The Bored Chorus

April 28, 2007 8:58 PM

In the 70's (and very early 80's), a common pop music trope was to have a chorus of female vocalists who sounded, well... monotone. Or perhaps a bit bored. Clipped, a tad nasal. The most flamboyant example of this is likely's M's Pop Muzik[youtube], but there are others. Help me find more.

Examples: ELO's Living Thing. To some extent, Jigsaw's Who Do You Think You Are?. The Human League, on several tracks. The Postal Service's Nothing Better comes close, but doesn't quite achieve exactly the same effect.

Are there more out there?

posted by I EAT TAPAS to media & arts (17 comments total)

Leonard Cohen - "Democracy," "Waiting For The Miracle," "The Future"

Not sure if that's 100% what you're looking for, but there you go.
posted by Sticherbeast at 9:12 PM on April 28, 2007

I think you could argue that they were modernizing what the Andrew Sisters did, and what was being reexplored in the 70s by people like Manhattan Transfer and a little later by the Roches.
posted by doctor_negative at 9:20 PM on April 28, 2007

The Flying Lizards, definitely.
posted by Dee Xtrovert at 9:37 PM on April 28, 2007

Not a chorus, but the Flying Lizards version of "Money (That's What I Want)" comes to mind.
posted by brujita at 11:12 PM on April 28, 2007

Yrr preview!
posted by brujita at 11:12 PM on April 28, 2007

Human League, sort of. "Don't You Want Me", "Mirror Man" and "Fascination."
posted by Oriole Adams at 11:25 PM on April 28, 2007

tom tom club.

but honestly now, calling elo backing vox monotone is downright offensive.
posted by tremspeed at 11:41 PM on April 28, 2007

M used this technique quite a bit throughout his career - also check out "Double Talk", "Neutron", "Honolulu Joe", etc. etc. on his (woefully underrated and bizarre) third album, Famous Last Words. These were usually provided by his wife (as on "Pop Muzik"), Brigit Novik.

David Van Tieghem's These Things Happen has some wonderfully blank (wordless) vocals in this manner by Rebecca Armstrong, who also provided vocals for several key Steve Reich recordings such as Music for 18 Musicians.

Stephin Merritt has said that he aims for this effect in all of his singing (at least up until 69 Love Songs), but he never really hits the mark - they always sound a bit too human even in their emotional distance and not quite as meccanik as what you're seeking.

I used to enjoy this style as well, but my early-morning memory is failing me ... I'll post more if I'm not beaten to it by then.
posted by mykescipark at 4:23 AM on April 29, 2007

...and, oh God, Stereolab.
posted by mykescipark at 4:24 AM on April 29, 2007

...also check out The Bird & The Bee, particularly the eponymous track on their eponymous debut album.
posted by mykescipark at 4:24 AM on April 29, 2007

Captain Sensible - Wot (feat. The Dolly Mixture)
posted by hydrophonic at 6:37 AM on April 29, 2007

I know what boys like by the Waitresses.
posted by piratebowling at 7:30 AM on April 29, 2007

Not backing vocals or a chorus but I'm thinking Cristina Monet. And ok, I only know one of her songs, What's a Girl To Do, but it's pretty monotone and definitely bored.
posted by bobobox at 9:12 AM on April 29, 2007

i wouldn't say M's female back up vocalists are monotonous - listen carefully

dictionary says:
a single tone without harmony or variation in pitch

which is not what is being described here

i just think it's a sparse and rhythmic harmonization that worked well in the 70s and 80s with the synthesizer heavy music that was also very syncopated. The harmonies sound a lot like what you'd get on a keyboard "pop, pop, pop, pop music" it really sounds like something out of a synth even tho it's sung...although popular in the 70s and 80s, i doubt it was new then
posted by Salvatorparadise at 12:35 PM on April 29, 2007

i wouldn't say M's female back up vocalists are monotonous - listen carefully

This is true. But he describes the general character of what he likes about it well enough that it's still possible to recommend other music in that vein, even if the terminology isn't quite spot-on.

(To add to the Bird & The Bee thread, "I Hate Camera" has a similar style in the chorus, now that I think of it. And the Art of Noise made a nice beat-box cut-up of the Andrews Sisters with "The Army Now" on Into Battle.)
posted by mykescipark at 6:30 PM on April 29, 2007

You know, of course, that Adult. has made a career off of this? And that Chicks on Speed and Ladytron are also good contenders?
posted by klangklangston at 10:25 PM on April 29, 2007

New York, Paris, London, Munich,
Everybody talk about...POP MUZIK
posted by winks007 at 9:10 AM on April 30, 2007