Other Female Singers

[JohnFB]

Thanks for posting - an enjoyable listen - always a super talented lady and still sounding pretty good - the song is decent although the recording is over produced - it is definitely not "Where Do I Go From Here" - in more ways than one...

 

[newvillefan]

Thanks for posting - an enjoyable listen - always a super talented lady and still sounding pretty good - the song is decent although the recording is over produced - it is definitely not "Where Do I Go From Here" - in more ways than one...

Here’s the track on its own, it was released today. Took me a couple of listens but I really like it. I don’t think it sounds overproduced - my only complaint would be that the backing track is almost all electronic instrumentation (but isn’t that the way these days). I think the only real instrument on it is keyboard. Definitely not what I was expecting and a new sound for her, but then she does like to keep surprising her fans.

 

[newvillefan]

Claire Richards of the UK group Steps has released a new album today of mostly dance covers of various songs made famous by female singers who inspired Claire growing up including Cher and Donna Summer and ABBA. The deluxe album features a bonus track cover of Xanadu by Olivia Newton John but also features a non dance version of Goodbye to love by Carpenters.

This cracked me up

 

[newvillefan]

Agnetha’s new single has topped the iTunes download chart in the UK on the day of its release. Not bad beating Miley Cyrus at 73 years old! Some promo pics below for fellow fans.

Ok that’s enough from me now. I’m just over the moon we have new and unexpected music from her just two years on from Voyage

 

[JohnFB]

 

[JohnFB]

Shelly Farbares was 16 in 1962 when she recorded this as part of the plot of an episode of "The Donna Reed Show" where she played the daughter. There's a lot of sentimentality attached to her version with many people relating their personal experiences with the song. It made it to no.1 on the charts and earned Shelly a gold record. Many people love her rendition and talk about how pretty her voice is, and even compare it favorably to Karen's medley version on NOW AND THEN...

And while Shelly herself is pretty it's really difficult to tell just how "pretty" Shelly's voice is because there is so much double-tracking going on - with lots of reverb and echoing - that her actual singing voice is buried or distorted or disguised...
Here's her version, which is pleasant - if you like this sort of artificial technical "adjustment" in your recordings:



And here's Karen's version, where it's mostly just her lovely unadulterated voice we thankfully hear - notice in particular how she sings the word "concentrate"...




Footnote: during a recent interview Shelly seems to be saying that Hal Blaine (and maybe other Wrecking Crew members) played on her recording...

 

[CarpentersToYou]

Agnetha's new song isn't bad but it's not as good as her songs that were on A and that video! Yikes!
I look forward to hearing her new takes on the A album but would have loved an album of new material

 

[newvillefan]

Agnetha's new song isn't bad but it's not as good as her songs that were on A and that video! Yikes!
I look forward to hearing her new takes on the A album but would have loved an album of new material

Same here! It was touted as a completely new album but it’s just a rehash of her 2013 album with the original vocals intact and new backing tracks that have “new modern vibes” to them 🙄. There was nothing wrong with the original tracks. I was disappointed to learn that this is all that’s resulted from the original hype. And that video - don’t even get me started. It’s like some sort of Japanese animé/manga thing. Absolutely dire! I’d much rather have seen something along the lines of the promos for her 2004 album “My Colouring Book”, which were beautifully produced.

 

[CarpentersToYou]

Same vocals?!?! Noooo! Worse than I thought!

 

[Murray]

 

[newvillefan]

These videos really annoy me, and Youtube is full of them. She isn’t singing that live. The vocal has been produced in a recording studio, overdubbed, and she’s miming to it - albeit convincingly. You don’t get that kind of vocal quality when you’re that far away from the mic.

 

[Murray]

These videos really annoy me, and Youtube is full of them. She isn’t singing that live. The vocal has been produced in a recording studio, overdubbed, and she’s miming to it - albeit convincingly. You don’t get that kind of vocal quality when you’re that far away from the mic.

Hey, professional musicians have been doing the same thing since the advent of music videos, so why are you surprised that amateurs on YouTube are employing the same production tricks. They are simply emulating the pros that they idolise. Is what the fifteen-year-old girl in the video I posted did, any worse than Karen Carpenter recording her vocals for the TV specials in a studio, and then miming to them on camera? ("Duet" with Ella Fitzgerald, anyone?)

 

[John Adam]

Today (would have) been Olivia Newton-John's 75th birthday. If you like other female singers (like Karen) that are iconic, check out the Olivia Newton-John YouTube channel. Some special treats posted today.

 

[AM Matt]

Soap Opera actress, the late Mary Stuart album (originally on Bell Records from 1973) (complete album & audio only)

 

[AM Matt]

Mary Stuart (actress) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[JohnFB]

Superstar cover - Nice! - faithful to Richard's arrangement - lead singer is Ksenia Buzina - faithful to (but, of course, not matching) Karen's vocal...

 

[Jack A.]

Superstar cover - Nice! - faithful to Richard's arrangement - lead singer is Ksenia Buzina - faithful to (but, of course, not matching) Karen's vocal...

I love Leonid and Friends - I wouldn’t have expected a Chicago tribute band to do a Carpenters cover, but they actually delivered really well!

 

[JohnFB]

I love Leonid and Friends - I wouldn’t have expected a Chicago tribute band to do a Carpenters cover, but they actually delivered really well!

Yes they did - and they seem to have covered most of Chicago's catalog - and some Earth, Wind & Fire...maybe next will be some Blood, Sweat & Tears since they seem to hone in on the big, brassy sound.

 

[Tony]

This is surprisingly good:

 

[JohnFB]

Hey @Tony - I posted this also, just slightly above - glad we both have the same opinion...she's good and so are the musicians - and the arrangement is virtually an exact duplication of Richard's. I wish the Carps had recorded a version this way - completely live in the studio - we have Karen's live rendition on BBC in 1971, which is her best by far, but a format like this would have been even better, including the live backup singers...love how they emphasize that stunning ending!

 

[3Favorites]

This cracked me up

I hate this. It seems tasteless.

 

[3Favorites]

Just to clarify...I meant the photoshopped single cover. Not anyone's opinion about it.

 

[CarpentersToYou]

Yikes. Agnetha's A album ranks as one of my favorites but I have to say that these remixes for A+ are abysmal.

 

[newvillefan]

Yikes. Agnetha's A album ranks as one of my favorites but I have to say that these remixes for A+ are abysmal.

They’re horrendous. Me and a fellow ABBA fan have been commenting on the few tracks that have been released so far over the last couple of weeks. They’ve removed all the beautiful orchestration and laden her vocals with autotune. Such a disappointment and pretty pointless really, given she’s signed to a brand new label just for this. I dread to think what they’ve done to the rest of the album. Why she ever let herself be talked into this is beyond me.

 

[JohnFB]

... I dread to think what they’ve done to the rest of the album. Why she ever let herself be talked into this is beyond me.

Reminds me strongly of another really great female singer who let herself be talked into a horrendous recording technique...