June 2019 Vinyl Challenge

Day 3 - Vocal Performance

Alison Moyet is my favorite voice in pop music. I don’t have my favorite song on vinyl, so here’s my second favorite. It’s “God Give Me Strength” which was written by Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach for the movie “Grace of My Heart”. It’s loosely based on the life of Carole King and I highly recommend the movie and the soundtrack.
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I've never heard of this movie, but I'm going to grab it from the library. Thanks for the recommendation!
 
I’m gonna knock day 2 (sophomore album) and day 3 (vox performance) out in a single post/single record since I’m playing catch up.

Tori Amos - “Under The Pink” (original first-press on limited pink vinyl)
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I’m pretty unapologetic in my weird Tori fan-ness. This album blew her up huuuuuge after Little Earthquakes fielded her a lot of critical acclaim. And to boot there’s a lot of quality vocal performances, but one of my all time favorites is on “Yes, Anastasia.”

And yeah, that price tag says $10.
Mid-90s vinyl was cheap and on its way out, so I ended up buying a few copies when they went on clearance.
 
Day 1 - Who Are You?

I listen to a lot of genres and walks of life, but I always consider listening to the Grateful Dead as “goin’ back home.” It’s so comforting, creative, and inspiring I don’t think I’ll ever find a group that moves me as much as the Dead do.

So why not spinnthe album that made me a fan, along with some helpful golden teachers ;), Blues For Allah roughly 10 years ago now.

I sincerely believe I’d be a different person without the Dead’s influence. Forever Grateful for what they’ve done for me and others. ❤✌💀🌹
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A decent portion of my room is covered in Dead related art as well.
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(~);}
 
Day 3 - You Move Me

I had a short list of about six, but in the end I decided on one that has moved me for as long as I can remember.

Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water

Most notably the title track, but many other moments on this record really get me too. When I saw Paul Simon last summer I didn't think he'd play Bridge, and wasn't sure if he should. He did a really, really nice version, stayed within his ability and yet gave us an emotionaly charged fantastic rendition.

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Day 3- You Move Me (vocally)

I’m not sure if she’s always the technically “best”singer out there, but the way she sings is certainly some of my very favorite performing. This is my favorite album of hers for a purely vocal standpoint.


If I owned this on vinyl, it would have been a strong contender. "Pagan Poetry" is one of my favorite songs of all time.
 
Day 3 - Moves me vocally

This may have more to do with circumstances than with vocal performance but it moves me. When I was listening to this, I was finishing my dissertation alone so I was lonely - my wife was living in Georgia and I was in Seattle during that last year. During that year I decided to focus on writing and so I stopped travelling to Georgia so it was a long period if time without seeing my wife.

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This House...I’m getting a little choked up watching it now...here’s the live version from her live DVD.

The protagonist lost someone, either a spouse or a child.

I too love Alisons voice - I could listen to “All cried out” over and over.
In fact i have a perfectly good Album i can PIF.......
 
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Day 3: David Bowie - Scary Monsters

So I’ll be the third person to pick Bowie for a “moving vocalist” selection. I’ve always been a huge Bowie fan, but my all-time favorite track of his unfortunately falls on one of my least favorite albums of his. I remember as a kid, the first few bars of “Ashes to Ashes” sounded really frightening to me, almost like an alien orchestra was playing. It didn’t help that the album cover was this bizarre drawing of Bowie with a spooky shadow creeping up behind him. But when he gets to the part of the song where he belts out, “I never done good things! I never done bad things!” for some reason, it just sounds so good. I can’t explain why that part gets me, but it’s had that effect for as long as I can remember.

I remember watching the Bowie VH1 Request show several years back and during it, a five year old kid calls up to speak with Bowie and he requests that he sing his favorite song, “Ashes to Ashes.” It made me really appreciate how timeless this song is, and that perhaps it’s just as moving for others as it has always moved me.
 
But when he gets to the part of the song where he belts out, “I never done good things! I never done bad things!” for some reason, it just sounds so good. I can’t explain why that part gets me, but it’s had that effect for as long as I can remember.
I can relate to this bit hard. There's a few songs out there I replay just for the delivery of one specific line in particular. The part in "A Pearl" by Mitski where she sings the line "There's a hole that you fill"... it never fails to give me chills. The whole song is incredible but the way she sings that lyric specifically... ugh, it's so good.
 
Day 3 - Vocal Performance That Moves You

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Brandi Carlile - By the Way, I Forgive You

No matter how many times I listen to this record, "The Joke" and "Party of One" fill me with so many emotions and gives me chills
Both killer songs with all the feels.
Day 3 - You Move Me

Joni Mitchell - Blue

Is this too obvious? Who hasn't been moved to tears by the stark nakedness and vulnerability all over this album, especially "Little Green", "Blue", and the last two songs?

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“A Case of You” is a crushing song.
 
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