Yeah, I understand what your saying....
I think you're right about us Yanks being able to detect the Brit accent even when they're singing in "American".
Speaking of the Irish...The Coors spring to mind. They've had some great success on the American charts lately, but to us (or to me at least) they sound very Irish.
I think proper singing diction kind of blurs the line between English and Amercian anyway. Both would turn "r" into "ah", for example. "Foreverrrrr" becomes "forevahhh". Of course, we still like to pronounce our "h" here in the States.
Now that I'm thinking about it.... I guess there is just a kind of universal "rock and roll language". Within America there are all kinds of dialects or accents, and Americans mimic them all the time: the Boston accent, the Southern drawl, the mid-western or Wisconson accent, the California surfer accent, etc. I'm sure the UK is the same way. But when it comes to singing rock, we all kind of use the "rock accent".
INteresting....
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I swear I hear the British Royalty speak with a different accent than the "working class". I've heard the term "Cockney slang" as well, though I don't know what it means. Clue me in.
Bob's yer uncle!
Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com