

― outdoor_miner, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:43 (eighteen years ago)

― roger whitaker, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:44 (eighteen years ago)

axle rose

― m coleman, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:51 (eighteen years ago)

ozzy

― m coleman, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:51 (eighteen years ago)

david bowie

― m coleman, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:52 (eighteen years ago)

Ol' Dirty Bastard
Axl W. Rose seconded

― The Reverend, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:56 (eighteen years ago)

dino valente

― m coleman, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 00:01 (eighteen years ago)

chris youlden from savoy brown had a bizarre croak of a voice, he could've been called the Blues Frog. onstage he sat on a stool.

― m coleman, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 00:03 (eighteen years ago)

Jason Anderson
Win Butler
Spencer Krug
John Darnielle
Jeff Mangum

― St3ve Go1db3rg, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 00:06 (eighteen years ago)

exene cervenka

― m coleman, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 00:06 (eighteen years ago)

Ralf Hutter

― Tim Ellison, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 00:12 (eighteen years ago)

you call that singing

― blunt, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 00:12 (eighteen years ago)

Malcolm Mooney

― Tim Ellison, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 00:15 (eighteen years ago)

I mean there can be no justification for the crap vocals of Kraftwerk. They's jist wrong, dangit

― blunt, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 00:16 (eighteen years ago)

rock singers in general innit

― latebloomer, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 00:20 (eighteen years ago)

Kurt Cobain in wot, no Kurt Cobain yet? shocka

― blunt, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 00:26 (eighteen years ago)

Roberto Alagna, of course. And! Siouxsie.

― blunt, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 00:34 (eighteen years ago)

Come on guys -- this is turning into "Singers I like that some other people don't."

― Mark Rich@rdson, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 01:26 (eighteen years ago)

Kim Fowley, especially when he's pretending to pretend to sound sincere.

― dlp9001, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 01:27 (eighteen years ago)

malkmus

hardly terrible, but pretty bland. but i love it. at least until pavement stopped existing

― Charlie Howard, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 05:11 (eighteen years ago)

Dory Previn <3

― Saxby D. Elder, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 06:25 (eighteen years ago)

john cale
john simon
brian eno
neil young
dave swarbrick
liz phair
sean o'hagan
nico

― gershy, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 06:37 (eighteen years ago)

Captain Beefheart

Ha ha, that's ridiculous, he's a "great" singer. Lou Reed, of course.

― Tom D., Tuesday, 27 February 2007 10:32 (eighteen years ago)

Malkmus bland? No way. Maybe on S&E, but by CR/CR, the feeling and empathy in his voice is incredible.

― ledge, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 10:41 (eighteen years ago)

janis joplin

― m coleman, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 11:33 (eighteen years ago)

yoko ono

― m coleman, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 11:33 (eighteen years ago)

there are false knowledge here

― sexyDancer, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 16:46 (eighteen years ago)

M Ward biznitches!

― kv_nol, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 08:50 (eighteen years ago)

Captain Beefheart has a reallyy strong voice and can really carry a tune. I think he's a very good singer.

Tim Ellison on Monday, February 26, 2007 5:00 PM (Yesterday)

I agree that his voice is really strong and that he can sing in a conventionally beautiful way when he wants to, but I'm thinking primarily of Trout Mask, Decals & Doc wherein he sings odder melodies in his inimitable-and-great-but-"weird" voice.

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 14:37 (eighteen years ago)

Leonard Cohen is a good choice

― Killwhitey, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 18:59 (eighteen years ago)

Leonard Cohen

― Killwhitey, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 18:59 (eighteen years ago)

I would love to hear Leonard Cohen singing Richard Harris' "Mac Arthur Park." It would be a dream come true.

― molly mummenschanz, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 19:26 (eighteen years ago)

Jim Dandy of Black Oak Arkansas

absolutely!

terry stamp of third world war springs immediately to mind, for me. dude wrote some great songs but his voice could peel paint.

― GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 19:26 (eighteen years ago)

hmm, interesting thread really. chris kenner kind of yowls sometime--I love his voice.

robert wyatt's voice drives a lot of people nuts; as does roy wood's, I've found. (relationship foundering on my love for roy wood's boulders.) but they hit the notes, so perhaps not "terrible." I mean john cale was once a great screamer, now his voice isn't what it was. he started sounding gauce around the honi soit album. above, I don't quite get the mention of andy fairweather low, always thought he had a cool voice, quite nice actually. beefheart, well, that's beefheart, take that shit or leave it. I say hobo chang ba.

