Layering of vocals

[Richard Bensam <rabensam@earthlink.net>]

Mr. H shared the following:

>>I think Kate Bush does this quite well. Her voice really takes on
>different
>>"characters" in some of her songs. I'm thinking of .. uh ... I think it's
>>Sat in Your Lap ??  Well, just about anything from Never Forever, or
>maybe
>>other albums too -- I only have 2 or 3 of hers.
>
>Yeah, EXCELLENT choice. Kate Bush is probably the Champion of Self-Vocal
>Layering, as far as I know. Other names that pop into my head: Liz Fraser,
>Prince, Todd Rundgren, Eno, Brian Wilson, Jane Siberry....
>
>I just hope no one brings up Queen....  ;)
>
>	How does this make ya feel?!!  Isn't it great that Kate's
>	appreciated all over the place?  And Jane Siberry too!  I'll have
>	to find one of her records and try her out myself!!  Oh the joy of
>	being subscribed to LoveHounds *and* Costello-l!  :)  :)

As it happens, I belong to a mailing list devoted to a fellow named Jack
Kirby (if you've never heard of him, don't worry about it) and a couple of
weeks ago a big topic of discussion on that list was...Kate Bush.  I
promise I wasn't behind this!  In fact, after the discussion had gone on
for a while, I finally had to butt in and complain that they were making it
almost impossible for me to keep track of which group I was reading!  (But
I did also invite all interested parties to join us here.)

Anyway.  The real Champion of Self-Vocal Layering is most likely a singer
named Kirsty MacColl, daughter of Ewan MacColl, who is legendary for her
near-inhuman ability to harmonize with herself.  No surprise, then, that
her first love in pop music was the Beach Boys.  Also, I've been listening
to Happy Rhodes a lot lately; her use of multi-tracked vocals is the result
of careful study of Kate's technique, and she does her inspiration proud.


RAB

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