tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77938901631164919692024-03-14T10:48:56.498+02:00RADIO MONACO*web radio,greek radio,radiofono,music,greek music,pop,rock,heavy,80's,disco,music player,tragoudia,elliniko radiofonoRadio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-68068794675709696912014-11-14T23:41:00.003+02:002014-11-14T23:43:44.224+02:00WHITESNAKE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAo4x63xH-GFDTNtR1t6CNgw7xNhG1MJDCWZBhZPoND1x33EfVEw4vh1c8IumlCG66X0VHEpBvbpz20rlpmtQ2NL7H2rnf-fxZ9Jl6HZnwwrJwqh5GSGPX5R9TpabvkzWrgzBt00_Hzo4D/s1600/whitesnake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAo4x63xH-GFDTNtR1t6CNgw7xNhG1MJDCWZBhZPoND1x33EfVEw4vh1c8IumlCG66X0VHEpBvbpz20rlpmtQ2NL7H2rnf-fxZ9Jl6HZnwwrJwqh5GSGPX5R9TpabvkzWrgzBt00_Hzo4D/s320/whitesnake.jpg" /></a></div>
After recording two solo albums, former Deep Purple vocalist David Coverdale formed Whitesnake around 1977. In the glut of hard rock and heavy metal bands of the late '70s, their first albums got somewhat lost in the shuffle, although they were fairly popular in Europe and Japan. During 1982, Coverdale took some time off so he could take care of his sick daughter.
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When he re-emerged with a new version of Whitesnake in 1984, the band sounded revitalized and energetic. Slide It In may have relied on Led Zeppelin's and Deep Purple's old tricks, but the band had a knack for writing hooks; the record became their first platinum album. Three years later, Whitesnake released an eponymous album (titled 1987 in Europe) that was even better. Portions of the album were blatantly derivative -- "Still of the Night" was a dead ringer for early Zeppelin -- but the group could write powerful, heavy rockers like "Here I Go Again" that were driven as much by melody as riffs, as well as hit power ballads like "Is This Love." Whitesnake was an enormous international success, selling over six million copies in the U.S. alone.
Before they recorded their follow-up, 1989's Slip of the Tongue, Coverdale again assembled a completely new version of the band, featuring guitar virtuoso Steve Vai. Although the record went platinum, it was a considerable disappointment after the across-the-board success of Whitesnake. Coverdale put Whitesnake on hiatus after that album. In 1993, he released a collaboration with former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page that was surprisingly lackluster. The following year, Whitesnake issued a greatest-hits album in the U.S. and Canada focusing solely on material from their final three albums (as well as containing a few unreleased tracks).
In 1997, Coverdale resurrected Whitesnake (guitarist Adrian Vandenberg was the only remaining member of the group's latter-day lineup), issuing Restless Heart the same year. Surprisingly, the album wasn't even issued in the United States. On the ensuing tour, Coverdale and Vandenberg performed an "unplugged" show in Japan that was recorded and issued the following year under the title Starkers in Tokyo. By the late '90s, however, Coverdale once again put Whitesnake on hold, as he concentrated on recording his first solo album in nearly 22 years. Coverdale's Into the Light was issued in September 2000, featuring journeyman guitarist Earl Slick. After a lengthy hiatus that saw the release of countless "greatest-hits" and "live" collections, the band returned in 2008 with the impressive Good to Be Bad. Coverdale and Whitesnake toured the album throughout Europe and Japan. The band returned to the recording studio in 2010 with new members bassist Michael Devin (formerly of Lynch Mob) and drummer Brian Tichy, who appeared alongside guitarists Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach, and guest keyboardist Timothy Drury (as well as Coverdale's son Jasper on backing vocals on various tracks). The band's 11th album, Forevermore, was preceded by the issue of the single, "Love Will Set You Free," and released in the spring of 2011. Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Greg Prato, Rovi.</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-50473006563415687292011-06-19T23:34:00.002+03:002011-06-19T23:47:41.511+03:00JIMI HENDRIX<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnaFjlGcKPqnvvWMyPZ1LyKu1iJuoXKVefmy2c6GSFbjEGyVjpBLvR2GeYQ1NYf9QBqzteu-pf56_gSDb2Ya1UIk9-pLjwqx7raxol6mMA1EoruIFJKAXRWavZDG_m-DLr03IGoG8Uoqyt/s1600/jimi+hendrix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnaFjlGcKPqnvvWMyPZ1LyKu1iJuoXKVefmy2c6GSFbjEGyVjpBLvR2GeYQ1NYf9QBqzteu-pf56_gSDb2Ya1UIk9-pLjwqx7raxol6mMA1EoruIFJKAXRWavZDG_m-DLr03IGoG8Uoqyt/s200/jimi+hendrix.jpg" width="171" /></a></div>Guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Born Johnny Allen Hendrix (later changed to James Marshall) on November 27, 1942, in Seattle, Washington. Learning to play guitar as a teenager, Hendrix grew up to become a rock guitar legend. He had a difficult childhood, sometimes living in the care of relatives and even acquaintances at times.<br />
His mother, Lucille, was only 17 years old when Hendrix was born. She had a stormy relationship with his father, Al, and eventually left the family after the couple had two more children together, sons Leon and Joseph. Hendrix would only see his mother sporadically before her death in 1958.<br />
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In many ways, music became a sanctuary for Hendrix. He was a fan of blues music and taught himself to play guitar. At the age of 14, Hendrix saw Elvis Presley perform. He got his first electric guitar the following year and eventually played with two bands—the Rocking Kings and the Tomcats. In 1959, Hendrix dropped out of high school. He worked odd jobs while continuing to follow his musical aspirations.<br />
Hendrix enlisted in the United States Army in 1961 and trained at Fort Ord in California to become a paratrooper. Even as a soldier, he found time for music, creating a band named The King Casuals. Hendrix served in the army until 1962 when he was discharged due to an injury.<br />
After leaving the military, Hendrix pursued his music, working as a session musician and playing backup for such performers as Little Richard, Sam Cooke, and the Isley Brothers. He also formed a group of his own called Jimmy James and the Blue Flames, which played gigs around New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood.<br />
In mid-1966, Hendrix met Chas Chandler, a former member of the Animals, a successful rock group, who became his manager. Chandler convinced Hendrix to go to London where he joined forces with musicians Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell to create The Jimi Hendrix Experience. While there, Hendrix built up quite a following among England's rock royalty. Members of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, and Eric Clapton were all great admirers of Hendrix's work. One critic for the British music magazine Melody Maker said that he "had great stage presence" and looked at times as if he was playing "with no hands at all."<br />
Released in 1967, the band's first single, "Hey Joe" was an instant smash in Britain, and was soon followed by other hits such as "Purple Haze" and "The Wind Cried Mary." On tour to support his first album, Are You Experienced? (1967), Hendrix delighted audiences with his outrageous guitar-playing skills and his innovative, experimental sound. He won over American music fans with his stunning performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967, which ended with Hendrix lighting his guitar on fire.<br />
Quickly becoming a rock music superstar, Hendrix scored again with his second album, Axis: Bold as Love (1968). His final album as part of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Electric Ladyland (1968), was released and featured the hit "All Along the Watchtower," which was written by Bob Dylan. The band continued to tour until it split up in 1969.<br />
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Source:http://www.biography.com<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-5700638345222805722011-06-19T23:32:00.001+03:002011-06-19T23:48:25.064+03:00SEX PISTOLS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisUSzxg_lTPy4r4yyCwLUkNePZG_1f-xjsdGIXMSKpu105040qDcLLAJr4gUvtNxiLSbyEqL65xJ4u0ClsxnmX_1PmxF9xTZKqBJTjASKjDHXx_yS_XsKwSt54X2m8de4_-nQx2lIhTZxH/s1600/sex+pistols.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisUSzxg_lTPy4r4yyCwLUkNePZG_1f-xjsdGIXMSKpu105040qDcLLAJr4gUvtNxiLSbyEqL65xJ4u0ClsxnmX_1PmxF9xTZKqBJTjASKjDHXx_yS_XsKwSt54X2m8de4_-nQx2lIhTZxH/s200/sex+pistols.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>This incandescent UK punk group came together under the aegis of entrepreneur Malcolm McLaren during the summer of 1975. Periodically known as the Swankers, with lead vocalist Wally Nightingale, they soon metamorphosed into the Sex Pistols.<br />
With a line-up comprising: Steve Jones(guitar), Paul Cook (drums), Glen Matlock (bass) and Johnny Rotten (vocals).<br />
The group signed to EMI Records which released their first single, 'Anarchy In The UK'.<br />
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From Rotten's sneering laugh at the opening of the song to the final seconds of feedback, it was a riveting debut. Soon afterwards, the group was dropped from EMI in a blaze of publicity. <br />
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By February 1977, Matlock was replaced by punk caricature Sid Vicious. The following month, the group was signed to A&M Records outside the gates of Buckingham Palace. One week later, A&M cancelled the contract. After reluctantly signing to Virgin Records, the group issued 'God Save The Queen'. The single coincided with the Queen's Jubilee. It rose to number 1 in the New Musical Express chart. A third single, the melodic 'Pretty Vacant' proved their most accessible to date. They hit again with 'Holidays In The Sun' and the UK chart-topping Never Mind The Bollocks - Here's The Sex Pistols. <br />
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A troubled tour of America fractured the Pistols' already strained relationship. In early 1978, Rotten announced that he was leaving after a gig in San Francisco. The group then went to Rio to be filmed playing alongside train robber Ronnie Biggs.<br />
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Vicious, incapacitated by heroin addiction, could not make the trip, but Jones and Cook were happy to indulge in the publicity stunt. Another controversial single 'Cosh The Driver' was backed with Vicious's rendition of 'My Way'. <br />
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McLaren's movie titled The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle continued the mythology. Vicious recorded a lame version Of Eddie Cochran's 'C'mon Everybody' before returning to New York. <br />
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On 12 October 1978, Sid's girlfriend Nancy Spungen was found stabbed in his hotel room and Vicious was charged with murder. While released on bail, he suffered a fatal overdose of heroin and died in his sleep on the morning of 2 February 1979. <br />
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Virgin Records continued to issue the desultory fragments of Pistols work that they had on catalogue. The unholy saga ended in the High Court a decade later in 1986 when Rotten and his fellow ex-Pistols won substantial damages against their former manager. In 1996, the original line-up reformed and toured.<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-32199635162801092472011-06-19T23:28:00.000+03:002011-06-19T23:28:43.838+03:00LYNYRD SKYNYRD<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilH6k2JH3cj9sS8HZ7EJfl9QF3mXEQORaWhVKIT_6dT3alkwiHLkB2lqzuSyv9KICFnXtDTb1GJ5VYY-IBi1_MXgCtyceFlg3a84z_mJqs2IgpV92QxFlLosHxU0TEGAm6Ln_BqVXLMWlu/s1600/LynyrdSkynyrd2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilH6k2JH3cj9sS8HZ7EJfl9QF3mXEQORaWhVKIT_6dT3alkwiHLkB2lqzuSyv9KICFnXtDTb1GJ5VYY-IBi1_MXgCtyceFlg3a84z_mJqs2IgpV92QxFlLosHxU0TEGAm6Ln_BqVXLMWlu/s200/LynyrdSkynyrd2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Lynyrd Skynyrd (pronounced ) is an American rock band, formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964. The band became prominent in the Southern United States in 1973, and rose to worldwide recognition before several members died in an airplane crash in 1977, including lead vocalist and primary songwriter Ronnie Van Zant. The band reformed in 1987 for a reunion tour with Ronnie's younger brother Johnny Van Zant as the frontman and continues to record music today. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 13, 2006.<br />
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History<br />
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Early years<br />
In the summer of 1964, teenage friends Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, and Gary Rossington, formed the band "The Noble Five", which then changed in 1965 to "My Backyard", when Larry Junstrom and Bob Burns joined in Jacksonville, Florida. Their early influences included British Invasion bands such as Free, The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones, and The Beatles, as well as Southern blues and country & western music. In 1968, the group won a local Battle of the Bands contest and the opening slot on several Southeast shows for the California-based psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock.<br />
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In 1970, roadie Billy Powell became the keyboardist for the band, and Van Zant sought a new name. "One Percent" and "The Noble Five" were each considered before the group settled on Leonard Skinnerd, a mocking tribute to a physical-education teacher at Robert E. Lee High School, Leonard Skinner, who was notorious for strictly enforcing the school's policy against boys having long hair. The more distinctive spelling was adopted before they released their first album. Despite their high school acrimony, the band developed a more friendly relationship with Skinner in later years, and invited him to introduce them at a concert in the Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum.<br />
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The band continued to perform throughout the South in the early 1970s, further developing their hard-driving, blues-rock sound and image. In 1972, Leon Wilkeson replaced Larry Junstrom on bass, but left just before the band was to record its first album (Wilkeson rejoined the band shortly thereafter at Van Zant's invitation). Strawberry Alarm Clock guitarist Ed King filled in as bass player, later switching to guitar after the album's release, allowing the band to replicate the three-guitar mix used in the studio.<br />
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In 1970, the band auditioned for Alan Walden, who would later become their manager on the newly formed Hustler's Inc. Walden worked with the band until 1974, when management was turned over to Pete Rudge.<br />
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Peak years (1973?1977)<br />
In 1972 the band was discovered by musician, songwriter, and producer Al Kooper of Blood, Sweat, and Tears, who had attended one of their shows at a club in Atlanta. They changed the spelling of their name to "Lynyrd Skynyrd", (pronounced 'l?h-'n?rd 'skin-'n?rd) and Kooper signed them to MCA Records, producing their first album "Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd". Released January 1st, 1973, the album featured the hit song "Free Bird", which received national airplay, eventually reaching #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, and is still considered a rock and roll anthem today.<br />
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Lynyrd Skynyrd's fan base continued to grow rapidly throughout 1973, largely due to their opening slot on The Who's Quadrophenia tour in the United States. Their 1974 follow-up, Second Helping, was the band's breakthrough hit, and featured their most popular single, "Sweet Home Alabama" (#8 on the charts in August 1974), a response to Neil Young's "Alabama" and "Southern Man." (Young and Van Zant were not rivals, but fans of each other's music and good friends; Young even wrote the song "Powderfinger" for the band, but they never recorded it. Van Zant, meanwhile, can be seen on the cover of Street Survivors wearing a Neil Young t-shirt.) The album reached #12 in 1974, eventually going multi-platinum. In July of that year, Lynyrd Skynyrd was one of the headline acts at The Ozark Music Festival at the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia, Missouri.<br />
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In 1974, Burns left the band and was replaced by Kentucky native Artimus Pyle on drums. Lynyrd Skynyrd's third album, Nuthin' Fancy, was released the same year, though guitarist Ed King left midway through the tour. The album has the lowest sales and Kooper was eventually fired. In January 1976, backup singers Leslie Hawkins, Cassie Gaines and JoJo Billingsley (collectively known as The Honkettes) were added to the band. Lynyrd Skynyrd's fourth album Gimme Back My Bullets was released in the new year, but did not achieve the same success as the previous two albums. Van Zant and Collins both felt that the band was seriously missing the three-guitar attack that had been one of its early hallmarks. Although Skynyrd auditioned several guitarists, including such high-profile names as Leslie West, the solution was closer than they realized.<br />
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Soon after joining Skynyrd, Cassie Gaines began touting the guitar and songwriting prowess of her younger brother, Steve. The junior Gaines, who led his own band, Crawdad (which occasionally would perform Skynyrd's "Saturday Night Special" in their set), was invited to audition onstage with Skynyrd at a concert in Kansas City on May 11, 1976. Liking what they heard, the group also jammed informally with the Oklahoma native several times, then invited him into the group in June. With Gaines on board, the newly-reconstituted band recorded the double-live album One More From the Road in Atlanta, Georgia, and performed at the Knebworth festival, which also featured The Rolling Stones.<br />
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Both Collins and Rossington had serious car accidents over Labor Day weekend in 1976 which slowed the recording of the follow-up album and forced the band to cancel some concert dates. Rossington's accident inspired the ominous "That Smell" - a cautionary tale about drug abuse that was clearly aimed towards him and at least one other band member. Rossington has admitted repeatedly that he's the "Prince Charming" of the song who crashed his car into an oak tree while drunk and stoned on Quaaludes. Van Zant, at least, was making a serious attempt to clean up his act and curtail the cycle of boozed-up brawling that was part of Skynyrd's reputation.<br />
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1977's Street Survivors turned out to be a showcase for guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, who had joined the band just a year earlier and was making his studio debut with them. Publicly and privately, Ronnie Van Zant marveled at the multiple talents of Skynyrd's newest member, claiming that the band would "all be in his shadow one day." Gaines' contributions included his co-lead vocal with Van Zant on the co-written "You Got That Right" and the rousing guitar boogie "I Know A Little" which he had written before he joined Skynyrd. So confident was Skynyrd's leader of Gaines' abilities that the album (and some concerts) featured Gaines delivering his self-penned bluesy "Ain't No Good Life" - the only song in the pre-crash Skynyrd catalog to feature a lead vocalist other than Ronnie Van Zant. The album also included the hit singles "What's Your Name" and "That Smell". The band was poised for their biggest tour yet, including fulfilling Van Zant's lifelong dream of headlining New York's Madison Square Garden.<br />
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Plane crash (1977)<br />
Main article: Convair 240 N55VM crash<br />
On Thursday, October 20, 1977, just three days after the release of Street Survivors, and five shows into their most successful headlining tour to date, Lynyrd Skynyrd's chartered Convair 240 ran out of fuel near the end of their flight from Greenville, South Carolina, where they had just performed at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium, to LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Though the pilots attempted an emergency landing on a small airstrip, the plane crashed in a forest in Gillsburg, Mississippi. Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray were all killed on impact; the other bandmembers suffered serious injuries.<br />
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Lynyrd Skynyrd disbanded after the tragedy, reuniting just once to perform an instrumental version of "Free Bird" at Charlie Daniels' Volunteer Jam in January 1979. Collins, Rossington, Powell and Pyle performed the song with Charlie Daniels and members of his band. Leon Wilkeson, who was still undergoing physical therapy for his badly broken left arm, was in attendance, along with Judy Van Zant, Teresa Gaines, JoJo Billingsley and Leslie Hawkins.<br />
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Hiatus (1977?1987)<br />
Rossington, Collins, Wilkeson and Powell formed The Rossington-Collins Band, which released two albums between 1980 and 1982. Deliberately avoiding comparisons with Ronnie Van Zant as well as suggestions that this band was Lynyrd Skynyrd reborn, Rossington and Collins chose a woman, Dale Krantz, as lead vocalist. However, as an acknowledgment of their past, the band's concert encore would always be an instrumental version of "Free Bird." Rossington and Collins eventually had a falling out over the affections of Dale Krantz, whom Rossington married and with whom he formed the Rossington Band, which released two albums in the late 1980s and opened for the Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour in 1987-1988.<br />
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The other former members of Lynyrd Skynyrd continued to make music during the hiatus era. Billy Powell played keyboards in a Christian Rock band named Vision, touring with established Christian rocker Mylon LeFevre (who, like Skynyrd, had once opened for The Who). During Vision concerts, Powell's trademark keyboard talent was often spotlighted and he spoke about his conversion to Christianity after the near-fatal plane crash. Pyle formed The Artimus Pyle Band in 1982, which occasionally featured former Honkettes JoJo Billingsley and Leslie Hawkins.<br />
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In 1980 Allen Collins' wife Kathy died of a massive hemorrhage while miscarrying their third child. He formed the Allen Collins Band in 1983 from the remnants of the Rossington-Collins Band, releasing one tepidly-received album, but many around him believed that the guitarist's heart just wasn't in it anymore. Most point to his wife's death as the moment that Collins' life began to spin out of control; he spent several years bingeing on drugs and alcohol. In 1986 Collins crashed his car while driving drunk near his home in Jacksonville, killing his girlfriend and leaving him permanently paralyzed from the chest down. Collins eventually pled no contest to DUI manslaughter, but was not given a prison sentence since his injuries made it obvious that he would never drive or be a danger to society again.<br />
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Reunion years (1987?present)<br />
In 1987, Lynyrd Skynyrd reunited for a full-scale tour with crash survivors Gary Rossington, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkeson and Artimus Pyle and former guitarist Ed King. Ronnie Van Zant's younger brother, Johnny, took over as the new lead singer and primary songwriter. Due to Collins' paralysis from the 1986 car accident, he was only able to participate as the musical director, choosing Randall Hall, his former bandmate in the Allen Collins Band, as his stand-in. As part of his plea deal, Collins would be wheeled out onstage each night to explain to the audience why he could no longer perform (usually before the performance of "That Smell," which had been partially directed at him). Collins was stricken with pneumonia in 1989 and died on January 23, 1990.<br />
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The reunited band was meant to be a one-time tribute to the original lineup, captured on the double-live album Southern By The Grace Of God/Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour - 1987. The fact that the band chose to continue after the 1987 tribute tour caused legal problems for the survivors, as Judy Van Zant Jenness and Teresa Gaines Rapp (widows of Ronnie and Steve, respectively) sued the others for violating an agreement made shortly after the plane crash, stating that they would not "exploit" the Skynyrd name for profit. As part of the settlement, Jenness and Rapp collect nearly 30% of the band's touring revenues (representing the shares their husbands would have earned had they lived), and hold a proviso which forces any band touring as "Lynyrd Skynyrd" to contain at least two members of the pre-crash lineup. Since Collins, Wilkeson and Powell are now dead, Ed King unable to tour due to ongoing heart problems, and Pyle on the outs with the others leaves Gary Rossington as the Skynyrd standard-bearer.<br />
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Wilkeson's long time friend Byron "Red" Glover, was Skynyrd's fill-in guitarist and functioned as a substitute when needed. During several concerts, Red was dragged up on stage by Wilkeson to play with the band.<br />
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The reconstituted Lynyrd Skynyrd has gone through several lineup changes and continues to record and tour today. Leon Wilkeson, Skynyrd's bassist since 1972, was found dead in his hotel room on July 27, 2001; his death was found to be due to emphysema and chronic liver disease. He was replaced in 2001 by Ean Evans. The remaining members released a double album called Thyrty which had songs from the original line up to the present. Lynyrd Skynyrd also released a live DVD of their Vicious Cycle Tour and on June 22, 2004, Lynyrd Skynyrd released the album Lyve: The Vicious Cycle Tour. On December 10, 2004, Lynyrd Skynyrd did a show for CMT, Crossroads, a concert featuring country duo Montgomery Gentry and other genres of music.<br />
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In the beginning of 2005 Hughie Thomasson left the band to reform his disbanded Southern Rock band Outlaws. On February 5, 2005, Lynyrd Skynyrd did a Super Bowl party back in Jacksonville with special guests 3 Doors Down, Jo Dee Messina, Charlie Daniels and Ronnie and Johnny Van Zant's brother Donnie Van Zant of .38 Special. On February 13 of that year Lynyrd Skynyrd did a tribute to Southern Rock on the Grammy Awards with Gretchen Wilson, Tim McGraw and Keith Urban. On May 10, 2005, Johnny and Donnie Van Zant released a country album called Get Right with the Man which featured the hit single "Help Somebody". In the summer of 2005, lead singer Johnny Van Zant had to have surgery on his vocal cord to have a polyp removed. He was told not to sing for three months. On September 10, 2005, Lynyrd Skynyrd performed without Johnny Van Zant at the Music Relief Concert for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, with Kid Rock standing in for Johnny. In December 2005, Johnny Van Zant returned to sing for Lynyrd Skynyrd.<br />
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The band performed live at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky, as a part of their 2007 tour. The concert was recorded in high definition for HDNet and premiered on December 1, 2007.<br />
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On September 9, 2007, former Skynyrd guitarist Hughie Thomasson died of a heart attack at his home in Florida. Mark "Sparky" Matejka, formerly of the country music band Hot Apple Pie, joined Lynyrd Skynyrd in 2006.<br />
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The band in 2008<br />
On November 2, 2007, the band performed at Gator Growl, the world's largest student-run pep rally, in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium - also known as "The Swamp." The event's 50,000 person attendance marked the largest crowd that Lynyrd Skynyrd had ever played in front of in the United States, until the July 2008 Bama Jam in Enterprise, Alabama where more than 111,000 people were in attendance.<br />
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On January 28, 2009, keyboardist Billy Powell died at age 56 at his home near Jacksonville, Florida. Powell called 911 at 12:55 a.m., complaining of shortness of breath. He had previously missed his doctor's appointment on the day before his death; the appointment was for a checkup on his heart. The EMS responders found Powell unconscious and unresponsive, with the telephone still in his hand. Rescue crews performed CPR, but he was pronounced dead at 1:52 a.m. Although a heart attack was suspected, and it was originally reported that an autopsy was to be performed, none in fact was ever done.<br />
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On March 17, 2009, it was announced that Skynyrd had signed a worldwide deal with Loud & Proud/Roadrunner Records and will release their new album God & Guns September 29 of that year. They will tour Europe and the United States in 2009 with Peter Keys of the 420 Funk Mob on keyboards and Robert Kearns of The Bottle Rockets on bass in place of Ean Evans who died at age 48 on Wednesday, May 6, 2009, at his home in Columbus, Mississippi, succumbing to the cancer.<br />
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Recognition<br />
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Honors<br />
In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the group #95 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.<br />
