Top 10 Singers 
Singing is therapeutic. Singing is used for all different types of client groups. Singing relieves stress.
Like playing the piano, or speaking several languages being able to sing is one of the talents people yearn for.
So who do you wish you could sing like? Do you imagine being on stage singing a certain song? Feeling the audience move with you to the emotions you are conveying in the song? Being the centre of attention? Being seen as someone with the perfect voice missing all the human flaws?
So who would be your top 10 singers?
How would you categorise them? Crooners? Rockers? Classically trained? Male? Female? Noteriety?
Apparently most pop vocalists have no formal training but are trained to use their voice properly so they can protect their voice and have long careers.
One way of thinking about your top 10 singers is to think can they sing? Can Bono sing? Does the reputation of his band outweigh his voice? He has a style all of his own which is instantly recognisable as Bono. This is important for marketing the band! He can convey emotion through his words in the song. But does he hit notes like a classically trained singer? Perhaps this is not important. Chris Martin, Lou Reed, & Ian Brown could also fall into this category. Good tunes, emotive, yet a voice that sounds flat at times. Same as Kurt Cobain. Brilliant at conveying raw emotion. But in tune? The punk/grunge ethic was not about tunes but attitude.
Who would be in your top 10 singers?
To race through the singing styles in living memory – just!
Old school crooners hark back to a time when he voice and timing were everything. The voice was at the forefront with the music complementing it. Elvis knocked a hole in this style. Attitude, sex, rebellion and then the voice and tune was the call. Not to say he did not have a good voice. It was instantly recognisable. Mournful, and soulful.
The men in Motown delivered up tales of love, & racial oppression. The women female assertion & independence – through gospel music choirs. The 70’s singer song writers had voices to die for. Carole King, Joni Mitchell, & James Taylor to name a few. Progressive rock produced few good singers? Jon Anderson, Greg Lake, Ian Gillan, Peter Gabriel? Cock rock produced the raw power of Robert Plant. And he could sing ballads, and carry a tune like Don Henley. Mick Jagger and Paul Rodgers had a style all of their own.
Disco has singers from Donna Summer to Luther Vandross. This was smashed by punk: Johnny Rotten being the main exponent of how not to hold a tune tunefully. Under the punk ethic he had an incredibly powerful voice. Then the pop crooning of George Michael who has had an incredible career through the 1908s, 1990s and into the 21st Century. Out of these styles has come a repetition and amalgam of all the styles put together.
Who would be in your top 10 singers?
There are too many to mention so here are just a random few to get you started.
Terence Trent D’Arby Pharrell Williams Kanye West Lenny Kravitz Laura Mvula Beck JJ Cale
Sly Stone Justin Vernon Grace Jones Mary Margaret O’ Hara Bryan Ferry Stevie Nicks
Jack White Chrissie Hynde Caleb Followill Wayne Coyne Orlando Weekes
Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2013
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Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only.
This article is designed to provoke argument and critique.