Actors vs, Singers

 

 

 

 

 

Ok.  So I was listening to a Spotify playlist of "One-Hit Wonders". Don't knock it.  There are some fantastic songs that an artist had a hit with, but it was the only time they managed to crack the American Top 40 list with it. Although anybody's list would be subjective, to say the least. I mean a VH1 list I saw has Los Del Rio's "Macarena" at #1 while a Rolling Stone list puts a-ha"s "Take on Me" at the top. Most of my favorites in the "one hit" category are from the 70's which had no limit to the artists that came and went like a flash in the pan. ("Convoy" anyone?)

Disco was pretty much a one-shot genre. Sure, you had some bands with staying power to hit the charts more than once (Village People, Kool and the Gang).  But you also had Patrick Hernandez (Born to Be Alive), Anita Ward (Ring My Bell), Amii Stewart (Knock on Wood) etc.  One of my favorites is one that often also makes lists of "worst" or"most annoying" songs "Disco Duck" by Rick Dees. 

Anyway, during that playlist I was subjected to, among others, hits by actors who tried their hand at singing (if you can call it that).  I heard Eddie Murphy's "Party All the Time", Bruce Willis' "Respect Yourself", Patrick Swayze's "She's Like the Wind", Don Johnson's "Heartbeat" and David Soul's "Don't Give Up On Us".

And I came to the conclusion: Actors should act and singers should sing and ne'er the twain should meet.

The reason I include singers that shouldn't be actors in that is I have seen a few movies in which singers tried their hand at acting, proving time and again that it doesn't always work in reverse either.

Now, there are singers who turned out to be pretty good actors.  Many of Frank Sinatra's movies are among my favorites. (:Von Ryan's Express", "The Man with the Golden Arm", "From Here to Eternity", "The Manchurian Candidate").  Bing Crosby and Bob Hope did the road movies and some of those were good. And I absolutely LOVE Burl Ives' turn as Big Daddy in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof".

Sure, there are some more recent names that did the acting scene decently.  I will always say Marky Mark was better as an actor, but then I never took to him as a "singer" anyway. But then you have those people who should have left the acting to those who are better qualified.  (Does anybody really think Neil Diamond was a great actor  in "The Jazz Singer"?)

Now I'm not suggesting that any singer who tries his or her hand at acting should be at the Academy Award level. But the singer in question should be able to be distinguished enough as an actor that you could tell the difference between him and a mannequin.  Maybe plot has a lot to do with the way the singer comes across on the screen.  Surely nobody thinks the plot to "From Justin to Kelly" is a high caliber concept for a film.

To name but just a few singers that managed to transition the chasm to the big screen I would give a lot of kudos to Harry Connick, Jr.  He was OK in "Independence Day" (having to share screen time with Will Smith is liable to reduce your own cache, I think), but if you've never seen "Copycat" you really ought to. And since I mentioned him in the previous sentence, we can't ignore Will Smith. Bette Midler has been in at least two great roles ("Down and Out in Beverly Hills" and "Ruthless People").Cher does a pretty good job in her movies, especially "Moonstruck".

So, yes, there are exceptions to the idea that singers should just sing. But I will still stand behind my first half of this post that actors should just act.  I can't name one actor who put out a song that was any good. and by that I mean an actor who wasn't actually also a singer, so John Travolta gets a pass since he actually sang his parts in "Grease", even though I don't like "Let Her In", one of his solo efforts.

This is not the most conclusive post I could make it.  If I addressed every incidence of actors trying to sing or singers trying to act this post would be a book instead... But feel free to comment with your own additions if you think I left off something that should have been included.

Quiggy