Tim Curry

[notbobsmith]

I love this one. I still haven't played Red Alert 3, but now I think I should.



And speaking of Tim Curry and computer games ...

That Red Alert scene is iconic. Towards the end, it's not clear if Tim Curry is about to break character or if he made an acting choice to show restrained maniacal laughter. Either way, it's awesome.

[BBP]

https://www.instagram.com/peterferriero ... molZuPCZM/
Apparently there's a documentary about Tim in the works, that he cooperated on. This is part of the last interview that they did for the doc.

Fresh release from Entertainment Tonight about Clue!

Tim had a brief stint as a singer, in the late 70s to early 80s. His singing career is often overlooked, but it gave us three albums some gems of songs, Tim wrote lyrics to several of them.

Read My Lips is mostly covers. Fearless and Simplicity mostly original. Tim was writing lyrics to Simplicity while playing Amadeus and preparing for Annie, wearing three very different hats every day.

From the Vaults was made before that, the album that Lou Adler signed over as he saw waning potential. It was not released until the 2000s.

Theres an amazing home video of him performing at the Waldorf in San Francisco, quality is 70s home video (as in - be glad it exists). Here he is with one of my favourite songs, Sloe Gin, at the Waldorf:


In his UK era, Tim did a number of TV movies, one is basically written as a star vehicle, Blue Money. It has him doing a variety of imitations, accents, and singing.

[Rath Darkblade]

The documentary about Tim looks very exciting, indeed. I'm not sure what to think about his short-lived singing career, though; when his acting career took off, I guess he was glad to leave it behind.

Was he a trained singer? Not all trained actors can also sing, and vice versa. The results are, um ... not always great.

It's much easier for a trained actor to do impressions. Madeline Kahn, for instance, did a wonderful parody of Marlene Dietrich in "Blazing Saddles".

[BBP]

He was a talented boy soprano and had singing cladd. But he was also often under the influence of something while performing. I still think he sounds beautiful.

[Rath Darkblade]

What can you tell me about voodoo?

I can't believe we're discussing stuff that Tim has done and haven't mentioned Gabriel Knight 1 and 3 yet. That cat moustache puzzle. Damn.

And can we talk for a second about the time that Tim played The Pirate King?

[BBP]

Did you spot the moment at 2:50 where he fences with the orchestra conductor and then steals his baton?

Tim did Pirates just after his manic New York time, combining life as a rock star with life as Amadeus on Broadway and the shooting for Annie. He had to receive singing lessons for this show. The irony of him getting singing lessons after his rock career wasn't lost on him.

In the book he relates of how he begged to not have to sing a falsetto, he kept saying he couldn't, and at one point it hit his vocal coach, who then said: "Were you ever a boy soprano? That's why you can't make the high notes, you're in mourning for that sound."
Tim gained the falsetto ability, lost it directly after his stint as Pirate King, and then did only rarely even attempt it. I could only find Just Like Me.

Is damn cute.
The other Tim as Pirate part is Pirates On The Plain, but that video is one of the Tim Curry Curse. Only watch if you intend to become a Full On TC Maniac.

Once you go into Animated TC mode, songs that are must watches are Don't Fall In Love:

From Beauty And The Beast: An Enchanted Christmas.

Don't Make Me Laugh:

(Pebble & the Penguin)

and the best of the best: Toxic Love.

(Ferngully)

[el_pombo]

I bet Tim would like to have this picture as an epitaph!

He will be missed.

[Tawmis]

https://www.instagram.com/peterferriero ... molZuPCZM/
Apparently there's a documentary about Tim in the works, that he cooperated on. This is part of the last interview that they did for the doc.

Fresh release from Entertainment Tonight about Clue!

I know he did so much... but this will always be the very special one to me.

[Rath Darkblade]

Did you spot the moment at 2:50 where he fences with the orchestra conductor and then steals his baton?

Oh, I love that part. Tim acts out the larger-than-life role of the Pirate King very well, but he does tend to ham it up, especially when he's singing.

Here's a story about "The Pirates of Penzance": I've been in the show twice, myself. I was a Pirate in Act 1 and a Policeman in Act 2 (since I'm naturally a baritone-bass). I loved the Policemen's entrance song ("When the Foeman Bares his Steel", etc.) Of course the policemen all act brave and manly, but when Edith starts her bit of telling them "Go to DEATH and go to SLAUGHTER ... DIE, and every Cornish daughter" etc.), the policemen are naturally scared. This isn't what we signed up for.

Anyway, in one production, since I was the smallest and lightest policeman, my job was to cling on to the police sergeant's arm, shuddering and acting scared. At one point, he shoved me away -- so I jumped into his arms and gave him a "Save me!" look. The audience loved it.

(Of course we rehearsed it a lot beforehand, to make it look spontaneous).

Tim did Pirates just after his manic New York time, combining life as a rock star with life as Amadeus on Broadway and the shooting for Annie. He had to receive singing lessons for this show. The irony of him getting singing lessons after his rock career wasn't lost on him.

Hmm ... I've been performing music for 20 years, and I have to say, I understand this completely.

You don't really need singing lessons to sing rock 'n roll, since rock 'n roll relies on the singer's ability to sing loudly (at least mezzo-forte or louder, in order to be heard over the instruments) most of the time, and singing loudly is easy.

Having performed in a choir for most of the last 20 years, I think I can say that it's much harder to sing softly -- especially piano or softer -- and still be heard. The hardest bit isn't just singing softly and still being heard over the instruments, but singing softly and making the words intelligible. (Try singing pianissimo while an orchestra -- or even a couple of guitars! -- play in the background, and you'll see what I mean).

Anyone can shout the words of a song. It takes training and discipline to be able to whisper the words (e.g. to heighten the drama) and still be heard.

In the book he relates of how he begged to not have to sing a falsetto, he kept saying he couldn't, and at one point it hit his vocal coach, who then said: "Were you ever a boy soprano? That's why you can't make the high notes, you're in mourning for that sound."
Tim gained the falsetto ability, lost it directly after his stint as Pirate King, and then did only rarely even attempt it. I could only find Just Like Me.

Tim's Flawless Falsetto: Achievement Unlocked!

Yep, falsetto is hard. i trained my voice for years before I was finally able to sing in falsetto. (Just for a goof, i tried earlier this year to sing "The Hills Are Alive" from "The Sound of Music", and was able to hit the notes perfectly on the soprano scale. But maybe, as a baritone-bass, I shouldn't do that? Can it harm my voice? Just wondering).

[BBP]

Anyway, in one production, since I was the smallest and lightest policeman, my job was to cling on to the police sergeant's arm, shuddering and acting scared. At one point, he shoved me away -- so I jumped into his arms and gave him a "Save me!" look. The audience loved it.

(Of course we rehearsed it a lot beforehand, to make it look spontaneous).

Daww, that's cute!

You don't really need singing lessons to sing rock 'n roll, since rock 'n roll relies on the singer's ability to sing loudly (at least mezzo-forte or louder, in order to be heard over the instruments) most of the time, and singing loudly is easy.

Having performed in a choir for most of the last 20 years, I think I can say that it's much harder to sing softly -- especially piano or softer -- and still be heard. The hardest bit isn't just singing softly and still being heard over the instruments, but singing softly and making the words intelligible. (Try singing pianissimo while an orchestra -- or even a couple of guitars! -- play in the background, and you'll see what I mean).

Anyone can shout the words of a song. It takes training and discipline to be able to whisper the words (e.g. to heighten the drama) and still be heard.

Oh, I wouldn't say that. If you look at rock and nefarious-ish vocals, like Kurt Cobain and Billy Corgan, these sound awful to the point that this turns off people, but it sounds matching to the music and gives it more of the right credibility and emotion that you would not necessarily get with a clean or trained voice.

I know of James Hetfield and Les Claypool that they took up singing classes late in their career. If you listen to Metallica's Creeping Death, Master of Puppets or even Enter Sandman, the grit of the voice adds to the raw feel of the music. On later lives, when he's had singing training, like on Symphony & Metallica, he diaphragm sings and belts out these songs, making them worse by sounding better.

