Those Tricky Lead Singers

The following excerpt is from Jonathan Lethem’s “Fly in the Ointment (Director’s Cut),” published in Rolling Stone (November 27, 2008).

“Singers are tricksters. Sometimes we’ll wonder if they’re more like movie actors than musicians per se – we’ll decide that the “real” R.E.M. is embodied by Buck, Berry and Mills, not that kooky frontman Stipe, or the “real” Rolling Stones is Richards-Wood-Watts-Wyman, rather than that irritating capitalist Jagger. But beware – go down this route and soon you’ll find yourself wondering how The Doors sound sans 'Mr. Mojo Risin,' or imagining someone can better put across Dylan’s gnarled syllables than Dylan himself….

In truth, so often what makes a band like the Stones or R.E.M. (or the band Dylan transformed from The Hawks into The Band) so truly unique and powerful is in how the instrumentalists rise to the challenge of creating a home for the vocalists’ less-than-purely-musical approach to a song: the braggadocio or mumbling, the spoken asides or too-many-syllables crowded into a line that destroys traditional rhythm or measure, those movie-star flourishes that compel us to adore and resent the singer at once.”

Here are some other “kooky” lead singers with a “less-than-purely-musical approach": Johnny Rotten, Roger Daltrey, Joe Strummer, James Brown, Joey Ramone, Patti Smith, Eric Burdon, Bono, Karen O, Syd Barrett, Debbie Harry, Liam Gallagher, Robert Smith, Elvis Costello, Michael Hutchence, PJ Harvey, Ian Curtis, Jeff Tweedy, Robert Plant, Iggy Pop, Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty and yours truly (not that I'm in their league, but I've fronted several bands).

What do we all have in common? We have all been fortunate enough to have had a band behind us, affording us the freedom to explore the melody and nuance of a song.

Sometimes we go off-key; sometimes we are never in-key to begin with; sometimes we may be sick with the flu and unable to locate any key whatsoever; sometimes we simply can't compete with our guitarist's blaring amplifier and therefore, finding any key is futile.

That's what makes lead singers tricksters, tricking their way through every tune.

It's only rock and roll, but I like it!