Just because one can act doesn’t mean one can also sing (and vice versa – just because one can entertain a crowd doesn’t mean one can act). These artists shocked us by being able to actually hold a tune and even – on occasion – sound really good doing it…
Bruce Willis – rowdy blues guy
Ole B Willy sure can rock a phat jam!! He’s got the gravel, the yelling, and the old guy angst down pat. Sure, he might occasionally resort to ’spoken delivery’ (like theseguys), drop out of tune just slightly at the end of the odd line, and look kinda awkward when he has to stand there with nothing to do but I’d argue that B Willikers just might have an old-blues-guy gene or two in his make-up…
Hayden Panettiere – Hendrix cover girl
If you were an avid Disney channel watcher you mighta been one of those who raised an eyebrow when you saw Claire Bear on Heroes, and said: “hey… there’s that chick who sings on that Disney movie” but for most of us, she was an actress first (or rather, a self-mutilating cheerleader) and her singing talents were unknown (not to mention her voice acting talents as Dot in A Bug’s Life and Kairi in Kingdom Hearts 2!).
…and he can dance too (is that what he’s doing in the scene below, at 2:16? xD); obviously he was training for the intense action sequences in Batman Begins. I wonder if there’s going to be a musical number in The Dark Knight? I can totally see Batman breaking into “Bad” during a tense show-down with the Joker…
“…the word is out / you’re doing wrong / gonna lock you up / before too long… Who’s Bad?”
*shudder*… bad memories of Prince’s Batdance video… >_<
Kiera Knightley – sultry songstress
She can sing! And not too badly at all, either. She injects just the right amount of fragile emotion into this performance to come across like a natural.
Honourable Mention
It may fall into the “spoken word” category but I’ll bet you never knew McCain could bust a funky jam too, eh?
Jennifer Lin – at the age of 14 – appears here at TED and gives an awesome performance with an impressive improvisation near the end (it’s a very long vidclip btw…) You can’t help but be impressed from the very first flurry of notes she plays from Józef Hofmann’s “Kaleidoscope”. Apparently she’s been known to move people to tears – even those who are just watching the video… >_<; *sniff*
Young MC’s songs were always boppy pop fun. This remix, however, has a phat, chilled out, downbeat groove that would be at home on a modern day K&D track or Cafe Del Mar compilation.
Young MC’s rap in this song is great too; the groove tempers the bounce from his usual delivery so his voice sits in a laid-back syncopated space on top of the beat.
This cover by Nightwish has nothing on the original but “Walking In The Air” (from the animated film of Raymond Briggs’ graphic novel “The Snowman”) is one of the most beautiful songs out there so it’s nice to hear it in another context (plus, I do like Nightwish sometimes – even if they are just appealing to my inner teenage-westie xD).
On the other side of the coin… there are duets that seem to be made of artists plucked randomly from opposite ends of the spectrum and jammed together haphazardly to see what falls out…
In light of that, these are the ten duets from the 1980s and the 1990s that caused a moment of sheer bewilderment upon their discovery. Some of them defied expectation and worked well, some – in my opinion – didn’t.
Feel free to ridicule me, correct me, or add the duets I’ve missed in the comments below! (And thanks for the post suggestion, Duls!)
Wu-tang + Texas
I wouldna picked this one in a million years to be honest… Apparently Sharleen Spiteri and crew are big Wu-Tang fans O_o. And Sharleen must be fond of strange collaborations since she’s done another one with german rabble rousers Rammstein…
What’s so strange about it? Well… Wu-Tang are seminal hardcore rap legends and Texas… are soft-rock/pop with a chick vocalist… nuff said?
Did it work? I think it worked nicely – in a bizarre kind of way – although that may have more to do with Rza’s production and that awesomesample in the chorus that ends every first and third line on the most discordant note in a pop song ever xD: totally makes up for all the sugar from Sharleen in the verses
Kylie Minogue + Nick Cave
Nick wrote a song about a guy who brains a chick with a rock, chucks her in the river, and shoves a rose in her mouth so the memory of her beauty won’t fade… And have you read his book, “And The Ass Saw The Angel” about that one mute dude with the abusive father who ends up going ballistic on his home town? Yeeeaah… O_o … someone should be watching Nick Cave closely…
What’s so strange about it? Nick’s an alternative doom rock maven and Kylie’s a pop princess: cerebral gloom with sugary pop frivolity… on the surface it makes no sense but – given the story of the song – the beauty and the beast dynamic has a very definite place…
Did it work? I think it worked well – the two suited their roles in the story and their voices complemented each other nicely. But I still think Nick Cave should be kept away from automatic weapons and high places in crowded areas…
Eminem + Elton John
This only happened live at the 2001 Grammys but it’s an occurrence of note.
