Let's hear some ideas of bands that probably wouldn't be who they are, or would have made it if it wasn't for the vocals standing as they are...

A couple right off the top of my head.. Public Images with John Lydon, Talking Heads with David Byrne, and of course you can't forget Judas Priest!

Bon Scott / Brian Johnson ~ AC/DC

Brian Wilson ~ The Beach Boys
Geddy Lee ~ Rush
Robert Plant ~ Led Zeppelin

A couple off the top:

Queen
Soundgarden
U2

Good ones... A couple I wanted to list but didn't were Rush and Queen... Even though Rogers sounds great with Queen now, it's not Queen without Freddy to me..

OH.. and AC/DC... I still listened to them after Bon Scott, but it just wasn't the same.. Brian has a similar voice, but he just doesn't have that rock and roll angst Bon had..

No Doubt - Gwen Stefani, but in her case it could be more than the voice
Yes - Jon Anderson
Jethro Tull - Ian Anderson
Heart - Ann Wilson

Jim Morrison - The Doors
Grace Slick - Jefferson Airplane
David Byrne - Talking Heads
Pete Townsend - The Who

Bon's voice just came natural - Brian looks and sounds like he's crapping his pants when he sings. :D

Oh yeah.. didn't think about the doors.. I listened to that LP I got from you the other night of them after Jim... I would have never known it was the doors.. Jim made the band.. did you not read my original post David? I got the Heads first off.. :D

Bad Company ~ Paul Rodgers

LOL.. yeah.. Gwen does have a lot more going on than her voice.. she sure makes the band great to watch.. :thmbsp:

Whatever band Allison Iraheta ends up with.

Oh yeah.. didn't think about the doors.. I listened to that LP I got from you the other night of them after Jim... I would have never known it was the doors.. Jim made the band.. did you not read my original post David? I got the Heads first off.. :D

Other Voices is very different. Although IMO Ray Manzarek's organ/keyboards were a very important part to their sound.

Yes I see now that you beat me to the Talking Heads so how about: Pere Ubu now that is a distinctive voice.

Bon's voice just came natural - Brian looks and sounds like he's crapping his pants when he sings. :D

:lmao:
Me and an old buddy used to make fun of him for that very reason.

Would the Stones be where they are without Jagger?

Or would the Spiders from Mars be around without Ziggy?

:lmao:
Me and an old buddy used to make fun of him for that very reason.

:thmbsp:

John Fogerty ~ CCR

Hell, he got sued because his solo work sounded like CCR - go friggin figure!

I had to look up Pere Ubu.. still not striking me... not only a strange voice, but strange style of performing.. Reminds me of Joe Cocker..

Back in black
I hit the sack
I've been too long I'm glad to be back [I bet you know I'm...]
Yes, I'm let loose
From the noose
That's kept me hanging about
I've been looking at the sky
'Cause it's gettin' me high
Forget the hearse 'cause I never die
I got nine lives
Cat's eyes
Abusin' every one of them and running wildCHORUS:
'Cause I'm back
Yes, I'm back
Well, I'm back
Yes, I'm back
Well, I'm back, back
(Well) I'm back in black
Yes, I'm back in blackCHORUS

LOL...I think he needs to be hooked up with some Imodium but...they still kicked ass. :thmbsp:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qnRzCWFgd4

David Thomas of Pere Ubu doing "Birdies"

Lætitia Sadier (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A6titia_Sadier) of Stereolab, though Mary Hansen should get an honorable mention. Their vocals are so similar, that I thought Lætitia was multi-tracking. When the two performed together on stage, it was amazing.

"Fluorescences" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TMoy6DNTO4)

Cybele's Reverie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkaJ5z9QBZQ)

Jim Morrison - The Doors
Grace Slick - Jefferson Airplane
David Byrne - Talking Heads
Pete Townsend - The Who
I think Roger Daltrey is more associated with the Who...

Cheap Trick - Robin Zander


FWIW, Journey wouldn't have sucked nearly so badly without Steve Perry.

+1 on Talking Heads with David Byrne.

I think Wham! Wouldn't have been the same without George Michael =D

FWIW, Journey wouldn't have sucked nearly so badly without Steve Perry.

:lmao: :lmao:

Ozzy ~ Black Sabbath

Ronnie James Dio ~ Whatever band he's in

Hello Folks,

My picks are mainly rock oriented, but these vocalist greatly contributed to these band making it.

