Barbra Streisand

[Terence Lee]

Hi Gray

I am also a Streisand fan. I have all her movies on DVD from Funny Girl to The Mirror Has 2 Faces. Oops......did I forget the Fockers movie?
I have that too on DVD but I don't consider that a Streisand movie. It's more an ensemble piece.

I used to know all her songs by heart. Those were the good old days of albums like Live At The Forum, Stoney End, Barbra Joan Streisand, Wet, etc. I must be one of those few fans who did not truly like Guilty apart from the 3 hit songs in it. After that her albums started becoming bland and the songs did not register in my brain anymore. The low point was The Movie Album which I disposed of after 2 days.

I do like the song selections in Love Is The Answer but I think Shirley Horn, Sarah Vaughan and the other jazz singers have done a better job interpreting them than Barbra. There's this lethargy in her recent albums. It's as if she cannot sing fast numbers anymore. Even her Christmas Memories album was a snoozefest despite the festive theme.

[Don Cooper]

She was very good as Matthew Broderick's sister in Ferris Buellers Day Off

[Terence Lee]

Hi Don

I don't think that was Barbra Streisand.

[Don Cooper]

Poetic Licence,Terence. (Especially the Police Department scene with Mr.Sheen)
Don

[Mark Fox]

2-CD version for just over 8 quid on play.com

[mariana44]

Isn't that strange about the "Movie Album" -I was disappointed too--so many great songs available---"Moon River" to name one that just came to me--the only song I liked on it was "Emily". No comparison to "The Broadway Album". "Guilty" is one of my favourite of her albums--but I just could not get ineo "Guilty 2--or too".

I just love her singing "In the wee small hours"--but I hated the other song she sang on Jonathon Ross--"If you go away"-I have never liked the song and did not even wait to hear her finish singing it. Also, for the first time, I thought she was looking older, and had put on a few pounds !! I am still waiting to hear her sing "Make someone Happy"-I expect it has been on radio, I have just missed it.

[paul jh]

I had forgotten about the Live Album at the Forum, Terence. I never owned it on LP, just the 45 of SI/WYL. I need to get that album on CD. I won the Wet album in a contest! I love it, especially No More Tears, Kiss Me In The Rain, Come In From The Rain, and Niagara -- such a lovely song. Again I say those are the kind of songs she should still be recording and in that style. I need to get Wet on CD too.

I also love The Broadway Album, but some of those arrangements have not stood the test of time (with the electronic percussion, etc.). But I thought she sang them well.

[Sandra]

Just caught up with the Barbra Streisand /Jonathan Ross interview and I agree she was nervous at first but then settled well into it.
I loved it and her singing- a superstar

[Don Cooper]

Hi Paul,

I need to get Wet on CD too

Simply hold one under a dripping tap/faucet


Mariana
Babs has probably put on le poundage from all those early-morning (small furry dog voice),
Sausages!
And finally.Esther...

[Gloria]

I admit that I've only heard online samples of this CD, but in looking at the song list, I wonder why Barbra would want to record so many well-covered standards at her age, and with a reduced vocal range. I don't particularly care for If You Go Away myself, but remain impressed with the raw emotion Jack Jones found in its lyrics, recorded during his last year with Kapp in '67.

I am no fan of all the so-called jazz "chanteuses," like Diana Krall or Tierney Sutton, who (IMO) drag and drain all the life out of the standards - and they do so because they lack the vocal strength or character to perform them any other way. Streisand shouldn't have lowered herself to their level. I do wish that that Barbara would do something more artistic - a meaningful, reflective classic like Jack Jones Sings or September of My Years. But unfortunately, she knows that her legacy is secure, and she's happy with having a #1 record, so she never aims for anything higher (much to my disappointment, although I'm probably among the minority).

[Gray]

Did anyone see Gladys Knight on Jools Holland a week or so ago?
Well, she was magnificent, no excuses about not singing for 10 months (sorry Babs but that really annoyed me), just picked up a mike and was bang-on the money.
Her voice has not changed one little bit, she was top class.

[Lena & Harry Smith]

Didn't see Gladys Knight on Jules Holland Gray, but saw her on Paul O'Grady with Harry Hill. She was great, and such a happy personality.
Yes, Babs claim not to have sung for 10 months was hard to take in. Knowing she was coming over here. She wasn't expecting to be asked to do somersaults was she, ..although appearing on Jonathan Ross, you never know

[Terence Lee]

Not singing for 10 months is a blatant lie. She appeared at a small club in New York (Vanguard I think) and sang for well over an hour to promote her new CD. The Clintons, Nicole Kidman and Sarah Jessica Parker were there. Her fans had to win a competition to get tickets.
I can send a link if anyone is remotely interested.

[mariana44]

Terence--I am more than remotely interested---would love to have the link.

[Don Cooper]

You would not have enjoyed it Marian,having to mingle with all those low-life riff-raff