A Vocal Coach about Jon's Voice Decline

I always found Richie's voice grating. Just a counter view to your opinion. From what I heard walking out the two shows I attended, people were saying they didn't miss Richie at all.

Opinion is subjective, that's no news

No, you're not alone. Not by a long shot.

IMO, it wasn't just the blend of their voices when they sang together, but also the way Richie unobtrusively helped cover Jon's vocals when they were weak or took a solo to give Jon a break when he needed to rest his voice. It was Richie's stage presence, and the way he provided a different focus, even momentarily, as the sidekick Jon could play off of that, like the reviewer said, provided a "musical misdirection".

Granted, there are probably some people who don't need (or want) such misdirection; and a few who might actually resent someone taking the spotlight off of Jon, even momentarily. Your quote didn't include my favorite part of the review, where he talked about the fan he overheard, who was "willing to spend hours keeping a clinical eye on the seat of [Jon's] leather pants." For her, Jon's ass probably provides all the distraction needed to overlook how weak his voice has become; and any other misdirection would just get in her way. That is, if she even noticed it. From the way the reviewer described her, I got the impression that Jon could have a band of cymbal-playing monkeys up there with him and she'd never know the difference.

Too bad Jon keeps fighting being the sex symbol and pretty face and yet, becoming way too comfortable doing so. It's like love-hate relationship. They say beauty needs wisdom so it can be used the right way, otherwise it will become a ridicule and/or curse. Anyway, Jon's way too old to become any sort of a sexual attraction to me but I can only imagine the masses of love struck women who don't even think twice about Jon's shot voice, having so much to relish in instead.

I've just realized how much the band is missing after watching this "comedy show" (wasn't funny in the slightest but that's not a bad thing) with Chris Hardwick. Hope dies last, that's it.

Yes, only Jon's fans are distracted by his looks since Richie has always been dog ugly, right? Give me a break. Richie has had women falling all over him for years too, so much so that I suppose his fans are distracted from his sloppiness and arrogance and general lack of self control and direction.

I think there might be a few love-stuck Richie fans who are total hypocrites for dismissing Jon's fans because of his looks.

If you don't like having your taste and judgment dismissed due to your gender, I suggest you stop doing it to other people.

First off, I agree with a lot of what you said. But I would never say that Richie has always been dog-ugly!

I'm sure it isn't only Jon fans who are distracted by looks. There are probably any number of fans who have overlooked flaws in all of these guys because of their looks - or simply because they were rock stars. I daresay that there may have been a Richie fan, or twelve, who has said she (or he, since we don't want to be too gender-specific) would be content to watch his ass for hours, too.

I agree that there may be some Richie fans who are hypocritical in their dismissal of Jon's fans just because some of them seem to pay more attention to his looks than they do his music; but I'd have to say that there is probably an equal percentage of hypocritical Jon fans who do the same thing. There is almost certainly hypocrisy on both sides when their fans point out the flaws in one while pretending that flaws (sometimes the same flaws) don't exist in the other.

From your references to being distracted, I gather that you are responding primarily to my post, rather than Eveline's; or maybe to both. In either case, please note that I was talking about one woman at one show and why she (and fans like her) may not have noticed that Jon's voice is shot (Jon's words, not mine, btw), with or without the misdirection that Richie used to provide. I didn't say anything about Jon fans in general; and my comment was based on what she said, according to the reviewer. Gender had nothing to do with it.

Not really sure how this got turned into a Jon fans vs Richie fans debate. But then again, I'm not surprised by it, either. As I've said before, your typical response when anything is said about Jon is to trash Richie; and if something good is said about Richie you seem unable to resist pointing out how Jon is 'better'. It seems that the same has now been extended to include their fans. TBH, I'm not interested in debating whose fans are the worst, or which musician has the most glaring character flaws; but you have fun with that.

You were both being sexist jerks by basically saying Jon's fans are too blinded by his looks to see his flaws. You two were the ones who decided to dismiss other fans as if you don't have your own GLARING biases.

Obviously, I was being sarcastic when I said Richie was dog ugly. Since you missed that point too, I was saying he's attractive too and has his fair share of fans who find him attractive. Therefore, if you don't want to have your judgement dismissed, you shouldn't do so to others. Or get off your high horse acting like you think Jon's fans are just little fangirl idiots drooling over his rear end.

No one remains a fan of a band for 30+ years because someone looks good. There is a lot more to it than that. Both of your posts were sexist, which is pretty bad considering you're both female. You're being dismissive of both Jon's fans and his talent by acting like people only care about his looks and not his voice, songwriting, intelligence, ambitions, kindness, etc...

As for how did this become fan vs. fans, because you both took the first swipes and I'm sure going to throw it back in your hypocritical faces so you'll know how it feels. As I said, if you don't want to be dismissed, don't be dismissive.

Oh, no one ever denies the fact that Jon is and always has been perceived by his looks by many people. Heck, he was once listed one of the most beautiful people in the world! It's not a competition who's more attractive, though. I've been in the fandom long enough to notice that a lot of females spend hours talking exclusively about Jon's cute ass or beautiful face or seductive dance moves on stage and generally, awful lots of posts/comments/opinions are dedicated purely to his looks (like fb comments under concert pics, for example, let alone various boards on the Net). Let's face the truth - Jon's physical appearance is a huge factor to his fanbase and one has to be quite ignorant to deny it. We may like it or not, get offended or flattered by it, but the truth is: Jon's knows it and makes the best use of it being the genius manager of his. This is what happens to a lot of lead vocalists in general. They are in the spotlight and they are usually the ones who attract most attention. I used to be in other fandoms for years and no one was drooled over more than the singers. There were whole threads dedicated to their hair, clothes, moves, various body parts, etc. I know artists want to be perceived as a whole but no one ever appears on stage in a potato sack on his head. Music is not only about music anymore.

BTW. Thanks for calling me a sexist jerk. I think it's the first time ever anyone called me that. It's actually not offensive at all. I knew you'd go all defensive Becky and wasn't disappoined ;]

Why is pointing out Jon's good looks (don't share the feeling about Richie though TBH) sexist? Hell, even I as a straight guy have to admit Jon is a very attractive/beautiful person. Yeah, more in the sense of cool/wanting to be more like him (in the earlier days), but still it *is* a huge factor of his success. Don't tell me it's all about the music, if Jon were dog ugly (what's so ugly about dogs BTW? ), it wouldn't be as much fun to see them live. I'd probably just listen to the CDs, but I'd have to think longer about it to be sure...

So, Jon's voice....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk