Paul Fitzpatrick: April 2025

Rain, sleet or snow, I rarely miss my early morning dog walk, a daily meander through bluebell woods and a picturesque parkland golf course. Just Cooper and I, the wonders of nature, and whatever playlist I’m singing along to.
I don’t want to blow my own trumpet or anything, but it never ceases to amaze me just what an amazing singer I become on this daily jaunt.

If you don’t know by now, noise cancelling earphones are a godsend for people that think they can sing, but can’t. No matter how much you wail or holler, nothing can diminish the music infiltrating the inner ear via those intimate earbuds.
One minute I can sound like Minnie Riperton, the next, Al Jarreau, although I do notice a lot of the local wildlife running for cover, and even Cooper gives me the odd disparaging look.
Predictably, once the magical AirPods are removed, I get to experience what the muntjacs and squirrels were experiencing all along which is something akin to a drunken sailor with laryngitis…. more Hughie Green than Al Green.

I’m no virtuoso but I always thought I could hold a tune, until recently when I realised I really couldn’t, which got me thinking about the challenges facing lead singers of a certain age.

Whilst the rest of the band can carry on perfecting their art, unencumbered by their advancing years and aided by technology, the poor old front man is waging a losing war against mother nature.

As we head through spring this topic is typically peaked by the annual Glastonbury festival, when keyboard warriors come out in force, perplexed that a 78-year-old Elton John can’t hit the high notes on “Crocodile Rock’ the way he used to in 1972, or that an 80-year-old Diana Ross isn’t that Supreme anymore.

I attended Glastonbury a few years ago when the Stones were headlining, a pal of mine was gifted a VIP package and kindly asked me along as his plus one. Before you get too envious a VIP package isn’t quite as grand as it sounds, basically we had tickets for the festival and the use of a static caravan on a quieter part of the site with toilets & showers. Wayne Rooney was a few berths along (in a huge Winnebago), but that’s a story for another time.

The Stones were great, but as we all know by now, the Glimmer Twins have obviously made some sort of pact with the devil…. Mick for eternal youth and Keef for eternal life.

Rod Stewart is due to take the stage for this years ‘legends’ slot and I hope he steers clear of social media afterwards. I saw him live a few years ago at the O2 in London and he sounded pretty good, not vintage 1971/2 Rod, but who sounds as good as they did 50 years ago? (hold that thought).
However, the last couple of times I’ve seen him perform live on TV he’s not sounded great, particularly at the Queen’s Jubilee concert when he sang “Sweet Caroline” and sounded, well, eh, just like me…. a drunken sailor with laryngitis, which to be fair is not too far off Sir Rod’s modus operandi.

On the flip side, I came across a recent clip of Jon Anderson from 70s prog-rockers Yes, playing with his new band (the Band Geeks), which I was reticent about playing for a couple of reasons.

The track in question, “Roundabout”, is my go-to Yes song, however I have too much scar-tissue from previous clips of legends reinterpreting (aka butchering) classic tracks, often replacing Les Pauls’ with diddley bows and the like (step forward Robert Plant).

Secondly, I’ve always had a soft spot for Jon Andersen’s unique, angelic voice, and was highly skeptical he’d sound anywhere near as good, six decades on.  

Well, I’m delighted to report that I was wrong on all counts.
Freakily, Anderson’s voice sounds as good as when I first heard it 55 years ago and although I’m no Yes aficionado his Geeks stayed true to the original and sounded pretty impressive to me… check it out for yourself.

When you think about it, the whole “the vocalist can’t sing for shit anymore” must be a massive challenge for bands from the 60s, 70s, 80s who still want to play live.
As an example, not so long ago the universe was clamouring for Guns n Roses to reform and tour again with the enigmatic Axel Rose front and centre, and whilst one of the high points of Glastonbury 2023 was Slash letting rip, one of the lows, sadly, was witnessing Axel Rose sounding like a strangled frog.

Which begs the question – would we rather have seen a note-perfect technician with better vocals fronting the band, or Axel running about the stage bursting every blood vessel in the vain attempt of hitting the notes he used to in his pomp?

I’m sure there are lots of Guns n Roses tribute bands that sound just like the record if that’s what’s required.

Some bands like Queen have toured successfully with different lead vocalists, (Paul Rodgers and Adam Lambert since Freddie’s passing), but of course we always want to see the original line up where possible. I remember not so long ago the Faces reformed with the original line up of Ronnie Wood, Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones but with a certain Mick Hucknall replacing Rod, and despite old ginger doing a more than sterling job, and despite Rod’s vocals being a bit creaky these days, I’d take a croaky, tipsy, off-key Rod every time.

It’s all a bit different from the days when Keith Moon was falling off his drum stool and Daltrey’s voice and stagecraft held the audience’s attention, now its the musicians, sober and note perfect along with multiple backing vocalists who are propping up the lead singer.
Also, unfairly, we don’t just expect our frontmen to sing like Jagger, we expect them to move like Jagger, which is tough going, particularly when you’ve got dodgy knees a hip replacement and 60 years of chain smoking under your belt.

Anyway, I’m really glad I opened that Jon Anderson clip it was a pleasant but unexpected surprise, then again there’s only one explanation as to why he sounds so good after six decades – he’s another one who’s obviously made a pact with the devil.