- Feb152012
Way Back Wednesday: Marvelous Male Vocalists
Written by Trent | Filed under R. Kelly,Way Back Wednesday
We previously reflected on the female vocalists who redefined the music industry but now it is time for Way Back Wednesday to celebrate their male counterparts. In an era where male singers use auto-tune as a crutch and otherwise mediocre performers, such as Trey Songz, are praised for relatively basic showings, this week’s feature has been devised to remind people of the true power of the male voice.
So, let’s travel back to the age of Doo-wop to swing with the high notes of Frankie Lymon and then flashfoward through the decades with Teddy Pendergrass, Luther Vandross and R. Kelly. Watch some of music industry’s best male vocalists perform below:
Frankie Lymon – ‘Goody Goody’
Luther Vandross – ‘Killing Me Softly’
Marvin Gaye – ‘Heard it Through the Grapevine’
R. Kelly – ‘When a Woman Loves’
Sammie Davis Jr. – ‘Mr. Bojangles’
Stevie Wonder – ‘You & I’
Teddy Pendergrass – ‘Turn Off the Lights’
Tom Jones – ‘It’s Not Unusual’
Perhaps as a result of surging hypermasculinity in the music industry or simple laziness, very few male singers today have experimented with their voices similar to these titans of song. In fact, with the exception of Maxwell, Tank, John Legend, Brian McKnight, Luke James and Musiq Soulchild, it is quite difficult to name impressive male singers under that age of 45 years.
When people list the greatest singers of our time the regularly name only females because of their expansive vocal ranges. Yet, the male artists themselves should be blamed for that problem because it is their job to explore the boundaries of their talents instead of wasting time singing about their penises.
Thoughts?
18 Comments
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That’s just sad to see there’s so few that came about in my generation. & beyond that, that my generation is complacent w/ the light voices & limited ranges of Chris Brown & Trey Songz rather than some concrete vocal talent. Ahhh.. the struggles.
…and I had JUST tweeted you about doing a male-centered post for this week! <3
YAAAASSS @ Frankie Lymon… iWonder if he was a member of 'the family?' 0:53-0:55 slayed my life!
Oh Tom Jones *does the Carlton dance* … he is LEGENDARY!
A lot of ppl are just now catching on to Luke James thanks to his BET Honors performance… he was giving me a baby version of Maxwell (and he's a tad bit sexier too).
and bruno mars
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i love stevie omg you and i is one of my fave songs its second to the beautiful ones i thank my parents so much for showing me music from their generation because mines is a lost cause steveis music is just go magical to me
tenet thank you so much for this way back wednesday i love it
Thank you for the segment. You has chosen wisely. Love hearing Luther, Marvin, Teddy and R. Kelly. Now that was music!
Some of the boybands of the 90s had great voices also e.g Jodeci, Boyz II Men
Great post
xXx
ok why is Michael Jackson not there??? is he too good or something?? Trent i need some answers….
I love a male vocalist that can demonstrate they have the same amount of talent and ability as their female counter parts.
How about Donny Hathaway or Tevin Campbell?
@Tim – Both great vocalist!
Great post!
My favorite Male artist at this moment:
1) Chris Brown
2) Miguel
3) Luke James
4) Allen Stone
Teddy Pendergrass!!!!! My all time fav male vocalist. Great post
Nice post but you should have had Terence Trent D’Arby on this list he has an incredible vocal range and a nice raspy voice i know you love…in fact you should do a music minute on him
A lot of people don’t recognize Sammie talents but he’s the best young R&B singer. Of course he’s not as popular as Chris Brown or trey songz but Sammie can sing better than both. But in the industry today, a person don;t have to know how to sing (trey songz) and still get a record deal and ppl purchase their cds. If Sammie had the proper ppl behind him, he’s be more popular, he reminds me of R.Kelly and Tank. He write all of his material and it have substance. Check him out you all and see what I’m referring to.
He has a new song out now title “Heart has a mind of it’s own” and I love it. The lyrics are amazing to me.
I remember when Gotta Make It came out, EVERYONE said Trey Songz could sing. Now that he’s hot and puts out basic songs, now everyone thinks he can’t. smh. Sad. And I see you didn’t shade Chris Brown, even though he uses autotune as a crutch.
Anywho, I think Trey can sing, but he’s not super great like Luke James, Mario, or Sammie.
Fabulous post, Trent! The Luther and Teddy clips make me understand the compulsion that some women had to throw their panties on stage. These men were sanging! I need the singers of today to get it together.