Search - Various Artists :: Golden Throats: The Great Celebrity Sing Off

Sing your fool head off!

Johnny Heering | Bethel, CT United States | 03/27/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album has become surprisingly influential. It was the first album to feature celebrities singing badly. I remember the first time I heard it; I laughed my head off. It spawned three sequels and several imitations. Hey, it even helped revive William Shatner's career! Of course, Shatner's unforgetable renditions of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Mr. Tambourine Man" are the highlights here, but there's much more. Shatner's first mate, Leonard Nimoy, who was the most prolific actor/vocalist (five albums!), has two amazing contributions here. Everybody's favorite butler, Sebastian Cabot, has two songs from his spoken word album where he overacts Bob Dylan lyrics. Speaking of overacting Bob Dylan songs, you should here what Eddie "Green Acres" Albert does to "Blowin' in the Wind". Jack Webb recites "Try a Little Tenderness" in his best Joe Friday monotone. I could go on and on, but I will get to the point and say that "this album is hilarious". I highly recommend this album to anyone who likes funny music."

Surprisingly not bad!

Johnny Heering | 12/31/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I got this album primarily because, being a fan of old TV in general and the Original Star Trek in particular, I really wanted to have those tracks that Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner sing (mind you, I'm using the term "sing" loosely here). I had always heard how cheesy/bad Shatner's and Nimoy's tracks were, and I thought it'd be good for a laugh. And of course, it is most certainly good for a laugh, particularly Eddie Albert's "Blowin' in the Wind" and Jim Nabors's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" (Nabors's operatic voice was definitely wrong for an easy listening pop song.) However, to my suprise, as another reviewer of this album has noted, most of the tracks are surprisingly listenable and good. Nimoy may not have the best voice in the world but he at least sings on key (more than can be said for most "modern rock" vocalists today, who whine and scream into a microphone and call it singing). Shatner of course is such a ham that it's enough to make you die laughing; but hey, he puts his heart and soul into it and you have to give him credit for that. Sebastian Cabot's spoken-word renditions of old Dylan favorites are...well, odd and certainly are not my favorite tracks on the album (kind of bizarre to have Mr. French doing Dylan and there's not much oomph there). Noel Harrison's "Whiter Shade of Pale" may actually be better than Procul Harum's; and Joel Grey's "White Room" may be better than Cream's version. On the original versions of both of these tracks, I was never able to understand what in the world the original artists were singing about, but with both Harrison and Grey I actually was able to make out what was being said (rock singers tend to mumble a lot and sing only for themselves, but Harrison and Grey both enunciate nicely so you can understand them). Probably could've done without Mae West's "Twist and Shout," but hey, by the time she did this she was pushing eighty years old, got to at least give her credit for effort. And Andy Griffith's "House of the Rising Sun," while not nearly as good as the Animals' version, is an interesting interpretation. So the upshot is - it will not only make you laugh, it may make you revisit your opinion of the "definitive versions" of old rock favorites! Buy it."

Tremendously Awful!!! Brilliantly Terrible!!!!!

J. GENIO | Earth | 08/17/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is an excellent gag CD. The singers on this collection of pop tunes are so bad that the entire CD is really very good, and worth owning. The CD cover is classic: The Drum to Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. This CD is very effective in clearing out a room in seconds. I played this CD at a diner party. Well, a thunderous silence filled the room as soon as William Shatner finished performing his magnificently horrible rendition of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." By the time Leonard Nimoy was tuning his pipes for a "Spockish" rendering of "If I Had A Hammer," everyone was in hysterics. This collection of great pop tunes sang very poorly is wonderfully bad. This CD will definitely generate hysterically laughter. This is just the CD you need after a hard day at the job. . . It will cheer you up right away. As far as the singing goes. . . well. . . what can I say?!? These stars can't carry a single note. However, the laugh value goes through the roof. A great novelty CD to own. You'll have hours of fun with it."