I challenged my wife to name the top ten female singers

She got bumped last minute from No. 10. Honorable Mention here. Heart of Glass.

She accepted my challenge. Here’s her list. Not mine. I picked the videos though. You know. Men are all control freaks.

1. Maria Callas

She was so right about this one. God’s female voice.

2. Denyce Graves

I just gasp listening to this.

3. Edith Piaf

I will ALWAYS be in love with this woman. At every age.
(‘Pleurer’ means weep and ’Larmes’ means tears. All the 
French words you need to understand the Little Sparrow.)

4. Nina Simone.

Beautiful woman. Breaks my heart with every word.

5. Judy Garland

They’ve got her in a box now. Where they always wanted her. Forever.

6.  Billie Holiday

Little girl lost. That voice…

7. Ella Fitzgerald

Perfect voice. My first songstress love.

8. Amy Winehouse 

I know the road she traveled. Trust me. You don’t want to go that way.

9. Ronnie Spector

Don’t you just want to pinch her cheeks? It can’t have been easy, her life.

10. Adele

Don’t like her. Don’t want to. But she still tears my heart apart.

How would my own list have been different? Not much. I’d have gone higher and lower, including Doris Day and Janis Joplin, for example. Ten is a brutal number though. Can’t honestly tell you who I’d have booted to make room for them here. So I’d have cheated probably. Top Twenty. When in doubt, move the goalposts. Room for Whitney Houston and Patsy Kline, who also couldn’t make the Ten cut. My wife’s list is the right list. And we thoroughly enjoyed the process of choosing. Top Ten is a harsh discipline. A lot like life itself.


Comments

  1. Skinny DevilSeptember 26, 2021 at 6:53 PM

    Outstanding list. I've been obsessing on Amy Winehouse this week, so certainly no argument there from me.
    Loved your "move the goalpost" statement!

    ReplyDelete

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