SantanaMaitreya said:

RJOrion said:

jjhunsecker said:

I also think an issue is that Cooke and Wilson were R&B/Gospel singers whose songs for the most part were pop tunes. So the songs and productions sound a bit dated- compared to say Motown or Stax or James Brown- while the actual singing is magnificent

I think Sam was trying to reach the Johnny Mathis audience more than the rock n roll one. I have Sam's albums and some of them are entirely showtunes & standards. He made a lot of effort on trying to perform at the Copacabana too. Listen to Sam's 2 live albums, one at the Copa & the other at the Harlem Square Club. It almost sounds like 2 different guys. Marvin Gaye originally wanted to be a Frank Sinatra style singer and his 1st Motown album reflects that and so does the Hello Broadway album. The Supremes & The Temptations also released albums of showtunes and had TV specials in the 1960s doing that kind of material. Jackie Wilson tended to have Ray Charles Singers style background vocals on some of his songs. This is a different Ray Charles, not the blind singer. If you've heard the theme to Three's Company, that's the other Ray singing. He had a choir back in the 1950s & 1960s called The Ray Charles Singers. I have one of their albums. They made easy listening records, the kind of music that would be on the Lawrence Welk Show

^^The Beatles had songs that could qualify for them to perform on Lawrence Welk, such as: Good Night, Yesterday, Honey Pie, When I'm 64, Do You Want To Know A Secret, etc. They performed a Ann Margret song on one of the Live At The BBC albums. George Harrison was a big fan of George Formby and owned a buch of ukuleles to prove it.

MickyDolenz said:

^^The Beatles had songs that could qualify for them to perform on Lawrence Welk, such as: Good Night, Yesterday, Honey Pie, When I'm 64, Do You Want To Know A Secret, etc. They performed a Ann Margret song on one of the Live At The BBC albums. George Harrison was a big fan of George Formby and owned a buch of ukuleles to prove it.

George could have done a duet with the accordion player...

purplethunder3121 said:

George Weird Al could have done a duet with the accordion player...

Charley Pride's 1st TV appearance was on Lawrence Welk

MickyDolenz said:

purplethunder3121 said:

George Weird Al could have done a duet with the accordion player...

Charley Pride's 1st TV appearance was on Lawrence Welk

That makes more sense.

purplethunder3121 said:

That makes more sense.

What? Charley Pride or Weird Al? On the Magical Mystery Tour film, the part with Your Mother Should Know is not any different from a Lawrence Welk Show performance. John even called some of Paul's songs "granny music".

MickyDolenz said:

JoeBala said:

No Chipmunks???

That's a group though like The Archies & Kidd Video. Jet Screamer, Roosevelt Franklin, & Hi-Fye are pretty good

it took 14 posts before Donny Hathaway's name shows up . y'all triznippin'

MickyDolenz said:

JoeBala said:

No Chipmunks???

That's a group though like The Archies & Kidd Video. Jet Screamer, Roosevelt Franklin, & Hi-Fye are pretty good

What?! No Josie & The Pussycats?

datdude said:

it took 14 posts before Donny Hathaway's name shows up . y'all triznippin'

Donny tends to be forgotten sometimes, but he was definitely a great vocalist. I also want to add Bob Marley to this as he was such a unique songwriter and talented performer.

Empress said:

Saying Elvis would be racist.

1. Prince

2. Michael Jackson--surprised?

3. Elvis

4. Ray Charles

5. Stevie Wonder

6. Sananda

7. Frank Sinatra

8. Robert Plant

9. Jack Grisham from TSOL

10. Dude from Iron Maiden.

jjhunsecker said:

purplethunder3121 said:

What?! No Josie & The Pussycats?

Cheryl Ladd, who was later on Charlie's Angels, was one of their singing voices. Here's their album

2freaky4church1 said:

RJOrion said:

2freaky4church1 said:

jjhunsecker said:

In many ways, Donny Hathaway is a “cult” artist. He never had a solo big hit single (besides “This Christmas “). And of course his mental issues hampered his work and career

The theme song from Maude is pretty well known although probably most who hear it don't know who sings it. It's probably his most heard song today since the show is still rerun on TV everyday.

MickyDolenz said:

jjhunsecker said:

I was actually thinking that as well! Donny needs wider recognition

An animated music video was recently made for This Christmas and some other oldies Christmas songs by Eartha Kitt & Nat King Cole. I once read on another site that supposedly Donny thought that Stevie Wonder copied his vocal style in the early 1970s and was more popular with it. I don't know if that's true or not. It might have been the Soulful Detroit site, don't remember exactly. George Benson's voice was kinda similar too. But George was singing in the 1960s before Donny released a record, although he was primarily an instrumental artist then. George was already an adult in the early 1960s unlike Little Stevie Wonder in the same time period.

RJOrion said:

1. Prince

2. Michael Jackson

3. George Michael

4. David Bowie

5. Marvin Gaye

6. Sam Cooke

7. Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

8. Elton John

9. Tim/Neil Finn

10. Stevie Wonder

1 and 2 are firm, but 3 to 10 can be interchangeable depending on my moods.