I was listening to the iPod this AM and the Spice Girls came on...  :roll:

 

They have no accents...then I thought, neither does George Michael or Elton John (their not all gay either).  :wink:  or The Beatles.

 

Why do most Euro's, etc. sound American when singing?

 

It is b/c American English is the "only true English"?  Xenocentric, I know.

Oasis?

The reason is because when you sing, everyone enunciates the same and uses the same diction and "pure vowel" sound. This eliminates nearly all accents. The only exception is country... but that's because they don't use the pure vowel sound. So when people sing, you get the central midwest zero accent sound.

It is very strange, though. Because when someone sings who has a French accent, or a Chinese/Japanese/Korean accent, or most other accents, it's very easy to pick up on the fact that they're a "foreigner".

 

Wonder why Aussies/Brits sound so similar to us .. maybe it's because their accents don't sound THAT different to ours?

It is very strange, though. Because when someone sings who has a French accent, or a Chinese/Japanese/Korean accent, or most other accents, it's very easy to pick up on the fact that they're a "foreigner".

 

Wonder why Aussies/Brits sound so similar to us .. maybe it's because their accents don't sound THAT different to ours?

 

Maybe it has something to do with the common language? Whereas a French person, for example, is either singing in French, or singing in English as a second language. I dunno. It is interesting though.

Because Americans buy records.

It is very strange, though. Because when someone sings who has a French accent, or a Chinese/Japanese/Korean accent, or most other accents, it's very easy to pick up on the fact that they're a "foreigner".

 

Wonder why Aussies/Brits sound so similar to us .. maybe it's because their accents don't sound THAT different to ours?

 

Maybe it has something to do with the common language? Whereas a French person, for example, is either singing in French, or singing in English as a second language. I dunno. It is interesting though.

 

Speaking from experience, when someone from a non english speaking country sings in english, they have learned the words phonetically.

 

Speaking from experience, when someone from a non english speaking country sings in english, they have learned the words phonetically.

 

don't be so hard on yourself.  Most of us don't consider Shaker Square a foreign land!

don't be so hard on yourself.  Most of us don't consider Shaker Square a foreign land!

HUSH!

 

I worked in the music business and when our foreign acts would want to perform a song in English, phonetically was the best way the vocal arrangers to do it.

I listen to a lot of Britpop. IMO they do pop and rock better than us.  Sometimes you can pick up a British accent.  Oasis is a good example, others include the Pipettes and the Lightning Seeds.  Blur has it big time.  But the Manic Street Preachers, who were big there and almost unheard of here, sound American. 

 

Like was said, a lot of it the way words are enunciated in songs.  Country being an exception.  You also can't tell Chris Daughtry is from North Carolina, Bowling for Soup is from Texas, or the Mighty Mighty Bosstones are from Bahstun (except for the name).

The Arctic Monkeys sound British when they sing.

^ Their concert last year in Columbus was awesome.  Even though on the few occasions when Alex Turner talked, I could barely understand him.  The only thing I really understood from him was when he said "that's embarrassing" when some people started to mosh.  Good times! And nothing is better than being with a big group of drunken brits during the show.

I remember reading an interview with Mick Jagger some years back and he was asked this question.  He suggested it was because a lot of british rockers grew up on "American" music and consciously or unconsciously were imitiating the sounds they heard. I mean, look at "Honky Tonk Woman," they're positively twangy in that song.

because they are just a buncha bleedin' wankers!

The Rolling Stones recorded many songs (nearly all of the Some Girls album, Exhile on Main St., probably a dozen more songs) with corny country accents or black blues accents:

 

 

I always love it when this one comes on the jukebox and the whole bar starts sings it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ki2daAPp_k

 

 

 

Why do most Euro's, etc. sound American when singing?

 

They DON'T sound American. When singing properly, all English speakers should sound the same, regardless of what country they are from. The vowel sounds are standardized. You just think it sounds "American" because that's what you're used to hearing.

 

When British bands sound very "British" it's because they aren't singing using the proper/strict diction. The same is true for the US ... just listen to the heavy accents in country music.