"pretty boy" music

wondering if anyone here can help me with a constellation of stuff i've been thinking about for a long time. simply put, music that evokes a pretty boy singing it (nb: actual boy singing does not have to be pretty or particularly young). it started with me noticing some pretty strong commonalities in a lot of my favourite male-fronted pop music, like a very poised & cool but also effeminate (potentially breezy) vocal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5IRI4oHKNU
also a certain degree of puritanism or cleanliness, sometimes veering off into the pastoral
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h2R86hZGKo
a lot of garage gives me this vibe too, but nothing raucous or overly raw, or snotty/mick jagger vocals. a modern example that really nails it, tho plenty of nuggets & contemporaries do too (knickerbockers, early manfred mann)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acFsHev3mQQ
not that this is a strictly 60's thing, think a lot of smiths & pet shop boys work into this. new romantic/new wave has a shot but nothing too beleaguered. poppier glam too, maybe (i dont know a lot about glam). in general indie pop has a strong shot going in but most of it squanders it with less than perfectly confident vocals & general twee symptoms. an exception
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_i1xk07o4g
also don't mean to paint this as a uniquely white thing, but i am kind of stretching to find examples of black artists. some 10/10 pretty boy canon gold though
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzrXc68gNjQ

a couple things that (though sometimes wonderful) aren't & might be worth noting: david bowie, male diva house (too direct & overwhelming but i think there's a necessary detached cool to this stuff--ito dance vocals benoit & sergio strike me as a good example of this not in the diva tradition), david byrne/vocalists that sound like david byrne (maybe obvious)

so i guess i am asking for, more? might be interesting to see how different things push up against the boundaries, or if anyone else feels similarly. no idea if anyone else will be interested but theres some pop cognoscenti here

caetano veloso?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsT6qgwJzAk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yKr8Q8PNuc

totally xp

I guess that EWF song is not very "poised and cool," maybe I don't "get" this "at" "all."

no that was a good one!

Super 80s?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T14JaSO7Iqc&feature=watch_response_rev

coloma?

i am also thinking things like pale fountains and their early 80s ilk

This video is totally cracking me up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u1u3Q-G5xI&feature=related

not sure if this fits, but it's the first thing that popped into my mind:

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

xp la lechera -- okay, no. maybe i just don't like the song and i'm lying though? not much "youth" to it. i think that strain of vocal style is a departure from this, a half step towards a more strained modern rock vocal style? or into like, constellation of music for a naked woman in a bath

(cutting crew)

it's horrible! i just wanted to see if that's what you mean -- because those men in blazers on the rooftop are not really hitting the mark for me either, yknow.

the toto video is hilarious, but not at all what you're looking for
ie, it is UNCOOL and i think the music you want is way cooler (or "cooler") than toto feat. michael mcdonald

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnhreezv2E4

haha this is awesome, brainwasher

It sounds to me like you're just talking about "nice" clean tenor vocals (or the higher end of the baritone range) without any distortion or grit to them. But also on the breathier, head voice side of things as opposed to more twangy or belting sounds. And maybe with a slight english accent?

What about John Martyn?
(this is a really trad folk song, but he is def doing his own interpretation and his voice sometimes reminds me of Colin Blunstone)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk8OsZESTxg

einh

haha ok i will try again

also, I think the appeal of someone like Lloyd (and Ne-Yo) totally falls in line with this, he's a very mannered, cool, slightly effeminate vocal stylist... so maybe a track like this fits?:

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

wait a second -- ISB fits, but not John Martyn? What about other UK folk dudes, like Bert Jansch/Pentangle?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AuslO9f2sE

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

rolling pretty boy thread

flopson have you ever listened to the band Felt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E10ckD4yD6M

Felt is a good suggestion! How about this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCqyV9GiM-4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-wekAq-s34&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA-e1nqR5qI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLSKfNVbEa8

i have no issue w/pretty boys but otis redding? no way

luther vandross, sure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVhNi5cU8mo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wi2bi9-ZUI

The Aerovons - world of you
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN-LkeJzXak

The Cheepskates - run better run
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rulOmqtsiDs&feature=related

Air.

no one suggested chris isaak yet?!

http://www.creation-records.com/site/wp-content/uploads/ride-wide.jpg

^ now I see TM already posted the Vapour Trail video, but yeah

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

From Bubblegum to Sky - Hello Hello Hi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAtUw6lxcis

The Undertones - Teenage Kicks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDTZ7iX4vTQ

Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub36ffWAqgQ

Phoenix - If I Ever Feel Better

I guess I associate androgynous voices with pretty boys.

But more in line with OP's perception:

Box Tops - Neon Rainbow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5xORduJt9Q

Emitt Rhodes?