1.
Single (music)
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In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record, an album or an EP record. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats, in most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. Typically, these are the songs from albums that are released separately for promotional uses such as digital download or commercial radio airplay and are expected to be the most popular, in other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album. As digital downloading and audio streaming have become prevalent, it is often possible for every track on an album to also be available separately. Nevertheless, the concept of a single for an album has been retained as an identification of a heavily promoted or more popular song within an album collection. Despite being referred to as a single, singles can include up to as many as three tracks on them. The biggest digital music distributor, iTunes, accepts as many as three tracks less than ten minutes each as a single, as well as popular music player Spotify also following in this trend. Any more than three tracks on a release or longer than thirty minutes in total running time is either an Extended Play or if over six tracks long. The basic specifications of the single were made in the late 19th century. Gramophone discs were manufactured with a range of speeds and in several sizes. By about 1910, however, the 10-inch,78 rpm shellac disc had become the most commonly used format, the inherent technical limitations of the gramophone disc defined the standard format for commercial recordings in the early 20th century.26 rpm. With these factors applied to the 10-inch format, songwriters and performers increasingly tailored their output to fit the new medium, the breakthrough came with Bob Dylans Like a Rolling Stone. Singles have been issued in various formats, including 7-inch, 10-inch, other, less common, formats include singles on digital compact cassette, DVD, and LD, as well as many non-standard sizes of vinyl disc. Some artist release singles on records, a more common in musical subcultures. The most common form of the single is the 45 or 7-inch. The names are derived from its speed,45 rpm. The 7-inch 45 rpm record was released 31 March 1949 by RCA Victor as a smaller, more durable, the first 45 rpm records were monaural, with recordings on both sides of the disc. As stereo recordings became popular in the 1960s, almost all 45 rpm records were produced in stereo by the early 1970s
2.
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
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Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel are an English glam rock band from the early 1970s. Their music covers a range of styles from pop to progressive rock, over the years they have had five albums in the UK Albums Chart and twelve singles in the UK Singles Chart. Steve Harley grew up in Londons New Cross area and attended Haberdashers Askes Hatcham College and his musical career began in the late 1960s when he was busking and performing his own songs, some of which were later recorded by him and the band. After an initial stint as a music journalist, the original Cockney Rebel was formed when Harley hooked up with his folk music partner, Crocker in 1972. Crocker had just finished a stint with Trees and they advertised and auditioned drummer Stuart Elliott, bassist Paul Jeffreys. This line-up played one of the bands first gigs at The Roundhouse in Chalk Farm, the band was signed to EMI after playing five gigs. Their first single, Sebastian, was a success in Europe. Their debut album, The Human Menagerie, was released in 1973, although not a commercial success they did attract a growing following in London. Harley managed to irritate a significant segment of the press with his self-aggrandisement, even as their music was getting rave reviews. There then followed the album The Psychomodo, a Live at the BBC album from 1995 included material recorded during a 1974 BBC Radio 1 broadcast. Following the European single Psychomodo, a single from the album. Tumbling Down was also issued in America as a promotional single, by this time the problems within the band had already reached a head, and all the musicians, with the exception of Elliott, quit at the end of a successful UK tour. Crocker continued to write songs and perform, forming a duet with his brother, after a brief period with Be-Bop Deluxe in 1974, Reame-James and Jeffreys formed the band Chartreuse in 1976. Harleys next appearance on BBC Televisions Top of the Pops was supported by musicians and Francis Monkman. The bands single Big Big Deal was issued in 1974 and was almost immediately withdrawn, from then on, the band was a band in name only, being more or less a Harley solo project. In 1974, an album, The Best Years of Our Lives was released, produced by The Beatles recording engineer. This included the track Make Me Smile which would go on to be a UK number one single in February 1975, and it sold over one million copies globally. Amongst the backing vocalists on the acts only No.1 was the future chart-topper, changing the band name from Cockney Rebel to Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel for the No.1 hit, the degeneration was rapid
3.
Love's a Prima Donna
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Loves a Prima Donna is the fifth studio album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released in 1976. It was produced by Harley, and would be the bands last album before splitting in 1977, in February 1976, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel released the album Timeless Flight, which reached the UK Top 20. Having embarked on a tour to promote the album, Harley began writing new material and it was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London between June and September 1976. While work on the continued, EMI would release the preceding single Here Comes the Sun - a cover of the George Harrison song. Released in July 1976, the version became the most successful UK cover, peaking at #10 in the UK Top 50. In the 11 September 1976 issue of Record Mirror, it was announced that the album had been completed, having finished recording the album, guitarist Jim Cregan left the band to join Rod Stewarts touring band. Released in October, Loves a Prima Donna peaked at #28 on the UK Albums Chart and it became Harleys last studio album to reach the UK Top 100. During the same month, the single, Loves a Prima Donna, was released. Although it failed to reach expectations, it did peak at #41 in the UK Top 50, additionally, EMI had made plans to release Compared with You as the third single, however the release was cancelled. Instead, the song was released as the albums only American single, following the albums release, the band embarked on an eight-date UK tour in December 1976. On the tour, Cregan was replaced by Jo Partridge, having toured with the band for the Timeless Flight tour, Partridge also contributed to two tracks on Loves a Prima Donna. He provided guitar and backing vocals on Here Comes the Sun, during the tour, Harley recorded a number of concerts, which he used to create the double live album, Face to Face, A Live Recording, which was released in 1977. It reached #40 in the UK and includes six tracks from Loves a Prima Donna, the albums concept revolves around the theme of love, including soldier loneliness, true love, lost love, mother-and-child love, valentine sentimentalism and a fans infatuation with a musician. The album also showcases a range of musical styles new to the material, including progressive rock, folk, doo-wop. Speaking to Melody Makers Harvey Kubernik in early 1977, Harley commented, if it only sold three copies, I wouldnt worry. The achievement is more important than the success and this is entirely autobiographical, its the only way I can write. I did a lot of it with the order in mind. I wrote for two months before we went into the studio and the pattern was obvious when I started writing, Seeking a Love had to open the album, theres a lot of different music styles that are confusing some people
4.
A-side and B-side
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The terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 78,45, and 33 1/3 rpm phonograph records, whether singles, extended plays, or long-playing records. Creedence Clearwater Revival had hits with both A-side and B-side releases, others took the opposite approach, producer Phil Spector was in the habit of filling B-sides with on-the-spot instrumentals that no one would confuse with the A-side. With this practice, Spector was assured that airplay was focused on the side he wanted to be the hit side, the earliest 10-inch,78 rpm, shellac records were single sided. Double-sided recordings, with one song on side, were introduced in Europe by Columbia Records. There were no record charts until the 1930s, and radio stations did not play recorded music until the 1950s, in this time, A-sides and B-sides existed, but neither side was considered more important, the side did not convey anything about the content of the record. The term single came into use with the advent of vinyl records in the early 1950s. At first, most record labels would randomly assign which song would be an A-side, under this random system, many artists had so-called double-sided hits, where both songs on a record made one of the national sales charts, or would be featured on jukeboxes in public places. As time wore on, however, the convention for assigning songs to sides of the record changed. By the early sixties, the song on the A-side was the song that the company wanted radio stations to play. It was not until 1968, for instance, that the production of albums on a unit basis finally surpassed that of singles in the United Kingdom. In the late 1960s stereo versions of pop and rock songs began to appear on 45s. The majority of the 45s were played on AM radio stations, by the early 1970s, double-sided hits had become rare. Album sales had increased, and B-sides had become the side of the record where non-album, non-radio-friendly, with the advent of cassette and compact disc singles in the late 1980s, the A-side/B-side differentiation became much less meaningful. With the decline of cassette singles in the 1990s, the A-side/B-side dichotomy became virtually extinct, as the dominant medium. However, the term B-side is still used to refer to the tracks or coupling tracks on a CD single. With the advent of downloading music via the Internet, sales of CD singles and other media have declined. B-side songs may be released on the record as a single to provide extra value for money. There are several types of material released in this way, including a different version, or, in a concept record
5.