Luckily Les didn't manage to lose the unique cartoony voice that is as much part of the music as the riffing bass and the lyrics, but he's had times - on Videoplasty for instance - where he just tries to belch out the notes too well and that takes away of the cartoony element.

You were familiar with Henk Poort and Floor Jansen doing the Phantom Of The Opera? Henk Poort, who is an accomplished operetta singer and who can basically sing anything, took up singing classes to get the metal rasp.


Incidentally I think this is why Tim was not a successful rockstar, though he had a great voice and charisma, a great band behind him with the likes of Michael Kamen and Dick Wagner in the ranks, wrote pretty good lyrics and got some great original tunes - his voice was trained as choir boy, with Methodist hymns. He "covered the waterfront" initially, doing throaty ballads, a staccato pop song called I Do The Rock, Paradise Garage, and also several others, that just don't suit his voice as well as, say, Wall Of Sound, like the Roxy version of Sweet Transvestite or Toxic Love.

He did a "love duet" ish in a cheap Christmas Carol version for Scrooge-aspiring parents, that you can find here - you have Tim here opposite Jodi Benson who is excellent, but Tim just sounds, well, not bad but out of place.

Yep, falsetto is hard. i trained my voice for years before I was finally able to sing in falsetto. (Just for a goof, i tried earlier this year to sing "The Hills Are Alive" from "The Sound of Music", and was able to hit the notes perfectly on the soprano scale. But maybe, as a baritone-bass, I shouldn't do that? Can it harm my voice? Just wondering).

If you use your voice a lot you need to be careful - over-screaming is the worst what you can do. Falsetto singing is not bad for your throat but it requires training (you keep part of your vocal chords relaxed), and overdoing it is never good.


Anyway, back to Tim. I thought long and hard of my favourite Tim moment, there's that beautiful Hair documentary where he speaks French, the legendary Pluck Song, the one that prompted some soul at the Q&A 2017 to ask him if he ever found his tambourine (Tim replied a loud No), his marvellous performance as an adorably awkward elocution teacher in Oscar, attempting German in Surabaya Johnny, as Nefarious in Toonstruck...

I have no idea. I can't choose.

In my fan letter to Tim, I wrote that, pressed for an answer, I would choose Gabriel Knight 3.

[Rath Darkblade]

You don't really need singing lessons to sing rock 'n roll, since rock 'n roll relies on the singer's ability to sing loudly (at least mezzo-forte or louder, in order to be heard over the instruments) most of the time, and singing loudly is easy.

Having performed in a choir for most of the last 20 years, I think I can say that it's much harder to sing softly -- especially piano or softer -- and still be heard. The hardest bit isn't just singing softly and still being heard over the instruments, but singing softly and making the words intelligible. (Try singing pianissimo while an orchestra -- or even a couple of guitars! -- play in the background, and you'll see what I mean).

Anyone can shout the words of a song. It takes training and discipline to be able to whisper the words (e.g. to heighten the drama) and still be heard.

Oh, I wouldn't say that. If you look at rock and nefarious-ish vocals, like Kurt Cobain and Billy Corgan, these sound awful to the point that this turns off people, but it sounds matching to the music and gives it more of the right credibility and emotion that you would not necessarily get with a clean or trained voice.

I know of James Hetfield and Les Claypool that they took up singing classes late in their career. If you listen to Metallica's Creeping Death, Master of Puppets or even Enter Sandman, the grit of the voice adds to the raw feel of the music. On later lives, when he's had singing training, like on Symphony & Metallica, he diaphragm sings and belts out these songs, making them worse by sounding better.

Luckily Les didn't manage to lose the unique cartoony voice that is as much part of the music as the riffing bass and the lyrics, but he's had times - on Videoplasty for instance - where he just tries to belch out the notes too well and that takes away of the cartoony element.

You were familiar with Henk Poort and Floor Jansen doing the Phantom Of The Opera? Henk Poort, who is an accomplished operetta singer and who can basically sing anything, took up singing classes to get the metal rasp.

Fair enough. I never tried to sing rock music; my background is operetta and choir music, so I wasn't sure what singing rock music involves, and based it on 80s and 90s rock singers (like James Hetfield, Axl Rose, Kurt Cobain etc). I understand why they growl and scream the lyrics sometimes, but the downside is, it's impossible to understand what they're singing about.