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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame<br />
On November 28, 2005, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced that Lynyrd Skynyrd would be inducted alongside Black Sabbath, Blondie, Miles Davis, and the Sex Pistols. They were inducted in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan on March 13, 2006. Lynyrd Skynyrd had been nominated 7 times.<br />
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On March 13, 2006, Lynyrd Skynyrd was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 21st annual induction ceremony. The inductees included Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, Ed King, Steve Gaines, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkeson, Bob Burns, and Artimus Pyle (no post-crash members of the band were inducted, nor were any of the Honkettes). The current version of Skynyrd, augmented by King, Pyle, Burns and former Honkettes JoJo Billingsley and Leslie Hawkins, performed "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird" at the ceremony, which was also attended by Judy Van Zant Jenness and Ronnie's two daughters, Teresa Gaines Rapp and her daughter Corinna, Allen Collins' daughters, and Leon Wilkeson's mother.<br />
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Tributes<br />
In 1994, various country music artists united to record a Skynyrd tribute album titled Skynyrd Frynds.<br />
Ronnie Van Zant's widow, Judy Van Zant Jenness, operates a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute website for the educational purpose of sharing the original Lynyrd Skynyrd band's history, as well as Freebird Live, a live music venue in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.<br />
The Drive By Truckers dedicated their album Southern Rock Opera to Lynyrd Skynyrd.<br />
Progressive metal band Dream Theater pay tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd on their live album Once in a LIVEtime, whereby the song "Take the Time" is modified to include the solo from "Free Bird".<br />
Members<br />
<br />
Main article: List of Lynyrd Skynyrd band members<br />
Current members<br />
Johnny Van Zant ? lead vocals (1987?present)<br />
Gary Rossington ? guitars (1964?1977, 1987?present)<br />
Rickey Medlocke ? drums, guitars, backing vocals (1970?1971, 1996?present)<br />
Mark Matejka ? guitars, backing vocals (2006?present)<br />
Robert Kearns ? bass, backing vocals (2009?present)<br />
Michael Cartellone ? drums (1999?present)<br />
Peter Keys ? keyboards (2009?present)<br />
Touring members<br />
Dale Krantz-Rossington ? backing vocals (1987?present)<br />
Carol Chase ? backing vocals (1987?present)<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-24402965595086190772011-02-16T01:12:00.001+02:002011-02-16T01:15:37.226+02:00STYX<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxorworz_pJ99LtfsmqjbtTRO6DN_bdbEY0zt_DVY5hflMFbxkYajKqBp4AV-Dgozs5BNJ1yzezYMmtuAIjaQ3F5oRLFomALwOjyOUzVKA8FclkcHWxjti8B6aqhdHsMmnaC0fia6-vK8C/s1600/styx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxorworz_pJ99LtfsmqjbtTRO6DN_bdbEY0zt_DVY5hflMFbxkYajKqBp4AV-Dgozs5BNJ1yzezYMmtuAIjaQ3F5oRLFomALwOjyOUzVKA8FclkcHWxjti8B6aqhdHsMmnaC0fia6-vK8C/s200/styx.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>After forming a band which would be known a “TW4” a few years prior, neighbors Dennis DeYoung and brothers Chuck and John Panozzo enroll at Chicago State University. Although the band had already performed in, and around, the Chicago area, C.S.U. would become the group’s base. The trio hooks up with another student, John Curulewski, who takes over the helm on guitar.<br />
Guitarists James “JY” Young- who was performing with a rival band in Chicago-joins the quartet. The new line-up begins taking a different direction with more musical experiments, with classical/rock fusions and electronic trickeries.<br />
The band’s demo is heard by the Wooden Nickel label, who would subsequently offer the band a recording contract the following year.<br />
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The band is renamed STYX after a mythological river if the dead-a decision made by the band members. STYX I is released. The single, “Best Thing” (written by DeYoung and “JY”), reaches the Top 100 on the charts by the end of the year.<br />
STYX II is released, and although it doesn’t chart immediately, the Dennis DeYoung penned ballad, “Lady”, gets considerable airplay on Chicago radio. The band concentrates on their touring efforts in support of the single’s success, and creates a vast following of fans. The band will release The Serpent Is Rising toward the end of the year.<br />
The Serpent is Rising cracks the Top 200 Albums Chart in February, followed up by Man of Miracles, which reaches even higher position in November. “Lady” would be re-released as a single with national promotion, and the song would be propelled to #6 on the U.S. charts.<br />
STYX II rockets up the charts as a result of the success of “Lady.” It would reach #20, and sell over 500,000 units. In September, after searching for a larger and more supportive label, STYX would sign with powerhouse A&M Records. Two months later, Equinox, featuring the single “Lorelei”-would be the first A&M release, immediately reaching gold status (and eventually going platinum). At the end of the year, guitarist John Curulewski would leave the band. The band’s road manager recommends 23-year-old Tommy Shaw-then guitarist for Chicago based band “MS Funk”-as a replacement. A week after auditioning, Tommy Shaw joined the band.<br />
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On July 7th (7/7/77), the band released The Grand Illusion.<br />
In January, A&M Records releases the single “Come Sail Away,” which would enter the Top 10. The parent album, The Grand Illusion, hits #6 as a result of the single’s success, and eventually becomes the first album from STYX to go platinum. The singles, “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man),” and “Miss America” contribute to the success of the album. Later in the year, the band would follow up with another platinum-selling album (reaching #6) titled, Pieces of Eight, featuring the hit singles, “Blue Collar Man (Long Nights),” “Renegade,” and “Sing for the Day.”<br />
A national Gallup poll would reveal that STYX is the most popular rock band with teenagers (13-19 year olds). By December, the band’s newest album release, Cornerstone, would hit #2 on the U.S. charts, earning the band it’s third consecutive platinum album. The singles, “Babe” (reaching #1 on the charts and becoming their highest-selling single of their career), “Why Me,” and “Borrowed Time” generate mass sales.<br />
Beginning early in the year, STYX would embark on an ambitious 110 date, six-month North American tour. In April, the album Paradise Theatre would be released, soon reaching platinum success (STYX would now have four consecutive platinum albums under their belt), and remaining at #1 on the U.S. charts for three weeks. Two hit singles-“The Best of Times” and “Too Much Time on My Hands”-reach #3 and #9, respectively, on the U.S. charts. The band would become the first in the history of rock ‘n’ roll to have four consecutive triple-platinum albums.<br />
STYX releases concept album, Kilroy Was Here, and will tour in support of it most of the year. A stage act is built around the album, in which costumed band members have roles and dialogue in addition to performing songs. It would become one of the most ambitious rock ‘n’ roll tours ever. The single “Mr. Roboto,” reaches #3, and becomes the second million-selling single in the band’s history (“Babe” being the first). Another single, “Don’t Let It End,” also goes Top 10.<br />
The band releases a double live album titled, Caught in the Act. Although the album is well received by the record buying public, both Dennis DeYoung and Tommy Shaw decide to pursue solo projects (also on A&M records). Subsequently, the band is put on hold. Dennis DeYoung’s Desert Moon and Tommy Shaw’s Girls With Guns both enter top 50.<br />
In December, Tommy Shaw releases What If, which enters the Top 100, and spawns a single, “Ever Since the World Began.”<br />
Dennis DeYoung releases second solo album, Back to the World, and will also contribute a single (not from album), “This Is the Time,” to the movie, “The Karate Kid Part II.” James Young released his first solo effort, City Slicker, a collaboration with Jan Hammer.<br />
Dennis DeYoung releases another solo album, entitled Bloomchild (on MCA)<br />
Tommy Shaw forms a new band, Damn Yankees, with former Night Ranger vocalist/bassist Jack Blades, guitar virtuoso Ted Nugent, and drummer Michael Cartellone. The self-titled debut album will produce two hit singles, “High Enough” and “Coming of Age,” and will eventually sell over 2 million copies on Warner Bros. Records. The band tours extensively with Bad Company, and the album reaches #26. Toward the end of the year, STYX will reunite without Shaw (replaced by Glen Burtnik), and will release the album, Edge of the Century, which begins to garner acclaim.<br />
A single from Edge of the Century titled, “Show Me the Way,” begins chart ascension into the Top 10 during the Gulf War. With the success of the single, STYX joins an elite group of acts who have had Top 10 hits under each of the last four United States Presidents (and Top 10 hits in three different decades).<br />
Damn Yankees release their second effort, Don’t Tread, on Warner Bros. Records. The album, which features the singles “ Don’t Tread” and “Where Are You Goin’ Now?, would eventually reach platinum status. The video for the title track would be aired throughout the 1992 Olympics.<br />
In addition to playing the roll of Pontius Pilate in the national company of Jesus Christ Superstar (to rave reviews), Dennis DeYoung cuts an album of show tunes for Atlantic Records entitled 10 on Broadway.<br />
STYX release Greatest Hits: Volume 1, featuring a re-recorded version of “Lady” with Tommy Shaw (who had not yet joined the band when it was originally recorded). Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades release an album, Hallucination, as Shaw*Blades (Warner Bros. Records). The album would be co-produced by Don Gehman of REM/John Mellencamp fame. James Young forms the James Young Group, with other Chicago musicians and tours in support of their album, Raised by Wolves (Absolute/Whitehouse).<br />
In May, the classic (and most successful) line-up returns with “The Return to the Paradise Theatre” tour, which was seen in over 50 cities. Greatest Hits: Volume II was released in the summer featuring a few new songs. For the first time in thirteen years, Dennis DeYoung, James Young, Tommy Shaw, and Chuck Panozzo were “Rockin’ The Paradise.” Again…<br />
1997: In May, CMC International Records, a division of BMG Entertainment, releases a double album of new studio tracks plus live recording of Greatest Hits from the ’96 tour, appropriately titled, Return to Paradise. Due to popular demand, STYX embarks on a 50-city North American tour in support of the release.<br />
1998: Tommy Shaw releases a solo album in CMC, 7 Deadly Zens and hits the road opening shows for Lynyrd Skynyrd. Dennis DeYoung returns to his theatrical calling as his “Hunchback of Notre Dame” enjoys a successful run in Nashville. The band starts making plans for a new studio album-the classic line-up’s first in 16 years.<br />
1999: The band goes in to the studio in Chicago and Los Angeles to record Brave New World which is released on June 29th. A tour begins in July, which will run through the end of the year.<br />
2000: The band embarks on a 40 city co-headline tour with REO Speedwagon. The tour is so successful that the two bands record and release a double live album and DVD, “Arch Allies – Live at Riverport”. They then extend the tour (to date, Styx and REO have played over 90 shows together, consistently generating hugely successful box office numbers.)<br />
2001: Styxworld Live 2001 is released, containing tracks recorded in Canada, Japan and Germany. The band continues its heavy touring schedule, playing 121 shows, including a 40 city tour with Bad Company that donates over $100,000 to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Education Fund, marking the first time in history that the Rock Hall attaches its name to a tour.<br />
2002: Styx plays over 90 shows and records a new studio album, set for release in the winter of 2003.<br />
2003: Styx releases Cyclorama on February 18, 2003. The band tours extensively throughout the year in support of the record.<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-54132564251587707242011-02-16T01:08:00.000+02:002011-02-16T01:08:27.970+02:00RAMONES<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHsKk_Ksgl4qwWXkEfI6r8yn2yDYzv_iXEm7nylexQmfK0ZaOHwPm7AGIs7ty50aDr1HAxOvbuflcpFOe_zXUUnbCIuVASTAASLtT4VoR_zXzaBYSZAtlimhloiyl5HqotDljiiDv7pgki/s1600/the_ramones-hot%252Bcool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHsKk_Ksgl4qwWXkEfI6r8yn2yDYzv_iXEm7nylexQmfK0ZaOHwPm7AGIs7ty50aDr1HAxOvbuflcpFOe_zXUUnbCIuVASTAASLtT4VoR_zXzaBYSZAtlimhloiyl5HqotDljiiDv7pgki/s200/the_ramones-hot%252Bcool.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Ever since their first appearance, the Ramones have been called revolutionary, wild and an authentic sui generis band. Many of the new kids on the scene strive to these qualities, but the Ramones have somehow managed to stay one of a kind and remain a hot topic for over a decade after they disbanded.<br />
The title of being the first punk rock band definitely belongs to the Ramones.<br />
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Although bands like the Stooges and the New York Dolls came before them and introduced the new punk aesthetic and bands that immediately followed, such as the Sex Pistols, unveiled the latent violence of the music and made it more explicit, contribution of the Ramones was somewhat different. They managed to crystallize the musical ideals of the genre by dissolving rock & roll down to its bare essentials - four chords, catchy melody endorsed by seductively fatuous lyrics. While relying on the sound rooted deeply in the early ‘60s that belonged to pre-Beatles mixture of rock & roll and pop, the Ramones considerably speeded up the tempo and thus created a revolutionary sound.<br />
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Their breakthrough that was both theoretical and musical quickly put them on the map of the emerging New York punk rock scene. Despite their peers such as Patti Smith, Television, Talking Heads, and Richard Hell were more intellectual and self-consciously artistic than the Ramones, it never endangered their position of scene leaders because they appealed to different mentality. They shamelessly turned rock conventions inside out and celebrated bathetic pop culture with stylized stupidity. Their first four albums established a new pattern for American punk and hardcore for the following twenty years.<br />
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And for the next two decades the Ramones themselves were major figures, playing basically the same music without significantly changing their style much. There were some punk diehards, including several of their colleagues, that claimed the band's lasting career wound up overthrowing the ideals the band originally stood for. However, the Ramones always celebrated not just the punk aesthetic, but the music itself.<br />
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The Ramones’ intriguing story began in the Forest Hills section of Queens, New York back in 1974. The band was originally a trio consisting of Joey Ramone (vocals, drums; born Jeffrey Hyman, May 19, 1951), Johnny Ramone (guitar; born John Cummings, Oct. 8, 1951), and Dee Dee Ramone (bass; born Douglas Colvin, Sept. 18, 1952). Tommy Ramone (born Tom Erdelyi, Jan. 29, 1952) was also there from the start, acting as the group's manager. All of the band members adopted the last name "Ramone" and dressed in torn blue jeans and leather jackets, which was their homage to '50s greaser rockers. Band made their first appearance on March 30, 1974, at New York's Performance Studio. Two months later, Tommy became the band's drummer and Joey switched to vocals. By the end of that summer, the Ramones were residents at CBGB's. For the next year, they had regular shows at the nightclub, which attracted many fans that will later turn to dedicated cult and inspired other artists to form bands with similar ideals. Although their sets lasted no more than approximately 20 minutes, they featured a brutal barrage of short, barely two-minute songs that made them legendary. Their uncompromising style secured them a recording contract with Sire by the end of 1975. Discounting Patti Smith, the Ramones were the first NY punk band to sign a contract.<br />
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The debut album simply named "Ramones" was released early in 1976 on a limited budget of 6,000 dollars. Resulting material was released in the spring and apart from gaining some critical attention, it also managed to climb to 111 on the U.S. album charts. On July 4, the Ramones made their debut appearance in Britain, where their popularity was rapidly increasing. Their powerful records made significant influence on a new generation of bands. All throughout 1976, the Ramones toured constantly in search for new followers, inaugurating nearly 20 years of relentless touring. As the year ended, the band released their second album, again with a simplified title "Ramones Leave Home". Even though the album itself just scraped the U.S. charts, it became a genuine hit in England in the spring of 1977, peaking at number 48. By the summer of 1977, the Sex Pistols and the Ramones were seen as the two key bands in the punk rock (r)evolution. The difference was that at one point Pistols imploded and the Ramones kept on rolling. After the great success of hit "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker that climbed to U.K. Top 40, the band released their third album “Rocket to Russia” in the fall of 1977.<br />
<br />
Despite leaving the band in the spring of 1977, Tommy Ramone produced the group's subsequent album. Former Voidoid’s Marc Bee took his place and immediately changed his name to Marky Ramone. With the new drummer in place, the Ramones recorded their fourth album “Road to Ruin” and released it in the fall. It marked the band's first attempt to soften their sound by pursuing bubblegum, girl group, surf, and '60s pop influences. Besides, it was the first of their albums to run over half an hour. The sound was more accessible, but it didn't gain the band a noticeably larger following. Same goes to “Rock N' Roll High School”, a film from 1977 directed by Roger Corman in which the Ramones had a pivotal part. It caused a noticeable creative intermission, thus the soundtrack to “Rock N' Roll High School” and the U.K.-only live album “It's Alive” were the band's only releases of 1979. They spent most of the year in the studio recording their fifth album with legendary '60s pop producer Phil Spector. He remixed a number of older Ramones songs and was also responsible for the title song to Corman’s movie, which was the first track released from their joint sessions. The final result of their collaboration saw light in January of 1980 under the name of “End of the Century” and earned assorted reviews. The reception of the album was rather lukewarm, since the record's cover of the Ronettes' "Baby I Love You" became the only Top Ten British hit and in America none of the singles made an impact. However, the record ironically became their biggest hit, peaking at number 44.<br />
<br />
Their attempts at crossover success continued with their sixth album called “Pleasant Dreams”, which was released in 1981. Former Hollies and 10cc member Graham Gouldman was responsible for the production, still the record was a commercial disappointment in both America and England. During 1982 the Ramones were relatively quiet, spending most of their time on tour. The band’s alleged great return was planned with the album called “Subterranean Jungle”, which was released in the spring of 1983. This time the production was entrusted to Ritchie Cordell and Glen Koltkin, who were heads of the American indie label Beserkley Records. However, the results were disappointing again. Not only did “Subterranean Jungle” fail to gain the larger audience the band desired, it continued the decline of their diehard fan base, as well as their downfall in the eyes of many rock critics. Not long after the album's release, Marky Ramone left the band and was replaced by Richard Beau, who was a former member of the Velveteens. According to the custom of the band, he changed his name to Richie Ramone.<br />
<br />
After the line-up refreshment, the Ramones released “Too Tough to Die” in 1984. It was their belated response to America's sprouting hardcore punk scene that was produced by Tommy Erdelyi to a large extent. Along with restoring their artistic reputation, the album provided a hit single "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg," which was a cynical critic of President Ronald Reagan's 1985 visit to Germany. Although the sound of “Too Tough to Die” was widely accepted, the Ramones introduced a more simplified, stylized and conventional approach to their songwriting formula with their 1986's “Animal Boy”. It set a blueprint that group followed for the remaining ten years of their career. Following the release of 1987's “Halfway to Sanity”, Richie Ramone left the band and Marky Ramone re-joined the group. One year later, the band released “Ramones Mania”, a certain career retrospective. In 1989, the Ramones wrote the theme song for the Stephen King’s movie Pet Semetary. The track was also included on “Brain Drain”, released in the summer of the same year. After its release, the group's bassist Dee Dee Ramone left the band to pursue a career as a rapper called Dee Dee King. His debut rap recording failed miserably however, so he formed the band Chinese Dragons. Dee Dee was replaced by Christopher John Ward who took the name C.J. Ramone.<br />
<br />
In the early '90s, the Ramones decided it’s time to sober up, with both Joey and Marky undergoing alcoholism treatment. The band returned to studio in 1992, first releasing the “Loco Live” and then “Mondo Bizarro”, which was their first studio album in three years. The latter turned out to be a commercial failure, as did their 1994 covers album, “Acid Eaters”.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, the release of “Acid Eaters” earned them respect of the mainstream guitar rock audience in America who finally embraced punk rock in the form of young bands like Green Day and the Offspring. Since they felt the climate wasn’t quite right for the crossover success they had longed for over decades, the Ramones quickly composed and released “Adios Amigos”, claiming that unless the new album sold in substantial figures, they will disband after a final farewell tour. Although the album spent only two weeks in the charts,the Ramones embarked on a long farewell tour that was set throughout the rest of 1995. Just when they reached the verge of splitting, they got an offer to play at the sixth Lollapalooza. They accepted and toured with the festival that summer. As the tour drew to its end, the Ramones parted ways, two decades after the release of their first album. Only a few years later, Joey Ramone passed away at age 49 on April 15, 2001, as the victim of lymphoma. No longer than a year after Joey's death, Dee Dee Ramone was found dead in his home in Los Angeles on June 5, 2002. A for Johnny Ramone, he passed away two years later on September 15, 2004 after a long battle with cancer.<br />
<br />
Source<br />
<br />
www.ramones.net<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-81036308424233656632011-02-05T18:38:00.001+02:002011-02-05T18:39:15.636+02:00JUDAS PRIEST<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwVWl0CQgKkbz4LJwsKz9CTVRTgpN-MsYwo7x1iRjXxzipd6Lg0A0RjP6lhP-fVSH0lsbd1ENuO9sEwKUtJr0MG3tAFgjW4g7XQGXXCw7DAitOIe2wMffdC38C7gLAXTNizNMySSAbOq-m/s1600/Judas-Priest-c01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwVWl0CQgKkbz4LJwsKz9CTVRTgpN-MsYwo7x1iRjXxzipd6Lg0A0RjP6lhP-fVSH0lsbd1ENuO9sEwKUtJr0MG3tAFgjW4g7XQGXXCw7DAitOIe2wMffdC38C7gLAXTNizNMySSAbOq-m/s200/Judas-Priest-c01.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Judas Priest is one of the most enduring and successful band in Heavy-Metal history. All began in 1969 in Birmingham, ENGLAND, where guitarist Kenneth Downing and bassist Ian Hill decided to start a new band; by 1971, with vocalist Alan Atkins and drummer John Ellis, the group began playing live shows. Over the course of the year, Ellis was replaced by Alan Moore, who left until 1972 and was replaced by black drummer Chris Campbell. After a year of constant gigging, both Atkins and Campbell departed in May of 1973, Downing and Hill enlisted the help of vocalist Rob Halford and drummer John Hinch, the quartet recorded a demo that landed them a deal with Gull Records; the next year Glenn Tipton joined as second guitarist completing the five-piece line-up.<br />
In September of 1974 Judas Priest released its long-awaited debut album, "Rocka Rolla", to little attention.<br />
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Hinch left the crew shortly before the band started to work on their next album, 1976's "Sad Wings Of Destiny", which was recorded with re-enlisted drummer Alan Moore.<br />
A year later, the group lost Moore for the second and final time; Judas Priest enlisted the help of a new drummer, Simon Philips and returned to the studio to record their third LP, "Sin After Sin", which was issued on CBS Records with Deep Purple's Roger Glover producing; this was the band's first U.K. top 40 album. With Les Binks settled behind the drum kit, the band departed for their first American tour where they played as an opening act for Led Zeppelin.<br />
In the spring of 1978 the band released "Stained Class" which cracked the Pop Albums chart in the United States.<br />
The next album, "Killing Machine", generated two British hit singles: "Take On The World" and "Evening Star"; in America their fifth studio-LP was issued in 1979 under the name of "Hell Bent For Leather" as the record company considered the British title too violent; the U.S. edition included an extra-track, the cover of Fleetwood Mac's "The Green Manalishi"; the disc eventually reached the #128 position on The Official U.S. Pop Albums chart. Before the year's end Judas Priest released the live-album "Unleashed In The East" and replaced Binks with drummer Dave Holland; the live-set hit #70 on the U.S. Pop Albums chart and went platinum.<br />
The following year the band released "British Steel", which crashed into the top 5 of the Official U.K. Albums chart and reached the #34 spot on the U.S. Pop chart; the record yielded two British smash singles, "Breaking The Law" and "Living After Midnight"; most of 1980 was spent on the road touring with acts like Def Leppard, Scorpions and Rainbow.<br />
In the spring of the following year the quintet recorded "Point Of Entry", in America the album duplicate the chart performance of its predecessor and its single "Heading Out To The Highway" hit #10 on The Mainstream Rock chart; another single, "Hot Rockin", found more success in Britain.<br />
The year 1982 saw the release of "Screaming For Vengeance", the record rose to #17 in the United States, the band's highest charting album to date, it included the minor hit "Electric Eye" and the Mainstream Rock top 5 hit "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" helped pump album sales to over a million copies; the record was an huge hit in Europe where reached the #11 spot in their native England.<br />
The follow-up, "Defenders Of The Faith", appeared two years later, the album went on to rise to the top 20 of both The Billboard Top 200 and the National U.K. charts.<br />
"Turbo" followed, trailed in 1986 by the Mainstream Rock top 30 hit single "Locked In"; the full-length disc hit #17 on The Billboard 200 Albums chart and went on to sell over a million units. During the year Judas Priest toured America several times, they decided to release "Priest...Live!", the set climbed into the top 40 of The Billboard 200.<br />
With their next album, "Ram It Down", they returned to the harsh Metal sound but failed to retain their original fans, the record hit #31 on The Billboard Top 200 chart and inched into the top 30 in Britan.<br />
In 1989 Holland left the group and was replaced by drummer Scott Travis who joined in time to record "Painkiller"; this album was issued in autumn of 1990 and reached the #26 position on Billboard's Top 200 spawning the Active Rock top 30 hit "A Touch Of Evil".<br />
That same year, the parents of two fans who committed suicide after listening "Better By You, Better Than Me" from the 1978's "Stained Class" album, dragged Judas Priest into court to defend themselves in a multi-million dollar lawsuit; after three-years court battle the band was declared not guilty.<br />
Rob Halford left the group in 1991, thus began a collaboration with Pantera and later fronted Black Sabbath, finally embarked full-time on his solo project.<br />
In 1997, the veteran Heavy-Metal group resurfaced with 29-year-old vocalist Tim 'Ripper' Owens; their new effort, "Jugulator", reached #82 on The Billboard Top 200 and ascended into the top 50 of the British Albums chart.<br />
Another three and a half years passed before the quintet returned with their next release, "Demolition", but the album was a commercial failure.<br />
Rumors of Halford's return to the group began circulating, the reunion was officially announced during 2003.<br />
Halford, Tipton, Downing, Hill and Travis released "Angel Of Retribution", in March of 2005, the album achieved a career-best peak of #13 in U.S. and included the Active Rock top 30 hit single "Revolution".<br />
<br />
