1.
Dionne Warwick
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Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV-show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health. Having been in a partnership with songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest hit makers of the rock era. She is second only to Aretha Franklin as the female vocalist of all time. Marie Dionne Warrick, later Warwick, was born on December 12,1940 in East Orange, New Jersey, to Mancel Warrick and her mother was manager of the Drinkard Singers, and her father was a Pullman porter, chef, record promoter and CPA. She was named after her aunt on her mothers side, Dionne had a sister Delia who died in 2008 and a brother, Mancel Jr. who was killed in an accident in 1968 at the age of 21. Her parents were both African American, and she also has Native American, Brazilian and Dutch ancestry, after finishing East Orange High School in 1959, Warwick pursued her passion at the Hartt College of Music in Hartford, Connecticut. She also landed work with her group singing backing vocals for recording sessions in New York City. During one session, Warwick met Burt Bacharach, who hired her to record demos featuring songs written by him, much of Warricks family were members of the Drinkard Singers, a renowned family gospel group and RCA recording artists that frequently performed throughout the New York metropolitan area. The original group consisted of Cissy, Anne, Larry, and Nicky, but later included Warwicks grandparents, Nicholas and Delia Drinkard, Marie instructed the group and they were managed by Lee. As they became successful, Lee and Marie began performing with the group, and they were augmented by pop/R&B singer Judy Clay. Elvis Presley eventually expressed an interest in having them join his touring entourage, Dionne began singing gospel as a child at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. After personnel changes, the Gospelaires became the group the Sweet Inspirations, which had some chart success. And we left and did the session, I wish I remembered the gentlemans name because he was responsible for the beginning of my professional career. The backstage encounter led to the group being asked to sing background sessions at recording studios in New York, the background vocal work would continue while Warwick pursued her studies at Hartt. According to a July 14,1967 article on Warwick from Time, Bacharach stated, She has a strong side. Musically, she was no play-safe girl, what emotion I could get away with. And what complexity, compared with the run of pop songs. During the session, Bacharach asked Warwick if she would be interested in recording demonstration recordings of his compositions to pitch the tunes to record labels
2.
Make Way for Dionne Warwick
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Make Way for Dionne Warwick is the third album by American singer Dionne Warwick, released in 1964 on the Scepter label. It was produced by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, the album is notable for including the singles Walk On By, Warwicks second top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Also featured are Youll Never Get to Heaven, A House Is Not a Home, Reach Out for Me, get Rid of Him is actually a 1962 track by The Shirelles, with Warwicks vocal replacing that of Shirley Alston. The album was remastered and reissued on CD on November 29,2011. All tracks written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach, except where noted, a From November 30,1963 to January 23,1965, Billboard Magazine did not publish a Hot R&B Songs chart. The peak positions for R&B singles listed during this period are from Cash Box Magazine R&B Songs chart, make Way for Dionne Warwick at Discogs
3.
A-side and B-side
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The terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 78,45, and 33 1/3 rpm phonograph records, whether singles, extended plays, or long-playing records. Creedence Clearwater Revival had hits with both A-side and B-side releases, others took the opposite approach, producer Phil Spector was in the habit of filling B-sides with on-the-spot instrumentals that no one would confuse with the A-side. With this practice, Spector was assured that airplay was focused on the side he wanted to be the hit side, the earliest 10-inch,78 rpm, shellac records were single sided. Double-sided recordings, with one song on side, were introduced in Europe by Columbia Records. There were no record charts until the 1930s, and radio stations did not play recorded music until the 1950s, in this time, A-sides and B-sides existed, but neither side was considered more important, the side did not convey anything about the content of the record. The term single came into use with the advent of vinyl records in the early 1950s. At first, most record labels would randomly assign which song would be an A-side, under this random system, many artists had so-called double-sided hits, where both songs on a record made one of the national sales charts, or would be featured on jukeboxes in public places. As time wore on, however, the convention for assigning songs to sides of the record changed. By the early sixties, the song on the A-side was the song that the company wanted radio stations to play. It was not until 1968, for instance, that the production of albums on a unit basis finally surpassed that of singles in the United Kingdom. In the late 1960s stereo versions of pop and rock songs began to appear on 45s. The majority of the 45s were played on AM radio stations, by the early 1970s, double-sided hits had become rare. Album sales had increased, and B-sides had become the side of the record where non-album, non-radio-friendly, with the advent of cassette and compact disc singles in the late 1980s, the A-side/B-side differentiation became much less meaningful. With the decline of cassette singles in the 1990s, the A-side/B-side dichotomy became virtually extinct, as the dominant medium. However, the term B-side is still used to refer to the tracks or coupling tracks on a CD single. With the advent of downloading music via the Internet, sales of CD singles and other media have declined. B-side songs may be released on the record as a single to provide extra value for money. There are several types of material released in this way, including a different version, or, in a concept record
4.
Soul music
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Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It combines elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues, Soul music became popular for dancing and listening in the United States, where record labels such as Motown, Atlantic and Stax were influential during the Civil Rights Movement. Soul also became popular around the world, directly influencing rock music, catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps and extemporaneous body moves, are an important feature of soul music. Other characteristics are a call and response between the lead vocalist and the chorus and a tense vocal sound. The style also occasionally uses improvisational additions, twirls and auxiliary sounds, Soul music reflected the African-American identity and it stressed the importance of an African-American culture. The new-found African-American consciousness led to new styles of music, which boasted pride in being black, Soul music dominated the U. S. R&B chart in the 1960s, and many recordings crossed over into the pop charts in the U. S. By 1968, the music genre had begun to splinter. Some soul artists developed funk music, while other singers and groups developed slicker, more sophisticated, by the early 1970s, soul music had been influenced by psychedelic rock and other genres, leading to psychedelic soul. The United States saw the development of neo soul around 1994, there are also several other subgenres and offshoots of soul music. The term soul had been used among African-American musicians to emphasize the feeling of being an African-American in the United States, according to another source, Soul music was the result of the urbanization and commercialization of rhythm and blues in the 60s. The phrase soul music itself, referring to music with secular lyrics, is first attested in 1961. The term soul in African-American parlance has connotations of African-American pride, gospel groups in the 1940s and 1950s occasionally used the term as part of their name. The jazz style that derived from gospel came to be called soul jazz, important innovators whose recordings in the 1950s contributed to the emergence of soul music included Clyde McPhatter, Hank Ballard, and Etta James. Ray Charles is often cited as popularizing the genre with his string of hits starting with 1954s I Got a Woman. Singer Bobby Womack said, Ray was the genius and he turned the world onto soul music. Charles was open in acknowledging the influence of Pilgrim Travelers vocalist Jesse Whitaker on his singing style, little Richard and James Brown were equally influential. Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson are also acknowledged as soul forefathers. Cooke became popular as the singer of gospel group The Soul Stirrers
5.