And yes, I'm familiar with Henk Poort and Floor Jansen doing Phantom -- I think you linked the video at one point.

Yep, falsetto is hard. i trained my voice for years before I was finally able to sing in falsetto. (Just for a goof, i tried earlier this year to sing "The Hills Are Alive" from "The Sound of Music", and was able to hit the notes perfectly on the soprano scale. But maybe, as a baritone-bass, I shouldn't do that? Can it harm my voice? Just wondering).

If you use your voice a lot you need to be careful - over-screaming is the worst what you can do. Falsetto singing is not bad for your throat but it requires training (you keep part of your vocal chords relaxed), and overdoing it is never good.

Thanks! I've had a little training (though most of it has been through experience), but when I sing falsetto, I relax my vocal chords, and not sing the notes if I can't naturally reach them. (I understand that if I try to over-sing, my voice would crack). I guess that's the right thing to do?

Anyway, back to Tim. I thought long and hard of my favourite Tim moment, there's that beautiful Hair documentary where he speaks French, the legendary Pluck Song, the one that prompted some soul at the Q&A 2017 to ask him if he ever found his tambourine (Tim replied a loud No), his marvellous performance as an adorably awkward elocution teacher in Oscar, attempting German in Surabaya Johnny, as Nefarious in Toonstruck...

I have no idea. I can't choose.

In my fan letter to Tim, I wrote that, pressed for an answer, I would choose Gabriel Knight 3.

The Pluck song is great, but the song from "The Worst Witch" is ... strange, until he does that slide on "Niiii-iiight". (His entry is also very camp).

...his marvellous performance as an adorably awkward elocution teacher in Oscar, attempting German in Surabaya Johnny, as Nefarious in Toonstruck...

Oh, I loved Tim in Oscar. "I'll be giving Mr Provolone his elocution lesson." Who else could make such a dry role so much fun?

Is Tim's German accurate? Or even fairly accurate? Just wondering. As part of a choir, I've had occasion to sing German (e.g. Bach and Wagner), French (Faure or Saint-Saens), Italian and Russian. When I was learning the music, I always wrote out phonetically what the words should sound like, rather than guess. (For instance, the Russian "J" sounds more like "zh", but in Italian or Latin, "J" sounds like "I" - e.g. "Jesu" sounds like "Iesu", etc.)

[BBP]

The Pluck song is great, but the song from "The Worst Witch" is ... strange, until he does that slide on "Niiii-iiight". (His entry is also very camp).

It's a direct-to-TV film of somewhat doubtful quality, but it has Diana Rigg, Tim Curry, and lots of kittens. Watching a classroom squeal over a photo of Tim was pretty funny. And, in the background, there was a painting of TIm.
Tim rarely, if ever, had a memento from his parts. But there's a photo of him in his last house, where he's in his wheelchair signing posters. And that Worst Witch painting is in the background.

Tim stated the following about the Fan Panel Canada from 2017:

It was a very cold night and Diana Rigg who I worship, who played the head mistress of the witches' school, had a bottle of sloe gin under her habit. Which made us very much warmer, but not very concentrated. In fact so unconcentrated and so grimly unprofessional that they decided to reshoot it in London in the studio. I was stunned, I thought I'd brought it off beautifully. But hurray for gin!

Is Tim's German accurate? Or even fairly accurate? Just wondering.

Ha, no. He did actually speak a little German and demonstrates this in a Bio's Bahnhof emission where he muses over the word Beuteltee (bag tea). In the song he misses a lot of accented vowels, swapping umlauted sounds for non-umlaut sounds and gets some consonants like ch wrong. But it's darling. Like his French, that he did in his first ever interview, when he was in Hair.


I loved the Psych episode where Tim got to play a gnarly talent show judge who needs to dodge murder attacks. "This makes me want to weep and then die."

[Rath Darkblade]

I'm not sure why, but the picture of this video (before you press "Play") makes Tim look a bit like Orson Welles.

Tim gets the most delicious lines. "I feel like an angel baby swaddled in a cocoon of cloud candy." Or when he tells the crowd to sit.