A "Unique" Voice...


A bunch of the artists I enjoy most have what may be considered as a very unconventional vocal quality. Now everyone is "unique' as are their fingerprints, to be shure, but the artists I'm thinking about are real standouts in that they are unmistakeably...well....odd perhaps. An aquired taste as their voice could easily grate on many. Maybe I should give some examples and that would be a better way to get what I mean accross:

Tom Waits comes first to mind. The little girl voice of Joanna Newsom. Those two I enjoy very much. One I just can't stand to listen to myself, Diamanda Gallas - Hey If I wanted to hear screaming like that I can just 'forget' to do the dishes a few nights in a row! Oh, yeah, Sean reminded me recently of the most bizarre, Klaus Nomi, whose mezzo soprano voice sounded more like a woman than a man. Actually Klaus was difficult to categorize himself. But actually, his voice was quite lovely as far as conventions go. So he wouldn't really qualify.

I guess what I'm saying is that these are not conventionally 'pretty' voices, yet they are engaging to many nonetheless, and certainly gifted artists, as far as those I've mentioned goes.

I'll leave it at that...any others come to mind?
jax2
Well, to be honest, I like the 'special' voice of Marianne Faithfull, smokey, raw, used... Barb Jungr is another chanteuse that I can highly recommend. Great voice, wonderful sense of humour. A great entertainer. Then again, Chris Isaak is one of my favourite male singers, as is Vitas, the Russian 'singing wonder'.
Ian Dury, Roger Waters, Rod Stewart, Chris Cornell, Seal, Prince, Michael Stipe, Thomas Dolby and Ferdie Pacheco.
Wow, unless I missed it, this thread went on for a year without a mention of:
Bjork
Janis Ian, Pheobe Snow, Rod Stewart, Burl Ives, Burton Cummings, Allison Krause, Tiny Tim, Willie Nelson, Gordon Lightfoot....i'll think of more as soon as I post this.
With documentary title in parentheses:

Jandek (Jandek on Corwood)
Wayne Coyne (Fearless Freaks - The Flaming Lips)
Daniel Johnston (The Devil and Daniel Johnston)
Benjamin Smoke (Benjamin Smoke)