Best Male POP Vocalist

[StoneMtn]

Well, unless I'm mistaken, of the people mentioned here only Michael Jackson has ever even sung a commercial in support of a pop; Pepsi Cola as I recall.

Seems like a slam-dunk to me.

[AD]

Reason's? We like his voice? Kinda Missing the point here? You know of nothing Jeff Buckley has ever done? Never heard of the guy?

ha, i 'know of the guy' and have been listening to him since 96 - doesn't mean i agree with your opinion. he's a great singer, excellent in fact, poppy sure. i just think Freddie is a better pop singer. and rock singer.

i'm not missing the point at all - it's a music discussion forum... i'm discussing. as are you. nothing wrong with a little debate.

i have reasons to back up my opinions and was wondering if others did as well. what's the issue here?

[Giggles]

My initial point was simply that I don't believe Freddie can fall into the "POP" category with any more ease than Buckley, mainly because I don't think either belong in the "POP" category...but that is just my opinion; which is my second point: any of these are just opinions and the merry-go-round of "your favorite band sucks" is the only thing thats going to be brought up here. I mean, your initial response to his name (Buckley) even being mentioned was "you gotta be fucking kidding" then poked that he only released 2 bodies of work and what was even comparable to Freddie's on them. It was a tragedy that Buckley was lost at such a young age and again, I think what he accomplished posthumously hasn't been equaled by many. Queen (I) and Queeen II were both great albums, but the world might not remember Freddie Mercury quite the same way if we lost him after those 2 works...

Gawpo Giggles

for the record, and its only my opinion; I think Freddie Mercury is the greatest overall rock performer of all time...he's a legend

[Hal Johnson]

Bon Jovi! Bed of Roses makes me weep every time.

[Hal Johnson]

But seriously, this thread should be re-named "Best Male POP Vocalist That Isn't Chris Lambert".

Get your shit together guys.

Edited March 14, 2009 by Guest

[flipzoso]

What I like about Buckley? hmmm tought to say specific things. I'm just a huge "live" Buckley fan and it'd take a while to go discuss through 18+gigs of Buckley haha.

This discussion has a rooted problem in the use of "pop" as we have some problems defining what it is. I'm just going to play ignorance and show some things I like of Buckley, whether pop or not.

The emotion he sings with on Forget Her:

His versatility, like this:

From Purcells opera 'Dido & Aeneas'.

'I hope that people who liked him resist the temptation to turn his life and death into some dumb romantic fantasy--he was so much better than that. Not everyone can get up and sing something they take a liking to and make it their own, sing true to their heart and be curious about all different strains of music. Corpus Christi Carol was a completely conceived interpretation. I'd never heard the piece before and when I heard the original I realised what Jeff had done was even more amazing. He'd taken it into his own world. That's something my favorite classical musicians can do, be themselves but use all that expertise to make the music more beautiful. Jeff did that naturally. Only a handful of people are capable of that.

I was amazed when he did meltdown. I asked him what he wanted to sing and he said he'd like to do one of Mahler's Kindertotenlieder in the original German! Absolutely fucking fearless. He was convinced he could sing it without rehearsal, just because he liked it. In the end he did a Purcell song, Dido's Lament, which is in danger of sounding incredibly poignant in retrospect: 'Remember me but forget my fate.' But he also sand Boy With the Thorn In His Side because he liked it, and Grace to show something of himself.

When he started singing Dido's Lament at the rehearsal, there were all these classical musicians who could not believe it. Here's a guy shuffling up on-stage and singing a piece of music normally thought to be the property of certain types of specifically developed voice, and he's just singing, not doing it like a party piece, but doing something with it.

My last memory of him was at the little party in the green room afterwards. There were all these people sitting round Jeff who'd never met before - Fretwork, the viol group, a classical pianist and some jazz player --all talking and laughing about music. He'd charmed everybody. I'd much rather remember that than anything.' -- Elvis Costello (MOJO Magazine, August 1997, speaking of Jeff at the Meltdown festival)

I mean I could go on forever, the footage of him singing Grace, him doing Nusrat stuff, Way Young Lover's do, his Edith Piaf inspired singing, basically his ability to imitate and adapt a wide variety of singers, be they well-known or not. His balls-out rocking on live versions of Eternal Life. His wails on Dream Brother live:

Edited March 14, 2009 by Guest

[AD]

you tricky bugger, quoting Costello on me...

a good argument for buckley. well done. i'm not gonna change my opinion, but you did a better job than others of showing why you have your opinion.