Steve Perry • Journey
Axl Rose • Guns N' Roses
Geoff Tate • Queensrÿche
Bono • U2
David Lee Roth • Van Halen
Tom Petty • Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Joe Elliot • Def Leppard
Steven Tyler • Aerosmith
Dennis DeYoung / Tommy Shaw (Split) • Styx

Many more, but these are the ones that came to mind here.

Regards,
TB

Annie Haslam / Renaissance

And probably the most underrated vocalist in rock,

Steve Walsh ~ Kansas

Ronnie James in Dio
Ozzy in Sabbath (Only DIO could take his job "hounrabely") <thats a horribly difficult word for a Norwegian like myself..> (blush)
Rob Halford in Priest
Ian Gillan (common, child in time!?)
Janis ? (weird voice, actually, but surelly she`s the BAND) :)
My MAN Johnny Cash.. OK hes perhaps not a BAND, but he and willie is two voices that's very important to ME (at least) :)
Bowie also

There are MANY!?

:music:

Steely Dan would not be Steely Dan without Donald Fagen's inimitable delivery.

Bryan Ferry - Roxy Music

What's wrong with you people? I can't believe nobody mentioned these all time great rock voices:
Steve Marriot of Humble Pie
Berton Cummings of The Guess Who

David Surkamp's voice pretty much made Pavlov's Dog the group they became.... Hey, they were big in St. Louis and anywhere within driving distance.

Steve Mariott, the perfect 70's stadium, white blues singer, not too bad on guitar with Frampton when he was 'Rocking the Fillmore.'


You see my skin is white
But my soul is black
So hot black coffee
That's where it's at

Billy Gibbons - ZZ Top

Ian McCulloch Echo And The Bunnymen
Natalie Merchant 10,000 Maniacs
Richard Butler Psychedelic Furs
Daltrey The Who
Janis Big Brother
Archie and Veronica The Archies :D

Elvis Costello & the Attractions

Sting & the Police

Hello??? HELLO???

Three pages of responses and no one mentioned Robert Plant. Sheesh.

Also, Jon Anderson and Geddy Lee

EDIT>>...oops! My bad. One mention of Robert Plant..

The Ramones
The Dead Kennedys
Sparks
Queen
Thin Lizzy
The best AC/DC (Bon Scot)
Led Zeppelin
Dio
Ozzy
King Diamond
The Plasmatics
The Undertones

Thom Yorke - Radiohead

And probably the most underrated vocalist in rock,

Steve Walsh ~ Kansas

+1 :thmbsp: Brad Delp from Boston, they suck without him. One of the best voices in rock history, RIP Brad. I think Mark Knopfler's voice was an important part of Dire Straits, and what would Mountain be without Leslie West? :music:

Hello??? HELLO???

Three pages of responses and no one mentioned Robert Plant. Sheesh.

Also, Jon Anderson and Geddy Lee

EDIT>>...oops! My bad. One mention of Robert Plant..
I think all three were mentioned on the first page of the thread...

The Undertones
Feargal Sharkey. I've got a solo album of his around somewhere, with his distinctive tenor.

Cocteau Twins - Liz Frazier
Fine Young Cannibals - Roland Gift
The Fall - Mark E. Smith
Joy Division - Ian Curtis

Van Halen with David Lee Roth. He didn't have the last name, but he WAS Van Halen IMO.

AC/DC with Bon Scott. Brian Johnson is pretty good, but nobody can replace Bon Scott.

David Bickler ~ Survivor

and probably best known for the Bud Light Real Men of Genius ads. :thmbsp:

Richard Manuel, Rick Danko and Levon Helms - The Band
Lou Gramm - Foreigner
Michael Stipe - R.E.M.
Midnight Oil - Peter Garrett
The Tragically Hip - Gord Downie

Eddie Kendricks

Bjork
Robert Smith
Ian Curtis

The first ones I thought of, including Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Queen Jefferson Airplane and a few others, have been mentioned already. But I can add:

Eurythmics - Annie Lennox
The Coors - the coors ( :D )
Evanescence - (Don't know their names!)

And did anyone mention Jethro Tull?

