Sunday, March 4, 2007

Voices Carry

On paper, on pretty, glossy paper, David Beckham has got it all. In addition to possessing that famed and highly rewarded athletic prowess, brother sure hit the genetic lottery. Pretty damn flawless turnout despite the faux-hawk and skirt fetishes, and that weird, thin, leathery cane he insists on walking everywhere with (oh, sorry that's his wife). And yet, that winning ticket seemed to lose its lustre (at least for me, my lust instantly vanished) when dude opened his mouth. The nasal whine of a voice did not fit. He should just pull a "Singing In The Rain" and hire some gent with a nice deep, manly voice to hide behind a curtain during interviews to speak while he just moves his lips. Posh is hip to the lip sync, she could give him some pointers. Anyway, it got me to thinking how underrated great speaking voices are. So in tribute to these unsung heroes, that don't need to sing to be rad, here are some shout outs:

**the guy who narrates PBS's FRONTLINE--his name is Will Lyman. He could give you directions to Disneyland but with that voice, you would just rather stay put and hang out with him. Check out his website http://www.whitethroat.com/

**the movie trailer guy--his name is Don Lafontaine and brother could even make a Pauly Shore flick sound interesting. He's at http://www.donlafontaine.com/

**the woman who narrates the Canadian documentary "The Corporation"--her name is Mikela J. Mikael. Her gorgeous voice softens the blow of realization that the modern corporate world is akin to a dangerous psychopath.

Heroes all.

Just one more thing, if I could find out the name of the lady who does the "SAY WHAT?" in Rick James' "Give It To Me Baby", I would definitely add her name to the list.

currently listening to: Pajo, 1968

1 comment:

Unknown said...

hey: this is mikela j.

thanks so much for the kind words - i just happened to stumble upon your site & voila, there's my name!

if you want to check out more - go to myspace.com/mikjmik

thanks again!

mjm