Karen and Amy Grant doing Matt Munro O's

[Harry]

We've all heard Richard describe his annoyance at Karen's exaggerated "O" sound to be more like singer Matt Munro, one of her favorites.

I've recently noticed that Amy Grant does the same thing on her "Mowst Wonderful Time of the Year" recording!

Harry

 

[Dave60640]

Until you mentioned Harry, I didn't actually put that together.
I have always "admired" Amy Grant but always thought that she somehow sounded like a singing beaver (like the beaver from "Lady and the Tramp.")
I like your analysis MUCH more.

 

[John from Aus]

I thought the Matt Monro irritation was over the "oo" sound - sounding more like "ew". (I know that's being picky now) I can't remember which track, but I was listening to Christmas Portrait the other night and heard a definite "eeww" from Karen, and it prodded my memory about the Matt Monro connection. By the way, I like Amy Grant a lot - have a fair bit of her material, but the voice is just not a patch on Karen.

 

[Harry]

I'm pretty sure it's his (Matt Munro's) way of pronouncing a long "O" that Karen emulated (and apparently Amy as well at least in that one song).

It starts as almost an "eh" sound and quickly moves to an "oo" to finish off. Try it quickly - "eh-oooooo" and you'll get the idea.

"It's the meh-ooooost wonderful time of the year..."

Harry

 

[JMAR5]

I've always thought Karen had a unique way of enunciating words. The one I find most interesting was when she pronounced the word "tounge" in "Strength of A Woman" on the MADE IN AMERICA album. That one really caught my attention