If you’re gonna sleep in your car, you’re gonna need a roof! We’ll see what the guys come up with soon.
Female vocalists. I’m a sucker for them all. There are a few I’m not fond of, but for the most part I can say I just fall for female vocalists. Karen Carpenter: sucky music BUT a voice to melt over. In the 90s I picked up on Garbage for one reason only: the lead singer was a woman. I think the first female vocalist I first fell for was Jackie DeShannon’s “Put A Little Love In Your Heart” from the late 60s. From there it was the rock group Fanny, followed by the likes of Melissa Manchester, Joan Jett, Pat Benatar and on and on. Throw a few of your favorites up and we’ll chat. It’s late as I write this and the brain is not overly f unctional.
So, when I came to pick a song for today, Roxette’s song fit perfectly… and just a by a hair they fit into my “loophole” of having a 70s tie in as the pair first met in 1979. Thin, but counts. Not my favorite from them, but works nicely for today.
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Hey, me too! Female vocalists are the best – Shirley Manson being one of the VERY best. But mostly they still need a decent male band behind them to add the agression (Blondie, Pat Benatar..etc etc) My current tip from the UK – Marina and the Diamonds – built from the same plans!
Shirley Manson’s rendering of Samson and Delilah in season 2 of the Sarah Connor Chronicles has to be one of the great orgasmic moments in music 🙂
I’d also recommend Bif Naked. Fine, fine voice on that woman.
I too favour the ladies!
😀
Early Heart, their first album more than any other, really combines Rock with Harmonies and is still a favourite of mine.
Another lady of song, Tanita Tikarum (sp?) is brilliant, her song Twist In My Sobriety is another all time fave.
Then we get going onto Chrissie Hinde, Garbage, Evanessence, Joan Armatrading, Texas, No Doubt … the list will go on forever! LOL
I too love the female vocalists, but I’m more into bands like Fol Chen, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The New Pornographers and Tegan & Sara. Waaaaay out of this music era. 🙂 The Bird and the Bee did do a full Hall & Oates cover album though…
Also, guess I wasn’t awake yet when I first read this because I had some optical illusion action going, and it looked like Jeff was sticking his hand through Bud’s chest.
I prefer the deeper, raspy female singers, like Joan Jett, Shakira, and KT Tunsall. So seductive! Granted the last two were BORN in the 70’s, so that’s even more of a stretch than Roxette…
Mary Coughlan! Marianne Faithfull! Joan Osborne!
Suzi Quatro. Female vocals *and* bass guitar, and slap bang in the middle of the 70’s. 🙂
Female bassist are better than female vocalists…
** bassists **
Karen Lawrence, with the band 1994. First album dropped in ’78, produced by Jack Douglas… of Aerosmith fame. Karen sounded a bit like Ann Wilson of Heart but more throaty. Awesome pipes! Their second release wasn’t as strong and they faded thereafter. 🙁
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui_YK4vovow
Hmm. Replied to a comment here and recommended Mary Coughlan, Marianne Faithfull and Joan Osborne, but my reply appears to have been eaten 🙁
My favorite females in rock bands are: Blueprint Sea, Tegan and Sara, Stereolab, Komeda, the Cardigans, The Ditty Bops, and Pizzicato 5. I can’t stand female vocalist on Top 40 radio. They are awful.
‘A scratch’?! Your arm’s off!
Personally…I like the voice of the woman from Aqua!!!!
I grew up with the female folk singers – Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Mary Travers, Buffy Saint-Marie, etc., so my tastes in female singers veered in that direction – especially with the late 60’s/early 70’s British “electric folk” groups that featured female vocalists like Maddy Prior of “Steeleye Span”, Sandy Denny from “Fairport Convention” (she provided the accompaniment vocals with Plant on Led Zep’s “Battle of Evermore”), Jacqui McShee of “Pentangle” among others. To this day I’m still nuts over the Celtic folk-style vocalists like Enya, Loreena McKennitt, Maire Brennan, Connie Dover, etc.
Thanks eggtrailer for reminding me of Karen Lawrence! 1994 was great, & she, along with Martha Davis of the “Motels”, Annie Lennox, Chrissie Hinde, Pat Benatar, Debbie Harry, were probably my faves from the 80’s era, altho as Bob Long sez, the list goes on forever… For me in the 70’s it was ladies like the Wilson sisters, Chi Coltrane, Lydia Pense of “Cold Blood”, Chaka Khan, and msot of the soul divas. The 90’s – it was Johnette Napolitano of “Concrete Blonde” & my favorite “Best female vocalist that no one ever heard of”, a gal named Theresa Straley of a group called “Harlow” (not the all female group, or the glam group from KC) that put out a self-titled album in ’90. Powerful, powerful voice. There is a song on tha album called “When You Love Someone” that if you can dial up on the web, is worth a listen or two, or three…
If you like the sweeter types of Celtic female voices, try the Black sisters – Mary, and her less famous sister Frances – and Dolores Keane…
Thanks Tafkan, yes indeed the Black sisters are sweet, as is Dolores Keane. Another I could have added on the pop side in that same vein is Kate Bush, and, one of my favorite more contemporary Irish traditional bands is”Altan” with their singer Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh – also sweet.
My pleasure, Uncle! And FWIW Kate Bush almost qualifies as a Celtic singer – one side of her family is from a small town in West Waterford and they’re all quite musical 🙂
I was born in 1981. Alot of the music I listen to is stuff referenced in your comics, but most of the artists I listed to who debuted after I did are female vocalists. Most are probably lighter/softer than your tastes, but here are a few you might like- from Italy, Paola Turci and Irene Grandi. From Poland, Kasia Kowalska. From Slovakia, Peha. From South Africa, Karen Zoid and Henry Ate/Karma(three of four albums released from the RSA are under the Henry Ate moniker, one from RSA and the two since moving to Florida are titled under Karma).
Debbie Harry, Grace Slick, Diana Ross, Belinda Carlisle…
If you want to get more recent, Natalie Imrbruglia and Gwen Stefani have done some good work in this millennium.
Nobody’s yet mentioned Dolores O’Riordan (The Cranberries) or Loreena McKennitt (who lives about an hour away from me…)