Pop music
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Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form in the United States and United Kingdom during the mid 1950s. The terms popular music and pop music are used interchangeably, although the former describes all music that is popular. Pop and rock were synonymous terms until the late 1960s, when they were used in opposition from each other. Although pop music is seen as just the singles charts, it is not the sum of all chart music. Pop music is eclectic, and often borrows elements from other such as urban, dance, rock, Latin. Identifying factors include generally short to medium-length songs written in a format, as well as the common use of repeated choruses, melodic tunes. David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop music as a body of music which is distinguishable from popular, jazz, according to Pete Seeger, pop music is professional music which draws upon both folk music and fine arts music. Although pop music is seen as just the singles charts, it is not the sum of all chart music, the music charts contain songs from a variety of sources, including classical, jazz, rock, and novelty songs. Pop music, as a genre, is seen as existing and developing separately, pop music continuously evolves along with the terms definition. The term pop song was first recorded as being used in 1926, Hatch and Millward indicate that many events in the history of recording in the 1920s can be seen as the birth of the modern pop music industry, including in country, blues and hillbilly music. The Oxford Dictionary of Music states that while pops earlier meaning meant concerts appealing to a wide audience. Since the late 1950s, however, pop has had the meaning of non-classical mus, usually in the form of songs, performed by such artists as the Beatles. Grove Music Online also states that, in the early 1960s pop music competed terminologically with beat music, while in the USA its coverage overlapped with that of rock and roll. From about 1967, the term was used in opposition to the term rock music. Whereas rock aspired to authenticity and an expansion of the possibilities of music, pop was more commercial, ephemeral. It is not driven by any significant ambition except profit and commercial reward, and, in musical terms, it is essentially conservative. It is, provided from on high rather than being made from below, pop is not a do-it-yourself music but is professionally produced and packaged. The beat and the melodies tend to be simple, with limited harmonic accompaniment, the lyrics of modern pop songs typically focus on simple themes – often love and romantic relationships – although there are notable exceptions
6.
Rock music
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It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by blues, rhythm and blues and country music. Rock music also drew strongly on a number of genres such as electric blues and folk. Musically, rock has centered on the guitar, usually as part of a rock group with electric bass guitar. Typically, rock is song-based music usually with a 4/4 time signature using a verse-chorus form, like pop music, lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political in emphasis. Punk was an influence into the 1980s on the subsequent development of subgenres, including new wave, post-punk. From the 1990s alternative rock began to rock music and break through into the mainstream in the form of grunge, Britpop. Similarly, 1970s punk culture spawned the visually distinctive goth and emo subcultures and this trio of instruments has often been complemented by the inclusion of other instruments, particularly keyboards such as the piano, Hammond organ and synthesizers. The basic rock instrumentation was adapted from the blues band instrumentation. A group of musicians performing rock music is termed a rock band or rock group, Rock music is traditionally built on a foundation of simple unsyncopated rhythms in a 4/4 meter, with a repetitive snare drum back beat on beats two and four. Melodies are often derived from older musical modes, including the Dorian and Mixolydian, harmonies range from the common triad to parallel fourths and fifths and dissonant harmonic progressions. Critics have stressed the eclecticism and stylistic diversity of rock, because of its complex history and tendency to borrow from other musical and cultural forms, it has been argued that it is impossible to bind rock music to a rigidly delineated musical definition. These themes were inherited from a variety of sources, including the Tin Pan Alley pop tradition, folk music and rhythm, as a result, it has been seen as articulating the concerns of this group in both style and lyrics. Christgau, writing in 1972, said in spite of some exceptions, rock and roll usually implies an identification of male sexuality, according to Simon Frith rock was something more than pop, something more than rock and roll. Rock musicians combined an emphasis on skill and technique with the concept of art as artistic expression, original. The foundations of music are in rock and roll, which originated in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Its immediate origins lay in a melding of various musical genres of the time, including rhythm and blues and gospel music, with country. In 1951, Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Alan Freed began playing rhythm and blues music for a multi-racial audience, debate surrounds which record should be considered the first rock and roll record. Other artists with rock and roll hits included Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis
7.
EMI Records
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The label was later launched worldwide. Records Ltd. legal entity was created in 1957 as the record manufacturing and it oversaw EMIs various labels, including The Gramophone Co. Ltd. Columbia Graphophone Company, and Parlophone Co. Ltd, in July 1965, the standalone EMI Record companies were extracted from E. M. I. Records Ltd. and folded into The Gramophone Company Ltd, on 1 July 1973, The Gramophone Co. Ltd. was renamed EMI Records Ltd. Records Ltd. was wound down and its activities were absorbed into EMI Records Ltd, earlier, on 1 January 1973, all of The Gramophone Company Ltd. pop labels had been rebranded as EMI. EMI Records then signed new acts that became global successes, Kraftwerk, Renaissance, Queen, Olivia Newton-John, Iron Maiden, Kate Bush, Sheena Easton, Pink Floyd, in 1997, EMI Records American division was folded into Virgin Records. In 2010, EMI Records opened a music division, EMI Records Nashville, which includes on its roster Troy Olsen, Alan Jackson, Kelleigh Bannen. EMI Records Nashville is a label to the Capitol Nashville unit of Universal Music Group. EMI Christian Music Group was renamed Capitol Christian Music Group, EMI Classics was sold to Warner Music Group on February 2013. After EU regulatory approval, EMI Classics was absorbed into Warner Classics on July 2013, abbey Road Studios List of record labels
8.
Songwriter
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A songwriter is an individual who writes the lyrics, melodies and chord progressions for songs, typically for a popular music genre such as rock or country music. A songwriter can also be called a composer, although the term tends to be used mainly for individuals from the classical music genre. The pressure from the industry to produce popular hits means that songwriting is often an activity for which the tasks are distributed between a number of people. For example, a songwriter who excels at writing lyrics might be paired with a songwriter with a gift for creating original melodies, pop songs may be written by group members from the band or by staff writers – songwriters directly employed by music publishers. Some songwriters serve as their own publishers, while others have outside publishers. The old-style apprenticeship approach to learning how to write songs is being supplemented by university degrees and college diplomas, a knowledge of modern music technology, songwriting elements and business skills are necessary requirements to make a songwriting career in the 2010s. Several music colleges offer songwriting diplomas and degrees with music business modules, the legal power to grant these permissions may be bought, sold or transferred. This is governed by international copyright law, song pitching can be done on a songwriters behalf by their publisher or independently using tip sheets like RowFax, the MusicRow publication and SongQuarters. Skills associated with song-writing include entrepreneurism and creativity, songwriters who sign an exclusive songwriting agreement with a publisher are called staff writers. In the Nashville country music scene, there is a staff writer culture where contracted writers work normal 9-to-5 hours at the publishing office and are paid a regular salary. This salary is in effect the writers draw, an advance on future earnings, the publisher owns the copyright of songs written during the term of the agreement for a designated period, after which the songwriter can reclaim the copyright. In an interview with HitQuarters, songwriter Dave Berg extolled the benefits of the set-up, unlike contracted writers, some staff writers operate as employees for their respective publishers. Under the terms of work for hire agreements, the compositions created are fully owned by the publisher. In Nashville, young writers are often encouraged to avoid these types of contracts. Staff writers are common across the industry, but without the more office-like working arrangements favored in Nashville. All the major publishers employ writers under contract, songwriter Allan Eshuijs described his staff writer contract at Universal Music Publishing as a starter deal. His success under the arrangement eventually allowed him to found his own publishing company, so that he could. keep as much as possible, songwriters are also often skilled musicians. In addition to selling their songs and musical concepts for other artists to sing, songwriters need to create a number of elements for a song
9.
