David Bowie strictly as a singer

I think there is a mild confussion in the post around the term technical . I was mostly reffering to the raw material ( natures gift if you like) one has towards his/hers develompnet as a singer/vocalist -which you call technical - and then there is the technique(s) one applies and progresses to master his/hers craft. The two" technical stuff' do overlap becouse one has to work with what he has got but there still is a distinction.

David was actually a very good singer,on Under Pressure there is no electronic interpretation or anything to get in the way of the vocals,,,just natural fab singing from David and Freddie, RIP to both legends.................xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

For my money, being a great singer and having a great voice are not even close to the same thing. It's like comparing apples and bicycles. Being a great singer means conveying emotion, having people believe in what you are putting across in song. Having a great voice means that you can hit the notes with control, range and expression. In 10 million years, David Bowie couldn't do justice to Bohemian Rhapsody due to his vocal limitations. But his voice in his songs moved people emotionally and spiritually, which for me makes him a great singer.

Roger Taylor once said that he was pissed off that it was easy to pass Freddie off as the guy going "day oh" in stadiums, whilst forgetting that he was a fabulous musician whose piano playing was inimitable in the rock world. Same with his singing, not his voice. Dear Friends isn't about a guy who could hit whatever notes he needed to or to showcase his voice, it was a beautifully sung lullaby respectful of the writer's wish. That's what makes a great singer, an honest interpretation of the lyrics that they're working with, not the fact that you can hit 17 octaves in the same trill. Freddie had a once in a lifetime voice, but if he were a lousy singer wouldn't have made a difference.

^^^Agree with everything except " but if he were a lousy singer wouldn't have made a difference."
Just imagine the chorus of The show must go on and the peaks in its climax ( or the turmoil and anger in Scandal) in a low register. There is a thing as transendece and to be able to express the "inside edge" with similar pitch provided you can bring a higher level of emotion with it . If not it can be even anoying and soul-less high notes for the sake of it.

Bowie did lots of 'big' bits in songs, but he would be the first to say he was acting like all the kidz on The Voice. He served the song, and if that meant nailing a big note he'd work at it - like when he handled all the guitar on the DIamond Dogs album - he said he really really practised.

David Bowie was definitely the best person to sing David Bowie songs, he lacked massively live. But if you are talking about actual 'singing' ability then we have to start with Mick Jagger surely?

^^ Yeap Mick is the first who comes in mind in that aspect. I rather like his playfull and passionate singing manner but thats personal taste of course.

[QUOTE] [b]master marathon runner wrote:[/b]

It's the full package that counts.
[...]
Technical ability don't mean Jack shit.[/QUOTE]

But technical ability is a part of the full package, no? I'd say that technical ability means at least a little bit.

G. Michael was a much better singer than Bowie, but Bowie was by far the better artist and Influence as a writer/musician. Freddie/Bowie? Freddie was the better singer, but was on the same level with everything else. Fashion goes to Bowie, he was doing the glam look before Queen.

Lest we forget the worst singer of the lot: Elton

Again, it's subjective. I disagree about Elton, unless we're talking Elton of recent times lol.

I think Elton was a decent singer

WTF

Elton John is good . Really good in his prime years i think.

He may have become a massive tool in recent years but... Elton lost his voice after 'Sacrifice'. If you want to be astounded by how fucking good he could sing then listen to his early 70's stuff. Especially the Madman Across the Water album (in my top 3 of all time) the title track in particular... 'Levon' is my favourite song of all time, including Queen. Writing/singing... beautiful.