― whisperineddhurt, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 19:38 (eighteen years ago)

wayne coyne
andrew eldritch when he gets all "intense"
chris cornell circa 2006 because it makes me laugh

― the sir weeze, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 23:14 (eighteen years ago)

bob dylan, especially pre-nashville skyline

― Mr. Snrub, Thursday, 1 March 2007 04:45 (eighteen years ago)

'I don't quite get the mention of andy fairweather low, always thought he had a cool voice, quite nice actually."

whispernedhurt

You're right - it was nice - but 'reedy' I thinks is the expression to describe it

― roger whitaker, Friday, 2 March 2007 00:33 (eighteen years ago)

Jeffrey Lee Pierce

― Lostandfound, Friday, 2 March 2007 00:51 (eighteen years ago)

Bjork / Coyne / MacGowan / Young / Ian Brown / Nico.

― Huey in Melbourne, Friday, 2 March 2007 00:56 (eighteen years ago)

This thread baffles me.

― circa1916, Friday, 2 March 2007 06:41 (eighteen years ago)

Lately, as a result of the Henrik Schwartz DJ Kicks, I've been thinking a lot about Arthur Rusell's voice - finding it really funny and great- although I get the feeling I'd bring up a fair deal of harking upon myself by posting here that it's 'terrible'

― mehlt, Friday, 2 March 2007 08:46 (eighteen years ago)

I'm always being told how Bob Dylan's got a terrible voice, but I don't buy it.

― The Wayward Johnny B, Friday, 2 March 2007 08:54 (eighteen years ago)

I would love to hear Leonard Cohen singing Richard Harris' "Mac Arthur Park." It would be a dream come true.

genius. you've just redefined my purpose in life.

― m the g, Friday, 2 March 2007 09:23 (eighteen years ago)

four years pass...

karen dalton
mike nesmith
skip spence
bryan maclean

― buzza, Monday, 22 August 2011 06:43 (fourteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5IEz_w8COM

― like "live and let die" but stupid (Drugs A. Money), Monday, 22 August 2011 06:48 (fourteen years ago)

http://i.imgur.com/lzAfQ.jpg

― markers, Monday, 22 August 2011 06:48 (fourteen years ago)

― like "live and let die" but stupid (Drugs A. Money), Monday, 22 August 2011 06:49 (fourteen years ago)

Gordon Gano (Violent Femmes)

― Lee547 (Lee626), Monday, 22 August 2011 07:35 (fourteen years ago)

This thread baffles me.

― circa1916, Friday, March 2, 2007 6:41 AM (4 years ago) Bookmark

Yep, loads of people mentioned have really good singing voices.

― Inevitable stupid samba mix (chap), Monday, 22 August 2011 07:51 (fourteen years ago)

yeah, for instance i don't feel like robert smith is a terrible singer at all. he hits his notes and everything, even when he's yowling. and his early stuff isn't all 2-cats-in-a-sack - that's like an artistic choice he makes a few albums in, and to good effect. like, i tried to imagine "just like heaven" sung by a regular person, and i just don't think it would have ever taken off as a classic tune without robert over-emoting and camping up the lyrics like he did (and all later versions, with or without yowling, are trading off his original vocals)

it is an pretty strong affectation though so i can see how some people might put it in the "terrible" camp

david byrne is perhaps the only "terrible" singer i can stand, i think. he misses notes as often as not, has a weird timbre and everything, but it's part of his deal and it just wouldn't be talking heads if he didn't sing like that. i'm also down with nico's voice, but yeah i thought hers was pretty godawful at first

― messiahwannabe, Monday, 22 August 2011 07:56 (fourteen years ago)

Do people mean "unpolished" or "unusual"? Cos neither of those=terrible.

― Inevitable stupid samba mix (chap), Monday, 22 August 2011 08:00 (fourteen years ago)

My definition of terrible, as far as this thread is concerned, is: If Ronan Keating did a cover version, would it be much more 'sensible'?

― Mark G, Monday, 22 August 2011 08:07 (fourteen years ago)

Bernard Sumner wins this thread, can't believe he hasn't been mentioned.

― nate woolls, Monday, 22 August 2011 08:14 (fourteen years ago)

mmm, Ronan doing "Love Vigilantes" would be less sensible, but hey.

― Mark G, Monday, 22 August 2011 08:17 (fourteen years ago)

Andy Partridge

― Ban or Astro-Ban? (Ówen P.), Monday, 22 August 2011 16:41 (fourteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEuIug2Zl7g&playnext=1&list=PL69C30C2839E525E9

― The Freewheelin' Rebecca Black (Eazy), Monday, 22 August 2011 16:44 (fourteen years ago)

marissa marchant

― buzza, Monday, 22 August 2011 16:45 (fourteen years ago)

tony williams

― 69, Monday, 22 August 2011 17:08 (fourteen years ago)

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