Steve Harley
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Steve Harley is an English singer and songwriter, best known for his work with the 1970s rock group Cockney Rebel, with whom he still occasionally tours. Harley was born Deptford, south London, in 1951, as Stephen Nice, during the summer of 1953, Harley contracted polio, causing him to spend four years in hospital between the ages of three and 16. He underwent major surgery in both 1963 and 1966, at the age of 10, he had received a Spanish, nylon-strung guitar from his parents at Christmas. Harleys mother was a jazz singer, Harley was a pupil of Edmund Waller Primary School in New Cross, London. He then attended Haberdashers Askes Hatcham Boys Grammar School until he was 17, having taken classical violin lessons from the age of 9 to 15, he played the instrument with the school orchestra. He left the school without completing his advanced level exams, in 1968, at the age of 17, Harley began work as a trainee accountant with the Daily Express, which was his first full-time job. This was despite having only gained 24% in his mock O-Level maths exam, from here he progressed to become a reporter, and was initially interviewed by various newspaper editors. Harley finally signed to train with Essex County Newspapers, over this duration of three years Harley worked at the Essex County Standard, the Braintree and Witham Times, the Maldon and Burnham Standard and the Colchester Evening Gazette. He then returned to London to work for the East London Advertiser, Harley became disillusioned when the editor insisted on reporting on a shoplifter who had absentmindedly walked out with a tin of soup and a tin of baked beans. Taking advice from his representative, he stopped wearing a tie. Harley started out playing in bars and clubs in the early 1970s, Harley also busked around London on the Underground and in Portobello Road. In 1971 he auditioned for the folk band Odin as rhythm guitarist and co-singer, which was where he met John Crocker, who would become the first Cockney Rebel violinist. The folk scene proved not to be Harleys preference, and in the midst of writing songs, he formed the band Cockney Rebel, as a vehicle for his own work, in late 1972. Through the band Harley first met drummer Stuart Elliott, who has continued to record, the original Cockney Rebel consisted of Harley, Crocker, Elliott, bassist Paul Jeffreys and guitarist Nick Jones. The line up of Harley, Crocker, Elliott, Jeffreys, during June and July 1973 the band recorded their debut album, The Human Menagerie, which was released in late 1973. Produced by Neil Harrison, the album included the single Sebastian which became a European hit, although, like the album, it failed to chart in the UK. After EMI expressed the wish for Harley to write a song with hit potential, Judy Teen was released in early 1974, and peaked at No.5 in the UK. The bands second album, The Psychomodo, produced by Harley and Alan Parsons, was released in June 1974, the single Mr. Soft also peaked at No.8 in the UK
10.
Record producer
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A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performers music, which may range from recording one song to recording a lengthy concept album. A producer has many roles during the recording process, the roles of a producer vary. The producer may perform these roles himself, or help select the engineer, the producer may also pay session musicians and engineers and ensure that the entire project is completed within the record companies budget. A record producer or music producer has a broad role in overseeing and managing the recording. Producers also often take on an entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, contracts. In the 2010s, the industry has two kinds of producers with different roles, executive producer and music producer. Executive producers oversee project finances while music producers oversee the process of recording songs or albums. In most cases the producer is also a competent arranger, composer. The producer will also liaise with the engineer who concentrates on the technical aspects of recording. Noted producer Phil Ek described his role as the person who creatively guides or directs the process of making a record, indeed, in Bollywood music, the designation actually is music director. The music producers job is to create, shape, and mold a piece of music, at the beginning of record industry, producer role was technically limited to record, in one shot, artists performing live. The role of producers changed progressively over the 1950s and 1960s due to technological developments, the development of multitrack recording caused a major change in the recording process. Before multitracking, all the elements of a song had to be performed simultaneously, all of these singers and musicians had to be assembled in a large studio and the performance had to be recorded. As well, for a song that used 20 instruments, it was no longer necessary to get all the players in the studio at the same time. Examples include the rock sound effects of the 1960s, e. g. playing back the sound of recorded instruments backwards or clanging the tape to produce unique sound effects. These new instruments were electric or electronic, and thus they used instrument amplifiers, new technologies like multitracking changed the goal of recording, A producer could blend together multiple takes and edit together different sections to create the desired sound. For example, in jazz fusion Bandleader-composer Miles Davis album Bitches Brew, producers like Phil Spector and George Martin were soon creating recordings that were, in practical terms, almost impossible to realise in live performance. Producers became creative figures in the studio, other examples of such engineers includes Joe Meek, Teo Macero, Brian Wilson, and Biddu
11.
(I Believe) Love's a Prima Donna
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Loves a Prima Donna is a song by British rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released as the second single from their 1976 album Loves a Prima Donna. The song was written and produced by Harley and it would be the bands last charting single before the bands split in 1977. Following the UK Top 10 success of the single Here Comes the Sun during Summer 1976, released in October, the single peaked at #41 on the UK Singles Chart, lasting within the Top 50 for four weeks. The song had debuted at #48 in early November 1976. Like the entire Loves a Prima Donna album, the song was recorded at Abbey Road Studios at some point during sessions between June and September 1976, the single was released by EMI Records on 7 vinyl in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Japan. The single featured the exclusive B-Side Sidetrack 1 which was written and it has remained exclusive to the single ever since. In the UK, two editions of the single were released. One titled the B-Side simple as Sidetrack 1, while the other titled it Sidetrack 1, the follow-up Sidetrack 2 appeared as an album track on Loves a Prima Donna. The UK release featured no artwork and used a generic sleeve instead, the Netherlands sleeve featured a photograph of the entire band, using black and light red as the only colours. The Japanese release featured the artwork as the Loves a Prima Donna album. All sleeves of the single listed the song as being titled Love is a Prima Donna, no music video was filmed to promote the single. On 21 October 1976, the band appeared on the UK music show Top of the Pops to perform the song, Harley also performed the song, minus the band, on ITVs Supersonic show during the same period. The song has performed during Cockney Rebels live concerts on many occasions and was also included on the bands 1977 live album Face to Face. In 1989, a performance of the song was professionally filmed during the bands Come Back. The footage, including the song, was released on VHS that year, titled The Come Back, All is Forgiven Tour, audio CD versions of the concert have since been released across Europe in many guises. He compared the track Compared with You with the track, Compared With You is the first real highpoint of the album. It contrasts with all his work in that it is romantic. It is a hymn with beautifully gentle acoustic guitar, piano
12.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
13.
