Billy Vera - At This Moment.
Well, it’s better than I can do, anyway.
“Cara Mia” by Jay and the Americans
Happy Rhodes has a freakish vocal range from deep bass notes to squeaky Kate Bush high notes. Skip to about 1:20: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zzcMmfGBjY
Stares at AnalogSignal Wow, do I know you?? What’s really weird is that I have a Google Alerts set for Happy’s name, so I get mentions about her from all over the web, and this came up in my Google Alerts! I saw “Happy Rhodes…” then took note of the subject line, then thought, wow, I don’t remember posting in that thread. Then I remembered I didn’t, but meant to, but not to mention Happy, but to ask of the OP had seen Megamind (since “Loving You” was played in that movie).
Note to mods: I do not have a sock account, swear to god. Someone actually posted about Happy besides me…wheee! :eek:
Good choice to show her high/low range, though you have to hear the lows too to appreciate the range. Here’s the album* version, which, because of a misidentification as a duet between Kate Bush and Annie Lennox on the old Napster (I didn’t do it!), has introduced more people to her than just about anything else.
Edit to add, here are a few other songs that show off her range, all live:
“Temporary and Eternal”
“Mercy Street” (Peter Gabriel cover)
“Lilly of the Valley” (Queen cover)
Wanders off in an amazed daze…
(* it was a CD Bonus track rather than an album track. Ecto was originally released on cassette in 1987. When she re-released the album on CD in 1992, she included this and another song.)
Hi Equipoise. I don’t know you but it’s nice to meet you. I don’t know a lot about Happy Rhodes but I like a lot of obscure music.
I only recently found out about Happy while googling my favorite Norwegian band Bel Canto and ended up on this Happy-related guide. Perhaps you would also like Anneli Drecker’s singing. She doesn’t have Happy’s extreme range but her voice can be quite beautiful. Here is an, unfortunately lo-fi, example: Bel Canto - Summer (live)
Lightning Strikes, by Lou Christie (at about 45 seconds)
Even better: Two Faces Have I, same artist. Right from the git as well as the go.
The Klaus Nomi version of this song has to be heard and seen to be believed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gma5IUNMTn0
Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant hits several glorious highs in several songs; “Closer to heaven,” “Why don’t we live together?”, “Decadence,” and “Miracles” come to mind, as do the more comic, poppy ones in songs such as “Bet she’s not your girlfriend.”
Sadly, as he’s aged, his voice in live performances has gotten a bit weaker and he no longer attempts, for example, the ethereal high note on “Why don’t weeeee” in “Why don’t we live together?” in the Pandemonium tour last year.
Nice to meet you too! I’m very well acquainted with the Ectophiles’ Guide (it’s not my site, I don’t have anything to do with it except for some entries, but it kinda wouldn’t exist if not for me…long story).
I adore Bel Canto! I bought their fantastic first album White-Out Conditions when it first came out in 1988. On LP! I still have it. I like nearly everything they’ve done, but my favorite album is Shimmering, Warm & Bright (favorite song, “Spiderdust”). I’ve never seen them live but I’ve interacted with Anneli Drecker on MySpace. She likes Happy too! Have you heard this song, "I’ll Strangle You"she did with the late Hector Zazou? (that’s Gerard Depardieu speaking). Anneli used to have the actual video on her page, which shows her maniacal dancing but it’s gone now. I can’t find it and I’m sad.
I’m glad you found Happy’s music. If you ever have any questions about her, I’m pretty much the Go-To person.
Wow. I also bought it on vinyl when it first came out and I still play it on my turntable. My favorites are Birds of Passage and Shimmering.
I never heard that before. Very nice.
Cool, thanks.
Ce Ce Peniston “He Loves Me 2”
That’s funny, I wanted to ask the OP if he’d seen Megamind, and I just now notice that not only has the OP been banned, this thread is originally from 2007!
“Imagine” by John Lennon. It doesn’t break any records for hitting a high note, but it was out of Lennon’s range (There’s a priceless video floating around of Lennon recording the song, blowing the high note and smiling sheepishly at the camera) and is the earliest instance I know of for using what’s now called the AutoTuner. I was always a little puzzled that he’d even write a song that was out of his own vocal range, but that’s what made him John Freakin’ Lennon.
“Emotional Rescue” by the Stones, another instance of a guy with famously limited vocal range tackling the problem head-on.
Pat Benatar! Specifically in Promises in the Dark. One of my theme songs, and I love to sing along with it but have to drop out about 1/3 of the way through that one amazing note. (And so you put up your guard/and you try to be hard/but your heart says try agaiiiiiiiiiiin)
Jane Siberry (not so much pop) goes pretty high at times. She’s got quite a good range so it stands out. Probably her best known song is “It Can’t Rain All The Time” from The Crow end titles.
:eek:
Oh, and I’d be remiss not to mention Chris Colfer, who plays Kurt on Glee, particularly his rendition of “Defying Gravity.”
“I’ve got a brand new pair of skates and you’ve got a brand new key”
I agree, though her first 3 albums are full of great pop songs. “One More Colour,” “Extra Executives” (I love it, a fan video with scenes from American Psycho, perfect!), “Mimi On The Beach,” “I Muse Aloud,” “Map of the World, Pt. II,” “Waitress,” “Symmetry” (which I can’t find on YouTube, such a shame since it’s a great, great song), and others.
Even later albums have their pure pop moments. “Ingrid and the Footman,” “Everything Reminds Me Of My Dog,” “Bound By The Beauty” (another great song not on YouTube)
All those song and the rest of her music can be downloaded free from her web site. You can pay, or not, it’s up to you.
That’s a beautiful song (I put a link in to the official video), but I’d dispute that it’s her best-known song. I nominate “Calling All Angels” by Jane and kd lang, originally written for the Wim Wenders film Until The End Of The World (one of my favorite films, with an absolutely killer soundtrack), but since then used for numerous films and television shows.
I like to sing that one too, but that part I do very quietly so I won’t hear myself suck. 
Have we brought up Olivia Newton-John yet? Xanadu, for instance.