Songwriter
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A songwriter is an individual who writes the lyrics, melodies and chord progressions for songs, typically for a popular music genre such as rock or country music. A songwriter can also be called a composer, although the term tends to be used mainly for individuals from the classical music genre. The pressure from the industry to produce popular hits means that songwriting is often an activity for which the tasks are distributed between a number of people. For example, a songwriter who excels at writing lyrics might be paired with a songwriter with a gift for creating original melodies, pop songs may be written by group members from the band or by staff writers – songwriters directly employed by music publishers. Some songwriters serve as their own publishers, while others have outside publishers. The old-style apprenticeship approach to learning how to write songs is being supplemented by university degrees and college diplomas, a knowledge of modern music technology, songwriting elements and business skills are necessary requirements to make a songwriting career in the 2010s. Several music colleges offer songwriting diplomas and degrees with music business modules, the legal power to grant these permissions may be bought, sold or transferred. This is governed by international copyright law, song pitching can be done on a songwriters behalf by their publisher or independently using tip sheets like RowFax, the MusicRow publication and SongQuarters. Skills associated with song-writing include entrepreneurism and creativity, songwriters who sign an exclusive songwriting agreement with a publisher are called staff writers. In the Nashville country music scene, there is a staff writer culture where contracted writers work normal 9-to-5 hours at the publishing office and are paid a regular salary. This salary is in effect the writers draw, an advance on future earnings, the publisher owns the copyright of songs written during the term of the agreement for a designated period, after which the songwriter can reclaim the copyright. In an interview with HitQuarters, songwriter Dave Berg extolled the benefits of the set-up, unlike contracted writers, some staff writers operate as employees for their respective publishers. Under the terms of work for hire agreements, the compositions created are fully owned by the publisher. In Nashville, young writers are often encouraged to avoid these types of contracts. Staff writers are common across the industry, but without the more office-like working arrangements favored in Nashville. All the major publishers employ writers under contract, songwriter Allan Eshuijs described his staff writer contract at Universal Music Publishing as a starter deal. His success under the arrangement eventually allowed him to found his own publishing company, so that he could. keep as much as possible, songwriters are also often skilled musicians. In addition to selling their songs and musical concepts for other artists to sing, songwriters need to create a number of elements for a song
6.
Burt Bacharach
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Burt Freeman Bacharach is an American composer, songwriter, record producer, pianist, and singer. As of 2014, Bacharach had written 73 US and 52 UK Top 40 hits, in 1997 he was the subject of a PBS Great Performances biography. And in recent years a number of albums and concerts have helped introduce his music to younger audiences. Among them was a 2009 concert by Dutch singer Trijntje Oosterhuis, in 2012 Bacharach and David received the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, the first time the honor has been given to a songwriting team. The ceremony was hosted by President Obama, and included a concert performed with various stars, Bacharach was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in the Forest Hills section of New York City, graduating from Forest Hills High School in 1946. His family was Jewish, but he says that they didnt practice or give attention to their religion. But the kids I knew were Catholic, he adds, I was Jewish but I didnt want anybody to know about it. Bacharach showed a keen interest in jazz as a teenager, disliking his classical piano lessons and he got to hear bebop musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie, whose style would later influence his songwriting. Bacharach studied music at Montreals McGill University, under Helmut Blume, at the Mannes School of Music, during this period he studied a range of music, including jazz harmony, which has since been important to songs which are generally considered pop music. His composition teachers included Darius Milhaud, Henry Cowell, and Bohuslav Martinů, Bacharach cites Milhaud as his biggest influence, under whose guidance he wrote a Sonatina for Violin, Oboe and Piano. Following his tour of duty in the United States Army, Bacharach spent the three years as a pianist and conductor for popular singer Vic Damone. Damone recalls, Burt was clearly bound to go out on his own and he was an exceptionally talented, classically trained pianist, with very clear ideas on the musicality of songs, how they should be played, and what they should sound like. He later worked in similar capacity for other singers, including Polly Bergen, Steve Lawrence. When he was unable to better jobs, Bacharach worked at resorts in the Catskill Mountains of New York. In 1956, at age 28, Bacharachs productivity increased when composer Peter Matz recommended him to Marlene Dietrich and he then became part-time music director for Dietrich, a German actress and singer who had been an international screen star in the 1930s. They toured worldwide off and on until the early 1960s, when they werent touring, as a result of his collaboration with Dietrich, he gained his first major recognition as a conductor and arranger. In her autobiography, she remembered that Bacharach loved touring in Russia and Poland because the violinists were extraordinary and he liked Edinburgh and Paris, along with the Scandinavian countries, and he also felt at home in Israel, she says, where music was similarly much revered. By the early 1960s, after five years with Dietrich
7.
Hal David
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Harold Lane Hal David was an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York City and he was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. David was born in New York City, a son of Austrian Jewish immigrants Lina and Gedalier David, who owned a delicatessen in Brooklyn and he is credited with popular music lyrics, beginning in the 1940s with material written for bandleader Sammy Kaye and for Guy Lombardo. He worked with Morty Nevins of The Three Suns on four songs for the feature film Two Gals, in 1957, David met composer Burt Bacharach at Famous Music in the Brill Building in New York. The two teamed up and wrote their first hit The Story of My Life, recorded by Marty Robbins in 1957, J. Thomas, Gene Pitney, Tom Jones, Jackie DeShannon and others. In addition, Dont Make Me Over, Close to You and Walk On By have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. A. with Albert Hammond, recorded by Hammond and later Art Garfunkel. With Paul Hampton, David co-wrote the country standard Sea of Heartbreak, David and Bacharach were awarded the 2011 Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, bestowed by the Library of Congress, the first time a songwriting team was given the honor. David was recuperating from a recent illness and was unable to attend the Washington D. C. presentation ceremony in May 2012, David died in the morning hours of September 1,2012, of a stroke. He is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park beside his first wife, Anne, Hal David at Find a Grave Hal David Interview - NAMM Oral History Library
8.
Record producer
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A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performers music, which may range from recording one song to recording a lengthy concept album. A producer has many roles during the recording process, the roles of a producer vary. The producer may perform these roles himself, or help select the engineer, the producer may also pay session musicians and engineers and ensure that the entire project is completed within the record companies budget. A record producer or music producer has a broad role in overseeing and managing the recording. Producers also often take on an entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, contracts. In the 2010s, the industry has two kinds of producers with different roles, executive producer and music producer. Executive producers oversee project finances while music producers oversee the process of recording songs or albums. In most cases the producer is also a competent arranger, composer. The producer will also liaise with the engineer who concentrates on the technical aspects of recording. Noted producer Phil Ek described his role as the person who creatively guides or directs the process of making a record, indeed, in Bollywood music, the designation actually is music director. The music producers job is to create, shape, and mold a piece of music, at the beginning of record industry, producer role was technically limited to record, in one shot, artists performing live. The role of producers changed progressively over the 1950s and 1960s due to technological developments, the development of multitrack recording caused a major change in the recording process. Before multitracking, all the elements of a song had to be performed simultaneously, all of these singers and musicians had to be assembled in a large studio and the performance had to be recorded. As well, for a song that used 20 instruments, it was no longer necessary to get all the players in the studio at the same time. Examples include the rock sound effects of the 1960s, e. g. playing back the sound of recorded instruments backwards or clanging the tape to produce unique sound effects. These new instruments were electric or electronic, and thus they used instrument amplifiers, new technologies like multitracking changed the goal of recording, A producer could blend together multiple takes and edit together different sections to create the desired sound. For example, in jazz fusion Bandleader-composer Miles Davis album Bitches Brew, producers like Phil Spector and George Martin were soon creating recordings that were, in practical terms, almost impossible to realise in live performance. Producers became creative figures in the studio, other examples of such engineers includes Joe Meek, Teo Macero, Brian Wilson, and Biddu
9.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
10.
