I stand corrected Tootler, though I do believe that in most men, falsetto is unnatural and has to be achieved artificially
It is actually used in some traditions - tralalere singers in Genoa docker singer entitled 'La Dama' - as a vocal feature to their polyphonic singing rather than for comic effect
I remember hearing a Spanish 'Canto Hondo' singer and believing I was listening to a woman when it was, in fact, a man
I can't think of any English language traditional singing which uses the technique
You are right of course that thi has been a thread drift - it was my old friend, Jack Warshaw, who brought it up - I thought it worthwhile to use it as an excuse to emphasise the tendency of the older generation of singers to use their natural voice.
Considering the somewhat unfriendly reception from some fanzines, I hesitate to bring up the dreaded 'little-girl head voice favoured by many women singers again and all the problems that particular idiosyncrasy that causes
Jim