Divas of a different stripe
Summer must be upon us... I've laid my opera recordings down for a bit and am listening to pop music again.
I was just poking around online and I found this clip from the 2000 Joni Mitchell tribute.
I just think that Cyndi Lauper is one of the great pop singers of the last fifty years. Of course, I always put myself out on a limb, but I dare anyone to watch this performance of "Carey" from Joni Mitchell's BLUE album (which is without a doubt one of the great achievements in pop music) and tell me that she is not a great singer.
I was just poking around online and I found this clip from the 2000 Joni Mitchell tribute.
I just think that Cyndi Lauper is one of the great pop singers of the last fifty years. Of course, I always put myself out on a limb, but I dare anyone to watch this performance of "Carey" from Joni Mitchell's BLUE album (which is without a doubt one of the great achievements in pop music) and tell me that she is not a great singer.
And if that wasn't enough, here is another one who fits into that category. Since I never watch "American Idol", I have no idea when this event occurred, but it was obviously quite recently. I run hot and cold on the song "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (I actually think it's one of those songs that I am embarrassed to like) but when it is sung like this, it's incredibly moving.
Sorry, you don't get to see this one, either, but there is still a youtube video of her doing her amazing song "Pavement Cracks"... so enjoy this instead.
Sorry, you don't get to see this one, either, but there is still a youtube video of her doing her amazing song "Pavement Cracks"... so enjoy this instead.
Finally, a single clip of my favorite pop singer of all time, the immortal Dusty Springfield. She could, and did, sing it all. From tender to raunchy (c.f. Blind Sheep, Crumbs off the Table), from show-stopping heartbreakers to bubble gum to disco, she was supreme in all she did.
This is a clip from an American TV appearance in what appears to be the late sixties (I have the documentation somewhere): "People Get Ready". She is the epitome of cool and class. Luv hah!
OOPS! I'm running late for meeting a friend for dinner... it's so easy to lose track of time listening to this stuff, isn't it?
Labels: annie lennox, bridge over troubled water, carey, cyndi lauper, dusty springfield, joni mitchell, people get ready
posted by Counterleben at
2:01 PM
3 Comments:
Daniel, you and I have the same top female singers! There never was anyone like Dusty Springfield, the older I get the more I listen and learn and appreciate her. And having seen Annie Lennox live numerous times, she has amazing power and range and control (more clarity back in the late 80s, now more depth). Lauper has quite a set of pipes too and her turn on Carey is one of my favorites.
Hope to get to hear you sing now that I am in NYC.
Hello, Thomas,
You and I clearly have superlative taste. Dusty could sing f'ing anything! Well, any pop genre, anyway. And she sounded natural and completely at home doing it. Not too many people of whom one can say that.
I just did a number of concerts in NYC, but when I have more coming up, I'll post it here and on my website.
And welcome to NYC! How long have you been here?
OK, I accepted your dare and listened to Cyndi Lauper sing "Carey." I was underwhelmed. But I think that might be that I don't know the song at all.
I did love the Dusty Springfield. She sounds really easy and nice here which is not what I expected. I saw a new side of Dusty here.
The "Bridge over Troubled Water Clip" is "no longer available."
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