When I was in high school a friend of mine claimed he could distinguish how “hot” a girl was just by hearing her voice. I’m too smart to fall for something like that though; I remember watching Aerosmith’s video for “Sweet Emotion” when I was little and the ending of that video sticks with me. What my friend would get could be described as “voice lust.” He would hear someone, who I admit, would sound kind of cute or breathy, and proclaim “I’d do 'er!”
I have a voice crush. I have it for more than a couple of women too. I don’t know any of them and I haven’t seen them; I’ve only heard their voices. If they’re a contributor to This American Life on PRI then I probably have a crush on them. I think it’s because whenever I listen to that program they come across as very intelligent and/or funny. I don’t really think of any of them have the breathy phone sex operator voice, it’s just that they all seem really cool. I bet they’d be fun to hang out with. Anyway, it’s a great show and I think the TAL babes should put out some kind of voice calendar or something.
In a previous job, I often had the pleasure of talking to a certain client’s secretary, who had the most fabulously sexy voice imaginable. He was a dapper forty or fifty-something man, bearded and reasonably handsome, but not at all what I’d have considered a hottie at the time. He was also an extremely good secretary, and his boss (our client) considered himself very lucky to have him.
Dignan, you have voice crushes on all the women from This American Life? Even Sarah Vowell? She has the weirdest freakin’ voice. It goes well with her stories, but … ew.
(We won’t go into my voice crush on Corey Flintoff of NPR – nope, just won’t go there.)
Voice crushes are OK as long as you don’t meet the person attached to the voice. It is inevitably a let down. Happened to me a couple times. I refuse to meet DJs in person anymore.
One of my major voice crushes is John Corbett. I used to love to listen to him do his “Chris” radio show on Northern Exposure. He’s one of the few though, whose voice is nicely matched by appearance.
There’s a guy here at my work who’s got the same kind of deal going. He’s got this crush on a girl in another office who he’s never met before, but he talks to her at least once a day. Everyone makes fun of him for it, except me. Cause I’m just such a nice guy.
Anybody else remember the episode of Taxi, I think it was, where Judd Hirsch’s character fell in lust with a woman because of her voice, so asked her out, only to discover she was hugely fat, with a self-defeatist attitude that he managed to turn around by the end of the episode? (Please, fat police, don’t come down on me, it was a central issue to the show!!)
I think voice crushes are common. If I were a guy, I’d have a voice crush on the receptionist at the firm where I used to work. She has THE most beautiful telephone voice I have EVER heard.
I deal with people who call all the time for stuff. I too have the “pleasant voice is a hot person thing” too. Why do we think like this? I know in the real world this isn’t the case though. It’s like the latest Marilyn Manson song, there are some backup girl singers in it,… And I hit it for sure.
Anyhoo, I have the same thing for Potter. Naturally, being long-distance sweeties we talk a lot by MSN voice chat, which is just fine with me. It’s not enough that he has to be beautiful, sweet, considerate, and fkn hot… he also has to have the most drop-dead, knees-weakening, melt-into-a-lil-queer-puddle GORGEOUS voice I’ve heaver heard.
Ever see the movie Fantastic Planet? There’s a learning device used by the Traags that gives educational lectures with the smoothest female voice I’ve ever heard. Plus, the words that are said just…resonate well - partly due to their alliteration, mostly due to the voice. Check it out, if you haven’t.
“Our planet Yon possesses a single satellite, Fantastic Planet. We utilize this uninhabited planet for meditation. Yon is divided into several ouvas. Two of the ouvas, Strohm and Yaht are natural and symmetrical…”
Now that I’ve looked around a bit, I think her name is Janet Waldo. Or maybe that was only the female protagonist Ohm…
Janet Waldo was the voice of Judy Jetson (I know this from memory, don’t ask why), which is not the first name that springs into my mind when I think of voice crushes.
I have a total voice crush on a new friend of mine. I ask him questions just to hear him speak. He’s British, but he slurs like a surfer. It’s amazingly unbelievably sexy.
I also forgot to add that I have a thing for this recording that has a woman with what sounds like a British accent. This is the midwest so I was surprised to hear the British accent saying “The number you have dialed is no longer in service . . .” I don’t have a crush on all the recordings that say that, just this one in particular.
twikster, OK, maybe the crush on Sarah Vowell isn’t voice inspired, but she’s absolutely hilarious. Her stories are as smart and funny as everything else TAL does.
Kalhoun, I know what you mean. Kind of like “Handsome Dan” in Wayne’s World 2; he ended up being a scruffy Harry Shearer. That’s why I said I (usually) know better because of that Aerosmith video.
I had a voice crush once and, as Kalhoun said, it was such a let down when I met the guy. He was someone who used to call my former job pretty much daily to make referrals, etc, and we had a great phone rapport. About a year into the job, I finally met him and, for the life of me, all I could think of was how much he looked like Dudley Do-Right. Speaking on the hpone with him was never the same.
Allow me, as a pro DJ, to second this. I am not as cute or as young as I sound. I’m not. Sorry - I wish I was. I always get “but you sound so hot!” Well, yes - thats my job. I wouldn’t have the job if I sounded terrible. I’m supposed to sound “hot”.
Ever seen Waynes World? Handsome Dan man, Handsome Dan.
This works in reverse too. . . any female that calls in and talks to me never looks as good as they sound either.
Think about Mike Tyson, if you had no idea who he was and he called and was abusive to you on the telephone wouldn’t you think he was a 100 pound weakling?