1.
New York City
–
The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
2.
Elvis Presley
–
Elvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is referred to as the King of Rock and Roll. Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and relocated to Memphis and his music career began there in 1954, when he recorded a song with producer Sam Phillips at Sun Records. Accompanied by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, Presley was a popularizer of rockabilly. RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, Presleys first RCA single, Heartbreak Hotel, was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the United States. He was regarded as the figure of rock and roll after a series of successful network television appearances. In November 1956, Presley made his debut in Love Me Tender. In 1958, he was drafted into military service, in 1973, Presley featured in the first globally broadcast concert via satellite, Aloha from Hawaii. Several years of drug abuse severely damaged his health. Presley is one of the most celebrated and influential musicians of the 20th century and he won three Grammys, also receiving the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame. Presley was born on January 8,1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, to Gladys Love and Vernon Elvis Presley, Jesse Garon Presley, his identical twin brother, was delivered stillborn 35 minutes before his own birth. Thus, as a child, Presley became close to both parents and formed an especially close bond with his mother. The family attended an Assembly of God, where he found his musical inspiration. Although he was in conflict with the Pentecostal church in his later years, rev. Rex Humbard officiated at his funeral, as Presley had been an admirer of Humbards ministry. Presleys ancestry was primarily a Western European mix, including Scots-Irish, Scottish, German, gladyss great-great-grandmother, Morning Dove White, was possibly a Cherokee Native American. Gladys was regarded by relatives and friends as the dominant member of the small family, Vernon moved from one odd job to the next, evincing little ambition. The family often relied on help from neighbors and government food assistance, the Presleys survived the F5 tornado in the 1936 Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak. In 1938, they lost their home after Vernon was found guilty of kiting a check written by the landowner, Orville S. Bean and he was jailed for eight months, and Gladys and Elvis moved in with relatives
3.
Model (person)
–
A model is a person with a role either to promote, display, or advertise commercial products or to serve as a visual aide for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Modelling is considered to be different from other types of public performance, although the difference between modelling and performing is not always clear, appearing in a film or a play is not generally considered to be modelling. Types of modelling include, fashion, glamour, fitness, bikini, fine art, body-part, Models are featured in a variety of media formats including, books, magazines, films, newspapers, internet and TV. Fashion models are featured in films, reality TV shows. Celebrities, including actors, singers, sports personalities and reality TV stars, modelling as a profession was first established in 1853 by Charles Frederick Worth, the father of haute couture, when he asked his wife, Marie Vernet Worth, to model the clothes he designed. The term house model was coined to describe this type of work, eventually, this became common practice for Parisian fashion houses. There were no standard physical measurement requirements for a model, with the development of fashion photography, the modelling profession expanded to photo modelling. Models remained fairly anonymous, and relatively poorly paid, until the late 1950s, one of the first well-known models was Lisa Fonssagrives, who was very popular in the 1930s. Fonssagrives appeared on over 200 Vogue covers, and her name recognition led to the importance of Vogue in shaping the careers of fashion models. In 1946, Ford Models was established by Eileen and Gerard Ford in New York, one of the most popular models during the 1940s was Jinx Falkenburg who was paid $25 per hour, a large sum at the time. During the 1940s and 1950s, Wilhelmina Cooper, Jean Patchett, Dovima, Dorian Leigh, Suzy Parker, Evelyn Tripp, Carmen DellOrefice, dorothea Church was among the first black models in the industry to gain notoriety in Paris. However, these models were unknown outside the fashion community, compared to todays models, the models of the 1950s were more voluptuous. Wilhelmina Coopers measurements were 38-24-36 whereas Chanel Imans measurements are 32-23-33, in the 1960s, the modelling world began to establish modelling agencies. Throughout Europe, secretarial services acted as models agents charging them weekly rates for their messages, for the most part, models were responsible for their own billing. In Germany, agents were not allowed to work for a percentage of a persons earnings, with the exception of a few models travelling to Paris or New York, travelling was relatively unheard of for a model. Most models only worked in one market due to different labor laws governing modelling in various countries, in the 1960s, Italy had many fashion houses and fashion magazines but was in dire need of models. Italian agencies would often coerce models to return to Italy without work visas by withholding their pay and they would also pay their models in cash, which models would have to hide from customs agents. It was not uncommon for models staying in such as La Louisiana in Paris or the Arena in Milan to have their hotel rooms raided by the police looking for their work visas
4.
Demography
–
Demography is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. As a very general science, it can analyse any kind of dynamic living population, Demography encompasses the study of the size, structure, and distribution of these populations, and spatial or temporal changes in them in response to birth, migration, ageing, and death. Based on the research of the earth, earths population up to the year 2050 and 2100 can be estimated by demographers. Demographics are quantifiable characteristics of a given population, demographic analysis can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as education, nationality, religion, and ethnicity. Educational institutions usually treat demography as a field of sociology, though there are a number of independent demography departments, demographic thoughts can be traced back to antiquity, and were present in many civilizations and cultures, like Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, India and China. In ancient Greece, this can be found in the writings of Herodotus, Thucidides, Hippocrates, Epicurus, Protagoras, Polus, Plato and Aristotle. In Rome, writers and philosophers like Cicero, Seneca, Pliny the elder, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Cato, in the Middle ages, Christian thinkers devoted much time in refuting the Classical ideas on demography. Important contributors to the field were William of Conches, Bartholomew of Lucca, William of Auvergne, William of Pagula, and Ibn Khaldun. One of the earliest demographic studies in the period was Natural and Political Observations Made upon the Bills of Mortality by John Graunt. Among the studys findings were that one third of the children in London died before their sixteenth birthday, mathematicians, such as Edmond Halley, developed the life table as the basis for life insurance mathematics. Richard Price was credited with the first textbook on life contingencies published in 1771, followed later by Augustus de Morgan, at the end of the 18th century, Thomas Robert Malthus concluded that, if unchecked, populations would be subject to exponential growth. He feared that population growth would tend to outstrip growth in production, leading to ever-increasing famine. He is seen as the father of ideas of overpopulation. Later, more sophisticated and realistic models were presented by Benjamin Gompertz, the period 1860-1910 can be characterized as a period of transition wherein demography emerged from statistics as a separate field of interest. There are two types of data collection—direct and indirect—with several different methods of each type, direct data comes from vital statistics registries that track all births and deaths as well as certain changes in legal status such as marriage, divorce, and migration. In developed countries with good registration systems, registry statistics are the best method for estimating the number of births and deaths, a census is the other common direct method of collecting demographic data. A census is conducted by a national government and attempts to enumerate every person in a country. Analyses are conducted after a census to estimate how much over or undercounting took place and these compare the sex ratios from the census data to those estimated from natural values and mortality data
5.
Pin-up model
–
A pin-up model is a model whose mass-produced pictures see wide appeal as popular culture. Pin-ups are intended for display, i. e. meant to be pinned-up on a wall. Pin-up models may be glamour models, fashion models, or actors and these pictures are also sometimes known as cheesecake photos. The term pin-up may refer to drawings, paintings, and other illustrations as well as photographs, the term was first attested to in English in 1941, however, the practice is documented back at least to the 1890s. The pin-up images could be cut out of magazines or newspapers, such pictures often appear on wall or desk calendars. Posters of pin-ups were mass-produced and became popular from the mid 20th century, examples include James Dean and Jim Morrison. In the late 19th century, burlesque performers and actresses sometimes used photographic advertisement as business cards to promote themselves, understanding the power of photographic advertisements to promote their shows, burlesque women self-constructed their identity to make themselves visible. Being recognized not only within the theater itself but also challenged the conventions of womens place. Being sexually fantasized, famous actresses in early 20th-century film were drawn and photographed and put on posters to be sold for personal entertainment. Among the celebrities who were considered sex symbols, one of the most popular early pin-up girls was Betty Grable, in Europe, prior to the First World War, the likes of Fernande Barrey, were arguably the worlds first pinups as is known in the modern sense. Miss Barrey displayed ample cleavage and full frontal nudity and her pictures were cherished by soldiers on both sides of the First World War conflict. Other pin-ups were artwork depicting idealized versions of what some thought a beautiful or attractive woman should look like. An early example of the type was the Gibson girl. Because the New Woman was symbolic of her new ideas about her sex, unlike the photographed actresses and dancers generations earlier, fantasy gave artists the freedom to draw women in many different ways. The 1932 Esquire mens magazine featured many drawings and girlie cartoons but was most famous for its Vargas girls, prior to World War II they were praised for their beauty and less focus was on their sexuality. However, during the war, the drawings transformed into women playing dress-up in military drag and drawn in seductive manners, like that of a child playing with a doll. Among the other artists specializing in the field were Earle K. Bergey, Enoch Bolles, Gil Elvgren, George Petty, Rolf Armstrong, Duane Bryers. Notable contemporary pin-up artists include Paul John Ballard, Elias Chatzoudis, Armando Huerta, Cris Delara, another is popular pin-up artist Olivia De Berardinis who is most famous for her pin-up art of Bettie Page and her pieces in Playboy
6.
Social issue
–
Since Indias Independence in 1947, the South Asian nation has faced multiple social and economic issues. The population of India is an estimated 1.34 billion, though India ranks second in population, it ranks 33 in population density. Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, had implemented a forced sterilisation programme in the early 1970s and this programme is still remembered and regretted in India, and is blamed for creating a public aversion to family planning, which hampered Government programmes for decades. One of the reasons the population has increased is that a dip in the rate of infant mortality has not been accompanied by a fall in the birth rate. In 2012, the Indian government stated 21. 9% of its population is below its official poverty limit. The World Bank, in 2011 based on 2005s PPPs International Comparison Program, estimated 23. 6% of Indian population, or about 276 million people, official figures estimate that 27. 5% of Indians lived below the national poverty line in 2004–2005. Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India in 1971 election campaign gave the slogan garibi hatao desh bachavo, statistics conducted by UNICEF have shown that only 90% of India’s population is able to utilise proper sanitation facilities as of 2008. It is estimated one in every ten deaths in India is linked to poor sanitation. Diarrhea is the single largest killer and accounts for one in every twenty deaths, around 450,000 deaths were linked to diarrhea alone in 2006, of which 88% were deaths of children below five. Studies by UNICEF have also shown that diseases resulting from poor sanitation affects children in their cognitive development, people without access to proper sanitation facilities more-often-than-not defecate in public or in rivers. One gram of faeces could potentially contain 10 million viruses, one million bacteria,1000 parasite cysts and 100 worm eggs, the Ganga river in India has a stunning 1.1 million litres of raw sewage being disposed into it every minute. The high level of contamination of the river by human waste allow diseases like cholera to spread easily, resulting in many deaths, a lack of adequate sanitation also leads to significant economic losses for the country. Recognising the importance of sanitation, the Government of India started the Central Rural Sanitation Program in 1986. This program was reviewed and, in 1999, the Total Sanitation Campaign was launched. Programmes such as Individual Household Latrines, School Sanitation and Hygiene Education, Community Sanitary Complex and this would allow the government to reallocate their resources to other aspects of development. Thus, the government set the objective of granting access to toilets to all by 2017, to meet this objective, incentives are given out to encourage participation from the rural population to construct their own sanitation amenities. In addition, the government has set out to educate its people on the importance and benefits of proper sanitation through mass communication and interpersonal communication techniques. This is done through mass and print media to reach out to an audience and through group discussions and games to better engage
7.
