Singers I Can Get With

I feel my previous comments about singers (see "Relient K" post) need expanding upon.

Fuck you whiny bastards. I'm with these guys:

Iggy Pop - "Do you feel it when you cut me?" That's hurt, but that's not sad hurt. That's bitter, angry and, well, cutting. He shows us that there's a fierce gut-punch of a howl lurking in the everyman. The way he says "come on!" is my mantra.

Tom Waits - I think anyone who knows my musical tastes saw this one coming. Affected? Whatever; the results are beautiful. It's the most travelled, experienced voice I know. And it's still knows sweetness. See "Somewhere" and "Jonestown, Illinois."

James Brown - He can squeal higher than his trumpet section. An example (like Waits) of a voice that matches up to the aesthetics of the music. Dirty, nasty, and bursting with energy. His is the voice of a lust attack. "HIT!"

Mick Jagger - I'm frankly shocked that people have sat through this voice for 40 years. He sings terribly! Wavering. Constant portamento. A failure to reinforce notes. But this means he's fully unpredictable. And he's got a satisfying holler. Well done, Mick, for giving up good singing in the name of rock. Can sometime overdo the non-singing bit (see "Don't Know Why.")


This is not really a diss to pretty singers. I've got no issue with Sam Cooke or Marvin Gaye singing pretty, and hey, they've got soul. Marvin is my favorite singer. I love the voice, but it doesn't motivate me.

Contracts

oh man. who can write such glory as "ring worm?"
"i can tell by the look at your face that you've got ringworm. i'm very sorry but i have to tell you that you've got ringworm. it's a very common disease. actually, you're very lucky to have ringworm because you may have had something else, wooowaahh. aaauuuur. uuh-uuhuh. you've got ringworm. oooo, ooo, ooo, ooo, oooooo."

VAN MORRISON!

hear his terrible improvised 1967 contractual obligation garbage here:
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2005/09/van_morrisons_c.html

i recommend "want a danish," "you say france and I whistle," "shake it mable," and of course "ring worm."