Judas Priest's long-delayed new disc will be released in mid-June; their upcoming first conceptual album is based upon the life and predictions of the 16th century French prophet Nostradamus.<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-22849929683806032932011-02-05T18:26:00.000+02:002011-02-05T18:26:33.258+02:00DIRE STRAITS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjttkvasLb4UHutcgr6GavF3n8mNko_-22YGAd9XmNBGFO_hPe093crN3CalR5jSGmnFNy9ZSwPkvQ2imq5VVcgRY8HEzIBEpQqL4A3QI_-mqiDfq0sG6qSH1ViRJG1INuFQ8N8PrgULy9V/s1600/dire_straits1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjttkvasLb4UHutcgr6GavF3n8mNko_-22YGAd9XmNBGFO_hPe093crN3CalR5jSGmnFNy9ZSwPkvQ2imq5VVcgRY8HEzIBEpQqL4A3QI_-mqiDfq0sG6qSH1ViRJG1INuFQ8N8PrgULy9V/s200/dire_straits1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>June 1977 - Nov 1977. English graduate and former Yorkshire Evening Post journalist, Mark Knopfler, (born Aug. 12, 1949, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland), a part time teacher and pub rock player and songwriter, having spent two months with northern UK band Brewers Droop, before forming Café Racers, is sharing a flat with fellow group members in Deptford, South London. His cohorts are social worker and guitarist brother, David Knopfler, (born Dec. 27th 1952, Glasgow), and sociology undergraduate and bank manager's son John Illsley (born June 24th 1949, Leicester, England), and they frequently jam and rehearse Mark's own material.<br />
<span class="fullpost"><br />
They are joined by Pick Withers, (born April 4th 1948). Under the name of Mark's previous band, Café Racers, the line up debuts at a punk festival, headlined by Squeeze, on waste ground behind Farrar House. A friend of Pick's - seeing their financial plight - suggests the name Dire Straits, which they do for their second gig - supporting Squeeze at the local legendary Albany Theatre.<br />
<br />
The band scrapes together £120 and records a demo tape at Pathway Studios, North London, Mark and John take the tape round to Charlie Gillett, a DJ with Radio London, and, unknown to the band, Charlie plays the tape on his "Honky Tonk" show. Oct 1977. Phonogram Records' A and R man, John Stainze, one of many impressed by the broadcast demos, tracks down the band, and after strong competition, signs it to Phonogram's Vertigo label for the world, excluding The USA.<br />
<br />
Nov 1977. Billed as Dire Straights, the band plays London's Hope and Anchor pub.<br />
<br />
Dec 1977. Ed Bicknell, (former drummer in Jess Conrad's band), then an agent at NEMS Agency, hears the band's tape when Stainze enquires about an agency deal for it and, after seeing the group perform at Dingwalls club in London, asks to manage them. An informal agreement is reached, and Ed puts the band on as support on the forthcoming Talking Heads UK tour, where Dire Straits get an encore every night.<br />
<br />
1978<br />
<br />
Feb 14 1978 - Mar 8 1978. Dire Straits record their first LP at Basing Street Studios in London, with producer Muff Winwood (The project will cost £12,500 including artwork to complete).<br />
<br />
Mar/Apr 1978. Residency at the Marquee Club, London. Shows sold out to great reviews<br />
<br />
May 1978. Dire Straits tour the UK supporting Climax Blues Band, and also make their first visit to Europe where they support Styx (Paris, Hamburg and the Hague). "Sultans Of Swing" is released in the UK. It enters the charts in the lower thirties, and drops out the following week.<br />
<br />
June 8 1978. The bands first album is released in the UK, it enters the Top 50, gets to 37 then drops out. The band's first headlining UK tour ends with two sold out shows at the Marquee. Meanwhile, a deal has been concluded for the group's record to be released on Warner Brothers in The USA.<br />
<br />
July 1978. The first album is released in Belgium and Holland.<br />
<br />
Sept 1978. Mark visits the Muscle Shoals Studios, AL, meeting producer Jerry Wexler and playing on a Mavis Staples' session. A deal is struck with Wexler and Muscle Shoals keyboard player Barry Beckett, for them to produce Dire Straits' second album.<br />
<br />
Oct 1978. Album sales increase in Europe, and "Sultans Of Swing" is released as a single there and does well. The band tour Holland, Belgium and W. Germany to sell-out crowds.<br />
<br />
Nov 1 - 18 1978. Sell-out British university tour - new material played for the first time.<br />
<br />
Nov 1978. The band's debut album, having been released in The USA on Oct 20, is receiving widespread initial airplay reaction.<br />
<br />
Nov 27 1978. Band departs for Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas, to record second album, "Communiqué". Meanwhile a debut US tour is set up for the following<br />
February.<br />
<br />
Dec 1978. First album reaches number 1 in Australia, and goes gold in New Zealand. It is also developing into a massive hit in The USA, Canada, Germany, Holland, Belgium and France.<br />
<br />
<br />
1979<br />
<br />
Jan 1 - 10 1979. Mixing of "Communiqué" album at Muscle Shoals, Alabama.<br />
<br />
Feb 1979. First album goes to number 1 in France. Goes platinum in Australia and New Zealand, (where it is number 3). "Sultans Of Swing" is at number 4 in Australia. Band decide that "Communiqué" should be released world-wide in June.<br />
<br />
Feb 23 - Apr 3 1979. Dire Straits debut US tour. 51 sold out shows in 38 days, over 300 interviews, and dozens of radio studio visits. When the band get to New York, they are told the album has just gone gold, and as they get to Los Angeles, it goes platinum. Bob Dylan sees the band and invites Mark and Pick to play on his next LP. Meanwhile the first album goes to number 2 on the American Billboard Charts (41 weeks), and the single goes to number 5 in Canada.At the same time, things are going well in Europe: "Dire Straits" goes gold in Germany, and takes off in Denmark and Sweden.<br />
<br />
April 7 1979. Phonogram UK decide to re-activate "Sultans Of Swing", and it hits UK #8 and US #4.<br />
<br />
Apr 21 1979. Boosted by the success of "Sultans Of Swing", the album "Dire Straits" hits UK #5 (The album will eventually be a million seller in both the UK and US, and will spend 132 weeks on the UK survey).<br />
<br />
May 1 - 12 1979. Mark and Pick work with Bob Dylan in Muscle Shoals on his forthcoming album "Slow Train Coming"<br />
<br />
June 5 1979. Release of "Communiqué".<br />
<br />
June 1979. Sold out UK tour. The group are presented with gold albums for "Dire Straits" and for the pre-sales of "Communiqué".<br />
"Communiqué" becomes the first LP EVER to enter the German charts at number 1 in it's first week of release (and the first LP is still at number 3 in that country)<br />
<br />
June 30 1979. The album "Communiqué", once again entirely written by Mark and released to coincide with another sell-out UK and European tour hits UK #5.<br />
<br />
Aug 4 1979. The album "Communiqué" makes US #11.<br />
<br />
Aug 11 1979. The extracted "Lady Writer" peaks at UK #51.<br />
<br />
Aug 25 1979. "Lady Writer" makes US #45.<br />
<br />
Sept 1979. Second USA tour. "Communiqué" is now a world-wide hit, while in many countries, the first album is still in the top 10. Both albums have now gone gold and platinum in South Africa, the Scandinavian countries, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, the UK, USA and Canada. "Communiqué" enters the New Zealand chart at number 1.<br />
<br />
Nov 1979. Sold out tour of Holland, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Dire Straits become only the third act ever to sell out the 14,000 seat Scandinavian Hall in Gothenburg.<br />
<br />
<br />
1980<br />
<br />
Apr 1980. Phil Lynott's Album "Solo in Soho", featuring Mark's distinctive fret-work, makes UK #28.<br />
<br />
July 25 1980. After a month's recording sessions for the next album with new producer Jimmy Iovine, (He has been engineer/mixer on Bruce Springsteen's "Born To Run" LP and producer on Patti Smith's "Easter" LP). David Knopfler quits the band to pursue a solo career, which will yield the albums "Release" (UK #82, 1983), "Behind The Lines"<br />
(1985), "Cut The Wire" (1987) and "Lips Against The Steel" (1988). New York session man Sid McGinnis replaces him temporarily.<br />
<br />
Sep 1980. Following auditions, Hal Lindes (born June 30th 1953, Monterey, CA), ex-darling, and Alan Clark (born Mar. 5th 1952, Durham, England) are recruited on guitar and keyboard respectively.<br />
<br />
Oct 17 1980. Release of "Making Movies" and Mark sets off on a short press tour of Europe to promote it.<br />
<br />
Oct 20 - Nov 3 1980. Sold out North American tour including appearances by band on TV shows "Fridays" and "Solid Gold".<br />
<br />
Dec 1 - Dec 24 1980. Sold out UK tour. Group interrupt tour on December 19 and 20 to do two dates in Dortmund, Germany, with Roxy Music and Talking Heads. The shows are titled "Rock Pop" and are televised throughout Europe in January 1981. One of the largest music show television audiences in history.<br />
<br />
Dec 6 1980. Steely Dan's Album "Gaucho", featuring Mark on guest guitar, enters the US chart.<br />
<br />
1981<br />
<br />
Jan 1981. "Making Movies", with assistant from E Street Band keyboardist Roy Bittan, reaches US #19.<br />
<br />
Jan 31 1981. The single "Skateaway" peaks at US #58.<br />
<br />
Feb 14 1981. "Making Movies", assisted by the still climbing single "Romeo And Juliet" hits a belated UK chart peak of #4.<br />
<br />
Feb 21 1981. "Romeo And Juliet" hits UK #8.<br />
<br />
Mar/Apr 1981. Recently returned from a successful appearance at the San Remo Song Festival in Italy, the band embarks on its debut tour of Australia and New Zealand. Five sold out shows in Melbourne, four in Adelaide and seven in Sidney. The concert in Auckland turns out to be the highest-grossing show in the group's history so far…<br />
<br />
Apr 11 1981. "Skateaway" makes UK #37.<br />
<br />
May/Jun 1981. Tour of Northern Europe. All shows sold out and in Stockholm, band out-draws Wings and even local heroes Abba!<br />
<br />
June/July 1981. Tour of Southern Europe, again all sold out. Over a quarter of a million people see the band at the Italian shows alone.<br />
<br />
Oct 17 1981. "Tunnel Of Love" single peaks at UK #54.<br />
<br />
1982<br />
<br />
Feb 1982. Mark is invited by film producer David Puttnam to compose and perform the soundtrack score to Bill Forsyth's "Local Hero" movie. (He is also currently featured on Van Morrison's latest album, "Beautiful Vision".)<br />
<br />
Mar 1 1982. The band begins recording it's fourth album. Immediately afterwards, Pick Withers leaves the band.<br />
<br />
Apr 1982. Phil Lynott's album, "The Phil Lynott Album", including Mark's lead guitar on the track "Ode To Liberty" (which he also co-produced), is released.<br />
<br />
Jul 1982. "Local Hero" soundtrack music is recorded, after Mark visits location shooting in Scotland.<br />
<br />
Aug 1982. UK release of "Private Investigations" which goes on to become the band's most successful British single to date.. reached number 2 in the UK charts, behind Survivor's "Eye Of The Tiger", after only two weeks. Even though it was extremely long for a single, most radio DJ's actually played the entire song and didn't even speak over<br />
it…<br />
<br />
Sep 24 1982. World-wide release of "Love Over Gold". Band set off on TV and press tour of Europe.. On their return, they audition drummers, and select Terry Williams, ex-Man and Dave Edmunds band Rockpile, to replace Pick.<br />
<br />
Oct 1982. Mark suddenly decides he wants to do a rock 'n' roll EP. "Twisting By The Pool" is recorded very quickly in London, and is Terry's first work with the band.<br />
<br />
Oct 2 1982. The album "Love Over Gold", featuring the 14 minute opus "Telegraph Road", hits UK #1, where it stays for four weeks.<br />
<br />
Nov 2 1982. Mark and Terry record with Phil Everly in London.<br />
<br />
Nov 13 1982. "Love Over Gold" reaches US #19.<br />
<br />
Nov 30 - Dec 21 1982. 22-date sold out UK tour. Tommy Mandel has joined the band for touring purposes on additional keyboards - Alan hasn't enough fingers to play all the parts! The four Wembley Arena shows are oversubscribed tenfold…..Meanwhile "Love Over Gold" has sold over 2 million copies and has reached number 1 in 16 countries, and number 2 in another four.<br />
<br />
1983<br />
<br />
Jan 1983. Mark and Alan go to New York to put the finishing touches to the "Local Hero" LP.<br />
<br />
Jan 14 1983. "Twisting By The Pool" released world-wide, goes on to reach number 14 in the UK, and charts in several other countries too.<br />
<br />
Jan 22 1983. The single "Industrial Disease" peaks at US #75.<br />
<br />
Feb 8 1983. Dire Straits wins Best British Group at the second BRIT awards, at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.<br />
<br />
Feb 13 1983. Band go to Australia for the biggest-grossing tour ever undertaken in that territory. "Twisting By The Pool" goes to number 1 in Australia and number 2 in New Zealand.<br />
<br />
Mar 12 1983. Mark's solo single, "Going Home", the theme from "Local Hero", debuts at its UK #56 peak.<br />
<br />
Mar 26 1983. In Auckland, New Zealand, Dire Straits draw the largest public gathering ever in the history of New Zealand (62,000) and play to a further 36,000 in Wellington.<br />
<br />
Apr 1983. Marketed in the US as a mini album, "Twisting By The Pool" makes US #53.<br />
<br />
Apr 2 - 5 1983. Debut tour of Japan.<br />
<br />
Apr 11 - May 8 1983. Mark in New York, co-producing and performing on Bob Dylan's "Infidels" album. He's assisted by Alan Clark, Mick Taylor (ex-Stones), Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare.<br />
<br />
May 1983. Mark's "Local Hero" soundtrack album reaches UK #14.<br />
<br />
May 5 1983. "Private Investigations" wins the Outstanding British Lyric category at the 28th annual Novello Awards, at London's Grosvenor House Hotel.<br />
<br />
May July 1983. Sold out tour of Europe. During this tour, 12 shows are recorded for a possible live album. ("We decided subsequently to use a later recording made in London" - see July).<br />
<br />
July 12 1983. Dire Straits play the first ever open air concert in Yugoslavia, at Zagreb. It is the largest rock concert in that country to date. They all fly back to the UK the next day, and leave immediately for an open air show in Dublin.<br />
<br />
July 20 1983. Dire Straits headline a charity show for the Prince of Wales' Trust, at the Dominion Theatre, London, in the presence of Their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales. Duran Duran are the opening act.<br />
<br />
July 22/23 1983. Two special shows at Hammersmith Odeon, London, which are filmed for the forthcoming live LP/cassette/compact disc/video. Probably two of the best live shows the band have done to date. When Mark is mixing the shows for the "Alchemy" release, he decides not to have any overdubs or re-recording done at all, thus "Alchemy" is a truly live album (mistakes and all), unlike most so-called live albums which are heavily re-recorded and edited.<br />
<br />
Summer/Autumn 1983. After mixing "Alchemy", Mark and John play on David Knopfler's solo LP "Release". Mark goes on to act as musical director and composer for David Putnam's next film "Cal" starring John Lynch and Helen Mirren, and also Bill Forsyth's next film "Comfort And Joy" starring Bill Patterson. John Illsley goes on to record his first solo album "Never Told A Soul", which includes session from Mark and Terry.<br />
<br />
Nov 1983. Mark Marries Lourdes Salomon at Kensington Register Office, London.<br />
<br />
1984<br />
<br />
Feb 25 1984. Double A side single, "Love Over Gold/Solid Rock" (both live versions), makes UK #50.<br />
<br />
Mar 1984. The album "Alchemy - Dire Straits Live" hits UK #3.<br />
<br />
Spring 1984. "Alchemy" subsequently goes platinum in the UK, Eire, and Portugal, and double platinum in Australia and New Zealand. It reached number 1 in Greece and New Zealand, and reached the Top Ten in other countries, not bad going for a double live album.<br />
<br />
Apr 19 1984. "Going Home" wins the Best Film Theme Or Song category at the 29th annual Ivor Novello Awards, again held at London's Grosvenor House Hotel.<br />
<br />
May 1984. "Alchemy" makes US #46.<br />
<br />
June 1984. Mark Knopfler produces "The Knife" LP by Aztec Camera. John Illsley releases the solo album "Never Told A Soul" on vertigo.<br />
<br />
Autumn 1984. Mark's music for "Comfort And Joy" (his second score for director Bill Forsyth),released on three-track 12" EP, and his music for "Cal" released on LP/cassette/CD to coincide with the release of the film.<br />
<br />
Oct 1984. Mark's soundtrack album "Cal" reaches UK #65. The album "Knife", by Aztec Camera and produced by Mark reaches UK #14 and US #175.<br />
<br />
Late 1984. Recording commences for "Brothers In Arms", the album is recorded using the band's own digital 24-track machine at Air Studios, Monserrat, West Indies, throughout the winter and is finished at the Power Station Studios, New York. Hal Lindes leaves the band halfway through recording. Mark subsequently plays all guitar parts on<br />
the record.<br />
<br />
1985<br />
<br />
Mar 23 1985. Tina Turner hits US #7 with the Knopfler-penned "Private Dancer" single (a left over from material written for the album "Love Over Gold").<br />
<br />
Apr 1985. Single "So Far Away" released.<br />
<br />
Band have replaced Hal Lindes - the new guitarist is Jack Sonni, a friend of Mark's who worked at Rudy's Music Stop, 48th Street, New York. They also add Guy Fletcher (born May 25 1960), formerly with Roxy Music and many sessions, on additional keyboards, and later, Chris White on sax ,late of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra.<br />
<br />
New seven piece band rehearse for tour, in Yugoslavia.<br />
<br />
The start of the "Live In '85" mega-tour, which went on to visit 23 different countries, 117 cities, and consisted of about 250 shows seen between two and a half and three million people. The tour commenced in Split, Yugoslavia, and ended over a year later in Sydney, Australia. In Australia alone, the group travelled 22,000 miles, and played to 810,000<br />
fans. At various stages along the way, trucks were added or taken off, depending on the venue sizes, and at one point there were 11 trucks of equipment on the road, carrying 52 tonnes of gear. There were nearly 50 people travelling on the road (band, crew, office staff, catering staff, etc).<br />
<br />
May 4 1985. The single "So Far Away" reaches UK #20.<br />
<br />
May 17 1985.. World-wide release of "Brothers In Arms". Recorded with the Line-up of Mark Knopfler, John Illsley, Alan Clark, Terry Williams and Guy Fletcher, the album ships platinum in the UK (i.e. it is platinum on advance orders before coming out), and the project is the largest-ever ship of compact discs in history. LP enters UK charts at Number 1 on May 25, and holds the top slot for three weeks. Two tracks from the album eventually get used in episodes of "Miami Vice". "Brothers In Arms" is used in the<br />
episode entitled "Out Where The Buses Don't Run", and "Ride Across The River" is used in "Knock Knock...Who's There".<br />
<br />
<br />
June 15 1985. Bryan Ferry's Album "Boys And Girls" , featuring session fret-work by Mark hits UK #1.<br />
<br />
June 27 1985. Dire Straits is awarded the 1985 Silver Clef for Outstanding Services to British Music by the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre.<br />
<br />
Summer 1985. "Brothers In Arms" is at number 1 in Canada, USA, Brazil, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Eire, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, Turkey, Yugoslavia, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Israel, and South Africa. It is in the top ten in every country it was released in, and<br />
is also selling well in countries, which have no charts (e.g. Bolivia, Colombia, Uruguay, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and most African countries).<br />
July 1985. On UK section of tour, band sell out an unprecedented 13 nights at Wembley Arena (and could probably have done another 13 judging by ticket applications). On July 4th, one of the hottest days of the year, Prince Charles and Princess Diana attend the show. A week later, band appear at Live Aid on July 13th at Wembley Stadium in the afternoon<br />
(another scorching hot day) and also play the Arena in the evening. Live Aid goes out live to over 80% of the total number of television sets in existence throughout the world. Over a billion people watched it - making it the biggest rock and TV event in history.<br />
<br />
Alan Clark leaves the band, and Guy Fletcher joins on keyboards, for the tour.<br />
<br />
Immediately after the last show at Wembley, band leave for tour of Canada and The USA, the Shows sell out one after the other, dates are added, and the band hardly get a day off.<br />
<br />
Aug 10 1985. The single "Money For Nothing", featuring co-writer Sting on lead-in vocals (the immortal "I want my MTV") and taken from the album "Brothers In Arms" hits UK #4.<br />
<br />
Aug 31 1985. The album "Brothers In Arms" begins a nine-week tenure at US #1. It will top charts in 25 countries and eventually sell over 20 million albums world-wide.<br />
<br />
Sept 21 1985. Aided by an innovative animated Steve Barron-directed promo video which gets heavy MTV and other US TV exposure, the single "Money For Nothing" tops the charts for the first of three weeks, the band's biggest US hit, and its first million-selling single.<br />
<br />
Oct 1985. Last US show October 13th. Band fly direct to Europe for tour till November 30th.<br />
<br />
Dec 1985. Band fly home to UK and immediately start second leg of UK tour, starting with 21 shows back-to-back, including 7 nights at Hammersmith Odeon, which they play in preference to the larger Wembley Arena for the sake of the fans. A few days break over Christmas, then Scottish shows over the New Year.<br />
<br />
The title track, "Brothers In Arms" is released as a single, and reaches UK #16. (It is notable as the first ever commercially issued CD-single in the UK, a limited pressing of 400 copies).<br />
<br />
1986<br />
<br />
Jan 1986. Band leaves for Sydney to start rehearsals.<br />
<br />
Jan 25 1986. The single "Walk Of Life" hits US #7.<br />
<br />
Feb 1986 "Walk Of Life" hits UK #2.<br />
<br />
Feb 10 1986. Dire Straits is named Best British Group, for the second time, at the fifth annual BRIT awards, at London's Grosvenor House Hotel.<br />
<br />
Feb 25 1986. They win the Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group with vocal category for "Money For Nothing", while the album "Brothers In Arms" is named Best Engineered Recording (Non Classical) and Mark snares the Best Country Instrumental Performance category with one of his original guitar heroes, Chet Atkins, for the song "Cosmic Square Dance" from the album "Stay Tuned", at the 28th annual Grammy Awards.<br />
<br />
Feb - Apr 1986. Tour of Australia and New Zealand. Includes a 13-night stint in Melbourne and 21 night at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. The final show of the tour is April 26th, and is screened live on TV throughout Australia and New Zealand.<br />
Apr 26 1986. Single "So Far Away" reaches US #19.<br />
<br />
May 1986. The single "Your Latest Trick" reaches UK #26.<br />
<br />
Mark, his acoustic guitar-maker Steve Phillips and Brendan Croker play at the Grove, a small folk club in Leeds, England, as a prelude to a more formal forthcoming collaboration.<br />
<br />
Mid 1986. By now "Brothers In Arms" has gone 6 times platinum in the UK, 10 times platinum in Canada, 5 times platinum in the USA, 10 times platinum in Australia and a staggering 15 times platinum in New Zealand. It held the number 1 slot in Australia longer than any other LP, and has now become the best-selling compact disc ever to be released in the world.<br />
<br />
June 1986. Mark races in the Mille Miglia car race in Italy, then produces two tracks for Tina Turner's "break every Rule" album ("Overnight Sensation" which he wrote himself, and "Paradise Is Here" by Paul Brady).<br />
<br />
June 20 1986.Mark and John appear at Wembley Arena for a special Prince's Trust 10th Anniversary concert, attended by Prince Charles and Princess Diana. They play as part of a "super-group" also features Elton John, Mark King, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney, Phil Collins and a host of others. Later screened on TV in the UK and subsequently in many other countries throughout the world.<br />
<br />
Summer 1986. Mark records a short piece of music for inclusion in the Martin Scorsese film "Color Of Money" (starring Tom Cruise and Paul Newman) and also records the music for a television documentary on Prince Charles and Princess Diana, titled "In Private In Public", shown on ITN in the UK and subsequently all over the world..<br />
<br />
Sep 15 1986. "Money For Nothing" wins the Best Video and Best Group Video categories at the third annual MTV Video Music Awards, broadcast simultaneously from the Universal Amphitheatre, Universal City, CA, and The Palladium, New York. (The song lyric "I want my MTV" has become the cable station's catch-phrase).<br />
<br />
Oct 24 1986. The group's sound engineer, Peter Grange, is killed in a road accident in Gloucestershire, England.<br />
<br />
Oct 25 1986. In a celebrity car race before the Australian Grand Prix, Mark breaks his collarbone in an accident.<br />
<br />
1987<br />
<br />
Jan 1987. Mark guests at one of Eric Clapton's annual concert marathons at London's Royal Albert Hall.<br />
<br />
Feb 9 1987. "Brothers In Arms" is named Best British Album at the sixth annual BRIT Awards, held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.<br />
<br />
Feb 24 1987. "Dire Straits Brothers In Arms" wins the Best Music Video, Long Form category at the 29th annual Grammy Awards.<br />
<br />
March - May 1987. Mark joins a host of artists (Including Paul McCartney, Boy George and Mark King) to record a version of "Let It Be" to raise money for the families of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster victims - the single reached number 1 and stayed at the top of the charts for three weeks.<br />
<br />
Mark joins Chet Atkins to do a short set at the Secret Policeman's Ball at the London Palladium, with all proceeds going to Amnesty International and subsequently flies to Nashville at the beginning of May to appear in a TV special "Tribute to Chet Atkins".<br />
<br />
June 1987. John releases a single under the name "K. Wallis B and the Dark Shades of Night".<br />
<br />
Aug 1 1987. "Money For Nothing" is the first music video broadcast on MTV Europe.<br />
<br />
Sep 1987. Mark wins three Ascap Awards for "So Far Away", Money For Nothing" and "Walk of Life".<br />
<br />
Nov 1987. Benefiting from the advent of compact disc, The album "Brothers In Arms" sells its three-millionth copy in the UK, becoming Britain's all-time best-selling album, and its second biggest selling recording of any kind. (Only the Band Aid's single "Do They Know Its Christmas" has a higher UK sales total.)<br />
<br />
Nov 9 1987. Mark's wife Lourdes gives birth to twin boys - Benji and Joseph, who will inspire their daddy's composition, "I Love You Too Much", (which is subsequently recorded by Jeff Healey).<br />
<br />
Nov 9 1987. "The Princess Bride" film soundtrack album is released.<br />
<br />
1988<br />
<br />
Feb 1988. Willy De Ville's album "Miracles", produced by Mark, is released by Polydor.<br />
<br />
Apr 1988. Mark works with Bob Dylan on Dylan's album "Down In The Groove".<br />
<br />
Spring/Summer 1988. Mark works on Randy Newman's new album scheduled for a September 1988 release.<br />
<br />
May 1988. John's second solo album entitled "Glass" is released on Vertigo.<br />
<br />
June 5/6 1988. Mark and Alan perform with Eric Clapton's band at the Prince's Trust shows at London's Royal Albert Hall.<br />
<br />
June 8/9 1988. Dire Straits perform two warm up shows (Fan Club only) at Hammersmith Odeon.<br />
<br />
June 11 1988. The group Headline the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday concert at London's Wembley Arena appearing with Simple Minds, Whitney Houston, Sting and others. Televised world-wide, with Eric Clapton guesting as second guitarist, the show helps the album "Brothers In Arms" back into the Top 20 after 162 weeks on the chart.<br />
<br />
July 1988. Mark guests on Joan Armatrading's album "The Shouting Stage".<br />
<br />
Sep/Oct 1988. Mark and Alan Join Eric Clapton for his US tour.<br />
<br />
Sep 15 1988. After much speculation, Mark announces the official end of Dire Straits.<br />
<br />
Oct 17 1988. The group release "Money For Nothing" Simultaneously on album, cassette and compact disc. Spanning 10 years of the groups career. It includes live versions of "Twisting By The Pool" and "Telegraph Road", goes straight to the top, on week of release. A multi-platinum success in the UK, in the US it peaks at #62, although the track listing is criticised.<br />
<br />
Nov 5 1988. The extracted re-issue, "Sultans Of Swing", peaks at UK #62.<br />
<br />
1989<br />
<br />
Mar 1989. Dire Straits are featured on the Greenpeace supporting album "Rainbow Warriors", initially launched in Russia. (US country act Highway 101 hits US Country #2 with the single "Setting Me Up", originally written by Mark for Waylon Jennings in 1984, while the Judds' album "River Of Time", featuring their version of Mark's "Water Of Love", with the artist on guest guitar, is released the following month.)<br />
<br />
Apr 1989. Mark and John (as Dire Straits) are honoured with the Outstanding Contribution To British Music at the 34th annual Ivor Novello Awards lunch, at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.<br />
<br />
Sep 11 1989. Jim Henson's "The Ghost Of Faffner Hall", on which Mark is one of many guests, airs on HBO-TV.<br />
<br />
1990<br />
<br />
Mar 17 1990. The Notting Hillbillies' album "Missing - Presumed Having A Good Time" debuts at UK #2. Mark has formed the band in a deliberate attempt to return to a more low-key performing act, with old friends Steve Phillips, Brendan Croker, (who teamed with Steve Phillips in 1976 in Nev and Norris), and Guy Fletcher, with whom Mark has been producing Croker and Phillips at his Notting Hill, London, Home Studio. Ed Bicknell, Dire Straits manager, is appointed drummer<br />