I think the majority of groups are most strongly characterized by their vocalists; you can replace a drummer and a group will almost always retain its "signature sound". Replace a vocalist, and it will almost never sound the same. Look at how long it took Journey to find a replacement singer that "worked" (in quotes to avoid controversy here), and then it was only because Arnel could sound a LOT like Steve Perry. Sometimes the singer is confused with the group; witness the mention earlier in this thread of "Gwen Stefani", who is an individual, not a group.

There are a few instrumental performers with a "signature sound", like Carlos Santana of Santana, or Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, but that is rare, and often as much a function of the particular gear they use, as of how they play it.

There are also groups that perform very well together, achieving some kind of "synergy" that isn't quite there when one is replaced, but usually that is more a function of how long they have played together, than of anything peculiar to an individual. And there are a very few groups without vocalists but with a "signature sound", such as the Ventures (I can't think of a recent/current one!).

Overwhelmingly, vocalists are how we (most people, most of the time) "recognize" groups. Just ask yourself this: can you always tell when a song by a particular singer comes on the air, if that song is done by their usual back-up group, or by session musicians on a solo release? Only if there is a significant change in instrumentation or style. Can you tell on a recording if one of the instrumentalists was replaced for that particular recording? Not with anywhere near the same certainty. But what if a group replaces its vocalist? MUCH harder to be sure it is the same group.

So in a sense, (almost) ALL groups are characterized by their vocalists. It's just that some vocalists have more unusual or memorable vocal qualities than others.

This isn't surprising, when you think that the parts of our brain that recognize voices are among the first and strongest sensory abilities to develop, functioning fully in earliest infancy (from birth, really), even before our eyes can see clearly! The vocal range remains the part of the audio spectrum, and vocal characteristics the kind of sonic variances, that we continue to hear best throughout our lives. It's a major reason audiophiles often use vocals as a test of speakers (and gear); we hear them most clearly, and care about hearing them well. We're hard-wired that way.

Roger Chapman- Family
Roger Waters- Pink Floyd
Greg Lake- the early King Crimson
Ray Davies- the Kinks
I'll agree with Spartanmanor- Pete's voice is a major part of the Who's unique sound.

Amy Lee ~ Evanescence

IMO, the best voice in rock right now - damn she can sing!

I think the Airplane had 3 good vocalists, not just Grace.

The first ones I thought of, including Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Queen Jefferson Airplane and a few others, have been mentioned already. But I can add:

Eurythmics - Annie Lennox
The Coors - the coors ( :D )
Evanescence - (Don't know their names!)

And did anyone mention Jethro Tull?

I think the majority of groups are most strongly characterized by their vocalists; you can replace a drummer and a group will almost always retain its "signature sound". Replace a vocalist, and it will almost never sound the same. Look at how long it took Journey to find a replacement singer that "worked" (in quotes to avoid controversy here), and then it was only because Arnel could sound a LOT like Steve Perry. Sometimes the singer is confused with the group; witness the mention earlier in this thread of "Gwen Stefani", who is an individual, not a group.

There are a few instrumental performers with a "signature sound", like Carlos Santana of Santana, or Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, but that is rare, and often as much a function of the particular gear they use, as of how they play it.

There are also groups that perform very well together, achieving some kind of "synergy" that isn't quite there when one is replaced, but usually that is more a function of how long they have played together, than of anything peculiar to an individual. And there are a very few groups without vocalists but with a "signature sound", such as the Ventures (I can't think of a recent/current one!).

Overwhelmingly, vocalists are how we (most people, most of the time) "recognize" groups. Just ask yourself this: can you always tell when a song by a particular singer comes on the air, if that song is done by their usual back-up group, or by session musicians on a solo release? Only if there is a significant change in instrumentation or style. Can you tell on a recording if one of the instrumentalists was replaced for that particular recording? Not with anywhere near the same certainty. But what if a group replaces its vocalist? MUCH harder to be sure it is the same group.

So in a sense, (almost) ALL groups are characterized by their vocalists. It's just that some vocalists have more unusual or memorable vocal qualities than others.

This isn't surprising, when you think that the parts of our brain that recognize voices are among the first and strongest sensory abilities to develop, functioning fully in earliest infancy (from birth, really), even before our eyes can see clearly! The vocal range remains the part of the audio spectrum, and vocal characteristics the kind of sonic variances, that we continue to hear best throughout our lives. It's a major reason audiophiles often use vocals as a test of speakers (and gear); we hear them most clearly, and care about hearing them well. We're hard-wired that way.

