The Falsetto Playlist

Cafe Society
41

I first heard this on Jonesy’s Jukebox about 10 years ago or so:

‘Laid’ by James.

I believe a version of it ended up on one of the American Pie movie soundtracks. Has some risque lyrics but one of the Youtube comments says it best: “I love this song, and I love everybody who loves this song!”.

42

Dimash Kudaibergen. He sings a lot of falsetto, but his extreme is probably Opera 2 - The best voice in the world. Dimash Kudaibergenov - Opera 2 (2017) - YouTube

43

I love Roy Orbison, and when I first heard “Wicked Game,” it sounded like the second coming of Roy. I’m not an expert on vocals, but from a little bit of reading I’ve done on Roy’s voice, it appears that:

  • Yes, his high notes were falsetto / head voice (which are apparently not precisely the same thing, but I don’t know enough about the mechanics of singing to understand the difference)
  • Part of what made his falsetto so good (and so unique) was that it sounded effortless, and had a consistent sound and style with the rest of his vocal range.

A conversation about Roy on a message board for vocalists, half of which might as well be in Klingon, for how well I understand it: :slight_smile:
https://www.themodernvocalistworld.com/forums/topic/8696-roy-orbison-technique/

44

Too late to edit:

One of the best examples of Orbison’s falsetto is “In Dreams,” mostly in the second half of the song, as he keeps going higher and higher.

45

Many great suggestions so far, but two of my favorites are still missing:

Beck - Debra (I think this is my favorite falsetto this side of Prince; Beck goes equally out of his mind at the end like he used to)

Van Morrison - Twilight Zone

46

allthegood reminded me of this one from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend – the “Santa Ana Winds”.

47

This is the band I was going to mention. That whole album “Permission To Land” is pretty good, and the lead singer’s falsetto/hard rock singing chops are damn impressive.

48

Are we forgetting the immortal Slim Whitman, that *world famous singer who sold more records than Elvis and the Beatles? *(I apologize in advance to those of you who may be inflicted with an earworm or 2)

49

Let’s not forget how Slim saved the Earth when Mars Attacked.

50

Oh man, skip a day and the falsettos pile up! I’ll listen to all.

51

Cinderella - Shelter Me

They were a “hair metal” band, but a lot of their material, especially a few albums in, were definitely not hair metal, and regardless of any cringe-worthy musical categorization, it’s still a great, catchy song.

52

What, no love for Tiny Tim?

53

ChefGuy did mention him on page one but there was no love.

54

Maybe I’m missing some subtlety in the original post, but are we talking about ANY good falsetto songs from this period? If so, I could just cut and paste a few hundred from my doo-wop playlist.

As for specific songs, don’t forget “Run, Baby Run” by The Newbeats (1965).

55

Yes, I’m surprised by the lack of Frankie Lymon in particular.

56

Here’s some classic doo-wop for you: The Paragons.

57

Or Frankie Valli…“Walk Like A Man”.