Other Female Singers

Speaking of female voices.... Marilyn McCoo...

I've been listening to some 5th Dimension today. Her voice is a knockout just like Karen's. "One Less Bell to Answer" comes to mind of course, but she also does "(Last Night) I Didn't Get to Sleep At All" and a great version of "Never My Love". Heavenly!
 
Besides the duets CD with Amy Sky & Beth Nielsen Chapman, Olivia Newton - John has another Christmas CD called "Friends For Christmas" (with John Farnham) from last year. Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
Watching the Graham Norton Show last night and they had a singer on called Beth Ditto. Her band's drumkit had her logo on it and from a distance it looked a bit Carpenteresque. Looking her up it's very similar.

 

Thought are with her but this doesn't look good. For it to have spread to her spine means the likelihood of long term survival is slim and I definitely don't think she'll be back to performing in August. I really hope I'm wrong.
 
...in the signature of Olivia....I send Love & Light!!!

I echo the articulate, genuine sentiments of others on here regarding Olivia...

@Rick-An Ordinary Fool, I have been awaiting comment from you, as you are, arguably, Olivia's greatest fan at this site. For those who don't know this, Rick previously used as his avatar a photo of Karen with Olivia. So in the vein of friendship, love, and prayer, we are all joined together in sending Olivia our positive thoughts...
 
For what it's worth, some site has ranked Olivia's "greatest songs":

Olivia Newton-John's 68 Greatest Songs, Ranked!
Wow terrific link and one that you could spend hours watching and listening. A song for each year of her life, pretty cool. Of course I love ALL the songs but I would have to re arrange them up a bit....Recovery at 64...hmmm I'd bump that closer to top 5, love that song. It might take me a couple days to go through this list. :)
 
Wow terrific link and one that you could spend hours watching and listening. A song for each year of her life, pretty cool. Of course I love ALL the songs but I would have to re arrange them up a bit....Recovery at 64...hmmm I'd bump that closer to top 5, love that song. It might take me a couple days to go through this list. :)

I'd have put Landslide much higher than #33, Suspended In Time in the top 10 and there's absolutely no mention at all of Not Gonna Be The One, which I think was the best song she's recorded since the 1990s.
 
My favorite ONJ song would have to be the duet she did with Cliff Richard, Suddenly, off the "Xanadu" soundtrack. Absolutely beautiful...

Mine is Suspended In Time. There's an amazing clip online where she sings this on one of her specials and the tears are streaming down her face by the end of her performance. That sold it for me.
 
Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane of Spanky and Our Gang. Great 60s pop. "Like to Get to Know You" is probably my favorite of their selections- the single version has the tasty coda that ends the album of the same name.

 
For what it's worth, some site has ranked Olivia's "greatest songs":

Olivia Newton-John's 68 Greatest Songs, Ranked!

Picking up on a theme I recently mentioned in another thread, don't you just hate these subjective rankings? They can be infuriating when they so differ from our own choices. To their benefit, they invite consideration and discussion.

In this instance, I am a big fan of Olivia's, though I am not a completist. I know pretty much all the singles, but I am unfamiliar with many of the songs in this countdown. Similarly, maybe a casual Carpenters' fan would be unfamiliar with terrific album cuts, such as "Two Sides" and "You."

Not making the cut in the aforementioned list of 68 songs is anything from Olivia's 2006 inspirational CD, Grace and Gratitude. This is a remarkable listening experience, as referred to me by a good friend. About half the songs are New Age instrumentals and the other half are beautiful ballads, including some collaborations with other singers. On my ranking of greatest Olivia songs, I would include "Instrument of Peace" as well as "I Will Lift Up My Eyes" (the latter a collaboration with Amy Sky). Amy Sky, along with Beth Nielsen Chapman, collaborated with Olivia on the 2016 release Liv On, which also includes some terrific work. The voices of Amy Sky and Olivia blend very well, indeed. I like Grace and Gratitude so much, I play it all the time.
 
Is there a thread for male singers? I just ran across Ronan Keating on YouTube. His version of I Won't Last A Day Without You is great for he follows Richard's arrangement closely, and his voice is complimentary to Carpenters material.



Watch this you can see and hear what I saw. I think I'm going to search for more on him.

Craig
 
My favorite ONJ song would have to be the duet she did with Cliff Richard, Suddenly, off the "Xanadu" soundtrack. Absolutely beautiful...
Mine too you have Excellent Taste I think Suddenly is the most definitive power ballad of the 80s if not all time Just my opinion of course.
 
Is there a thread for male singers? I just ran across Ronan Keating on YouTube. His version of I Won't Last A Day Without You is great for he follows Richard's arrangement closely, and his voice is complimentary to Carpenters material.

Watch this you can see and hear what I saw. I think I'm going to search for more on him

He's the lead singer of a British boyband called 'Boyzone'. Look out for the following songs in particular, which are both band and solo hits:

Gave It All Away
When You Say Nothing At All
Words
If Tomorrow Never Comes
Love Me For.A Reason
Father And Son
Baby Can I Hold You Tonight
No Matter What
 
This has nothing to do with Carpenters, but I remember Aussie Vanessa Amorosi singing 'Heroes Live Forever' at the opening ceremony of the Olympics Sydney, 2000. (I saw it in TV). Her vocal performance is really good. The song starts off quietly, but wait until it picks up. (It could have been the emotion of the event that influenced my opinion. ). Vanessa Amorosi effortlessly reaches notes such as Fsharp5, with chest voice, during the song. I know this sound won't please everyone because she's a bit of a belter and screamer. (The opposite to Karen Carpenter). Actually, there are all sorts of hideous videos of Vanessa Amorosi on YouTube showing her screeching, but 'Heroes Live Forever' is nice. I was impressed by the fact that she was only about 20 at the time and had been in the limelight for only a year or so, but pulled such a challenging song off so well and effortlessly, live, in front of such a massive audience. She is also quite strong on low notes.

A singer who does have a mellow, soothing voice in the way that Karen Carpenter had is Australia's Debra Byrne, (although their voices are nothing alike).

Generally, I like artists who write unusual, imaginative, out-there songs, play their own instruments and have some sort of individual, eccentric artistic presence, so neither Debra Byrne or Vanessa Amorosi hold my fascination overall, but I do like the facets of their work mentioned above.

Check 'Heroes Live Forever', from the Olympics, out, and see what you think.

I actually haven't read any of the other posts in this 'Other Female Voices' thread, so I have no idea whether this post is on topic!
 
Is there a thread for male singers? I just ran across Ronan Keating on YouTube. His version of I Won't Last A Day Without You is great for he follows Richard's arrangement closely, and his voice is complimentary to Carpenters material.



Watch this you can see and hear what I saw. I think I'm going to search for more on him.

Craig

Interesting that you mention this. The first single released by Boyzone, (Ronan Keating's group), from way back, featured very Carpenteresque background vocals. That impressed me straight away and I rushed out and bought the single when it was first released.

Ronan Keating was on Aussie TV for a number of years as a judge on one of those shows such as Australian Idol or The Voice. I'm not a fan of the man, personally, but it seems that he has been influenced by Carpenters.
 
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