Pop/Rock Singer of the Day thread (I wanna hear you scream)

[TAC]

I actually thought he was great. Obviously I didn't listen to INXS, other than radio/MTV, but I thought he had a style all his own. A shame he's gone.

[erwinrafael]

Michael is not an all-time great singer, but he is great in the field he chose to play in. I remember watching Rockstar INXS and all I can think of is how futile the exercise is.

[bl5150]

As a young kid I really enjoyed stuff like Burn For You and Listen Like Thieves but could not stand repetitive drivel like Suicide Blonde.  So love/hate for me but Michael was a great front man and I never got sick of their best songs despite being bombarded with them constantly (being an Aussie - they were HUGE here)

[bundy]

I saw INXS several times in the 80s and early 90s. First time was at the 1982 Adelaide University O Ball when they were the support band for Men at Work. Saw them again in Hobart (Dec. 1986) when they were the headline act of the Australian Made Tour.

https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/movies/inxs-and-jimmy-barnes-back-together-in-restored-rerelease-of-local-rock-movie-australian-made/news-story/9db9c00b13bdcecfa42bb38ead07e07a

Saw them a couple of more times in Darwin at the Gardens Amphitheatre.

Although they were a pretty good live act, and Hutchence was a charismatic frontman, I don't rate him as a great vocalist. Having lived through all the hype of INXS, I never really understood the God- like status that the Australian press and public afforded him. There was a even a very hyped TV miniseries here a couple of years back. As far as grea Aussie frontmen, I wouldn't put him in the same class as Jimmy Barnes (Cold Chisel), Doc Neeson (The Angels), Angry Anderson (Rose Tattoo) or Bon Scott (ACDC). The guy certainly had a way with the women though.

Favourite INXS tracks:

Speed Kills (Hutchence co-wrote this with Cold Chisel's Don Walker and it's on the Don Walker soundtrack album for the movie Freedom)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAH27QY1Kos

Don't Change

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLm3Khusq_8

[Stadler]

The verses to "Don't Change" are awesome, but again, please take a listen to "The Stairs" (and you have to listen to the whole thing, because it's not a "verse, chorus, verse, chorus" song; it builds).   What a great vocal. 

[hefdaddy42]

Obviously I didn't listen to INXS

Why "obviously"?

Anyway, he was OK, but certainly not an all-time vocalist by any means.  Lots of charisma and style, which goes a long way, but his chops were average at best, IMO.

[Lowdz]

I've got the greatest hits album but haven't played it in 20 years or so. One of those purchases from the single days in case of bringing a lady home

[King Postwhore]

He had a Jim Morrison vibe and style to him.  Slinky and sultry and could command the room.  Like it was said earlier, I loved when they were more rock (Don't Change, Listen Like Thieves ect..) than the dance beat songs. (Suicide Blonde...)

[TAC]

Obviously I didn't listen to INXS

Why "obviously"?

Cuz I was a metal dude 

 

[KevShmev]

please take a listen to "The Stairs" (and you have to listen to the whole thing, because it's not a "verse, chorus, verse, chorus" song; it builds).   What a great vocal.

I had never heard that before, but nice little tune. 

[KevShmev]

Steve Winwood



I am not sure how to describe Steve Winwood's voice, other than it has a very unique, husky quality to it.  He's not somebody you'd hear and be blown away by, but he had a very distinct voice and he knew how to use it.  Gimme Some Lovin', The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys and Valerie are three very different songs, from three different eras and decades, yet Winwood's voice helped carry all of them, albeit in different ways. Good singer and musician.

[TAC]

 

[Cool Chris]

... she is this generation's Kate Bush.

Sorry, but is Kate Bush big enough for anyone to be any generation's Kate Bush? I don't think I even know who Kate Bush is.

I played the shit out of my INXS Kick cassette too, but not sure I could tell you three of their songs now.

Not sure Winwood's vocals made his/Traffic's songs better than they would have been otherwise.

Maybe we need a WAR ranking or some sort of Sabermetrics for musicians to quantify their talents.

[bundy]

... she is this generation's Kate Bush.

Sorry, but is Kate Bush big enough for anyone to be any generation's Kate Bush? I don't think I even know who Kate Bush is.

Seriously? 

She was huge in the late 70s and through the early/mid 80s. She wrote Wuthering Heights along with most of the other tracks off her debut album including The Man with the Child in His Eyes, when she was 18. I don't know if you're a Peter Gabriel fan, but she did the duet "Don't Give Up" with him. As well as achieving great commercial success, many critics raved about her and continue to rave about her. Prog magazine even had her on their cover a couple of years back. Perhaps you haven't heard of her as she has not been particularly prolific. Her only albums have been https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Bush_discography
If you're less than 30 though and living in the US though, I suppose I can understand you're never having heard of her though, given that she didn't achieve the same chart success there that she did in Europe and Australia. Believe me, she was huge here for a few years in the late 70s, early 80s.