Star Trek
–
Star Trek is an American science fiction media franchise based on the television series created by Gene Roddenberry. The first television series, simply called Star Trek and now referred to as The Original Series, debuted in 1966 and it followed the interstellar adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and his crew aboard the starship USS Enterprise, an exploration vessel. The Star Trek canon of the franchise include The Original Series, a series, four spin-off television series, its film franchise. In creating Star Trek, Roddenberry was inspired by the Horatio Hornblower novels, the satirical book Gullivers Travels and these adventures continued in the short-lived Star Trek, The Animated Series and six feature films. The adventures of The Next Generation crew continued in four feature films. In 2009, the franchise underwent a reboot set in an alternate timeline, or Kelvin Timeline. This film featured a new cast portraying younger versions of the crew from the show, their adventures were continued in the sequel film. The thirteenth film feature and sequel, Star Trek Beyond, was released to coincide with the franchises 50th anniversary, a new Star Trek TV series, titled Star Trek, Discovery, will premiere in May 2017 on the digital platform CBS All Access. Star Trek has been a phenomenon for decades. Fans of the franchise are called Trekkies or Trekkers, the franchise spans a wide range of spin-offs including games, figurines, novels, toys, and comics. Star Trek had an attraction in Las Vegas that opened in 1998. At least two museum exhibits of props travel the world, the series has its own full-fledged constructed language, Klingon. Several parodies have been made of Star Trek, in addition, viewers have produced several fan productions. As of July 2016, the franchise had generated $10 billion in revenue, Star Trek is noted for its cultural influence beyond works of science fiction. The franchise is also noted for its civil rights stances. The Original Series included one of televisions first multiracial casts, Star Trek references can be found throughout popular culture from movies such as the submarine thriller Crimson Tide to the animated series South Park. As early as 1964, Gene Roddenberry drafted a proposal for the series that would become Star Trek
8.
Leonard Nimoy
–
Leonard Simon Nimoy was an American actor, film director, photographer, author, singer and songwriter. He was known for his role as Spock of the Star Trek franchise, foreshadowing his fame as a semi-alien, he played Narab, one of three Martian invaders, in the 1952 movie serial Zombies of the Stratosphere. The character has had a significant cultural impact and garnered Nimoy three Emmy Award nominations, TV Guide named Spock one of the 50 greatest TV characters. After the original Star Trek series, Nimoy starred in Mission, narrated Civilization IV, and made several well-received stage appearances. He also had a role in the science fiction series Fringe. Nimoys public profile as Spock was so strong that both of his autobiographies, I Am Not Spock and I Am Spock, were written from the viewpoint of sharing his existence with the character, in 2015 an asteroid was named 4864 Nimoy in his honor. In September 2016, For the Love of Spock, a documentary that covered his life. Leonard Simon Nimoy was born on March 26,1931, in the West End of Boston, Massachusetts and they reunited after arriving in the United States. His mother, Dora, was a homemaker, and his father, Max Nimoy and he had an elder brother, Melvin. He also began acting at the age of eight in a childrens, Nimoy also realized he had an aptitude for singing, which he developed while a member of his synagogues choir. His singing during his bar mitzvah at age 13 was so good that he was asked to repeat his performance the week at another synagogue. He is still the only man I know whose voice was two bar mitzvahs good and his first major role was at 17, as Ralphie in an amateur production of Clifford Odets Awake and Sing. Which dealt with the struggles of a matriarchal Jewish family similar to his during the Great Depression, playing this teenage kid in this Jewish family that was so much like mine was amazing, he said. The same dynamics, the tensions in the household. The role lit a passion that led him to pursue an acting career, I never wanted to do anything else. Shatner notes that Nimoy also worked on radio shows for children, often voice acting Bible stories, adding, Obviously. Many years later as Captain Kirk, I would be busy rescuing civilizations in distress on distant planets while Leonards Mr. Spock would be examining the morality of man– and alienkind. Nimoy took drama classes at Boston College, and after moving to Los Angeles and he took method actor Marlon Brando as a role model, and like him, wore jeans and T-shirt
9.
Shock rock
–
Shock rock is an umbrella term for artists who combine rock music or metal with highly theatrical live performances emphasizing shock value. Shock rock also often includes elements of horror, screamin Jay Hawkins was arguably the first shock rocker. Another artist who performed similar stunts was the British singer-songwriter Screaming Lord Sutch, the 1960s brought several proto-shock rock artists. In the UK, The Who often destroyed their instruments, The Move did the same to television sets, and Arthur Brown wore vivid makeup, Gwar, and King Diamond of the 1980s, and Marilyn Manson of the 1990s. The Plasmatics were an American punk rock band formed by Yale University art school graduate Rod Swenson with Wendy O. Williams, the band was a controversial group known for wild live shows that broke countless taboos. In addition to chainsawing guitars, blowing up speaker cabinets and sledgehammering television sets, Williams, Williams was arrested in Milwaukee by the Milwaukee police before being charged with public indecency. He was also known to beat his own head in with a microphone onstage and promised for years that he would commit suicide on stage as a sacrifice to rock. Allins lyrics were known for being politically incorrect, in the 1980s in Richmond, Virginia, Gwar formed as a collaboration of artists and musicians. The band members make their own lavish costumes, which they claim are inspired by many of the creatures from H. P. Lovecrafts literary multiverse. Gwar frequently incorporates extravagant theatrics into their shows, such as mock jousts, Gwar condemned Eldon Hoke, the vocalist of the Mentors, during their appearance on The Jerry Springer Show, because he advocated rape during his interview. In the 1990s and 2000s, Marilyn Manson became perhaps the most notable and he was once dubbed by former US Senator Joseph Lieberman as perhaps the sickest group ever promoted by a mainstream record company. Mansons stage antics, such as burning the American flag and ripping out of the Bible, have been the focus of protests throughout his career. The Death Proclamation of Generation X, A Self-Fulfilling Prophesy of Goth, Grunge, straight Edge, Hardcore Punk, Clean-Living Youth, and Social Change. Pretty in Punk, Girls Gender Resistance in a Boys Subculture, rotten, No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs. ISBN 0-312-11883-X McNeil, Legs, and Gillian McCain, please Kill Me, The Uncensored Oral History of Punk. Cinderellas Big Score, Women of the Punk and Indie Underground, rip It Up and Start Again, Post Punk 1978–1984. Englands Dreaming, The Sex Pistols and Punk Rock, the Rough Guide to Cult Pop, The Songs, the Artists, the Genres, the Dubious Fashions. False Prophet, Field Notes from the Punk Underground
10.
Alice Cooper
–
Alice Cooper is an American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spans over five decades. He has drawn equally from horror films, vaudeville, and garage rock to pioneer a macabre, the band reached their commercial peak with the 1973 album Billion Dollar Babies. Furnier adopted the name as his own name in the 1970s. In 2011, he released Welcome 2 My Nightmare, his 19th album as a solo artist, in 2011, the original Alice Cooper band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Cooper is known for his social and witty persona offstage, with The Rolling Stone Album Guide calling him the worlds most beloved heavy metal entertainer. Away from music, Cooper is an actor, a golfing celebrity, a restaurateur, and, since 2004. Cooper was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Ella Mae and his father was a preacher in The Church of Jesus Christ headquartered in Monongahela, Pennsylvania. He has English, Huguenot French, Irish, Scottish, and he was named after his uncle, Vincent Collier Furnier, and the writer Damon Runyon. His paternal grandfather, Thurman Sylvester Furnier, was an apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ, Cooper was active in his church at the ages of 11 and 12. While growing up in Detroit, Cooper attended Washington Elementary School, in 1964, 16-year-old Furnier was eager to participate in the local annual Lettermans talent show, so he gathered fellow cross-country teammates to form a group for the show. Because they did not know how to play any instruments at the time, they dressed up like the Beatles and mimed their performance to Beatles songs. As a result of winning the talent show and loving the experience of being onstage and they soon renamed themselves The Spiders, featuring Furnier on vocals, Glen Buxton on lead guitar, John Tatum on rhythm guitar, Dennis Dunaway on bass guitar, and John Speer on drums. Musically, the group was inspired by such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, the Kinks, the Doors. For the next year the band performed regularly around the Phoenix area with a huge black spiders web as their backdrop, in 1965, the Spiders recorded their first single, Why Dont You Love Me, with Furnier learning the harmonica for the song. The singles B-side track was the Marvin Gaye Tamla Records hit Hitch Hike, the single was recorded at Copper State Recording Studio and issued by local micro-imprint Santa Cruz Records. By 1967, the band had begun to make regular trips to Los Angeles to play shows. They soon renamed themselves Nazz and released the single Wonder Whos Lovin Her Now, backed with future Alice Cooper track Lay Down and Die, around this time, drummer John Speer was replaced by Neal Smith. By the end of the year, the band had relocated to Los Angeles, in 1968, the band learned that Todd Rundgren also had a band called Nazz, and found themselves in need of another stage name
11.
Biography
–
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a persons life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, biographical works are usually non-fiction, but fiction can also be used to portray a persons life. One in-depth form of biographical coverage is called legacy writing, works in diverse media, from literature to film, form the genre known as biography. An authorized biography is written with the permission, cooperation, and at times, an autobiography is written by the person himself or herself, sometimes with the assistance of a collaborator or ghostwriter. At first, biographical writings were regarded merely as a subsection of history with a focus on an individual of historical importance. The independent genre of biography as distinct from general history writing, began to emerge in the 18th century, one of the earliest of the biographers was Plutarch, and his Parallel Lives, published about 80 A. D. covers prominent figures in the classical world. Cornelius Nepos published a work, his Excellentium Imperatorum Vitae. Perhaps the earliest extant biography that does not contain mythological material is The Lives of the Caesars by Suetonius, in the early Middle Ages, there was a decline in awareness of the classical culture in Europe. During this time, the only repositories of knowledge and records of the history in Europe were those of the Roman Catholic Church. Hermits, monks, and priests used this period to write biographies. Their subjects were usually restricted to the fathers, martyrs, popes. Their works were meant to be inspirational to the people and vehicles for conversion to Christianity, one significant secular example of a biography from this period is the life of Charlemagne by his courtier Einhard. Early biographical dictionaries were published as compendia of famous Islamic personalities from the 9th century onwards and they contained more social data for a large segment of the population than other works of that period. And then began the documentation of the lives of other historical figures who lived in the medieval Islamic world. By the late Middle Ages, biographies became less church-oriented in Europe as biographies of kings, knights, the most famous of such biographies was Le Morte dArthur by Sir Thomas Malory. The book was an account of the life of the fabled King Arthur, following Malory, the new emphasis on humanism during the Renaissance promoted a focus on secular subjects, such as artists and poets, and encouraged writing in the vernacular. Giorgio Vasaris Lives of the Artists was the landmark biography focusing on secular lives, vasari made celebrities of his subjects, as the Lives became an early bestseller. Two other developments are noteworthy, the development of the press in the 15th century
12.
Compact disc
–
Compact disc is a digital optical disc data storage format released in 1982 and co-developed by Philips and Sony. The format was developed to store and play only sound recordings but was later adapted for storage of data. The first commercially available Audio CD player, the Sony CDP-101, was released October 1982 in Japan, standard CDs have a diameter of 120 millimetres and can hold up to about 80 minutes of uncompressed audio or about 700 MiB of data. The Mini CD has various diameters ranging from 60 to 80 millimetres, they are used for CD singles, storing up to 24 minutes of audio. At the time of the introduction in 1982, a CD could store much more data than a personal computer hard drive. By 2010, hard drives commonly offered as much space as a thousand CDs. In 2004, worldwide sales of audio CDs, CD-ROMs and CD-Rs reached about 30 billion discs, by 2007,200 billion CDs had been sold worldwide. In 2014, revenues from digital music services matched those from physical format sales for the first time. American inventor James T. Russell has been credited with inventing the first system to record information on an optical transparent foil that is lit from behind by a high-power halogen lamp. Russells patent application was first filed in 1966, and he was granted a patent in 1970, following litigation, Sony and Philips licensed Russells patents in the 1980s. The compact disc is an evolution of LaserDisc technology, where a laser beam is used that enables the high information density required for high-quality digital audio signals. Prototypes were developed by Philips and Sony independently in the late 1970s, although originally dismissed by Philips Research management as a trivial pursuit, the CD became the primary focus for Philips as the LaserDisc format struggled. In 1979, Sony and Philips set up a joint task force of engineers to design a new audio disc. After a year of experimentation and discussion, the Red Book CD-DA standard was published in 1980, after their commercial release in 1982, compact discs and their players were extremely popular. Despite costing up to $1,000, over 400,000 CD players were sold in the United States between 1983 and 1984, by 1988 CD sales in the United States surpassed those of vinyl LPs, and by 1992 CD sales surpassed those of prerecorded music cassette tapes. The success of the disc has been credited to the cooperation between Philips and Sony, who came together to agree upon and develop compatible hardware. The unified design of the disc allowed consumers to purchase any disc or player from any company. In 1974, L. However, due to the performance of the analog format
13.