<br />
Apr 2 1990. They embark on a UK tour, taking in 41 gigs in 43 days around Britain through April and May.<br />
<br />
Apr 19 1990. Mark appears alongside David Gilmour, Mark King, Lemmy and Gary Moore, as witnesses in a comedy drama courthouse sketch on BBC-TV's "French and Saunders", and they end the sketch jamming together.<br />
<br />
Apr 21 1990. The album "Missing - Presumed Having A Good Time" makes US #52.<br />
<br />
May 19 1990. A modest venue Notting Hillbillies UK tour ends. They then appear on NBC-TV's "Saturday Night Live" with the line-up augmented by Nashville based Paul Franklin on pedal steel and Marcus Cliff (of Croker's Five O'clock Shadows) on bass.<br />
<br />
June 30 1990. Mark joins Phil Collins and Genesis, Pink Floyd, Robert Plant, Paul McCartney, Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Status Quo, Elton John, Eric Clapton and Tears For Fears, all previously Silver Clef winners, on a star-studded bill at Knebworth Park, Knebworth, Herts, England, in aid of the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre.<br />
<br />
Jul 1 1990. Mark and John, and the bands manager, Ed Bicknell, decide, over lunch at the Halcyon Hotel, Holland Park, to reconvene Dire Straits to record their sixth studio album and plan a parallel world tour.<br />
<br />
Nov 24 1990. "Neck And Neck", a Mark Knopfler and Chet Atkins guitar-laden duet album, debuts at its UK #41 peak.<br />
<br />
Dec 1 1990. "Neck And Neck" peaks at US #127. (During the year, Mark has also released his soundtrack score to "Last Exit To Brooklyn").<br />
<br />
1991<br />
<br />
Feb 1991. While recording for a New Dire Straits album project at London's Air Studios, Mark contributes a guitar solo to "Voices That Care", a David Foster and Linda Thompson Jenner-composed and organised charity record to benefit the American Red Cross Gulf Crisis Fund.<br />
<br />
Feb 20 1991. Mark and Chet Atkins win the Best Country Vocal Collaboration category for "Poor Boy Blues" and Best Country Instrumental Performance for "So Soft, Your Goodbye" at the 33rd annual Grammy Awards, at New York's Radio City Music Hall.<br />
<br />
Aug 23 1991. The first date of a two year, 300-gig world tour begins in Dublin, with the line-up comprising Mark Knopfler, John Illsley, Guy Fletcher, Alan Clarke, Phil Palmer (guitar), Chris White (sax), Paul Franklin (pedal steel), Chris Whitten (drums) and Danny Cummings (percussion). They will play to 7.1 million paying fans.<br />
<br />
Aug 31 1991. The single "Calling Elvis" debuts at its UK #21 peak.<br />
<br />
Sep 21 1991. Dire Straits' first new album in over six years, "On Every Street" enters at UK #1. Engineers for the album were Bill Schnee and Chuck Ainley, with production credited to Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits, and mixed by Neil Dorfsman. Bob Clearmountain mixes one track "Heavy Fuel"<br />
<br />
Oct 5 1991. The album "On Every Street" reaches US #12.<br />
<br />
Oct 29 1991. The band plays five sell-out shows at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, grossing AUS $2,078,830 from a combined audience of 45,573.<br />
<br />
Nov 2 1991. The single "Heavy Fuel" bows out at it's UK #55 peak.<br />
<br />
1992<br />
<br />
Feb26 1992. The group plays to a sell-out crowd of 16,000 at New York's Madison Square Garden, during the North American Leg of its tour.<br />
<br />
Feb 29 1992. The single "On Every Street" debuts at its UK #42 peak.<br />
<br />
June 3 - 8 1992. Dire Straits performs at London's Earls Court, during a UK trek which includes stadium dates at Cardiff Arms Park, Gateshead Athletic Stadium, Maine Road Manchester and Woburm Abbey.<br />
<br />
June 27 1992. The single "The Bug" charts for a week at UK # 67.<br />
<br />
June 30 1992. German leg of the tour opens at the Schleyerhalle, Stuttgart.<br />
<br />
Sep 29 1992. "Dire Straits Live : Rendezvous With The Sultans Of Swing" pay-per-view broadcast airs from Arenes De N?mes, Provence, France.<br />
<br />
Oct 6 - 7 1992. Their world tour now reaches the Plaza De Toros De Las Ventas in Madrid, Spain.<br />
<br />
1993<br />
<br />
May 8 1993. Mark receives an honorary music doctorate from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England.<br />
<br />
May 22 1993. The EP "Encores" and album "On The Night", a 76 minute live album recorded at Les Arenes, N?mes, and the Feyenoord Stadium, Rotterdam, Netherlands, debut at their respective UK #31 and #4 peaks.<br />
<br />
June 5 1993. The album "On The Night" makes US #116.<br />
<br />
1994<br />
<br />
Sep 1994. A tribute album to Arthur Alexander, "Adios Amigo", including Mark's pairing with Chuck Jackson on the track "You Better Move On" is released in the US.<br />
<br />
Oct 14 1994. Mark's "The Bug" is honoured at the 14th ASCAP dinner at London's Park Lane Hotel.<br />
<br />
1995<br />
<br />
July 8 1995. The album "Live At The BBC", released by Windsong Records, featuring six tracks from the group's debut album, and "What's The Matter Baby" recorded at the Paris Theatre in July 1978 and "Tunnel Of Love" from a 1981 edition of The "Old Grey Whistle Test", peaks at UK #71.<br />
<br />
1996<br />
<br />
Jan 2 1996. A tribute album "Notfadeaway: Remembering Buddy Holly", including Mark's version of "Learning The Game" with Waylon Jennings, is released in the US.<br />
<br />
Mar 16 1996. Mark's single "Darling Pretty" reaches UK #33 in its week of entry. It is a taster for his solo album "Golden Heart", released on Vertigo on the 25th. Recorded over the past two years in Dublin, Eire and Nashville, TN, it includes guest appearances by former Dire Straits Colleague Guy Fletcher, Vince Gill, Paul Brady and the Chieftains'.<br />
<br />
May 25 1996. The single "Cannibals" hits UK #42.<br />
<br />
Jun 15 1996. Four albums re-enter the UK chart after being digitally re-mastered. "Brothers In Arms" re-enters the UK album chart at #19, "Love Over Gold" at #68, (now 199 weeks on the chart), "Dire Straits" at #69 (131 weeks), and "Making Movies" at #70 (250 weeks).<br />
<br />
Dec 21 1996. The single "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" by Dunblane featuring Mark Knopfler, debuts at UK #1.<br />
1997<br />
<br />
Sep 1997 Mark was one of the artists who performed for Sir George Martin's "Music For Montserrat Concert" at the Royal Albert Hall, London.<br />
1998<br />
<br />
April/May 1998. Mark's debut solo UK tour backed by a five-piece band.<br />
<br />
Apr 6 1998. The album "Golden Heart" enters at its UK #9 peak.<br />
<br />
Sep 26 1998. The album "Brothers In Arms" clocks up it's 222nd week on the UK album chart, already certified 13 times platinum in the UK, that's 3.9 million copies.<br />
<br />
Oct 31 1998. The greatest hits album "Sultans Of Swing" debuts at its UK #6 peak.<br />
<br />
1998. Mark also releases soundtracks for "Metroland" and "Wag The Dog".Mark's third wife, Kitty Aldridge, gives birth to daughter Isabella.<br />
<br />
2000<br />
<br />
April 2000. The greatest hits compilation "Sultans Of Swing" is released on DVD.<br />
<br />
Mark's soundtrack album to the film "Road To Glory" is due for release in September, 2000.<br />
September 22. Mark appears on the Michael Parkinson Show at 21:30 on UK's BBC1. He plays his new Solo single "What It Is" and talks briefly of his childhood and his inspirations<br />
<br />
September 23. UK's "Music Week" reports. Mark Knopfler's first solo project in four years is also already winning friends at radio and retail, including in Italy where his<br />
single "What It Is" has just entered the sales chart at number seven and in Spain where it debuted at four. Knopfler recently performed the track on the very first<br />
Italian Top Of The Pops in Rome and will be further embarking over the next few months on a number of key TV appearances across Europe. These will include<br />
Germany's Geld Oder Liebe and Harold Schmidt Show and Italy's Quelli Che 11 Calcio. On September 27 he will also appear on David Letterman in the US, where<br />
he is handled by Warner. He will visit Argentina, Brazil and Mexico in November, and South Africa and Australasia next February after which he is contemplating<br />
going out on tour.<br />
<br />
October 7 "Sailing To Philadelphia" enters the UK album charts at #4.<br />
2001<br />
<br />
December 2001 Virgin Radio UK, issues a Top 500 compiled from listeners votes, and<br />
Dire Straits are listed at:-<br />
66…Romeo And Juliet<br />
83…Money For Nothing<br />
103…Sultans Of Swing<br />
457…Walk Of Life<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-49402534689248871052011-02-05T18:13:00.000+02:002011-02-05T18:13:02.341+02:00TOLIS VOSKOPOYLOS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaVS3FAclBejc9xfAMZFW1vi0AQIiimBA4S-EOAnu-J8gYiOJ_otwUFxrklKiE0CE42nicH08r5Kuwpdemb3Z2JI_G4Iha_957HsHF7TLzlSNhNWkR_peLnIzfUAyS88OacPxrDTHyHt3d/s1600/TOLIS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaVS3FAclBejc9xfAMZFW1vi0AQIiimBA4S-EOAnu-J8gYiOJ_otwUFxrklKiE0CE42nicH08r5Kuwpdemb3Z2JI_G4Iha_957HsHF7TLzlSNhNWkR_peLnIzfUAyS88OacPxrDTHyHt3d/s200/TOLIS.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Ο Τόλης Βοσκόπουλος είναι ηθοποιός και τραγουδιστής. Γεννήθηκε στις 26 Ιουλίου το 1940) στον Πειραιά (Κοκκινιά). Είναι το δωδέκατο παιδί της οικογένειας (έχει άλλες 11 αδερφές).<br />
Θεωρείται απο τους σημαντικότερους τραγουδιστές της γεννιάς του και έχει χαρακτηριστεί ως "άρχοντας της πίστας". Όπως είχε δηλώσει κάποτε σε συνέντευξη "Ξεκινώντας το τραγούδι, "πήρα" μαζί μου τον ηθοποιό Βοσκόπουλο" ενώ επίσης ήταν ο πρώτος τραγουδιστής που ερμήνευε όρθιος τα τραγούδια του εν αντιθέσει με την εποχή του που συνηθιζόταν ο καλλιτέχνης να ναι καθιστός. Κατά περιόδους έχει γράψει τραγούδια τόσο σε στίχο οσο και μουσική που έχει συμπεριλλάβει σε προσωπικούς του δίσκους ή τα εχουν ερμηνεύσει άλλοι καλλιτέχνες.<br />
<span class="fullpost"> <br />
Πρωτοεμφανίστηκε στο θέατρο το 1958 και τον κινηματογράφο το 1963, μπήκε στην δισκογραφία με το τραγούδι Βήμα βήμα του αξέχαστου μουσικοσυνθέτη Λυκούργου Μαρκέα. Η καθιέρωσή του στο "πεντάγραμμο" ήρθε με τη "Άγωνια" το 1968 (σύνθεση Γ.Ζαμπέτα) που μέσα σε πολύ λίγο χρονικό διάστημα ξεπέρασε τις 300.000 πωλήσεις. Έκτοτε έχει μια πολυετή πορεία με πωλήσεις πολλών εκατομμυρίων δίσκων και από τραγούδια που τραγουδούνται ακόμη και σήμερα όπως "Αγωνία", "Εγώ αγαπώ μια", "Πρίν χαθεί το όνειρό μας","Ανεπανάληπτος" κ.ά. Έχει ένα ευρύ φάσμα συνεργασιών ερμηνεύοντας τραγούδια Γιώργου Ζαμπέτα, Άκη Πάνου, Μίκη Θεοδωράκη, Θανάση Πολυκανδριώτη, Μάριου Τόκα, Γιάννη Πάριου, Πλέσσα, Κατσαρού, Βασιλειάδη, Δερβενιώτη, Βίρβου Λυμπερόπουλου, Πυθαγόρα, Φοίβου και πολλών άλλων.<br />
Έχει κάνει τέσσερις γάμους. Παντρεύτηκε πρώτα την Στέλλα Στρατηγού (ο γάμος του κράτησε από το 1960, μέχρι το 1965), την Μαρινέλλα (1973-1981), την Τζούλια Παπαδημητρίου, με την οποία έχει μία κόρη, τη Χαρά (εκκρεμεί δικαστική διαμάχη για την πατρότητα της από την πλευρά του Τόλη Βοσκόπουλου) (1990-1995) και την πρώην ηθοποιό και νυν βουλευτή του ΠΑΣΟΚ στην Κέρκυρα Άντζελα Γκερέκου (παντρεύτηκαν στις 2 Αυγούστου 1996 στην Κέρκυρα με κουμπάρο τον δημοσιογράφο Τέρενς Κουίκ). Με την Γκερέκου έχουν μία κόρη, τη Μαρία που γεννήθηκε το 2001.<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-86652895800296961302011-02-05T17:54:00.001+02:002011-02-05T17:57:19.253+02:00ANTZELA DHMHTRIOY<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk0KE74OmXvIsoD2lkCWLB0ZgQtk4ZbhHyCQx36HbU4ArpKrupmR_Wko4pwLOdef0Zl21Hs3kvPHba0-syHxF5VKoP4PhxpL85ZEYIFb3CWjKuq6xlt_XcpZnXJt5NXDfr3EvHm4AuYqNt/s1600/angela1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk0KE74OmXvIsoD2lkCWLB0ZgQtk4ZbhHyCQx36HbU4ArpKrupmR_Wko4pwLOdef0Zl21Hs3kvPHba0-syHxF5VKoP4PhxpL85ZEYIFb3CWjKuq6xlt_XcpZnXJt5NXDfr3EvHm4AuYqNt/s320/angela1.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>Η Άντζελα Δημητρίου είναι Ελληνίδα λαϊκή τραγουδίστρια. Το πραγματικό της όνομα είναι Αγγελική Κιουρτσάκη. Γεννήθηκε στο Περιστέρι στις 18 Αυγούστου του 1954.<br />
Η έλλειψη χρηματικών πόρων την οδήγησε να εργαστεί απο πολύ νεαρή ηλικία. Μια απο τις πρώτες της δουλειές ήταν σε μεγάλη κλωστοϋφαντουργία της εποχής. Όμως το ταλέντο της δεν άργησε να ανακαλυφθεί. Στη διάρκεια της εφηβείας της, συνεργάστηκε με μεγάλα ονόματα της λαϊκής σκηνής όπως ο Μανώλης Αγγελόπουλος, Στράτος Διονυσίου, Πόλυ Πάνου και άλλοι. Ο πρώτος της προσωπικός δίσκος με τίτλο Γιατί να 'ρθείς αργά σημείωσε μεγάλη εμπορική επιτυχία και το 1982 υπέγραψε το πρώτο της συμβόλαιο με την CBS.<br />
<span class="fullpost"><br />
Η πορεία της στο τραγούδι συνεχίζεται έως σήμερα έχοντας ήδη συνεργαστεί με συνθέτες όπως ο Χρήστος Νικολόπουλος, Σταμάτης Σπανουδάκης, Λάκης Παπαδόπουλος, Φοίβος και άλλοι.<br />
<br />
Ανάμεσα στις μεγάλες της επιτυχίες συγκαταλέγονται τα τραγούδια: «Φωτιά στα Σαββατόβραδα», «Ποια θυσία», «Κλείσε φώτα, κλείσε μάτια» και πολλές ακόμα. Μέχρι στιγμής έχει κάνει 22 δίσκους από τους οποίους οι περισσότεροι έχουν γνωρίσει εμπορική επιτυχία, μερικοί από αυτούς και στην Τουρκία.<br />
Συμμετείχε επίσης στα προκριματικά του Διαγωνισμού της Eurovision του 1988 για την εκπροσώπηση της Ελλάδας με το τραγούδι «Αν». Τελικά, το εισιτήριο για την εκπροσώπηση της χώρας μας πήρε η Αφροδίτη Φρυδά με το «Κλόουν».<br />
<br />
<br />
Δισκογραφία<br />
<br />
* 1980 - Γιατί να 'ρθείς αργά<br />
<br />
* 1982 - Ό,τι πούμε μεταξύ μας<br />
<br />
* 1983 - Μια βραδυά στα μπουζούκια Νο.1<br />
<br />
* 1984 - Μια βραδυά στα μπουζούκια Νο.2<br />
<br />
* 1984 - Πέστε του<br />
<br />
* 1985 - Ποιά θυσία<br />
<br />
* 1986 - Δυο φωνές<br />
<br />
* 1987 - Κανόνισέ το<br />
<br />
* 1987 - Μια βραδυά στη Φαντασία Νο.1<br />
<br />
* 1988 - Μια βραδυά στη Φαντασία Νο.2<br />
<br />
* 1988 - Μιά σ' αγαπώ μιά σε μισώ<br />
<br />
* 1989 - Να σου ορκιστώ<br />
<br />
* 1990 - Εσύ τι λες<br />
<br />
* 1991 - Εξαιρούνται<br />
<br />
* 1992 - Φωτιά στα Σαββατόβραδα<br />
<br />
* 1992 - Κόκκινο της φωτιάς<br />
<br />
* 1993 - Φταίει ο έρωτας (CD single)<br />
<br />
* 1993 - Φταίει ο έρωτας<br />
<br />
* 1994 - Πές αυτό που θέλεις<br />
<br />
* 1995 - Γυναίκα εγώ<br />
<br />
* 1996 - Εκτός ελέγχου η αμαρτία<br />
<br />
* 1996 - Μη μας αγαπάς<br />
<br />
* 1997 - Τα ζεϊμπέκικα της Άντζελας<br />
<br />
* 1998 - 100%<br />
<br />
* 1999 - Μαργαρίτες (CD single)<br />
<br />
* 1999 - Κάνε στην άκρη<br />
<br />
* 2000 - Μαύρη λίστα<br />
<br />
* 2001 - Τι να τα κάνω αυτά που έχω<br />
<br />
* 2002 - Όπου με πάει η καρδιά<br />
<br />
* 2004 - Κυρία με γνώρισες, κυρία θα μείνω<br />
<br />
* 2004 - Για 'σένα (CD single)<br />
<br />
* 2004 - Άντζελα Δημητρίου BEST<br />
<br />
* 2004 - Ποιός είσαι<br />
<br />
* 2005 - Σε έχω<br />
<br />
* 2006 - Οξυγόνο<br />
<br />
* 2007 - Αχ πατρίδα μου (cd single)<br />
<br />
* 2008 - Τα είδα ολα<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-17100376449025953432010-12-08T21:51:00.000+02:002010-12-08T21:51:08.621+02:00DEEP PURPLE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwGA7zQsvtbtWXEgIozaWsBZ2223H5TT7lVNCCHfpSbld8olipP7lY5CPaR_KUO0Lcd8vA0KpsLSuBeDP_qYfkC6afDN-vn2NITht46RS751hTUy9H4YNm6Na3yph1aaU9jFiYsopYY95i/s1600/Deep_Purple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwGA7zQsvtbtWXEgIozaWsBZ2223H5TT7lVNCCHfpSbld8olipP7lY5CPaR_KUO0Lcd8vA0KpsLSuBeDP_qYfkC6afDN-vn2NITht46RS751hTUy9H4YNm6Na3yph1aaU9jFiYsopYY95i/s200/Deep_Purple.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>It all started in 1968 when Chris Curtis, an ex-Searcher, formed a group withDave Curtiss (no relation, note different spelling) on bass, Bobby Woodman-Clarke on drums and brought in ex-Artwoods organist Jon Lord (born 9 June 1941, Leicester, England) and ex-Johnny Kidd andThe Pirates bassist, Nick Simper (born 3 November 1946, Southall, Middlesex).Nick had survived the car crash that had killed Johnny Kidd in 1966. GuitaristRitchie Blackmore (born 14 April 1945, Weston-super-Mare, England) joined inrehearsals for this new act initially dubbed Roundabout. Curtis dropped outwithin days, and when Dave and Bobby also proved incompatible, two members ofMaze, Rod Evans (born 19 January 1945, Edinburgh, Scotland; vocals) and IanPaice (born 29 June 1948, Nottinghamshire; drums), replaced them.<br />
<span class="fullpost"> <br />
Having adopted the Deep Purple name (apparently inspired by Ritchie'sgrandmother's favorite song) following a brief Scandinavian tour in April 1968(where they played as Roundabout, "in case they flopped"), the quintetbegan recording their debut album, which they patterned on USA group VanillaFudge. "Shades of Deep Purple" thus included dramatic rearrangementsof well-known songs, including a faithful cover of Hendrix's version of"Hey Joe" and the Joe South-penned, Billy Joe Royal hit"Hush", the latter hitting US #4 in 1968 but not troubling the UKchart-compilers one bit.<br />
Lengthy tours ensued as the group, all but ignored at home, steadfastly courtedthe burgeoning American concert circuit. "The Book Of Taliesyn" and"Deep Purple" albums also featured several excellent reworkings,notably "Kentucky Woman" (Neil Diamond) and "River Deep MountainHigh" (Ike And Tina Turner). The lengthy intro section to "RiverDeep" was a dramatic work-out of the theme from the then recently releasedStanley Kubrick sci-fi classic film "2001: A Space Odyssey". Thispiece was based on Richard Strauss' "Thus Spake Zarathustra" and JonLord's classical leanings would soon culminate in a self-composed full-lengthwork performed at the Royal Albert Hall in September 1969.<br />
<br />
The band also drew acclaim for their original material and the dramaticinterplay between Lord and Blackmore. In concert these guitar/organ duels couldgo on for over 20 minutes!<br />
<br />
In July 1969 both Evans and Simper were axed from the line-up, which was thenbuoyed by the arrival of Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945, Hounslow, Middlesex,England; vocals) and Roger Glover (born 30 November 1945, Brecon, Wales; bass)from the pop group Episode Six. Acknowledged by aficionados as the"classic" Deep Purple line-up (forever onwards known as Mark II), thereshaped quintet made its album debut on the grandiose "Concerto For GroupAnd Orchestra", scored by Lord and recorded with the Royal PhilharmonicOrchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold (later sir Malcolm).<br />
<br />
Its hard rock successor, "In Rock", established the group as aleading heavy metal attraction and introduced such enduring favorites as"Speed King" and "Child In Time." Gillan's powerfulsilver-throated vocals brought a third dimension to their sound and thisnew-found popularity in the UK was enhanced when the single, "BlackNight" reached number 2. "Strange Kind Of Woman" followed itinto the Top 10 (reaching #8 in Feb 1971), while "Fireball" and "Machine Head" both toppedthe album charts. The latter included the riff-laden "Smoke On TheWater", based on a real incident involving Frank Zappa and The Mothersand an infamous Montreaux concert.<br />
<br />
Although the platinum-selling "Made In Japan" captured their liveprowess in full flight, relations within the band grew increasingly strained,and "Who Do We Think We Are!" would be the end of this highlysuccessful line-up. The departures of Gillan and Glover robbed DeepPurple of an expressive frontman and imaginative arranger, although DavidCoverdale (born 22 September 1949, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Lancashire, England;vocals) and Glenn Hughes (born 21 August 1952, Penkridge, Staffordshire;ex-Trapeze, bass & vocals) brought a new impetus to the act."Burn" and "Stormbringer" both reached the Top 10, butBlackmore grew increasingly dissatisfied with the group's direction and in May1975 left to form Rainbow. US guitarist Tommy Bolin (born 18 April 1951, SiouxCity, Idaho), formerly of the James Gang and who had impressed Coverdale withhis playing on Billy Cobham's "Spectrum", joined Deep Purple for"Come Taste The Band", but his jazz/soul style was incompatible withthe group's heavy metal sound, and a now-tiring act folded in 1976 following afarewell UK tour.<br />
<br />
Bolin died of a heroin overdose within months of Purple's demise. Judiciousarchives and 'best of' releases kept the group in the public eye, as did thehigh profile enjoyed by its several ex-members. Successful off-shoot bandsinclude Whitesnake, Rainbow and Gillan. Pressure for a reunion bore fruit in1984 when Gillan, Lord, Blackmore, Glover and Paice (the original Mark II)completed "Perfect Strangers". A whole new generation of fansdiscovered Deep Purple through this release and subsequent US, Japaneseand European tour. A second album, "The House Of Blue Light",followed, but recurring animosity between Gillan and Blackmore resulted in thesinger's departure following the disappointing live album "Nobody'sPerfect" which included a 1988 rehearsal re-working of their first hit"Hush".<br />
<br />
Joe Lynn Turner, one of Blackmore's many Rainbow vocalists, joined and gave theband more of an AOR (Adult-Orientated Rock) direction. After a disappointingSlaves & Masters album released in 1990 (though Fire In The Basement isclassic 70s Purple), better sense prevailed. Gillan was re-admitted for histhird stint, uncomfortably sharing stage and studio with Blackmore. The line-upremained stable while the band recorded "The Battle Rages On" albumreleased in 1993, but Blackmore jumped ship once more during the tour thatfollowed. The tour was completed courtesy of US guitar whizzkid Joe Satriani.Contractual obligations however, meant his tenure could only be short-term andPurple hurriedly enlisted Steve Morse (ex-Kansas, Dixie Dregs, The Steve MorseBand, et al) (born 28 July 1954, Hamilton, Ohio) as his replacement to recordPurpendicular released early in 1996.<br />
<br />
Setting off on tour again, they took a fresh look at their 70s repertoire; tourhighlights were captured on the "Live at the Olympia" CD (1997) with forgottenfavorites jostling for position against new material from the "Purpendicular"set. Suddenly they felt they could have fun again, and the concerts wereenlivened by dropping old faves like "Lazy" and "SpaceTruckin'" in favour of new material and songs from the back catalogue thathad seldom if ever been played (such as "Bloodsucker", "No OneCame" and "Rat Bat Blue").<br />
<br />
1998's "Abandon" album had all the classic rock attitude, nasty guitars, poundingdrums and driving bass to scratch that R.O.C.K. itch. The album included abrilliant reworking of "In Rock"'s "Bloodsucker" (retitled"Bludsucker") and the Floydish-style "Watching The Sky"amongst other driving rock tracks.<br />
<br />
In 1999 Deep Purple had a very successful tour of Australia and Europe.<br />
<br />
Jon Lord retired in 2002 and was replaced by journeyman keyboardist Don Airey. This new line-up, which left Ian Paice as the only original member, released the stunning "Bananas" album in August 2003. Both a return-to-form and a look to the future, the "Bananas" album was well-accepted by the rock community at large.<br />
<br />
The Legend marches on...<br />
<br />
Beginners' Guide:<br />
Newcomers to Deep Purple with a big budget should start with the 1999 "Shades(1968-1998)" 4CD box set released by Rhino Records. Praised by criticsand fans alike as an excellent retrospective of this great band, with all theirclassic tracks as well as enough rarities to keep collectors happy.<br />
Those of you on a tighter budget would do well to start with "Made In Japan",the 1973 live album recorded on tour in Japan in August 1972. Arguably one ofthe all-time greatest live albums ever.<br />
<br />
In 1999 EMI released "30: The Very Best Of Deep Purple" compilation CD which isas good a retrospective on 1 CD that one can hope to find ("Child In Time" isedited though... horror!). It is also available as a double CD with more tracksand longer versions of a number of their classic singles.<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-65393336001434419282010-12-08T21:45:00.000+02:002010-12-08T21:45:47.644+02:00ALICIA KEYS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnSq-kgB_dbvQ_JvWKPJ5Dcn-xRKg30-8jtCq7I8ZDKfltVKN1vnGSBIQQQzpWcExLmiX_WLPY_n4J3_dRnvQq1BcEgU9qQB1HRpmiUgNNIr1GazwIjdZpmmtzlQnZ8vIlzBsPkbqqustj/s1600/ALICIA+KEYS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnSq-kgB_dbvQ_JvWKPJ5Dcn-xRKg30-8jtCq7I8ZDKfltVKN1vnGSBIQQQzpWcExLmiX_WLPY_n4J3_dRnvQq1BcEgU9qQB1HRpmiUgNNIr1GazwIjdZpmmtzlQnZ8vIlzBsPkbqqustj/s200/ALICIA+KEYS.jpg" width="140" /></a></div>Alicia Keys was born on January 25, 1981, in Manhattan, New York. She is a famous American R&B singer.<br />
At the tender age of 7, Alicia was introduced to the piano. She studied classical music from Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin (which was her favorite) and delved into such jazz greats as Marian McPartland, Oscar Peterson and Fats Waller.<br />
The road to success wasn't an easy one. Born to a white mo<br />
m, Terri Augello, and a black dad, Craig Cook, she grew up in Hell's Kitchen, New York. "It was kind of a cool spot, but 42nd Street then was no heaven. Prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers," recalls Keys. To cope with the street life, Alicia turned to piano-playing at the age of 7.<br />
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When she was 14 she wrote her first song "Butterflyz" which is featured on her latest album "Songs in A Minor." Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone, Donny Hathaway, were all her inspirations as were Biggie, Tupac, Jay-Z and Wu Tang. Alicia Keys took all of those different genres of music and rolled them all into one, to create a style all her own.<br />
She released her first album, Songs in A Minor, in 2001. Alicia Keys was only 20 years old. The album featured the hit singles "Fallin'" and "Girlfriend" and rocketed Keys to stardom. (Her good looks -- she's of African and Italian descent -- helped, too.) She won five Grammy awards in 2002, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for "Fallin'." Keys also has been a prolific soundtrack artist, recording songs for movies such as Men in Black (1997), Shaft (2000) and Dr. Doolittle 2 (2001).<br />
In 2003 she released her second album, The Diary of Alicia Keys.<br />
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<br />
Music Career<br />
<br />
In 1997, Alicia Keys signed a contract with the So So Def label and her first song ‘Dah Dee Dah (Sexy Thing)’ was recorded. It appeared on the soundtrack of the hit movie ‘Men In Black’. The song was never released as a single. She then moved on to sign a contract with the J Records label and her two songs ‘Rock Wit U’ and ‘Rear View Mirror’ were recorded. They appeared on the soundtracks of the movies ‘Shaft’ and ‘Dr. Doolittle’ respectively.<br />
<br />
In 2001, Alicia launched her first album ‘Songs in A Minor’ which went on to sell over eleven million CDs worldwide. She won 5 Grammy Awards in 2002 for songs from that album. The title ‘Fallin’ got her the ‘Best New Artist’ and the ‘Song of the Year’ awards.<br />
<br />
In 2003 Alicia released her album ‘The Diary of Alicia Keys’ which was applauded by critics all over the world and has sold over eight million copies to date. In the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards, she won the ‘Best R&B Video’ award for her single ‘If I Ain’t Got You’ and in 2005 won the ‘Best R&B Video’ award for her single ‘Karma’ – both from this album.<br />
<br />
In 2005, Alicia Keys recorded an MTV Unplugged series of her performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The CD for that recording was released later that year, and has sold over a million copies worldwide. It gained her 4 Grammy Nominations and won 3 NAACP Image Awards for ‘Outstanding Female Artist’, ‘Outstanding Song’ and ‘Outstanding Music Video’.<br />
<br />
Alicia has been working on her next album since 2006, which is slated to be released in 2007.<br />
<br />
She is also set to appear in her first movie titled ‘Smokin’ Aces’ co-starring with Ben Affleck, Ray Liotta, and Andy Garcia. The movie is expected to release in 2007 as well.<br />
<br />
Another movie release scheduled in 2007 is ‘The Nanny Diaries’ where she stars along with Scarlett Johansson.<br />
<br />
She would also be acting in the Disney movie ‘Bell, Book and Candle’.<br />
<br />
Alicia Keys would be playing the lead role in the movie ‘Composition in Black and White’ which is a biopic about the 1940s biracial piano prodigy Philippa Schuyler. <br />
<br />
<br />
Discography :<br />
<br />
- 2005 Unplugged [CD & DVD]<br />
- 2005 Unplugged<br />
- 2004 Diary of Alicia Keys [Import Bonus Track]<br />
- 2004 Diary of Alicia Keys [Germany Bonus CD]<br />
- 2004 Diary of Alicia Keys [Australia Bonus CD]<br />
- 2003 Songs in A Minor [2003]<br />
- 2003 Diary of Alicia Keys [Bonus DVD]<br />
- 2003 Diary of Alicia Keys<br />
- 2002 Songs in A Minor [Japanese Bonus Tracks]<br />
- 2002 Songs in A Minor [Expanded]<br />
- 2002 Songs in A Minor [Bonus VCD]<br />
- 2002 Songs in A Minor [Australia Bonus CD]<br />
- 2001 Songs in A Minor.<br />
<br />
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</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-18138162390336997102010-12-08T21:40:00.000+02:002010-12-08T21:40:44.330+02:00UNTIL JUNE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_4_MkdOtgTj-BlpFUYIDhfsy1FY-kgNsP-lZvCAjYDdRieBuWtJRW1Y3TQ3qqsJC8U1485G2jqEpOYsrSdkKUf1ksX5WDnLTALLq5sO3corlxKD-PqQRUWM7Omj5fGQyTRvWAVUFP6L2/s1600/Until+June.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_4_MkdOtgTj-BlpFUYIDhfsy1FY-kgNsP-lZvCAjYDdRieBuWtJRW1Y3TQ3qqsJC8U1485G2jqEpOYsrSdkKUf1ksX5WDnLTALLq5sO3corlxKD-PqQRUWM7Omj5fGQyTRvWAVUFP6L2/s1600/Until+June.jpg" /></a></div>Determined to make it as a band the members of Until June packed up their bags and left their Phoenix, Arizona homes for sunny Los Angeles, a city where hopes and dreams are gloriously realized or abandoned in frustration and bitter defeat. Josh Ballard, singer for the transplanted Los Angeles trio confesses, "We didn't give ourselves a way out. We packed up, left school, left our families and forced ourselves to be alone in L.A. with just our music."<br />