A House Is Not a Home (film)
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A House Is Not a Home is a 1964 drama film loosely based on the 1953 autobiography by madam Polly Adler. The film stars Shelley Winters, Robert Taylor, Cesar Romero, raquel Welch made her film debut in a small role as a sex worker. The song written for the film by Burt Bacharach & Hal David has become a standard, Polly Adler is a poor Polish immigrant who works in a sweatshop. She loses her job after she is assaulted by a coworker. Her next apartment is in a owned by Frank Costigan. Frank approves of Pollys attractive girlfriends and pays her to have the ladies go out socially with his friends, one thing leads to another and soon Polly is the madam of a bordello. She has genuine feelings for a musician, Casey Booth, Costigan becomes the top enforcer for mob boss Lucky Luciano and backs Pollys business, which ends up on Park Avenue offering high-class call girls. Casey proposes marriage, so Polly finally confesses what she does for a living and he is willing to overlook it, but Polly feels it is for the best if they part. Edith Head was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, a House Is Not a Home at the Internet Movie Database A House Is Not a Home at AllMovie
11.
Shelley Winters
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Shelley Winters was an American actress who appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television, her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006. Winters won Academy Awards for The Diary of Anne Frank and A Patch of Blue and she also appeared in such films as The Big Knife, A Double Life, Lolita, The Night of the Hunter, Alfie, Next Stop, Greenwich Village, and Petes Dragon. Shelley Winters was born Shirley Schrift in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Rose, a singer with the Muny, and Jonas Schrift and her parents were Jewish, her father emigrated from Austria, and her mother was born in St. Louis to Austrian immigrants. Her family moved to Brooklyn, New York when she was three years old and her sister Blanche Schrift later married George Boroff, who ran the Circle Theatre in Los Angeles. Winters studied at the New School in New York City, as the New York Times obituary noted, A major movie presence for more than five decades, Shelley Winters turned herself into a widely respected actress who won two Oscars. Winters originally broke into Hollywood films as a Blonde Bombshell type, but quickly tired of the roles limitations. She claims to have washed off her makeup to audition for the role of Alice Tripp, the girl, in A Place in the Sun, directed by George Stevens. As the Associated Press reported, the public was unaware of how serious a craftswoman Winters was. Although she was in demand as an actress, Winters continued to study her craft. She attended Charles Laughtons Shakespeare classes and worked at the Actors Studio and she studied in the Hollywood Studio Club, and in the late 1940s, she shared an apartment with another newcomer, Marilyn Monroe. Her first movie was What a Woman, working in films through the 1940s, Winters first achieved stardom with her breakout performance as the victim of insane actor Ronald Colman in George Cukors A Double Life, in 1947. She quickly ascended in Hollywood with leading roles in The Great Gatsby with Alan Ladd and she also returned to the stage on various occasions during this time, including a Broadway run in A Hatful of Rain, in 1955–1956, opposite future husband Anthony Franciosa. She won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for The Diary of Anne Frank in 1960 and she donated her Oscar for The Diary of Anne Frank to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. In The Poseidon Adventure, she was the ill-fated Belle Rosen and she returned to the stage during the 1960s and 1970s, most notably in Tennessee Williams Night of the Iguana. She appeared in cult films as 1968s Wild in the Streets. She also starred in the 1970 Broadway musical Minnies Boys as Minnie Marx, the mother of Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo, as the Associated Press reported, During her 50 years as a widely known personality, Winters was rarely out of the news. Her stormy marriages, her romances with famous stars, her forays into politics and she delighted in giving provocative interviews and seemed to have an opinion on everything. That led to a career as a writer
12.
Robert Taylor (actor)
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Robert Taylor was an American film and television actor who was one of the most popular leading men of his time. Taylor began his career in films in 1934 when he signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and he won his first leading role the following year in Magnificent Obsession. His popularity increased during the late 1930s and 1940s with appearances in A Yank at Oxford, Waterloo Bridge, during World War II, he served in the United States Naval Air Corps, where he worked as a flight instructor and appeared in instructional films. From 1959 to 1962, he starred in the ABC series The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor, in 1966, he took over hosting duties from his friend Ronald Reagan on the series Death Valley Days. Taylor was married to actress Barbara Stanwyck from 1939 to 1951 and he married actress Ursula Thiess in 1954, and they had two children. A chain smoker, Taylor was diagnosed with cancer in October 1968. He died of the disease in June 1969 at the age of 57, born Spangler Arlington Brugh in Filley, Nebraska, he was the only child of Ruth Adaline and Spangler Andrew Brugh, a farmer turned doctor. During his early life, the family moved several times, living in Muskogee, Oklahoma, Kirksville, Missouri, by September 1917, the Brughs had moved to Beatrice, Nebraska, where they remained for 16 years. As a teenager, Taylor was a star and played the cello in his high school orchestra. Upon graduation, he enrolled at Doane College in Crete, Nebraska, while at Doane, he took cello lessons from Professor Herbert E. Gray, whom he admired and idolized. After Professor Gray announced he was accepting a new position at Pomona College in Los Angeles, Brugh moved to California and he joined the campus theater group and was eventually spotted by an MGM talent scout in 1932 after production of Journeys End. He signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer with an initial salary of $35 a week. The studio changed his name to Robert Taylor and he made his film debut in the 1934 comedy Handy Andy, starring Will Rogers. His first leading role was in an MGM short subject called Buried Loot, irene Dunne requested him for her leading man in Magnificent Obsession. This was followed by Camille opposite Greta Garbo, in 1940, he reteamed with Leigh in Mervyn LeRoys drama Waterloo Bridge. After being given the nickname The Man with the Perfect Profile, Taylor began breaking away from his leading man image. That year he portrayed Billy Bonney in Billy the Kid, the next year, he played the title role in the film noir Johnny Eager opposite Lana Turner. After playing a sergeant in Bataan in 1943, Taylor contributed to the war effort by becoming a flying instructor in the U. S. Naval Air Corps
13.
Brook Benton
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He made a comeback in 1970 with the ballad Rainy Night in Georgia. Benton scored over 50 Billboard chart hits as an artist, when Benton was young, he enjoyed gospel music, wrote songs and sang in a Methodist church choir in Lugoff, South Carolina, where his father, Willie Peay, was choir master. In 1948, he went to New York to pursue his career, going in and out of gospel groups, such as The Langfordaires, The Jerusalem Stars. Returning to his state, he joined a R&B singing group, The Sandmen. The Sandmen had limited success and their label, Okeh Records, decided to push Peay as a solo artist, changing his name to Brook Benton, Brook earned a good living by writing songs and co-producing albums. He wrote songs for such as Nat King Cole, Clyde McPhatter. He eventually released his first minor hit, A Million Miles from Nowhere, before switching to the Mercury label and he also appeared in the 1957 film, Mr Rock And Roll with Alan Freed. In 1959, he made his breakthrough with hits like Its Just a Matter of Time. Its Just a Matter of Time peaked at #3 on the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart, both of the first two hits were written by Benton with Clyde Otis. Benton followed this success with a series of hits, including So Many Ways, Hotel Happiness, Think Twice, Kiddio, in 1960, he had two top 10 hit duets with Dinah Washington, Baby and A Rockin Good Way. In the mid 1960s, Benton recorded for RCA Records and Reprise Records with minimal commercial success, a million-seller which topped the Billboard R&B chart. Benton recorded a total of five albums with Mardin, including a gospel album, Benton eventually charted a total of 49 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, with other songs charting on Billboard′s rhythm and blues, easy listening, and Christmas music charts. The last album made by Benton was Fools Rush In, which was released posthumously in 2005 and he also had records released on various other labels, including All-Platinum, Brut, Olde Worlde, Stax and Groove Records. Weakened from spinal meningitis, Brook died of pneumonia in Queens, New York City and he was survived by his wife, Mary Benton, and five children, Brook Jr. Vanessa, Roy, Gerald and Benjamin, all of Queens. Brook Benton Today also hit #4 on the US RnB LP charts in 1970. Soulwalking. co. uk – Brook Benton Fan Page VH1. com – Artist Listing Tsimon. com – Brook Benton Fan Page http, //www. shewins. com/bio. htm Brook Benton at Discogs Brook Benton at Find a Grave
14.
