MIke wrote:
> the problem with forcing women to sing in their 'lowest voice', as > lloyd discussed, is the same as forcing men to sing in their 'lowest voice'. > frank sinatra went from singing in a 'mix' in the early 50s to singing in > too much chest and spreading that all over and, although i don't think it
> damaged him, i think it took the 'singing quality' out of his singing.
I think this focus on chest by pop singers has much more to do with counterculture than with pop music itself.
Up to the 50's, both in the US and in Brazil, most pop singers had had some formal training in singing, otherwise they wouldn't be able to sing at all. The way they sang was also much different from the 'speaking mode' that has 'partially' become standard from the 60's on. Counter-culture valued untrained, 'natural', popular art, and learning how to sing or play an instrument 'the old way' was the anti-thesis of it.
But that didn't dominate the whole American pop singing scenario: I don't think black singers from Motown ( Warwick, the Jacksons, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, etc ) disco music divas ( Donna Summers, etc ) , hard rock singers from the 80's ( bands: Tyketo, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Journey, Whitesnake, Europe, etc ) or R&B's female singers ( Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carrey, etc ) sang in their 'speaking mode'. And that's what I think is funniest: those styles are all considered to be 'inferior' by most 'educated listeners' ( when I mean educated, I mean only people who go to the university and have inherited the 60's counter-culture appreciation. I don't mean 'musically educated listeners' ). They generally appreciate unskilled singers/musicians, like Nirvana, Oasis, Hole, etc, what makes me worry about the future of mankind ( if the future American ruling elite will only confirm the mistakes of the 60's, will the world be commanded by a bunch of nerds or will the US import an elite from Europe before theirs has the brain burned by cocaine? )
That, of course, brings back that discussion about opera singing X pop singing, but, as I said once, by looking at the big picture.
Bye,
Caio Rossi
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