has anybody else noticed this about singers?

@ buckhorn_cortez and tony1954:

Buckhorn--AWESOME list.  Smokey is totally amazing.  I saw him many times back in the day.  FYI, I attended college in North Carolina '64-'72 and in those days we saw so many acts for no charge or a nominal (even then) charge that students could afford to see them).  I kept all my ticket stubs from Ray Charles and The Rolling Stones in VA Beach in the early 1960's and James Brown, Smokey and the Miracles, etc. from back then.

In college, my first show was summer of '64:
Dick Clark's Cavalcade of Stars
July 22, 1964 Dorton Arena, Raleigh, NC

Gene Pitney, Donna Loren, Dixie Cups, Dean & Jean, Mike Clifford, Rip Chords, Crystals, Major Lance, Reflections, Round Robin, Shirelles, Supremes among others.  I think Fabian was there too, but it was a LONG time ago...  

Beatles for $5.00 at DC Stadium in '66...great show!  They forgot to tear one of my ticket, so have one half and one whole that I am leaving for my daughter to enjoy along with a ton of other stubs from many, many shows.  James Brown played around almost every month...we kind of got tired of seeing him if you can believe that!!  (KIDS!)

And Tony, you will get no argument from me.  After reading her book, I became even a bigger fan if you can believe that.  All my lady friends were jealous of my devotion to her back then.  Funny!  Finally saw her at the Hollywood Sportatorium (THAT place is another story for another day...) for the Living in the USA tour.  Girlfriend at the time (THANK-YOU, Elaine, wherever you are today) bought us 7th row aisle tickets. 

Just WOW!

Cheers!

There is a phenomenon, experienced with vocalists and with instrumentalists as well, that is very difficult to hear and equally difficult to explain.  That is, the possibility of playing ONE note but producing TWO different pitches on that same note.  In the case of some operatic voices, they can produce not just TWO, but several pitches at the same time. I don't think that this is ever done on purpose, but is a characteristic of their "instrument" over which they seemingly have little control.  The ultimate manifestation of this technique is called "overtone singing", which is a purposeful effort to actually sing two pitches at the same time. There are some pretty convincing demonstrations available online.  What I am trying to say is that there are singers who inadvertently encompass some degree of "overtone singing" in their normal singing voice.  That might explain one posters dissatisfactions with certain singers who do not "resonate" with his ears ??  In every musical sound, it can be considered that there are TWO characteristics existing in that sound : 1 - The "Core" of the sound  2 - The resonance of the sound.  When they are not in tune with each other, a cacophony results. When in tune, a complimentary     reinforcing results.  A simple example might be to consider the "pluck" of a guitar as the "core" and the resonance of the guitar body as the "resonance".    Luthiers will make tiny adjustments to the location of the "sound post" inside a violin to achieve this very subtle result.   It is similar to having the front wheels on your car properly aligned so that they roll down the highway in "harmony".                                                                        I used to demonstrate to students how easy it was to hum a pitch and then while still humming the same pitch, open my mouth and produce a different pitch that conflicted with the humming pitch. A lot of singers --- and instrumentalists ---  do the same thing unconsciously.  One of the best examples I've ever heard of the perfect "alignment" of pitch and resonance is Leonard Warren, late of The Metropolitan Opera.  I used to play his recording of "Colorado Trail" as a demonstration of that perfect alignment.  His HUGE voice had a central clarity that was astonishing !  A remarkable bit of trivia about the great bass-baritone was that he never learned to read music ! 
     I hope that my bringing this phenomenon to the discussion might shed light on what exactly it is that we find so attractive in some performers and so distressing in others.  Conversely, I may have added further confusion, and for that possibility I apologize.

Very interesting comments, thank you. As an instrumentalist, I am well aware of what you describe. One of the most effective practice exercises that advanced saxophone players use is the perfection of the tuning of overtones; simple (?) long tones at first, but ultimately the ability to arpeggiate and play scales using only the overtones (harmonics) of note fundamentals...in tune. Very difficult to do, but a great way to find and be comfortable with the true center of pitches.

However, while I suppose it is possible that there is a relationship to how a given listener responds to a particular singers ability to find the core of sung notes or not, shouldn’t all listeners then react positively or negatively to the same singer? Moreover, some of the singers that are on the OP’s “doesn’t do it for me” list have, in fact, some of the most technically developed voices (for Pop singers); Paul McCartney for example. Conversely, some of the singers on the “does it for me” list have voices that IMO are far from well developed.

I think that what the OP experiences (or not) with certain singers is an emotional reaction which may induce a physical reaction. A musician friend and colleague swears, and I believe him, that digitally recorded sound induces in him an uncomfortable feeling of tightness and tingling in the forehead/temple area.

Regards.

In response to "Frogman's" comment :  "However, while I suppose it is possible that there is a relationship to how a given listener responds to a particular singers ability to find the core of sung notes or not, shouldn’t all listeners then react positively or negatively to the same singer?"
    My answer is that, in truth, you have to be a bit "anal" about the elements that make up the signature sound of a specific vocalist in order to evaluate each element.  In other words, some of us care and some of us don't  ----  and I believe that many cannot discern those elements in the first place.  In a curious way, I almost envy those who are simply able to enjoy the music and are blissfully unaware of what we've been discussing.  Lots more listening and lots less fussing !    Cheers !!