# Singers that make you reach for the dial **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [February 12, 2024, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480 "2024-02-12T16:46:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/61 "2024-02-13T14:15:40Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > It’s been quite some time, like decades, since Willie was doing anything resembling actual singing. But luckily for him, he’s got a pleasant speaking voice and a lot of personal charm, so he gets by. He does that “talking in tune” thing that a lot of older artists do as their voices go, and it’s fine, though I don’t know that I’d be as interested in that from a new artist. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/62 "2024-02-13T18:54:10Z")
I almost mentioned JT, despite my liking many of his songs. The bit I don’t like is his sometimes soulless phrasing / overenunciation. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/63 "2024-02-13T21:59:46Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > how about “breathy big guy”? Ooh, Garrison Keillor, for his mic’d up nostrils. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/64 "2024-02-13T22:09:43Z")
#1 for me is Squeeze. I don’t know what it is, but absolutely can’t stand their music. Dave Matthews Band is another one, but not as intense. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/65 "2024-02-13T22:21:28Z")
Geddy Lee of Rush. Here we have 3 very talented instrument players, at the top of their game and well regarded as some of the greatest. Great songs, great instrmentals, and then Geddy Lee comes screeching in with the vocals. They could have hired a singer and concentrated upon their music, and had an exeptional 4 man band. But no, Geddy Lee has to screech out the vocals and ruin every song the group plays. Every song. Someone should have told him to shut up years ago. I would like to be a Rush fan, but once Geddy starts screeching it is over for me. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/66 "2024-02-13T22:26:33Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Geddy Lee of Rush. And in fact he _can_ sing in a normal voice. Check out some of their occasional covers. No idea why he adopted the screech…? ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/67 "2024-02-13T22:34:16Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Natalie Merchant. I recognize that she is a good singer but there is something about her voice, and I can’t even pin down what it is, that just really annoys me. I think I might have figured out what I don’t like about Natalie Merchant. On my way to work today I was listening to BS&T’s “Child Is Father To The Man” album, and I always have to skip the songs that Steve Katz sings. He’s got this weird tremor or vibrato that just drives me up the wall. And it’s the same thing with Natalie Merchant! I think hers is more subtle, but still irritating. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/68 "2024-02-13T22:51:02Z")
> [@JeffB](#): > > #1 for me is Squeeze. Is it the vocals you can’t stand? (The thread does, after all, ask for _singers_ that make you reach for the dial.) Glenn Tilbrook is the principal lead singer, but there are other Squeeze songs that have other lead vocalists (e.g. “Tempted”). ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/69 "2024-02-14T00:19:24Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > Among contemporary performers, however, it has to be **Kelly Clarkson** , hands down. She doesn’t sing. She screeches. Her speaking voice is just as bad. She’s doing commercials now for Wayfair (?), and we dive for the remote everytime they come on. Horrible screechy voice. ---
**Author:** ![Deanna\_D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e495f1/32.png) [@Deanna\_D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deanna_D)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/70 "2024-02-14T01:38:38Z")
I listen to a wide variety of musical genres, and while I agree with so many of the replies so far, even the crappiest of vocalists can have a song that I still love. Maybe it has a catchy beat, or lyrics that speak to my soul. Every singer has one redeeming song! Except…Lionel Richie. I freakin’ hate every song I’ve ever heard from him. Solo stuff, anything of his with the Commodores, it just fills me with a burning hatred of his voice! I’m not sure why, because there’s nothing technically wrong with his singing. I just find him unlistenable. (Hello? It’s not Lionel I’m looking for!) Oddly enough, I like him as an American Idol judge. Go figure! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/71 "2024-02-14T01:51:28Z")
Rod Stewart and Eddie Rabbit. The instant either comes on, the channel changes. The good news is it’s been a very long time since I’ve heard either of them appear in the rotation on any of the channels I listen to. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/72 "2024-02-14T02:11:20Z")
Was Kim Carnes supposed to have a good voice? She’s one of the only artists that makes me aggressively tune away from the '80s channel. > [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > Olivia Rodgrigo irritates me in a very large way. Her breathy, overly earnest whinging I was trying to think of a way to best describe this… Perfect. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/73 "2024-02-14T02:42:27Z")
In the 1980s and early 1990s, most of their songs had him singing in a natural tenor register. That’s probably why you don’t hear them on the radio. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/74 "2024-02-14T06:05:50Z")
Billie Eilish. She sounds like she’s about to eat the microphone. Also, Mick Jagger. Just awful, especially live but he can’t even sing in a studio. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/75 "2024-02-14T07:18:24Z")
I can’t stand Neil Young. I got no use for Lou Reed. Joe Jackson’s singing is annoying. James Taylor is flat out boring. Anybody who uses auto tune should be run out of town. I find those “breathy little girl” voices irritating too. I call them sleepy girls. I have a few more but I gotta go chase some damn kids off my lawn now. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/76 "2024-02-14T13:40:51Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > _I can’t stand Neil Young._ Years ago, I had a friend tell me he couldn’t listen to Led Zeppelin because he didn’t like Robert Plant’s voice. OK. I can understand that. Yet he loved Neil Young, whose whiny caterwauling has irritated me from the first time I heard him, going back to the days of Buffalo Springfield. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/77 "2024-02-14T13:58:34Z")
A good friend can’t listen to anything by Amy Winehouse because of the story of her death. She’s overwhelmed by sadness and anger and turns off the music whenever she comes on. ---
**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:** [February 14, 2024, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/78 "2024-02-14T14:31:16Z")
It seems that high tenors often get the most hate in these threads for some reason, and Geddy Lee specifically. The next time this subject is raised here (once every 2-3 years like clockwork {angels}), I should make a drinking game out of his mentions. Anyway, I just listened to probably Geddy’s “worst” singing cut in the 2112 Overture, and yeah he’s pretty high in the register there, probably pushed himself a bit too much sure. But to me he isn’t off-key, he has sufficient undertones, and isn’t tremendously harsh, like say Captain Beefheart is (another guy who never gets any love in these threads, along with all the indieheads I alluded to above). I then listened to Limelight from 5 years later, and I frankly cannot hear why anyone would have any objections here-no rough edges at all, perfectly on tune and rather mellifluous. Which just leaves him as a male singer approaching the low female octaves, which as I said bugs some people for some reason. Tl;dr, If you think Geddy Lee is an awful singer, welp, you need to get out a bit more, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/79 "2024-02-14T14:52:52Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > Joe Jackson’s singing is annoying. Now that’s just wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480/80 "2024-02-14T15:04:53Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > If you think Geddy Lee is an awful singer, welp, you need to get out a bit more, sorry. Yes. I hated Geddy when I was in High School in the 70s, and I found the “screeching” a bit much. But by Moving Pictures ( at least) that was all gone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-that-make-you-reach-for-the-dial/997480.md?page=5)