# Music artists where you had their country of origin wrong **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2020, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231 "2020-01-30T17:34:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/21 "2020-01-30T22:17:21Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > ABBA, how can they sing songs in English so well but not be from an english speaking country? Hell, some Scandinavians (and other nationalities, especially Dutch, IME) speak better English than people born here in the US. 🙂 But more to the point, actually, I do know a number of singers who barely speak English, but can sing it rather convincingly. It’s kind of odd, but it doesn’t seem to be all _that_ uncommon. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/22 "2020-01-30T22:26:23Z")
I worked with people from Germany, Russia, Ireland and Colombia. None of them had any accent at all. All sounded like any other American. The woman from Ireland said she got rid of her accent as a kid because people made fun of her. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/23 "2020-01-30T22:38:22Z")
Fingerstyle guitar genius Gabriella Quevedo. Sweden. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HGlIImajcRI/maxresdefault.jpg "(The Beatles) Here Comes The Sun - Gabriella Quevedo") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGlIImajcRI) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/24 "2020-01-30T22:40:48Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I worked with people from Germany, Russia, Ireland and Colombia. None of them had any accent at all. All sounded like any other American. The woman from Ireland said she got rid of her accent as a kid because people made fun of her. I find that surprising and a bit atypical, at least in my experience, unless they came to the US at a relatively early age. But I also love picking out accents, so I might be more sensitive to it. (I grew up in an immigrant neighborhood, and I lived for 6 years abroad, so I’ve been exposed to all sorts of English. I could think of maybe three or four people I’ve met out of thousands in that time where I would say they absolutely had zero detectable “non-English of some sort” accent to me.) With ABBA, I can definitely hear their accents especially in songs like “Money, Money, Money,” but singing does seem to minimize it in some way. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/25 "2020-01-30T22:44:53Z")
After hearing [Long Cool Woman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qKOv3VBJcc), I thought The Hollies were American. Nope, British. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/26 "2020-01-30T22:46:24Z")
One thing is many regional and foreign accents in English are distinguished to a greater or lesser extent by intonation and prosody. When singing, these features are often forced by the song, so the accent of the singer is less clear. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/27 "2020-01-30T23:02:13Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I find that surprising and a bit atypical, at least in my experience, unless they came to the US at a relatively early age. But I also love picking out accents, so I might be more sensitive to it. (I grew up in an immigrant neighborhood, and I lived for 6 years abroad, so I’ve been exposed to all sorts of English. I could think of maybe three or four people I’ve met out of thousands in that time where I would say they absolutely had zero detectable “non-English of some sort” accent to me.) With ABBA, I can definitely hear their accents especially in songs like “Money, Money, Money,” but singing does seem to minimize it in some way. They all came to the US around age 18. The Russian knew no English when she got here. The Irish woman just needed to change her accent to American since Ireland is English speaking . We also had a local NHL Russian player who had no accent don’t know when he moved here. On the other hand I knew a nice guy from China and I could only understand about 10% of what he said He and another Chinese woman were told to get better at English or lose their jobs. They took English classes which helped a bit. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/28 "2020-01-30T23:30:35Z")
Using the Wayback Machine… A lot of people (including me) initially expected The Buckinghams and The Royal Guardsmen to be British. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/29 "2020-01-31T00:26:08Z")
I initially thought Green Day was British. Billy Joe Armstrong often **does** sing with an accent. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/30 "2020-01-31T01:19:19Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Billy Joe Armstrong often **does** sing with an accent. Faux Punk accent. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/31 "2020-01-31T01:52:34Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > Using the Wayback Machine… > > A lot of people (including me) initially expected The Buckinghams and The Royal Guardsmen to be British. How about the Beau Brummels? IIRC they were a San Francisco folk group who electified, adopted a British Invasion appropriate name, just in time to see the “San Francisco sound” become the hot phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/32 "2020-01-31T01:53:45Z")
Thought for many years that The Cult were American-Southwest, to be exact. A combination of their former name [Southern Death Cult] combined with their fascination with Native American mysticism. Doesn’t help that lead singer Ian Asbury talks to American audiences in between songs with an American accent… ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/33 "2020-01-31T01:55:49Z")
My entry also goes way back. “Venus” (“Well, I’m your Venus, I’m your fire and your desire”). Shocking Blue were obviously singing phonectically, and I somehow got the impression that they were Swedish. Ten years later I learned they were Dutch. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/34 "2020-01-31T02:21:22Z")
Why obviously singing phonetically? Lots, probably most, of the Dutch speak perfectly fine English. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/35 "2020-01-31T02:25:18Z")
I’m pretty sure I only learned about 10 years ago that Al Stewart was Scottish. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/36 "2020-01-31T02:50:27Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I thought Stray Cats were British but they are American. Funny. They were a local bar band around here with a pretty good following before they took off for England and got famous. They went by the name of the Tomcats. They’re all from Long Island. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/37 "2020-01-31T02:51:51Z")
I guess I was thinking Stray Cats were British because that is where they became well known. and they looked British too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/38 "2020-01-31T07:22:23Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Why obviously singing phonetically? Lots, probably most, of the Dutch speak perfectly fine English. Would that have applied in 1967? (Genuinely asking.) Here’s my flimsy evidence: a) To me the record _sounds_ like someone singing a language they don’t understand. It doesn’t sound like perfectly fine English with a Dutch accent. Coincidentally, English _spoken_ with a _heavy_ Dutch accent is something I would recognize, for reasons not worth going into. b) Back in the day “I read somewhere” about the singing being phonetic. But for all I know that also might be where I got the notion the band was Swedish. So if it turns out I’m wrong, no biggie. Full Disclosure: that song is one of my guilty pleasures. I still love it half a century later. Makes Mrs. Cretin cringe when I listen to it. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/39 "2020-01-31T07:59:04Z")
> [@pool](#): > > I didn’t really realize Dire Straits were British for quite a while Knopfler doesn’t seem to have much of an accent when singing. Even interviews I see with him his accent seems very light almost sounds fake to me for some reason, like an American with a bad fake accent, it’s probably just my false assumption of how a British accent should sound from movies. He grew up in the north-east of England and so for me, he h[as a clear “geordie” twang](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG__SwkV3wg), though obviously softened by his 40+ years of international touring his accent remains firmly “nyercassle”. Indeed, the music for Newcastle United as the teams emerge is his “going home” from local hero. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231/40 "2020-01-31T08:22:32Z")
Let me give a couple of examples from acting (which I know better) of people who are known as being one thing but who spent the first several years of their lives elsewhere. Saoirse Ronan was born in and spent the first three years of her life in New York, although her parents are Irish citizens. The family moved back to Dublin after those three years. Nicole Kidman was born in Honolulu and lived there for a few months. Then she lived in the Washington D.C. area for the rest of the first four years of her life. Her parents are Australian citizens. Her father was finishing his Ph.D. at the University of Hawaii when she was born. He did a post-doc at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. The family then moved back to Sydney. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-artists-where-you-had-their-country-of-origin-wrong/847231.md?page=3)