Band Face Off - Round 33
 

It was a close round but in the end Miss Whitney proved to be the Ledgie favourite of the wailing divas with 10 votes. Phew! I thought that round would never end.

Round 33: some truly inspiring singer-songwriters.


The results so far...
Round 1: Petty defeats Springsteen - 36 to 19
Round 2: Led Zeppelin defeat The Who - 22 to 19
Round 3: Madonna defeats Sheryl Crow/Kate Bush - 24 to 13/10
Round 4: The Beatles defeat Rolling Stones/U2 - 23 to 16/14
Round 5: Guns N Roses defeat Bon Jovi/Metallica - 17 to 13/12
Round 6: Heart defeat Blondie/The Pretenders - 23 to 16/6
Round 7: The Beach Boys defeat The Kinks/The Byrds - 24 to 10/10
Round 8: Johnny Cash defeats Elvis Presley/Roy Orbison - 20 to 19/7
Round 9: Abba defeats The Carpenters - 25 to 15
Round 10: Prince defeats Jimi Hendrix/Lenny Kravitz - 24 to 15/3
Round 11: No Doubt defeat Garbage/Hole - 27 to 11/9
Round 12: Bob Dylan defeats Neil Young - 26 to 25
Round 13: Dolly Parton defeats Emmylou Harris/Linda Ronstadt - 20 to 17/9
Round 14: Marvin Gaye defeats Aretha Franklin/Stevie Wonder/Diana Ross - 14 to 11/10/2
Round 15: David Bowie defeats Lou Reed/Iggy Pop - 38 to 5/2
Round 16: Talking Heads defeat The Clash - 21 to 19
Round 17: Billie Holiday defeats Ella Fitzgerald - 25 to 7
Round 18: The Eagles defeat Lynyrd Skynyrd - 30 to 17
Round 19: The Doors defeat Jefferson Airplane - 22 to 17
Round 20: Elvis Costello defeats Sting - 19 to 13
Round 21: Eurythmics defeat Depeche Mode/New Order - 27 to 7/6
Round 22: Duran Duran defeat Tears For Fears - 21 to 15
Round 23: Tori Amos defeats Alanis Morissette/Jewel - 21 to 11/8
Round 24: REM defeat Coldplay - 34 to 9
Round 25: The White Stripes defeat Beck - 19 to 18
Round 26: Pink Floyd defeat Radiohead - 30 to 9
Round 27: The Killers defeat Franz Ferdinand/Maroon 5 - 15 to 14/5
Round 28: Nirvana defeat Pearl Jam/Soundgarden - 15 to 13/4
Round 29: Elton John defeats Billy Joel - 31 to 11
Round 30: Creedence Clearwater Revival defeat The Band/The Grateful Dead - 23 to 7/7
Round 31: Aerosmith defeat AC/DC/Van Halen - 20 to 10/7
Round 32: Whitney Houston defeats Celine Dion/Mariah Carey/Christina Aguilera - 10 to 9/8/9

Yeah, that's right. I did it.
If I'm not familiar with people's work, should I just vote for the one I know, though they are not the best? Or is it my duty to go out and listen to all the others' songs first?
Hmmm.

Joni Mitchell, no question.

Romy

This should be exciting.

Or maybe it'll be blowout, who knows.

At any rate, I'm not too big on Carole King, though I don't dislike her. And, with all due respect, Mr. Taylor, now's not the best time for your unique brand of bittersweet folk-rock.

So it's between Joni and Jackson for me. Now Jackson has written some truly beautiful songs in his time, and not even just for himself. It doesn't get much better than "These Days." And yet, sometimes the guy just seems a little... dare I say it?... bland. That homogenized California sound (of course he co-wrote a song for The Eagles, how could he not?). "Bland" is an adjective you can almost never apply to Joni, though. Even when she misfires, she manages to crash and burn in a unique and interesting way. Her words simply tend to have more character than Jackson's (ditto her voice, which is a wonderful instrument that she really knows how to play). And is there anything can't do? Enigmatic, wistful, bitter, regretful, defiant, childish, weathered and wise. Her songwriting has never known many bounds.

Joni all the way, kids.

A vote for Jackson is fine by me, though it's absolutely everybody's duty to get to know some of the work of Ms. Mitchell.

Does anyone know of a song where's Joni's voice isn't so high and trilling that dogs come when you play it?
I'm not really familiar with a lot of her material.

Most everything past the very early 70s, really. Start with Court & Spark.

Oh, I have to buy something? mmm, not so much then.
Thanks, though. I will add it to my two mile long list.
Her voice didn't suddenly become all Stevie esq, though, did it? Does she yell?

She doesn't yell. Her voice is very looooow now. :nod:

Wow. Low? Joni? Sounds cool. :)

She doesn't yell, no, though she does sing in a lower, sultrier register much of the time.

Here, I put a couple of Court & Spark songs up on YouSendIt:

"People's Parties" (yes, it's supposed ot cut off at the end like that): http://s54.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0...I20DLDD5XNNMMS

and "Twisted" (featuring Cheech and Chong! and not to be confused with Stevie's ode to Bill Paxton): http://s39.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1...S29D67BI78FOKQ

Enjoy!

(By the way, does anyone else find the end of that second link offensive? No, YouSendIt, FOKQ!)

Well, decades of smoking did quite a number on her vocal chords.

...
 

I chose James Taylor. I like his voice (especially on Her Town Too) and I don't care for the other voices. :shrug:

Thanks, Quim!!!
So, I don't know what you think "low" and "not trilling" is, but Party People is neither, to me. She sure has a great voice, very facile - it sure bugs me, though.
Twisted is pretty cool. That voice thing, though.
I should love it, but it bugs.
Thanks again.:xoxo:

Carole King
 

Loved her as a child- and still do.