I think you're underestimating the musicians and giving the gear to much credit. Great drummers are no more interchangeable than great singers. Cream without Ginger, Led Zepplen without Bonham, Rush without Pert, The Beatles without Ringo, ... The electric guitar is arguably the most expressive instrument of all. The are maybe 4 predominant guitars Telecasters, Strats, ES335s and Les Pauls. Players ranging from Atkins, BB, Beck, Berry, Carlton, Clapton, Guy, Hendrix, Howe, Albert King, Les Paul, Joe Pass to Townsend, Van Halen, Walsh, and Zappa played one or more of these guitars. Each having a defining signature sound for every band they played in.

Besides there's a lot of girls that sound like Steve Perry, it just took a long time to find a dude that sounded like Steve Perry. :D

Besides there's a lot of girls that sound like Steve Perry, it just took a long time to find a dude that sounded like Steve Perry. :D

Hey I guarantee that all that have made fun of Journey have at least one of their LP's kicking around .... Admit it you love "Open Arms" :thmbsp:

I have 1 track out of 19,328 - Don't Stop Believin'. Open Arms is, well, Ok, I guess.:yes:

Mickey and Davie of the Monkees.

I almost hate to say 'Donald Fagen' for Steely Dan because Beckers guitar work was a big part of it.... But, lets face it, it's a distinctive voice.

Mickey and Davie of the Monkees.


I partially disagree. Mickey certainly. All of their really good songs were sung by Mickey.

How about the late, great Phil Lynott? One of the greatest frontmen EVER, Philo was the undisputed heart of Thin Lizzy. His voice and songwriting style were incredibly unique, and even though John Sykes does a credible vocal job with the current iteration of Thin Lizzy, there’s only one Phil.

Some other nominees:

Peter Perrett, the Only Ones. His languid, heroin-drenched vocals suited the OO’s music absolutely perfectly. I can’t think a voice better suited to their style of music.

Lou Reed, the Velvet Underground. He didn’t sing all of the songs, but his voice was the most distinctive, IMO.

Chrissie Hynde, the Pretenders. What can one say? Without Ms. Hynde, there is no Pretenders. Period.

Pearl Jam - Eddie Vedder
by the way how do you pronounce his name Veddur or Veddeer

Nobody mentioned Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) yet?

Another couple of oldies. Steve Winwood with the Spencer Davis Group. And Mike Smith with the DC 5.

Nobody mentioned Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) yet?

I did back in post in post #27 (http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2754594&postcount=27).

Regards,
TB

How about the late, great Phil Lynott? One of the greatest frontmen EVER, Philo was the undisputed heart of Thin Lizzy. His voice and songwriting style were incredibly unique, and even though John Sykes does a credible vocal job with the current iteration of Thin Lizzy, there’s only one Phil.


Good choice. I can't listen to the Cowboy Song at anything less than 10.

"Roll me over and turn me around. Let me keep spinning 'till I hit the ground.

Eric Burdon ~ The Animals

Pearl Jam - Eddie Vedder
by the way how do you pronounce his name Veddur or Veddeer

Veddur .... good choice BTW totally agree

James Dewar ~ Robin Trower

Gary Booker ~ Procol Harum

Hey I guarantee that all that have made fun of Journey have at least one of their LP's kicking around .... Admit it you love "Open Arms" :thmbsp:
Not even a single.

...and Steve Perry has the most annoying voice in popular music short of Tiny Tim.

OK...seems to me that most bands are "defined" by the lead singer and they wouldn't have made it without him/her.

I think a more interesting question is: What are some bands who would have made it no matter WHO the lead singer was....or who weren't "defined" by their singer.

Note: can't be an instrumental only band!

Here are a couple:

Santana
KISS??? (everyone got to sing, even ACE!)
Beatles...(who's the front man?)

OK...seems to me that most bands are "defined" by the lead singer and they wouldn't have made it without him/her.

I think a more interesting question is: What are some bands who would have made it no matter WHO the lead singer was....or who weren't "defined" by their singer.

Note: can't be an instrumental only band!

Here are a couple:

Santana
KISS??? (everyone got to sing, even ACE!)
Beatles...(who's the front man?)

Pink Floyd
Genesis

That's a great one!

