NFL
By: Greg Rector
As much as I love my male-dominated hard rock/heavy metal music and many other great male voices the older I get the more I listen to the great female singers I have loved since I was a young child. Being the last of the baby-boomer generation by a whole 26 days, this means it goes back a long way. I think there are way too many folks who have written or done a YouTube show about male singers in music. The misogyny so many of these women had to deal with is sadly still around to some degree. Rock and Roll history doesn’t only belong to men.
For me, there is one voice above all others and it belonged to Whitney Houston. From the first time I heard “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” I was mesmerized. Like so many others I rushed out and bought that album and every album she ever recorded. When I found out who her cousin was (Dionne Warwick) and her mother Cissy Houston, then I knew where that powerful voice came from. The CHURCH, like so many other great singers. What cemented Whitney as my favorite voice ever though was her performance of “The Star Spangled Banner,” at Super Bowl XXV in 1991. The reason is simple. I was a United States Marine in Saudi Arabia at that time a part of Operation Desert Shield. In a little over a month, we would liberate Kuwait from the Iraqis and Saddam Hussein in Desert Storm. So far from home and knowing what might happen to myself or fellow Marines and then hearing the most powerful rendition of the national anthem, not a dry eye was seen in that roomful of Marines, not one.
It took me a few years to be able to listen to Whitney again after her passing without being a total mess. Even today there are a few Houston songs that will make me reach for the Kleenex.
I go back in time though for the next few female voices. I loved the 1960s girl groups. The Supremes (Sorry never did do the Diana Ross and the Supremes thing) The Crystals, The Shirelles, and of course The Ronettes. No one though could match Tammi Terrell, all of her duets with Marvin Gaye, or her solo efforts. How tragic it was that her life was so short, gone at only 24 years old from a brain tumor. Their harmonies were just so good. But the voices I remember the most and that have lasted as my favorites belong to three British ladies. Lulu (To Sir With Love) Petula Clark (Don’t Sleep in the Subway and Downtown) and the Queen of the British singers Dusty Springfield. Dusty Springfield was easily my favorite singer male or female when I was a youngster. There was nothing she couldn’t sing beautifully. Yes, she’s the original “blue-eyed soul,” artist, long before the days of Hall and Oates. Springfield sang country, she sang jazz, you name it the woman could sing it. In the 70s teen heartthrobs the Bay City Rollers would cover Springfield’s “I Only Wanna Be With You,” and in the 80s The Pet Shop Boys would defy their record label (the label wanted Barbara Streisand or Tina Turner) and demand Springfield do a duet (What I Have Done to Deserve This) her influence remains on so many other British singers to this day.
The 1970s as well had so many incredible contributions from women. Carole King, Carly Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Helen Reddy, and so many other outstanding voices. The saddest voice though has to belong to Karen Carpenter, another outstanding voice that was gone far too soon. One of the biggest musicals both on stage and on film was “Jesus Christ Superstar,” from the original cast Yvonne Elliman (If I Can’t Have You – disco fame) performance of “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” where Mary Magdalene expresses her feeling for Jesus. It had almost as many covers as “Yesterday,” by the Beatles. No less than Helen Reddy, Shirley Bassey, Petula Clark, and Sarah Brightman in the 90s, and maybe my favorite cover of all by Melanie C (Spice Girls) in 2012. Told y’all those British voices get me every time.
My favorite memory of music with my late daughter was in 1998. I literally had just come home from 10 months of working with NATO in the former Yugoslavia for the second time. Came home to Little Rock and after the obligatory hugs and kisses, my precious soon-to-be 13-year-old daughter Heather screamed “Dad you can take us to see the Spice Girls for my birthday!!!” So after finding out the details (they had won a contest), dear old dad and one other parent drove 8 teenage girls from Little Rock to Dallas, Texas to see the last North American show of that tour. I had a whole 11 hour’s from being home to making the trek. Say what you want about The Spice Girls, but every single time Sporty Spice (Mel C) took over in a song it would blow you away. Her voice was so clear, so powerful, and by far she was the best singer of the bunch. Heather noticed right away how taken I was by her voice. Like the other ladies mentioned Mel C’s voice just hits me like a ton of bricks. We came home and all she could say to her mom was “Daddy fell in love with another voice mom.” My wife’s response was perfect “Heather, your father has always had a thing for the female voice, our southern drawls should be evidence enough.” My response was “It was quieter in a war zone.” It also helps that Chisholm is a huge supporter as am I of the Liverpool Reds.
Today there seems to be a lot more respect and equality for the top female singers of this era. Hopefully, the likes of Beyonce, Taylor Swift, and the rest of the chart toppers are looked at just as fondly for decades as I have shown my admiration for the ladies that influenced me and who have entertained me for oh so long or like Melanie Chisholm for a shorter amount of decades. These are just some of the female voices that have touched me on my musical journey through life. I’ll put them up against Elvis, Mick, Paul, John, and all the other guys anytime. They more than hold their own.
What female voices have stayed with you from your youth?
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