US fans - can you tell Christine is English?
 

I was interested to read that Christine thought you could tell from her singing voice that she was English. I'm not sure I could. I always, hearing her songs before I knew much about her, assumed she was American. Can US fans tell that she is not from your neck of the woods?

I always think of "English" singers, like Bowie, David Gilmour or Syd Barrett, who sung in their own accent - be it Cockney or Cut-Glass - but Christine has generally always, to my ear, had if not a generic American singing voice, then certainly a heavily mid-Atlantic one.

Incidentally, as a kid I was never sure where the band came from. My parents had TITN on cd in the 80s and, seeing Mick who I think looks pretty celtic, and knowing that the word 'Mac' formed part of the name, assumed they were all Scots. I may have confused them with Deacon Blue at that stage! :o

nice post. Generally, I think I can tell, but that is only b/c I know she's English.
Certain songs over others I think it is more noticable.

Funny story, back when "Everywhere" was released on the radio (I already had the album) My sister said that FM had a new single. I asked "which one, describe it to me". She said "I don't know....the one the guy sings".:shrug:

On Everywhere?! Ha! She does have a husky voice, but on that track she is singing pretty high notes and sounds very feminine.

I think on YMLF you can hear her Birmingham accent on the word "wonderful", particularly so on The Dance version; there is a very nice, flat vowel there!

The first time I heard Songbird (before I was a fan of the band or knew anything about them) I thought it was sung by a guy. :sorry:

Generally, she sounds pretty neutral when she sings, I think. Only on certain songs (YMLF, for example) does her accent really stand out. Otherwise only slightly if at all.

Yes, I agree...keep in mind this was the late 80's and I think my sister was used to the high alto male singers like Steve Perry and Axl Rose on Sweet Child of Mine. Only explanation I can think of.

I will have a listen again to hear her proper anunciation(sp) on YMLF (one of my faves!)

Have you heard Duncan Shiek's version of Songbird from the Rumours tribute album? He sounds amazing, almost better than the original:eek:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxDRNirlc1U

When I got into the Mac 3 years ago, I had no idea Christine was British/English. To me she doesn't sound that way when she sings. The first time I heard Christine talk my brain got so confused! I was like huh, what, eh, who is this!?! :lol:

...and I'm an American from the South...:cool:

I knew she was a Brit right off the bat hearing her talk on "The Dance." I can see that you might not pick up on that if you'd only heard her singing voice though.

I usually can not tell where a singer is from by their singing voice alone. Once I know or think about it, I begin to pick up on the traces of their speaking voice dialect. After that Ican't hear anything but their speaking accent.

So my answer is yes. :wavey:

Thanks for posting, I had not heard this version before.

Willie Nelson's version is quite good... much peppier and upbeat than the original, a real radio-friendly pop production which was interesting.

Found a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oyRV_eE3Qw

youtube sent me to this link of another version of Songbird... not my fave. YMMV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIMlnJI4iAQ

TY for posting that! I saw him in concert with Dylan and John Mellencamp a few summers ago...there wasn't a song I didn't recognize or know. He truely is a gifted songwriter and musician.

I had no idea he favored the Mac...hell, he may have even sold them some Mary J back in the day.

Songbird with a lower pitch of 10%
 

I adjusted Chris Song Bird with a lower pitch of 10%. She sounds like a male, but you can tell (I believe) she's English when she sings "and the song bird knows the score" (about 1:35 and 2:35). She has a clear and pronounced native English voice, not a slurred word in her song.

Click on the picture:
[IMG]http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/...psbffffb3d.jpg[/IMG]

Christine sounds like a male on songbird? What?

Maybe some of the live versions (ie: Tusk tour doc) but certainly not on record. Really?

I hear her British lilt on certain words, such as "been" (she pronounces it like "bean") on "Friend" or the line "you better not" on "One in a Million." Mostly you hear it, as another poster said, in the flattening of the vowels, especially with certain "o" sounds.

I didn't mean it as an insult, it's honestly what I thought upon first listen. I knew nothing of the band and only heard a very short snippet of it on iTunes. I guess I had been listening to a lot of those counter-tenor 70s/80s guys like Steve Perry so I just assumed it was also a guy.