Billboard Hot 100
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The Billboard Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for singles, published weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales, radio play and online streaming, the weekly sales period was originally Monday to Sunday, when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991, but was changed to Friday to Thursday in July 2015. Radio airplay, which, unlike sales figures and streaming data, is available on a real-time basis. A new chart is compiled and officially released to the public by Billboard on Tuesdays, as of the issue for the week ending on April 15,2017, the Hot 100 has had 1,061 different number one hits. The current number one song is Shape of You by Ed Sheeran, prior to 1955, Billboard did not have a unified, all-encompassing popularity chart, instead measuring songs by individual metrics. At the start of the era in 1955, three such charts existed, Best Sellers in Stores was the first Billboard chart, established in 1936. This chart ranked the biggest selling singles in retail stores, as reported by merchants surveyed throughout the country, Most Played by Jockeys was Billboards original airplay chart. It ranked the most played songs on United States radio stations, as reported by radio disc jockeys, Most Played in Jukeboxes ranked the most played songs in jukeboxes across the United States. On the week ending November 12,1955, Billboard published The Top 100 for the first time, the Top 100 combined all aspects of a singles performance, based on a point system that typically gave sales more weight than radio airplay. The Best Sellers In Stores, Most Played by Jockeys and Most Played in Jukeboxes charts continued to be published concurrently with the new Top 100 chart. The week ending July 28,1958 was the publication of the Most Played By Jockeys and Top 100 charts. On August 4,1958, Billboard premiered one main all-genre singles chart, the Hot 100 quickly became the industry standard and Billboard discontinued the Best Sellers In Stores chart on October 13,1958. The Billboard Hot 100 is still the standard by which a songs popularity is measured in the United States, the Hot 100 is ranked by radio airplay audience impressions as measured by Nielsen BDS, sales data compiled by Nielsen Soundscan and streaming activity provided by online music sources. There are several component charts that contribute to the calculation of the Hot 100. Charts are ranked by number of gross audience impressions, computed by cross-referencing exact times of radio airplay with Arbitron listener data. Hot Singles Sales, the top selling singles compiled from a sample of retail store, mass merchant and internet sales reports collected, compiled. The chart is released weekly and measures sales of commercial singles. With the decline in sales of singles in the US
15.
Luther Vandross
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Luther Ronzoni Vandross, Jr. was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He later became the singer of the group Change, which released its certified gold debut album, The Glow of Love. After Vandross left the group, he was signed to Epic Records as a solo artist and released his solo album, Never Too Much. His hit songs include Never Too Much, Here and Now, Any Love, Power of Love/Love Power, I Can Make It Better and For You to Love. Many of his songs were covers of music by other artists such as If This World Were Mine, Since I Lost My Baby, Superstar and Always. Duets such as The Closer I Get to You with Beyoncé, Endless Love with Mariah Carey, during his career, Vandross sold over 35 million records worldwide, and received eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four different times. He won a total of four Grammy Awards in 2004 including the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for a song recorded not long before his death, Luther Ronzoni Vandross, Jr. was born on April 20,1951 at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, New York City. He was the child and second son of Mary Ida Vandross and Luther Vandross. His father was an upholsterer and singer, and his mother was a nurse, Vandross was raised on Manhattans Lower East Side in the NYCHA Alfred E. Smith Houses public housing development. At the age of three, having his own phonograph, he himself to play the piano by ear. Vandrosss father died of diabetes when Vandross was eight years old and his family moved to the Bronx when he was nine. His sisters, Patricia Pat and Ann began taking Vandross to the Apollo Theater and to a theater in Brooklyn to see Dionne Warwick, Patricia sang with the vocal group The Crests, and was featured on the songs 16 Candles and Sweetest One. In high school, Vandross performed in a group, Shades of Jade, during his early years in show business he appeared several times at the Apollos infamous amateur night and was booed by the audience. While a member of a workshop, Listen My Brother, he was invoiced in the singles Only Love Can Make a Better World. He appeared in the first series of Sesame Street during 1969, Vandross graduated from William Howard Taft High School in 1969, and attended Western Michigan University for a year before dropping out to continue pursuing a career in music. He added backing vocals to Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway in 1972, Vandross founded the first Patti LaBelle fan club, of which he was president. Vandross sang on Delores Halls Hall-Mark album and he sang with her on the song Whos Gonna Make It Easier for Me, which he wrote, and he contributed another song, In This Lonely Hour. Having co-written Fascination for David Bowies Young Americans, he went on to tour with him as a back-up vocalist in September 1974, Vandross wrote Everybody Rejoice for the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz
16.
F major
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F major is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B♭, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat, B♭, F majors relative minor is D minor, and its parallel minor is F minor. F major is the key of the English horn, the basset horn, the horn in F, the trumpet in F. Thus, music in F major for these instruments is written in C major. Most of these sound a perfect fifth lower than written, with the exception of the trumpet in F which sounds a fourth higher
17.
Single (music)
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In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record, an album or an EP record. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats, in most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. Typically, these are the songs from albums that are released separately for promotional uses such as digital download or commercial radio airplay and are expected to be the most popular, in other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album. As digital downloading and audio streaming have become prevalent, it is often possible for every track on an album to also be available separately. Nevertheless, the concept of a single for an album has been retained as an identification of a heavily promoted or more popular song within an album collection. Despite being referred to as a single, singles can include up to as many as three tracks on them. The biggest digital music distributor, iTunes, accepts as many as three tracks less than ten minutes each as a single, as well as popular music player Spotify also following in this trend. Any more than three tracks on a release or longer than thirty minutes in total running time is either an Extended Play or if over six tracks long. The basic specifications of the single were made in the late 19th century. Gramophone discs were manufactured with a range of speeds and in several sizes. By about 1910, however, the 10-inch,78 rpm shellac disc had become the most commonly used format, the inherent technical limitations of the gramophone disc defined the standard format for commercial recordings in the early 20th century.26 rpm. With these factors applied to the 10-inch format, songwriters and performers increasingly tailored their output to fit the new medium, the breakthrough came with Bob Dylans Like a Rolling Stone. Singles have been issued in various formats, including 7-inch, 10-inch, other, less common, formats include singles on digital compact cassette, DVD, and LD, as well as many non-standard sizes of vinyl disc. Some artist release singles on records, a more common in musical subcultures. The most common form of the single is the 45 or 7-inch. The names are derived from its speed,45 rpm. The 7-inch 45 rpm record was released 31 March 1949 by RCA Victor as a smaller, more durable, the first 45 rpm records were monaural, with recordings on both sides of the disc. As stereo recordings became popular in the 1960s, almost all 45 rpm records were produced in stereo by the early 1970s
18.