What’s so strange about it? Eminem was notorious for the abundance of anti-gay vitriol in his songs and Elton John is… well… gay. Cynics say it was a calculated political move from the candy-monikered-one to salvage his image with the pink party…
Did it work? It may have curried favour for Em with GLAAD (the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) – or, in fact, turned GLAAD against Elton – but I thought Elton’s voice and style in this context was a major step backward from the sweet tones of Dido and the whole thing ends up being primarily an exercise in PR rather than a memorable live rendition of the song…
Did it work? Not in my opinion… I didn’t like Tom’s or Nina’s voice for the song… imo the success it had is due to the quality of the original song itself – go the Byrne-meister!!
KLF + Tammy Wynette
In 1995, Splendid Magazine said:
Were a decision reached that all pop music was deemed unfit for human consumption and had to be destroyed, save for one song to keep us fickle masses in choruses, this would be have to be the one, folks.
Hyperbole, much?
What’s so strange about it? Tammy is the goddess of country and KLF were stadium house pioneers on the raucous bleeding edge of avant garde performance art… not the most obvious pairing… or is it? Some say it suited KLF’s rabid rejection of convention and expectation to a tee…
Did it work? Arguably anything works in KLF’s eclectic dance mish-mash… and gushing quote aside, the song was received very well in the UK and Europe with great chart success and more hyperbolic reviews.
U2 + Mary J Blige
What’s so strange about it? Political rock band plus R&B diva… I wouldna picked this one either… Okay, there’s the soul connection with BB et al during Rattle & Hum but R&B diva…? Really?
Did it work? My U2-loving mates have given a resounding “NO” but I like both Mary and U2 and I didn’t mind it… I don’t know that it’s true to the spirit of the band but it makes a nice diversion, at least.
Did it work? George managed to not drag the proceedings down – even though he was singing with one of the most honoured women in Grammy history (Aretha has twenty little gold-plated gramophones on her mantle…) and the UK public gave him his third No. 1, so someone liked it. I seem to remember being hammered by it relentlessly on the NZ charts too…
Bone Thugs N Harmony + Phil Collins
What’s so strange about it? Bone Thugs be gangsta, mayn… and Phil… ain’t.
Did it work? I say no – Phil’s sustained, reverbed-out, chorus lines just don’t seem to go with Bone Thugs’ rapid staccato melody rapping… imo the worst duet on this list.
Cliff Richard + The Young Ones
Cliff sings a sweet song and the Young Ones footle all over it.
What’s so strange about it? Well, Cliff Richard is the paragon of virtue and middle-of-the-road purity (see his conversion to Christianity and his claims of virginity) and the Young Ones are a chaotic, loutish rabble who were as irreverent as you could get (for the time) without being R18…
Did it work? If you liked the Young Ones it was just another Young Ones skit with pretty music every now and then so it was fine . If you didn’t, their schtick may have gotten annoying quickly…
Honourable Mentions
Frank Sinatra + Bono – they didn’t even get to meet before they recorded – in different studios in different states…
My new favourite duet of all of these. Elmo doesn’t want to go to sleep but Andrea (with that beautiful, smooth tenor – still brings a tear to my eye) tells him it’s “Time To Say Goodnight”. (Elmo has more character than Sarah Brightman anyway ; ).
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Disturbed’s 4th album “Indestructible” features the suicide story single “Inside The Fire” (check out David’s socially conscious spiel at the beginning) which is inspired by the death of Draiman’s girlfriend when he was 14… The song is a catchy little chunky slab of pop metal, as expected (thanks for pointing it out, Grunter!)
Given my past love of Faith No More, the news that a forthcoming B side from the album will feature Disturbed’s cover of “Midlife Crisis” was interesting . No video for it yet (if at all) but here’s the song anyway. I’d call it more a reproduction than a cover though – it’s almost a carbon copy of the original and features remarkably Patton-ish vox from Draiman.
Timbaland has won Songwriter of the Year at the ASCAP 2008 Rhythm & Soul Music Awards. Earlier in the year he won Songwriter of the Year at the ASCAP Pop Music Awards. Told you he deserved some respect, haters! xD
This is my favourite song of his – “Give It To Me”. This was his first number one on his own (he’s produced and written plenty for other artists) and was the third biggest chart climber (from number 42) on the Billboard Hot 100 at the time.
Israeli-born American muso Eef Barzelay has just released his second album Lose Big and this is the title track in which he presumably ‘argues’ with his significant other to convince her that he needs to tour Europe xD. Known for his clever lyricism and dry wit, Eef makes a good little singable ditty or two if you ask me.
Gasp! M.E.’s been overrun by mainstream pop lately so it’s time to head out into leftfield for something a little bit different… Jem from Wales is apparently ‘known for her eclectic musical stylings’ and she’s occasionally landed with the label of “trip hop“. Her second album is due out near the end of this year.
This is the track of hers – “Come On Closer” – that most stands out for me personally; I’m a big fan of minor chord progressions. (This version of the song – no video yet – is a bit more in line with the trip hop label.)