With a collective deadline of April 2007, the unnamed band christened itself after their self-imposed cut-off date. Fortunately, just as time was running out, Until June signed with Flicker Records/Sony.<br />
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Sequestered in a new town the band has crafted an album infused with honesty and perseverance. Produced by Brian Garcia (Our Lady Peace, Kelly Clarkson, King's X), Until June's self-titled debut release represents the virtue of pushing through one's fears, no matter what.<br />
Think in hybrid, a cross-section of the sounds of Keane, Coldplay, and Ben Folds Five—powerful, piano-based rock without an agenda. Warm falsettos crescendo into correspondingly warm moments of emotion. And yet there are many moments of wide-open, airy breaks and choruses, a la Sigur Ros and Sunny Day Real Estate.<br />
Until June's approach to songwriting is more classic in nature. Verses, choruses and bridges flow into one another as songs progress and evolve, without such rigid structures as you hear on mainstream radio. The album lends a beautiful candor seldom heard today, but Ballard & Co. are realistic, even humble about their own sound.<br />
"We would love to think that we are making music that will change the world," Ballard explains, "but we are more concerned with letting it all out than writing pop hits. This music is our everything, and we have lived it. We want people to know that on the record, as well as at shows, we are 100% about spilling our guts. We just want people to feel what we feel."<br />
Though the prevailing lyrical themes on Until June are brokenness and heartache, there is a thread of redemption that is subtle, yet powerful throughout. On "What I've Done" Ballard speaks of deep regret and the need for salvation from one's own mistakes: Tied around the mess I've made, the air I breathe gets shorter every time I speak. The words you've heard a thousand times I've tried before but now I feel like letting go of everything that hurts the most, and now I'm begging you don't let go.<br />
Armed with this sincere emotion, Until June plans to continue to hone its live show while traversing the nation. After four tough years in L.A., where they faced every obstacle the city could throw at them, nothing less than a full-time, national touring schedule would seem appropriate. Recently, Until June completed a U.S. run.<br />
"We want to challenge the listener, not just offer the same, recycled pop," Ballard declares. "The goal of this band is to raise questions, to cause people to seek out greater answers beyond themselves. And I know that we will never take our music lightly because it has the power to influence, the power to encourage. After all, we may need to lay this band down someday. But not today."<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-78048790756944981082010-12-08T21:35:00.000+02:002010-12-08T21:35:04.964+02:00DAVID BOWIE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBf9eNZCnfyq7tIaUGXIaRTbpTD05nJaq0J39KZf5RZ-aQePIrRZTK08fBoJ8HAFGzyFMkT-0BEX1vAEcw2pSlons075ho3VW1j5H8N3hbaMT8zgxZhtcaV2JdmSzysfxHiz105XIwF_7d/s1600/David-Bowie-pb01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBf9eNZCnfyq7tIaUGXIaRTbpTD05nJaq0J39KZf5RZ-aQePIrRZTK08fBoJ8HAFGzyFMkT-0BEX1vAEcw2pSlons075ho3VW1j5H8N3hbaMT8zgxZhtcaV2JdmSzysfxHiz105XIwF_7d/s200/David-Bowie-pb01.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>Born: January 08, 1947<br />
The cliche about David Bowie says he's a musical chameleon, adapting himself according to fashion and trends. While such a criticism is too glib, there's no denying that Bowie demonstrated remarkable skill for perceiving musical trends at his peak in the '70s. After spending several years in the late '60s as a mod and as an all-around music-hall entertainer, Bowie reinvented himself as a hippie singer/songwriter. <br />
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Prior to his breakthrough in 1972, he recorded a proto-metal record and a pop/rock album, eventually redefining glam rock with his ambiguously sexy Ziggy Stardust persona. Ziggy made Bowie an international star, yet he wasn't content to continue to churn out glitter rock. By the mid-'70s, he developed an effete, sophisticated version of Philly soul that he dubbed "plastic soul," which eventually morphed into the eerie avant-pop of 1976's Station to Station. Shortly afterward, he relocated to Berlin, where he recorded three experimental electronic albums with Brian Eno. At the dawn of the '80s, Bowie was still at the height of his powers, yet following his blockbuster dance-pop album Let's Dance in 1983, he slowly sank into mediocrity before salvaging his career in the early '90s. Even when he was out of fashion in the '80s and '90s, it was clear that Bowie was one of the most influential musicians in rock, for better and for worse. Each one of his phases in the '70s sparked a number of subgenres, including punk, new wave, goth rock, the new romantics, and electronica. Few rockers ever had such lasting impact.<br />
David Jones began performing music when he was 13 years old, learning the saxophone while he was at Bromley Technical High School; another pivotal event happened at the school, when his left pupil became permanently dilated in a schoolyard fight. Following his graduation at 16, he worked as a commercial artist while playing saxophone in a number of mod bands, including the King Bees, the Manish Boys (which also featured Jimmy Page as a session man), and Davey Jones & the Lower Third. All three of those bands released singles, which were generally ignored, yet he continued performing, changing his name to David Bowie in 1966 after the Monkees' Davy Jones became an international star. Over the course of 1966, he released three mod singles on Pye Records, which were all ignored. The following year, he signed with Deram, releasing the music hall, Anthony Newley-styled David Bowie that year. Upon completing the record, he spent several weeks in a Scottish Buddhist monastery. Once he left the monastery, he studied with Lindsay Kemp's mime troupe, forming his own mime company, the Feathers, in 1969. The Feathers were short-lived, and he formed the experimental art group Beckenham Arts Lab in 1969.<br />
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Bowie needed to finance the Arts Lab, so he signed with Mercury Records that year and released Man of Words, Man of Music, a trippy singer/songwriter album featuring "Space Oddity." The song was released as a single and became a major hit in the U.K., convincing Bowie to concentrate on music. Hooking up with his old friend Marc Bolan, he began miming at some of Bolan's T. Rex concerts, eventually touring with Bolan, bassist/producer Tony Visconti, guitarist Mick Ronson, and drummer Cambridge as Hype. The band quickly fell apart, yet Bowie and Ronson remained close, working on the material that formed Bowie's next album, The Man Who Sold the World, as well as recruiting Michael "Woody" Woodmansey as their drummer. Produced by Tony Visconti, who also played bass, The Man Who Sold the World was a heavy guitar rock album that failed to gain much attention. Bowie followed the album in late 1971 with the pop/rock Hunky Dory, an album that featured Ronson and keyboardist Rick Wakeman.<br />
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Following the release of Hunky Dory, Bowie began to develop his most famous incarnation, Ziggy Stardust: an androgynous, bisexual rock star from another planet. Before he unveiled Ziggy, Bowie claimed in a January 1972 interview with the Melody Maker that he was gay, helping to stir interest in his forthcoming album. Taking cues from Bolan's stylish glam rock, Bowie dyed his hair orange and began wearing women's clothing. He began calling himself Ziggy Stardust, and his backing band -- Ronson, Woodmansey, and bassist Trevor Bolder -- were the Spiders from Mars. The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars was released with much fanfare in England in late 1972. The album and its lavish, theatrical concerts became a sensation throughout England, and it helped him become the only glam rocker to carve out a niche in America. Ziggy Stardust became a word-of-mouth hit in the U.S., and the re-released "Space Oddity" -- which was now also the title of the re-released Man of Words, Man of Music -- reached the American Top 20. Bowie quickly followed Ziggy with Aladdin Sane later in 1973. Not only did he record a new album that year, but he also produced Lou Reed's Transformer, the Stooges' Raw Power, and Mott the Hoople's comeback All the Young Dudes, for which he also wrote the title track.<br />
<br />
Given the amount of work Bowie packed into 1972 and 1973, it wasn't surprising that his relentless schedule began to catch up with him. After recording the all-covers Pin-Ups with the Spiders from Mars, he unexpectedly announced the band's breakup, as well as his retirement from live performances, during the group's final show that year. He retreated from the spotlight to work on a musical adaptation of George Orwell's -1984, but once he was denied the rights to the novel, he transformed the work into Diamond Dogs. The album was released to generally poor reviews in 1974, yet it generated the hit single "Rebel Rebel," and he supported the album with an elaborate and expensive American tour. As the tour progressed, Bowie became fascinated with soul music, eventually redesigning the entire show to reflect his new "plastic soul." Hiring guitarist Carlos Alomar as the band's leader, Bowie refashioned his group into a Philly soul band and recostumed himself in sophisticated, stylish fashions. The change took fans by surprise, as did the double-album David Live, which featured material recorded on the 1974 tour.<br />
<br />
Young Americans, released in 1975, was the culmination of Bowie's soul obsession, and it became his first major crossover hit, peaking in the American Top Ten and generating his first U.S. number one hit in "Fame," a song he co-wrote with John Lennon and Alomar. Bowie relocated to Los Angeles, where he earned his first movie role in Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976). While in L.A., he recorded Station to Station, which took the plastic soul of Young Americans into darker, avant-garde-tinged directions, yet was also a huge hit, generating the Top Ten single "Golden Years." The album inaugurated Bowie's persona of the elegant "Thin White Duke," and it reflected Bowie's growing cocaine-fueled paranoia. Soon, he decided Los Angeles was too boring and returned to England; shortly after arriving back in London, he gave the awaiting crowd a Nazi salute, a signal of his growing, drug-addled detachment from reality. The incident caused enormous controversy, and Bowie left the country to settle in Berlin, where he lived and worked with Brian Eno.<br />
<br />
Once in Berlin, Bowie sobered up and began painting, as well as studying art. He also developed a fascination with German electronic music, which Eno helped him fulfill on their first album together, Low. Released early in 1977, Low was a startling mixture of electronics, pop, and avant-garde technique. While it was greeted with mixed reviews at the time, it proved to be one of the most influential albums of the late '70s, as did its follow-up, Heroes, which followed that year. Not only did Bowie record two solo albums in 1977, but he also helmed Iggy Pop's comeback records The Idiot and Lust for Life, and toured anonymously as Pop's keyboardist. He resumed his acting career in 1977, appearing in Just A Gigolo with Marlene Dietrich and Kim Novak, as well as narrating Eugene Ormandy's version of Peter and the Wolf. Bowie returned to the stage in 1978, launching an international tour that was captured on the double-album Stage. During 1979, Bowie and Eno recorded Lodger in New York, Switzerland, and Berlin, releasing the album at the end of the year. Lodger was supported with several innovative videos, as was 1980's Scary Monsters, and these videos -- "DJ," "Fashion," "Ashes to Ashes" -- became staples on early MTV.<br />
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Scary Monsters was Bowie's last album for RCA, and it wrapped up his most innovative, productive period. Later in 1980, he performed the title role in stage production of +The Elephant Man, including several shows on Broadway. Over the next two years, he took an extended break from recording, appearing in Christine F (1982) and the vampire movie The Hunger (1982), returning to the studio only for his 1981 collaboration with Queen, "Under Pressure," and the theme for Paul Schrader's remake of Cat People. In 1983, he signed an expensive contract with EMI Records and released Let's Dance. Bowie had recruited Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers to produce the album, giving the record a sleek, funky foundation, and hired the unknown Stevie Ray Vaughan as lead guitarist. Let's Dance became his most successful record, thanks to stylish, innovative videos for "Let's Dance" and "China Girl," which turned both songs into Top Ten hits. Bowie supported the record with the sold-out arena tour Serious Moonlight.<br />
<br />
Greeted with massive success for the first time, Bowie wasn't quite sure how to react, and he eventually decided to replicate Let's Dance with 1984's Tonight. While the album sold well, producing the Top Ten hit "Blue Jean," it received poor reviews and ultimately was a commercial disappointment. He stalled in 1985, recording a duet of Martha & the Vandellas' "Dancing in the Street" with Mick Jagger for Live Aid. He also spent more time jet-setting, appearing at celebrity events across the globe, and appeared in several movies -- Into the Night (1985), Absolute Beginners (1986), Labyrinth (1986) -- that turned out to be bombs. Bowie returned to recording in 1987 with the widely panned Never Let Me Down, supporting the album with the Glass Spider tour, which also received poor reviews. In 1989, he remastered his RCA catalog with Rykodisc for CD release, kicking off the series with the three-disc box Sound + Vision. Bowie supported the discs with an accompanying tour of the same name, claming that he was retiring all of his older characters from performance following the tour. Sound + Vision was successful, and Ziggy Stardust re-charted amidst the hoopla.<br />
<br />
Sound + Vision may have been a success, but Bowie's next project was perhaps his most unsuccessful. Picking up on the abrasive, dissonant rock of Sonic Youth and the Pixies, Bowie formed his own guitar rock combo, Tin Machine, with guitarist Reeves Gabrels, bassist Hunt Sales, and his drummer brother Tony, who had previously worked on Iggy Pop's Lust for Life with Bowie. Tin Machine released an eponymous album to poor reviews that summer and supported it with a club tour, which was only moderately successful. Despite the poor reviews, Tin Machine released a second album, the appropriately titled Tin Machine II, in 1991, and it was completely ignored.<br />
<br />
Bowie returned to a solo career in 1993 with the sophisticated, soulful Black Tie White Noise, recording the album with Nile Rodgers and his now-permanent collaborator, Reeves Gabrels. The album was released on Savage, a subsidiary of RCA, and received positive reviews, but his new label went bankrupt shortly after its release, and the album disappeared. Black Tie White Noise was the first indication that Bowie was trying hard to resuscitate his career, as was the largely instrumental 1994 soundtrack The Buddha of Suburbia. In 1995, he reunited with Brian Eno for the wildly hyped, industrial rock-tinged Outside. Several critics hailed the album as a comeback, and Bowie supported it with a co-headlining tour with Nine Inch Nails in order to snag a younger, alternative audience, but his gambit failed; audiences left before Bowie's performance and Outside disappeared. He quickly returned to the studio in 1996, recording Earthling, an album heavily influenced by techno and drum'n'bass. Upon its early 1997 release, Earthling received generally positive reviews, yet the album failed to gain an audience, and many techno purists criticized Bowie for allegedly exploiting their subculture. hours... followed in 1999. For 2002, Bowie reunited with producerToni Visconti and released Heathen to very positive reviews. He continued on with Visconti for Reality in 2003. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-67865038579579535042010-11-16T23:52:00.000+02:002010-11-16T23:52:04.662+02:00JAMES BROWN<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkevRltvzMaAYR1aZoT3pDDvM7dFEEYtZSyzYhvwqTvPXX7y7PZcXGbtMY6IDCO5oKdswNNyvuKeTnSuEqUMdpv-CGpYfb4mXHZzZo-oIbIitlSVKvlfOwNGuRnzIm2Ce7WZa6RG2Hoe5q/s1600/james+brown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkevRltvzMaAYR1aZoT3pDDvM7dFEEYtZSyzYhvwqTvPXX7y7PZcXGbtMY6IDCO5oKdswNNyvuKeTnSuEqUMdpv-CGpYfb4mXHZzZo-oIbIitlSVKvlfOwNGuRnzIm2Ce7WZa6RG2Hoe5q/s200/james+brown.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>Τραγουδιστής, μουσικός, αρχηγός ορχηστρών και σπουδαίος χορευτής ο James Brown (3 Μαΐου 1933 – 25 Δεκεμβρίου 2006) κέρδισε τον τίτλο του "Νονού της Soul" μέσα από την αξιοθαύμαστη πορεία του και την ασταμάτητη και πάντοτε δημιουργική παρουσία του. Σήμερα θεωρείται μία από τις μεγαλύτερες μουσικές προσωπικότητες του 20ου αιώνα και επιπλέον χαρακτηρίζεται ως ο πιο σκληρά εργαζόμενος άνθρωπος της Show Business!<br />
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Ο James Joseph Brown Jr γεννήθηκε στις 3 Μαΐου 1933 στην Ατλάντα της Αμερικής. Σε ηλικία μόλις 2 ετών η μητέρα του εγκαταλείπει την οικογένεια και τον πατέρα του για έναν άλλο άντρα και έτσι ακολουθούν 3 χρόνια όπου ο Brown τα περνάει παρέα με τον πατέρα του και τις ευκαιριακές συντρόφους του. Πέντε χρονών τον αναλαμβάνει μια θεία του, που διαχειριζόταν ένα πορνείο και ο ίδιος αρχίζει να περνάει μεγάλο μέρος της καθημερινότητας του στους δρόμους κυριολεκτικά χωρίς δεκάρα στην τσέπη του.<br />
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Στην έβδομη τάξη τον διώχνουν από το σχολείο με την αιτιολογία του "ανεπαρκή ρουχισμού". Αυτό το γεγονός μάλιστα εικάζεται πως ήταν και η αφορμή για την υπερβολή του Brown στο ντύσιμο του, όταν έγινε ο performer που όλοι γνωρίζουμε, με έντονα φανταχτερά χρυσά κοσμήματα, εξεζητημένες κάπες και φανταχτερά υφάσματα.<br />
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Προκειμένου να τα βγάζει πέρα γυαλίζει παπούτσια, σκουπίζει καταστήματα, ανταλλάσσει γραμματόσημα, πλένει αυτοκίνητα και πιάτα, χορεύει σε show και παίρνει μέρος σε διαγωνισμούς ταλέντων! Η γειτονιά τον μαθαίνει πιάνο, ντραμς και κιθάρα ενώ αρχίζει και τραγουδά Gospel στις τοπικές εκκλησίες. Ο James έδειξε ενδιαφέρον για τα σπορ και μάλιστα ασχολήθηκε για κάποιο διάστημα με το Box και το Baseball! Ευτυχώς για εμάς λίγο αργότερα και λόγω τραυματισμού θα τον κέρδισε εξ ολοκλήρου η μουσική.<br />
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Στα δεκαπέντε του συλλαμβάνεται για ένοπλη ληστεία και καταδικάζεται σε 8 με 16 έτη φυλάκιση. Λόγω καλής διαγωγής αποφυλακίζεται σε μόλις 3 χρόνια και με την συμφωνία να πιάσει δουλειά και να αξιοποιήσει το μουσικό του ταλέντο.<br />
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Δημιουργεί ένα σχήμα Gospel και λίγο αργότερα πραγματοποιεί μερικές μετατροπές και το ονομάζει "The Flames". Σύντομα θα τραβήξει την προσοχή του Little Richard του οποίου ο ατζέντης θα βοηθήσει τον Brown να κάνει γνωστό το γκρουπ του. Ο δίσκος “Please, please, please” ήταν ο πρώτος του το 1956 και παρόλο που ο ιδιοκτήτης της δισκογραφικής είχε δηλώσει την δυσαρέσκειά του γι' αυτόν τον δίσκο.... πούλησε 1 εκατομμύριο αντίτυπα! Το 1958 καταφέρνει να γίνει ευρέως γνωστός με το “Try Me” που βρέθηκε στο Νο1 των RnB και στο Νο48 της Pop μουσικής.<br />
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Το σημείο αυτό ήταν κομβικό, αφού ο ιδιοκτήτης της δισκογραφικής είχε δει να μειώνονται επικίνδυνα οι πωλήσεις και "απαίτησε" το επόμενο single να γίνει επιτυχία. Ήταν ακριβώς τότε που το σχήμα μετονομάστηκε σε "The Famous Flames" και τα live απέκτησαν ακόμα περισσότερο την λογική του Show με τον Brown να τα χορογραφεί όπως μόνο εκείνος ξέρει! Κάθε μέλος του γκρουπ έπαιζε τουλάχιστον δύο όργανα και εννοείται πως χόρευαν και τραγουδούσαν ανάλογα με τις ανάγκες του κομματιού και τις οδηγίες του James.<br />
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Τον Οκτώβριο του 1962 πραγματοποιεί ζωντανή εμφάνιση στο Apollo Theater και με δικά του χρήματα δημιουργεί και τον αντίστοιχο δίσκο “Live at the Apollo” όπου ούτε λίγο ούτε πολύ τον έκανε Star. To καλοκαίρι του επόμενου χρόνου βάζει τον δίσκο στα Pop charts, ενώ το 1964 κάνει μια σειρά απο επιτυχίες στην Αμερική με τραγούδια όπως Think (#33), Night Train (#35), Prisoner of Love (#18). Ο επόμενος δίσκος του "Pure Dynamite" (Mr Dynamite ήταν ένα απο τα πολλά Nickname του Brown) επίσης σκαρφαλώνει στα Charts.<br />
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Οι μεγαλύτερες επιτυχίες του την περίοδο αυτή ήταν τα Papa's Got A Brand New Bag (US#6, UK#21), I Got You (I Feel Good) (US#1, UK#18), It's a Man's World (US#3, UK#17), Cold Sweat (US#4), I Got The Feelin' (US#5), Say It Loud - I'm Black and Proud (US#9) and Mother Popcorn (US#7). Ο Δίσκος του "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" του χαρίζει μάλιστα και το πρώτο του βραβείο Grammy.<br />
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Κάπως έτσι ο James Brown βρέθηκε να έχει ένα προσωπικό Jet, μια βίλα, 4 ραδιοφωνικούς σταθμούς, μια αλυσίδα εστιατορίων, ένα κάστρο(!) και μια δισκογραφική εταιρεία. Το σίγουρο είναι ότι δεν του τα χάρισε κανείς, αφού ο άνθρωπος αυτός έφτασε να έχει μέχρι και 300 ζωντανές εμφανίσεις τον χρόνο – εξ ου και η φράση που τον ακολουθεί μέχρι σήμερα "the hardest working man in showbiz".<br />
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Ο James Brown επηρέασε την μουσική τέχνη όχι μόνο γιατί πρόσθεσε διαλόγους gospel και το jazzy σαξόφωνο του Maceo Parker, αλλά επιπλέον γιατί εκτός από νονός της Soul ήταν και νονός της Funk αφού επινόησε και έβαλε τις βάσεις για το μουσικό αυτό είδος πολύ πριν τον επίσης σπουδαίο George Clinton. Ένα βαρύ πλήγμα ήρθε για τον Brown όταν οι μουσικοί του Maceo Parker, Pee Wee Ellis, Fred Wesley και Bootsy Collins τον άφησαν για να πάνε σε άλλα σχήματα και κυρίως σε αυτά του Clinton, τους Parliament και Funkadelic.<br />
H ειρωνεία είναι ότι ο Clinton είχε τον Βrown σαν ίνδαλμα αφού ήταν πρότυπο για τα παιδιά στα γκέτο, δώριζε χρήματα σε έγχρωμους οργανισμούς, υποστήριζε προγράμματα κατά των ναρκωτικών και πολεμούσε για τις ιδέες του Martin Luther King.<br />
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Δεν πτοείται και γεύεται 4 ακόμα χρόνια γεμάτα επιτυχία. Το 1969 ανακηρύσσεται από το Look magazine "the most important black man in America" και το 1970 παρουσιάζει "κατά ρυπάς" μια σειρά απο επιτυχίες όπως It's a New Day , Brother Rapp , Get Up (I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine) και Super Bad. Την ίδια χρονιά παντρεύεται την Deirdre Jenkins, ενώ συνεχίζει να τροφοδοτεί τα charts με τα Hot Pants, Make It Funky, Good Foot, My Thang και The Payback.<br />
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Στα μέσα της δεκαετίας του 1970 ο James Brown αρχίζει να δέχεται απανωτά χτυπήματα. Δέχεται στην πόρτα του την Εφορία όπου του ζητάει να πληρώσει 4,5 εκατομμύρια δολάρια. Αναμιγνύεται το όνομα του σε σκάνδαλο με δωροδοκία ραδιοφωνικών σταθμών, διαλύεται ο γάμος του και ο γιος του Teddy πεθαίνει σε αυτοκινητιστικό δυστύχημα.<br />
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Μένει σχεδόν ανενεργός μέχρι το 1980 και αναγκάζεται να πουλήσει τους ραδιοφωνικούς σταθμούς και το προσωπικό του Jet για να μπορέσει να βγάλει τουλάχιστον την εφορία από την πλάτη του, ενώ παράλληλα ξεκινάει περιοδεία σε Ιαπωνία και Αφρική. Μέχρι τότε είχε πάνω από 100 εκατομμύρια πωλήσεις και βέβαια και οι δύο χώρες τον υποδέχτηκαν ως Star.<br />
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Είμαστε στην δεκαετία του μουσικού ρεύματος της Disco και ο Brown πέφτει θύμα της. Παρόλα αυτά η συμμετοχή του στο έργο “The blues Brothers” τον φέρνει ξανά στο προσκήνιο όπως και ο τίτλος του Rapp Payback που απρόσμενα έγινε επιτυχία. Από το 1983 μέχρι το 1985 παρουσιάζει ελάχιστες επιτυχίες, όμως και πάλι ο κινηματογράφος θα τον φέρει στο προσκήνιο. Το 1985 στην ταινία Rocky IV τραγουδάει το “Living in America”, τραγούδι που τον κάνει γνωστό στην νέα γενιά, παρόλα αυτά οι παλιοί οπαδοί του μένουν αδιάφοροι έως και απογοητευμένοι. Δύο χρόνια αργότερα, το ίδιο τραγούδι του χάρισε το δεύτερο βραβείο grammy.<br />
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Το 1988 αξίζει να αναφέρουμε το "Ι'm real", ένα τραγούδι μέσω του οποίου ο Brown τα βάζει με την γενιά της rap και της hip-hop που διαστρέβλωναν τα τραγούδια του! Ήθελε να περάσει το μήνυμα ότι κανείς δεν μπορεί να παίξει καλύτερα την μουσική του από τον ίδιο!<br />
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Το 1987 ο James Brown συλλαμβάνεται για χρήση ναρκωτικών ουσιών, για πέμπτη φορά μέσα σε 10 μήνες. Η αντίσταση του στις αρχές, η επίθεση στην Adrienne (4η γυνάικα του) και η παράνομη οπλοκατοχή τον φέρνουν αντιμέτωπο με 6ετή ποινή φυλάκισης.<br />
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Τελικά μένει δύο χρόνια στην φυλακή και αφήνεται ελεύθερος με αναστολή με τον όρο ότι δεν θα ξανά οδηγήσει και ότι δεν θα οπλοφορεί για οποιοδήποτε λόγο. Το τελευταίο μισό χρόνο της ποινής του πραγματοποίησε μια σειρά από τηλεοπτικά και ραδιοφωνικά spot κατά του αλκοόλ και των ναρκωτικών.<br />
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Σε γενικές γραμμές όλοι του οι φίλοι και συνεργάτες του τον αφήνουν στο περιθώριο, όμως και πάλι o Brown δεν το βάζει κάτω. Το καλοκαίρι του 1991 ο James επιστρέφει στο Wiltern Theatre στο Los Angeles με μια δωδεκαμελή μπάντα και ένα δυναμικό show, ενώ το 1993 λαμβάνει Grammy για την γενική προσφορά του στην μουσική σκηνή.<br />
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Τα τέλη της δεκαετίας του 1990 ήταν δύσκολα. Η γυναίκα του πεθαίνει τον Ιανουάριο του 1996 δυο ημέρες μετά από χειρουργείο αισθητικής επέμβασης και δυο χρόνια αργότερα, στα 60 του χρόνια συλλαμβάνεται για κατοχή ναρκωτικών και όπλων. Συνέχισε να παράγει μουσική παρόλο που η ηλικία του δεν του επέτρεπε πλέον να κάνει show, ενώ η φωνή του -αν και ποτέ δεν ήταν το φόρτε του- τις τελευταίες δυο δεκαετίες είχε εμφανή φθίνουσα πορεία.<br />
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Ήταν κάπως λυπηρό να βλέπεις τον Brown να γερνάει. 'Ένας μύθος, ένας σπουδαίος performer και δεινός χορευτής παραγκωνίζεται στις τελευταίες του εμφανίσεις στην άκρη της σκηνής για να αφήσει μια εντυπωσιακή μεν αλλά "εκτός κλίματος" δε, χορεύτρια να κάνει ότι ο ίδιος πια δεν μπορούσε. Παρόλα αυτά το έργο του ήταν ήδη μεγάλο και το 2003 δέχεται ένα ακόμα βραβείο στα Bet Awards από τα χέρια του Michael Jackson.<br />
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Ο χρόνος είναι αμείλικτος και οι καταχρήσεις ήταν βέβαιο ότι θα επιτάχυναν την καλλιτεχνική συνταξιοδότηση του. Τα Χριστούγεννα του 2006 τον προδίδει η καρδιά του μετά από επιπλοκές που προκάλεσε μια πνευμονία που τον ταλαιπωρούσε για αρκετό καιρό. Η τελευταία του παράσταση...ήταν μόλις 2 μήνες πριν!<br />
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Το ύστατο χαίρε στον Brown δόθηκε εκεί που όλα ξεκίνησαν, στο Apollo Theater στην Νέα Υόρκη όπου χιλιάδες fan διάσημοι και άσημοι δήλωσαν το παρόν.<br />
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Ο James Brown δουλεύοντας ασταμάτητα κέρδισε επάξια όλους τους τίτλους που του απέδωσαν κοινό και κριτικοί, χύνοντας γαλόνια ιδρώτα όπου και αν εμφανίστηκε ζωντανά. Ένα ολόκληρο μουσικό είδος, αυτό της Funk θα τον έχει μόνιμα στο υψηλότερο σκαλί, αφού χωρίς τον Brown πιθανά η Funk να μην είχε την μορφή που όλοι μας σήμερα αναγνωρίζουμε σχεδόν αντανακλαστικά.<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-40643702795192288942010-11-16T23:47:00.000+02:002010-11-16T23:47:26.272+02:00BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEictTfq2cDqWgtO1Bg3haBk8F2ci7GGm65gJj1TNkQn57YFTfMlwk1Jp9DKX7RnJubq96IMoyRQNKyWq34Mv5VidqwfFpXt_t5xqKIDFh_RPKU18Qzf7msOvZ14kFfwMSysyCGAyR_kLpEd/s1600/bruce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEictTfq2cDqWgtO1Bg3haBk8F2ci7GGm65gJj1TNkQn57YFTfMlwk1Jp9DKX7RnJubq96IMoyRQNKyWq34Mv5VidqwfFpXt_t5xqKIDFh_RPKU18Qzf7msOvZ14kFfwMSysyCGAyR_kLpEd/s200/bruce.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>Μία από τις μεγαλύτερες προσωπικότητες της rock, ο Bruce Springsteen ποτέ δε σταμάτησε να αφουγκράζεται τους προβληματισμούς και να “πιάνει” τον σφυγμό της αμερικανικής κοινωνίας. Τραγούδησε τις αγωνίες της αμερικανικής εργατικής τάξης στο ξεκίνημα της καριέρας του στη δεκαετία του ’70, εξέφρασε τους προβληματισμούς του για τα αδιέξοδα κατά την περίοδο της διακυβέρνησης του Ronald Reagan στις αρχές της δεκαετίας του ’80, στήριξε τον Barack Obama στα τέλη του 2008.<br />
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Ως μουσικός, πήρε το… χρίσμα του “σωτήρα της rock” από εκείνους που στο πρόσωπό του έβλεπαν ένα φαινόμενο που συνδύαζε το μπρίο του rock του ’50 με τη στοχαστικότητα του ’60, στην εποχή του ’70. Η ώθηση που του έδωσε ο δίσκος “Born to Run” (1975) τον βοήθησε να γεμίζει μεγάλα στάδια στις συναυλίες του και σχεδόν μια δεκαετία αργότερα, το “Born in the USA” (1984) τον ανέδειξε σε σταρ πρώτου μεγέθους. Με την ωριμότητα ενός δοκιμασμένου δημιουργού, ο “The Boss” (το προσωνύμιο λέγεται ότι απέκτησε επειδή ήταν υπεύθυνος για τη συλλογή των χρημάτων στις συναυλίες στα πολύ πρώιμα βήματα της καριέρας του με αυτούς που αργότερα σχημάτισαν την E Street Band) δεν παύει να αυξάνει τους πιστούς οπαδούς του σε κάθε δισκογραφικό βήμα του.<br />
Γιος ενός οδηγού λεωφορείου και μιας γραμματέως, ο Ιρλανδοϊταλικής καταγωγής Bruce Springsteen γεννήθηκε στις 23 Απριλίου του 1949 και μεγάλωσε στο Freehold του New Jersey.<br />
Σε ηλικία 13 ετών ξεκίνησε να παίζει κιθάρα σε διάφορα τοπικά γκρουπ, με έμφαση στο garage rock. Τα πρώτα του βήματα στη δισκογραφία έγιναν όταν στις αρχές του 1972 υπέγραψε συμβόλαιο με την Columbia. Περίπου έναν χρόνο αργότερα,τον Ιανουάριο του 1973, κυκλοφόρησε το “Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ” , μέρος όπου σύχναζε σαν έφηβος. Το άλμπουμ πούλησε μόλις 25.000 αντίτυπα, με ορισμένες κριτικές να αποτολμούν να κάνουν λόγο για έναν “νέο Dylan”, ίσως λόγω των “πυκνογραμμένων“ στίχων και του μάλλον “ακουστικού” συνολικά αποτελέσματος στην πρώτη προσπάθεια του Springsteen. Παρόμοια τύχη είχε και ο δεύτερος δίσκος του, “The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle” (Σεπτέμβριος 1973). Από τότε μέχρι σήμερα, και τα δύο άλμπουμ έχουν γίνει πλατινένια.<br />