Rhythm and blues
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Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated as R&B or RnB, is a genre of popular African-American music that originated in the 1940s. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy. Lyrics focus heavily on the themes of triumphs and failures in terms of relationships, freedom, economics, aspirations, the term rhythm and blues has undergone a number of shifts in meaning. In the early 1950s it was applied to blues records. This tangent of RnB is now known as British rhythm and blues, by the 1970s, the term rhythm and blues changed again and was used as a blanket term for soul and funk. In the 1980s, a style of R&B developed, becoming known as Contemporary R&B. It combines elements of rhythm and blues, soul, funk, pop, hip hop, popular R&B vocalists at the end of the 20th century included Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey. Although Jerry Wexler of Billboard magazine is credited with coining the term rhythm and blues as a term in the United States in 1948. It replaced the term race music, which came from within the black community. The term rhythm and blues was used by Billboard in its chart listings from June 1949 until August 1969, before the Rhythm and Blues name was instated, various record companies had already begun replacing the term race music with sepia series. In 2010 LaMont Robinson founded the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame Museum, writer and producer Robert Palmer defined rhythm & blues as a catchall term referring to any music that was made by and for black Americans. He has used the term R&B as a synonym for jump blues, however, AllMusic separates it from jump blues because of its stronger, gospel-esque backbeat. Lawrence Cohn, author of Nothing but the Blues, writes that rhythm, according to him, the term embraced all black music except classical music and religious music, unless a gospel song sold enough to break into the charts. Well into the 21st century, the term R&B continues in use to music made by black musicians. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, arrangements were rehearsed to the point of effortlessness and were sometimes accompanied by background vocalists. Simple repetitive parts mesh, creating momentum and rhythmic interplay producing mellow, lilting, while singers are emotionally engaged with the lyrics, often intensely so, they remain cool, relaxed, and in control. The bands dressed in suits, and even uniforms, an associated with the modern popular music that rhythm. Lyrics often seemed fatalistic, and the music typically followed predictable patterns of chords, there was also increasing emphasis on the electric guitar as a lead instrument, as well as the piano and saxophone
19.
Epic Records
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Epic Records is an American record company owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, Inc. Epic was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical music label in 1953 and it later expanded its scope to include a more diverse range of musical genres, including pop, R&B, rock and hip hop. Historically, the label has housed popular acts such as Boston, ABBA, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, Dave Clark Five, Gloria Estefan, Pearl Jam, Shakira, Anastacia, and Sly & the Family Stone. Along with Columbia and RCA Records, Epic is one of Sony Music Entertainments three main record labels, L. A. Reid has served as chairman and CEO of Epic since July 2011. Sylvia Rhone was appointed president in March 2014, Epic Records was launched in 1953 by Columbia Records for the purpose of marketing jazz, pop and classical music that did not fit the theme of its more mainstream Columbia Records label. Initial classical music releases were from Philips Records which distributed Columbia product in Europe, pop talent on co-owned Okeh Records were transferred to Epic which made Okeh a rhythm and blues label. Epics bright-yellow, black, and blue became a familiar trademark for many jazz. By 1960, the musical base had been expanded to include all genres. This was done in part to prevent the roster of Columbia Records from being overstuffed with newer artists, subsequently, Epic became better known for its signing of newer, fledgling acts. By the end of the 1960s, Epic earned its first gold records and had evolved into a formidable hit-making force in rock and roll, R&B and country music. Among its many acts, it included Roy Hamilton, Bobby Vinton, The Dave Clark Five, The Hollies, Tammy Wynette, Donovan, The Yardbirds, Lulu, July, Helen Shapiro and Jeff Beck. Also during the 1960s, Epic oversaw the smaller subsidiary CBS labels including Okeh Records, in 1968, Epic recordings began being distributed in the UK by CBS after the distribution deal with EMI expired that year, Epic itself launched in England around 1971. Epic was involved in a trade of artists. Graham Nash was signed to Epic because of his membership in The Hollies, when the newly formed Crosby, Stills & Nash wanted to sign with Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegün worked out a deal with Clive Davis whereby Richie Furays new band Poco would sign with Epic. Also contributing to the success was its distribution of Philadelphia International Records. Sony bought CBS Records in 1987, and the company was renamed Sony Music in 1991. In 2004, Sony merged with another powerhouse music distributor, BMG, bringing labels such as RCA, Arista, Columbia, Epic, Jive, in February 2009, singer and songwriter Amanda Ghost was appointed president of Epic Records. Later in the year, Sony BMG Music merged Epic and Columbias operations, Sony BMGs Legacy Recordings reissues the companys classic and catalog titles
20.
Kanye West
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Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, fashion designer, and entrepreneur. Intent on pursuing a career as a rapper, West released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004 to widespread critical and commercial success. He went on to pursue a variety of different styles on subsequent albums Late Registration, Graduation, and 808s & Heartbreak. In 2010, he released his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy to rave reviews from critics, West released his abrasive sixth album, Yeezus, to further critical praise in 2013. His seventh album, The Life of Pablo, was released in 2016, Wests outspoken views and life outside of music have received significant mainstream attention. He has been a frequent source of controversy for his conduct at award shows, on social media and he is the founder and head of the creative content company DONDA. His 2014 marriage to television personality Kim Kardashian has also been subject to media coverage. He has won a total of 21 Grammy Awards, making him one of the most awarded artists of all time, three of his albums have been included and ranked on Rolling Stones 2012 update of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. He has also included in a number of Forbes annual lists. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005 and 2015, West was born on June 8,1977 in Atlanta, Georgia. His parents divorced when he was three years old, after the divorce, he and his mother moved to Chicago, Illinois. His father, Ray West, is a former Black Panther and was one of the first black photojournalists at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Ray West was later a Christian counselor, and in 2006, opened the Good Water Store and Café in Lexington Park, Maryland with startup capital from his son. West, was a professor of English at Clark Atlanta University, West was raised in a middle-class background, attending Polaris High School in suburban Oak Lawn, Illinois after living in Chicago. At the age of 10, West moved with his mother to Nanjing, China, according to his mother, West was the only foreigner in his class, but settled in well and quickly picked up the language, although he has since forgotten most of it. When asked about his grades in school, West replied, I got As. West demonstrated an affinity for the arts at an early age and his mother recalled that she first took notice of Wests passion for drawing and music when he was in the third grade. Growing up in Chicago, West became deeply involved in its hip hop scene and he started rapping in the third grade and began making musical compositions in the seventh grade, eventually selling them to other artists
21.
Jamie Foxx
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Eric Marlon Bishop, known professionally by his stage name Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, singer, songwriter, record producer and comedian. The same year, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the crime film Collateral, eric Marlon Bishop was born in Terrell, Texas on December 13,1967. He is the son of Darrell Bishop, who worked as a stockbroker. Shortly after his birth, Foxx was adopted and raised by his mothers parents, Esther Marie, a domestic worker and nursery operator, and Mark Talley. He has had contact with his birth parents, who were not part of his upbringing. Foxx was raised in the quarter of Terrell, which at the time was a racially segregated community. He has often acknowledged his grandmothers influence in his life as one of the greatest reasons for his success, Foxx began playing the piano when he was five years old. He had a strict Baptist upbringing, and as a teenager he was a part-time pianist and choir leader in Terrells New Hope Baptist Church. His natural talent for telling jokes was already in evidence as a third grader, Foxx attended Terrell High School, where he received top grades and played basketball and football. His ambition was to play for the Dallas Cowboys, and he was the first player in the history to pass for more than 1,000 yards. He also sang in a band called Leather and Lace, after completing high school, Foxx received a scholarship to United States International University, where he studied classical music and composition. Foxx first told jokes at a comedy clubs open mic night in 1989, when he found that female comedians were often called first to perform, he changed his name to Jamie Foxx, feeling that it was a name ambiguous enough to disallow any biases. He chose his surname as a tribute to the black comedian Redd Foxx, Foxx joined the cast of In Living Color in 1991, where his recurrent character Wanda also shared a name with Redds friend and co-worker, LaWanda Page. Following a recurring role in the comedy-drama sitcom Roc, Foxx went on to star in his own sitcom The Jamie Foxx Show, Foxx made his film debut in the 1992 comedy Toys. His first dramatic role came in Oliver Stones 1999 film Any Given Sunday, in 1994, Foxx released an album entitled Peep This, which was not successful due to low album sales. In 2003, Foxx made a cameo in Benzinos music video for Would You, which features LisaRaye McCoy and Mario Winans. In 2003, Foxx featured on the rapper Twistas song, Slow Jamz, together with Kanye West, in 2005, Foxx featured on the single Georgia by Atlanta rappers Ludacris and Field Mob, which sampled Ray Charles hit Georgia on My Mind. Foxx would also portray Ray Charles in the biographical film Ray, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, Foxx is the second male in history to receive two acting Oscar nominations in the same year for two different movies, Collateral and Ray
22.
