Comments on: Falling Down

By: PooterGeek » How Entertainment Industry Feuds Begin

PooterGeek » How Entertainment Industry Feuds Begin — Fri, 30 May 2008 18:24:34 +0000

[…] the space of a few days, My Scarlett Johansson post has become the subject of a round of Bloggese […]

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:37:00 +0000

I’m not sure about Randy Newman being a ‘non-singer’ - his voice was perfect (and very good technically, I’d say) for those early songs of his, particularly the stuff on Good Old Boys. He strained himself when he started to write and perform outside of his ‘natural’ zone - i.e movie and pop songs.

And I think Dylan as a performer is vastly underrated - whatever one thinks of his voice (I love it), he is easily the best interpreter of his own songs.

By: PooterGeek

PooterGeek — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:45:56 +0000

Often “non-singer” singers are talented songwriters, like Leonard Cohen or Randy Newman (though I think Randy Newman’s songs would be even better if had a wider range). People who have a problem with Dylan’s voice but like his songs can listen to, say, the Neville Brothers (amongst many others), or who can’t bear Cohen’s Jennifer Warnes. I’m not sure what the point of Scarlett Johannson covering Tom Waits songs is, except that she’s somewhat easier on the eye.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:39:14 +0000

I like singers and I envy those people who have the ability to sing really well. But then I also like ‘non-singers’ - the best of whom is Mark E Smith. And then there’s Dylan who, at least in the eighties, took the notion of ‘singing’ to whole new levels. And, of course, there’s Tom Waits whose songs Miss Johansson covers - which is what I thought accounted for her ‘unusual approach’.

Tiny Tim. Now there was a great non-singer.