Vocal Impressions: Hearing Voices, Round Nine
Sounds Like ...?
How would you describe these four voices?
Lucille Ball
Ray Charles
Cher
Harvey Fierstein
Every few weeks we present another installment of our listener challenge, "Vocal Impressions." It's where we ask you to conjure up just the right phrase to describe a handful of famous and distinctive voices.
Our last challenge was to take on the voices of Janis Joplin, Katharine Hepburn, Fred Astaire and Joe Cocker. Except for Fred, everyone got at least one chainsaw reference. The other answers are below.
And we issue a new challenge to listeners: Describe the voices of comedienne Lucille Ball, singers Ray Charles and Cher, and actor Harvey Fierstein.
Janis Joplin
Listeners say the singer sounds like:
A chainsaw with a broken heart — Ann Mintz
Touching an electric fence; not enough voltage to kill you but enough not to let you go — Andrea Downing
Wearing gasoline cologne to a candlelight vigil — Mike Free
The growl of a stray dog that just got her first taste of the T-bone steak — Chris Calvo
A discussion between a mother and a daughter about the other's contemptible boyfriend — Fred Quivey
The voice of my bladder as I search the interstate for a rest stop – Jill Sterling
The dare you really wanted to accept even though you were totally scared — Daniel Lupfer
The girl you have a crush on saying your name — Jake Naylor
The sound of iron rusting — Sarah Hamilton
The last scream that a trapped person yells before they realize no one will come — The Warrensburg High School Writing Club
The voice of the girlfriend you left for the "safe" girlfriend you wound up marrying - John Jagger
A tie-dyed T-shirt all wound in knots having the last bit of dark ink wrung from it before its beauty is unfurled — Jeremy Bowman
The morning after a hard night of partying [when] my Mom would say, "Mmmm ... sounds like you had a good time last night" — Erin Brewster
Peanut hulls that crunch under your boots at your favorite bar — Kathy Lewis
The lit fuse to a stick of dynamite — Teresita Maxey
The unbridled claim to freedom in a wildcat's cry — Melanie Trost
A freight train running on loose rails — Susan Wade
Katharine Hepburn
Listeners say the actress sounds like:
A schoolmarm teaching you the difference between "who" and "whom" — David Cheramil
Hinges opening on a shed door that's been nailed shut for 20 years — David Zwicky
Ice tinkling in a crystal glass — Susan O'Halloran
"The Ride of the Valkyries" played on a saw — Pier Gustafson
The blue jay at the feeder scolding the sparrows for hogging all the birdseed — Janet Hanawalt
A tightly wound spring — Ron Dylewski
A flautist playing while traveling down a cobblestone road — Lorraine Armstrong
Your grandfather doing an imitation of your grandmother the morning after a big New Year's party — Jim Corbran
The voice of a female mentor all of us girls in the '70s wish we had — Marla Tord
Peanut brittle before it hardens — Andrea Sledge
A peacock's wink — Dave Airozo
Having the caffeine jitters — Rebecca Latson
A quivering machine gun — Ken Sherman
An arrow shot quivering through the air as it finds its bull's-eye — Elizabeth Wolf
Fred Astaire
Listeners write in that the dancing actor sounds like:
Crisp silk — Jeffrey Urbik
Dancing in your head — Chris Mary
The man in the moon — Samantha Carpenter
The boyfriend you longed for before you found out about sex — Laura Lyster-Mensh
A marshmallow melting in a steaming cup of cocoa — Jeff Hawkes
A kitten rubbing against the leg of your tan corduroy pant — John Metcalf
A church bell that's been warmed by a layer of freshly fallen snow — Edward Roberts
How the holding of hands felt before you knew about heartbreak — Peter Newell
A silk-gloved hand stroking a satin-covered shoulder — Albert Alvarez
A scoop of vanilla ice cream melting and sliding around in a bowl — Jill Sterling
A woman removing a pair of silk stockings — Shella Welebit
Understated majesty, as when the moon appears in daylight — Edward Mackin
Hush Puppies walking in a lush forest — Herb Ziev
Ice-skating violins — Julia Meisel
Dusting cigarette ashes from a mahogany table — Ali Sanders
Joe Cocker
Listeners say the singer's voice sounds like:
The last hours of a very good party — Karen Tomaszewski
He just rolled out of a dumpster on a Sunday morning, picks the wilted lettuce from his head, shakes himself off and gets on with his day — Kathleen Freudenrich
A favorite wool sweater that makes you look and feel a lot cooler than you are — Ed Schart
The taste of the bong water you drank by mistake — Mark Lupinetti
Wet gravel being poured into a whiskey bottle — Michael Joseph.
The loving burn of a scruffy kiss — Melanie Trost
Someone trying to sing while being Tasered — Mike Kraft
The feeling at the end of a great first date — Carrie Cobern
A three-day hangover — Shella Welebit
Stale croutons going down a sore throat — Mike Free
Warm, dark Tupelo honey oozing down the center of your soul — Karen Rutland
A scratched record being played with a heroin needle — Arleen Falcon
Staying over at your best friend's house and singing until you both pass out — Kristine Borg
A drunk auditioning for a cathedral choir — Albert Aluarez
A bicycle sliding through loose stones and gavel — Mark and Jan Urban-Lurain