On That Note: I Want to Hit That High/Drop It Low, Girl

[jbhtexas]

A bit of a different direction here...PAMS of Dallas a major radio jingle producer from the Top-40 era of radio. Their Series 31 "Music Explosion" from 1966 featured a 4-part really tight and high male harmony (sometimes a low bass was added). If you were around for Top-40 radio, you probably heard a station use these. This series was sold to around 400 radio stations (according to the WABC tribute site), and JAMS is still selling re-sings of this series today.

Below are some examples. The first one is just a nice montage from different stations. The second one on is the full KONO sing that used as a demo for the series. The third one are the acapella sings from this series, often used for the jock IDs. The last one is the iconic "Dan Ingram" ID, which was part of the WABC Series 31 package.

http://musicradio77.com/jingles/series31/daning.wav

 

[matclone]

Known as a contralto (the lowest female register) was the fabulous Patsy Cline. I will post two of her "not best known" songs as they are never played enough. Both heartbreakers.

 

[cyclones500]

Vince Neil
—> some of it is "arena-rock yelp" … but … it qualifies.

 

[Cupped]

 

[MeanDean]

No, there were no girls on my school bus route named Clyde.

This one I never thought was female, but it's definitely up there.

 

[cyclones500]

Daryl Hall

 

[MeanDean]

Just one line in this they sing falsetto. At about the 1:33 mark. I think the line is "If there's nothing that I can do." Not sure on that.

 

[cyclones500]

Bethany Cosentino (Best Coast)

 

[MeanDean]

Paul's really way up there on this one.

 

[AlaCyclone]

 

[SaraV]

 

[MeanDean]

Some of these early Doo-Wop songs had some very high male lead vocals. This one is particularly nice, IMHO.

 

[matclone]

I love the falsetto harmony on this reggae song from sometime in the 70s.

 

[SaraV]

2:46 in the video to hear Mitch's verse

 

[urb1]

 

[MuskieCy]

Contra

 

[Cupped]

A couple from Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons

Big Girls Don't Cry






Sherry Baby

 

[cyclones500]

In the gender mix-up category… I was fairly young when this was on the radio, and with no visual clues (such as a single jacket or LP cover), I assumed it was female singer.

In retrospect, must have been something indefinable in his voice that made me think I was hearing female low-register (even if I didn't know what that was at the time).

 

[AlaCyclone]

 

[matclone]

Robin Gibb. OMG, especially on the bridge.