"Got A Hold On Me" on YouTube
 

Someone just recently added Christine's "Got A Hold On Me" video to YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCt0W...istine%20mcvie

:cool: Thanks for locating and posting!

I always thought Christine looked so casual yet elegant on this studio video. I wish she had carried over this particular look throughout the year, including the promo photography & the tour itself. I don't know why she instead decided to do her makeup like Nefertiti. Chris was walking like an Egyptian four or five years before the Bangles were recommending it!

I think she looked great in that laserdisc documentary too. A casual Christine always looks best, in my opinion.

Thanks for the post. Every time I listen to "Friend," I'm struck by how Christine sings "been" with the distinct English pronunciation of "bean" ("before the first love song had ever 'bean' sung.") I wondered if she had always used that pronunciation, wracking my brain for any other examples. In "Got A Hold On Me," she definitely uses the American pronunciation of "been."

Back in 1984, she'd been pretty Americanized having lived in the U.S. for quite a while. Now she's back home in England, maybe that would explain the English pronunciation of "been" in Friend. I'd actually never noticed this before.:D

I didn't know there was a difference!

Can someone explain this to me?

Gail

Here in the US we sort of pronounce that word the way you guys say 'bin' . IMO Chris does sound very British in her pronunciation of 'bean' on Friend. :D

-Lis

Ah suddenly everything is clear!

In my normal everyday (sloppy) speach I would say bin

Perhaps Christine was trying to pronounce in the proper English manner Quite right too! (Resists temptation to burst in Land of Hope and Glory) :laugh:

Sorry about that it's just that it's very hot in this (non air-conditioned) office today and I've had a horrible week and I want to go home.

Gail

I think her producer on the 1984 record, Russ Titleman, probably encouraged her to pronounce words "like an American."

She and her nephew, both Brits, probably didn't even notice her pronunciation. Whatever the case, I LOVE when she pronounces been as "bean" in "Friend." It's so damn charming and -- because I make this association with the British "accent" -- elegant.

I always knew she ahead of her time!

Actually I think her hair looks a bit of a mess in this video

Gail

I've just listened to Friend for about the (4 millionth time) and I do hear "been" but I think it has to be like that to fit in properly because "bin" would be too short. I don't know if that makes any sense.

I'm sure there's some proper musical explanation for this.

I bet she says "bin" in her normal everyday speach - I bin watchin the telly instead of I have been watching the television for example.

Gail

I'm going to have to keep my ears open when I listen to any of her interviews now. I'd like to know if she pronounces been...."bean" or "bin".:laugh:

Let us know what you hear.:nod:

Your explanation makes a lot of musical sense to me. I suspect you're talking about duration, which affects the way one pronounces vowels in speech and in song. As a writer, reader, and teacher of poetry, this issue crops up in class discussions more than you'd think.