Tiger Beat
–
Tiger Beat is an American teen fan magazine originally published by The Laufer Company, and marketed primarily to adolescent girls. Tiger Beat was founded in September 1965 by Charles Chuck Laufer, his brother Ira Laufer, and television producer and host Lloyd Thaxton. The magazine has as its forte teen idol gossip, movies, music and fashion, a distinctive element of Tiger Beat is its covers, which feature cut and paste collaged photos - primarily head shots - of current teen idols. For the first twelve issues, the face of magazine co-founder Thaxton appeared at the top corner of the Tiger Beat cover, during the 1960s The Laufer Company leveraged the teen market dominated by Tiger Beat with additional, thematically and graphically similar magazines, including FaVE and Monkee Spectacular. In 1998 Tiger Beat was sold by publisher Sterling/MacFadden to Primedia, which in 2003 sold the magazine to Scott Laufer, since 2015 Tiger Beat has been published by Los Angeles-based Tiger Beat Media, Inc. which until 2014 also produced the similar teen magazine Bop
14.
Primedia
–
Primedia is a South African media group, headquartered in Sandton, Johannesburg. It currently operates more than 50 brands in broadcasting, advertising, marketing, promotions, sport, entertainment, Primedia was established in 1994 and its listing on the JSE Securities Exchange was completed in April 1995. Primedia remained listed on the JSE until 1 October 2007 when its listing was terminated following a private equity transaction. The Primedia Group is backed by Mineworkers’ Investment Company, Brait Entities, the FirstRand Group, primedias advertising businesses are located principally in South Africa. This includes radio broadcasting, outdoor advertising, commuter and other out of media opportunities. The groups content businesses comprise filmed entertainment consisting of exhibition, film distribution, home entertainment. CapeTalk CapeTalk is a commercial AM radio station based in Cape Town, South Africa, the station is also webcast via its website. 702702, is a commercial talk FM radio station based in Johannesburg, South Africa, broadcasting on FM92.7, the station is also webcast via its website. KFM KFM is a station based in Cape Town, South Africa. 947947 is a station that broadcasts on the 94. 7FM frequency from Johannesburg, Gauteng. Crimeline Crimeline is an independent Initiative started by Primedia aimed at helping South African authorities fight crime through anonymous tip-offs, Eyewitness News Eyewitness News is Primedia Broadcasting’s news brand. PrimeTalent PrimeTalent is a talent management company aimed at providing a range of services to Primedia Broadcasting’s on air talent. Lead SA Lead SA is a Primedia Broadcasting initiative, supported by Independent Newspapers to promote active citizenship, Lead SAs focus areas include education, road safety and the environment. Cinemark Cinemark is a sales company that represents Ster-Kinekor and selected independent cinemas. Client solutions include on-screen advertising, foyer branding, a network, eventing, activations, ticket incentive programmes. Have over 40 years in the theatre environment, out of Home Primedia Outdoor - Primedia Outdoor is a national outdoor advertising media specialist. Part of the Out-of-Home division of Primedia Ltd, Primedia Outdoor focuses primarily on the marketing and it offers national outdoor exposure across a mix of media types, including digital signs, airport advertising, freeway and suburban spectaculars and street furniture. Primedia Outdoor targets consumers in major urban areas through to those living in communities in Limpopo
15.
Paul Anka
–
Paul Albert Anka OC is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actor. Anka became famous during the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s with hit songs like Diana, Lonely Boy, Put Your Head on My Shoulder and he was inducted into Canadas Walk of Fame in 2005. In 1983, he co-wrote the song I Never Heard with Michael Jackson and it was retitled and released in 2009 under the name This Is It. An additional song that Jackson co-wrote with Anka from this 1983 session, the song was also released by Johnny Mathis in 1984. Anka became a naturalized US citizen in 1990, Anka was born in Ottawa, Ontario, to Camelia and Andrew Emile Andy Anka, Sr. who owned a restaurant called the Locanda. His parents were both Antiochian Orthodox Christians, Ankas father was Syrian-American from ’Uyūn al-Wādī from the NaNou family and his mother was Canadian-Lebanese from the town of Kfarmishki, in Lebanon. Anka sang with the St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Church choir under the direction of Frederick Karam and he studied piano with Winnifred Rees. He attended Fisher Park High School, where he was part of a trio called the Bobby Soxers. Paul Anka recorded his first single, I Confess, when he was 14, in an interview with NPRs Terry Gross in 2005, he stated that it was to a girl at his church whom he hardly knew. The song Diana brought Anka stardom as it rocketed to No.1 on the Canadian, Diana is one of the best selling singles ever by a Canadian recording artist. He followed up with four songs made it into the Top 20 in 1958, including Its Time to Cry, which hit No.4 and My Heart Sings. 15, making him one of the biggest teen idols of the time and he toured Britain, then Australia with Buddy Holly. Anka also wrote It Doesnt Matter Anymore – a song written for Holly, Anka stated shortly afterward, It Doesnt Matter Anymore has a tragic irony about it now, but at least it will help look after Buddy Hollys family. Im giving my composers royalty to his widow – its the least I can do, Paul Ankas talent included the theme for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Anka composed Tom Joness biggest hit record, Shes a Lady, and wrote the English lyrics to My Way, Frank Sinatras signature song. In the 1960s, Anka began acting in motion pictures as well as writing songs for them, most notably the theme for the hit film The Longest Day, for his film work he wrote and recorded one of his greatest hits, Lonely Boy. He also wrote and recorded My Home Town, which was a No.8 pop hit for him the same year and he then went on to become one of the first pop singers to perform at the Las Vegas casinos. In 1960, he appeared twice as himself in NBCs short-lived crime drama Dan Raven, in 1960, Anka signed with RCA Victor
16.
Dion DiMucci
–
Dion Francis DiMucci, better known mononymously as Dion, is an American singer-songwriter whose work has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock and R&B styles—and, most recently, straight blues. He was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era and he had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s with him solo, with the Belmonts or with the Del Satins. He is best remembered for the singles Runaround Sue, The Wanderer, Ruby Baby, Dions popularity waned in the mid-1960s. Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs with a mature, contemplative feeling, such as Abraham, Martin. He became popular again in the late 1960s and into the mid-1970s, critics who had dismissed his early work, pegging him as merely a teen idol, praised his later work, and noted the influence he has had on other musicians. Dion was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, Dion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, an entertainer, on tour. He also developed a fondness for the blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and his singing was honed on the street corners and local clubs of the Bronx, where he and other neighborhood singers created a cappella riffs. In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz and they recorded Dion singing lead on a song which had been arranged by Hugo Montenegro and pre-recorded with everything but the lead vocals. The backing vocals were by a group called The Timberlanes, whom Dion had never met, the resulting single, The Chosen Few, was released under the name, Dion and the Timberlanes, and became a minor regional hit. Writing about this later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes. The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood, Bob and Gene Schwartz also signed Dions friends, the Belmonts, a vocal group named for nearby Belmont Avenue, and teamed them, with Dion singing lead. The new groups came in early 1958, when I Wonder Why made No.22 on the U. S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts, Id give em sounds, Id give em parts and stuff. Thats what I Wonder Why was about and we kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to song, everybody was doing something different. Theres four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guys going ooh wah ooh, when I listen to it today, often times I think, Man, those kids are talented. Their initial hit was followed by No One Knows and Dont Pity Me and this success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated The Winter Dance Party tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper, Frankie Sardo, and other performers
17.
Mousketeer
–
The Mickey Mouse Club was an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised from 1955 to 1959 by ABC, featuring a regular, reruns were broadcast by ABC on weekday afternoons during the 1958–59 season, right after American Bandstand. The show was revived after its initial 1955–1959 run on ABC, first from 1977 to 1979 for first-run syndication, previous to the TV series, there was a theater-based Mickey Mouse Club. The first one started on January 4,1930, at 12 noon at the Fox Dome Theater in Ocean Park, the Club released its first issue of the Official Bulletin of the Mickey Mouse Club on April 15,1930. By 1932, the Club had 1 million members, and in 1933 its first British club opened at Darlingtons Arcade Cinema, in 1935, Disney began to phase out the club. The Mickey Mouse Club was Walt Disneys second venture into producing a television series, Disney used both shows to help finance and promote the building of the Disneyland theme park. Being busy with projects and others, Disney turned The Mickey Mouse Club over to Bill Walsh to create and develop the format. The result was a variety show for children, with regular features as a newsreel, a cartoon. One unique feature of the show was the Mouseketeer Roll Call, in the serials, teens faced challenges in everyday situations, often overcome by their common sense or through recourse to the advice of respected elders. Mickey Mouse himself appeared in every show not only in vintage cartoons originally made for release but in opening, interstitial. In both the cartoons and in the new animated segments, Mickey was voiced by his creator Walt Disney. Mickey Mouse Club was hosted by Jimmie Dodd, a songwriter and the Head Mouseketeer, in addition to his other contributions, he often provided short segments encouraging young viewers to make the right moral choices. These little homilies became known as Doddisms, roy Williams, a staff artist at Disney, also appeared in the show as the Big Mouseketeer. Roy suggested the Mickey and Minnie Mouse ears worn by the cast members, which he helped create, along with Chuck Keehne, Hal Adelquist, and Bill Walsh. The main cast members were called Mouseketeers, and they performed in a variety of musical and dance numbers, tim Rooney, Bronson Scott, Margene Storey, Ronnie Steiner, and Mark Sutherland. Larry Larsen, on only for the 1956–57 season, was the oldest Mouseketeer, being born in 1939, among the thousands who auditioned but didnt make the cut were future vocalist/songwriter Paul Williams and future actress Candice Bergen. The 39 Mouseketeers, and the seasons they were featured in, Mowava Pryor ), and Terri Misner Eoff. The 35 Mouseketeers and the seasons they were featured in, On July 9,2015, the format of revival will include musical performances, games, and skits, as same as the original one in the US
18.