Στη συνέχεια, ο Springsteen αποφάσισε να δώσει βάρος στη σκηνική του παρουσία και την περίφημη E Street Band, που με μικροαλλαγές στη σύνθεση, περιόδευσε τις ΗΠΑ αποτελούμενη από τον σαξοφωνίστα Clarence Clemons, τον κιθαρίστα “Miami” Steve Van Zandt, τον κιμπορντίστα Danny Federici, τον πιανίστα Roy Bittan, τον μπασίστα Garry Tallent και τον ντράμερ Max Weinberg. Οι προσεγμένοι φωτισμοί και ο ήχος, οι καλοδουλεμένες, αυτοσχέδιες ιστορίες που χρησιμοποιούσε σαν εισαγωγή στα τραγούδια του με τη βοήθεια των μελών της μπάντας και η γενικότερη δραματοποιημένη παρουσίαση των κομματιών, συνετέλεσαν στον σχηματισμό ενός ρεύματος ένθερμων υποστηρικτών. Εντυπωσιασμένος έπειτα από ένα τέτοιο live την άνοιξη του 1974 στη Μασσαχουσέτη, ο κριτικός Jon Landau έγραψε στη Real Paper:<br />
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“Είδα το μέλλον του ροκ εν ρολ και το όνομά του είναι Bruce Springsteen”.<br />
Τη φράση χρησιμοποίησε η Columbia για να προωθήσει το νέο φαινόμενο, που –ευτυχώς για εκείνη- ανήκε στο δυναμικό της. Οι διθυραμβικές κριτικές άρχισαν να διαδέχονται η μία την άλλη, προετοιμάζοντας το έδαφος για το πρώτο βήμα προς την ευρύτερη αναγνωρισιμότητα. Το “Born to Run” , τον Αύγουστο του 1975,έφτασε στο Νο 3 του Billboard και μπήκε στο βρετανικό Top 10, ενώ το ομώνυμο τραγούδι ανέβηκε στο Νο 23 του Billboard και μπήκε στο αγγλικό Τop 40. Το “δύσκολο τρίτο άλμπουμ” ήταν η πρώτη φωτεινή στιγμή για τον Springsteen και την E Street Band, που σύντομα ξεκίνησαν περιοδεία στην Αμερική, εν μέσω ταυτόχρονων εξωφύλλων σε μεγάλα περιοδικά, όπως το Time και το Newsweek.<br />
Δικαστικές διαμάχες με τον πρώην μάνατζέρ του, Mike Appel, κράτησαν τον Springsteen εκτός στούντιο για τα επόμενα δύο χρόνια.<br />
Το διάστημα αποδείχθηκε κρίσιμο, καθώς με την επανεμφάνισή του με το “Darkness On The Edge Of Town”,Ιούνιος 1978, “νέο αίμα” στο μουσικό στερέωμα αποτελούσαν η punk και το new wave, με αποτέλεσμα το είδος που εκπροσωπούσε εκείνος να έχει περάσει σε δεύτερο πλάνο. Το άλμπουμ αυτό αντικατόπτριζε τη δύσκολη, συναισθηματικά, περίοδο από την οποία έβγαινε, ενώ παράλληλα, τραγουδούσε για τα προβλήματα της εργατικής τάξης και τις ελπίδες που κάνουν τους συμπατριώτες του να συνεχίζουν, σε κομμάτια όπως το ομώνυμο ,ε το άλμπουμ, και στα “Promised Land”, “Badlands”, “Adam Raised a Caine”. Ο δίσκος γνώρισε σχετική επιτυχία, χωρίς να κατορθώσει να φθάσει εκείνη του “Born to Run”.<br />
Με το “Born in the USA” τον Ιούνιο του 1984, ο Springsteen εκτοξεύτηκε στo No 1. Όποιος δεν τον ήξερε μέχρι τότε, τον έμαθε. Επτά σινγκλ –“Dancing in the Dark” (No 2, 1984. Κέρδισε Grammy, ενώ το βιντεοκλίπ έχει σκηνοθετήσει ο Brian De Palma), “Cover Me” (No 7, 1984), “Born in the USA” (No 9, 1984), “I’m on Fire” (No 6, 1985), “Glory Days” (No 5, 1985), “I’m Goin’ Down” (No 9, 1985) και “My Hometown” (No 6, 1985)- κράτησαν το άλμπουμ στο αμερικανικό Top 10 και εκείνον σε παγκόσμια περιοδεία για περισσότερο από δύο χρόνια.<br />
Παρά το γεγονός ότι ο ίδιος εξερευνούσε τη σκοτεινή πλευρά του “αμερικανικού ονείρου” σε ένα άλμπουμ με εξώφυλλο την αμερικανική σημαία, πολλοί φαν, σε συνδυασμό με τον ξεσηκωτικό ρυθμό του ομώνυμου κομματιού, προέβαλλαν σε αυτό τα πατριωτικά τους συναισθήματα, αν και το τραγούδι μιλά για τα αδιέξοδα ενός βετεράνου του πολέμου στο Βιετνάμ. Η προσπάθεια του Ρέιγκαν να αντιστρέψει τη σημειολογία του μηνύματος “Born in the USA” χρησιμοποιώντας το στην προεκλογική του εκστρατεία το 1984, συνάντησε… τοίχο, αφού ο Springsteen αντέδρασε, παρουσιάζοντας στις συναυλίες του το έργο εργατικών, περιβαλλοντικών και κοινωνικών ακτιβιστών. Παράλληλα, το 1985, συμμετείχε στην κίνηση USA for Africa και το κομμάτι “We Are the World”.<br />
Ακολούθησε το πιο εσωστρεφές “Tunnel of Love”,τον Οκτώβριο του 1987, που περιλαμβάνει μερικά από τα πιο προσωπικά κομμάτια του Springsteen, συμπεριλαμβανομένων των “Tunnel of Love” (No 9, 1987, κέρδισε βραβείο Grammy), “Brilliant Disguise” (No 5, 1987), “One Step Up” (No 13, 1988).<br />
Εκείνη την περίοδο διέλυσε δύο σχέσεις: αφενός χώρισε από την πρώτη σύζυγό του, το μοντέλο και ηθοποιό Julianne Phillips και παντρεύτηκε την τραγουδίστρια Patti Scialfa που είχε γίνει μέλος της E Street Band, με την οποία και έχουν τρία παιδιά, τον Evan James, τη Jessica Rae και τον Sam Ryan. Αφετέρου, έπειτα από δεκαπέντε χρόνια, διέλυσε την E Street Band τον Νοέμβριο του 1989. Κατόπιν, μεσολάβησε μια πενταετία έως ότου παρουσιάσει νέα δισκογραφική δουλειά.<br />
Τον Μάρτιο του 1992 κυκλοφόρησε ταυτοχρόνως τα άλμπουμ “Human Touch” (No 2, 1992) και “Lucky Town” (No 3, 1992), τα οποία, ωστόσο, δεν έγιναν πλατινένια. Επίσης, ηχογράφησε ένα MTV Unplugged (1993) που κυκλοφόρησε στην Ευρώπη. Ήταν η χρονιά του “Streets of Philadelphia”, που ηχογράφησε για το ομώνυμο φιλμ του Jonathan Demme, στο οποίο ο Tom Hanks κέρδισε Όσκαρ για τον ρόλο ενός ομοφυλόφιλου δικηγόρου που απολύεται από την εταιρεία όπου δούλευε μόλις μαθεύεται ότι πάσχει από AIDS. Όσκαρ Καλύτερου Τραγουδιού κέρδισε και το κομμάτι, (Νο 9, 1994), που σάρωσε τα βραβεία Grammy.<br />
Τον Φεβρουάριο του 1995 κυκλοφόρησε τα Greatest Hits που ανέβηκαν κατευθείαν στο Νο 1 και ξαναμάζεψε την E Street Band για μερικές νέες ηχογραφήσεις. Ακολούθησε το “The Ghost of Tom Joad”, τον Νοέμβριο του 1995, που αναφέρεται στον ήρωα του βιβλίου του John Steinbeck, “Τα σταφύλια της οργής”. Τραγούδι για τον Tom Joad είχε γράψει και ο σπουδαίος στις ΗΠΑ folk τραγουδιστής, Woody Guthrie (14/7/1912 – 3/10/1967), επιρροές από τον οποίο έχει ο Springsteen, όπως και ο Bob Dylan. Το άλμπουμ, που μιλά για τα προβλήματα κοινωνικών και ταξικών διακρίσεων στην Αμερική των τελών του 20ού αιώνα, κέρδισε Grammy Καλύτερου Σύγχρονου Φολκ Δίσκου. Κατόπιν, ο Springsteen ξεκίνησε σόλο περιοδεία και τον Νοέμβριο του 1998 μπήκε στο Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.<br />
Το 1999 ξανασυνάντησε την E Street Band για μια περιοδεία που διήρκεσε έως τα μέσα του 2000 και τον Ιούλιο του 2002 κυκλοφόρησαν το “The Rising”. Ο επόμενος δίσκος ήταν το “Devils and Dust” (2005) που έκανε είσοδο κατευθείαν στο αμερικανικό Νο 1 και το 2006 κυκλοφόρησε το “We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions”, φόρο τιμής στον Pete Seeger (3/5/1919), έτερο μεγάλο όνομα της αμερικανικής folk.<br />
Ακολούθησε το “Live In Dublin” ,το 2007, με ηχογραφήσεις από τις συναυλίες που έδωσε για το Seeger Sessions και το φθινόπωρο του 2007 κυκλοφόρησε το “Magic” με την Ε Street Band. Ξεκίνησαν νέα περιοδεία, στη διάρκεια της οποίας ο κιμπορντίστας Danny Federici πέθανε από καρκίνο. Στην οικογένεια της E Street Band, ωστόσο, τη θέση του πήρε ο γιος του, Jason. Η περιοδεία ολοκληρώθηκε στα τέλη του 2008, όταν ο Springsteen ξεκίνησε να δίνει συναυλίες υποστηρίζοντας τον υποψήφιο με τους Δημοκρατικούς γερουσιαστή Barack Obama, και παρουσιάζοντας τον Νοέμβριο του 2008 μέρος του υλικού από το νέο άλμπουμ του, “Working on a Dream”. Ο δίσκος κυκλοφόρησε στις 27 Ιανουαρίου του 2009.<br />
Αυτό τ’οποίο θα καθορίσει τη θέση του Springsteen στην ιστορία του Rock’n’Roll, όταν ξεχαστούν οι συναυλίες στα μεγάλα στάδια,θα είναι τα τραγούδια τα οποία έγραψε κι ένας δίσκος σταθμός,στον κατάλογο της δισκογραφίας του,θα είναι το Nebraska.<br />
Σ’αυτό το δίσκο είναι βαθειά συναισθηματικός,σε σχέση με τις ρίζες του,πιό παραδοσιακός και πιό μυστηριώδης.Τα σημάδια είχαν φανεί απ’το The River,που μπορεί να χαρακτηριστεί ο προπομπός του Nebraska.<br />
Κομμάτια όπως το Stolen Car ή το Wreck on the Highway και το Independence Day,έδειξαν τον Springsteen,μέσα από Folk και Hillbilly δρόμους,να κοιτάζει μέσα του, επιρρεασμένος απ’τον Hank Williams τον Jimmy Rodgers και τον Woody Guthrie.<br />
Η απλότητα του Nebraska και η διάθεση του Springsteen ν’αποκαλύψει τόσα γιά τον εαυτό του,έκανε θαύματα.Τα τραγούδια ακούγονται «αληθινά» και ο ίδιος δείχνει πως μπορεί να «μιλήσει» στο κοινό του,χωρίς τη βοήθεια της ορχήστρας.<br />
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Όπως είπε και ο Johnny Cash :<br />
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«Είναι ωραίο να βλέπεις κάποιον σα τον Bruce να παίρνει μιά ακουστική κιθάρα και να δείχνει αυτό που έχει στο κοινό του».<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-69251324790890403862010-11-16T23:41:00.000+02:002010-11-16T23:41:25.261+02:00AEROSMITH<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzCSMiyfPbRlfNrk-v-0qDVz40qt52eSFsQHwUqQsqbzOrgLriIRiMsCGzexdQdEakicHq0Xb4wX_Mkdxo-rj1A1-qcCnTvF-duYkBeg_fKcY3kjlFOJXVKq1HZWUDF_aQjOTFO4oR8cYM/s1600/Aerosmith.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzCSMiyfPbRlfNrk-v-0qDVz40qt52eSFsQHwUqQsqbzOrgLriIRiMsCGzexdQdEakicHq0Xb4wX_Mkdxo-rj1A1-qcCnTvF-duYkBeg_fKcY3kjlFOJXVKq1HZWUDF_aQjOTFO4oR8cYM/s200/Aerosmith.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>Οι Aerosmith είναι ένα αμερικάνικο συγκρότημα της hard rock μουσικής σκηνής, το οποίο δημιουργήθηκε το 1970 από τον τραγουδιστή Steven Tyler και τον κιθαρίστα Joe Perry. Το εν λόγω δίδυμο πλαισιώθηκε από τον μπασίστα Tom Hamilton, τον κιθαρίστα Brad Whitford και τον ντράμερ Joey Kramer. Το 1972 υπέγραψαν συμβόλαιο με την εταιρεία Columbia records και το επόμενο έτος κυκλοφόρησε ο πρώτος τους δίσκος με τίτλο Aerosmith. Ο επόμενος τους δίσκος, Get Your Wings παρέμεινε για 86 εβδομάδες στον κατάλογο των δίσκων με τις περισσότερες πωλήσεις (charts) των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών.<br />
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Ένας από τους πιο επιτυχημένους δίσκους τους, το Toys in the Attic, κυκλοφόρησε το 1975 (#11 στις Η.Π.Α.) και έγινε ακόμη πιο επιτυχημένος μετά την επανακυκλοφορία του τραγουδιού Dream On το οποίο ανέβηκε στα 10 πρώτα του καταλόγου των σινγκλ (7"). Το 1976 ηχογράφησαν τον δίσκο Rocks (#3) που έγινε πλατινένιος, το 1977 το Draw the Line, το 1978 το ζωντανά ηχογραφημένο Live Bootleg και το 1979 το Night in the Ruts, μετά την κυκλοφορία του οποίου ο Joe Perry και ο Brad Whitford αποχώρησαν από το συγκρότημα.<br />
Οι Aerosmith τους αντικατέστησαν με τους Jimmy Crespo και Rick Dufay. Μέσα στο έτος 1980 κυκλοφόρησαν τη συλλογή Greatest Hits, δίσκος ο οποίος θα πουλήσει 6 εκατομμύρια αντίτυπα μέχρι τις μέρες μας. Το 1982, οι Aerosmith κυκλοφόρησαν το Rock in a Hard Place και το 1985 το Done with Mirrors ενώ ένα χρόνο νωρίτερα είχαν επιστρέψει οι Joe Perry και Brad Whitford. Με το δίσκο Permanent Vacation του 1987 ξανακέρδισαν τη χαμένη δημοτικότητα τους και έκαναν μεγάλη επιτυχία με τους δίσκους Pump του 1989, Get A Grip του 1993 και Nine Lives του 1997.<br />
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Το 1998 συμμετείχαν στο soundtrack της ταινίας Armaggeddon με το τραγούδι I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing που έφτασε στο #1 του αμερικανικού καταλόγου επιτυχιών. Επίσης, κυκλοφόρησαν το δίσκο Just Push Play το 2001 και το Honkin' on Bobo το 2004.<br />
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Μέχρι και το 2010, οι Aerosmith έχουν πουλήσει περισσότερα από 150 εκατομμύρια αντίτυπα, έχουν 25 χρυσούς, πλατινένιους ή πολυπλατινένιους δίσκους και 4 βραβεία Grammy, ενώ από το 2001 είναι μέλη του Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame.<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-69101281415226553682010-11-07T18:54:00.000+02:002010-11-07T18:54:10.913+02:00FRANK SINATRA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv0adrwZ8l1R6ggJidRh5bNU7xJNwh4OwiPlOtAkbvVXdyR_pm4FPfHSFgZsmsjLHA5ISSpf2uq0XNdn9WHZyyA3xEXRHelSinE13Hk2l5tdyYlzUaHwbjFurVsOX42dwraQz-lzNSJR1v/s1600/41J2R32K4ZL._SS500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv0adrwZ8l1R6ggJidRh5bNU7xJNwh4OwiPlOtAkbvVXdyR_pm4FPfHSFgZsmsjLHA5ISSpf2uq0XNdn9WHZyyA3xEXRHelSinE13Hk2l5tdyYlzUaHwbjFurVsOX42dwraQz-lzNSJR1v/s200/41J2R32K4ZL._SS500_.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Born December 12, 1915 an only child whose parents dreamed of his studying to be a Civil Engineer.<br />
Attended Demarest High School (Hoboken, NJ) and participated in all sports. <br />
Sinatra's favorite passion is prizefighting. Was a "close friend" of Tami Mauriello, a heavyweight contender in 1943. <br />
Hated mathematics!<br />
Worked for the circulation manager of the Jersey Observer newspaper. He first started out riding news trucks, and later was promoted to copy boy.<br />
He wanted to be a reporter. When told by the editor that copy boys "don't know enough to be reporters," Frank went to a secretarial school and enrolled in a Journalism class, studying English, typing, and shorthand. Finally, the editor relented and made Frank a cub sports reporter. Frank covered various school games he actually played himself. He was 18 years old at the time.<br />
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Worked for the circulation manager of the Jersey Observer newspaper. He first started out riding news trucks, and later was promoted to copy boy. <br />
He wanted to be a reporter. When told by the editor that copy boys "don't know enough to be reporters," Frank went to a secretarial school and enrolled in a Journalism class, studying English, typing, and shorthand. Finally, the editor relented and made Frank a cub sports reporter. Frank covered various school games he actually played himself. He was 18 years old at the time. <br />
When it came to learning how to sing, Frank did it by singing. He never read a note, and never took a lesson. He did however enjoy spending summers playing a ukulele on the beaches of the Jersey Shore. <br />
One of Frank's idols was Bing Crosby. After hearing Bing sing one night in 1935, he told his date Nancy Barbato (who one day would be his wife) that he just had to be a singer. Bing's voice would be his role model for tone and phrasing styles in his own singing later on. <br />
To get people interested in hearing him sing, he performed in neighborhood theater amateur shows, where you could win $10 or a set of dishes! He went from one movie house to the next. In attendance was Demarest alumni, who once watched him play basketball! <br />
Won a prize on Major Bowes Amateur Hour, which landed him his first professional contract: $25 per week for being a singer, headwaiter, master of ceremonies, and a comedian at a country roadhouse called The Rustic Cabin in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The time period was 1938. At the same time, he began taking a dozen quarter-hour sustaining programs every week over 4 local, New Jersey radio stations. Frank's cash take for these events amounted to 70 cents a week for carfare. Anyway it was around 1938 and people were beginning to hear Sinatra.<br />
Harry James heard Frank sing at The Rustic Cabin in 1939 and signed him to a two-year contract as lead vocalist in James' new band. This was June of 1939. Sinatra would be associated with Harry James for only six months. <br />
At a musician's benefit in Chicago (December 1939), Tommy Dorsey approached Frank and told him he was looking for a vocalist. Frank was delighted and told Dorsey: "I've been trying for years to sing the way you play trombone." That was the beginning of a three-year relationship between Sinatra and Dorsey. It was at this time that Frank acquired the rabid following of young fans, which enabled him later to branch out as a solo artist. It was also at this time that Frank's career soared. <br />
Frank always wanted to serve his country. However, on December 9, 1941, three days shy of his 26th birthday, he was classified as "4-F" at the Newark Induction Center because of a "punctured eardrum." Frank earned this from a playmate on a deserted street in Hoboken (the boy swung a bicycle chain at Frank during a fight) . Amazingly, it kept him out of the Armed Forces in 1941 when it was time for him to report. <br />
He married his childhood sweetheart, Nancy Barbato in February of 1939. The bowties you see from a lot of old photos were compliments of Nancy herself. She knitted them to hide Frank's huge Adam's Apple!! <br />
Around November of 1946, Columbia Records estmated that Frank was recording an average of 24 songs per year, enabling them to issue one new Sinatra record a month. At that time, his records were selling at an annual rate of 10 million per year!! <br />
A talent agency marketing his voice advertised it as:"The Voice That Thrilled Millions." This sweeping phrase was condensed by a weary journalist to simply, "The Voice." The name, as you know, stuck to him ever since. <br />
In the Fall of 1942, eager to go out on his own and to get out of his contract with Dorsey, he pledged one third of his future gross earnings to Dorsey, and another 10% of his future gross to Dorsey's manager, Leonard Vannerson. <br />
Manny Sacks and William Paley of the Columbia Recording Corporation took a chance on recording Frank as a soloist. Both Columbia and MCA (Frank's new talent agency) freed Sinatra from Dorsey and Vannerson by paying them $60,000. The year was 1948. <br />
Always hated cops. With some of his first wages from the Jesey Observer, Frank bought new clothes. While parading them around in Hoboken, the cops saw them and wanted to know were he got them from. "Ya copper, what's it to you?" he said to them. When they got through with him he was torn, tattered, and a bloddy mess; ribs cracked, his nose smashed, and his face and body horribly swollen. From that day on, all authority has sent him a little berserk! <br />
"The House I Live In," made at the peak of Sinatra's popularity earned him a special Academy Award in 1945. <br />
Frank was first linked to the Mafia in February 1947 in a gossip column report that stated he was seen in Havana with mobster Lucky Luciano. Later, in 1949, he was tied to both the Mafia "and" the Communists. The Committee on Un-American Activities said he followed or appeased some of the Communist Party line program. Sinatra has flat out denied any involvement with the Communist Party. Apparently, these accusations continued. On April 8, 1947, Sinatra punched Hearst gossip columnist Lee Mortimer at Ciro's (Hollywood's hot night spot). The Hearst papers went wild, running whole pages on this incident, and repeated stories on the Mafia/Communist charges. Sinatra said he punched Mortimer because the columnist called him a "dago"! 22. 1949 was Sinatra's "rock bottom" year. He was fired from his radio show; 6 months after that his New York concerts flopped. Soon, his personal life was falling apart as fast as his career. He and Nancy were splitting. His affair with Ava Gardner had become an open scandal. Columbia Records wanted him out. In 1950, he was released from his MGM film contract, and his own agent, MCA, dropped him. He was a has-been at 34. <br />
Frank was sick, broke, and reduced to borrowing from Ava Gardner. His career and personality were near shambles. Friends Toots Shor, Hank Sanicola, and Jimmy Van Heusen, etc. tried to get him into getting hold of himself. As it turned out, Frank Sinatra saved Frank Sinatra! He read James Jones' From Here To Eternity, and knew that the part of Maggio, the tough little Italian who refused to be broken, could have been written for him. He went to see Buddy Adler (Columbia Pictures Producer) and asked to be tested for the part. Adler had 5 other actors ahead of Sinatra to test. Frank, then went to Henry Cohn (head of Columbia pictures) to sell himself for the role. Frank sold Cohn, got the part, and the rest is as they say, history! <br />
Sinatra, who plays Montgomery Clift's soldier-buddy in <br />
From Here To Eternity, underwent several hours of military training every day to prepare for his role as Maggio. <br />
Frank accepted $8,000 for his role as Maggio in From Here To Eternity. He had been getting $150,000 per picture prior to this. <br />
As you know, Frank won an Academy Award for his portrayl as Maggio in <br />
From Here To Eternity. His comeback had started!! Within a few months hew was back on his feet, making Guys and Dolls, The Tender Trap, and The Man With The Golden Arm. He signed a new recording contract with Capitol Records and his singing was better than ever on actual records and in personal appearances. Three records: ("Young At Heart," "Learnin' The Blues" and "The Tender Trap") were million copy sellers. Capitol later released Songs For Swinging Lovers and NBC offered him a multimillion dollar, write-his-own-ticket TV contract. <br />
Frank's support of then Senator JFK was well documented and filmed. However, Kennedy's campaign advisors worried about Sinatra's Mafia aura and expressed the hope that the singer would keep his distance from the Senator, while still recognizing Frank's valuable contributions to event organization. After JFK had won the Presidential Election (1960), and in a gesture of classic macho deference, Sinatra offered to share a prize girlfriend, Judith Campbell Exner, with the President. Kennedy liked the idea and began an affair with Exner. (Sinatra's musical hit that year, appropriately enough, was "All The Way"). Then Sinatra went too far; he introduced Exner to Chicago Mob leader Sam Giancana. Bobby Kennedy, in the middle of a campaign to crush the Mafia, put a stop to his brother's involvement with Exner, and ultimately, strongly reiterated the need for Jack to stay free and clear of Sinatra. The Kennedy's had been planning to stay with Sinatra in Frank's Palm Springs compound. Sinatra had remodeled his house in anticipation of the presidential visit. At the last minute, JFK announced they stay instead with Bing Crosby-who wasn't even a Democrat!! To the public, and to Frank, it was an inexplicable snub. He got even with Bobby later in the 1968 California primary by supporting Humphrey. Frank later discovered the Humphrey campaign had the same reservations that the Kennedy campaign had had, and he quietly left. <br />
Of all the success Frank endured, his private life remained disturbed. Shortly after (or during?) his split with Ava, Frank had been reported serious about only two women: Lauren Bacall (widow of Humphrey Bogart), and Juliet Prowse (a talented dancer from South Africa). Never quite knowing if he wanted serious relations or total freedom, he seemed at this time to develop an allergy to the word "marriage." Whenever it was mentioned, he would get an itch to run!! And ran he did, with his buddies-The Rat Pack (Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop).They would make movies together, sing together, and tour together. They even had their own lingo!! However, during these times, Frank continued to be a good father to this children. He was hard to figure out, in terms of what lifestyle he preferred. <br />
Sinatra married Mia Farrow in 1966. He just finished an album he called "September of My Years." At this time, Frank was 51, Mia was 21. A sixties rebel and opposed to the Vietnam War, Sinatra's friends claimed he "digged her brains." They were separated 16 months later in November of 1967 acknowledging that they spent little time together. <br />
Frank's key moment in shifting from left to right wing politics seem to have come during his retirement years (circa 1971-1972). The key moment came when the House Crime Committee held a new investigation of Sinatra's mob ties in 1972. The main evidence against him was the testimony of a confessed hit man who said that a New England Mafia boss had boasted that Sinatra was "fronting" for him as part owner to two resort hotels. The committee called Sinatra. The committe counsel later admitted (even to Frank himself) that the evidence was all hearsay. <br />
Sinatra explained his actual shift in political thinking in a New York Times Op-Ed piece he wrote right after his appearance before the committee. His old politics of "standing up for the little guy" had been altered. He saw his subpoena as a prime example of big government oppressing a little guy. He now embraced the right-wing populism that defined the principal oppressor of the little guy. <br />
Sinatra's Vital Stats in 1964: Height: 5'11" Weight: 155 lbs. Hair: Dark Brown <br />
In the mid-1960's, Frank's favorite New York bar was Jilly's Saloon (256 West 52nd Street - currently closed). Sinatra met Jilly in Miami Beach when performing at the Fontainebleau. They hit it off immediately. <br />
Sinatra announced his retirement on March 23, 1971. At the time, he wanted to spend more time with his family and perhaps write. However, he was back in the studio on April 30, 1973 to record tracks for his Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back LP. Obviously, he didn't last long in retirement! <br />
Sinatra dislikes women who smoke or drink too much or who wear heavy perfume. He dislikes roast lamb, fair-weather friends, green salads, phonies, complainers, and weshers. He is, of course, the perfect host. A great Italian cook! He lets people believe he is out swinging every night of the week, when actually he is often home reading. He is a best-seller addict, and has an insatiable interest in history. He has an excellent eye for quality French Impressionist paintings. He is what Rosalind Russell called: "a fake drinker" ... more often than not, he talks more about drinking than he actually imbibes. He believes the Lennon/McCartney song "Yesterday" is one of the best songs ever written, and strongly feels that prizefighter Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest he ever saw. <br />
Sinatra was an only child of Italian parents, and they spoiled him. From the beginning, this only child had money. His father was a fireman, but his mother was a popular Democratic ward leader. Frank had a charge account at a local department store and a wardrobe so fancy that his friends called him "Slacksey." He had a secondhand car at 15!! And in the depths of the Depression, after dropping out of high school, he had the ultimate luxury, a job unloading trucks at the Jersey Observer. <br />
During filming of his movies, Sinatra insisted on one or two takes. This had led to careless, even shoddy productions. A clear example of this can be seen in 1970's Dirty Dingus Magee. <br />
In 1974, Frank told Daily News columnist Kay Gardella that it was Billie Holiday, who he first heard in 52nd Street clubs in the 1930's, who was - and still remains - the greatest single musical influence on him. <br />
Back in 1963, the Nevada Gaming Control Board charged that the Chicago mobster Sam Giancana had been a week-long guest at Sinatra's Cal-Neva Lodge in Lake Tahoe. The Gaming Control Board sought to revoke Sinatra's casino gambling license. After debating the issue, Sinatra chose not to fight the revocation order. Apparently, his friendship with Giancana was more important than his investment in Nevada,and he sold his interests for $3.5 million. <br />
Frank's father - Anthony Martin Sinatra - ran a saloon when he wasn't working for the fire department. His father was a blue-eyed Sicilian,close-mouthed, passive, and in his own way, tough. He once boxed as "Marty O'Brien" in the years when the Irish ran northern New Jersey. <br />
Dolly Sinatra, Frank's mother, was born Natalie Garaventi. When Frank was born, she was disappointed. Why? She wanted a girl! In fact, prior to his birth, she had already bought lots of pink clothes. She dressed Frank in those pink outfits, rather than discard them. <br />
When Frank released Trilogy in 1980, it was heralded as his best work in 15 years. Rolling Stone stated that he was "deeper and rawer in his bass register, lighter and more inflective in the baritone range. In concert, the voice sounded impossibly big, animative, cunning, and formidable. It was as if the presence of an audience somehow impelled him to renewed levels of ingenuity and intensity." <br />
Don Costa stuff: Costa was one of the few certifiable legends in pop music history; over 280 chart records in more than 30 years; producer; arranger and friend to a galaxy of musical luminaries including Frank Sinatra. Produced/arranged a number of Sinatra LPs: She Shot Me Down, Some Nice Things I Missed, Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back, The Main Event, Cycles, Sinatra and Strings, etc. Actually wrote the melody on one track for She Shot Me Down, entitled "Monday Morning Quarterback." <br />
Frank Sinatra married Barbara Marx on July 11, 1976. She was formerly married to one of the 4 famed "Marx Brothers," Zeppo Marx. Barbara Sinatra was born in Missouri. She moved to Wichita, Kansas during the Second World War, and upon the War's conclusion, moved to California, where she remains with Frank to this day. When she first arrived in California, she settled in Long Beach and ran a modeling school and consulted to the Miss Universe Beauty Pageants. She had an 8-month stint as a Las Vegas showgirl and did some modeling for a fashion designer in Los Angeles. <br />
Frank's real estate (as of 1983): The Rancho Mirage Compound (Palm Springs, California); Waldorf Towers Apartment (NYC); large house (Los Angeles). Frank loves LA and NY the most. On the other hand, Barbara loves New York City the most. She enjoys attending social events, art museums, plays, and Broadway shows. <br />
At Rancho Mirage during the early 1980's, Frank and Barbara Sinatra feel most at ease out of all of the homes they own together. There are "his" and "hers" cactus gardens; door mats monogrammed BAS (for her) and FAS (for him)!! There's a swimming pool and tennis court, guest houses and green spaces and a projection room in old railroad caboose, where he also keeps his collection of model trains. Barbara loves animals, particularly dogs. At one point, at the Compound, there were as many as eight dogs! <br />
In the early 1980's, Sinatra performed in Rio de Janeiro before the largest audience (175,000 people) ever to attend a concert by a soloist-the event, at the time, was recorded in the Guinness Book Of World Records. As an aside note, Frank has also set box office records performing at Carnegie Hall in New York City. <br />
