This song
is from one of my favorite Randy Newman albums, 1988’s “Land of Dreams.” I seem
to enjoy quite a few artists whose voices are, shall we say, challenged. Randy
Newman would be exhibit A, but no one else can sing his songs as well (I’m not
talking about his work in films, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” (Toy Story), etc.,
which are usually sung by better singers).
Even though
I was introduced to Randy Newman by David Steinberg’s rendition of “Political
Science (Let’s Drop the Big One)”, Newman’s version is the best, I’m also
ignoring “Mama Told Me Not to Come” by Three Dog Night, their version is
superior.
Other
artists I like who maybe don’t have the best voices:
Jimmy Webb
– Singer, songwriter, I like his versions of his hits, sung by others on the
hit version, and I’ll write about them as they come up on the Zune.
Leo Kottke
– I like his voice, too, even though he famously calls it sounding like “geese
farts in a fog” on the liner notes of “Mudlark”. There are several vocals here
on my Zune which I’ll be discussing in future postings.
Billy
Corgan – Very distinctive voice, somewhat whiny, but I like Smashing Pumpkins
for other reasons as well.
Steve Dahl
– “Margarita”, good song, voice…OK.
Trevor Horn
– vocals, songwriter, The Buggles, an acquired taste.
Warren
Zevon – adequate…
Mark
Knopfler – Great duet with James Taylor on “Sailing to Philadelphia,” coming
soon on Kaffred’s Zune
Maybe it’s
because I’s easier to sing along with voices slightly better/worse than mine?
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