Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Making hits, singing without warming up, and the wonders of collaboration

The 7” promo as released in the US. Have you ever seen one of those? Photo courtesy of Discogs.

Some people love to pigeonhole artists to a certain genre. It’s always easier to manipulate what you can control.

Isn’t it great when artists challenge those restrictive labels?

I’ve recently had the pleasure of collaborating once again with my friend

Brad Kyle

from the wonderful

Front Row & Backstage

as we keep exploring one of America’s best and most beloved singers.

In this episode, we untangled the making of a hit when the stakes were incredibly high:

Can a balladeer front a rock band?

Can church girls sing rough?

What happens when you tell Whitney Houston she can’t warm up her voice?

We also analysed a cover version that, in our view, completely redefines the possibilities of what a pop hit can achieve.

I will never tire of saying that technically great singing (as traditionally defined) is criminally underrated on Substack and indie music journalism in general.

Time to put that right.

Please head straight over to Brad’s article here:

When the Boys Cover Whitney Houston #5: "So Emotional" by Billy Steinberg & Tom Kelly, 1987

While you’re at it, don’t forget to check the comments section in Brad’s article — some very interesting discussions taking place there right now.

(To keep things neat, comments are disabled in this post).

Thank you for reading. Happy spinning!