There's a hole in my soul. Pun intended.

What a rotten couple of months.  First Etta James passes away, then Don Cornelius, and now Whitney Houston.  This bums me out. 

I was at work on Monday and a co-worker, an 18 year-old smart-ass, says, with impish glee, "Betcher sad that Whiney Houston's dead, huh?"

I said "Shut the hell up, idiot." 

I proceeded to tell him that he was too young and stupid to appreciate Houston's career before the drugs/booze/Bobby Brown/reality TV parts of her life.  I said that she had once had the potential to be the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) and he should recognize that there was more than what he refered to as 'Crack Whitney'.  I cited facts, I used hyperbole, I even leaned on emotion, telling him that as soon as I heard of her passing, I rewatched her rendtion of the National Anthem from 2001 and I got all goose bumpy and a little teary.

He remained unconvinced.

Thank Vishnu I didn't have to also explain Etta and Don to him.  If this genius can't relate to anything from the 80's, I don't think I can get him to understand something that has, you know, bellbottoms, or is in (gasp!) black and white.

So I gets to thinking.  Who are my favorite soul singers?  (Sorry Don, you are hugely important to the world of soul, but I never heard you sing) and I think I have to go with a top five that looks (and more importantly, sounds) like this:

5. Etta James
    fave track - Sunday Kind of Love
    runner up - At Last

4. Ray Charles
    fave track - Georgia On My Mind
    runner up - Night Time Is the Right Time

3. James Brown
    fave track - It's a Man's World
    runner up - Super Bad

2. Marvin Gaye
    fave track - Trouble Man
    runner up - What's Going On

1. Nina Simone
    fave track - Ain't Got No/I Got Life
    runner up - Do I Move You? 

And let's not forget artists I adore but will more than likely never crack this top five:

Sam Cooke
Whitney Houston
Stevie Wonder
Adele
Jamiroquai (the flyweight of the group to be sure)
Allen Stone
Mary J. Blige
Raphael Saadiq
Curtis Mayfield
Sharon Jones
Joss Stone
Smokey Robinson
Aretha Franklin

I'm sure there are many I've left off of this list, so please enlighten me.  Who are your faves?