Abbey Road Studios
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Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St Johns Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, Abbey Road Studios is most notable as being the 1960s venue for innovative recording techniques adopted by the Beatles, Pink Floyd, the Hollies, Badfinger and others. One of its earliest world-famous-artist clients was Paul Robeson, who recorded December 1931, towards the end of 2009, the studio came under threat of sale to property developers. However, the British Government protected the site, granting it English Heritage Grade II listed status in 2010, originally a nine-bedroom Georgian townhouse built in 1831 on the footpath leading to Kilburn Abbey, the building was later converted to flats where the most flamboyant resident was Maundy Gregory. In 1931, the Gramophone Company acquired the premises and converted it into studios, pathé filmed the opening of the studios when Sir Edward Elgar conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in recording sessions of his music. In 1934, inventor of stereo sound, Alan Blumlein, recorded Mozarts Jupiter Symphony which was conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham at the studios, the neighbouring house is also owned by the studio and used to house musicians. During the mid-20th century, the studio was used by leading British conductor Sir Malcolm Sargent. The Gramophone Company amalgamated with Columbia Graphophone Company to form EMI and it was under this name that in 1936 cellist Pablo Casals became the first to record Johann Sebastian Bachs Cello Suites No.1 &2 at the command of EMI head Fred Gaisberg. The recordings went on to spur a revolution among Bach aficionados, in 1958, Studio Two at Abbey Road became a centre for rock and roll music when Cliff Richard and the Drifters recorded Move It there, and later pop music material. The Beatles named their 1969 album Abbey Road, after the street where the studio is located, the studio was renamed Abbey Road Studios in 1970 after the Beatles album had made it famous. Iain Macmillan took the cover photograph outside the studios, with the result that the nearby zebra crossing has become a place of pilgrimage for Beatles fans. It has been a tradition for visitors to pay homage to the band by writing on the wall in front of the even though it is painted over every three months. December 2010, the crossing at Abbey Road was given a Grade II listed status. Pink Floyd recorded most of their late 1960s to mid-1970s albums here, the Shadows named their Live at Abbey Road album after the studio, with the cover spoofing the Beatles album. The chief mastering engineer at Abbey Road was Chris Vinyl Blair, in 1979, EMI commissioned the British jazz fusion band Morrissey-Mullen to record Britains first digitally recorded single record at Abbey Road Studios. From July 18 to September 11,1983, the public had an opportunity to see inside the legendary Studio Two where The Beatles made most of their records. While a new mixing console was being installed in the control room, the soundtrack to the video had a number of recordings that were not made commercially available until the release of The Beatles Anthology project over a decade later. The Red Hot Chili Peppers used a photograph of the walking across the zebra crossing naked on the front of The Abbey Road E. P. which was released in 1988
14.
Melody Maker
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Melody Maker was a British weekly pop/rock/disco music newspaper, one of the worlds earliest music weeklies. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born composer, publisher Lawrence Wright, in 2000 it was merged into long-standing rival New Musical Express. Originally the Melody Maker concentrated on jazz, and had Max Jones, one of the leading British proselytizers for that music and it was slow to cover rock and roll and lost ground to the New Musical Express, which had begun in 1952. MM began its Melody Maker LP charts in November 1958, two years after the Record Mirror published the first UK Albums Chart, MM had larger and more specialised advertising, soon-to-be well-known groups would advertise for musicians. It ran pages devoted to minority interests like folk and jazz, a 1968 Melody Maker poll named John Peel best radio DJ, attention which John Walters revealed may have helped Peel keep his job despite concerns at BBC Radio 1 about Peels style and record selection. Melody Maker supported glam rock and progressive rock in the 1970s, Coleman had been insistent that the paper should look like The Daily Telegraph, but Williams wanted the paper to look more contemporary. He commissioned a design, but this was rejected by Coleman. During this period Melody Maker was described as the journal. In January 1972, in a moment for rock journalism. It was during this interview that Bowie claimed, Im gay, OH YOU PRETTY THING ran the headline, and swiftly became part of pop mythology. Bowie later attributed his success to this interview, stating that, Yeah and it was that piece by Mick Watts. During his tenure at the paper, Watts also toured with and interviewed artists including Syd Barrett, Waylon Jennings, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, in 1980, after a strike which had taken the paper out of publication for a period, Williams left MM. Several journalists, such as Chris Bohn and Vivien Goldman, moved to NME, Coleman left in 1981, the papers design was updated, but sales and prestige were at a low ebb through the early 1980s, with NME dominant. While MM continued to devote most space to rock and indie music, it covered techno, rap and post rock, two of the papers writers, Push and Ben Turner, went on to launch IPC Medias monthly dance music magazine Muzik. The paper printed harsh criticism of Ocean Colour Scene and Kula Shaker, in 1992, they gave a French rock band called Darlin a negative review calling them a daft punky thrash. Darlin eventually became the music duo Daft Punk. The magazine retained its large classified ads section, and remained the first call for musicians wanting to form a band, Suede formed through ads placed in the paper. In early 1997, Allan Jones left to edit Uncut and he was replaced by Mark Sutherland, formerly of NME and Smash Hits, who thus fulfilled boyhood dream and stayed on to edit the magazine for three years
15.
Children in Need
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BBC Children in Need is the BBCs UK charity. Since 1980 it has raised over £600 million for disabled children, One of the highlights is an annual telethon, held in November and televised on BBC One, BBC One HD, BBC Two, and BBC Two HD from 7,30 pm until 2 am. Pudsey Bear is BBC Children in Needs mascot, whilst Terry Wogan was a long-standing host, following the temporary closure of Television Centre, the telethon broadcasts now take place at the BBC Elstree Centre. BBC Children in Need will move back to its home of BBC Television Centre in 2017. The BBCs first broadcast charity appeal took place in 1927, in the form of a radio broadcast on Christmas Day. It raised about £1,143, which equates to about £27,150 by todays standards, the first televised appeal took place in 1955 and was called the Childrens Hour Christmas Appeal, with the yellow glove puppet Sooty Bear and Harry Corbett fronting it. The Christmas Day Appeals continued on TV and radio until 1979, during that time a total of £625,836 was raised. Terry Wogan first appeared during this five-minute appeal in 1978, sometimes cartoon characters such as Peter Pan and Tom and Jerry were used. In 1980, the first Children in Need telethon was broadcast and it was devoted to raising money exclusively destined for charities working with children in the United Kingdom. The new format, presented by Terry Wogan, Sue Lawley and Esther Rantzen, saw an increase in public donations. This format has grown in scope to incorporate further events broadcast on radio, as a regular presenter, Wogan has become firmly associated with the annual event, continuing to front the event until 2014 stepping down due to ill health. In 1988, BBC Children in Need became a charity in England and Wales. An award called the Sir Terry Wogan Fundraiser of the Year has been presented since 2016 to someone who has gone above and beyond to help raise money for Children in Need. The award was set up by Terrys family and was presented by Terrys son, Mark, featured celebrities often include those from programmes on rival network ITV, including some appearing in-character, and/or from the sets of their own programmes. A performance by BBC newsreaders became an annual fixture, stars of newly opened West End musicals regularly perform a number from their show later in the evening after curtain call in their respective theatres. Unlike the other BBC charity telethon Comic Relief, Children in Need relies a lot on the BBC regions for input into the telethon night, the BBC English regions all have around 5–8-minute round-ups every hour during the telethon. This does not interrupt the schedule of items shown from BBC Television Centre as presenter Terry Wogan usually hands over to the regions, giving those in the main network studio a short break. However BBC Scotland, BBC Wales and BBC Northern Ireland opted out of the schedule with a lot of local fundraising news
16.
The Cream of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
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The Cream of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel is a compilation album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released in 1999. It features material from Cockney Rebel, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, the compilation, originally released in 1999, followed from another Steve Harley EMI compilation More Than Somewhat – The Very Best of Steve Harley, which had been released in 1998. The Cream of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebels artwork and design was handled by P. Linard Marketing & Advertising Ltd, the compilation later made an appearance in the official UK Budget Albums Chart during January 2006. It reached #21 on 14 January 2006, and lasted within the Top 50 for four weeks, the album was released by EMI Gold on CD in the UK only. Later on 28 February 2003, the album was available as an online digital MP3 download. On 7 July 2008, the album was re-issued by EMI Gold for release in the UK and this release had the same track-listing, but new artwork, featuring a photograph of Harley in front of a red background. Dave Thompson of AllMusic reviewed the compilation, writing, This 16-song compilation brings together an unchallenging but almost uniformly excellent roundup of Steve Harleys 1970s output
17.