[Jaimoe]

It's all about "Mojo Pin" for me.

[phishtaper]

im going to add Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze to the list ...

[AD]

i don't think buckley's style would have been anything close to what it is/was without mercury's influence, particularly in singing falsetto.

[AD]

would david bowie be considered a pop singer? he's good, in a peculiar way.

[Jaimoe]

Art Garfunkel has one of the greatest voices, but he can't rock it out.

[AD]

Interesting music-geek talk about Buckley's voice

"Jeff Buckley was a light lyric tenor. His very different registers were blended marvelously. His chest, voice, and head voice were perfectly integrated. His falsetto was good, too, and his fluctuating between falsetto and head voice is something most singers are very jealous of. His tessitura (or comfortable singing range) was between E below middle C, which he often started verses on- ("Grace", "Lover ...", "Last Goodbye"), and the notes D right above middle C and F# just above that- in most of his choruses. He also used his high A frequently. A typical lyric tenor tessitura. In other words, to the unacquainted, the same range as Pavarotti. Except, Jeff was very fond of the alto register, which he would exploit in falsetto, or coordinated head voice (a fuller, wailing type of voice).

"His lowest note was on a live version of "Dream Brother" (on the Australian Grace album pack- it must have been the weather!) and it was the second A below middle C -- this is quite low for a high tenor voice. He loved to wail in head voice on the high E, which he did on half the songs on Grace, but mysteriously stopped doing them on Sketches .... This was high "showstopper" note, I guess. For example, in "So Real", at the outro, he sings the high E, and then scoops up to the High F# , this is very high, even for a tenor. And it's not in falsetto -- falsetto is quite easy to do for most male voices. No, this is in a coordinated head voice -- that's a full sounding voice -- very difficult to do (or at least sustain) at that pitch! Jeff's head voice (not falsetto) was quite unique. He could sing in an alto range quite effectively- check out "Strange Fruit" on the "Man in the Moon" session -- breathtaking; or the Edith Piaf cover on Live at Sin-é. And evidently his voice wasn't up to scratch on the day of the "Man in the Moon" sessions.

"His highest note is on the B-sides on Sketches ... on the track "Gunshot Glitter." It's an Eb above the soprano high C! This is coloratura (high agile soprano) territory! It's kind of a squeaky falsetto note- only for a second, but it's technically phenomenal- it sounds like he was just playing around. Another phenomenally high passage is in the jazz scat in " The Way Young Lovers Do" on Live at Sin-é. He actually gets into the super-register, normally reserved for trumpets!

"Anyway, his voice was magnificent. And his breath control was phenomenal- the sustained notes in "Mojo Pin" are very, very hard to sustain the way he does."*

[flipzoso]

Its too tough to compare Buckley to Freddie, Plant etc. They are all so amazing.

But I think Buckley was the last truly exceptional male vocalist that can be categorized with those greats. Cornell, Yorke, Cedric Bixler-Zavala can all come close. But I don't think they arrived at that high plateau.

Edited March 14, 2009 by Guest

[Giggles]

Good job flipzoso on finding a quote that I guess is to the liking of some...I wasn't sure what some were looking for in an opinion as someones only opinion about the greatness of Freddie Mercury has been in listing a few songs...not much of a stand-point really...I highly doubt my throwing up 5 songs of Buckley's would have sufficed for someone so I say again; good job flipzoso!

I'll be certain that if I feel the need to share an opinion again it's also shared by Elvis Costello so it's a little easier for some to accept as valid

Gawpo Giggles

[Hal Johnson]

Thank you.

[AD]

i think "some" person is talking about me.

[Thorgnor]

You guys do realize that you're arguing about who is the better POP singer right?

I'm pretty sure that word means popular, yeah?

So how is it that the two main artists you're backing wouldn't even be on the minds of the VAST majority of those who buy "POP" music.