Annette Funicello
–
Annette Joanne Funicello was an American actress and singer. Funicello began her career as a child performer at the age of twelve. She rose to prominence as one of the most popular Mouseketeers on the original Mickey Mouse Club, in 1992, Funicello announced that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She died of complications from the disease on April 8,2013, Annette Joanne Funicello was born in Utica, New York, to Italian Americans Virginia Jeanne and Joseph Funicello. Her family moved to Southern California when she was four years old, Annette took dancing and music lessons as a child to overcome shyness. In 1955, the 12-year-old was discovered by Walt Disney when she performed as the Swan Queen in Swan Lake at a recital at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank. Disney cast her as one of the original Mouseketeers and she was the last to be selected, and one of the few cast-members to be personally selected by Walt Disney himself. She proved to be popular and by the end of the first season of The Mickey Mouse Club, she was receiving 6,000 letters a month. In addition to appearing in many Mouseketeer sketches and dance routines, in a hayride scene in the Annette serial, she performed the song that launched her singing career. The studio received so much mail about How Will I Know My Love, that Walt Disney issued it as a single, a proposed live-action feature Rainbow Road to Oz was to have starred some of the Mouseketeers, including Darlene Gillespie as Dorothy and Funicello as Ozma. Preview segments from the film aired on September 11,1957, by then, MGMs The Wizard of Oz had already been shown on CBS Television for the first time. Theories on why the film was abandoned include Disneys failure to develop a script. Disney ultimately replaced this project with a new adaptation of Babes in Toyland. After the Mickey Mouse Club, she remained under contract with Disney for a time, with roles in Zorro, Elfego Baca. For Zorro she played Anita Cabrillo in a storyline about a teen-aged girl arriving in Los Angeles to visit a father who does not seem to exist. This role was reportedly a birthday present from Walt Disney, Annette also co-starred in Disney-produced movies such as The Shaggy Dog, Babes in Toyland, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, and The Monkeys Uncle. The Monkeys Uncle featured Annette singing with The Beach Boys and they were released by Disneys Buena Vista label. Annette also recorded Its Really Love in 1959, a reworking of an earlier Paul Anka song called Toot Sweet, Paul Anka was noted to have a crush on her, however, Walt Disney overprotected Annette, which broke Pauls heart
19.
The Beatles
–
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, the Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960, with Stuart Sutcliffe initially serving as bass player. The core of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison went through a succession of drummers, including Pete Best, before asking Starr to join them. They acquired the nickname the Fab Four as Beatlemania grew in Britain the next year, from 1965 onwards, the Beatles produced increasingly innovative recordings, including the albums Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles and Abbey Road, after their break-up in 1970, they each enjoyed successful musical careers of varying lengths. McCartney and Starr, the members, remain musically active. Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980, and Harrison died of cancer in November 2001. The Beatles are the band in history, with estimated sales of over 600 million records worldwide. They have had more number-one albums on the British charts and sold more singles in the UK than any other act, according to the RIAA, the Beatles are also the best-selling music artists in the United States, with 178 million certified units. In 2008, the group topped Billboard magazines list of the all-time most successful Hot 100 artists, as of 2016 and they have received ten Grammy Awards, an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and they were also collectively included in Time magazines compilation of the twentieth centurys 100 most influential people. In March 1957, John Lennon, then aged sixteen, formed a group with several friends from Quarry Bank school. They briefly called themselves the Blackjacks, before changing their name to the Quarrymen after discovering that a local group was already using the other name. Fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney joined as a rhythm guitarist shortly after he, in February 1958, McCartney invited his friend George Harrison to watch the band. The fourteen-year-old auditioned for Lennon, impressing him with his playing, after a month of Harrisons persistence, they enlisted him as their lead guitarist. By January 1959, Lennons Quarry Bank friends had left the group, the three guitarists, billing themselves at least three times as Johnny and the Moondogs, were playing rock and roll whenever they could find a drummer. They used the name until May, when they became the Silver Beetles, before undertaking a tour of Scotland as the backing group for pop singer. By early July, they had changed their name to the Silver Beatles, allan Williams, the Beatles unofficial manager, arranged a residency for them in Hamburg, but lacking a full-time drummer they auditioned and hired Pete Best in mid-August 1960
20.
Herman's Hermits
–
Hermans Hermits are an English beat rock band, formed in Manchester in 1964. Originally called Herman & The Hermits, they were discovered by Harvey Lisberg, Lisberg sent a return plane ticket to Mickie Most so that he could come up from London to see the band play in Bolton. Most became the record producer, controlling the bands output. He emphasised a simple, non-threatening, clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers and this helped Hermans Hermits become hugely successful in the mid-1960s. Their first hit was a cover of Earl-Jeans Im into Something Good and they never topped the British charts again, but had two US Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s with Mrs. Brown, Youve Got a Lovely Daughter and Im Henry the Eighth, I Am. These songs were aimed at a US fan base, with Noone exaggerating his Mancunian accent, in the US, their records were released on the MGM label, a company which often featured musical performers they had signed to record deals in films. The Hermits appeared in several MGM movies, including When the Boys Meet the Girls and they also starred in the film Mrs. Brown Youve Got a Lovely Daughter and appeared in the 1965 anthology film Pop Gear. Hermans Hermits had four Top 3 hits in the US in 1965, with the aforementioned No.1 hits, the group appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dean Martin Show and The Jackie Gleason Show. By the time the group recorded their album of the 1960s, Rock n Roll Party, the bands success in the US was history. Peter Noone left the band in 1971, a later lineup with lead guitarist Derek Leckenby and drummer Barry Whitwam as the remaining original members opened for The Monkees on their 80s reunion tours of the US. The band still continues to today, with Whitwam as the only remaining member from the original lineup Hermans Hermits was formed from two different local bands. Keith Hopwood, Karl Green, Alan Wrigley, Steve Titterington, the second-youngest member of a young group, 15-year-old Noone was already an experienced actor on the popular British TV soap opera, Coronation Street. Derek Lek Leckenby and Barry Whitwam joined later from another local group, Whitwam replaced Titterington on drums, Green switched to bass guitar, and Leckenby took over for Green as lead guitarist. After Leckenby joined the band, the made a deal with producer Mickie Most and signed with EMIs Columbia label in Europe. The bands name came from a resemblance, noted by a publican in Manchester, England, Sherman was shortened to Herman, and then became Herman and his Hermits, which was soon shortened to Hermans Hermits. Leckenby soloed on Henry, and Hopwood played rhythm guitar on Mrs. Brown, Mickie Most used session musicians on many records he produced — this was industry practice at the time. Even such respected groups as The Yardbirds were required by Most to use musicians on their Most-produced recordings. Mickie Most commented on the VH1 My Generation, Hermans Hermits episode that the Hermits played on a lot of their records, and some they didnt
21.
Paul Revere and the Raiders
–
Paul Revere & the Raiders is an American rock band that saw considerable U. S. mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s. Among their hits were the songs Kicks, Hungry, Him Or Me – Whats It Gonna Be. initially based in Boise, Idaho, the Raiders began as an instrumental rock band led by organist and founder Paul Revere Dick. The band relocated to Portland, Oregon, when Revere returned from serving in the forces in 1962. In his early 20s, Revere owned several restaurants in Caldwell, Idaho, the circumstance of their meeting was later referred to in the tongue-in-cheek song Legend of Paul Revere, recorded by the group. Lindsay joined Reveres band in 1958, originally called the Downbeats, they changed their name to Paul Revere & the Raiders in 1960 on the eve of their first record release for Gardena Records. The band garnered their first hit in the Pacific Northwest in 1961, with the instrumental Like, the record had enough national appeal that it peaked at No.38 on the Billboard chart on April 17,1961. When Revere was drafted for service, he became a conscientious objector and worked as a cook at a mental institution for a year. During the same period, Lindsay pumped gas in Wilsonville. On the strength of their Top 40 single, Lindsay toured the U. S. in the summer of 1961 with a band that featured Leon Russell taking Reveres place on piano. By summer 1962, Revere and Lindsay were working again in Oregon with a version of the Raiders that featured Mike Smitty Smith. Around this time, KISN DJ Roger Hart, who was producing teen dances, was looking for a band to hire, Hart had a casual conversation with a bank teller who told him about a band called Paul Revere-something. Hart obtained Reveres phone number and they met for lunch, Hart hired the band for one of his teen dances. Soon afterward, Hart became the personal manager. It was Hart who suggested they record Louie Louie, for which Hart paid them about $50, producing the song and placing it on his Sandē label, according to Lindsay, the Raiders were a bunch of white-bread kids doing their best to sound black. We got signed to Columbia on the strength of sounding like this, whether the Raiders or the Kingsmen recorded Louie Louie first is not certain, however, both groups recorded it in the same studio in Portland, Oregon, in April 1963. By then, the Raiders included Revere, Lindsay, Smith, guitarist Drake Levin, and bassist Mike Doc Holliday, in 1965, the Raiders began recording a string of garage rock classics. Their first major hit, Just Like Me was one of the first rock records to feature a distinctive, double-tracked guitar solo. The band appeared regularly in the U. S. on national television, most notably on Dick Clarks Where the Action Is, Happening 68, and Its Happening, the latter two co-hosted by Revere and Lindsay
22.
The Monkees
–
The Monkees are an American rock band originally active between 1965 and 1971, with subsequent reunion albums and tours in the decades that followed. They were formed in Los Angeles in 1965 by Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork and British actor and singer Davy Jones. The bands music was supervised by producer Don Kirshner. Dolenz described the Monkees as initially being a TV show about an imaginary band and that wanted to be The Beatles, that was never successful. The actor-musicians, however, soon became a real band, for the first few months of their initial five-year career as The Monkees, the four actor-musicians were allowed only limited roles in the recording studio. This was due in part to the amount of required to film the television series. Nonetheless, Nesmith did compose and produce some songs from the beginning and they eventually fought for and earned the right to collectively supervise all musical output under the bands name. The sitcom was canceled in 1968, but the continued to record music through 1971. A revival of interest in the show came in 1986. Up until 2011 the group had reunited and toured several times, despite the sudden death of Davy Jones on February 29,2012, the surviving members reunited for a tour in November–December 2012 and again in 2013 for a 24-date tour. Nesmith was able to some time up to join them in the latter stages of the US tour. The Monkees have sold more than 75 million records worldwide and had hits, including Last Train to Clarksville, Pleasant Valley Sunday, Daydream Believer. At their peak in 1967, the band outsold the Beatles, aspiring filmmaker Bob Rafelson developed the initial idea for The Monkees in 1962, but was unsuccessful in selling the series. He had tried selling it to Revue, the division of Universal Pictures. In May 1964, while working at Screen Gems, Rafelson teamed up with Bert Schneider, whose father, Abraham Schneider, headed the Colpix Television, Rafelson and Schneider ultimately formed Raybert Productions. The Beatles film A Hard Days Night inspired Rafelson and Schneider to revive Rafelsons idea for The Monkees, as The Raybert Producers, they sold the show to Screen Gems Television on April 16,1965. Rafelson and Schneiders original idea was to cast an existing New York folk rock group, the Lovin Spoonful, however, John Sebastian had already signed the band to a record contract, which would have denied Screen Gems the right to market music from the show. Jones had previously starred as the Artful Dodger in the Broadway show Oliver, which debuted on December 17,1962, and his performance was later seen on The Ed Sullivan Show the same night as the Beatles first appearance on that show, February 9,1964
23.
The Cowsills
–
The Cowsills is an American singing group from Newport, Rhode Island. They specialized in harmonies and the ability to sing and play music at an early age, the band was formed in the spring of 1965 by brothers Bill, Bob, and Barry Cowsill, they shortly thereafter added their brother John. Originally Bill and Bob played guitar and Barry was on drums, when John learned how to play drums and joined the band, Barry went to bass. After their initial success, the brothers were joined by their siblings Susan and Paul, bobs twin brother Richard was the road manager. When the group expanded to its full membership by 1967. Joined by their mother, Barbara Cowsill, the group was the inspiration for the 1970s television show The Partridge Family, the Cowsills musical interest started while their father Bud Cowsill was stationed in Canton, Ohio, in the late 1950s as a US Navy recruiter. Billy and Bob taught themselves how to play the guitar, the boys developed their musical talent and harmonized vocals, and they performed at school church dances in Stark County, Ohio. The boys first television appearance was on the Gene Carroll Show on WEWS in Cleveland, after Bud retired from the Navy, he and his wife managed their childrens career. In late 1965, the Cowsills were hired as an act on Bannisters Wharf in Newport. A handful of singles were released on JODA Records and Philips Records in 1965 and 1966, after Leonard Stogel took over management of the band, he got them signed to MGM Records in 1967. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold record, shortly thereafter the band was expanded, yet again, to include siblings Susan and Paul. With the success of The Rain. the band became a popular act in the U. S. and achieved significant airplay in England. The Rain, The Park and Other Things reached No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100, the most memorable performance of what I would view as the precursor of what The Cowsills would be was at Kings Park in Newport at some carnival. Our first real break came when we were playing the MK Hotel in Newport and we werent famous or anything but we were young and we were related and we were quite good. So we went on The Today Show and someone from Mercury Records saw us, which led to our signing with that label and putting out Most Of All. In 1968, the band scored another million-selling hit with the song Indian Lake which reached No.10 on the US charts, in 1969, the band had another No.2 US hit and million seller with their version of the title song from the musical Hair. From 1968 through 1972, the played a average of 200 performance dates per year. According to the documentary, Family Band, The Cowsills Story, now led by Bob, the Cowsills continued as a group releasing three more albums - two with MGM including a second greatest hits compilation, and then one with London Records
24.