Various Awards: Frank received special awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. In 1983, he was one of 5 recipients to receive a Kennedy Center Honor. That same year he received two honors of distinction. Variety Clubs International, the show business charity, saluted him for his achievements as an entertainer and a humanitarian. As a tribute to him, the Sinatra Family Children's Unit for the Chronically Ill, was established at the Seattle Children's Orthopedic Hospital and Medical Center. In 1979, Frank wins the Trustees Award in acknowledgment of his lifetime of devotion to the high standards of recording artistry. In early 1994, the Recording Industry Association of America awarded Frank Sinatra with his first multi-platinum record in his 55-year career, for 2 million units sold of the all-star vocal collection, Duets. This was Sinatra's first "multi" platinum record. He scored "platinum" with Strangers In The Night in 1966, and Greatest Hits in 1968. In addition, Frank has racked up 21 gold albums in his career. <br />
Grammy Awards: Only The Lonely wins for Best Cover Art (1958); Come Dance With Me wins Album of the Year and Best Male Vocal (1959); September of My Years wins Album of The Year; "It Was A Very Good Year" wins Best Male Performance (1965); Sinatra: A Man And His Music is named Album of The Year. Strangers In The Night wins Record Of The Year and Best Male Vocal Performance (1966); Grammy Legend Award (1994). <br />
Harry Connick Jr. on Frank Sinatra: "Sinatra is the total master of vocal technique. He was the first at holding phrases for such a long time, sliding from note to note. The way he can get vibrato on the high notes - it's amazing. Then there is his breath control, the way he can hold phrases for 20 or 25 seconds. The best example is on 'Old Man River' from The Concert Sinatra album. He must have an extra set of lungs; I wish he kept them in my chest." <br />
Frank's three children (all conceived with first wife Nancy): Nancy Sandra - born in 1940; Franklin Wayne Emmanuel (Frank Jr.) - born in 1944; and Christina (Tina) - born in 1948. Nancy and Frank Jr. were born in Jersey City; Tina was born in LA. <br />
Out of all the songs Frank's recorded, the one he "hates" the most is "Strangers In the Night." <br />
Frank Sinatra has faced triumph, failure and triumph again throughout his long career as an entertainer. New musical fads and trends-bebop, soft rock, hard rock, punk, rap, hip-hop-come and go, but somehow the Sinatra show that exploded half a century ago beats on into the 1990's.<br />
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(Rolling Stone, 1980) "What Sinatra did was important: he took the songs of Porter, Gershwin, Arlen, Cahn, Fein, and others and made them seem personal and imperative. It was an eloquent display of his paradoxical brand of artistry; touch, yet sensitive, vain yet compassionate, grasping yet generous. And when Sinatra left the stage, we realized we might never witness artistry that big and that provocative, again."<br />
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Frank Sinatra developed a unique white-blues style, supple enough to express the wide range of his own turbulent emotions. He transformed the tunes of the great writers into something personal by the sincerity of his performance; Sinatra actually seemed to "believe" the words he was singing.<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-19989973726381563482010-11-07T18:26:00.002+02:002010-11-07T18:56:31.394+02:00DEPECHE MODE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkVo4ZaxUuq3nyIyy0RpI5wqvEQ375DsyelTRyIYHDbdQ6pRe2KwZYRnNSW2n9hQGIenAwSQSXdzL9BO4-fphKtgaiCJb_vvEZ-3GoOQwr-ZFA4xll4jwKlOWqxuo9WwekY6XhXa-9ssC1/s1600/800px-Depeche_Mode_2006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkVo4ZaxUuq3nyIyy0RpI5wqvEQ375DsyelTRyIYHDbdQ6pRe2KwZYRnNSW2n9hQGIenAwSQSXdzL9BO4-fphKtgaiCJb_vvEZ-3GoOQwr-ZFA4xll4jwKlOWqxuo9WwekY6XhXa-9ssC1/s200/800px-Depeche_Mode_2006.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>FORMED: 1980, Basildon, England<br />
Composition of Sound was formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex, by guitarist/vocalists Andy Fletcher and Martin Gore and keyboardist Vince Clarke. After recruiting David Gahan, the group abandoned their guitars for synthesizers, changed the band's name, and became an all-electronic band entitled Depeche Mode. For this unusual approach, Depeche Mode earned a loyal London following, and within a year of their formation, were signed to Mute Records. Depeche Mode's first single "Dreaming of Me" was a minor U.K. hit. It was followed by "New Life", which climbed to No.11, and by "Just Can't Get Enough", which cracked the British Top Ten. Speak & Spell, Depeche Mode's debut album, was released in November of 1981.<br />
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Signed to Sire Records in the U.S., Depeche Mode found initial exposure for their music with club audiences. "Just Can't Get Enough" became a major dance hit, receiving airplay on American alternative radio stations. After a tour of England and Europe, Vince Clark left Depeche Mode to form Yazoo. Alan Wilder then joined the band as the group released its fourth single "The Meaning of Love". A second hit album titled "A Broken Frame" was then released in 1982. In 1983, Depeche Mode released "Construction Time Again", which contained the dance favorite "Everything Counts".<br />
With the release of "People Are People" in 1984, American audiences discovered what their European counterparts had known since 1981. "People Are People" was Depeche Mode's first North American success, which Depeche Mode built on with their fourth release "Some Great Reward". "Catching Up With Depeche Mode" and "Black Celebration" followed in the next two years. It became evident with the "Black Celebration" album that Depeche Mode were starting to, as Martin put it, "make harder sounding records". But "Black Celebration" was not an easy album to make; Martin had a very fixed idea of how he wanted it to sound. The songs on this album reflect on how painful it was for Depeche to record this album. As Dave put it, "If there was ever a time that Depeche Mode would break up, it would have happened during the making of Black Celebration". Depeche also showed a distaste for corporate manipulation; when Sire flipped the "Stripped" single - which Depeche had spend three weeks perfecting - to take advantage of it's B<br />
-side, "But Not Tonight", (a throwaway song that was recorded in one day), the band's displeasure was evident. Following the Black Celebration Tour, their most successful American tour to that date, the band followed it up with "Music for the Masses".<br />
Released in 1987, Depeche Mode went with David Bascombe as their new producer, wanting a fresh start after almost aborting the "Black Celebration" sessions. "Strangelove", the album's first single, had no less than 14 different remixes. "Music for the Masses" itself had struggled to reach the UK Top Ten, and "Little 15", released only in Germany, scraped no higher than number 60, as a foreign release. But still, Depeche Mode continued to have higher concert attendance figures than album sales. After an extensive world tour, Depeche Mode played their 101'st concert at a sold out Pasadena Rose Bowl in front of 70,000 fans. A live album and video, entitled "101" was then released in 1988, warming fans up for Depeche Mode's breakthough album "Violator".<br />
"Personal Jesus", the first single from this album, was a huge success, becoming one of the largest selling CD singles in U.S. history, and gave Depeche Mode their first U.S. gold single. Then followed "Enjoy the Silence", a massive hit, which has become Depeche Mode's trademark song. Depeche even whipped 17,000 fans in L.A. into a near riot at a in-store autograph signing to promote the release of Violator. As fast as the ticket offices opened, the demand for the "World Violation Tour" swamped them. In New York, Depeche sold 40,000 tickets for their Giants Stadium show within 8 hours and 48,000 tickets to the Dodger Stadium show in L.A. were sold within one hour of going on sale. But not all was well, frayed nerves, the wear and tear of touring, and internal battles caused Depeche Mode to part company at the end of the Violator Tour, not knowing if they were ever to work together again.<br />
Dave re-located to L.A. while the other members concentrated on their families. But in 1992, when Dave felt he didn't want to make another "dance" record with Depeche, Martin sent a demo comprised of "electrifying, bluesy" songs for the next album, which Dave described as "a total relief, soaring, majestic, beautiful". Not only did these songs match Dave's dreams, it equalled them. Dave had now felt that Depeche was pushing the limits of their music further, which he had been wanting for a few years now.<br />
In 1993, after a three year period between albums, Depeche Mode released "Songs of Faith and Devotion", a much more rock oriented approach to their music. This would be the first Mode album that would utilize live drums, as well as outside musicians. With "I Feel You" as the first single, and a much anticipated album release, SOFAD debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top 100 and on the British charts as well. It was the first truly "alternative" album to ever achieve this distinguished double. It remained on top for just one week, and by November, it had slipped so swiftly that "Rolling Stone" had spotted the album in the bargain bins. But none the less, Depeche set out on a extensive 14 month world tour, leading the band to such places as South Africa, Australia, Hong Kong, and South America. Even with the quick demise of Songs of Faith and Devotion, Depeche Mode continued to sell out shows in North America and Europe.<br />
The band has somewhat become a permanent attraction, in which album chart positions don't affect their concert attendance figures.<br />
On June 1st/1995, keyboardist/drummer Alan Wilder decided to leave Depeche Mode, stating unsatisfactory internal working conditions as the reason why he left the band. Fletch, Martin, and Dave continued on as Depeche Mode and they completed recording a new album with producer Tim Simenon in London. On February 3/1997, Depeche Mode released their first single in more than three years; "Barrel of a Gun", along with it's b-side track "Painkiller". Depeche Mode released their new album, "Ultra", on April 14/1997, debuting at Number 5 of the US Billboard Record Charts.<br />
The album gained platinum status in Spain, Sweden, Germany, France, and the UK, along with gold status in Italy, Hong Kong, and Canada. Deciding not to tour in support of 'Ultra', Depeche Mode spent from November of 1996 to July 1997 promoting the album, giving over 250 interviews, along with playing live on various television shows in Europe and the US. Other promotional appearances included playing live on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' on May 15/97, as well as answering questions on a live Internet broadcast from the House of Blues. Along with this, Depeche Mode unveiled their own website, www.depechemode.com. The band conducted two album launch parties, one at Adrenaline Village in Battersea on April 10/97, and the other at the Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles on May 16/97. The band played the same song set for both shows, consisting of four tracks from Ultra (Barrel of a Gun, It's No Good, Useless, and Home), along with Never Let Me Down Again.<br />
In September of 1998, Depeche Mode returned to the studio to work on a few new tracks, which were to be included on the 2 disc singles compilation "The Singles 86>98". Containing the new track "Only When I Lose Myself", the compilation also included 20 other tracks, consisting of all the bands releases from Black Celebration to 1997's Ultra. Deciding not to pass up another opportunity to tour, and the fact that all band members were now ready to take up touring again, Depeche Mode embarked on an extensive 4 month tour of Europe and North America, their first in five years. This tour marked the first time that the band have ever played live to audiences in Latvia, Estonia, and Russia, ending their 18 year wait for the band to play a concert in their countries.<br />
The setlist heavily consisted of the band's singles from 1986 to 1998, but also included a few old surprises, like Somebody and Just Can't Get Enough. The tour marked a few firsts for the band, not only did they played for the first time in Russia, but the band also performed at the "1998 KROQ Almost Acoustic X-mas" in Los Angeles, and on the "Late Night With David Letterman Show" in November. After ending their tour in Anaheim on December 22, 1998, Depeche Mode are currently working on a new album with producer Mark Bell, and we should be expecting a release sometime in the Spring of 2001. Stay tuned!!!<br />
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Source: http://www.depeche-mode.com/story.htm<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-90074955069949900492010-11-07T18:18:00.000+02:002010-11-07T18:18:03.312+02:00Gary Moore<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigoXddlcAuTpHNsjXQ56l2rnAvrE0un8HFsvK0jh2BFyD3Z4YpGfuujmksb308AcRwc7pIBhyphenhyphenY0zTVHXQON4mgvy-qe7zMXQEkxpRniyqygk6f4JhhZA_mKyMNNtSL6P0wAQfKZZr-zRQ6/s1600/BFYB+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigoXddlcAuTpHNsjXQ56l2rnAvrE0un8HFsvK0jh2BFyD3Z4YpGfuujmksb308AcRwc7pIBhyphenhyphenY0zTVHXQON4mgvy-qe7zMXQEkxpRniyqygk6f4JhhZA_mKyMNNtSL6P0wAQfKZZr-zRQ6/s200/BFYB+cover.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Ο Moore γεννήθηκε στο Μπέλφαστ της Βόρειας Ιρλανδίας, στις 4 Απριλίου 1952. Ξεκίνησε τη μουσική του καριέρα πολύ μικρός – αγόρασε την πρώτη του, χιλιοταλαιπωρημένη ακουστική κιθάρα στην ηλικία των οκτώ και μια λίγο καλύτερη στα δέκα τέσσερα. Εμαθε να παίζει με το δεξί, αντιγράφοντας άλλους κιθαρίστας, ενώ ήταν, στην πραγματικότητα, αριστερόχειρας! Όπως και τόσοι άλλοι, μυήθηκε στο rock’n’roll αρχικά ακούγοντας τον Elvis Presley και μετά τους Beatles. <br />
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Βλέποντας από κοντά τον Jimmy Hendrix και τους Bluesbreakers του John Mayall να παίζουν στη μικρή του πόλη, στα μέσα του ’60, γνώρισε τον πλούσιο κόσμο της blues. Η τέχνη της κιθάρας, μέσα στα πλαίσια της blues, όπως την άκουσε από τον μαγικό Peter Green, έδωσε τροφή στο εκκολαπτόμενο ταλέντο του Moore και, σύντομα, τον ανέδειξε σ’ ένα παιδί – θαύμα της μουσικής. <br />
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Ο Peter Green, μάλιστα, ο κιθαρίστας των Fleetwood Mac, βοήθησε σημαντικά στο χτίσιμο της καριέρας του Moore – το χρέος αποδόθηκε και με το παραπάνω, όταν ο Gary κυκλοφόρησε, το 1995, το άλμπουμ «Blues for Greeny», αποτελούμενο αποκλειστικά από συνθέσεις του Green, έναν από καρδιάς φόρο τιμής στον μέντορά του. Στην ηχογράφηση ο Moore χρησιμοποίησε τη διάσημη κιθάρα Les Paul του Green, την οποία και αγόρασε αργότερα ώστε, όπως είπε ο Green, «ν’ αποκτήσει ένα καλύτερο σπίτι…». <br />
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Το πρώτο αξιομνημόνευτο συγκρότημα του Moore, οι Skid Row, εξασφάλισαν ένα συμβόλαιο με τη δισκογραφική του CBS το 1970. Ο Gary είχε, ήδη, εγκατασταθεί στο Δουβλίνο και είχε γίνει φίλος με τον Philip Lynott, που αποτελούσε και τη φωνή των Skid Row μέχρι πριν την υπογραφή του συμβολαίου. Ο Gary ηχογράφησε τρία άλμπουμ με το συγκρότημα κι έκανε περιοδεία στην Αμερική, ανοίγοντας για τους Allman Brothers και τους Mountain, μεταξύ άλλων, προτού αποχωρήσει από τους Skid Row για να κάνει σόλο καριέρα. Αυτό δεν κράτησε πολύ, μια και ο Gary γρήγορα ξανασυνδέθηκε με τον Philip Lynott, ως αντικαταστάτης του Eric Bell στους Thin Lizzy. Αν κι έμεινε στο συγκρότημα για σχετικά μικρό διάστημα, επέστρεψε και πάλι στο line-up τους μετά την αποχώρηση του Brian Robertson το 1977 και ξανά, για τελευταία φορά, το 1978, για την περιοδεία «Black Rose». <br />
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Η σόλο καριέρα του Gary ξεκίνησε ουσιαστικά το 1979, με το υποβλητικό κι εξαιρετικά επιτυχημένο single «Parisienne Walkways», που συνδύαζε τη μελωδική blues κιθάρα του Gary με τη μελαγχολική φωνή του Philip Lynott. Το single μπήκε στο βρετανικό Top 10 τον Απρίλιο της ίδιας χρονιάς και το άλμπουμ που ακολούθησε, με τίτλο «Back on the Streets» έγινε επίσης δεκτό με ενθουσιασμό. <br />
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Στα τέλη της δεκαετίας του ’70 και στις αρχές του ’80 ο Moore έμοιαζε να ψάχνει ανήσυχα για το ιδανικό μουσικό ύφος που θα πλαισίωνε το ταλέντο του. Μια επανασύνδεση με τον Philip Lynott το 1985, είχε ως καρπό το δυνατό single «Out in the Fields». Επειτα ο Gary εξερεύνησε τις κέλτικες ρίζες του με το άλμπουμ «Wild Frontier» (1987), αλλά στην πραγματικότητα έφτασε στο απόγειο της δημιουργικότητάς του το 1990, με το άλμπουμ «Still Got the Blues», το οποίο γνώρισε τεράστια κριτική κι εμπορική επιτυχία. Τόσο σε αυτό, όσο και στο επόμενο άλμπουμ του, «After Hours», συμμετείχαν θρύλοι της blues –και όχι μόνο- μουσικής, όπως οι Albert King, B.B. King, Albert Collins και George Harrison, κι είναι απόδειξη του τεράστιου ταλέντου του Gary ότι στάθηκε επάξια δίπλα σ’ αυτές τις ιστορικές φιγούρες. <br />
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Εκείνη την περίοδο, άλλωστε, ο Moore συνεργάστηκε με τους Traveling Wilburys, παίζοντας το χαρακτηριστικό κιθαριστικό σόλο στο τραγούδι «She’s My Baby», στο άλμπουμ «Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3». Ο Moore θυμάται πώς προέκυψε αυτή η συνεργασία: «Ενα βράδυ πήγα στο σπίτι του George Harrison όπου συνάντησα τον Bob Dylan. Θυμάμαι πως είχε απαλά χέρια καθώς και μια διατροφολόγο να ταξιδεύει μαζί του, ήταν πολύ ντροπαλός και με το ζόρι είπε δύο κουβέντες. Λίγες μέρες αργότερα ο George μου είπε, ‘θέλει να ξέρει ο Bob αν θα είσαι με το συγκρότημά του στην επόμενη περιοδεία του’. Δεν το πίστευα, είχα ακούσει όλες αυτές τις ιστορίες για τον Bob, ότι στις συναυλίες δεν έπαιζε αυτά που είχαν κάνει πρόβα και αυτοσχεδίαζε στη σκηνή. Χάρηκα που μου το ζήτησε γιατί ήμουν σίγουρα θαυμαστής του». <br />
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Το 1994 ο Moore συνεργάστηκε με τους Ginger Baker και Jack Bruce στο συγκρότημα BBM, με τους οποίους κυκλοφόρησε κι ένα εξαιρετικό άλμπουμ, πριν συνεχίσει με τη σόλο καριέρα του. <br />
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Με το άλμπουμ «Back to the Blues» (2001), ο Moore επέστρεψε, πραγματικά, στα νερά της blues με ανανεωμένη πίστη και δύναμη, μετά τα πιο πειραματικά άλμπουμ «Dark Days in Paradise» (1997) και «A Different Beat» (1999). Μια συλλογή δέκα τραγουδιών που συνδυάζει υπέροχα πρωτότυπα τραγούδια του Moore με τολμηρές διασκευές κλασικών κομματιών. <br />
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Ωστόσο, έχοντας συνηθίσει τους θαυμαστές του και τους κριτικούς σε εκπλήξεις, το 2002 ο Gary Moore «επιτέθηκε» στη μουσική σκηνή με την πιο απαιτητική συλλογή τραγουδιών του από την εποχή του ’80, αναγκάζοντας, για άλλη μια φορά, το κοινό να επανεκτιμήσει όποια γνώμη ή προδιάθεση μπορεί να είχε σχηματίσει για το πρόσωπό του. Αυτή τη φορά, ο Moore είχε αποφασίσει να μοιραστεί τα φώτα των προβολέων, ενώνοντας τις δυνάμεις του με τον μπασίστα των Skunk Anansie, Cass Lewis, και τον ντράμερ των Primal Scream, Darrin Mooney, σχηματίζοντας τους Scars, ένα εκρηκτικό τρίο. Το άλμπουμ «Scars» ολοκληρώθηκε στις αρχές του 2002 και στη συνέχεια το συγκρότημα κυκλοφόρησε σε CD και DVD το «Live at the Monsters of Rock» (2003), το οποίο περιλάμβανε το σετ της μπάντας από δύο συναυλίες της περιοδείας της Μεγάλης Βρετανίας τον Μάιο 2003. Αυτή η ζωντανή ηχογράφηση διατρέχει μια μεγάλη γκάμα όλων των μουσικών τάσεων και της πορείας του Moore. <br />
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Το 2004 κυκλοφόρησε το «Power of the Blues», μάλλον το πιο «ακατέργαστο» άλμπουμ του Moore. Τα δέκα τραγούδια, που ηχογραφήθηκαν ως επί το πλείστον ζωντανά στο στούντιο, κινούνται από το σκληρό rock/blues του ομότιτλου κομματιού, μέσω του ρυθμικού «Can’t Find my Baby», ως το στοιχειωτικό «Torn Inside». <br />
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Τον Αύγουστο του 2005, ο Moore ξανασυναντήθηκε με τους παλιούς του φίλους, τους Thin Lizzy, για μία και μοναδική συναυλία στο Δουβλίνο. Η βραδιά μαγνητοσκοπήθηκε και κυκλοφόρησε το 2006 σε DVD, με τον τίτλο «Gary Moore and Friends, One Night in Dublin, A Tribute to Phil Lynott». <br />
Το 2006, ο Moore μπήκε ξανά στο στούντιο και ηχογράφησε το «Old New Ballads Blues», το οποίο φιλοξενούσε μια σειρά από γεμάτες έμπνευση διασκευές τραγουδιών blues, μαζί με εκπληκτικά καινούρια κομμάτια. <br />
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Με το τελευταίο του άλμπουμ, «Close as you Get», ο Gary συνεχίζει προς μια παρόμοια κατεύθυνση. Αναμειγνύει πρωτότυπες μελωδίες με ενδιαφέρουσες διασκευές που ανακάλυψε διερευνώντας το υλικό για την πρόσφατη ραδιοφωνική εκπομπή του, με τον τίτλο «Blues Power», στον βρετανικό διαδικτυακό ραδιοσταθμό Planet Rock. Το «Close as you Get» αναδεικνύει το μοναδικό ταλέντο του Moore ως κιθαρίστα και κερδίζει μια θέση στις πιο αναγνωρισμένες κυκλοφορίες του 2007. <br />
Το 2008, ο Gary περιοδεύει στον κόσμο, παρουσιάζοντας το «Close as you Get». Δίνει συναυλίες σε πολλές ευρωπαϊκές πρωτεύουσες και συμμετέχει σε μουσικά φεστιβάλ στη Γερμανία, τη Ρωσία και τις χώρες της Βαλτικής, την Ελβετία, τη Σουηδία, την Ισπανία και τη Μεγάλη Βρετανία.<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-16652722053807872402010-10-25T18:48:00.002+03:002010-10-25T21:28:38.004+03:00DELERIUM<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOl1pHTCbnOM1rgiIQgkaCi_TxpS37eOTKX9_Np78wEt6D_1r9g5gaekAJ8cVrIThgbA5pkuosCkcRHOVlceol7SUvuTLb6PcI-MyIZqph_o7uprwOnbj152VaG9h8pHOqh6U0zPyyY8Vi/s1600/Delerium-music-nt02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOl1pHTCbnOM1rgiIQgkaCi_TxpS37eOTKX9_Np78wEt6D_1r9g5gaekAJ8cVrIThgbA5pkuosCkcRHOVlceol7SUvuTLb6PcI-MyIZqph_o7uprwOnbj152VaG9h8pHOqh6U0zPyyY8Vi/s200/Delerium-music-nt02.jpg" width="198" /></a></div>There's an old adage that says, "Music soothes the savage beast." If that is indeed true, then music is needed now more than ever in these crazy times. Enter Delerium. Bill Leeb, who helped bring integrity and depth to the pop charts a few years ago with the hit 'Silence,' is back with the moving, eloquent 'Chimera'.<br />
"It gives you a cool vibe, and you walk away feeling better," Leeb says of the new album.<br />
"I want it to be a bit of a journey, not just one style. It's more of a record of a mystical journey that provokes your moods inside and your thoughts about your day and about life; things that aren't driven by trends or time."<br />
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Chimera succeeds in achieving all of Leeb's goals. From the opening one-two punch of the world-tinged 'Love,' which features vocals by newcomer Zoe Johnston, and the first single, the cerebral pop of 'After All,' through the haunting 'Serenity' and the soothing 'Magic,' a track highlighted by the sultry crooning of singer Julee Cruise, 'Chimera' finds Delerium returning to the form of 1997's breakthrough album, 'Karma'.<br />
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'Chimera' marks a reunion of Leeb and Rhys Fuller after a brief separation following 'Karma'. As a result Leeb recorded 2000's 'Poem' on his own, while Fulber established a successful venture with the critically acclaimed Conjure One project.<br />
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Leeb says that the Canadian pair, which has been working together since starting seminal industrial act Frontline Assembly in the mid '80s, each learned lessons during the time they worked on their own. Ultimately though their reunion came down to both of them learning to appreciate what they had already accomplished with Delerium. "At the end of the day, when you look at it, maybe Delerium wasn't such a bad thing and there was room for all of it," Leeb says. "And just having time apart, people growing, life changes everybody. It's not like we ever had a fallout; we got to a certain level and he felt it was time to move on."<br />
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Leeb wants everyone to know that the two voices behind Delerium's biggest successes have reunited, and made, what he proudly calls, the best album they've ever done. Of 'Chimera', Leeb says, "There are tracks, like the chill-out, jazzier kind of numbers, that are a bit more of a departure from Delerium. We've sort of interwoven those with a world sound, and we've never done that on any record before," he says. "It gives you more to listen to than a one-dimensional world record; there are a lot of different elements. This is a more musically accomplished record."<br />
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Leeb is the architect behind 'Chimera's' sonically uplifting and diverse soundscape, but, as has always been the case with Delerium, he had plenty of help in bringing his vision to fruition.<br />
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Chimera features a wide array of vocalists, ranging from the aforementioned Cruise and familiar Delerium collaborator Leigh Nash (of Sixpence None the Richer), who appears on 'Run For It,' to Rachel Fuller on 'Touched' and Kristy Thirsk on the album's epic finale, 'Returning.'<br />
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One might expect that after more than a decade as Delerium, and collaborations with the likes of Sarah McLachlan and Matthew Sweet, Leeb would have the art of picking vocalists down to a science. While Leeb says it's always a tricky endeavor, he knows now what he is looking for in singers.<br />
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"The thing I like the most is it a true collaboration. We send them a song and we don't ever say, 'We're looking for this type of style.' We give them a song, then we get it back, and it's really the most fun, because it's never what you expect. So then it is a real true collaboration," he says.<br />
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That approach, of which he says, "I don't know if anybody else does things the way we do. I think we've always done things a little out of the ordinary," is how 'Magic' came to be. "Julee Cruise sent back her idea, and we were like, 'Oh, this is really cool.''<br />
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As for doing things out of the ordinary, that's just the way Leeb approaches his music. "I've always felt more like an outsider," he says "Rhys and I have never had a major label kind of deal; we've never had a manager; we've never played that game." he adds. But Delerium certainly isn't coming out unnoticed after the success of 'Silence.' Five years after the song became an international smash, topping the dance charts in the U.S., Britain, and more, Leeb is still modestly amazed by the song's popularity. "There was no rhyme or reason why that one went so big, it just did. There wasn't even a video for it when that happened," he recalls.<br />
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He also can tell you though when he knew the song had truly arrived. "To me, the highlight of the whole thing was, on New Year's Eve on the Judge Jules show on BBC and Radio One in London, which was the most listened to show, and they broadcast it worldwide on the Internet, they played 'Silence' as the song to bring in the new year. That kind of said it all. Rhys and I were listening to that at midnight with our jaws hanging down. We couldn't believe that was the song England would bring the New Year in with."<br />
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"I thought Kristy's track came out great and it was nice to have her back on board because she kind of helped launch Delerium," Leeb says. "Our first sort of official hit was 'Flowers Become Screens' and 'Incantation.' And she actually sang on both of those, so Kristy coming back that was another thing that was a returning a bit too."<br />
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When it comes down to it, that's what 'Chimera' is really about, believes Leeb. "The two guys who invented Delerium and put out pretty classy records together have reunited after doing their own things for a while and have put together what I think is, in some ways, the best record we've ever done," he says. And it couldn't have come at a better time.<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-17100122717363733522010-10-16T18:51:00.002+03:002010-10-25T21:30:04.642+03:00BRITNEY SPEARS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHF6cVTxR_UW-CtEiRP8s6VUmgR_-0AJRbOIwnkKRCACoU0DYnKzV0nmQPViGuF19yTKl-DJ_Mojd8NodHFiiP0sP4GKMBJW3ILfGUUngu1hxONLVA_iIlt0kMnwTH7JbcJB5mbqCycfBO/s1600/Britney+Spears.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHF6cVTxR_UW-CtEiRP8s6VUmgR_-0AJRbOIwnkKRCACoU0DYnKzV0nmQPViGuF19yTKl-DJ_Mojd8NodHFiiP0sP4GKMBJW3ILfGUUngu1hxONLVA_iIlt0kMnwTH7JbcJB5mbqCycfBO/s200/Britney+Spears.gif" width="200" /></a></div>Britney Spears was born in Kentwood, Louisiana, U.S.A. on December 2nd 1981. "Even as a little baby, Britney was a real darling…she was always being noticed." Says Lynne Spears, Britney's Mom. Lynne has even said that Britney was dancing around at the early age of two. In fact, Britney's parents believed in her abilities so much that Lynne would drive two hours everyday just so Britney could attend gymnastics classes. Although gymnastics was a fun pastime for Britney--the uneven bars and floor exercise were her favorites--she found that she wasn't nearly as strong as the other girls and although she practiced over three hours a day, the moves didn't come near as easy to her. Giving up on gymnastics was a total loss, however, as Britney soon found out that it had developed her skills as a dancer.<br />
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Changing her goals, the future queen of pop performed at her first talent show at the early age of six. By the time she was nine, she was already traveling around to different dance competitions performing in the jazz lyrical dancing category. Gymnastics and dancing at an early age wasn't the only preparation she did for her future career--Lynne has said that Britney could be found singing all the time. The song "What Child is This" was her first key to stardom--she sang it at her kindergarten graduation. It wasn't until later that Lynne realized that Britney could have a future in singing, when Britney was bouncing around on the trampoline. On top of Britney's singing and dancing as a young child, she also competed in beauty pageants. At five she won first place in the Kentwood Dairy Festival; at seven, she was awarded silver first-prize for Miss Talent USA. And that's not all--the Spears' home is filled with other trophies Britney has collected over the years.<br />
