Rose suggested a thread about the hottest male musical acts, but given that BookTalk is usually kind of a sausage-fest, I figured this would go over better. Who are your favorite male singers?

I tend to go for quirky voices or odd phrasing. To that end...

Ian Curtis of Joy Division


Britt Daniels of Spoon


Freddie Mercury of Queen

(You dare scoff?!)

Ziggy Stardust


Willie Nelson and... Paul Simon?


Actually, that's not such an odd combination. While Paul Simon has since branched out to African and South American influences, his original passion was the sound of Americana. And both are, perhaps bar none, the greatest living American song writers. I defy you to tell me any differently.

My head. It would splode.

Louis Armstrong

(There's probably no better illustration of the axiom that trumpet players sing in the same "voice" that they play.)

And, of course, ladies and gentlmen, please put your hands together for the incomparable Mr... Curtis... Mayfield...
[/youtube]

Oh, and here's a little something for Rose...

Not going to seek out and posts vids at this time...but YES to Mercury and Bowie, Armstrong...

I will add Eddie Vedder, Maynard James Keenan (Tool), Jim Croce (all around excellent songwriter).

Mr. P.

Mr. P. I'm still waiting for some of your favorites clips. And maybe some of our new members will show us their favorite male performers.

O.K. I spent the last hour playing, but I was due the break anyway. Here goes:

If I had to name my absolute favorite male front man, it would be the Pogues's Shane MacGowan.

Here's a ballad, "Thousands are Sailing," that unfortunately Shane doesn't always do justice to. I have a recording of Philip Chevron singing this that's beautiful. But this is a fairly good recording with Shane.

And here's a Christmas duet, "Fairytale in New York," that's really fantastic. For some reason the end is cut off, but it's the best quality version of the song online. Actually, it's probably mimed, Shane rarely sounds that clear live.

A really close second for male vocal performer, and to be sure they're not comparable, is Bing Crosby. Sorry for the poor quality, but it's hard to find live spots for Bing.

Here's a fun one with Bing and Louis--two vocal titans, but in such different ways.

I also like Joe Strummer, though seeing the recent biographical documentary probably brought him to the forefront in my mind.

And here's a great clip of Strummer performing "London Calling" with the Pogues. His vocals are excellent and you can really see he's enjoying performing. If you had told anyone at this show that Shane would outlive Strummer, they would have laughed.


And one can't forget The Smiths among the crowd. Morrissey was an odd guy, but some of those lyrics...

But, in truth, if we're talking about childhood crushes, here he always was, without a doubt:

It wasn't until years later that I learned Christopher Plummer wasn't even singing here. In fact, he hated The Sound of Music and called it "The Sound of Mucus." Nonetheless, this scene can still make my heart go aflutter. I know none of you in this sausage fest (as Mad has dubbed us) will get it, but he is absolutely gorgeous. And it's not just about his looks, which are lovely, but far from perfect.

And last, I've had the opportunity to see the Chieftains live for close to ten years now. They put on a spectacular show every year. What I most admire is how they incorporate local, and sometimes new, talent into their shows, and have been doing so for years. Here's a partial clip from a curtain call at one of their shows, if you watch it to the end, notice the camera pan all the artists on stage, the Chieftains themselves consist of six members, everyone else is a guest:

Of the group, Kevin Conneff is my favorite, though he's not their front man. Unfortunately this is the only performance of his I could find, not his best song, but still good.

Well I know that this is kind of random, but these are the most significant male vocal performers that have struck me along the way.

Oh and Mad, thanks for thinking of me. I like that Sinead is shot in partial profile for most of that video. She always looks so uncomfortable performing, especially on video, I think the profile shots make her look more vulnerable, even tender, than awkward. She's absolutely stunning though, isn't she?

Mad wrote:And both are, perhaps bar none, the greatest living American song writers. I defy you to tell me any differently.

I've given it some thought and have decided to submit to your challenge, Mad. I proffer Stephen Sondheim as America's greatest living composer/lyricist. Granted, he is not a performance artist, and writes for a totally different beast than Simon and Nelson...but there it is.

My head. It would splode.

Mad's head: or is it more like this:

This is the late Carl Anderson as Judas Iscariot from the 1973 film, Jesus Christ Superstar, singing Too Much Heaven On Their Minds . Great video and tremendous voice, thought provoking lyrics :



This is former Supertramp frontman Roger Hodgson performing solo with Had A Dream:



This is Pete Townshend, also solo, from his All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes, performing Slit Skirts :



Here's one with Bob Dylan performing live from his album Blood on the Tracks, the track Tangled Up and Blue :

DH, I like Anderson alright for the movie version of Judas. But his most powerful scene, for me, was the reprise of "I Don't Know How to Love Him." (It starts at 2:50 on this video.)



But, come now, by far the best song in JCS belongs to Herod.



I love how Jesus just stands there staring, like: "What the hell is wrong with this dude."

After working a production of JCS, the little patience I had for the musical finally evaporated. If it weren't for Timothy Rice's book/lyrics the show would really have very little value.

irish,

I think the "I don't know how to love him" scene with Anderson is an excellent choice, and an opportunity to experience the same song in a much different context from Mary Magdeline's midnight rendition earlier in the film. And Herod Antipas' androgynous poolside boogie is unforgettable..."show to me that youre divine, turn my water into wine...show to me that you're no fool, walk across my swimming pool"

Here's Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens) performing live in Naples, one of my favorites from Teaser and the Firecat... a beautiful song and voice: The Wind .



Here's an aging Johnny Cash covering Gordon Lightfoot's If You Could Read My Mind ... touching, intimate, deeply sad ...



In that same theme, here's Johnny Cash covering Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) Hurt