Jim Morrison
–
James Douglas Jim Morrison was an American singer, songwriter, and poet, best remembered as the lead singer of the Doors. Morrison co-founded the Doors in the summer of 1965 in Venice, the band spent two years in obscurity until shooting to prominence with the #1 single in the USA, Light My Fire, taken from their first album. Morrison recorded a total of six albums with the Doors, all of which sold well. Though the Doors recorded two albums after his death, the loss of Morrison was crippling to the band. In 1993, Morrison, as a member of the Doors, was inducted into the Rock, since his death, his fame has endured as one of the popular cultures most rebellious and oft-displayed icons, representing the generation gap and youth counterculture. He was also known for improvising spoken word poetry passages while the band played live. Morrison was ranked number 47 on Rolling Stones list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, Ray Manzarek, who co-founded The Doors with him, said Morrison embodied hippie counterculture rebellion. Morrison was sometimes referred to by nicknames, such as Lizard King, Mr. Mojo Risin. Morrison developed an alcohol dependency during the 1960s, which at times affected his performances on stage and he died at the age of 27 in Paris. As no autopsy was performed, the cause of Morrisons death is not known. Morrison is interred at Père Lachaise Cemetery in eastern Paris, Morrison had a sister, Anne Robin, who was born in 1947 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a brother, Andrew Lee Morrison, who was born in 1948 in Los Altos, California. His ancestors were Scottish, Irish, and English, in 1947, Morrison, then four years old, allegedly witnessed a car accident in the desert, in which a family of Native Americans were injured and possibly killed. Morrison believed this incident to be the most formative event of his life, and made repeated references to it in the imagery in his songs, poems and his family does not recall this incident happening in the way he told it. According to the Morrison biography No One Here Gets Out Alive, Morrisons family did drive past a car accident on an Indian reservation when he was a child, and he was very upset by it. The book The Doors, written by the members of the Doors. This book quotes his father as saying, We went by several Indians and it did make an impression on him. He always thought about that crying Indian and this is contrasted sharply with Morrisons tale of Indians scattered all over the highway, bleeding to death. In the same book, his sister is quoted as saying, He enjoyed telling that story and he said he saw a dead Indian by the side of the road, and I dont even know if thats true
25.
The Doors
–
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were unique and among the most controversial and influential acts of the 1960s, mostly because of Morrisons lyrics and charismatic. After Morrisons death in 1971 at age 27, the members continued as a trio until disbanding in 1973. Signing with Elektra Records in 1966, The Doors released eight albums between 1967 and 1971, All but one hit the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 and went platinum or better. By the end of 1971, it was reported that The Doors had sold 4,190,457 albums domestically and 7,750,642 singles. The band had three million-selling singles in the U. S. with Light My Fire, Hello, I Love You, after Morrisons death in 1971, the surviving trio released two albums Other Voices and Full Circle with Manzarek and Krieger sharing lead vocals. The three members also collaborated on the spoken word recording of Morrisons An American Prayer in 1978, Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore reunited in 2000 for an episode of VH1s Storytellers and subsequently recorded Stoned Immaculate, The Music of The Doors with a variety of vocalists. Although the Doors active career ended in 1973, their popularity has persisted, According to the RIAA, they have sold 33 million certified units in the US and over 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling bands of all time. The Doors have been listed as one of the greatest artists of all time by many magazines, including Rolling Stone, the Doors were the first American band to accumulate eight consecutive gold and platinum LPs. In 2002, Manzarek and Krieger started playing again, branding themselves as the Doors of the 21st Century. Densmore opted to sit out and, along with the Morrison estate, sued the duo over proper use of the bands name and won. After a short time as Riders On the Storm, they settled on the name Manzarek-Krieger and continued to tour until Manzareks death in 2013 at the age of 74. Three of the studio albums, the self-titled debut, L. A. Woman, and Strange Days, were featured in Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, at positions 42,362. According to The Washington Posts Martin Weil, the rose to the center of the counterculture of the 1960s. The Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, Morrison told Manzarek he had been writing songs and with Manzareks encouragement sang Moonlight Drive. The members came from a musical background of jazz, rock, blues. In August, Densmore joined the group, which had renamed the Doors. This has circulated widely since then as a bootleg recording, in mid-1965, after Manzareks two brothers left, the group recruited guitarist Robby Krieger and the best-known lineup – Morrison, Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore – was complete
26.
The Rolling Stones
–
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. The original line-up consisted of Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Stewart was removed from the official line-up in 1963 but continued as a touring member until his death in 1985. Jones left the less than a month prior to his death in 1969, having already been replaced by Mick Taylor. After Taylor left the band, Ronnie Wood took his place in 1975 and has been on guitar in tandem with Richards ever since, following Wymans departure in 1993, Darryl Jones joined as their touring bassist. Other touring keyboardists for the band have been Nicky Hopkins, Billy Preston, the band was first led by Jones, but after teaming as the bands songwriters, Jagger and Richards assumed leadership while Jones dealt with legal and personal troubles. The Rolling Stones were at the forefront of the British Invasion of bands that became popular in the US in 1964, and identified with the youthful and rebellious counterculture of the 1960s. Rooted in blues and early rock and roll, the group began a period of musical experimentation in the mid-1960s that peaked with the psychedelic album Their Satanic Majesties Request. During this period, they were first introduced on stage as The Worlds Greatest Rock, the band continued to release commercially successful records in the 1970s and sold many albums, including Some Girls and Tattoo You, which were their most popular albums worldwide. From 1983 to 1987, tensions between Jagger and Richards almost caused the band to split, however, they managed to patch up their friendship in 1987. They separated temporarily to work on projects and experienced a comeback with Steel Wheels. Since the 1990s, new recorded material from the group has been increasingly less well-received, despite this, the Rolling Stones have continued to be a huge attraction on the live circuit, with stadium tours in the 1990s and 2000s. By 2007, the band had four of the top five highest-grossing concert tours of all time, Voodoo Lounge Tour, Bridges to Babylon Tour, Licks Tour and A Bigger Bang Tour. The Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, Rolling Stone magazine ranked them fourth on the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time list and their estimated album sales are above 250 million. They have released 30 studio albums,18 live albums and numerous compilations, Let It Bleed was their first of five consecutive number one studio and live albums in the UK. Sticky Fingers was the first of eight number one studio albums in the US. In 2008, the band ranked 10th on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists chart, in 2012, the band celebrated its 50th anniversary. Keith Richards and Mick Jagger were childhood friends and classmates in Dartford, Kent, Jagger had formed a garage band with Dick Taylor, mainly playing Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Howlin Wolf and Bo Diddley material. Jagger met Richards again in 1960 on platform two of Dartford railway station, the Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records that Jagger carried revealed a common interest that prompted their musical partnership
27.
The Beach Boys
–
The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961. The groups original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, distinguished by their vocal harmonies and early surf songs, they are one of the most influential acts of the rock era. The Beach Boys began as a band managed by the Wilsons father Murry. Emerging at the vanguard of the California Sound, they performed material that reflected a southern California youth culture of surfing, cars. After 1964, they abandoned the surfing aesthetic for more personal lyrics, in 1966, the Pet Sounds album and Good Vibrations single vaulted the group to the top level of rock innovators and established the band as symbols of the nascent counterculture era. Following Smiles dissolution, Brian gradually ceded production and songwriting duties to the rest of the band, reducing his input because of mental health and substance abuse issues. The continued success of their greatest hits albums during the mid 1970s precipitated the transition into an oldies act. Since the 1980s, much-publicized legal wrangling over royalties, songwriting credits, Dennis drowned in 1983 and Carl died of lung cancer in 1998. After Carls death, many live configurations of the band fronted by Mike Love, Even though Wilson and Jardine have not performed with Love and Johnstons band since their one-off 2012 reunion tour, they remain a part of the Beach Boys corporation, Brother Records Inc. The Beach Boys are one of the most critically acclaimed, commercially successful, the group had over eighty songs chart worldwide, thirty-six of them US Top 40 hits, four reaching number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. They received their only Grammy Award for The Smile Sessions, the core quintet of the three Wilsons, Love and Jardine were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. At the time of his birthday on June 20,1958, Brian Wilson shared a bedroom with his brothers, Dennis and Carl – aged thirteen and eleven. He had watched his father, Murry Wilson, play piano, after dissecting songs such as Ivory Tower and Good News, Brian would teach family members how to sing the background harmonies. For his birthday that year, Brian received a tape recorder. He learned how to overdub, using his vocals and those of Carl, Brian played piano with Carl and David Marks, an eleven-year-old longtime neighbor, playing guitars they had each received as Christmas presents. Soon Brian and Carl were avidly listening to Johnny Otis KFOX radio show, inspired by the simple structure and vocals of the rhythm and blues songs he heard, Brian changed his piano-playing style and started writing songs. His enthusiasm interfered with his studies at school. Family gatherings brought the Wilsons in contact with cousin Mike Love, Brian taught Loves sister Maureen and a friend harmonies
28.
Motown
–
Motown is an American record company. The record company was founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12,1958, the name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has also become a nickname for Detroit. Motown played an important role in the integration of popular music as an African American-owned record label that achieved significant crossover success. In the 1960s, Motown and its subsidiary labels were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as the Motown Sound, a style of soul music with a distinct pop influence. During the 1960s, Motown achieved spectacular success for a record company,79 records in the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100 record chart between 1960 and 1969. The company was sold to MCA Inc. Motown was later sold to PolyGram in 1994, before being sold again to MCA Records successor, Universal Music Group, Motown spent much of the 2000s as a part of the Universal Music subsidiaries Universal Motown and Universal Motown Republic Group, and headquartered in New York City. From 2011 to 2014, Motown was a part of The Island Def Jam Music Group division of Universal Music. On April 1,2014, Universal Music Group announced the dissolution of Island Def Jam and it now operates out of the landmark Capitol Tower. For many decades, Motown was the highest-earning African American business in the United States, Berry Gordy got his start as a songwriter for local Detroit acts such as Jackie Wilson and the Matadors. Wilsons single Lonely Teardrops, written by Gordy, became a huge success and he realized that the more lucrative end of the business was in producing records and owning the publishing. In 1959, Billy Davis and Berry Gordys sisters Gwen and Anna started Anna Records, Davis and Gwen Gordy wanted Berry to be the company president, but Berry wanted to strike out on his own. On January 12,1959, he started Tamla Records, with a loan from his family. Gordy originally wanted to name the label Tammy Records, after the hit song popularized by Debbie Reynolds from the 1957 film Tammy, when he found the name was already in use, Berry decided on Tamla instead. Tamlas first release, in the Detroit area, was Marv Johnsons Come to Me in 1959 and its first hit was Barrett Strongs Money, which made it to number 2 on the Billboard R&B charts. Gordys first signed act was the Matadors, who changed their name to the Miracles. Their first release, Got a Job, was a record to the Silhouettes Get a Job. The Miracles first, minor hit was their single, 1959s Bad Girl, released in Detroit as the debut record on the Motown imprint
29.
