LOL. What was I thinking? But we all know those contrary people who don't like anything that somebody else thinks is fantastic. You know, how when they said 96% of black women in Alabama voted for Doug Jones against Roy Moore? That means 4 out of 100 sistas just had to be ignorant. Bet they'd rather listen to Kathy Lee Gifford over Whitney Houston.
Now Jerry I hear you with that one. There are a few people like that out there. There may have been some people that did not like Whitney, but they could not deny that she could SANG! She sang so good she could make a grown man cry. Where are those types of singers now? Luther was just masterful. He was into his music and it showed whenever he sang a song. Those two were students of the old school legends that believed in bringing down the house every opportunity they got!
Actually, one asshole who just has to be on the opposite side of consensus. Just like how no baseball player ever went into the Hall of Fame with 100% of voters voting for him. Think about that for a second... Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays, and Ted Williams all had some know-it-all who didn't think they should be in the hall with the greatest players of all time. If somebody ever tries to suggest that Whitney Houston was not everything and more that she's said to be, I'm changing the subject so I don't cuss him out.
I know several people who didn't care for her voice. Some within the business, others outside of it. You are never going to find an artist universally loved by everyone. A former colleague of mine claimed that she oversang. UK radio host Ken Bruce is not a great fan.
I thought she was THE female voice of the 80's , but she will never be in my top 5 female singers of all time. I loved her voice and what she could do with it, but there are others that i prefered and still do. It was a crying shame that she didn't take care of her voice and indeed herself. We were deprived of some potentially great music. I think she would have probably moved on to standards had she lived. She could have made a great job of the American songbook, and i think she could have made some great jazzy stuff too. Sadly we will never know.
I'll add Anita Baker to the list. I didn't like her voice or songs.
With what she did with Dolly Parton's I Will Always Love You, it chills me to imagine what she could have done singing standards with good production. Ella Fitzgerald took the American songbooks to a wonderful level that I don't think anybody could match. I would love to hear Whitney at her finest reimagining standards as long as it didn't come off as a cover record. She had a theatrical voice anyway, so there are tons of songs that I think she could have absolutely blown away.
The only thing about her contribution is that nobody is going to have the figurative balls to sing "Saving All My Love For You", "You Give Good Love", "Exhale" or "All The Man That I Need" for fear of not being able to touch the original versions. She even made the definitive versions of "Greatest Love Of All", "I'm Every Woman", and "I Will Always Love You". I'm not giving her credit for "I Believe In You And Me" because I'm too much of a Levi Stubbs fan. But you get my point, she was special.
Pat Boone
Wild Cherry
Macy Gray
TLC
Britney Spears
Ricky Martin
85% of the British Invasion, and the "hippie" side of the sixties.
75% of Bobby Womack, 75% of Isley Brothers, post 1968 for both.
99% of all new singers, and all new songs, 2001+.
The only "Boy Band" in the solely made for pop charts teenage girls' $$$ sense I find listenable, even downright fun to sing along with sometimes, is New Kids on the Block.
Completely cannot stand Men Without Hat's "the Safety Dance".
Myself a total Motown nut, from the big names, to the small, I don't care for Georgio, MC Brains, Profyle, or anyone who sung from their Country subsidiaries, such as Melodyland and T.G. Sheppard, because I am not into Country, although I could appreciate a decent Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson, or Johnny Cash.
I am also not a Metal listener, 90% of Rock and all its subgenres, post 1963, neither do I care much for Contemporary Christian, but I do highly enjoy Gospel.
While I could put on my dislike list rappers by the hundreds, the only rap and rap artists I enjoy / respect is more on the party dance beat aspect, ex. MC Hammer, Heavy D and the Boyz, Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince / Will Smith, Sugarhill Gang, Fat Boys, Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks", Treacherous Three's "The Body Rock", World's Famous Supreme Team's "Hey DJ", 69 Boyz' "Tootsee Roll", Tag Team's "Whoomp There It Is".
Last edited by Ngroove; 01-31-2018 at 01:09 AM.
The reason I mentioned him for singing that song and not the Tops is because it was essentially a solo record. I honestly think he should have been nominated for an Oscar for his role in "Little Shop of Horrors". Love that dude's voice and I'm jealous of you.
And I refused to watch Lifetime's Whitney Houston biopic. I heard Deborah Cox did a good job singing the songs but I haven't listened to any of what she produced.
Forgot to mention Janis Joplin.
Also, it took me until my 20s to start appreciating Little Richard and my 40s to fall in love with Jimi Hendrix.
Hey Jerry, better late than never ! ;o)
About Janis Joplin I can see your points, but you should watch "Janis" the excellent documentary on her : http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0755ms6
Then you'll understand why "she's got the blues"
Last edited by phil; 02-03-2018 at 08:55 AM.
I was a bigger fan of Jefferson Airplane than I was of Grace Slick. Sadly, I was not a fan of the Commodores' post-Lionel Ritchie output [[or LTD's post-Jeffrey Osborne records). And even though I love a lot of New Edition songs, there's not a single from Ralph Tresvant or BBD that I like. Interestingly, I have a bunch of Johnny Gill records high on my list and Bobby Brown's Don't Be Cruel might as well be his greatest hits collection because it was fantastic, even though he has all of the singing talent of a corpse with a tone deaf frog caught in its throat. But that record was great in spite of him.
When that album, "Don't Be Cruel" came out You couldn't have a party without playing it! The next year when he followed up with the theme from "Ghostbusters" "On Our Own", Bobby Brown was the top male solo act even if it was for a brief moment. I liked most of his stuff.
I was shocked when "Don't Be Cruel" was so good because I remember his earlier album with songs produced by Larry Blackmon [[one of my all-time favorite artists). That record was like a sonic colonoscopy. Teddy Riley and LaFace worked true magic on his sophomore record. Every single song on that album was played on local radio. To this day, I don't know which ones were actually released.
Add Peabo Bryson , which also brings to mind Freddie Jackson. [[ I'm sure they're wonderful at what they do. I'm just not into schmaltz liquor)
Michael Bolton
Michael McDonald’s tonal changes/bleating are irritating IMO tho I liked On My Own. I think Whitney Houston was so good it’s almost difficult to fathom for some people. Some of recordings were too pop for me.
OMG lol. It sounds like affectation to me
Most of the artists who have a very powerful voice [[Adele, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and after about 1989, Whitney Houston).
Focusing on more soul music - Smokey Robinson [[with very, very few exceptions "tell me tomorrow" and "who's gonna take the blame"); James Brown; Ohio Players.
Non-soul: Elvis Presley [[I never understood why he was considered to be good); Oasis; Bob Dylan; Prince; Bryan Adams; John Lennon; Blondie; The Osmonds.
Patti La Belle. IMHO, she does more screaming than actual singing.
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