Top 25 Voices Ever (Con't)

18. Z.Z. Hill - Another one of those voices from barbecues and family gatherings. Raspy, bluesy, and just right. Unfortunately Arziel died too soon to capitalize on his vocal gifts.

Down Home Blues (THE Version)


Everybody Knows About My Good Thing


Let's Make a Deal


17. Angela Winbush - Will there be a louder woman on this list? Save for one, I doubt it. Angie's levels of loudness surely surpass your favorite singer's, and it works. Who can forget her fierce sequined body suits from the 80s and the haircut all black mothers (including Claire Huxtable) had in the late-80s/early-90s?

Angel


Your Smile


I'll Never Be The Same


16. Regina Belle - I don't know what the people's problem is. Folks (that includes you) are straight narcoleptic on Regina's rawness. That voice? C'mon! She can do jazzy, straight R&B, cheesy Disney, what else do you want? Plus, she looks fantastic nowadays. I love it when people age well.

So Many Tears


Show Me the Way


Baby Come To Me


15. Chaka Khan - Okay, maybe save two cuz Chaka is definitely in contention for loudest woman (hell, person) ever, but again, she can sang. You can't just be loud, you have to be able to control it. This Ms. Khan does.

Love Has Fallen on Me


We Got Each Other


Stop on By w/ Rufus (Bobby Womack wrote it!)


14. Gladys Knight - Another voice of velvety gravy and oyster dressing and other aptly symbolic foods. (And on another episode of When Fat Girls Get Literary ....) Gladys isn't as big as Aretha 'nem and that's a shame cuz unlike some others she hasn't lost that voice at all.

The Makings of You


If I Were Your Woman


Love Overboard


13. El DeBarge - This is kinda blasphemous cuz El is meant to represent the ultimate male falsetto on this list, and I know somebody's gonna go, "Phillip Bailey? Eddie Kendricks?" Yeah, I know, I know, but this is MY list, and I do what I want! Now, Bobby could've easily been here instead, but let's face it, El is more of my contemporary. These days, I can't listen to him without becoming a little sad. All that talent. Poor baby. (Okay, I'm including a Bobby DeBarge song, too. I just can't leave him out. Also, if you're out there and have the Gemini album by El, hook me up.)

Time Will Reveal


Where Is My Love?


Secret Garden w/ Quincy Jones, Al B. Sure, James Ingram & Barry White


I Wanna Be Closer (Bobby DeBarge w/ Switch)

hmmmm...

see, this is why i didn't want a blog. for those who know me from my "fruity pork" days, you know that i'm a bit lax when it comes to the posting. i tend to be really excited upfront (see the first few consecutive days of posting), then, very quickly, i fall off and start to wonder why i made the commitment in the first place. i only have so many emotions, anyway. by the time i get to my tenth post, every possible emotion i can experience will have been reflected here, so i'll have to start jumping through hoops. hell, look at this post; i've got nothing. i'm wearing my "big robe," eating almond cookies and preparing to devour a frozen uno's pizza all by myself--this is surely not stimulating or interesting.

in other soporific news, i'm old. i've officially reached the turning-into-your-parents phase. i've always liked the blues; now, i'm listening to the sunday evening blues show on 106.3 and downloading the latest shirley brown singles. i also make mixtapes of various blues jams and do the snap, head down, "this mah cut" thing when i hear certain songs in public--way to go me. my favorite pastimes include watching reruns of any show on usa (the network), grocery shopping, and deciding which cake recipe to try next (which, in honor of thanksgiving, will be the pumpkin praline layer cake with cream cheese frosting-hay now!). i don't go out much, and when i do, i get tipsy and get "dorothy voice" while doing variations of the two-step on the dance floor. i drive a minivan. i like gizzards and gravy--a lot. i can tell you z.z. hill's real name and place of birth. despite all this--the slightly disturbing love of new house shoes, the boxes of johnson's foot soap in my closet, the bacon grease container next to the stove--i wouldn't want to be any different. why bother? at least i don't have herpes like many of my peers AND i don't have to worry about getting old; i'm already there.