Hitting the High Notes; Where’s All The Falsettos Gone?

Driving in to work this morning The Stylistics, ‘I'm Stone In Love With You’ came on the radio. It’s a fabulous chunk of 70s soul music sung with a high pitched, falsetto vocal. It got me thinking - where have all the falsettos gone? From the 50s and 60s up until around ten years ago falsettos were common place, indeed some of the biggest world’s biggest hits were sung falsetto but now they’ve all but disappeared.

So what is falsetto defined as? Well, writing in the Guardian in 2011 David MacNamee wrote:

“It's the vocal register occupying the frequency range above the one a voice naturally speaks or sings in. Normally associated with male singers (there's been a controversy for decades over whether falsetto is technically possible in female singers), you would recognise it as the point in soul or disco music where the singer's voice glides up from ‘regular’ singing into a testicle-clenching sustained yelp. It can be used equally for comedic purposes or dramatic effect.”

Men singing like women? It's not natural is it? And "do women have falsetto?" That's an absurd question that is still argued to this day. To be honest MacNamee’s right, listening to blokes singing falsetto can be a bit like having your testicles squeezed very hard. Your eyes start to water and you want to jump backwards and adjust your trousers – but, it works and it has created some of the most successful tracks ever. What about this lot?

• Betcha By Golly Wow! - The Stylistics
• Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough - Michael Jackson
• Emotional Rescue - The Rolling Stones
• Fool To Cry - The Rolling Stones
• Got To Give It Up - Marvin Gaye
• Hey There Lonely Girl - Eddie Holman
• Holding Back The Years - Simply Red
• Kiss - Prince
• Night Fever - Bee Gees
• She Drives Me Crazy - Fine Young Cannibals
• Smalltown Boy - Bronski Beat
• Stay - Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs
• Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees
• Always - Erasure
• Walk Like a Man - Four Seasons
• Hocus Pocus – Focus
• Don't Leave Me This Way - The Communards
• Grace Kelly - Mika 
• I Believe in a Thing Called Love - The Darkness

All household songs everyone knows. 

The Key Exponents
Falsetto can be sad, vulnerable and poignant. It can be magic, adoring even mystical – or it can be an invitation to party. Falsetto is particularly prevalent in male R&B, with Eddie Holman, Phil Bailey, Eddie Kendricks and Smokey Robinson all being key exponents of the skill. Russell Thompkins Jr of The Stylistics based a whole career on his warm soaring register with 'Betcha By Golly Wow' a supreme example.

Another top artist who employs the falsetto is Neil Young on songs such as ‘After The Gold Rush’. Neil’s falsetto voice is in a total contrast to his visual image. This 6' tall wild haired giant can rock and roar, yet he can sing with such a sweet and tender voice.

Prince was another regular proponent of the falsetto. The fantastic, ‘The Most Beautiful Girl In The World’ is almost entirely in falsetto except for the narration and bridge. He even covered 'Betcha By Golly Wow'. Oh and ‘Kiss’ anyone?

Going way back in time I know, but is there a more famous falsetto vocal hook in pop music than Del Shannon’s Runaway? This is instant earworm stuff, and I've always love the structure of the song, the way it flips between dark minor key instrumental sections and the major key chorus, it's all a bit disorientating, a wah-wah-wah-wah-wonderful pop moment.

Unlikely I know but reggae had a few exponents of the falsetto. Most notably Junior Murvin on many great songs like ‘Police and Thieves’. Then there’s the likes of Janet Kay with ‘Silly Games’ debunking the myth that women can’t sing falsetto.

The 80s was always happy hunting ground for the falsetto fan. ‘Take On Me’ by A-ha was pop perfection. With cultured lyrics, sumptuous melodies and an ear-splitting, but absolutely gorgeous, crescendo of a falsetto from Morten Harket. I've always loved ex-Supertramp Roger Hodgson's solo album The Eye of The Storm from the 80s. He uses falsetto to really great dramatic effect on ‘In Jeopardy’. 

Then there was Jimmy Somerville in both his Bronski Beat and Communards incarnations. I must admit that I like it when an artist takes a song normally associated with a deep voice and reinvents it with a falsetto. A good example of this is Bronski Beat’s version of ‘It Ain’t Necessarily So’. It opens up new dimensions to the song and helps confirm a sense of esteem. 

So when is it not Falsetto?
To be honest, I think falsetto is an entirely different voice for a singer to sing in. I think it's more than just octaves. k.d. Lang and Roy Orbison both have significant range but don’t necessarily sing in falsetto. 

Al Green was born with heaven in his vocal cords; everything he does has a touch of class to it. His upper register is in full effect singing the beautiful song ‘Still In Love With You’ from 1972, but it’s not really falsetto.

Jon Anderson of Yes sings high and is to blame for the high singing of so many bands in the 70's but is he falsetto? I think not. Albeit one of his highest, loveliest songs was ‘I Hear You Now’ where his singing was eye watering, though not falsetto.

But Who’s Still Doing It Today?
Over recent years you can count the number of successful songs employing the falsetto on one hand. There’s a few that come to mind – but not many!

First Up I’ve got La Roux’s ‘In For The Kill’. This was the second release off their debut album and peaked at Number 2. It’s an 80s inspired masterpiece of minimalist electro pop that features some icy, high-pitched woos from vocalist Elly Jackson to a pulse-pounding beat which make it sound just wonderfully modern and retro all at the same time. 

Not often you get falsettos in indie music but from 2010 we have Vampire Weekend’s ‘I Think Ur A Contra’ which is a fine exponent of the falsetto vocal. Ezra Koenig getting fairly high on this career high point (both musically and lyrically) break-up ballad.

Next up is ‘Animals’ by Maroon 5. This is an amazing example of modern falsetto from Adam Levine. He can hit the highest notes on consistent levels and this isn't the only song he does it on either. Others include ‘Wasted years’ and ‘Love Somebody’.

My last example is the most recent having been recorded late last year and is ‘Suspirium’ by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke. This was from the score of the remake of the 70s cult horror film “Suspiria”. Thom sings an ominous but very effective falsetto which is one of the high points of the whole soundtrack. It drifts along with practically no production, it’s a very creepy understated track which really works for the film.

And that’s it. Sure, there are elements of falsetto in today's music by the likes of Muse or Editors but I can’t recall any more recent, highly successful tracks like history has produced – So has this 50+ year - what is it a craze, a genre? died out or will it come back? Only time will tell I’m sure.