Elvis...or Michael?

[flippyshark]

Yeah, lots of exceptions. And Zepplin's first album is especially heavy with borrowings, but that doesn't prevent it being completely amazing. On the other hand, Tom Waits would never, ever have made it if he was just singing covers. At best, he would have been a curio like Mrs. Miller. But a Tom Waits song, however brilliant, loses something when it's sung by Scarlett Johansen. Waits sounds like he's lived his boozy, hardscrabble poetry, Scarlett sounds like a schoolgirl with a crush.

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by flippyshark

YOn the other hand, Tom Waits would never, ever have made it if he was just singing covers. At best, he would have been a curio like Mrs. Miller. But a Tom Waits song, however brilliant, loses something when it's sung by Scarlett Johansen. Waits sounds like he's lived his boozy, hardscrabble poetry, Scarlett sounds like a schoolgirl with a crush.

Oh, there are certainly a LOT of examples of good songs gone bad when in the wrong hands. I was just making the argument that not all songwriters should sing and not all singers should write their own material.

And while I certainly don't listen to the current crop of bubblegum synthetic pop performers, this is hardly a new phenomenon. Promoters having been making stars of no-talent people who looked good on stage for a very long time. There just happens to be more tools available to make people sound better.