Friday, February 22, 2008

Five Sexiest Voices of All Time

This is my list of what I believe to be the five sexiest female voices in the history of music. This is entirely my opinion and I will give reasons to substantiate each choice.

#1 - Dusty Springfield was one of the best selling British singers in the 1960s and brought the female touch to the "British Invasion" of America. She earned the nicknames "White Negress" and "White Queen of Soul" because she sang as if born with black soul. She had a sultry, often raspy, effortless voice. She scored over two dozen American hits, but my absolute favorite is Son of a Preacher Man. Click here to download.

#2 - Stevie Nicks. Fleetwood Mac was all about sexual tension in the Stevie Nicks era. The song "You Can Go Your Own Way" is essentially the musical commentary of an in-band relationship going south. Another sultry voice that I just love. My favorite Fleetwood song, Dreams, was actually written by Stevie. Click here to download.

#3 - I do not like country music. However, I find myself making excuses for liking particular songs or artists. In most every case I find a way to identify bluegrass or even jazz themes in the song. As is the case with Alison Krauss. The first Krauss song I heard was "When You Say Nothing At All" on a movie soundtrack. I instantly loved her voice. Lucky for me, she was part of an amazing bluegrass band called Union Station, so I didn't have to admit that I liked a country music singer. I absolutely love this woman's voice. Entirely unique. And sexy. I'll go ahead and cite Oh, Atlanta as the best Krauss song to showcase her voice. You can also download the song here.

#4 - I'm a sucker for female jazz singers. There are classics like Etta James and Billie Holiday, and contemporaries like Norah Jones and my favorite...Diana Krall. Her low, almost husky voice brilliantly represents jazz standards and love songs alike. She has a variety of albums that have received widespread critical acclaim for renditions of jazz standards. The song The Girl in the Other Room however is from her first album that deviated to more contemporary music. She is an amazingly gifted piano player as well. Unfortunately she's married to Elvis Costello, but not everyone's perfect. Download her song here.

#5 - I had a mild teenage love affair in my mind with this girl's voice, and I have no clue who it even is. I don't really even know what she's saying. Principles of Lust was a song by the experimental electronic music project "Enigma" from 1992. My only guess is that the voice belongs to "Sandra", the wife of Enigma's creator Michael Cretu since she is credited for vocals on a number of Enigma tracks. However, Sandra is German, and The Voice is clearly French. So perhaps the voice is simply a mystery, which I prefer. Enigma's music generally incorporates groove-thick beats with gregorian chants and other ethereal sounds/voices. I could very easily put this voice at #1 because of its overall effect on my young mind, but due to its ENIGMATIC (pun) nature, I can't justify putting it above legitimate vocalists. You can download the 11 minute marathon version here.

With the exception of Principles of Lust, you'll notice a common thread with all of these singers. The voice does NOT fit the face. I can't say that I find any of these women irresistably physically attractive. However, their voices just ooze sexiness.

1 comment:

Talbot Family said...

I would have to agree with Allison Krauss! Love that girl. In college Maren used to make me turn "Enigma" off for their "Creepy" Chant Sound. Their music makes for some pretty cool what do you call it, "Weird" Modern dance choreography. It's also fun to play and annoy your roommates with, like my old roommate Marie used to make us listen to "Strawberry wine", I'd take enigma any day over that junk ;)