Twista
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Carl Terrell Mitchell, better known by his stage name Twista, is an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois. His 2004 album Kamikaze reached the top of the US Billboard 200 album chart, carl Mitchell grew up in the K-Town area of the North Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois and began rapping when he was 12. In 1992, Mitchell released his first album called Runnin Off at da Mouth under the name Tung Twista, in 1996 he teamed with Chicago producer The Legendary Traxster and Cwals Do or Die on the track Po Pimp produced by The Legendary Traxster, which became a hit single. This led to a Cwals label deal with Atlantic Records, which released Adrenaline Rush in 1997, Twista had by then dropped the Tung from his stage name. Adrenaline Rush became Twistas first charting album, as it peaked at #77 on the Billboard Hot 200, the album also spawned a Billboard Hot 100 hit in Get It Wet produced by The Legendary Traxster, which peaked at #96. In 1998 Twista teamed with other Chicago area rappers to form the Speedknot Mobstaz and they released their first album, Mobstability produced entirely by The Legendary Traxster, in 1998. Twista then formed his own Legit Ballin label, which released two albums, Legit Ballin in 1999 and Legit Ballin Vol.2, Street Scriptures in 2001. The label later released Respect The Game, Vol.3 in 2002 and Volume 4, in 2000, Twista collaborated with Ruff Ryders and Drag-On on the Ruff Ryders, Ryde or Die Vol.2 album, on the track Twisted Heat. Beginning in 2002, Twista began recording his album Kamikaze with rappers like Kanye West, Kamikaze came out in 2004 and debuted at the top spot of the American Billboard 200 album chart. Its first single Slow Jamz, featured West and Jamie Foxx, other singles included Overnight Celebrity and So Sexy, the album sold around two million copies. The remix of the song Jook Gal by Elephant Man featured Twista, the Kamikaze album and its singles gave Twista a new level of success and rose his profile significantly within the rap community. Twistas album The Day After was released in 2005 and it featured the hit singles Girl Tonite featuring Trey Songz, Hit the Floor featuring Pitbull, and So Lonely featuring Mariah Carey. His next album, Adrenaline Rush 2007 came out in 2007 and its singles were Give it Up featuring Pharrell and Creep Fast featuring T-Pain. This album sold poorly compared to Twistas earlier albums, Twista appeared on the single Hell No from Monicas album fall 2006 The Makings of Me. In 2008, Twista launched a new label called Get Money Gang Entertainment. In 2009, Twista appeared on the single Legendary with fellow Chicago rappers AK47 of Do or Die and Saurus, Twista released his eighth solo album entitled, The Perfect Storm on Nov 9,2010. The first single from the album, Make a Movie produced by The Legendary Traxster, two buzz singles were released, I Do produced by Traxster and Heat produced by fellow Chicago producers NO I. D. and The Legendary Traxster. The album features such as Waka Flocka Flame, Raekwon, Tia London, Diddy, Ray J
23.
Slow Jamz
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Slow Jamz is a single by American rapper Twista featuring Kanye West and Jamie Foxx. It was released in late 2003 as the single from his album Kamikaze. The Kanye West version includes an intro and two verses by Jamie Foxx, and excludes the original outro by Twista. The song is a tribute to classic smooth soul artists and slow jam songs, Kanye West is the songs producer and supplies the first verse, Twista gives the second verse and the outro, and actor/singer Jamie Foxx sings the chorus. But now I need you to do it faster baby, can you please, do it faster baby, West, Damn, baby, I cant do it that fast. but I know somebody who can. The video shows a party, at first we see Jamie Foxx buying records for the party then it goes to the party where Kanye West and it includes cameo appearances by Consequence, Aisha Tyler, John Legend, Mike Epps, and Common. The song peaked at one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for a week on February 10,2004 becoming Twistas, Wests. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, Q magazine listed it as the nineteenth greatest hip-hop song of all time
24.
Anita Kerr
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Anita Jean Grilli, known professionally as Anita Kerr, is an American singer, arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and music producer. She recorded and performed successfully with her vocal harmony groups in Nashville, Los Angeles, Anita was born in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1947, she married Al Kerr, and they moved to Nashville the following year so that he could take a job as a dee-jay on WKDA. Joining her were singers Carl Garvin, Jim Hall, Doug Kirkham, Mary Ellen Puckett, Evelyn Wilson, Mildred Kirkham, and Don Fotrell. The groups first recording session was with Red Foley, and their collaboration resulted in a No.16 hit on Billboards Pop chart in 1950, the following year, producer Owen Bradley signed them to record for Decca Records. Their talents in demand, Anitas group continued to sing backup for country artists in Nashville, including Eddy Arnold, Burl Ives. The groups recording sessions—initially averaging two per week—increased to eight sessions weekly by 1955, in 1956, Anita Kerrs singers won a contest on the Arthur Godfreys Talent Scouts national television program. Now, cut down to a quartet at Godfreys suggestion, the travelled to New York City two weeks out of every six to appear with Godfrey on his daily television and radio broadcasts. A few years later, Kerr and her singers performed five times a week with Jim Reeves on his radio program at WSM. The quartets roster at this time featured tenor Gil Wright, baritone Louis Nunley, alto Dottie Dillard, Singers and arranger soon began contributing to between twelve and eighteen recording sessions weekly. Having previously backed Faron Young, Chet Atkins, and Webb Pierce on SESAC radio transcription sessions, between 1959 and 1963, the group waxed sixty SESAC tracks. In 1960, as The Little Dippers, the recorded a hit single, Forever. Crediting herself as Anita & Th So-And-Sos, Kerr multi-tracked her own voice to record the song Joey Baby, the Anita Kerr Singers signed with RCA Victor in 1961. Their first album for the label was From Nashville. The Hit Sound, subsequent RCA Victor LPs extended the quartets repertoire as they explored the soul songs of Ray Charles and the compositions of Henry Mancini. The groups 1965 album We Dig Mancini won a Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Vocal Group, in addition to recording as themselves, the Singers continued to perform as backup singers in Nashville. Under her RCA contract, Kerr also arranged and produced a series of albums for The Living Voices on the RCA Camden budget label and these Living Voices recordings included the Anita Kerr Quartet, with the addition of 4 other vocalists to form an octet. In 1964, together with Chet Atkins and Jim Reeves, the Anita Kerr Singers toured Europe, the Anita Kerr Singers or The Jordanaires sang background on just about every Nashville hit in the late 50s and early 60s. She no longer wanted to just be a singer or arranger on country songs – she wanted to do pop music, jazz and do more orchestral writing
25.