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Appearing in talent shows and choirs around her hometown, Britney's talents were obvious from a young age. She auditioned for The Disney Channel's 'Mickey Mouse Club' at the age of eight. Too young for the show, but too talented to dismiss, a Disney producer helped her to get an agent in New York where she spent the next three summers studying performing arts. She began to act in TV commercials and off-Broadway shows. At age 11, with varied and invaluable entertaining experience already behind her, Britney graduated to a coveted place in Disney's 'Mickey Mouse Club'.<br />
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Her first real lead was in a comedy called Ruthless. In 1992, Britney left Ruthless and landed a spot on Star Search. She won the first round, but was beaten by another contestant in the second. This setback didn't deter Miss Spears, who knew in her heart that she was destined for greater things. Finally, Britney returned to audition for the MMC again; except this time she was offered a job! Along with Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Christina Aguilera, and Kari Russell, Britney rapped, sang, and danced through over 110 skits on the show. After two years, in 1994, MMC was canceled, leaving Britney to wonder what was next.<br />
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After a couple of years on the show, Britney went back to New York to start a music career hoping to follow in the footsteps of her idols Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. She started out by recording several songs on a homemade demo and then returned to the person who had helped her out before: Entertainment Lawyer Larry Rudolph. Rudolph immediately set Britney up with Jive Records. After listening to her tape, Jeff Fenster, senior vice president of artists and recording for Jive Records, said, "she was intriguing, so we had her come in and audition for us in person." What did she audition to? "Jesus Loves Me" and "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston. After her performance, everyone in the room was amazed and Britney was immediately offered a recording contract.<br />
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Shortly after, Jive went to work on Britney's first album. The eleven tracks on her freshmen album were recorded all over the world: from Sweden at Max Martin's studio to New Jersey, where she worked with Eric Foster White. After the production on her CD was finished, Jive set forth on promoting their newest artist. Months before her album came out Britney's name was on teenager's lips everywhere. She even embarked on a mini-tour throughout malls in the US to promote her yet-to-be released CD. Britney then landed the coveted spot as *N Sync's opening act on their 1998 tour. But, that was only the edge of the iceberg for Britney.<br />
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In late December 1998, Jive Records released Britney's first single "…Baby One More Time" and by January, it was a number-one hit. Britney's album debuted at number one shortly thereafter, paving the road for one of the world's biggest stars. Unfortunately, in February 1999, Britney's luck took a turn for the worst. While filming the video for her second single, "Sometimes," Britney tore cartilage in her left knee and was forced take a brief break to have surgery. After she was done recuperating, Jive immediately set her up with her own headlining tour sponsored by Tommy Hilfiger. Her 2nd single, 'Sometimes' - a soft summer ballad - was released in June 1999 and was warmly received by a rapidly growing fan base.<br />
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After a massive summer tour across North America, Britney returned to the charts with another smash hit, '(You Drive Me) Crazy'. The highlight of 1999 for Britney was performing a poptastic medley at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Dublin, where she was the undoubted star. She won all four awards for which she was nominated. The categories were Best Female Artist, Best Breakthrough Act, Best Pop Act and Best Song for '…Baby One More Time'.<br />
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Born To Make You Happy', the fourth single to be taken from Britney's debut album, was released in January 2000 and shot straight into the top of charts around the World, securing her status as a pop phenomenon. In between touring and promotion, Britney recorded new songs for an eagerly anticipated second album: 'Oops!… I Did It Again' was the first single from an album with the same name. Released in April 2000, the melodious and upbeat song, accompanied by a stunning music video directed by Nigel Dick, shot to the top of music charts around the globe. The album release followed, debuting at #1 in the U.S.A., Canada, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and 15 other countries worldwide. Its' reception stamped the title 'Oops!… I Did It Again' with uncanny appropriateness - she had indeed 'done it again!'.<br />
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The second single from the album, was 'Lucky' - a bittersweet tale of loneliness and stardom - containing the apt lyrical phrase "the World is spinning and she keeps on winning!" Britney's 'Oops!…' World Tour was announced on May 12th 2000. Her fans couldn't wait to see her perform. The shows packed 90 minutes full of her classic hits, energetic dance routines and magical costume changes. Fans were left in awe. Stronger' - an attention grabbing slice of classic up-beat pop - and 'Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know' - a smooth ballad, co-written by Shania Twain - , followed as the final singles from an exciting sophomoric record, that showed immense growth as a performing artist and a tight relationship with a sound that is undoubtedly 'Britney!' and now?…<br />
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Along with her rigorous schedule and the release of her successful 2X Platinum home video Time Out With Britney Spears in late 1999, Britney and her mother have written a book entitled Heart To Heart. As if that weren't enough, Britney has also created the Britney Spears Foundation in conjunction with the Giving Back Fund. Its first endowment is the formation of a performing arts summer camp for underprivileged kids in Massachusetts. "I'm so happy to be able to give kids the opportunity to learn about amazing world of dance and music that I've have been lucky enough to make such a big part of my own life."<br />
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Britney has appeared on screen and in print around the globe. 'Time Magazine' (International Edition), 'Marie Claire' (UK) 'Elle' (UK and Japan) and 'Vogue' (Spain) are some of the magazines that have embraced Britney's charismatic image for their cover stories. MTV, CHANNEL V, FOX, M6, RTL, along with a countless number of other television networks and programs around the world, anticipate Britney's new releases as fans would themselves.<br />
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Britney co-headlined at the Rock In Rio Festival in Brazil in January, 2001, performing to an audience of over 250,000. Also in January, Britney appeared with Aerosmith and *NSYNC at Superbowl 35 during the half time show, performing Aerosmith's classic hit "Walk This Way". Britney presented and won an award at the 2000 Billboard Music Awards and co-hosted and performed at the 2001 American Music Awards.<br />
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In 2001, the reigning Queen of Teen Pop shows us a fresh and more mature side. The new songs on her third album, 'Britney', reflect the changes in her life and her development from a teenage girl to a mature, young woman. Working with producers such as The Neptunes, on the first single 'I'm a Slave 4 U' has allowed her to move on to the next level. Other producers and songwriters on the album include Max Martin, Rami, Riprock 'n' Alex G, Dido, Josh Schwartz and Brian Kierulf of KNS Productions, Rodney Jerkins, Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears herself.<br />
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In early 2001, Britney sparked her career as an actress, when she began filming Crossroads, a movie which she had a hand in creating. To help promote the movie, Britney began work on a third album, aptly named "Britney".<br />
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The first single, "I'm A Slave 4 U" was debuted by a racy performance at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards that still has people talking, more than a year after the performance ended. The album, released November 6, 2001, debuted at #1, making Britney the first artist to have her first three albums debut at #1. The album sold more than 800, 000 copies within its first week. A feat that doesn't quite match her previous attempt, but in comparison to any other female artist, is still an amazing accomplishment. She snatched up the spot for the second fastest selling album by a female artist. (The feat which would later be topped by Shania Twain's comeback album "Up!") Fortunately, Britney still holds the #1 spot.<br />
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"Crossroads" was released to theaters in February 2002, bringing in $17, 000 opening week. Not bad for a movie in which the lead character is starring in her first film. In June 2002, Britney opened a restaurant called Nyla (named after her two favourite places in the world: New York and Louisiana). Unfortunately, the restaurant didn't do so well, and in November 2002, Britney pulled out of the restaurant.<br />
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In late 2002, she went on a 6-month hiatus from the spotlight to lay low. In early December, the hiatus was called off, and she ventured back into the studio to begin work on her fourth album, later to be titled 'In The Zone'. With this album, she worked with a handful of famous producers, writers and even hooked up with a few people to costar on the album. Producers include Moby, R Kelly, P Diddy and more. She co-wrote 7 of the project's 12 sterling new compositions, collaborating with such heavy hitters as Red Zone ("Me Against The Music," "The Hook Up"), The Matrix ("Shadow"), Moby ("Early Mornin'"), and Cathy Dennis ("Toxic," "Showdown"). Also contributing hit worthy material to the album is R. Kelly ("Outrageous"), Ying-Yang Twins on "(I Got That) Boom Boom."<br />
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The musical union of Britney and Madonna within the taut, classic-funk groove of "Me Against The Music" is quite real, though, and it reveals each of them at their most kinetic and soulful. Collaborating with one of her all-time greatest musical influences was a dream come true for Britney. The song's accompanying video clip, directed by Paul Hunter, shows Madonna enticing Britney through a maze-like underground club, only to disappear into thin air when Britney gets close enough to touch her. The clip is rife with symbolic gestures of Madonna passing the baton pop power to Britney --- an image that the young artist finds exciting, humbling, and perhaps a bit premature.<br />
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Britney has never had a problem staying in the spotlight with everything that surrounds her. Her career has been built out of controversy and people keep coming back begging for more. In the beginning of her career the hottest talk in Hollywood was that Ms. Spears got breast implants in hopes to boost her image. No sooner did that talk die down before new rumors that she was dating teen heartthrob Justin Timberlake came out. These happened to be true, and Justin and Britney emerged as one of the hottest new couples on the scene. In March 2002, their four-year romance ceased due to various speculated reasons. Justin's "Cry Me a River" video seems to be the only clues as to why their relationship ended, essentially accusing Britney (through a look alike model) of cheating. Britney, however, has chosen to remain discreet about her love life. She did admit that her girl-next-door image wasn't entirely true: after years of speculation, she revealed that she wasn't a virgin. On! top of that, she smoked and drank alcohol. The media had a hay day coupling Britney with every single man in Hollywood, of which Britney can only laugh. Now, Britney has added further controversy to her career by kissing Madonna during their performance at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, a move that apparent Ms. Spears suggested herself.<br />
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In January 2004 she embarked on a bizarre week-long bender in Las Vegas culminating in a 'quickie' Vegas chapel style marriage to school sweetheart Jason Alexander. When the hangover had finally lifted the couple divorced two days later with Britney telling the newspapers: "I wanted to get married, then I ran away". In January 2004 Britney visited London briefly to publicize her new Pepsi TV commercial filmed with Beyonce Knowles and Pink. Amazingly, she managed not to marry anyone. But on September 18, 2004, Ms. Spears became Mrs. Federline when she married her former backup dancer, Kevin Federline. It was the first marriage for Federline, who previously fathered two children with Moesha star Shar Jackson. The two lovebirds honeymooned in various places including Fiji!<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Sources:</span> <span style="color: red;">Britney Spears' Official Web Site, BritneySpears.org, BritneySparkles.com, BritneyFans.com, Britney People, Tiscali UK, Kidzworld. </span><br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-52096262468853920232010-10-16T18:46:00.001+03:002010-10-16T19:24:00.526+03:00GIUSY FERRERI<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2d7hK2_b78Iiq6304hoSWz5pr5y8RrYMvPsuPsIeHjKyRjrhjqktOa2U2GG7SyJdwPa2lB3yRA_iKZ5H6gP-q2XCIDMRsp46zafbi4_xCA8rHT9r3AwAyF4Q8rfJGjrsrxgXQrjbA-m48/s1600/Giusy+Ferreri+Giusy.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2d7hK2_b78Iiq6304hoSWz5pr5y8RrYMvPsuPsIeHjKyRjrhjqktOa2U2GG7SyJdwPa2lB3yRA_iKZ5H6gP-q2XCIDMRsp46zafbi4_xCA8rHT9r3AwAyF4Q8rfJGjrsrxgXQrjbA-m48/s200/Giusy+Ferreri+Giusy.png" width="200" /></a></div>Giusy Ferreri (born Giuseppa Gaetana Ferreri on 17 April 1979 in Palermo, Italy) is an Italian singer-songwriter. In 2008 Giusy took part at the first Italian edition of the talent show X Factor, in which she came second. Her vocal qualities have been compared to Nina Simone, Bessie Smith and Amy Winehouse.<br />
Between 2008 and 2009, Ferreri sold 900,000 copies of her first EP and debut album.<br />
In June 2008 Sony BMG Italy released the debut EP by Ferreri, which includes her first single Non Ti Scordar Mai Di Me written by Italian pop singer Tiziano Ferro, and five covers of classic songs from the 60s-70s. The single held the number one position of the Italian singles chart for an impressive fifteen consecutive weeks, becoming one of the most successful tracks ever on that chart. The album debuted at the top spot of the Italian album chart and stayed there for eleven consecutive weeks. It went on to be certified 4x platinum denoting over 300,000 copies shipped<br />
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Debut album: Gaetana<br />
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In October 2008 the song Novembre, the first single from Ferreri's official debut album Gaetana, was released. The tune debuted at number one in Italy and held the top for eight weeks so far. The album was released on 14 November 2008. It debuted at number one on the iTunes Italy chart and subsequently peaked at #2 on the Italian FIMI albums chart, selling over 80,000 copies in its first week of release[2]. The album sold so far over 400,000 copies in Italy. The second single from the album, "Stai Fermo Lì", was announced on 8 January 2009 and was released in Italy on 16 January 2009. The third single off the album was "La Scala (The Ladder)", originally written by Linda Perry and translated in Italian by singer Tiziano Ferro. The song peaking at #27 on the FIMI singles chart and at #49 on the Greece Singles Chart.<br />
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On 20 November 2009 her second studio album was released across Europe, while debuting at #10 on the Italian FIMI albums chart. The first single is a cover of Ma il Cielo è Sempre Più Blu by Rino Gaetano.<br />
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In her second studio album, Ferreri records cover versions of some of her favourite (Italian and international) artitsts: La Magia è la mia Amante (I Was Made To Love Magic) by Nick Drake, Con una rosa by Vinicio Capossela and Paolo Benvegnù, Il Mare Verticale (Portrait the Sea) by Jerome Kern, Yesterdays (song played in the past by Billie Holiday), Ciao amore ciao by Luigi Tenco and Estate by Bruno Martino.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Source</span>:<span style="color: red;">en.wikipedia.org</span><br />
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</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-13374964184196301152010-10-16T18:41:00.006+03:002010-10-16T20:04:37.135+03:00ABBA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijYtpyNaX2yWhGAGL2aSoPYYHM1hN5QjTUHRePiHbDW9y79f4lH9nD9HFhBmjyVmrXJJZcv2ytXjJjEvlYhyAwrEScBmD-1zyCScd0g8n9IvaPldhHdZdtdKOYLwHbBYGgtsgWuhIMPQLG/s1600/ABBA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijYtpyNaX2yWhGAGL2aSoPYYHM1hN5QjTUHRePiHbDW9y79f4lH9nD9HFhBmjyVmrXJJZcv2ytXjJjEvlYhyAwrEScBmD-1zyCScd0g8n9IvaPldhHdZdtdKOYLwHbBYGgtsgWuhIMPQLG/s200/ABBA.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>ABBA was one of the most popular groups in the world throughout the 70’s and early 80’s. Many of their hits reached the top of the charts everywhere from their native Sweden to here in the U.S. All of the members had previously been involved in the show business, but only in Sweden. Agnetha was a solo singer, and Benny and Bjorn were both in groups of their own. As these groups disintegrated at the end of the 60’s, ABBA slowly came together. Surprisingly, the first time they recorded as a group, it was disliked by the members and was shelved away for awhile. In the early 70’s, they decided to try it again.<br />
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The first single that the world knew about was “Waterloo” – the one that won them the Eurovision contest. A year before this, they had entered and won third – not good enough. After “Waterloo,” though, their career took off. They topped charts with the song all over the world. More singles followed this, such as “Ring Ring” and “SOS.” “SOS” was their second UK Top Ten hit, proving that they weren’t one-hit wonders after “Waterloo.” This cemented their career.<br />
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The first album, hesitantly titled “Bjorn and Benny, Agnetha and Ani-Frid” was released in 1972. It was an awkward album, released prior to their success at the Eurovision contest. Also, they needed a new name. Their manager suggested ABBA, and after a “Name the Group” contest came up with the same thing, it was sealed.<br />
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The second album was “Waterloo,” titled after their famous hit. It was released in 1973. This was followed by “ABBA” in the spring of 1975. By this time, of course, they were on tour. “Mamma Mia” came in the summer of 1975, reaching number one in the UK. Along with “I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do,” this song conquered Australia for the first time, spreading their popularity even further. By this time, they were famous all over the world.<br />
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ABBA, as most people know, is made up of two couples – Agnetha and Bjorn, and Frida (as Ani-Frid is called) and Benny. Agnetha and Bjorn married in July of 1971. Their first child, Linda, was born in 1973. Their second child, Christian, was born in late 1977. Frida and Benny didn’t marry until much later (they’d been a couple for nine years by this time) in 1978, on the same day that the single “Summer Night City” reached number one in Sweden – the last of their songs to do so. Sadly, both couples later divorced – Agnetha and Bjorn in 1979, Frida and Benny in 1981.<br />
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By the end of the 70’s and the beginning of the 80’s, they were experiencing many of their “lasts.” Some singles, such as “The Day Before You Came” were met with confusion, reaching number one in some countries, but barely making the charts in others. “The Visitors” was their last album, released in 1981. 1982 was their last year together. After that, the members felt the need to do something different for awhile.<br />
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Their record of nine number one hits in the UK was a record topped only by The Beatles<br />
, Elvis Presley, and Cliff Richard. They were truly a famous group the world over – this was proved when the ABBA Gold albums were released in the early 90’s, topping charts in several countries. Since then, the group has been asked to do several revival tours (the latest in 2000, for around a billion dollars), but all have been refused.<br />
</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793890163116491969.post-89379397574528906562010-10-16T18:24:00.004+03:002010-10-16T20:07:24.099+03:00GEORGE MICHAEL<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKxSOvqPdwf9DpGv48t1Z6hLMHc_9Xce368zS-moChcUp3n4Huekm399pEnIWO2W9MD78Hhs1MqegGyk1Yfy74ffBq9VcHC6su4RX6UdZiY2ail3e-_XMWTUb7NoAirNX_q91sreHQUM1r/s1600/GeorgeMichael-TwentyFive3CD-Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKxSOvqPdwf9DpGv48t1Z6hLMHc_9Xce368zS-moChcUp3n4Huekm399pEnIWO2W9MD78Hhs1MqegGyk1Yfy74ffBq9VcHC6su4RX6UdZiY2ail3e-_XMWTUb7NoAirNX_q91sreHQUM1r/s200/GeorgeMichael-TwentyFive3CD-Front.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou to a Greek Cypriot father and a British mother, George grew up in suburban Hertfordshire.<br />
He attended the Bushey Meads School where he became best friends with Andrew Ridgeley. They formed their first band whilst still at school, the short-lived The Executive. Following that they created Wham! in 1981.<br />
The duo’s pretty-boy looks and catchy lyrics meant they were an instant success with their first singles ‘Wham Rap (Enjoy What You Do)’ and ‘Young Guns (Go For It!)’ (1982). Wham’s debut album, ‘Fantastic’ (1983), had the hit single ‘Club Tropicana’ (1983) with the memorable video, shot in Ibiza. Rapidly following was the album ‘Make it Big’ (1984) with hit singles ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go Go’, ‘Careless Whisper’, ‘Freedom’ and ‘Everything She Wants’. Wham! toured China in April 1985 and received much media coverage around the world. Their fame was starting to spread.<br />
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The album ’Music from the Edge of Heaven’ (1986), with hit singles ‘I’m Your Man’ and ‘Last Christmas’, made Wham! the most successful pop act of the 1980s. In 1986, after nearly five years of dominating the charts, touring the world and being poster pinup heartthrobs, Wham! decided to part ways. In 1986, they released their farewell single ‘The Edge of Heaven’ and played to a capacity crowd for their final concert at Wembley Stadium, London. Andrew then settled in Cornwall and George began to pursue a solo career.<br />
A year later, George released his debut solo album ‘Faith’ (1987) to a resoundingly enthusiastic response. It sold over 7 million copies and was number one in both the US and the UK. Memorable singles from the album were ‘Faith’, ‘Father Figure’, ‘Kissing A Fool’ and ‘I Want Your Sex’. Three years later, the release of the album ‘Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1’ (1990) was the start of George’s dispute with record label Sony. He claimed that the album’s poor sales were due to Sony’s poor marketing. In 1993, George entered into a court case with Sony over his record contract, which cost him millions and which he eventually lost. DreamWorks bought George out of his Sony contract and released the more sombre album ‘Older’ in 1996. The next two albums were the greatest hits compilation ‘Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael’ (1998) and ‘Songs from the Last Century’ (1999) which received a lukewarm response from critics.<br />
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After all the years of privacy regarding his sexual orientation and rumoured relationships with various women, George was finally out of closet. On 7 April 1998, he exposed himself to an undercover policeman in a Beverly Hills park toilet, was arrested for lewd behaviour, fined $180 and given 80 hours of community service. In a rebellious retort, George released a video to his single ‘Outside’ which featured policemen kissing. It became known that George’s lover of two years, Brazilian Anselmo Feleppa, had died in 1993 of an AIDS-related brain haemorrhage and the song ‘Jesus to a Child’ from the ‘Older’ (1996) album was a tribute to him. George was also finally able to publicly acknowledge his relationship with Kenny Goss from Dallas, Texas, a former cheerleader coach and later an Adidas sports clothing executive. In 2005, the couple opened the Goss Gallery for contemporary art in Dallas. They own homes in Hollywood and Dallas and have an £8 million mansion in Highgate, North London.<br />
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In his upfront way, George made political comment on the Tony Blair/George Bush role in the “War on Terror” in his controversial 2002 song ‘Shoot the Dog’. He was involved in several of the Band Aid songs and concerts and spoke out against Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government and it’s missiles involvement with the US.<br />
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Following a five-year gap in album releases, the highly anticipated ‘Patience’ (2004) made number one on the UK charts and number two in Australia. George performed with Paul McCartney, providing harmony for ‘Drive My Car’, at the 2005 Live 8 concert. In a drive to re-launch his career, on 21 April 2006 George announced his first solo concert tour in 15 years: a fifty-date ‘25 Live’ concert tour, commemorating 25 years of being in the music business. The album ‘Twenty Five’, a greatest hits album that includes four new tracks, was put together to coincide with the tour.<br />
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George had admitted to taking medication for depression, including Prozac and smoking cannabis (a Class C drug). Recently, he found himself repeatedly caught out by the law. On 26 February 2006, he was arrested for possession of cannabis, cautioned by the police and let go. Then on 15 May 2006, he was found slumped over the steering wheel of his Range Rover, sweating profusely and apparently napping at the traffic lights. A fellow motorist spent almost five minutes knocking on his window before he woke up and weaved off down the road and hit a traffic bollard. Later that month, George attracted police attention once more when he drove into three parked cars in the North London street in which he lives.<br />
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In July 2006, UK tabloids printed photographs of George emerging from the bushes of London’s Hampstead Heath, apparently having engaged in a sexual act with a man they called a ‘pot-bellied, jobless van driver’. George’s reply was that he had cruised for gay sex since his early teens and that his current partner, Goss, had no problem with this habit. At 3.22am on 1 October 2006, police found George with a stash of cannabis, slumped semi-conscious in his Mercedes Benz S-Class, causing an obstruction at an intersection in Cricklewood, North West London. They first took him to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead for a check up and then to the Colindale police station, where they booked him for possession of cannabis and released him on bail, pending further inquiries into his fitness to drive. The court date has been set for November 2006. He went directly from the police station to Luton airport to fly to Lyon to resume his ‘25 Live’ tour.<br />
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George has denied that he has a drug problem although he encouraged his partner, Kenny Goss, to be treated at the Arizona clinic for alcohol abuse in June 2004. His recent, increasingly erratic behaviour and constant run-ins with the police is causing concern in some quarters, even although his concert ticket sales have been phenomenal.<br />
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With his public image under scrutiny, George is doggedly pursuing his music career. Due for release in November 2006 is a new single with ex-Sugarbabes singer Mutya called ‘This Is Not Real Love’. He is also busy recording a new version of the song ‘Heal the Pain’ with Paul McCartney. He wrote the original as a tribute to McCartney and is honoured that McCartney is singing this version. In a career spanning more than twenty years and having sold in excess of 80 million records - as part of Wham! and as a solo artist - George has certainly painted a colourful picture. Here’s hoping he soon attracts only positive media coverage and finds success in his musical pursuits.<br />
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<span style="color: cyan;">source</span>:<span style="color: red;">thebiographychannel</span><br />
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</span>Radio Monacohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650999978386684438noreply@blogger.com0