MELISSA BLOCK, host:
Moving on to some artists who never held political office, at least as far as we know. So let's set Sonny Bono aside now and we'll come around to his singing partner soon.
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
This is the latest installment of our listener challenge, Vocal Impressions, when we hear your descriptions of famous voices.
The man sifting through them is Brian McConnachie.
BRIAN McCONNACHIE: I'm back with your reflections on the voices of Janis Joplin…
(Soundbite of song "Down on Me")
Ms. JANIS JOPLIN (Musician): (Singing) Down on me.
McCONNACHIE: …Katharine Hepburn…
(Soundbite of movie "The Lion in Winter")
Ms. KATHARINE HEPBURN (Actress): (As Eleanor of Aquitaine) I could peel you like a pear and…
McCONNACHIE: …Fred Astaire…
(Soundbite of song "Let's Face the Music and Dance")
Mr. FRED ASTAIRE (Actor): (Singing) There may be troubles ahead.
McCONNACHIE: …and Joe Cocker.
(Soundbite of song "The Letter")
Mr. JOE COCKER (Musician): (Singing) I'm coming home.
McCONNACHIE: There are some definite gems in this batch. Now, except for Fred Astaire, everyone had at least one reference to chainsaws. So we'll begin with Janis Joplin. Ann Mintz says Janis Joplin sounds like a chainsaw with a broken heart. Andrea Downing says Janis Joplin's voice is like touching an electric fence - not enough voltage to kill you, but enough not to let you go.
(Soundbite of song "Down On Me")
Ms. JOPLIN: (Singing) Everywhere I go, they're down on me, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, down on me.
McCONNACHIE: Mike Free says Janis Joplin's voice is like wearing gasoline cologne to a candlelight vigil. Chris Calvo adds, her voice is the growl of a stray dog that just got his first taste of a T-bone steak.
(Soundbite of song "Down On Me")
Ms. JOPLIN: (Singing) Down on me, yeah.
McCONACHIE: Jill Sterling confesses that Janis Joplin is the voice of her bladder as she searches the interstate for a rest stop.
(Soundbite of movie "Summertime")
Ms. HEPBURN: (As Jane Hudson) You know all my life, I've stayed at parties too long because I didn't know when to go.
McCONNACHIE: Then we had Katharine Hepburn.
(Soundbite of movie "Morning Glory")
Ms. HEPBURN: (As Eva Lovelace) My name is Eva Lovelace, my stage name. You've probably never heard of me because I'm just starting.
McCONNACHIE: David Cheramil says Katharine Hepburn sounds like a schoolmarm teaching you the difference between who and whom. David Zwicky says she is the sound of the hinges opening on a shed door that's been nailed shut for 20 years. And Janet Hanawalt says Katharine Hepburn is the blue jay at the feeder scolding the sparrows for hogging all the birdseed.
(Soundbite of song "Let's Face the Music and Dance")
Mr. ASTAIRE: (Singing) Let's face the music and dance.
McCONNACHIE: And next, Fred Astaire.
(Soundbite of song "Let's Face the Music and Dance")
Mr. ASTAIRE: (Singing) Before the fiddlers have fled.
McCONNACHIE: Jeffrey Urbik says Fred Astaire sounds like crisp silk. Listening to him sing is like dancing in your head, offers Chris Mary. His voice is the man in the moon, says Samantha Carpenter. Fred Astaire's voice is the boyfriend you longed for before you found out about sex, says Laura Lyster-Mensh.
(Soundbite of song "Let's Face the Music and Dance")
Mr. ASTAIRE: (Singing) Soon we'll be without the moon, humming a different tune and then…
McCONNACHIE: Jeff Hawkes says Fred Astaire sounds like a marshmallow melting in a steaming cup of coco.
And our last voice in this group, the indestructible Joe Cocker.
(Soundbite of song "The Letter")
Ms. COCKER: (Singing) I don't care how much money I got to spend. I will find my way and a way back home, oh yeah.
McCONNACHIE: Karen Tomaszewski says he sounds like the last hours of a very good party. Kathleen Freudenrich says Joe Cocker sounds like 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.
(Soundbite of song "The Letter")
Mr. COCKER: (Singing) Anyway, yeah.
McCONNACHIE: Ed Schart describes Joe Cocker as a favorite wool sweater that makes you look and feel a lot cooler than you are. Mark Lupinetti declares Joe Cocker is the taste of the bong water you drank by mistake.
(Soundbite of song "The Letter")
Mr. COCKER: (Singing) I'm coming home, yeah, soon. Well, my baby, she wrote me a letter.
McCONNACHIE: It's wet gravel being poured into a whiskey bottle, says Michael Joseph. And Mike Kraft says Joe Cocker is the sound of someone trying to sing while being Tasered.
And so on to our next group of distinctive voices who include…
(Soundbite of song "Georgia On My Mind")
Mr. RAY CHARLES (Singer): (Singing) I said Georgia…
McCONNACHIE: …Ray Charles.
(Soundbite of song "Georgia On My Mind")
Mr. CHARLES: (Singing) Georgia, a song of you comes as sweet and clear as moonlight through the pines.
(Soundbite of TV program "I Love Lucy)
Ms. LUCILLE BALL (Actress): (As Lucy) Come back, Ethel.
McCONNACHIE: Lucille Ball.
(Soundbite of TV program "I Love Lucy)
Ms. BALL: (As Lucy) Oh, that isn't a side of beef. That must be a side of elephant.
(Soundbite of movie)
Mr. HARVEY FIERSTEIN (Actor): (As Character) You're not only talking about my lover. You're talking about my son.
McCONNACHIE: The actor Harvey Fierstein.
(Soundbite of movie)
Mr. FIERSTEIN: (As Character) I'm better off dead, right?
McCONNACHIE: And Cher.
(Soundbite of song "The Shoop Shoop Song)
CHER (Singer): (Singing) Does he love me? I want to know. How can I tell if he loves me so?
McCONNACHIE: Have fun and I'll be back with your responses.
CHER: (Singing): Oh, no, you'll be deceived.
Unidentified Group: (Singing) Is it in his eyes?
BLOCK: That's Brian McConnachie. To take part, go to npr.org. Search for Vocal Impressions.
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