Face to Face: A Live Recording
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Face to Face, A Live Recording is a live album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released in 1977. It was produced by Steve Harley and Tony Clark, following the release of the bands fifth studio album Loves a Prima Donna in October 1976, the band embarked on an eight-date UK tour in December to promote it. After finishing recording the album in September, guitarist Jim Cregan left Cockney Rebel and he was replaced on the December tour by Jo Partridge. Later in February 1977, the played a one-off charity concert at the London Rainbow in aid of the homeless in Northern Ireland. This show was recorded for possible use on the live album. In a February 1977 issue of Melody Maker, a few days ahead of the London Rainbow show, speaking to Harvey Kubernik about the tour, Harley said, We did eight concerts and every night was great. Jimmy had left to join Rod Stewarts band and Jo Partridge brought new energy and it was our fourth major tour and the fans were on my side from the word go. It was the best concert tour Ive done in my life, Ive never enjoyed playing so much in my career. Over the next few weeks, Harley worked on mixing the live recordings, for the live album project, Tony Clark was hired as the albums engineer and co-producer. The tracks were mixed at both Abbey Road Studios and Air Studios in London and they were later mastered by Ken Perry at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles. Speaking of the live album in his interview with Record Mirrors Ray Fox-Cumming, Harley said, Quite frankly. It will probably be my next album release, basically it will be the whole of the one-and-a-half hour show I did on the last tour. We recorded the concerts at Glasgow, Birmingham, Newcastle, Hammersmith and The Rainbow, so there are plenty of versions of song to choose from. The results of what has been mixed so far have turned out excellently, I have cheated a little bit, though I think quite justifiably so. I altered the order a bit, although I dont think that most people who went to the concerts will even notice. The reason for the change is that an order which seems right for a show can be nonsense on plastic. Each side of each of the two records has to have a beginning and an end, which in all means eight ends-and-beginnings, in concert you dont have that problem. Ive also cheated a tiny amount by erasing the odd bum note, comparing the live recordings with the original studio versions of the songs performed, Harley said, They knock spots off them
18.
Stripped to the Bare Bones
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Stripped to the Bare Bones is a 1999 live acoustic album by English songwriter and musician Steve Harley. The album was produced by Harley and features Nick Pynn, having returned to touring as Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel in 1989, Harley and his band would continue to tour throughout the 1990s. Although Harley had performed a number of one-off acoustic-based shows during that time. In August 1997, Harley performed a string of casual, more acoustic-based, accompanied by Cockney Rebel violinist/guitarist Nick Pynn, these shows consisted of music and chat about Harleys career. In November, he performed an acoustic show at Castlemilk Festival in Glasgow. In the liner notes of Stripped to the Bare Bones, Harley revealed, I was invited to do an acoustic show, it wasnt my idea. It all started with the Castlemilk Festival which is basically a week-long folk festival in Glasgow, I thought about it and decided to take a chance. I really enjoyed it and got a taste for it, the success of these shows led to Harley and Pynn playing over a hundred dates in 1998 as part of the Stripped to the Bare Bones tour. This tour included concerts in the UK alone, while around ninety songs were rehearsed for use on the tour. Coinciding with the tour was the release of the new compilation album More Than Somewhat – The Very Best of Steve Harley, Harley commented, Your songs are what they are. Thats why the tour was called Stripped to the Bare Bones and we play for 2 and a half hours most nights, about 24/25 titles out of 90 odd we have rehearsed. Ive tried a lot of combinations, a lot of songs get one go and you know instantly if they work, and its best to try them all in public but audiences vary across the country of course. So, sometimes I give them two airings, in March 1998, as part of the tour, Harley and Pynn played at The Jazz Café in London. This show was recorded using Sensible Music Ltd. and an ADAT system for release as a live album. During the show, Harley played acoustic guitar and harmonica, while Pynn played acoustic guitar, dulcimer, mando-cello. Speaking of playing with Pynn, Harley commented, Its a privilege to play with a musician of his calibre, in September 1999, the album Stripped to the Bare Bones was released on the Burning Airlines label. The album featured fourteen live unplugged tracks from the show and CD liner notes by Kevin Cann, of the included tracks on the CD, one was a new song titled Only You. The song later appeared on the 2006 compilation The Cockney Rebel – A Steve Harley Anthology, as Harley continued performing acoustic shows, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel would not embark on a full tour until the Back with the Band UK tour of 2001
19.
Sounds (magazine)
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Sounds was a long-term UK weekly pop/rock music newspaper, published from 10 October 1970 to 6 April 1991. It was produced by Spotlight Publications, which was set up by Jack Hutton and Peter Wilkinson, who left Melody Maker to start their own company. Sounds was their first project, a paper devoted to progressive rock and described by Hutton, to those he was attempting to recruit from his former publication. Sounds was intended to be a rival to titles such as Melody Maker. It was well known for giving away posters in the centre of the paper and later for covering heavy metal, the papers editors realised the importance of its regional audience and had freelancers across the UK contributing gig reviews and articles about up-and-coming local bands. Keith Cameron wrote about Nirvana after Robb carried out the first ever interview with them. One of the trinity of British music weeklies, along with NME and Melody Maker, Sounds folded in 1991 after the parent company, United Newspapers, a legacy of Sounds was the creation of the heavy metal/rock magazine Kerrang. Which was originally issued as a supplement before being spun off as a separate publication, sutherland and Russ Carvells UT strip, Photographers Andy Phillips, Virginia Turbett, Paul Slattery, Ross Halfin, Janette Beckman. Comic strips that were published in Sounds by Alan Moore Reviews and features published in Sounds by Mick Sinclair Photos published in Sounds by Simon Clegg
20.
Billboard (magazine)
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Billboard is an American entertainment media brand owned by the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group, a division of Eldridge Industries. It publishes pieces involving news, video, opinion, reviews, events and it is also known for its music charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200, tracking the most popular singles and albums in different genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows, Billboard was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson later acquired Hennegens interest in 1900 for $500, in the 1900s, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs and burlesque shows. It also created a service for travelling entertainers. Billboard began focusing more on the industry as the jukebox, phonograph. Many topics it covered were spun-off into different magazines, including Amusement Business in 1961 to cover outdoor entertainment so that it could focus on music. After Donaldson died in 1925, Billboard was passed down to his children and Hennegans children, until it was sold to investors in 1985. The first issue of Billboard was published in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 1,1894 by William Donaldson, initially, it covered the advertising and bill posting industry and was called Billboard Advertising. At the time, billboards, posters and paper advertisements placed in public spaces were the means of advertising. Donaldson handled editorial and advertising, while Hennegan, who owned Hennegan Printing Co. managed magazine production, the first issues were just eight pages long. The paper had columns like The Bill Room Gossip and The Indefatigable, a department for agricultural fairs was established in 1896. The title was changed to The Billboard in 1897, after a brief departure over editorial differences, Donaldson purchased Hennegans interest in the business in 1900 for $500, to save it from bankruptcy. That May, Donaldson changed it from a monthly to a paper with a greater emphasis on breaking news. He improved editorial quality and opened new offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, London and he also re-focused the magazine on outdoor entertainment like fairs, carnivals, circuses, vaudeville and burlesque shows. A section devoted to circuses was introduced in 1900, followed by more prominent coverage of events in 1901. Billboard also covered topics including regulation, a lack of professionalism, economics and it had a stage gossip column covering the private lives of entertainers, a tent show section covering traveling shows and a sub-section called Freaks to order. According to The Seattle Times, Donaldson also published articles attacking censorship, praising productions exhibiting good taste
21.
AllMusic
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AllMusic is an online music guide service website. It was launched in 1991 by All Media Guide which later became All Media Network, AllMusic was launched in 1991 by Michael Erlewine of All Media Guide. The aim was to discographic information on every artist whos made a record since Enrico Caruso gave the industry its first big boost and its first reference book was published the following year. When first released onto the Internet, AMG predated the World Wide Web and was first available as a Gopher site, the AMG consumer web properties AllMusic. com, AllMovie. com and AllGame. com were sold by Rovi in July 2013 to All Media Network, LLC. All Media Network, LLC. was formed by the founders of SideReel. com. The following are contributors to AllMusic, as of this date, All Media Network also produced the AllMusic guide series that includes the AllMusic Guide to Rock, the All Music Guide to Jazz and the All Music Guide to the Blues. Vladimir Bogdanov is the president of the series, in August 2007, PC Magazine included AllMusic in its Top 100 Classic Websites list. All Media Network AllGame AllMovie SideReel All Music Guide to the Blues All Music Guide to Jazz Stephen Thomas Erlewine Official website
22.
