In praise of the falsetto vocalist
Greetings Pop Pickers, I have chosen a most unusual subject for this installment of ‘The Not So Perfect 10.
Everybody of a musical persuasion or intense knowledge of popular culture may list the 10 Best Beatles songs or ice cream flavours. This one will concentrate on that staple of most successful 1970s hits: falsetto vocal arrangements.
I have for this list decided to list artistes and groups where the falsetto forms a great part.
- The Bee Gees;
- Frankie Valli (The Four Seasons);
- Roger Hodgson (Supertramp);
- Elton John;
- Jimmy Somerville (Bronski Beat and The Communards);
- Catch;
- Philip Bailey (Earth Wind and Fire);
- Mick Jagger (The Rolling Stones);
- Paul Da Vinci (The Rubettes);
- Justin Hawkins (The Darkness).
The Bee Gees have a lot to answer for, and this is in a positive sense for proving that falsetto vocals equal chart success. Their finest hour for falsettophiles is the original soundtrack album of ‘Saturday Night Fever’ - especially the title track, ‘You Should Be Dancing’ and their version of ‘More Than a Woman’ (forget the Tavares’ version which is more pedestrian).
We also have the Gibb brothers to thank for Diana Ross’ ‘Chain Reaction’ and Samantha Sang’s ‘Emotion’ - both classic songs well produced and hummable to this day.
Equally influential - and gifted with a falsetto - was Frankie Valli, whose group The Four Seasons spawned many classics such as ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’, ‘Walk Like A Man’ and ‘Ragdoll’.
For reasons of impartiality, my favourite falsetto vocalist is in third place. He is none other than Roger Hodgson, founder member of Supertramp and solo artist with an impressive vocal range - even at 58 years of age, still able to hit these high notes. For falsettophiles, his finest moment is ‘Fool’s Overture’, the last and longest track on Supertramp’s 1977 album ‘Even In The Quietest Moments’. Also worth listening to for similar reasons are ‘It’s Raining Again’, ‘The Logical Song’ and ‘Dreamer’.
King of the falsetto in the early 1970s was an artist who spent his early years with Roger Hodgson under the band Argosy. Born Reg Dwight, Elton John cut his musical teeth as a session musician working with Long John Baldry. With his writing partner Bernie Taupin, Elton John’s position as the king of falsetto is best expressed in ‘Daniel’ and ‘I’m Still Standing’.
Moving towards the 1980s, after a relatively quiet falsetto period, Jimmy Somerville made this vocal range popular again when ‘Smalltown Boy’ was released in 1984. Hitting higher notes than the diving board featured in the video, his group, Bronski Beat later mutated to become the falsettotastic Communards whose cover version of ‘Don’t Lead Me This Way’ was the biggest selling single of 1986.
Sounding like a low rent version of Jimmy Somerville was German duo ‘The Catch‘. Their biggest hit in mainland Europe, ‘25 Years’ could easily be mistaken for an early Bronski Beat track. In the UK, we were denied that pleasure, as this single did not chart on our shores.
Not too far removed in the octave scale was Philip Bailey of Earth Wind and Fire fame. His finest moments in Falsettoville include ‘Fantasy’, ‘September’ and (from his solo works) ‘Walking on the Chinese Wall’. In spite of these classics, he is better known by many as featuring in the Phil Collins UK number one hit ‘Easy Lover’. I remember him more for ‘Fantasy’.
No round-up on falsetto vocalists can be left without reference to The Rolling Stones, especially the dulcet tones of Mick Jagger. His finest moments in Falsettoville were brief though memorable. Between 1978 - 81, these are best heard on ‘Miss You’ and ‘Emotional Rescue’.
From the fantastic to the exaggerated, no one can exaggerate falsetto to the point of castrato better than Paul Da Vinci and Justin Hawkins. For anyone familiar with ‘Sugar Baby Love’ by the Rubettes, it was Paul Da Vinci who was behind the falsetto vocals at the beginning of that song. He later released a single, ‘Your Baby Ain’t Your Baby Anymore’ as a solo artist, reaching number 20 in the UK charts.
Justin Hawkins however headed Lowestoft’s musical export ‘The Darkness’. Successful for two years between 2003 - 2005, his falsetto vocals were best expressed in ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’ and its Christmas song with the great title ‘Don’t Let The Bells End’ (their words, not mine).
If you’re male and boast this vocal range, what can I say other than: have you trapped your genitals lately? Or are you part of a Darkness tribute act? Well… seriously, the falsetto is a great vocal range to have and (unless anyone knows different posting on this blog) done properly is the Dream Topping of a popular music trifle.
I’m not sure if I can do falsetto, despite my attempts to mimic Roger Hodgson (albeit a little unsuccessful).
S.V., 10 May 2008
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Tags: music, entertainment, falsetto, vocals
Nice list but but no ELO?? Hawkins is just a pastiche of the others!
Yes I fully concur that Hawkins is a pastiche of the others - hence the exaggerated form his falsetto takes.
As for ELO, I would say the high water mark of Lynne’s falsetto vocals are in ‘Last Train To London’ and ‘Confusion’. In fact, I would say their 1979 album ‘Discovery’ is falsetto heaven.