Been listening those crazy kittens (the atomic ones), and I put up my hand to liking their music – a great combination of catchy tunes, harmonies, some fantastic instrumentation and arrangements, and often quite memorable lyrics.
ANYWAY, the point was that several times they use the word “baby” to refer to their romantic interest – something I myself have done in the past (certainly “babe”) – but since the arrival of Ben it would seem very weird to use “baby” in that way!! I would probabably describe a someone as a “babe” still, but would I really say “hey baby” to A? Maybe I still would!
Unlike the Bangles, I wouldn’t claim to be able to recognise the band members voices – but then the line-up has changed several times, and I can hear the different voices. But I have a soft spot for Susanna Hoff’s voice – it has that sort of ‘rough vulnerability’, even though her diction is pretty dire (for ages I thought the line in If she knew what she wants was something like “No sense thinking like the real Bill and Ted, when she’s fine, fine, fine”. Also Walk like an Egyptian – “they singndance”. Come to think of it Hazy Shade of Winter has pretty indecipherable lyrics too.) Anyway, another example would be Wendy Whitehead (e.g. on Come, Now is the Time to Worship) who also, although in a different way, has a stunning voice that strikes right to your heart (well, right to mine anyway), although her diction is spot on, I should add. I did actually meet Wendy once and it was funny to hear that her normal speaking voice has a definite Southend accent, when there’s no trace of it in her singing! (In case you were wondering, I sound engineered for Brian Doerkson once – actually it was the first time he did “Come, now is the time” in public, which was a very special conference. Perhaps I’ll waffle some more on that next time.)
Oh yes, and that Bangles line is actually “No sense thinking I can rehabilitate her…” 🙂