Madonna, George Michael, Elton John, MJ, I mean that shit is pop. Queen?... maybe in England or for "Rockers" in the eighties... Buckley?... if you wore plaid in the eighties...

Shouldn't we actually be debating the merits of Celine vs. Bublé in this thread since they still sell records, and way more of them than either of the other two that are being backed currently can sell?

Isn't popularity about popularity? I must have missed the point because citations about vocal range don't seem very convincing.

If you said Jeff Buckley or Freedie Mercury to a 16 year old do you think they'd pick either as the most amazing pop music of all time, or do you think they'd ask who the fuck those guys are?

The whole thing is silly anyways because it's an oxymoronic question. "Best" and "Pop" in the same sentence? Ha.

[AD]

i probably wouldn't put madonna or celine up for debate for the best male pop singer.

i don't care what the 16 year old has to say about the question...

plenty of other suggestions in this thread too. the Gibb brothers, MJ, Billy Joel, Bowie, George Michael, Elton John...

and unrelated to thorgnor's post, but if a singer sings a pop song, are they not a pop singer for that performance?

[phorbesie]

who is jeff buckley? was he in a band?

[Thorgnor]

i probably wouldn't put madonna or celine up for debate for the best male pop singer.

i don't care what the 16 year old has to say about the question...

plenty of other suggestions in this thread too. the Gibb brothers, MJ, Billy Joel, Bowie, George Michael, Elton John...

and unrelated to thorgnor's post, but if a singer sings a pop song, are they not a pop singer for that performance?

OK my bad giving shouts to females in this thread.

My point regarding the 16 year old is that popularity of popular artists shouldn't only be measuered in certain music-snob communities and not others. There's more than few 90 year olds who'd disagree with you too and tell you that Freddie has nothing on Bing or Sinatra. Is their opinion heavier cause they're old?

I think it's no coincidence that Billy Joel is still alive after singing that song "only the good die young" too.

It's silly to me because popular music seems to be a self-defining category. If you're a successful pop-singer I shouldn't have to ask who you are, or what band you were in, or anything else because I should already know by virtue of your popularity. Arguing the authenticity of one's belonging in the "pop" category only proves that they don't really fit in it.

You got me on the context thing, I have to agree with that though. Intention and success are totally different, imo, however. And that's why I put up a pic of 'Pac. Maybe it should have been Kanye?

[AD]

:confused:

how can i answer a question based on the context of a 16 year old or a 90 year old? why/what would it matter to me what a 16 or 90 year old thinks about the same question? i can take the good or bad points someone else raises into consideration, and i can agree and disagree with people too (like I agree that Jeff Buckley is an excellent singer) but i answer questions based on what I think. i don't know what your point(s) is (are).

perhaps the 2 or 3 different definitions for 'pop music' are clouding this whole thing and like you said making this impossible. but one can still give an opinion...

thorgnor, who would you nominate for best male pop vocalist that isn't chris lambert?

[Thorgnor]

Like I said I think pop is determined by popularity so right now, honestly I can't listen to the fucker but Bublé is making mad dough. Freedie was "huge", even in the "pop" world, but Buckley? I'm not sure how his name would even come up. I mean let's throw in Geddy Lee 'cause of his range ... If the question was about "talent" and not the "best" I don't know how I'd answer.

I think I might have to say Elton, and I loathe his music too... or maybe even Johnny Cash, now that everyone loves him.

All time maybe, MJ, because imo no one has made or lost that much money, or caused so much chaos due to their popularity.

My whole point was that arguing about this topic is silly because it's pop. It's self-referential.

If you're the most popular male singer of all time, you're the "best" because popularity is measured by, you guessed it... So Elvis should probably be close to the top of the list, too. or even BonoVox for that matter, but I wouldn't put those two in a dabate about talent against Mercury or Buckley...

If the thread were "Who's the Most Talented Male Pop Vocalist other than ChrisLambert" I think it'd be worth debating. But best?

[phishtaper]

can i twitter the best male pop vocalist?

[Tungsten Gruvsten]

can i twitter the best male pop vocalist?

...no but the king of pop would like to diddle you...