Inspired by Mica Paris' article about Nina Simone in the Guardian, I might well vote for Nina's incredible rendition of Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood.

Favourite vocal of all time? Thats hard as it is usually biased towards what I am listening to.
Is their a list we have to pick from? I don`t have that article.

Your wish as ever, Mart, is my command.

arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,2286311,00.html

Oh dear, cheers for that, but she does not write very well does she? It has the air of an end of term obligatory essay.
Here is my top five vocal performances that spring to mind, mainly based on this weeks listening.
1;The Long and Winding road (Macca)
2;I`m Your Toy (Elvis Costello)
3;Common People (Joe Jackson on Bill Shatners album)
4;Keep Me In Your Heart (Mercury Men)
5;Papa Was a Rolling Stone (Temptations)

There are so many more, but I listed with my head and where it is at!

Who`s next? It`s a Friday fun list!....

A couple of my favourite vocal performances are Bill Withers on 'Lovely Day', and Journey's lead vocalist Steve Perry on 'Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)'.

Possibly my two favourite vocalists of all time, however, are Don McClean and Karen Carpenter.

Karen Carpenter, what a vocalist, in fact so was her brother who harmonised brilliantly with her.

Bit skinny though.

Ultimately yes.

6;"Wild is The Wind" Bowie.

1. LORRAINE ELLISON Stay With Me Baby
2. SARAH VAUGHAN Broken Hearted Melody
3. LINDA RONSTADT/AARON NEVILLE Don't Know Much
4. PATSY CLINE I Fall To Pieces
5. OTIS REDDING Try A Little Tenderness
6. TINA TURNER River Deep, Mountain High
7. NANCY WILSON My Foolish Heart
8. NINA SIMONE I Loves You Porgy

Bowie's Wild Is The Wind is a little too knowing - again, the best reading is Nina Simone's (that voice! that waterfall of a piano! that emotion!).

My personal favourite (in pop terms): Gladys Knight's "Help Me Make It Through The Night." It could so easily fall into cornball cabaret (spoken intro and all) but Gladys maintains perfect emotional control throughout and as a result it's devastating.

Ah now, different strokes for different folks.
I adore Gladys (she's up there with Aretha) but would have selected Midnight Train To Georgia.

Actually I am going to throw a recent one into the fray.
Bright Eyes and the song "The First Day of My Life". The performance is so full of emotion, the guy can barely sing and you can hear his tears.

Got to give a big mention for Randy Crawford. 'Almaz', 'Imagine', 'Street Life', etc.

Also, does anyone remember The Chanter Sisters with 'Sideshow'? Love that record. I still have the viny but can hardly find any reference to the song online.

On the male vocal side, Meatloaf and Stevie Wonder are two of my favourites.

Unfortunately Cat, Mr Loaf has always sounded like somebody gasping the very depths of their body to it`s last breath trying to do Springsteen at a karaoke contest to me.

Stevie Wonders "Sir Duke" is a remarkable performance.