#35: You mean, it’s not all dressing up and dancing at FCA?

[playbiller]

Iseeme I'm very glad he didn't have serious vocal training.

I agree except that any serious vocal training stresses the importance of warming up the voice especially if there are going to be those "power notes".

Now I don't know if Clay means it when he say he doesn't warm up his voice before a performance but one of my fears has been that he will damage his voice over time by not doing so.

I have seen this on boards again and again.

Cla is and has been around vocal teachers, Quiana teaches, Debra Byrd was a teacher. I am sure that if they thought he was doing something wrong they would have said. I heard that nottalking before a concert is the biggest thing, rest the voice.

Now Kelly C does vocal warm ups and how many shows does she miss each tour? I have heard other people do some warm ups that I would catagorize as abrupt screams - maybe there are not too many people who know how to warm up.

here is another spot where I believe Clay knows what he has to do. of all the idols, he always had the toughest touring schedule with more shows and less rests between shows. he also sings the longest sets on tour. The JBT was brutal, in hot humid weather, much like the DCA tour for 2 hours. I don't believe this is something to worry about.

[Couch Tomato]

Which reminds me...has anyone heard the Cheap Trick version of BFM burning up the charts? *g*

Sorry...now I'm just being a brat.

I like brats...

but did I remember to stick out my tongue at you yesterday for that vacation time comment? If not, consider it done!

[cha cha trusty]

I've heard of Everyman .... but Every.music.icon?

Clay as Paul McCartney (I see Yesterday):

I know I've seen Clay as Elvis before .... and George Harrison lookalike pictures a few times.

How many other titans of music is Clay Aiken physically channeling while singing in his unmistakable and unique voice.

Just a note: It is because Clay is so unique that many don't like him. There's nothing wrong with that. All originals have detractors. It's historical. It's unavoidable. But it's a sign of greatness. Lots of people I've come across in my life didn't like Streisand, Celine, Dean Martin, Elvis, Dylan or the Beatles. It's personal taste, but a singular, unique talent will rise.

I like all those people!! Love these pix:

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I <snipped> the part about Barbra's nose, and I remember seeing her in her early years. I noticed her nose, but always thought she could sing the schnitzu out of anything! LOVE "On A Clear Day" and loved all the musicals and comedies she made back in the 60's.

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kf - I always forget to mention that I love your quote on your siggie! That is another of my favorite bits from the Beatles.

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Speaking of the musicality of ATDW and OMWH, there are some parts of earlier songs I really loved too. One of then was TITN near the end of the song (around 2:30)right after he sings "Lift me up..." there is a little piano rift that has become just about my favorite thing in the whole song. Give a listen! Did you notice it before?

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FC - you said 18 above was around 70 - what is 18 below? Minus 70???

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Does "jingoistic" always have a political conotation? Doesn't it stem from the word "jingle" as in "advertising jingle"?

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I'm a couple of pages behind, so some of these questions may have been asked/answered already! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[djs111]

Does "jingoistic" always have a political conotation? Doesn't it stem from the word "jingle" as in "advertising jingle"?

jingoism

The context of the coining of jingoism was British foreign policy of the late 1870s. The prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli, had a plan to send gunboats to halt the advance of the Russian fleet out of its own waters into the Mediterranean.

This gave rise to a music-hall song, written in 1878 by G. W. Hunt. It had a chorus which went: ‘We don’t want to fight, yet by Jingo! if we do, We’ve got the ships, we’ve got the men, and got the money too’.

Opponents of the policy picked up on the word jingo and began using it as an icon of blind patriotism

Jingoistic, to me, always means bragging and posturing - and I guess "Proud To Be An American" seems a bit jingoistic to me, considering the circumstances. I can see where "jingoistic" might be applied to feeling VERY proud about something other than war or politics, though!

[FromClaygary]

FC - you said 18 above was around 70 - what is 18 below? Minus 70???

Hee....nope! Doesn't work that way! On the Celsius scale, -18 would be about 4 below Fahrenheit.

Easy way to do the conversion (not totally accurate) is Celsius x 2 + 32 degrees. So, 18 above = 18x2=36+32=68.

18 below = -18x2=-36+32=-4

Doesn't work once you get below a certain point...then the two scales merge.

More than you EVER wanted to know!

[cha cha trusty]

FC - you said 18 above was around 70 - what is 18 below? Minus 70???

Hee....nope! Doesn't work that way! On the Celsius scale, -18 would be about 4 below Fahrenheit.

Easy way to do the conversion (not totally accurate) is Celsius x 2 + 32 degrees. So, 18 above = 18x2=36+32=68.

18 below = -18x2=-36+32=-4

Doesn't work once you get below a certain point...then the two scales merge.