Georgiy Starostin
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He is the son of the late Sergei Anatolyevich Starostin, and carries on several of his fathers projects. Starostin is the son of the late Sergei Starostin, formerly Russias leading specialist in comparative linguistics and he carries on several of his fathers projects, including the participation at the Santa Fe Institute. With John Bengtson, Starostin edited the journal Mother Tongue in 2003 and he is also a music blogger. The Evolution of Human Languages is a project on the linguistic prehistory of humanity coordinated by the Santa Fe Institute. The project distinguishes about 6000 languages spoken in the world nowadays, most existing classifications, however, do not go beyond some 300-400 language families that are relatively easy to discern. George Starostins research here focuses on the Khoisan, formerly, Bushman-Hottentot languages of South Africa, the Tower of Babel is an International Etymological Database Project coordinated by the Center of Comparative Linguistics of the Russian State University of the Humanities. The project aims to join efforts in the research of long range connections between established language families of the world, the Internet is used to combine these attempts and to build up a commonly accessible database of roots, or etyma reconstructed for the Worlds major linguistic stocks. The Starling database program is part of the Tower of Babel project, Starostin has written a number of articles on Dravidian, Yeniseian, Khoisan, and language isolates. A selection,1995, The Structure of the Ket Verbal Form, with KY Reshetnikov, in, Ket Volume,1995, The Morphology of the Kott Verb and the Reconstruction of the Proto-Yenisseian Verbal System, in, Ket Volume, issue 4. 1997, Alveolar Consonants in Proto-Dravidian, One or More, in, Proceedings on South Asian Languages, Moscow. 2002, On The Genetic Affiliation Of The Elamite Language, in, Mother Tongue,2003, A lexicostatistical approach towards reconstructing Proto-Khoisan, in, Mother Tongue, Vol.8,2003. 2005, Some Aspects Of The Historical Development Of Clicks In Khoisan Languages, in, Aspects of Comparative Linguistics,2008 From modern Khoisan languages to Proto-Khoisan, The value of intermediate reconstructions Webpage about Georgiy Starostin at the Santa Fe Institute. Only Solitaire, George Starostins music reviews at Starling. rinet. ru, George Starostins current music reviews blog Notes on the Moscow Conference on Long-Range Comparison
23.
The Human Menagerie
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The Human Menagerie is the debut studio album by Cockney Rebel, released in 1973. It was produced by Neil Harrison, after training as a journalist for three years, Steve Harley embarked on his musical career through floor-spotting within London folk clubs in 1971-72. He also had a spell as rhythm guitarist and co-singer in the folk band Odin. It was during this time that Harley began writing his own songs, Most were penned at a time when Harley was on the dole, having left his career in journalism. In 1972, he began busking with his songs in London, in subways and runways under such places as Hyde Park Corner, Marble Arch, Leicester Square, Harley would use busking to test his own songs on an audience, and to supplement his income from benefits. While in Odin, Harley felt he was not suited to the folk scene and he decided to form his own band Cockney Rebel in 1972, as a vehicle for his own songs. With Crocker on board, the advertised and auditioned drummer Stuart Elliott, bassist Paul Jeffreys. One of the bands first gigs was at The Roundhouse in Chalk Farm, Jones was soon replaced by Pete Newnham, however Harley felt the band did not need an electric guitar, particularly with the arrival of keyboardist Milton Reame-James. Therefore, the settled on the combination of Crockers electric violin. During 1972, representatives of the band began to demo tapes to various labels. Mickie Most discovered the band at a London nightclub known as The Speakeasy Club, in turn, this influenced the A&R personnel at EMI Records, who then offered the band a contract in late 1972. The band signed to EMI after having played five gigs together. The three-album deal commenced with the recording of the debut album The Human Menagerie in 1973. The album was recorded in June-July 1973 at Air Studios, London and it was mastered at Capitol Studios. EMI hired their staff producer and A&R man Neil Harrison as the albums producer, Harrison suggested that some of the tracks, notably Sebastian and Death Trip, should feature a large symphony orchestra and choir. Harley agreed, and Harrison was then successful in obtaining a bigger budget from EMI to accommodate the use of a 50-piece orchestra, Andrew Powell was put in charge of the orchestral arrangements. The album was being recorded at Air Studios and we were about three-parts through, I should say, so Neil, my producer, must have known his announcement that afternoon would bowl the young Steve over. But seeing them in there, fifty-plus classical musicians, mostly old enough to be my dad, was a real shocker and we were young and full of dangerous ideas and adventure, ready to experiment without consideration for the consequences or cost
24.
The Psychomodo
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The Psychomodo is the second studio album by Cockney Rebel, released in 1974. It was produced by Steve Harley and Alan Parsons, having signed a three-album deal with EMI Records in late 1972, the band released their debut album The Human Menagerie in November 1973. The album, and the single Sebastian, both failed to enter the UK charts, although the single did become a hit in Continental Europe, the lack of success in the UK led EMI to feel that Harley had yet to record a potential hit single. In response, Harley went away and re-worked an unrecorded song of his called Judy Teen, when Judy Teen was released and began climbing the UK charts, the band had already started recording their second album The Psychomodo. The album was recorded during February and March 1974, at Morgan Studios, Nova Sound Studios and it was mastered at Abbey Road Studios. On the album, Harley received his first production credit, working as producer alongside Alan Parsons, in similarity to the bands debut album, a large symphony orchestra and choir was used on certain tracks, with the orchestral arrangements again conducted by Andrew Powell. In the liner notes for the 2012 compilation Cavaliers, An Anthology 1973-1974, Harley recalled. The Psychomodo, Alan Parsons came in as co-producer/engineer, and his own willingness to accept many offbeat ideas made life easy enough. More strings and horns, and again we had Andrew Powell, with his brilliant classical-rock thinking, I do remember where the songs came from. They came from a young mans dream, where the blending of musical literature and mad, formless imaginings, could hang out together at the folk club. In a 2013 interview with the Birmingham Post, Harley recalled of the first two Cockney Rebel albums, Those first two albums were heavily orchestrated, I was 22 years old, at Abbey Road with a full orchestra and a choir for songs like Sebastian. Id busked with those songs for a year before Cockney Rebel signed to EMI, oh, it was magnificent for a young man. Preceding the album was the title track single Psychomodo, released in mid-May 1974, EMI quickly withdrew the single from sale soon afterwards. Despite this, the single was released across Europe and reached #28 in Belgium, in early June 1974, The Psychomodo was released and proved to be the bands breakthrough album in the UK. It peaked at #8 on the UK Albums Chart, and remained in the Top 50 for twenty weeks, between May and July 1974, Cockney Rebel embarked on a major British tour to promote The Psychomodo. As the tour progressed, the band began facing growing tensions, on 18 July, the band received a Gold Award for outstanding new act of 1974, and a week later they had split-up over their disagreements. Jean-Paul Crocker, Milton Reame-James and Paul Jeffreys quit the band after having demanded to write material for the group, in late July 1974, EMI released the albums second single Mr. Soft. By this time, Cockney Rebel had already disbanded, in August, the song peaked at #8 in the UK, and in Ireland at #16. To perform the song on Top of the Pops, Harley had to form an impromptu line-up of the band, later in the year, Harley formed a new line-up of the band, and renamed them Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
25.
