Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Crooooooooning

OK, so I want to make a compilation CD of songs that have great ooooo oooo vocals. I often find the singing of the long U sound quite compelling. This is what I've come up with so far:

1. Smokestack Lightnin' by Howlin' Wolf (really lives up to his name on that one)
2. My Favorite Mistake by Sheryl Crow (repeated Oooooos in the lead in)
3. Up on Cripple Creek by The Band (on the bridge -- a cross between ooooooing and yodeling)
4. Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon (more howling, natch)
5. At my Window Sad and Lonely by Wilco (and Billy Bragg? off Mermaid Ave.)

So what am I missing? Any suggestions? What other songs can give me the crooooooning I crave?

UPDATE: I thought of another one:

6. Doowutchyalike by Digital Underground ("oo ooo I see guys an' girls dancin'")

17 comments:

cK said...

I'm totally going to have Mips post here. She just posted a list of five voices she really likes. She'll probably have some fine recs for ya.

I retire to pondering chamber (and NO that is not my name for the loo).
-cK

Anonymous said...

Hmm:

Just a couple off the top of my head:

Death Defying by Hoodoo Gurus (band name has nice "ooos" in it) Plus nearly every line in the song is punctuated by an "ooowee!" that distinctly Australian.

Lucky Number by Lene Lovich (it's almost impossible to spell the vowel sounds in the chorus, but it's like "uuah uuooh, wuuah, oh")

Burning Love by Elvis (that first line is classic)

Sassmaster said...

Thanks C! OMG, I'm so embarrassed that I didn't think of Burning Love. Forgive me, Elvis! Especially 'cause I'm reading the Guralnick now. Mmmm that's some tasty biography.

Anonymous said...

Probably something from kd lang's Torch 'n' Twang. She's big on the long vowel (and the lower case initial).

Anonymous said...

u li la lu by poi dog pondering

my ever changing mood - style council

goin' south - wolfgang press (i know, i know... i promised you i would get it to you! sorry)

then came you - spinners (they are singing 'yooooou' but it could work in a pinch.

brand new friend - lloyd cole

Israelites-desmond dekker (they may be singing 'ohhhh' but again...a judgement call)

why can't we be friends-war

Sassmaster said...

Thanks Al Fish! Yer the best.

Anonymous said...

I like this list, here's a few that stick out in my head:

The Shins - New Slang:
There's a really catchy 'ooo' that begins and ends this song, love it.

Prince - Purple Rain:
I adore that really high 'ooo' he sings at the end, every time I here it, I gotta sing along.

Stevie Wonder - Never Had a Dream Come True:
Starts with a duo singing on "doo", it's irresistible!

Mark Mallman - Love Look At You:
A local great, sings "love, look at you, oooo". I recommend that anybody and everybody checks him out, he's amazing.

Donna Summer - I Feel Love:
"ooooo, I feel love, I feel love,..." etc.


Well, that's all I got for now:)

Anonymous said...

To sir with love-al green
I say a little prayer-al green (really, any al green song would work, but these are cool ‘gender-bending’ covers)

Speaking of gender benders…
Time (clock of the heart)-culture club
Church of the poison mind-culture club

Pearls on a string-dusty trails

For lovers only-southern culture on the skids

Marie provost-nick lowe (its about a silent movie has-been that was found in her apartment dead and half eaten by her pet dog…but it has some ‘oooooh’s’ in it!)

Midnight train to georgia-gladys knight

The politics of dancing- re-flex (the politics of ‘ooooooh’ feelin’ good)…is this message understood?

Candy everybody wants-10,000maniacs

Sara smile-hall and oates

Young american-david bowie

Light in your eyes-subdudes

cheeze-it christ, this is addictive...but it's close to midnight and i got to get some sleep! i love thinking about this kind of stuff (and i love you)

cK said...

Oh, wow. James Brown, definitely. There's one song, probably called "Good Thing" or "I got a good thing" in which he has numerous moments of just saying "Oooo!" after which trumpets will issue a short punctuating tone or two.
-cK

Sassmaster said...

And here I was afraid this one would be a head scratcher. Cool! Thanks Mips and Al (again) and cK. Mips, I can't believe I didn't think of Purple Rain. I've been swooning over his Super Bowl performance--I'm just enough of a dork that I was all, "It's raining and he did Purple Rain! Cool."

mully said...

suspicious minds of course

Anonymous said...

it's bad enough that i just can't stop, but now i have gotten krista to think of songs too. she thought of a frente song that is called either 'don't make me smile' or 'you don't have a clue' (really, i don't!) and 'maps and legends' by REM.

i spent all day at work friday bumping thru my mp3s and came up with:

girl of my dreams-brams tchaikovsky

behind closed doors-the silver fox

once is enough-lyle lovett

a love like yours-dusty springfield

'circle i' and 'california desert party'-jonathan richman (anything off of modern lovers '88 will do)

just like starting over-lennon

alex chilton-replacements

thank you ladies and gents-bigstar

(the last 2 would make a killer segue...too bad 'we're the replacements' by they might be giants doesn't have any oooo's in it.)(well, now i'm just micro-managing your list...you go ahead and do what you feel is neccesary. i'm sure it will all be very nice.)

mully said...

he is a mad-man will someone please make him stop...

Sassmaster said...

Al! Perhaps it's my duty to stage an intervention, but I'm just going to go ahead and encourage your obsession. I like you like this! If there's anything I can do to be a more effective enabler, you just let me know.

oxox

Anonymous said...

It doesn't appear that country music really qualifies on this list, but you all missed an obvious one: Blue by Patsy Cline (or more recently Leann Rimes).

Love,

Your hick little brother

Sassmaster said...

Country music ALWAYS qualifies on my list. You're right, that was an obvious one. But then I somehow missed Suspicious Minds, on which I've sung the oooo ooos. It's a good thing I've got you guys 'cause my mind is going.

Sassmaster said...

Besides, helLO Behind Closed Doors. And, it is my contention that Elvis was a hillbilly to the core, king of rock and roll or not.