Stevie Wonder
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Stevland Hardaway Morris, known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. A child prodigy, he is considered to be one of the most critically and commercially successful musical performers of the late 20th century, Wonder signed with Motowns Tamla label at the age of 11, and he continued performing and recording for Motown into the 2010s. He has been blind since shortly after birth, Wonder is also noted for his work as an activist for political causes, including his 1980 campaign to make Martin Luther King Jr. s birthday a holiday in the United States. In 2009, Wonder was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace, in 2013, Billboard magazine released a list of the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists to celebrate the US singles charts 55th anniversary, with Wonder at number six. Stevie Wonder was born in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1950, the third of six children of Calvin Judkins and Lula Mae Hardaway, when Wonder was four, his mother left his father and moved to Detroit with her children. She changed her back to Lula Hardaway and later changed her sons surname to Morris. Wonder has retained Morris as his legal surname and he began playing instruments at an early age, including piano, harmonica and drums. He formed a partnership with a friend, calling themselves Stevie and John, they played on street corners. Before signing, producer Clarence Paul gave him the name Little Stevie Wonder, because of Wonders age, the label drew up a rolling five-year contract in which royalties would be held in trust until Wonder was 21. He and his mother would be paid a stipend to cover their expenses, Wonder received $2.50 a week. Wonder was put in the care of producer and songwriter Clarence Paul, tribute to Uncle Ray was recorded first, when Wonder was still 11 years old. Mainly covers of Ray Charless songs, it included a Wonder and Paul composition, the Jazz Soul of Little Stevie was recorded next, an instrumental album consisting mainly of Pauls compositions, two of which, Wondering and Session Number 112, were co-written with Wonder. At the end of 1962, when Wonder was 12 years old, he joined the Motortown Revue, at the Regal Theater, Chicago, his 20-minute performance was recorded and released in May 1963 as the album Recorded Live, The 12 Year Old Genius. A single, Fingertips, from the album was released in May. The song, featuring a confident and enthusiastic Wonder returning for a spontaneous encore that catches out the replacement bass player, was a No.1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 when Wonder was aged 13, making him the youngest artist ever to top the chart. The single was simultaneously No.1 on the R&B chart and his next few recordings, however, were not successful, his voice was changing as he got older, and some Motown executives were considering cancelling his recording contract. During 1964, Wonder appeared in two films as himself, Muscle Beach Party and Bikini Beach, but these were not successful either, sylvia Moy persuaded label owner Berry Gordy to give Wonder another chance. He also began to work in the Motown songwriting department, composing songs both for himself and his mates, including The Tears of a Clown, a No.1 hit for Smokey Robinson
26.
Eivets Rednow
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Eivets Rednow is an easy listening instrumental album by Stevie Wonder released on the Gordy Records label in 1968. The album was created as a follow-up to the easy listening instrumental single Alfie. A House Is Not a Home, another song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, eivets Rednow is Stevie Wonder spelled backwards, Wonders name doesnt appear on the cover of the original releases. This was Wonders ninth studio album, released on November 20,1968, Wonder plays harmonica, drums, piano and clavinet on this album, though like his debut album, he doesnt sing on any of the tracks. On some reissues, How do you spell Stevie Wonder backwards is printed on the top corner of the sleeve in small print. This is also the first album that has song credits solely by Wonder himself
27.
Dusty Springfield
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Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette OBrien, OBE, better known as Dusty Springfield, was an English pop singer and record producer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s. She is a member of the US Rock and Roll and UK Music Halls of Fame, international polls have named Springfield among the best female rock artists of all time. Her image, supported by a peroxide blonde bouffant hairstyle, evening gowns, born in West Hampstead to a family that enjoyed music, Springfield learned to sing at home. In 1958 she joined her first professional group, The Lana Sisters and her solo career began in 1963 with the upbeat pop hit, I Only Want to Be with You. Among the hits that followed were Wishin and Hopin , I Just Dont Know What to Do with Myself, You Dont Have to Say You Love Me, and Son of a Preacher Man. Although she was never considered a Northern Soul artist in her own right and she was the first UK singer to top the New Musical Express readers poll for Female Singer. To boost her credibility as a soul artist, Springfield went to Memphis, Tennessee, to record Dusty in Memphis, an album of pop and soul music with the Atlantic Records main production team. Released in 1969, it has ranked among the greatest albums of all time by the US magazine Rolling Stone and in polls by VH1 artists, New Musical Express readers. The album was awarded a spot in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Despite its current recognition, the album did not sell well and after its release, however, in collaboration with Pet Shop Boys, she returned to the Top 10 of the UK and US charts in 1987 with What Have I Done to Deserve This. Two years later, she had two other UK hits on her own with Nothing Has Been Proved and In Private, subsequently, in the mid-1990s, owing to the inclusion of Son of a Preacher Man on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, interest in her early output was revived. Springfield was born Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette OBrien on 16 April 1939 in West Hampstead and her older brother, Dionysius P. A. OBrien, was later known as Tom Springfield. Springfields father, who had raised in British India, worked as a tax accountant and consultant. Her mother came from an Irish family, originally from Tralee, County Kerry, Springfield was brought up in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire until the early 1950s, and later lived in Ealing. She attended St Annes Convent School, Northfields, a traditional all-girl school, Springfield and her brother were both prone to food-throwing as adults. She was given the nickname Dusty for playing football with boys in the street, Springfield was raised in a music-loving family. Her father would tap out rhythms on the back of her hand and she listened to a wide range of music, including George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Glenn Miller. A fan of American jazz and the vocalists Peggy Lee and Jo Stafford, at the age of twelve, she made a recording of herself performing the Irving Berlin song When the Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabam at a local record shop in Ealing
28.
Barbra Streisand
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Barbara Joan Barbra Streisand is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and filmmaker. She is among a group of entertainers who have been honored with an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award. Streisand is one of the music artists of all time, with more than 68.5 million albums in the United States. She starred in the critically acclaimed Funny Girl, for which she won the Academy Award, with the release of Yentl in 1983, Streisand became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major studio film. The film won an Oscar for Best Score and a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Musical, Streisand received the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, the first woman to win that award. The RIAA and Billboard recognize Streisand as holding the record for the most top 10 albums of any recording artist. According to Billboard, Streisand holds the record for the female with the most number one albums, Billboard also recognizes Streisand as the greatest female of all time on its Billboard 200 chart and one of the greatest artists of all time on its Hot 100 chart. Barbara Joan Streisand was born on April 24,1942, in Brooklyn, New York and her mother had been a soprano singer in her youth and considered a career in music, but later became a school secretary. Her father was a school teacher at the same school. Streisands family was Jewish, her grandparents emigrated from Galicia and her maternal grandparents from the Russian Empire. Her father earned a degree from City College of New York in 1928 and was considered athletic. As a student, he spent his summers outdoors, once working as a lifeguard, hed try anything, his sister Molly said. He married Ida in 1930, two years after graduating, and became a respected educator with a focus on helping underprivileged. In August 1943, a few months after Streisands first birthday, her father died suddenly at age 34 from complications from an epileptic seizure, the family fell into near-poverty, with her mother working as a low-paid bookkeeper. As an adult, Streisand remembered those early years as always feeling like an outcast, explaining and her mother tried to pay their bills but could not give her daughter the attention she craved, When I wanted love from my mother, she gave me food, Streisand says. Streisand recalls that her mother had a voice and sang semi-professionally on occasion. During a visit to the Catskills when Streisand was thirteen, she told Rosie ODonnell, she and that session was the first time Streisand ever asserted herself as an artist, which also became her first moment of inspiration as an artist. She has a brother, Sheldon, and a half-sister
29.