To show why I made my original statement comparing her to Lady Gaga.Remember she wrote these tracks (the first two when still only 18), did her own choreography and played a big part in the creation of the film clips.

Wuthering Heights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW3gKKiTvjs

The Man with the Child in his Eyes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAj8suae3WY

Babooshka

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xckBwPdo1c

Cloudbursting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pllRW9wETzw

[bl5150]

Kate Bush was great 

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


These guys were a bunch of local lads I knew at college who enjoyed taking the piss out of pretty much everything - note the band name and album title.  Good times haha

[TAC]

I don't think I even know who Kate Bush is.

I'm positive I don't know who Kate Bush is.

[KevShmev]

I'm positive that Kate Bush is not currently the featured pop/rock singer of the day.

[bl5150]

 

Winwood certainly has a distinctive voice (half the battle) and Valerie is the obvious song that comes to mind when I think of him.  Nice enough voice.   I didn't know about all his other exploits until I saw him playing with Eric Clapton and looked into his history.

[Stadler]

... she is this generation's Kate Bush.

Sorry, but is Kate Bush big enough for anyone to be any generation's Kate Bush? I don't think I even know who Kate Bush is.

Seriously? 

She was huge in the late 70s and through the early/mid 80s. She wrote Wuthering Heights along with most of the other tracks off her debut album including The Man with the Child in His Eyes, when she was 18. I don't know if you're a Peter Gabriel fan, but she did the duet "Don't Give Up" with him. As well as achieving great commercial success, many critics raved about her and continue to rave about her. Prog magazine even had her on their cover a couple of years back. Perhaps you haven't heard of her as she has not been particularly prolific. Her only albums have been https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Bush_discography
If you're less than 30 though and living in the US though, I suppose I can understand you're never having heard of her though, given that she didn't achieve the same chart success there that she did in Europe and Australia. Believe me, she was huge here for a few years in the late 70s, early 80s.

To show why I made my original statement comparing her to Lady Gaga.Remember she wrote these tracks (the first two when still only 18), did her own choreography and played a big part in the creation of the film clips.

Wuthering Heights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW3gKKiTvjs

The Man with the Child in his Eyes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAj8suae3WY

Babooshka

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xckBwPdo1c

Cloudbursting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pllRW9wETzw

Not to be argumentative, but the reality is somewhere in between, at least in America.  You should know who she is - I was there then, and her rep was that she was big in the UK and here she "was going to be legend" but never really stuck like the promise said she would.   She was arguably more famous here for that Gabriel song - you called Bush "huge"?   SO was HUGE - and her involvement with David Gilmour than anything she actually did.   Very talented, sure, cute, sure, but "huge"?  I'm not going that far.   

[Stadler]

I'm positive that Kate Bush is not currently the featured pop/rock singer of the day.

HAHA, nice! 

[Stadler]

Winwood certainly has a distinctive voice (half the battle) and Valerie is the obvious song that comes to mind when I think of him.  Nice enough voice.   I didn't know about all his other exploits until I saw him playing with Eric Clapton and looked into his history.

I've seen a couple posts that said that "Hutchence wasn't a great singer", and from the standpoint of "six octave range", you're probably right, but his voice was clear, and not at all pedestrian.  I'd actually put Winwood in the "wasn't a great singer" category before Hutchence.   I get it, Winwood is a legend (that Blind Faith record... ) but he never really clicked with me as a singer in the same way that, say, Elton John or Paul Rodgers did.

If you can't tell, I don't really like that scruffy, blue-eyed soul sound.  I was listening to Chris Stapleton on the Country Music Awards show and I was like "Ok, so your voice is scruffy and hard; that doesn't make you a great singer, or any more talented".  I actually think it's harder to sing in that clear, sustained way that, say, Sting does, or Elton John did back in the day (listen to "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" or "High Flying Bird" for what I'm talking about). 

[hefdaddy42]

Yeah, Kate Bush is definitely not "huge" here in the U.S. and never has been.

[KevShmev]

I wouldn't have a clue who Kate Bush is if she hadn't done Don't Give Up with Peter Gabriel. And the live version with Paula Cole is miles better anyway.

[King Postwhore]

She was on MTV a ton in the 80's.   

Winwood has this slight rasp that made his voice very recognizable.

[T-ski]

I hear/see Kate Bush's name and the only thing I can relate it to is "running up that hill...."

[bundy]

As Kate Bush hasn't been a featured vocalist in this thread, I'll refrain from further comment. 