Bubblegum pop
–
Bubblegums classic period ran from 1967 to 1972. A second wave of bubblegum started two years later and ran until 1977 when disco took over and punk rock emerged, the genre was predominantly a singles phenomenon rather than an album-oriented one. Because many acts were manufactured in the studio using session musicians, singer Tommy Roe, arguably, had the most bubblegum hits of any artist during this period, notably 1969s Dizzy. The songs typically have singalong choruses, seemingly childlike themes and a contrived innocence, bubblegum songs are also defined as having a catchy melody, simple chords, simple harmonies, dancy beats, repetitive riffs or hooks and a vocally-multiplied refrain. The song lyrics often feature themes of love and personal happiness, with references to sunshine, platonic love, toys, colors, nonsense words. They are also notable for their frequent reference to food, including sugar, honey, butterscotch, jelly. Cross-marketing with cereal and bubblegum manufacturers also strengthened the link between bubblegum songs and confectionery, cardboard records by The Archies, The Banana Splits, The Jackson 5, The Monkees, Bobby Sherman, Josie and the Pussycats, H. R. Producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz have claimed credit for coining the term pop, saying that when they discussed their target audience, they decided it was teenagers. And at the time we used to be chewing bubblegum, and my partner and I used to look at it and laugh and say, Ah, the term was seized upon by Buddah Records label executive Neil Bogart. Music writer and bubblegum historian Bill Pitzonka confirmed the claim, telling Goldmine magazine, Kasenetz and Katz really crystallized it when they came up with the term themselves and that nice little analogy. And Neil Bogart, being the person he was, just crammed it down the throats of people. Thats really the point at which bubblegum took off, a breeding ground for the genre has also been found in the field of 1960s garage rock, the songs of which shared an overriding simplicity with bubblegum. Garage and bubblegum groups were also both generally singles acts, between those two camps emerged Florida group The Royal Guardsmen, who scored a US No.2 hit in 1966 with their novelty hit Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron, and The Fifth Estate, whose 1967 song Ding-Dong, the Witch Is Dead reached No.11 in the US. Although the band began as a prefabricated, fictional rock group concocted to sell records and TV advertising time, in May 1968, The Ohio Express also scored a No.4 hit with Yummy Yummy Yummy. The song was released as an Ohio Express single without Levines knowledge, two follow-ups, Down at Lulus and Chewy Chewy, also charted – both featuring vocals by Levine, and neither featuring any members of Ohio Express. The real Ohio Express toured, supporting The Who and Hermans Hermits, with bassist Dean Kastran performing the vocals for the hits, Kasenetz and Katz also scored on Bell Records in early 1969 with Gimme Gimme Good Lovin by another manufactured band, Crazy Elephant. The dominance of the Kasenetz–Katz team was challenged in 1969 by music publisher Don Kirshner and Hanky Pankys co-author, a battered and resentful Kirshner envisioned a manufactured group over which he could have permanent and total control, Filmations cartoon band The Archies, based on the Archie Comics characters
30.
The Osmonds
–
The Osmonds are devout members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and their religious values have influenced their careers. The Osmond family was not one single act, but a group of several, the Osmond Brothers began as a barbershop quartet consisting of brothers Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay Osmond. Their only sister Marie, who sang with her brothers at that time, launched a successful career in 1973. A revival of the original Osmond Brothers lineup in the 1980s achieved moderate success in music and continues to perform to the present day, as do Donny. Collectively, the family has sold 102 million records worldwide, the siblings older brothers George Virl Osmond, Jr. and Tom Osmond were born deaf and did not originally perform. They made several appearances in later years, most notably on the family Christmas specials in the 1970s. All of the Osmonds were born in Ogden, Utah except the youngest, Jimmy, the Osmond Brothers career began in 1958 when Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay began singing barbershop music for local audiences in and around Ogden. In their made-for-TV movie Inside the Osmonds, they explain that they performed to earn money to support Virl and Tom in buying hearing aids. Despite their young ages and within a few years, the talent and stage presence were strong enough that their father, George Osmond. Welk was unable to meet them, but on the same trip. Tommy Walker, Disneylands Director of Entertainment and Customer Relations from 1955 to 1966, Walker hired the Osmonds to perform on a segment of Disneyland After Dark. This episode aired on 4/15/62 and 7/01/62, while the Osmond Brothers were performing on a televised Disney special, Andy Williamss father saw them and was so impressed he told his son to book them for his television show. Andy did, and the Osmond Brothers were regulars on the show from 1962 to 1969, Donny soon joined them on the show, making the Osmond Brothers a 5-member group. Marie and Jimmy were also introduced on the show as the years went by, during this time, the Osmonds also toured Europe, performing with Swedens most popular singer, Lars Lönndahl, and even releasing a single where they sang a Swedish version of Two Dirty Little Hands. The Osmond Brothers were regulars on the Jerry Lewis Show in 1969 and they continued to tour, but soon the Osmond Brothers decided they wanted to perform popular music and shed their variety-show image. They wanted to become a rock and roll band, the change was a difficult one for their father, who was suspicious of rock and roll. But he was persuaded and the boys began performing as a pop band, to this end, the Osmonds recorded a single, Flower Music, for UNI records in 1967. They achieved only modest success at first, but they found fame in 1971, record producer Mike Curb saw the Osmonds perform as a band and recognized that they combined a rare mix of polished performing style, instrumental skill, and vocal talent
31.
Donny Osmond
–
Donald Clark Donny Osmond is an American singer, actor, radio personality, and former teen idol. Osmond has also been a talk and game show host, record producer, in the mid-1960s, he and four of his elder brothers gained fame as the Osmonds. Osmond went solo in the early 1970s, covering such hits as Go Away Little Girl, for over thirty-five years, he and younger sister Marie have gained fame as Donny & Marie, partly due to the success of their 1976–79 self-titled variety series, which aired on ABC. The duo also did a 1998–2000 talk show and have been headlining in Las Vegas since 2008, in 1989, Osmond had two big-selling recordings, the first of which, Soldier of Love, was initially credited to a mystery artist by some radio stations. Starting in July 1992, Osmond played Joseph in the Elgin Theatres Toronto production of Joseph, the musical then toured North America until 1998. Creator Andrew Lloyd Webber chose him for the 1999 film version, in 2009, Osmond won the ninth season of Dancing with the Stars. Osmond appeared as a guest judge on Strictly Come Dancing on week 3 of the 12th series, Osmond was born on December 9,1957 in Ogden, Utah, the seventh son of Olive May and George Virl Osmond. He is the brother of Alan, Jay, Jimmy, Merrill, Wayne, Marie, Tom, Alan, Jay, Merrill, Wayne, and Donny were members of the popular singing group The Osmonds. Osmond was raised as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah along with his siblings, Osmond has traced some of his family ancestry back to Merthyr Tydfil in Wales, his journey was documented in a BBC Wales program, Donny Osmond Coming Home. On the BBCs The One Show, a plaque was unveiled in the town to commemorate the ancestors of Donny Osmond, in his youth, Osmond held a ham radio license, KA7EVD. Andy Williams father, Jay Emerson Williams, saw the Osmond Brothers perform on a Disneyland televised special as a barbershop quartet, in short order, the group was invited to audition for The Andy Williams Show. In 1963, Donny Osmond made his debut on the show at the age of 5 singing You Are My Sunshine, the brothers continued to perform on the show throughout the 1960s along with a visit from their sister Marie. Osmond became a teen idol in the early 1970s as a solo singer, Osmond, Bobby Sherman, and David Cassidy were the biggest Cover Boy pop stars for Tiger Beat magazine in the early 1970s. His first solo hit was a cover of Roy Orbisons 1958 recording of Sweet and Innocent, in the 1980s, Osmond re-invented himself and abandoned the earlier television show image crafted to appeal to young viewers. They succeeded, returning Osmond to the US charts in 1989 with the Billboard Hot 100 No.2 song Soldier of Love, the campaign to market Soldier Of Love received considerable airplay with the singer being presented as a mystery artist before his identity was later revealed. Launching an extensive tour in support of the Eyes Dont Lie record, he enlisted Earth Wind & Fire and Kenny Loggins guitarist Dick Smith along with keyboardist Marc Jackson. Osmond was often reluctant to perform his earliest songs, in particular Go Away Little Girl, now he embraces his initial recording period with fondness, and recognizes that his many fans around the world are always excited and appreciative to hear his earliest chart successes. Osmond was the guest vocalist on Dweezil Zappas star-studded version of the Bee Gees Stayin Alive which appeared on Zappas 1991 album Confessions, the song also included guitar solos from Zakk Wylde, Steve Lukather, Warren DeMartini, Nuno Bettencourt, and Tim Pierce
32.
David Cassidy
–
David Bruce Cassidy is a retired American actor, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He later had a career in acting and music. Cassidy was born at Flower Fifth Avenue Hospital in New York City and his father was of half-Irish and half-German ancestry, and his mother was of mostly Colonial American descent, along with smaller amounts of Irish and Swiss. Some of his mothers ancestors were among the founders of Newark, as his parents were frequently touring on the road, he spent his early years being raised by his maternal grandparents in a middle-class neighborhood in West Orange, New Jersey. In 1956, he found out from neighbors children that his parents had been divorced for two years and had not told him. Davids parents had decided because he was at such a young age and they were gone often with theater productions and home life remained the same. In 1956, his father married singer and actress Shirley Jones, David remained there seeking fame as an actor/musician while simultaneously working half-days in the mailroom of a textile firm. He moved out when his career began to flourish, Cassidys father Jack is credited with setting his son up with his first manager. Aarons had represented Jack and Shirley Jones for several years prior, aarons became an authority figure and close friend to Cassidy, and proved to be the fighting force behind his on-screen success. On January 2,1969, Cassidy made his debut in the Broadway musical The Fig Leaves Are Falling. It closed after four performances, but a casting director saw the show, in 1969, he moved to Los Angeles. After signing with Universal Studios in 1969, Cassidy was featured in episodes of the TV series Ironside, Marcus Welby, M. D. Adam-12, and Bonanza. In 1970, he took the part of Keith Partridge, son of Shirley Partridge, shortly after production began, though, Cassidy convinced music producer Wes Farrell that he was good enough and he was promoted to lead singer for the shows recordings. Once I Think I Love You became a hit, Cassidy began work on solo albums, as well. Within the first year, he had produced his own single, Cherish and he began tours that featured Partridge tunes and his own hits. Ten albums by The Partridge Family and five albums were produced during the show. Internationally, Cassidys solo career eclipsed the already success of The Partridge Family. He became an instant drawcard with spectacular sellout concert successes in major arenas around the world and these concerts produced mass hysteria, resulting in the media coining the term Cassidymania
33.
Bobby Sherman
–
Robert Cabot Bobby Sherman, Jr. is an American singer, actor and occasional songwriter, who became a popular teen idol in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He had a series of singles, notably the million-seller Little Woman. Sherman mostly retired from music in the 1970s for a career as a paramedic and later police officer, though he still performs, Sherman graduated in 1961 from Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, California. He attended Pierce College in Woodland Hills, California and his interest in music began at age 11 when he learned to play the trumpet. He eventually progressed to playing 16 musical instruments, at Birmingham High School Bobby played football, joined a dance band, and discovered his love for singing. From the time he was in school, Bobby knew that he wanted to be some type of performer. As a regular cast member/house singer, the show ran for two years, from 1964 to 1966. During that time Bobby made several records with Decca and another label, and landed in all the teen magazines. Shermans luck changed drastically early in 1968 when, out of hundreds of actors, he was cast in the role as the bashful, stammering logger, Jeremy Bolt, Sherman released 107 songs,23 singles and 10 albums between 1962-76. In his recording career he earned seven gold singles, one platinum single and he had a career total of seven top 40 hits. In 1969, he signed with Metromedia Records, the new recording arm of Metromedia, in May 1969 they released the single Little Woman, which peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and spent nine weeks in the Top 20. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R. I. A. A. in October 1969. His other hits were Julie, Do Ya Love Me, Easy Come, Easy Go, Jennifer, La La La, some of these songs were produced by Jackie Mills, a Hollywood record producer, who also produced the Brady Bunch Kids. In Canada Hey, Mister Sun reached #19, Cried Like a Baby reached #10, La, La, La, Easy Come, Easy Go, and Julie, Do Ya Love Me all sold in excess of a million copies and garnered further gold discs for Sherman. Julie, Do Ya Love Me was Shermans sole excursion in the UK Singles Chart, the song competed there for chart space with White Plains cover version, which eventually placed higher at #8. Sherman toured extensively through the United States and the world in support of his many records and he gave many concerts to sellout crowds of mostly screaming young women from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s. The screaming by the women was so loud that Sherman to this day has experienced hearing loss. Sherman was a frequent guest on American Bandstand and Where the Action Is and he made local and regional TV performances
34.