Timeless Flight
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Timeless Flight is the fourth studio album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released in 1976. It was produced by Steve Harley, during their tour for The Best Years of Our Lives, Harley had begun writing new material for the album, some of which was inspired by events and places the band went to on the tour. The band recorded the album at Trident Studios, Abbey Road Studios, the entire album was remixed, mastered and cut at Abbey Road Studios. On the album, guitarist Jim Cregan used a number of guitars, including a Martin D18,1956 Fender Telecaster, Gibson SG Standard and an Ovation acoustic with a built-in pick-up. The albums was created in more of a relaxed environment in comparison with The Best Years of Our Lives. For the liner notes of the 2003 BGO CD release of Timeless Flight, Harley recalled, the songs, many of them being semi acoustic or laid back, I think stemmed as much from that as anything else. It made me a little lethargic, in November 1975, the lead single, Black or White, preceded the album. Despite the previous albums success earlier in the year, Black or White failed to reach the UK Top 50 and it did, however, reach #2 on the BMRBs UK Breakers Chart, which would have been equal to #52 on the main Singles Chart. In a February 1976 interview with Record Mirror & Disc, Harley commented and it turned out to be a stiff. Timeless Flight was released in early February 1976 and would peak at #18 on the UK Albums Chart and it lasted six weeks on the chart, having debuted at #23 on 14 February. In America, it was reported in Record Mirror & Disc that the album had received 40,000 advance orders, despite the bands lack of a hit single or album there. During the middle of February, the second single, White, White Dove, was released. Following the albums release, the band embarked on a British, on the tour, the band hired guitarist Jo Partridge to play rhythm guitar. After a concert at Wembley in April 1976, the band then toured America, Years after its release, Harley revealed that Timeless Flight was his personal favourite album from his own career. In an exclusive 2004 interview for the fan site Harley Fanzone, he said, Well. Its my precious boy, my favourite child and it was such a change for me and the critics werent ready. Its like I heard Mick Jagger say about one of the Stones albums, I never realised it was the favorite album of so many people. Nothing is Sacred is on there and when I started to play that live I sensed it was something they wanted to hear
26.
The Quality of Mercy (album)
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The Quality of Mercy is the sixth studio album by English rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released in 2005. Fronted by Steve Harley, the album was the first studio album in 29 years to be released by Harley under the bands name, the existing Cockney Rebel line-up of the time featured all new musicians compared to the best-known Cockney Rebel line-ups of their 1970s heyday. The album was produced entirely by Harley, with Jim Cregan also co-producing the track A Friend for Life, the albums title is based on the Shakespearean phrase. Since 2000, Harley had been working on the recording of a new studio album, in a September 2000 diary entry for his official website, Harley commented, Plans to further the recording career at in hand. Negotiations are taking place daily and constantly, I am determined that A Friend for Life will be available in the shops and on the radio in time for the next Spring band tour, with an album, God willing, in the can. I am the eternal optimist, as you probably know, I have A Friend for Life and When the Halo Slips and several others 90% finished on record. Later in November, Harley revealed, If the deal I want is forthcoming, there are something like 50 songs half-to-75% finished on cassettes and mini-discs around my study, bags, and all around the grand piano. Although the single A Friend for Life was released in April 2001 by Intrinsic Records, between 2001 and 2005, Harley continued to write new material, record in the studio and hold discussions with various record labels. Later in August 2004, Harley commented in a diary entry that he was still writing new material. In February 2005, Harley and his touring band Cockney Rebel went into the Gemini Recording Studio in Ipswich to start recording for what would become The Quality of Mercy. In an entry from that month, Harley commented of the recording session, We are all pretty high. The band have played with spirit and shown an understanding of my new songs that comes best from musicians youve got close to over hundreds of touring concerts, I left six new recordings, all about 70% finished, to go back to soon. By June 2005, recording sessions for the album were coming to an end, in a June diary entry, he commented, I am recording the best album I have ever recorded. I do not know where it is coming from, later in the month, he added, This is a proper record, all right. We have recorded part-analogue, part-digital and have mixed on the highest grade of Pro-tools and it has all cost a lot of money, but sounds like it cost much more. During the summer, British photographer Mick Rock visited London and recorded an episode for Harleys BBC Radio 2 show Sounds of the Seventies, having completed the episode, the pair then went outside Broadcasting House for an impromptu photo session for The Quality of Mercy album cover. The shoot was completed in 20 minutes and it was originally planned for Manfred Esser to shoot the albums cover photo in Germany earlier in April. Harley aimed to complete the album in time for the bands planned touring schedule later in the year, as Harleys biggest UK and European tour since the 1970s, the tour was made up of over 50 dates between late September and early December
27.
Hobo with a Grin
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Hobo with a Grin is the debut solo album by Steve Harley of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released in 1978. The album was produced by Harley, except for Roll the Dice which was produced by Michael J. Jackson, Jackson also acted as additional producer on the album. In July 1977, Harley disbanded his band Cockney Rebel and began working on his solo album. The album was completed by early 1978. In February of that year, Harley flew to Los Angeles to finish working on the album, of the albums nine tracks, six were recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, and the other three were recorded in Los Angeles at Sunset Sound or Record Plant. The album featured a mixture of songs, written when Cockney Rebel were still active. The album was mixed at Sunset Sound and mastered at Capitol Mastering. Soon after the album was completed, Harley decided to leave Britain and he had been first attracted to the city when recording and mixing the Loves a Prima Donna album there in 1976. Purchasing a house in Beverly Hills, he stayed there for nearly a year to gain new experience and inspirations. When Hobo with a Grin emerged in July 1978, it was revealed the album cost £70,000 and took 18 months to make, the album failed to make any chart appearance, as did its two singles. The first, Roll the Dice, was released in July too, while the second, at the time of its release, writer G. Brown reported in The Denver Post that the album was becoming his fastest seller in America yet. Long deemed too British-sounding during the years of Cockney Rebel, Harley felt the situation was changing with the release of Hobo with a Grin, however, after the album failed to make any commercial impact, Harley began to be dismissive of it. Describing the material as laid back Californian stuff, Harley told Superpop magazine in 1978, for the first time in my life I relinquished responsibility, listened to advice and acted on it, rather than do what I thought was right. In November 1978, he told the Daily Star that the album was an experience, in early 1979, he told Maggi Russell in an interview that the album was a difficult album, and hard to market. At the end of 1978, Harley returned to England, during his time living in America, he admitted that he was never inspired to write one single song. Not long after his return, Harley began working on his solo album The Candidate. Speaking to the Evening News in October 1979, Harley admitted, I spent almost a year out there and did nothing except swim and sunbathe. I had a house in Beverley Hills – it was costing me about £300 a week
28.