More than you EVER wanted to know!

Thank you - my eyes kind of glaze over when you start spouting equasions!! Not a math person. Charts are good tho! I'll go find one! In my journeys thru Eddie Izzard's stuff yesterday, I remember him saying some thing about Americans and the metric system. About how they had it for about a week one time in the 70's. So I guess it's true......... we just don't convert very easily!

Thanks djs! I guess I never heard the term before, by jingo!! I have heard that one!! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[KAndre]

Ah, but Cesario was talking about a certain style of singing - that I don't think she was thinking of the political connotation. It is very closely associated with "jingoistic" or "patriotic" songs - I think because the words in such songs are very clearly sung - "Over There", "Yankee Doodle Dandy" - very forward vocally, the voice very, VERY front and center.

I can see where people can't get past the very negative political stuff - I still am not convinced that there is anything good about "threadbare".

[ldyjocelyn]

When I was a kid I had perfect pitch according to the man who taught orchestra in our school system. That was how I ended up playing the violin instead of the flute. Yuck. It kind of faded over time, but I still have good relative pitch. I can always harmonize with others easily. People often ask how come Clay keeps ending up singing the harmony when he does duets. Well, because he can "hear" it easily, and many solo singers cannot. Just another of his many talents.

My husband has that ability to hear harmony quite easily. He says it's from listening to a lot of the Beach Boys and the Beatles (both masters of fairly close harmony). I can do it somewhat, mostly from trying to sing harmony with church hymns. My husband, and I think Clay too, both have the ability however to pick out the right notes just by listening to someone sing, and I can't do that.

Flute player here...but in retrospect, I think I should have been a drummer. I like playing the piano and flute and handbells -- but my strength has always been to pick up a rhythm and play it. Hubby and I are thinking of picking up the game Rock Band for me and getting that drum set...hee.

I had to go do a search to find the old Merv Griffin quote from Seacrest's show:

So it's like when you come in second, like Clay Aikens is extraoridinary. The underdog, but not only that, it's not only that he's the underdog, but I have real thoughts about singers and stuff. I always like the idea that you can turn on the radio and say "oh that's Clay Aikens, oh that's Barbra Streisand, oh that's Frank Sinatra oh that's Tony Bennet" They're a star. If you can identify them by sound. That kid has his own sound. He's got energy, he's got soul, he's got it all, that voice pours out of him.

Yes! I love that quote, and I want songs for him that sound JUST LIKE HIM. That's why I really like OMWH as a single for him too -- it's HIM. Sure -- "THAT'S Clay Aiken?" works for some things, but I like that he seems to have a good knack for picking out those tunes that fit him like a glove.

Speaking of OMWH....thanks kf for the radio spin data! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! The tortoise wins the race, right?

Last week I read something about a breathing technique that some singers use - it involved breathing in through the nose while singing and something about the cheeks. Pretty sure facial cheeks :-) - it was supposed to get around that big gasps of air thing that bugs me - Kelly does that, for instance, I can't stand to listen to her..... Clay used to take in air through the side of his mouth, have not noticed that lately.

Anyways, I tried it and almost passed out, I guess it takes practice. I will try and remember where I saw it.

djs are you talking about circular breathing? I've heard of it for several wind instruments (tried to learn it myself when I played the flute), but can't find that it's part of singing technique.

I think Clay's breathing technique is simply awesome -- wish I could breathe as quietly as he does when I'm playing a wind instrument. I find that I tend to take very deep breaths, and so I sound like KLo (whom I like as a singer, but she always sounded very "I need a big breath now" to me). Clay, however, is whisper quiet, and that's amazing.

Iseeme I'm very glad he didn't have serious vocal training.

I agree except that any serious vocal training stresses the importance of warming up the voice especially if there are going to be those "power notes".

Now I don't know if Clay means it when he say he doesn't warm up his voice before a performance but one of my fears has been that he will damage his voice over time by not doing so.

I have seen this on boards again and again.

Cla is and has been around vocal teachers, Quiana teaches, Debra Byrd was a teacher. I am sure that if they thought he was doing something wrong they would have said. I heard that nottalking before a concert is the biggest thing, rest the voice.

Assuming, of course, that he LISTENED to these people. I think for the most part he has (really!), but I have wondered, like Lotus, how much warming up he does, and how it affects his voice. Just curious....

[keepingfaith]

Okay, you pushed me ... you wanna hear jingoistic ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZZgdzBm2R8

[lilyshine]

Squeezing in a late comment on "Falling".

The phrase that caught my ear from the first listen was the descending spiral of "never-ending dream" - especially the first one. I'm not sure why, but that always grabs my attention, even when I'm not really listening.