The singer in most bands defines them. Some bands need or dont need other particular members as well to define them. Such as...The Guess Who. Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings are on tour right now and to me, they ARE the Guess Who. That amazing voice of Burton's and Randys unique and superb guitar work will be like having the Guess Who on stage but with only one or the other, it wouldnt work.
I hear the show is fantastic too!

+1 on Ian Curtis. Very talented, and pretty much made the group as far as I'm concerned. J.D. could never really continue without him. Unless of course, they changed their goal and sound entirely which of course they did. RIP...

Ronnie Van Zant - Lynyrd Skynyrd

Classic Skynyrd music died when Ronnie was killed in the '77 plane crash. It's still bad that Steve and Cassie Gaines died too in it, but Ronnie was irreplaceable. Skynyrd managed to put out some more good stuff with Johnny, Ronnie's younger brother, singing lead starting with the band's re-forming in 1987 to the early 2000's, but to me and dad, the feel wasn't quite the same. It came close with Johnny Van Zant, but not quite. Reason why is because not only are Ronnie's vocals iconic in Southern Rock, his songwriting skills were almost as important to Skynyrd's sound as his voice was.


James Hetfield - Metallica

Losing Cliff Burton was bad, but Metallica managed to adapt and keep going over the years. If something had happened to James Hetfield however after they had finally broke open, I don't really believe anybody could have replaced him. His voice is now inseparable from the rhythms and tone that you associate with Metallica.


Jim Dandy - Black Oak Arkansas

Brother has described Jim Dandy's voice as being the raspiness of Axl Rose combined with the low octave range of Meatloaf's. Most importantly, it is a pure southern voice and folksy dialect along with the tone of it! I've only heard really two Black Oak Arkansas albums, but already I can tell Black Oak wouldn't be Black Oak without Jim Dandy at the microphone.

Patty Smyth - Scandal

...purdy dern cute, too

Jim Dandy is a really great pick.. It sure wouldn't be Black Oak without him...

Most of the picks I have seen are of truly great bands and truly great bands can't go on when they lose a member. Where would Zeppelin be without Jimmy Page, The Beatles without George, The Allman Brothers without Duane, AC/DC without Angus, Hendrix without Mitch Mitchell, the list goes on.

Good point, what happened to Led Zep after Bonham passed? The Doors after Morrison? etc, etc...

A friend of mine (God rest her soul) was once married to a member of Black Oak. She said nobody around there called him Jim "Dandy"... just Jim. His last name is Mangrum. BOA was pretty big in their day. They would always come to Beaumont on tour so I've seen them several times... they had quite a few fans in Beaumont.

+1 :thmbsp: Brad Delp from Boston, they suck without him. One of the best voices in rock history, RIP Brad.

they suck with him too.


David Cousins - Strawbs
Peter Gabriel - Genesis
Greg Lake - ELP

justin hayward - Moodies
Ray Davies - Kinks

... Hendrix without Mitch Mitchell, the list goes on.

Hendrix w/o Mitch would be Band of Gypsys w/ Buddy Miles. Sadly we lost both of Jimi's drummers this year.

...chrissie hynde, the pretenders. What can one say? Without ms. Hynde, there is no pretenders. Period. + 8

Hendrix w/o Mitch would be Band of Gypsys w/ Buddy Miles. Sadly we lost both of Jimi's drummers this year.
Yes which is quite a different band than the kinda music The Experience produced.

So many great voices that may not have made the band but certainly kept them memorable,

Family Roger Chapman
Yes Jon Anderson
Hue & Cry Pat Kane
Journey Steve Perry
Led Zep Robert Plant
Steely Dan Donald Fagen
Rush Geddy Lee
Ian Anderson Jethro Tull

Lowell George (rest his soul) - Little Feat

Yes which is quite a different band than the kinda music The Experience produced.

Agreed, much more R&B but still Jimi.

This is easy! The Chipmunks. Where would they be without Alvin!

what about :Ann Wilson - Heart

I can't believe I went through 6 pages and didn't see Greg Allman on here! That soulful southern voice WAS the Allman Brothers! Duane was a legendary slide guitarist but you couldn't replace Gregs voice .

Chrissie Hynde from the Pretenders. Hell, everybody else in the band was dropping like flies from OD's and Chrissie kept on chugging.

You said it Finn. I was just listening to her "Learning to Crawl" and its a classic! I guess it was all new members but her. Not sure though.