The Candidate (album)
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The Candidate is the second solo studio album by British singer-songwriter Steve Harley released in 1979. It was produced by Harley and Jimmy Horowitz, having spent almost a year living in Los Angeles, during which time his debut solo album Hobo with a Grin was released, Harley returned to London at the end of 1978. Speaking to the Daily Star in December 1978, Harley described Hobo with a Grin as an experience, adding, Ill get the band together, then record the album in a fortnight - the way I always used to. The Candidate took three weeks to write, while recording took place during February at Abbey Road Studios, the entire album was also mixed and mastered at Abbey Road Studios, except mixing for Freedoms Prisoner, which took place at Morgan Studios. Afterwards, Harley began planning a British and European tour for later in the year, when talking of forming a new Cockney Rebel line-up, Harley commented to Daily Mirrors Pauline McLeod, There will undoubtedly be some of the old group members of the group in the line-up. Maybe Jim Cregan could join up for it if hes not busy recording with Rod Stewart, speaking to Maggi Russell in early 1979, Harley revealed of the new album, I needed the energy that London has. West Coast musicians have done it all before, and theyre very blase, Here people put their heart and soul into their music. Stuart Elliott and Jo Partridge from Cockney Rebel worked on the album with me and its very important when youre spending 12 hours a day in the studio with a bunch of people that you get on well, that you share a sense of humour. Otherwise you all end up having a bad time, Hobo with a Grin was a difficult album, and hard to market. My new album leans more to the early Cockney Rebel sound. I have made a record that I believe in, if the music press review it maturely Ill be glad, but that is doubtful. Im really hoping for a good 1979, and Im putting everything Ive got into it, Im back, and they are all going to know I am. You could spend a lot of time in this business getting affluent with success, I hope my fans like it too. I had a house in Beverley Hills – it was costing me about £300 a week. I then realised that I was getting nowhere fast and booked Londons Abbey Road studios for two months, I called my old Cockney Rebel drummer Stuart Elliott and asked him to put me a band together. I came back to London, and within three weeks I had more than enough songs for an LP. Im pleased with The Candidate – its the best album Ive done in ages, in May 1979, Harley appeared with Peter Gabriel at one of Kate Bushs Hammersmith Odeon concerts in May 1979. It was Harleys first performance on stage in two years, in September, EMI released The Candidate, along with the single Freedoms Prisoner
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Yes You Can (album)
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Yes You Can is the third studio album by British singer-songwriter Steve Harley, released in Europe in 1992, and in the UK in 1993. The album was Harleys first new album of new material since 1979s The Candidate and it featured a mixture of older songs first written and recorded in the 1980s and newer material. The album was produced by Harley and Matt Butler, except Rain in Venice, which was produced Mickie Most, Harley and Butler, and Irresistible, the album was mastered by Steve Rooke and Ian Jones at Abbey Road Studios in London. Throughout the 1980s, Harley released a handful of singles which became minor hits or failed to chart. In early 1984, Harley signed a deal with Mickie Mosts RAK Records. During that time, Harley worked at RAK studios in London to record a new solo album. It included the tracks Sophistication, Irresistible, the 1970 Edwin Starr song Oh How Happy, Rain in Venice, New-Fashioned Way, The Lighthouse, Star for a Week and Promises Promises. The song Irresistible had been released as a single in 1985, before being remixed the following year, the 1986 versions sleeve announced the release of the upcoming album El Gran Senor, however before it was released, RAK went bankrupt and the album was shelved. In 1989, Harley re-emerged when he toured the UK and Europe with a new line-up of the Cockney Rebel band, before the tour, Harley and ex-Cockney Rebel members Duncan Mackay and Jim Cregan began working in the Point Studios in London. During these sessions, four new songs were written, Dancing on the Telephone, When Im with You, The Alibi, the first three songs were used on the 1989 tour, while Dancing on the Telephone and The Alibi would later appear on Yes You Can. During the same year, Harley announced that an album of new material was to be recorded in the summer, in 1990, with the album yet to be released, Harley revealed that work on the new album was almost done. However, he was unsure when the album would be released, eventually, the album Yes You Can surfaced in 1992, when it was a given a European-only release, which was followed by a Yes You Can tour. In March, Harley played various dates across Europe, followed by a set of UK dates in May, the album featured a mix of older songs dating from the El Gran Senor period, as well as some newer tracks. Of the albums ten tracks, two were lifted from the unreleased El Gran Senor album, the 1986 extended remix of Irresistible and Rain in Venice. The remaining songs were newer recordings, most of which were recorded at the White House Studios in Bures, Suffolk, New-Fashioned Way had originally been recorded for El Gran Senor as an up-tempo track, while The Lighthouse used different instrumentation including a saxophone solo. Although at one point Harley had decided to drop the rest of the El Gran Senor album, in 1991 and this led him to re-record the song for Yes You Can. Other 1980s recordings such as Oh, How Happy and Sophistication were left unreleased. Star for a Week, one the oldest songs, had first been played live in 1979, while Victim of Love and Fire in the Night were two of the newer songs, written while on tour
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Poetic Justice (Steve Harley album)
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Poetic Justice is the fourth studio album by British singer-songwriter Steve Harley, released in 1996. Since 1989, Harley made a return to touring with Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel. During the middle of the decade, Harley began recording a new album at Berry House Studios in Ardingly. In August 1996, Poetic Justice was released on Transatlantic Records, featuring new songs, three covers and a re-recording of Riding the Waves, most of the new songs had been written by Harley during the bands touring schedule. The albums three covers consisted of the Jimmy Ruffins 1966 song What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted, the Bob Dylans 1965 song Love Minus Zero-No Limit and the Van Morrisons 1970 song Crazy Love. My audience think Ive run out of ideas if I only write eight out of eleven, for the album, Riding the Waves was re-recorded live in the studio. It had originally appeared on Harleys 1978 debut solo album Hobo with a Grin, no singles were released to promote the album, despite Harleys interest in releasing Thats My Life in Your Hands and The Last Time I Saw You. Additionally, Harley had recorded What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted. as a potential single and its hard to get anyone to talk sense. Speaking of Robson & Jerome reaching the UK number one spot with their own 1996 version of What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted, Harley added, Id recorded it long before they turned up. We were saying to the company, Id done this as a single. Three months later it was being played by them, later in 2002, Harley spoke of Poetic Justice in an interview with the online music magazine Perfect Sound Forever. He said, Songwriting is one of the few jobs even in the world of art that we do where you dont get better with age. Its also true perhaps with novelists, that their best work is left behind in their twenties and up to their mid thirties. Thats My Life in Your Hands was written by Harley and Hugh Nicholson, Harley recalled in 2015, Hugh had written another song, same chords, different words and title. I asked permission to change the lyrics and produce my own version, the original song was titled Starlight Jingles, which was recorded by Nicholsons band Blue, during their sessions at Los Angeles between 1979-82. A live version of the song would appear as one of two bonus tracks on the 2000 CD release of Harleys Hobo with a Grin album. On 29 April 1994, The Last Time I Saw You received its live performance at the Mick Ronson Memorial Concert. This live version, along with Harleys performance of Make Me Smile at the same concert, on Harleys 2001 single A Friend for Life, a live version of Safe was added as one of two bonus tracks
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Stranger Comes to Town
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Stranger Comes to Town is the fifth studio album from English songwriter and musician Steve Harley. Released in 2010, the album was Harleys first studio album in five years, the album was produced by Harley. After the release of The Quality of Mercy, Harley continued to write, in January 2007, Harley and the band went into the recording studio to record new material. Around this time, Harley announced plans for a new studio album, the albums working title was Wide Screen, with an alternative being The Road Home. Although the proposed album did not come to fruition, Harley continued writing, later in a February 2009 diary entry for his official website, Harley commented, Writing songs again, slowly, piecemeal, six or seven at a time. Maybe now Ill start writing songs again, cost me a great deal in all sorts of energies and resources to end this loathsome arrangement, but I knew in my heart I had to sort it. Later in March, Harley announced his plans to book a studio for a new album. He also commented of his song ideas and demo recordings, The notes are there, in notebooks. Tunes and couplets, simple rhymes and deeper thoughts all jumbled, there is only one way I will collate it all into coherent songs, and that is by booking a recording studio. Later in August 2009, he revealed new material was being written, Wrote copious notes beside the pool, have barely taken an hour off since getting home last weekend. During September/October 2009, Harley and his band Cockney Rebel spent a month at Leeders Farm Residential Studios, Spooner Row, Harley would typically spend 12 or more hours a day working on the album. In October 2009, Harley commented in an entry, Slightly shattered. Ten tracks recorded, some sung, others waiting for lyrics, coming down from the mad rushes of adrenalin that go with the producing/recording process. Been living-in at a recording studio. Odd to get up and share breakfast with the band, odd, too, to share the dinner table each night, but they are all decent blokes and easy to get along with. Im the one with the head, tunes and words, production plans all juggled at the same time, so Im the distant one over the boiled eggs. During the bands residency at Leeders Farm, the band spent most mornings rehearsing around the kitchen table. Due to other commitments, guitarist Robbie Gladwell was actually absent for much of the recording, leaving Barry Wickens to cover the electric guitar parts on half of the album
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