And an even later comment on "Ashes". I just love the way Clay pronounces " ash-SHES". Most people put the accent on the first sylable, but it wouldn't sing nearly as well that way.

[KAndre]

kf is a naughty, naughty girl.

Funny.

But naughty.

[djs111]

I remember him saying some thing about Americans and the metric system. About how they had it for about a week one time in the 70's. So I guess it's true......... we just don't convert very easily

Heh! The British are still fighting to use the British imperial measurements instead of the EU metrics - they get some pretty big fines for not using metrics.

British measurement system

But yeah, I don't think Americans are going to use metrics; we learned it in school and promptly forgot about it.

djs are you talking about circular breathing? I've heard of it for several wind instruments (tried to learn it myself when I played the flute), but can't find that it's part of singing technique

Oh! Maybe that's why I almost blacked out - I needed a flute!

[luckiest1]

Thank you - my eyes kind of glaze over when you start spouting equasions!! Not a math person. Charts are good tho! I'll go find one!

Hee, not really much of a formula, just remember "double it and add thirty-two". Does writing it out in words help? I grew up with Fahrenheit and inches and miles, and there are some things that I can't use metric for (taking a kid's temperature, for example) but for the most part, I'm pretty accustomed to it now.

[playbiller]

Well, I meant that comment that Clay may lose his voice by abusing it. I find as a guy who does not drink o excess or smoke, like man singers, he knows his voice is the money maker. I just do't see him ignoring advice. Now it is one thing with vertigo, but I think he has enough technique to know how to sing when sick. I remember in Newark, sittiing in the second row on the ide and watcing clay subtly signal Quiana, and in a Thousand Days, she took the real high glory note, while Clay just looked like he did. I am pretty sure that he knows how to take care of himself.

As I said, many vocal instructors are no longer suggesting warm ps just talk about starting with les challenging songs. Singing itself could be a warm up. I don't really know what the wailing I heard on TV could help he voice, it sounded more like the warm ups these people were using would damage the voice.

[duckyvee]

Which reminds me...has anyone heard the Cheap Trick version of BFM burning up the charts? *g*

Sorry...now I'm just being a brat.

Not a fair yardstick, JaMar, you brat! Cheap Trick is not Clay Aiken.

That being said... radio hit? I wouldn't recognize one. I'd have to listen to radio for that. I've been trying to listen bit to the stations I might contact to request OMWH, and I find it to be really unpleasant. While I really don't have any personal investment in radio success, I'm supporting that effort because I think it will help Clay in the long run. Plus.... in the blog-that-was-and-is-no-longer, he sort of set the goal of becoming an AC radio artist, and I want him to have what he wants.

When I went to the Death Cab for Cutie concert last week, there was this one song that everyone in the audience seemed to know every word to. I found out later that it got a lot of radio play, probably on the alternative format, I don't know. I just knew I liked it, along with the rest of the CD. I'm still a full CD buyer (or should I say downloader). A full CD holds so many treasures. I only download individual songs from artists I sort of like but don't love.

[Desertrose]

I am really enjoying this music conversation. Great that we have people who actually know music. Me, I am like Kandre, who just taught me how to hit a perfect G. Thanks Kandre.

I know nothing about pitch or any of that stuff. The way I know if I like a song is if it makes me "feel" it. Clay's music touches my soul and my heart. and for Muskie (another place too.) His voice and what he does with it is what I love about his music. I love Barbra Streisand, and I think that she and Clay would sound wonderful together. Her duets with Barry Gibbs are so sexy. Their voices are so different. I love "I Am A Woman In Love." On second thought, maybe I am too old to handle her and Clay singing together. way too sexy for an old broad!

Sacrificial Love has been playing in the jukebox in my head for days now. I love that song, even though it did get me trouble for not answering the doorbell because I was "so into it." and was blasting it all through my house.

[keepingfaith]

kf - I always forget to mention that I love your quote on your siggie! That is another of my favorite bits from the Beatles.

I had to cut it off somewhere, but implied is

Yes it did, na-ha-ha-ha-how

1-2-3-4-5-6-7

All good children go to Heaven

and that guitar lick

and the rest of that guitar riff going into Sun King ...

Yes, that's ALL implied in my siggie.

[muskifest]

Sorry, interrupting this Clay voice talk to link you to an article in Education Week in which a school that's part of our (my workplace) network of schools and that implements our philosophies of education transformation. Rhode Island is really ahead of the pack in doing this and this article is about a student who presented her project about sign language. The interesting thing is that she signed as she presented and showed how sign language can be used to communicate with babies and children with autism.

It made me think of the times Clay has used sign language for simple things like "Thank you" and how he probably used the silent language to communicate with his students, too. Do you think? Wonder if he knows it well....

anyway...

