Did Jack Nicholson really sing in Tommy on tonight?

[MovieMadness]

Tommy 1975 is on tonight, and every time I have watched it I think Jack Nicholson didn't sing that part. The person singing sounds British to me, nothing like Jack.

 

Just like book writers use ghost writers, i think they used a ghost singer in this one. If anyone has proof that he did sing this I would like to see it or better yet hear it, lol.

 

PS Happy Holidays!

[HoldenIsHere]

Tommy 1975 is on tonight, and every time I have watched it I think Jack Nicholson didn't sing that part. The person singing sounds British to me, nothing like Jack.

 

 

 

I'm not sure if Jack Nicholson did his own singing in TOMMY (I've actually never seen that movie), but here is an audio clip of him singing a song that was ultimately cut from ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER. Barbra Streisand can be heard toward the end of the song. 

 

[Tikisoo]

I am pretty sure it was him. I remember when the movie was released, it caused a big hub bub. After all, if someone else dubbed for him it would have been better wouldn't it?

 

I definitely like this movie better now than when initially released. It's great seeing Keith Moon alive & well on the screen, as well as the pop stars of the 70's in their prime. The shot of Tina's legs twitching in her red sequin dress is burned in my mind!

[sewhite2000]

According to imdb, it's him. There's an anecdote that Pete Townshend was apprehensive about using Nicholson - whose casting was a last-second decision after everyone else fell through. and Nicholson just happened to be in London - because of the immense struggles in getting anything good out of Oliver Reed's singing voice! Townshend by this point would have preferred a singer over a big celebrity actor for the role of the doctor but dropped his objections as soon as he heard Nicholson sing.

 

I think it sounds exactly like him, actually. Yes, he's trying to sound educated and mannered as befits his role, but the voice sounds to me very much like a logical extension of Nicholson's speaking voice - at least when he was that age.

[TopBilled]

Yes, according to Osborne's wraparound last night, it for sure was Nicholson singing. I really enjoyed this film and was quite glad TCM aired it. I had heard so much about it over the years and it was nice to finally get a chance to watch it. 

[MovieMadness]

Here is the singing in question, compare to the other clip and see if it is the same voice. I think as it starts you think it can't be him, the tone is so different. There is a hint that barely sounds like him though, maybe a massive filter job done.

 

[HoldenIsHere]

Here is the singing in question, compare to the other clip and see if it is the same voice. I think as it starts you think it can't be him, the tone is so different. There is a hint that barely sounds like him though, maybe a massive filter job done.

 

 

 

I think the singing voice in the TOMMY clip does sound like Jack Nicholson using a not especially good English accent.

And it does sound very similar to the voice in the Nicholson's deleted song from ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER.

[Tikisoo]

Billed said: I really enjoyed this film and was quite glad TCM aired it. I had heard so much about it over the years and it was nice to finally get a chance to watch it. 

 

That's great to hear TB. That's when TCM is at it's best-bringing you a movie you've heard a lot about. 

Like I had stated before, it's an oddity featuring pop stars of the day that has actually aged pretty well despite the thin story.

 

But gawd I hate Oliver Reed & Eric Clapton.

[TopBilled]

Billed said: I really enjoyed this film and was quite glad TCM aired it. I had heard so much about it over the years and it was nice to finally get a chance to watch it. 

 

That's great to hear TB. That's when TCM is at it's best-bringing you a movie you've heard a lot about. 

Like I had stated before, it's an oddity featuring pop stars of the day that has actually aged pretty well despite the thin story.

 

But gawd I hate Oliver Reed & Eric Clapton.

Watching TOMMY made me appreciate Ann-Margret more as a singer/entertainer. I believe she earned a Golden Globe award for her work in this picture.

 

A few years later, there was a film called QUADROPHENIA which is also based on a Who rock opera, though it is not really a musical like TOMMY is.

[Sepiatone]

According to imdb, it's him. There's an anecdote that Pete Townshend was apprehensive about using Nicholson - whose casting was a last-second decision after everyone else fell through. and Nicholson just happened to be in London - because of the immense struggles in getting anything good out of Oliver Reed's singing voice! Townshend by this point would have preferred a singer over a big celebrity actor for the role of the doctor but dropped his objections as soon as he heard Nicholson sing.

 

I think it sounds exactly like him, actually. Yes, he's trying to sound educated and mannered as befits his role, but the voice sounds to me very much like a logical extension of Nicholson's speaking voice - at least when he was that age.

I imagine, Sewhite, that the BIGGEST difficulty would have been to get anything resembling acting out of Oliver Reed!  Never DID like that guy!

 

AND, never much cared for this movie.  With the exception of Tina Turner( who's twitching legs were etched into my brain LONG before this movie was EVER MADE) and Ann-Margaret rolling around in all that goo, and the very good tunes, there's not much else I find appealing about it.

 

 

Sepiatone

[MovieMadness]

Tommy is really thin on the plot line, although it is kind of like Pink Floyd The Wall movie where it deals with childhood trauma. I think the Pink Floyd movie is more interesting in you have a deeper blurring of what it really means whereas Tommy is pure simplicity. The singing is also better in Floyd, although from what I read the band also hated who was picked for the movie just like in Tommy.