Bay City Rollers
–
The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop band whose popularity was highest in the mid 1970s. For a relatively brief, but fervent period, they were worldwide teen idols, in 1966 bassist Alan Longmuir, his younger brother, drummer Derek Longmuir and their schoolfriend, lead singer Gordon Nobby Clark, founded The Saxons in Edinburgh, Scotland. Soon after, they changed to The Bay City Rollers by throwing a dart at a map of the United States, the Bay City Rollers first manager was Tam Paton, himself a former big band leader. Short-term members from this period included bassist David Paton and keyboardist Billy Lyall, after signing with Bell Records, the bands first hit was Keep On Dancing, a cover of a 1965 hit by The Gentrys, recorded with record producer Jonathan King. Clark was backed on vocals on Keep On Dancing by King, upon this releases success, they made appearances on BBC Ones Top of the Pops. The group then won a Radio Luxembourg-sponsored song contest with the tune Mañana, several non-charting singles were released over the following two years. This period saw the addition of long term member guitarist Eric Faulkner, by the end of 1973, Clark had become disillusioned with the bands musical direction and decided to leave just when his recording of Remember zoomed up the charts to No.6. He was replaced as lead singer by Les McKeown, a couple of months later, in early 1974, what became known as the classic line-up was completed when guitarist John Devine was replaced by Stuart Woody Wood. In late 1973 McKeown recorded lead vocals on Remember, and a lead-in to a series of UK chart hits, the successful Classic Five line up consisted of Alan Longmuir, Derek Longmuir, Stuart Woody Wood, Eric Faulkner and Les McKeown. Beginning with Remember, the Rollers popularity exploded, and they released a string of hits on the UK chart, following in succession were Shang-a-Lang, Summerlove Sensation, and All of Me Loves All of You. By early 1975, they were one of the acts in the UK. That year saw a successful UK tour, which prompted newspaper headlines about the rise of Rollermania, the Rollers were the subject of a 20-week UK television series, Shang-a-Lang. A cover of the Four Seasons Bye, Bye, Baby stayed at No.1 hit, two full-length LPs were produced during this period, Once Upon a Star and Wouldnt You Like It. Faulkner and Wood undertook the majority of the songwriting duties, by this time, Bay City Roller fans had a completely distinctive style of dress, the main elements of which were calf-length tartan trousers and tartan scarves. English singer-songwriter Nick Lowe wrote a paean to the band titled Bay City Rollers We Love You. The track was carefully sculpted to be enough to get Lowe out of a recording contract with United Artists. UA issued the record as by The Tartan Horde, which was the given to Rollers fans in England. Lowe was obliged to record a song called Rollers Show
35.
Rick Springfield
–
Richard Lewis Springthorpe is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter, actor and author best known by his stage name Rick Springfield. He had a No.1 hit with Jessies Girl in 1981 in both Australia and the US, for which he received the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. He followed with four more top 10 US hits, Ive Done Everything for You, Dont Talk to Strangers, Affair of the Heart, Springfields two US top 10 albums are Working Class Dog and Success Hasnt Spoiled Me Yet. As an actor, he starred in the television series High Tide, from 1994 to 1997, and has appeared in supporting roles in Ricki, in 2010, Springfield published his autobiography, Late, Late at Night, A Memoir. He recently starred as Vince Vincente / Lucifer in the season of American TV show Supernatural on The CW. Rick Springfield was born Richard Lewis Springthorpe on 23 August 1949 in Guildford and he is the son of Eileen Louise and Norman James Springthorpe, an Australian Army career officer. When he was young, he lived at the camp with his family in Broadmeadows. At the age of fourteen, he witnessed the Beatles perform at Festival Hall, Springfield was 13 when he learned guitar. He joined various bands in England, where his father was stationed from 1958 to 1963, in 1968, he was approached by bass guitarist Pete Watson to join his group Rockhouse. Later that year, Watson changed the name to MPD Ltd and, in October when Springfield was 19 years old. Another member of MPD Ltd was Danny Finley, upon returning to Australia, they formed Wickedy Wak. They were joined by Phil Blackmore on keyboards and Dick Howard, Go-Set journalist Ian Molly Meldrum produced Wickedy Waks single, Billies Bikie Boys, with Beeb Birtles of pop rock group Zoot as a backing vocalist. In September 1969, Springfield replaced Roger Hicks as lead guitarist and vocalist in Zoot, with Birtles on bass guitar and vocals, Darryl Cotton on lead vocals and guitar, and Rick Brewer on drums. Upon joining Zoot, Springfield adopted the Think Pink – Think Zoot theme that had the members dressed head to toe in pink satin. The publicity gimmick brought attention to the group and attracted numerous teenage girl fans, zoots fifth single, Hey Pinky, was written by Springfield. The group attempted to shake off their teeny-bopper image and they followed with a hard rock cover version of The Beatles hit Eleanor Rigby, which peaked at No.4 on Go-Sets Top 40 in March 1971. Despite another hit single with Freak in April, which was written by Springfield, Springfield signed with Sparmac Records and issued his début solo single, Speak to the Sky, in October, which peaked at No.5 on the Go-Set singles chart. Sparmac label owner, Robie Porter, was producer and manager for Springfield
36.
Jack Wild
–
He played Much the Millers Son in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. The film of Lionel Barts musical, Oliver, earned him Golden Globe Award and BAFTA Award nominations, plus a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. As Jimmy, he was the protagonist of the series and feature film about a boy befriended by a friendly dragon named H. R. Pufnstuf, produced by Sid. Wild was born into a working family in the small industrial town of Royton, Lancashire, to a labourer father. Their family lived in a two bedroom cottage in the country, roughly twenty miles away from any commercial establishment, Wild moved to Hounslow with his parents and older brother Arthur in 1960. He was discovered whilst playing football by theatrical agent June Collins, June Collins enrolled both Jack and Arthur at the Barbara Speake Stage School, an independent school in Acton in West London. The Wild brothers sought acting roles to supplement their parents income, Arthur in the title role, and Jack as a member of Fagins gang. Although Jack auditioned as The Artful Dodger for several subsequent stage productions of Oliver and he was always turned down because he was too short. However, he was chosen to portray the Artful Dodger for the 1968 movie version and that Wild met brothers Sid and Marty Krofft, who thought he would make a good lead for a show they were developing called H. R. Pufnstuf. Wild starred in this American family television series launched in 1969. He was to be paid $1,000,000 to play Jimmy, a boy washed up on Living Island with his best friend Freddy and he starred in the movie Pufnstuf. Other roles followed, including the films Melody and Flight of the Doves, the latter film reunited him with Ron Moody, who had played Fagin in Oliver. The three albums were called The Jack Wild Album, Everythings Coming Up Roses and Beautiful World, at the height of his acting career, Jack usually acted younger than he was. For H. R. Pufnstuf, Wild was a seventeen-year-old playing a boy who was eleven, when I first entered in the show businees, Jack said in 1999, Of course I didnt mind playing younger roles. However it did bug me when I would be twenty-one being offered the role of a thirteen-year-old, im not saying I didnt enjoy playing these roles, I had barrels of fun, I just wanted more serious and dramatic roles, its that simple. During the early 70s, Wild was considered one of the worlds teen heartthrobs, alongside David Cassidy, with large hazel eyes, a somewhat pug nose and freckles, Jack was loved and adored by many girls across the globe. I received roughly 2,000 fan letters a week, he stated in 1989, I never left any one of them blank. I always answered, even if I was exhausted, I really thought it was one of the most important things
37.
Kiss (band)
–
Kiss is an American hard rock group formed in New York City in January 1973 by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, and Ace Frehley. The band has gone through several changes, with Stanley. The original and best-known lineup consisted of Stanley, Simmons, Frehley, with their make-up and costumes, they took on the personae of comic book-style characters, The Starchild, The Demon, The Spaceman or Space Ace, and The Catman. Due to creative differences, both Criss and Frehley had departed the group by 1982, in 1983, Kiss began performing without makeup and costumes, thinking that it was time to leave the makeup behind. The band accordingly experienced a commercial resurgence, and their music videos received regular airplay on MTV. Drummer Eric Carr, who had replaced Criss in 1980, died in 1991 of a type of heart cancer and was replaced by Eric Singer. In response to a wave of Kiss nostalgia in the mid-1990s, the band announced a reunion of the lineup in 1996. The resulting Alive/Worldwide Tour was commercially successful, Criss and Frehley have both since left the band again and have been replaced by Singer and Tommy Thayer, respectively. Kiss has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including 25 million RIAA-certified albums, on April 10,2014, Kiss was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Kiss traces their roots to Wicked Lester, a New York City-based rock band led by Gene Simmons and they recorded one album, which was shelved by Epic Records, and played a handful of live shows. Simmons and Stanley, feeling a new direction was needed, abandoned Wicked Lester in 1972. Simmons and Stanley met him in a nightclub where he was playing drums, after hearing Criss sing, they thought of him being in the band. Criss then auditioned for and later joined the new version of Wicked Lester, the trio focused on a much harder style of rock than Wicked Lester played. They also began experimenting with their image by wearing makeup and various outfits, in November 1972, the trio played a showcase for Epic Records A&R director Don Ellis, in an effort to secure a record deal. Although the performance went well, Ellis disliked the groups image, in early January 1973, the group added lead guitarist Ace Frehley. Frehley impressed the group with his first audition, although he showed up wearing two different colored sneakers, one red and one orange, a few weeks after Frehley joined, Wicked Lester changed their name to Kiss. Stanley came up with the name while he, Simmons and Criss were driving around New York City, Criss mentioned that he had been in a band called Lips, so Stanley said something to the effect of What about Kiss. Frehley created the logo, making the SS look like lightning bolts
38.
Susan Dey
–
A three-time Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, she won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama Series for L. A. Law in 1988. She attended Columbus Elementary School in Thornwood, New York, later moving to Bedford, New York, Dey was a model before starring as Laurie Partridge in the television series The Partridge Family from 1970 to 1974. She was 17 years old when she won the part and had no acting experience. She returned to network television in 1977 as the co-star of the short-lived situation comedy Loves Me. Her first film role was as a passenger in the 1972 airline hijack movie Skyjacked starring Charlton Heston, also in 1977, Dey starred opposite William Katt in a romance film, First Love, directed by Joan Darling. Dey co-starred with Albert Finney in the 1981 science-fiction film Looker, written and she had a leading role in 1986s Echo Park as a struggling waitress-actress who takes a job as a stripper who delivers singing telegrams. She starred on L. A. Law as California assistant district attorney Grace Van Owen, Dey won a Golden Globe Award as Actress in a Leading Role – Drama Series for the role in 1988. She was also nominated in each of the four years. She was also nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1987,1988 and she hosted a 1992 episode of Saturday Night Live. Later that year, she co-starred in the Diane English/CBS sitcom Love & War with Jay Thomas, although the show ran until 1995, Dey was replaced in 1993 by Annie Potts because producers reportedly felt she had no chemistry with co-star Thomas. In 1993, she produced and starred in the ABC Movie of the Week Lies & Lullabies, Dey was mentioned in Shirley Joness memoir as the only cast member who consistently refused to take part in Partridge Family reunions. Dey was married to Leonard Lenny Hirshan from 1976 to 1981 and they have one daughter, Sarah, who was born in 1978. Dey has been married to her husband, television producer Bernard Sofronski. She serves as a member of the Rape Treatment Center at UCLA Medical Center. Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials, 1974–1984, susan Dey at the Internet Movie Database
39.