Steve Winwood:A pretty decent singer. I really like his work with Traffic and he has worked with an impressive list of people over the years. Mr Fantasy, the debut Traffic album would be my favourite Winwood album.

[KevShmev]

Ronnie James Dio



A legend in metal circles.  I have never really personally connected with his voice, to where I was ever really wowed by it, but there is no denying that the guy was a helluva singer.  I guess for me, he just never sang on a lot of songs I liked.  Aside from Sabbath's Heaven and Hell, which is a stellar record, I can only name a handful of other songs that I like that he sang.  Regardless, his legend status is well earned.

[Cool Chris]

I have never heard of any of those Kate Bush songs, even the ones with Gabriel and Gilmour. And after watching them on youtube, I kinda wish I still hadn't heard any of them.

So yeah, Dio is one of the best. And likewise I (sadly?) never got in to much of his material.

[TAC]

Dio....what can I say, the man is amazing. So many great performances. I would recommend some of the Rainbow stuff if anyone feels he is too metal. Rainbow's On Stage is a magnificent live album.

[Stadler]

Dio....what can I say, the man is amazing. So many great performances. I would recommend some of the Rainbow stuff if anyone feels he is too metal. Rainbow's On Stage is a magnificent live album.

NICE!  I was going to post that the three "complete shows" from the German tour (that provided some of the material for On Stage) are must listening, even if Dio was still working on some of his stage banter.  

I know it's sort of a cliché (it's the LONG SONG!) but his vocals on Stargazer are so integral to that song.  "Look, look, look... on the horizon"; every time I hear that, I picture him pointing and I feel I have to turn around and look, as if the rainbow will actually be there.   I was lucky enough to see him perform that live - one of his solo tours, opening for Maiden on a summer shed tour, early to mid 2000's - and it was as classic as it sounds.

Also, huge fan of the live versions of "Catch The Rainbow". 

It also has to be said:  while he might have been a dick to his band(s) (in my humble opinion, we've forgotten that he fell out with Blackmore, Iommi/Butler, AND Campbell) he really was the nicest guy in the world to his fans.  My buddy saw him with Sabbath on the Dehumanizer tour, and it was February in Connecticut, and Dio stood outside the bus for a good 45 minutes in sub-freezing weather signing everything that was put in front of him.   My bud got his ticket signed, but to this day - that was what, 20 years ago? - he still talks about how "Dio talked to him!".   It wasn't just a scribble and run.

[hefdaddy42]

Never cared about Dio.  Undeniably great metal voice, but I never really liked any of the bands he was in or any of the songs I heard from them.

*shrugs*

[Lowdz]

Dio....what can I say, the man is amazing. So many great performances. I would recommend some of the Rainbow stuff if anyone feels he is too metal. Rainbow's On Stage is a magnificent live album.

The voice of metal. Legend.

Rising, Heaven & Hell, Holy Diver. The holy trinity. And plenty of other awesome albums. For a good 15 years he could do no wrong. 🤘🤘

[KevShmev]

Stevie Nicks



Nicks' raspy voice just has this great quality that you can't help but love. As much as I love the guitar playing of Lindsey Buckingham and think he is a damn fine singer, too, it's no coincidence that my favorite Fleetwood Mac songs are ones that feature Nicks on lead vocal: Gypsy, Dreams & Rhiannon.  Drugs and a rigorous touring cycle damaged her voice at a young age and she was never quite the singer again that she was in the 70s, but that doesn't erase how good she was in her prime.

[TAC]

I know it's sort of a cliché (it's the LONG SONG!) but his vocals on Stargazer are so integral to that song.  "Look, look, look... on the horizon"; every time I hear that, I picture him pointing and I feel I have to turn around and look, as if the rainbow will actually be there.   I was lucky enough to see him perform that live - one of his solo tours, opening for Maiden on a summer shed tour, early to mid 2000's - and it was as classic as it sounds.

Not sure if you saw the Lock Up the Wolves tour but he broke into Stargazer and I literally lost my mind.

Also, huge fan of the live versions of "Catch The Rainbow". 

 

Oh yes.
And Cozy Powell is simply amazing on Catch The Rainbow. Playing both loud and soft. Incredible.

[bundy]

RJD = Legend

One of the cases where an artists talent and output really does match his reputation. Seeing him perform in Perth Western Australia on the Heaven and Hell tour was one of those bucket list moments fulfilled. His voice was still excellent. Although he's a legend of metal, it's some of his more laid back tunes that are my favourites and to me highlight what a great vocalist he was:

Rainbow: Catch the Rainbow

Sabbath: Over and Over

Hardin, Glover etc (The Butterfly Ball album): Sitting in a Dream, Love is All

For those unfamiliar with the Hardin/ Glover collaboration, check out the links below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOakKYtF6SY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaNII5aLiOM