Education Week

Now, as y'all were saying...

Clay shore sangs purdy, don't he?

ETA: Never mind the link...it won't work...here's the gist of it:

In Rhode Island, performance-based assessments are now required for high school graduation.

By Scott J. Cech

Providence, R.I.

When it came time for Rachel Patterson to show what she’d learned during her eight-month senior project on sign language, the Barrington High School student didn’t just turn in a research paper.

Before a panel of five judges on a recent afternoon, the poised 17-year-old delivered a 10-minute presentation on the use of sign language to communicate with babies and people with autism. And in an approach particularly suited to her subject matter, Ms. Patterson expressed her thoughts by speaking and signing at the same time.

[cha cha trusty]

I am really enjoying this music conversation. Great that we have people who actually know music. Me, I am like Kandre, who just taught me how to hit a perfect G. Thanks Kandre.

I know nothing about pitch or any of that stuff. The way I know if I like a song is if it makes me "feel" it. Clay's music touches my soul and my heart. and for Muskie (another place too.) His voice and what he does with it is what I love about his music. I love Barbra Streisand, and I think that she and Clay would sound wonderful together. Her duets with Barry Gibbs are so sexy. Their voices are so different. I love "I Am A Woman In Love." On second thought, maybe I am too old to handle her and Clay singing together. way too sexy for an old broad!

Sacrificial Love has been playing in the jukebox in my head for days now. I love that song, even though it did get me trouble for not answering the doorbell because I was "so into it." and was blasting it all through my house.

Here's a really great Streisand Duet -- Barbra Streisand & Neil Diamond - You Don't Bring Me Flowers -- Clay would do great on this song.

Duckyvee - was this the Death Cab for Cutie song?

-This seems to be a big radio hit.

Isn't it great how Clay has widened our horizons? :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Here's a great Clay Duet --

[cha cha trusty]

kf - I always forget to mention that I love your quote on your siggie! That is another of my favorite bits from the Beatles.

I had to cut it off somewhere, but implied is

Yes it did, na-ha-ha-ha-how

1-2-3-4-5-6-7

All good children go to Heaven

and that guitar lick

and the rest of that guitar riff going into Sun King ...

Yes, that's ALL implied in my siggie.

kf - you got me running all over the house gathering Beatles CDs and stuff, because I couldn't remember what album that's from!! Was it Abbey Road?? D101!! Or the white album?? I have too many CDs!!!!

I just finished watching the "Circle" show from Eddie Izzard, and then this came up in the list when it was finished. It's a hilarious bit. Short too, doesn't show Eddie at all! Just one of his bits (no, not those bits!!)

so...... "cake or death??"

[keepingfaith]

Hey chach, it's You Never Give Me Your Money from AR. Also, aren't you on a Dylan kick these days. If so, here's a clip of one of my top 5 Dylan songs -- Love Minus Zero/No Limit -- it's the one in London where they're passing the guitar around and Donovan first realizes his career is date-stamped .... and I love Donovan but this is so evident. Like, this is the competition, oh shit.

Valentines can't buy her -- that's a money line for me. Of course, it helps me understand why KAndre doesn't care for Dylan. ** hee** Another favorite line -- there's no success like failure and failure's no success at all. Another favorite line -- the whole damn song.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=mKoV1yJnqAI&feature=related

God, everybody smoked back then. I've forgotten how omnipresent the smoke was ... of every flavor.

And because last week marked 45 years since the murder of Medger Evers ... here's Bob just a few weeks later in 1963 at his first Newport Festival ...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XUvQzgxTxmE&feature=related

and then on August 28th of that year ...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fffHzrtHhZM

[KAndre]

Valentines can't buy her?

I'm down with that.

Cash (dollars for sentiment's sake, but definitely euros), cashier's checks, electronic transfer, bearer bonds, diamonds and Kruggerands...that'll work.

[keepingfaith]

KAndre, since you're not a fan of the Beatles .... and the only Dylan song you like is the one with the cue cards ... perhaps this will have some tiny influence ...

[Couch Tomato]

You know there is a certain someone that likes to say don't wait until the holidays to tell people how you feel about them.... and I've been saying this to Ansa and LdyJ lately...but I must say.. I love FCA. I have been enjoying the hell out of yall.

DAMN..that's my damn CITH song too. OOPS.

[KAndre]

Heh - would you be surprised to know I looked at it and thought to myself, "Ya know, it's not as catchy as I remembered."

Then I thought, "Waaaaait a minute! It's a different song!"

Then I thought, "That Walrus thing looks sorta familiar..."

Then I saw something about Paul McCartney on the side...

Then it finally clicked!

My BIL would be so ashamed!

Heh.