Maureen McCormick
–
Maureen Denise McCormick is an American actress, recording artist and author. She is widely known for her portrayal of Marcia Brady on the ABC television sitcom The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974. She later reprised the role in many of the numerous Brady Bunch spin-offs and films, including The Brady Kids, The Brady Bunch Hour, McCormick also appeared in The Idolmaker as well as a wide range of other supporting film roles. In the 1980s and 1990s, she ventured into acting, appearing in a variety of different roles and productions such as Wendy Darling in Peter Pan. McCormick also had a career as a recording artist, releasing four albums with the Brady Bunch cast as well as touring with them. Her only release as a solo artist to date is a country album, despite professional success on The Brady Bunch and its spin-offs, McCormick struggled largely in her personal life in the years following the original series end. Addictions to cocaine and quaaludes, as well as bouts of depression and bulimia, since the 2000s, she has appeared on several reality television series such as VH1s Celebrity Fit Club, CMTs Gone Country and the Australian version of Im a Celebrity. As well as guest spots on a range of television series. McCormick was born in Encino, California, to Irene and William McCormick and she has three older brothers, Michael, Dennis, and Kevin. According to her biography, McCormick attended Taft High School in Woodland Hills, at age six, she won the Baby Miss San Fernando Valley beauty pageant. In 1964, she first appeared on national U. S. television, in Mattel commercials for Barbie and Chatty Cathy dolls. Through the later 1960s McCormick appeared in two episodes of Bewitched and played guest roles on I Dream of Jeannie, Honey West, The Farmers Daughter, in 1970, she lent her voice to a redesigned Chatty Cathy doll. McCormick played the eldest daughter, Marcia, who had five siblings and she had a perky and popular personality in The Brady Bunch, an American television sitcom about a blended family that aired from late 1969 to early 1974 on ABC, on Friday nights. After its cancellation, the series was later rebroadcast in syndication for decades, as programming, gathering a long-lasting, cross-generational popularity that led to spinoffs. The Brady Brides aired briefly in 1981 as a miniseries that was spun off from the movie The Brady Girls Get Married, placing McCormick in a shared lead role alongside Eve Plumb. However, when The Bradys aired in 1990 as a revival of the series, McCormick had just given birth to a child and was unavailable to return as Marcia. In 2015, archive footage of McCormick as Marcia was used for an American TV commercial advertising Snickers chocolate bars, the commercial, which debuted during Super Bowl XLIX, features action film star Danny Trejo as young Marcia who isnt acting like herself. After eating a Snickers, Marcia appears as McCormick once again. S. A. McCormick later claimed she failed to get a part as a prostitute or heroin dealer for the movie Midnight Express because she continued to be identified with her Brady Bunch role
40.
Karen Carpenter
–
Karen Anne Carpenter was an American singer and drummer. She and her brother Richard Carpenter formed the 1970s duo The Carpenters and her skills as a drummer earned admiration from drumming luminaries and peers, but she is best known for her vocal performances. She typically sang in a vocal range. Carpenter suffered from anorexia nervosa, a disorder that was little known at the time. She died at age 32 from heart failure caused by related to her illness. Carpenters death led to increased visibility and awareness of eating disorders, Karen Anne Carpenter was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the daughter of Agnes Reuwer and Harold Bertram Carpenter. Harold had been born in China where his parents were missionaries and was educated at boarding schools in England, when she was young, she enjoyed playing baseball with other children on the street. On the TV program This Is Your Life, she stated that she liked pitching and later, in the early 1970s and her brother Richard developed an interest in music at an early age, becoming a piano prodigy. Karen enjoyed dancing and by age 4 was enrolled in tap dancing, the family moved in June 1963 to the Los Angeles suburb of Downey. When Carpenter entered Downey High School, she joined the school band, bruce Gifford, the conductor gave her the glockenspiel, an instrument she disliked and after admiring the performance of her friend, Frankie Chavez, she asked if she could play the drums instead. She and her brother made their first recordings in 1965 and 1966, the following year she began dieting. Under a doctors guidance, she went on the Stillman Diet and she rigorously ate lean foods, drank eight glasses of water a day, and avoided fatty foods. She was 54 in height and before dieting weighed 145 pounds and afterwards weighed 120 pounds until 1973, by September 1975, her weight was 91 pounds. From 1965 to 1968 Karen, her brother Richard, and his college friend Wes Jacobs, the band played jazz at numerous nightclubs and also appeared on the TV talent show Your All-American College Show. Karen, Richard and other musicians, including Gary Sims and John Bettis, Spectrum focused on a harmonious and vocal sound, and recorded many demo tapes in the garage studio of friend and bassist Joe Osborn. Many of those tapes were rejected by record companies, according to former Carpenters member John Bettis, those rejections took their toll. The tapes of the sessions were lost in a fire at Joe Osborns house. Finally A&M Records signed the Carpenters to a contract in 1969
41.
Boy band
–
Being vocal groups, most boy band members do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on stage, making the term something of a misnomer. Many boy bands dance as well as sing, usually giving highly choreographed performances, some such bands form on their own. They can evolve out of church choral or gospel music groups, due to this and their general commercial orientation towards a female audience of preteens, teenyboppers, or teens, the term may be used with negative connotations in music journalism. Boy bands are similar in concept to their counterparts, girl groups, the earliest forerunner of boy band music began in the late 19th century as a cappella barbershop quartets. They were usually a group of males and sang in four part harmonies, the popularity of barbershop quartets had been prominent into the earlier part of the 20th century. A revival of the vocal group took place in the late 1940s and 1950s with the use of doo-wop music. Doo-wop bands sang about topics such as love and other used in pop music. The earliest traces of boy bands were in the mid-1950s although the boy band was not used. African American vocal group The Ink Spots was one of the first of what would now be called boy bands, the term boy band was not established until the late 1980s as before that they were called male vocal groups or hep harmony singing groups. For instance, their music featured close harmonies from soul music and catchy pop hooks influenced as much as they were by Motown and acts like the Supremes. All members of the band sang, which is a convention of a boy band, as opposed to having a front man. Even so, the members conveniently fitted into the convention of having stereotypical personality types, the Beatles were a direct influence on the conception of the Monkees, as they used rock band instrumentation and played more rock oriented music. With music produced by Don Kirshner, The Monkees became eventually dissatisfied with Kirshners control over them and they became independent two years later, working on their own up to 1970, when the group first dissolved. Other antecedents exist throughout the history of pop music, the genre has been copied into languages and cultures other than the Anglo-American. The Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, appealing to young Latina audiences, was founded in 1977, Menudo had a convention unique among boy bands, when a member turned 16, became too tall, or their voice changed, they were replaced. The members of Menudo were generally aged 12–17, the Bay City Rollers were a Scottish pop band who were most popular in the mid-1970s. For a relatively brief but fervent period, they were worldwide teen idols, the group were one of the first bands like The Monkees before them to take the formula shown by The Beatles and apply it to a teen market. The group achieved the same amount of success but for a period of time
42.
New wave music
–
New wave is a genre of rock music popular from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s with ties to 1970s punk rock. New wave moved away from smooth blues and rock and roll sounds to create pop music that incorporated electronic and experimental music, mod, initially new wave was similar to punk rock, before becoming a distinct genre. It subsequently engendered subgenres and fusions, including synth-pop, college rock, common characteristics of new wave music include the use of synthesizers and electronic productions, the importance of styling and the arts, as well as diversity. In the mid-1980s, differences between new wave and other genres began to blur. New wave has enjoyed resurgences since the 1990s, after a rising nostalgia for several new wave-influenced artists, subsequently, the genre influenced other genres. During the 2000s, a number of acts explored new wave and post-punk influences, such as the Strokes, Interpol, Franz Ferdinand and these acts were sometimes labeled new wave of new wave. The catch-all nature of new music has been a source of much confusion. The 1985 discography Whos New Wave in Music listed artists in over 130 separate categories, the New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock calls the term virtually meaningless, while AllMusic mentions stylistic diversity. New wave first emerged as a genre in the early 1970s, used by critics including Nick Kent and Dave Marsh to classify such New York-based groups as the Velvet Underground. It gained currency beginning in 1976 when it appeared in UK punk fanzines such as Sniffin Glue and newsagent music weeklies such as Melody Maker and New Musical Express. In November 1976 Caroline Coon used Malcolm McLarens term new wave to designate music by bands not exactly punk, the term was also used in that sense by music journalist Charles Shaar Murray in his comments about the Boomtown Rats. For a period of time in 1976 and 1977, the new wave. By the end of 1977, new wave had replaced punk as the definition for new music in the UK. As radio consultants in the United States had advised their clients that punk rock was a fad, like the filmmakers of the French new wave movement, its new artists were anti-corporate and experimental. At first, most U. S. writers exclusively used the new wave for British punk acts. Music historian Vernon Joynson claimed that new wave emerged in the UK in late 1976, in the U. S. the first new wavers were the not-so-punk acts associated with the New York club CBGB. CBGB owner Hilly Kristal, referring to the first show of the band Television at his club in March 1974, said, furthermore, many artists who would have originally been classified as punk were also termed new wave. A1977 Phonogram Records compilation album of the same name features US artists including the Dead Boys, Ramones, Talking Heads, New wave is much more closely tied to punk and came and went more quickly in the United Kingdom than in the United States
43.
Duran Duran
–
Duran Duran are an English new wave and synthpop band formed in Birmingham in 1978. The band grew from alternative sensations in 1982 to mainstream pop stars by 1984, by the end of the decade, membership and music style changes challenged the band before a resurgence in the early 1990s. The group were a band in the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US. They have placed 14 singles in the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart and 21 in the Billboard Hot 100, when they first emerged, they were generally considered part of the New Romantic scene, along with bands such as Spandau Ballet. Soon they would shed this image, using fashion and marketing to build a more refined and they were also awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The video age catapulted Duran Duran into the mainstream with the introduction of the 24-hour music channel MTV, many of their videos were shot on 35 mm film, which gave a much more polished look than was standard at the time. They also collaborated with film directors to take the quality a step further. In 1984, the band were early innovators with video technology in their stadium shows. These five members featured the most commercially successful line-up, the reunion of the original five members in the early 2000s created a stir among the bands fans and music media. Andy Taylor left the once again in mid-2006, and guitarist Dom Brown has since been working with the band as a session player. John Taylor and Nick Rhodes formed Duran Duran in Birmingham, England in 1978, at the club they were doing jobs such as John working the door and with Nick deejaying for £10 a night. They began rehearsing and regularly playing at the venue, There were many nearby nightclubs, and the one significant one, where bands such as The Sex Pistols and The Clash played gigs, was called Barbarellas. They would go on to name the band after a character from Barbarella, the character, played by Milo OShea, is named Dr. Durand Durand. The bands first singer was Stephen Duffy, Simon Colley soon joined Taylor, Rhodes and Duffy. Colley was the original bass player, as John Taylor was the guitarist at this point. This was the first complete line-up of the band played live shows. For drums and percussion, a drum machine belonging to Rhodes was used. Colley left the prior to the addition of Andy Taylor
