It seems like Diana Ross, (With or without the Supremes) was the Queen of doing this.
I always hated this. You know what I mean, usually it comes at the bridge and they singer talks the verse. I hate that. I will say that if it ever was done well, Diana Ross probably did it best, but still…
So what about you? If so what songs do you think it was done well in? What songs was it done horribly in?
My daughter and I were listening to Dead Man’s Curve yesterday and couldn’t help but break into giggles at the talking part. However, we then agreed that talking in songs is so bad it’s good.
Last year our chorus did a Supremes medley, and in the “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” section, we Basses got to say “and there ain’t nothin’ I can do about it.” We gave it a little extra bitchiness.
There are various categories of spoken passages in songs. I think the one that comes to mind most readily (and I guess this is what you’re specifically referring to in your post) is the “hushed, oh-so-dramatic” effect, which tends to fall into the “so bad it’s good” category… try Rex Allen’s “Don’t Go Near the Indians” for a jaw-droppingly corny example.
Then there’s the (figuratively) tongue-in-cheek category, i.e., mocking the above effect… like in “Happiness is a Warm Gun” (Beatles) or “Far Away Eyes” (Stones). This is usually good.
Then there are various other types of humorous use of spoken lyrics. There’s the whole subgenre of folk known as talking blues – Woody Guthrie was a master at this, and various others, including Bob Dylan, imitated him. There are a bunch of uptempo, boogie woogie/country/rock & roll songs that use spoken lyrics as a device, such as Tex Williams’ “Smoke Smoke Smoke (That Cigarette)” or Charlie Ryan’s “Hot Rod Lincoln”.
Then there are songs that employ spoken “blues shouts”, such as the Who’s version of Mose Allison’s “Young Man Blues”. Actually, you could probably put much of Allison’s oeuvre in this category, since his vocal style is somewhere between talking and singing. And it’s all great.
And then there’s Rex Harrison in “My Fair Lady”, for that matter.
And Zappa often used spoken passages for his own sick, twisted purposes.
I guess a lot of what I’m describing here is not exactly what you were talking about , though.
Haha, that’s sort of like when I was watching Mrs Doubtfire, and I saw Robin Williams’ brother and said to myself “he sort of seems like Harvey Fierstein.”
I thought the voiceover in Election Day did sound like Grace Jones but didn’t know till now that it was.
Mostly, I don’t like 'em, but they sure are popular. In fact, for several years now, many performers do nothing but talk. They don’t sing at all, they just talk and make peculiar gestures.
;)