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Thursday, 14 November 2024

Uncool Singers

I have had a song on loop in my head for two or three days, by one of those uncool singers you would not have admitted you liked to your friends at school. The kind that during the height of sixties and seventies top and rock, would never have been played by Tony Blackburn on Radio 1, and would probably have had their own prime-time television show on a Saturday night. 

There were lots of them: Val Doonican and Clodagh Rodgers, or perhaps in America, Doris Day or Andy Williams. Memories were made of this by Dean Martin, and magic moments by Perry Como. 

We also had Andy Williams. He was pretty good, but most definitely not cool. I much preferred Britain’s Matt Monro, who was not cool either, but his recordings of Portrait Of My Love, Born Free and the James Bond theme From Russia With Love are incredible. What a voice! What a singer! If I was asked to name favourite uncool singers, he would be top of the list. 

I am thankful for that train of thought because it evicted the tune that was stuck in my head. You can have it instead. Any covert Roger Whitaker fans out there?  

He gave the impression of having a high opinion of himself, but Leaving Durham Town possibly vindicates it. Sugary sentiment but a great tune. 

So, who was your favourite uncool singer? Did Yorkshire Pudding have a regular date with Moira Anderson Sings? Did Dave Northsider just pretend he never watched the Des O’Connor show? Was JayCee just an old-fashioned girl who liked Eartha Kitt? Who was yours? You can own up here in complete confidence. Your secret will be safe with us.  

38 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Indeed it is. Written by John Barry, as was From Russia WL. Very clever and moving song structures.

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  2. Oh yes! Like you I adored Matt Monro's voice. (Wasn't he a London bus driver at one time?). We had his version of Softly As I Leave You played at my dad's funeral.
    I also loved Nat King Cole's voice. Pure heaven, both of them.

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    1. Nat King Cole was another wonderful voice.
      I've just listened to Softly As I Leave You. What a sad song.

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  3. I wanted to marry Val Doonican when I grew up!
    Anna.

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  4. Nat King Cole - a velvet voice, preserved through smoking, of all things.

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    1. As was Matt Monro. He died quite young from it.

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  5. I am often watching comedians on the Des O'Connor Show Tasker. Yesterday I was watching Phil Cool on You Tube. What a comedian and impressionist. I have very eclectic music taste: brass bands to Prog Rock.

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    1. Don't let your heart fall into careless hands.

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  6. Yes, I'll admit it! I was a big Roger Whittaker back in the day. I even had his album of nothing but his whistling!

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    1. He could certainly whistle but I thought it rather irritating. I was no great fan, but Leaving Durham Town is hard to bet out of your head. I think it is to do with the chord sequence. The flute counter melody is well done too.

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  7. Another big Roger Whitaker fan here.

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  8. Walter Houston, September Song!!

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    1. That's an old one. I know the song but did not know who originally sang it. Another from The Great American Songbook.

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  9. Nat King Cole - The Autumn leaves slip by my window!

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    1. Just listened. Doesn't he sing it well. I like the guitar accompaniment.

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  10. Hey, you mentioned 4 of mine but I thought they were cool. Doris Day, Dean Martin, Perry Como, There were many many good uncool singers.

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    1. They were cool in their day, but not after the Beatles. Listening to them now, you realise how good they were, and why those in their twenties thought that 1960s pop songs were inferior. From a purely musical viewpoint, most of them were.

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  11. I believe I took uncool one un further Folk music, bluegrass, protest. The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem come especially to mind. Paul Robeson, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie.

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    1. Yes, it was not really cool to like serious folk music in the 1960s, but there were a lot of successful performers in the folk style.

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  12. You know, when I was growing up, the local radio station played 'Moon River' and 'Born Free' right along with 'Come on, Baby, Light My Fire'. You heard different genres of music without changing the station. Now the FCC (in the US, anyways) has stations broken down into Classic Rock, Country, Top 40, etc, and they play what they registered under. Which seems sad to me.

    Ahem. I will confess to enjoying Mantovani as I grew up. Definitely not cool. But I know that my secret is safe.

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    1. It seems some listeners close their ears to styles that might broaden their tastes.
      I read that Mantovani was the best selling LP/Album recording artiste before the Beatles. My dad used to like his programme on the radio. Just had a listen to Charmaine.

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    2. Really??? Well...maybe I'm not as uncool as people believe.

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  13. Come on, Eartha Kitt WAS a cool singer (and a cool woman, too)!
    My "uncool" musical taste in the 1980s included Glenn Miller (not a singer, of course) and Harry Belafonte, whom I adore to this day. He was not only a wonderful singer, but also a very, very decent human being.

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    1. So you are the old fashioned girl!
      Glenn Miller and Harry Belafonte were unusual tastes for young people in the 80s.

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  14. That has been a really great post for pulling out dozens of names of great musicians and singers that we probably all knew, could sing along to, and like you said never admitted to friends that we liked the songs/singers. I might go on a u tube tour now, armed with these comments - a nostalgia tour.

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    1. I've been on YouTube in responding. Yes, some great performers I had not thought about for a long time.

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  15. I scorned the pop charts because I was an albums man. The pop charts were for teeny boppers and others without deeply felt tastes in music. However, I am prepared to admit here that I was fond of Karen Carpenter. Please don't tell anybody as my street cred would be like a toy boat smashed on the rocks of Filey Brigg. Cilla Black wasn't too bad either (oops! I shouldn't have said that!)

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    1. Was never much of a fan of Cilla, preferred Dusty Springfield and Sandie Shaw. My parents used to watch the Andy Williams shows on TV - that was also a voice I really liked.

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    2. I'm with Will on this. Dusty had a fantastic voice which first caught my attention in The Springfields, and I fancied Sandy Shaw. Karen Carpenter also had a great voice. She and Dusty Springfield had tragic lives.

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  16. When I was in middle school I loved Andy Williams' version of "Moon River" and I got his greatest hits album, which included "Born Free," "Charade" and a bunch of other famous songs. I still listen to it. Definitely the highlight of my uncool musical history -- though to be fair I've always liked some uncool music. Who can top Engelbert Humperdinck's "Quando Quando Quando"?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQWp1azgPXs

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    1. There's also Jerry Vale, who had a great voice and doesn't get talked about much these days:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBRDVaKGOi4

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    2. Engelbert was a bit too smooth for be, but I liked one or two he did. Jerry Vale is a new one for me. Thank you. I'll look him up.

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  17. Jim Reeves is my all-time favourite Balladeer, and I don't know whether he was regarded as cool or uncool. I started listening to him when I was still a teenager and was never shy about letting people know. Mel Torme is another favourite of mine, plus several others - some of whom others have already named. Apparently Andy Williams was Jim Reeves favourite male vocalist.

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    1. Mel Torme was a very clever musician.
      Funnily enough, I was thinking Jim Reeves had not been mentioned. There was a girl at school who had his LPs. She let me borrow one to tape record. I listened to it for many years, but I don't remember what eventually happened to it.

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    2. Oops, that should be Jim Reeves' favourite male vocalist - forgot the apostrophe.

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