the voice of the Penguin,
and what a voice.
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betcha can't guess which is him.
...no, silly, that's Barbara Streisand. Paul Williams is the short blond guy with glasses.
This man is talented. He's a great singer and an incredibly great songwriter. I'll be willing to bet that you love at least one of his songs, even if you've never heard of him.
Here are some songs written by him that you might know:
- The Rainbow Connection (now playing)
- Just an Old-Fashioned Love Song
- We've Only Just Begun
- Every song from 'Emmet Otter's Jug-band Christmas'
- Answer Me
- Evergreen
- I Won't Last A Day Without You
- Rainy Days and Mondays
yeah... and those are only the ones recorded by famouser people.
not many people, and even less of my peers, know who he is; and that's a damn shame. go ask your parents (i'm assuming you're a teenager like me), i'd be quite suprised (and not a little dissapointed) if they haven't at least heard of him.
his lyrics are beautiful, his voice is ...
::speechless::
his voice is heaven.
here are a few songs sung by him that you should hear (twenty bucks says they get you hooked):
- Waking Up Alone
- Nice to be Around
- The Hell of It
- What Would They Say
- his versions of all of those songs listed previously, especially 'We've Only Just Begun' and 'Just an Old Fashioned Love Song'.
there now, get to downloading! why are you still reading this?? Go! This man has written some of the most beautiful songs on this green earth! i can't say enough wonderful things about him. amazing lyrics, sung by a beautiful voice... there is not one thing he's done that is mediocre. now get to the downloading! i said now! Go!
Okay, now that you're downloading some of his material, here's more stuff for you to ponder: he's an actor, too- not just a voice actor as Penguin. in movies. i want to see Phantom of the Paradise. i've heard wonderful things about it.
and just how did i get into Paul Williams? well, of course i'd been hearing his voice for years, watching Batman. one day, i heard that oh-so-familiar voice on Dexter's Laboratory, in an episode title that puzzled me: "Just an Old Fashioned Lab Song" (why was Three Dog Night on Dex's Lab?). I was freaked out. I ran to my mommy (well, i didn't have to run, b/c she was only a few feet away) to ask her what was going on, why was the Penguin's voice coming out of a tiny cartoon man with blond hair and glasses who was teaching Dexter the piano, and where was Three Dog Night in all of this??? well, when she came in to see the TV, she busted out laughing. i didn't get it. she explained, "Kathleen, that's Paul Williams." I was like, "who?" then mom explained that he was a songwriter, he'd written those songs i love, "Just an Old Fashioned Love Song", and "Rainy Days and Mondays". (later on, i was stunned by the realization that of all those countless times i'd been sung to sleep by my mother while i was a girl, many times i'd been falling asleep to lyrics he'd written. 'When the River Meets the Sea' was the song; and it became a part of me very early in life.)
i was intrigued by what my mother told me that day after Dex's Lab.
so i downloaded some music of his.
and i was hooked.
now you will be too. GO!