So many male singers in the late 70s/early 80s sang with very high pitched or soft voices

At age 12 listening to FM radio, I genuinely thought the guy in the Eagles who sang I Can’t Tell You Why, and the simpering sad guy who sang “You Left Me, Just When I Needed You Most” were both women.

I thought for sure the guy from Ozark Mountain Daredevils who sang "Jackie Blue" was a woman, and for years I thought it was Joni Mitchell.

Every Neil Sedaka song I thought was a woman

Shawn Mendes eat your homo heart out.

All these years I thought Jackie Blue was sung by a woman. Kind of like the Moody Blues song Knights in White Satin is really Nights in White Satin.

Morten Harket in a-ha has a joyous exhilarating young man's voice. It's not high pitched or soft in my opinion. He's perfectly pitched through several octaves (some claim 5!). Male pop singers have broken into falsetto for decades. It is a traditional technique in male pop singing, not a distinctive feature of the era OP names.

Yes Shawn Mendes could only dream to be able to sing like some of these brilliant pop singers.

Yeah, I never thought the A ha dude was a girl.

Sylvester, Jimmy Somerville and Andy Bell sound or sounded more femme but I don't really count them in this catehory - it would not be an unreasonable expectation for a gay singer to sing in a higher register.

It was the time of the sensitive singer / songwriter with long, feathered hair. The song Wildfire comes to mind.

The era of poppers

Back in the 70s my grandmother said something like, "I am not fond of modern music but that woman in The Stylistics has a lovely voice."

Elvin Bishop, " I Fooled Around and Fell in Love.". I love that era of music.

R12, fun fact you probably know, that was the first hit with little Mickey Thomas on vocals. He joined Jefferson Starship a couple years later.

He and Ann Wilson really should have done a few powerhouse duets together back then… their talent was so similar.

Everyone was literally going ape shit over Englbert Humperdink. Old ladies, all-age gays, invalids, bitches in the suburbs.

The dude who sang this song for America

On the flip side I was shocked when I found out Somebody's Knockin' and Fast Car were sung by women

I love Al Davis. His vocals were so calming yet invoked a profound, nostalgic longing.

We used to have the tradition of singing and playing the piano in houses and at the pub and at church. .Even the more humble of the boomers parents had pianos in the parlor. The kids grew up singing and playing with the family and applied their skills to their music careers.The brooding Incels of today produce a completely different type of music.

It was the era of “the sensitive man,” OP. Alan Alda, Woody Allen, Phil Donahue, among others were said to belong to that club. I was in grade school at the time, but this is what I remember.

Whether or not the higher registers of these singers you list was related, I am not sure. By the way, I like all of the singers you name.

Male-Male duets are pretty rare, so I just assumed that the high pitched J.D. Souther was a woman in his duet with James Taylor - Her Town Too

Love all this music. So calming and nostalgic.

Watch Yacht Rock on Max

Of course it was the era of sensitive men. Hair are your aerials!

Elton John sang falsetto quite a bit during the 70s.

Another musical style that white people stole from black people

Hey There Lonely Girl- Eddie Holman

[quote] Elvin Bishop, " I Fooled Around and Fell in Love.". I love that era of music.

Love that song, but I don't think that falls into this category.

Mickey Thomas (Elvin Bishop singer) and Ann Wilson - hmm ... Trying to picture what that would sound like. Both extremely talented. Mickey's got that high-pitched voice, though, and so does Ann. Anyway, Mickey T. is an underrated singer and is still alive and still has that voice.

Professor of Rock got both sides of the story for "Almost Paradise" (Ann and Mike Reno of Loverboy). Ann claims that they told her should could sing this duet with whoever she wanted. Her picks: Paul Rodgers, Robert Plant, and Lou Gramm (in that order, I think).

Mike Reno is also still alive and still has his voice.

Likely Paul Rodgers, Robert Plant, and Lou Gramm (in that order) all said they weren't going to sing that crappy song.

Daryl Hall did that a lot of falsetto in the blue-eyed soul genre in the 70s/80s. The choruses and outro of "One on One" are sung in a higher register. I love 80s Hall and Oats so much.

[quote] Likely Paul Rodgers, Robert Plant, and Lou Gramm (in that order) all said they weren't going to sing that crappy song.

R27, Ann Wilson's and Mike Reno's stories were like Rashomon, with Reno's story being more believable.

Ann was at a low point, professionally. It was always going to be Mike Reno on that song. Ann made Mike wait a long time in the studio. Mike admits that he drank while he waited and was drunk by the time Ann showed up. Although Ann denies it, I think she showed up intoxicated, as well. The studio guy was probably sick of their shit and said cut after one take.

I don't like that song, either, but it's a hit.

Henry Gross

Kenny Nolan

Dean Friedman

Leo Sayer

Air Supply

Jigsaw

Remember the group called Bread? Baby I'mma Want You. Baby I'mma need you. Great lyrics.

Sweet Baby James back in the day was sweet!

Michael McDonald

Many people thought the lead singer in "MmmBop" by Hanson was a girl.

R17 Al Davis, or Paul Davis? Or Mac Davis?

I don't see a singer named Al Davis anywhere in online search, but this Paul Davis song always ripped my fucking heart out.

Maybe it was Al Stewart, the guy who sang "Year of the Cat."

I like Al Wilson and his hit - Show and Tell

The King of Portugal

Al Stewart. The Year of the Cat.

This was one of the big soft voices - Michael Franks

Stephen Bishop

More Bishop

McCartney had a very high-pitched voice in his youth (plus there were all those falsetto "ooohs" that used to cause the gals to scream), so audiences were well used to guys singing in a high range long before most of the people you've mentioned.

It was considered more commercial. Nothing more than that.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show theme song is an example of the trend.

For years I thought the person who sang “Hot Child In The City” was a lady.

Wayne Newton owns this thread. I was listening to him sing some Christmas song, my goodness.

Amateurs.