The 5th Dimension
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The 5th Dimension is an American popular music vocal group, whose repertoire includes pop, R&B, soul, jazz, light opera and Broadway—the melange was coined as Champagne Soul. Formed as The Versatiles in late 1965, the changed its name to the hipper The 5th Dimension by 1966. The five original members were Billy Davis Jr. Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo, Lamonte McLemore and they have recorded for several labels over their long careers. Their first work appeared on the Soul City label, which was started by Imperial Records/United Artists Records recording artist Johnny Rivers, the group later recorded for Bell/Arista Records, ABC Records, and Motown Records. Some of the songwriters popularized by the 5th Dimension went on to careers of their own, especially Ashford & Simpson, who wrote California Soul. In the early 1960s, Lamonte McLemore and Marilyn McCoo got together with three friends from Los Angeles — Harry Elston, Lawrence Summers. and Fritz Baskett — to form a group called the Hi-Fis. In 1963, they sang at clubs while taking lessons from a vocal coach. In 1964, they came to the attention of Ray Charles and he produced a single by the group, Lonesome Mood, a jazz-type song that gained local attention. However, internal disagreements caused Elston to go his way, eventually leading to his forming the Friends of Distinction, with latter day Hi-Fis member, McLemore sought to form another group and started looking for members to join him and McCoo. McCoo, who had studied with the vocal coach Eddie Beal, had appeared in high school. His grandmother fostered his career by arranging for private voice and acting lessons as he grew up, in his teens, he toured with Dorothy Dandridge and Nat King Cole, joined the Wings Over Jordan Choir, and played a small part in the film Porgy and Bess. He demonstrated his skill as a classical artist by placing third in the Metropolitan Opera auditions held in St. Louis, after finishing high school, he worked his way through Lincoln University by conducting the school and church choir. After graduating, he organized his own 25-member gospel choir, another of McLemores friends from St. Louis days, Billy Davis Jr. started singing in gospel choirs at an early age. He later saved enough money to buy a cocktail lounge in St. Louis, when asked to join McLemores new group, he agreed, while hoping for a solo contract from Motown. The members began rehearsing as the Versatiles in late 1965 and auditioned for Marc Gordon, who headed Motowns Los Angeles office. Although the groups demo tape was rejected by Motown, Gordon agreed to them and brought them to the attention of Johnny Rivers. Their first Soul City single, Ill Be Lovin You Forever, was a successful single, in 1965 The Mamas & the Papas first single, lead member John Phillips Go Where You Wanna Go, failed to open the foursomes chart career. The budding songwriter Jimmy Webb supplied the group with their hit, Up, Up and Away
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Barbra Joan Streisand (album)
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Barbra Joan Streisand is an album by Barbra Streisand, released in August,1971 on Columbia Records. It is notable for including I Mean to Shine, the first recording of a written by the Steely Dan duo of Donald Fagen. The album also features production and backing work by members of the female band Fanny, the album reached #11 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and was certified Gold by the RIAA. The album peaked #25 in Canada, according to the liner notes of Barbras retrospective box set, Just for the Record, the album also received a record certification in Belgium and in Sweden
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Aretha Franklin
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Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter and musician. Franklin began her career singing gospel at her father, minister C. L. Franklins church as a child, in 1960, at the age of 18, Franklin embarked on a secular career, recording for Columbia Records but only achieving modest success. Following her signing to Atlantic Records in 1967, Franklin achieved commercial acclaim and success with such as Respect, A Natural Woman. These hits and more helped her to gain the title The Queen of Soul by the end of the 1960s decade, in 1998, Franklin won international acclaim for singing the opera aria Nessun dorma, at the Grammys of that year replacing Luciano Pavarotti. Later that same year, she scored her final Top 40 recording with A Rose Is Still a Rose, Franklin has won a total of 18 Grammy Awards and is one of the best-selling artists of all time, having sold over 75 million records worldwide. Franklin has been honored throughout her career including a 1987 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and she was inducted to the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In August 2012, Franklin was inducted into the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame, Aretha Louise Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the daughter of Barbara and Clarence LaVaughn Franklin. Her father, who went by the nickname, C. L. was an itinerant preacher originally from Shelby, Mississippi, while her mother was a piano player. Alongside Franklin, her parents had three children while both C. L. and Barbara had children from outside their marriage. The family relocated to Buffalo, New York when Franklin was two, before her fifth birthday, C. L. Franklin permanently relocated the family to Detroit, Michigan where he took over the pastorship of New Bethel Baptist Church. Franklins mother died on March 7,1952, before Franklins tenth birthday, several women, including Franklins grandmother Rachel, and Mahalia Jackson took turns helping with the children at the Franklin home. During this time, Franklin learned how to play piano by ear, Franklins fathers emotionally driven sermons resulted in him being known as the man with the million-dollar voice and earning thousands of dollars for sermons in various churches across the country. Just after her mothers death, Franklin began singing solos at New Bethel, debuting with the hymn, Jesus, Be a Fence Around Me. Four years later, when Franklin was 14, her father began managing her and he helped his daughter get signed to her first recording deal with J. V. B. Records, where her first album, Songs of Faith, was issued in 1956, two singles were released to gospel radio stations including Never Grow Old and Precious Lord, Take My Hand. Franklin sometimes traveled with The Caravans and The Soul Stirrers during this time and developed a crush on Sam Cooke, after turning 18, Franklin confided to her father that she aspired to follow Sam Cooke to record pop music. Serving as her manager, C. L. agreed to the move and helped to produce a demo that soon was brought to the attention of Columbia Records. Franklin was signed as a five-percent artist, during this period, Franklin would be coached by choreographer Cholly Atkins to prepare for her pop performances
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Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance
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The award was first given in 1999, until 2003, only albums were nominated, now just singles or tracks are. Between 1999 and 2002, this accolade was originally known as Best Traditional R&B Vocal Album and it was renamed in 2003, being awarded for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. Since 2012 the accolade has been known as Best Traditional R&B Performance, singers Aretha Franklin, Lalah Hathaway and Beyoncé hold the record for the most wins as a performer in this category, with two each. Aretha won her first award in 2004 and a second at the 2006 ceremony, while Beyoncé won her first award in 2010, Hathaway won her two Grammys back to back in 2015 and 2016. The American R&B soul rock group The Temptations holds the record for the most nominations, raphael Saadiq and Ann Nesby hold the record for the most nominations without a win, with three each. ^ Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year, List of Grammy Award categories List of R&B musicians Official site of the Grammy Awards
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46th Annual Grammy Awards
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The 46th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 8,2004 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year, the big winners were Outkast, who won three awards including Album of the Year & Beyoncé Knowles, who won five Awards. Tied for the most nominations, with six each, were Knowles, Outkast, Jackson Christina Aguilera – Beautiful Bold type indicates the winner out of the list of nominees. King Funny Girl performed by the original Broadway cast with Barbra Streisand & Sydney Chaplin Golden Jubilee Concert, Beyoncé became the fourth female artist to win a record five awards in one night. Prior to Beyoncé Norah Jones, Alicia Keys and Lauryn Hill had won five in one night, since 2004 Amy Winehouse and Alison Krauss became the fifth and sixth artists respectively to tie this record. Beyoncé is the one of these six artists who did not win a general field award out of her five wins. In 2010 Beyoncé broke this record and this record was later tied by Adele in 2012. Justin Timberlake apologized for the Super Bowl halftime show the week in his acceptance speech that night. Janet Jackson however did not appear at the Grammy Awards, as Evanescence were presented with the award for Best New Artist, rapper 50 Cent went up to the stage. 50 Cent was nominated for Best New Artist, losing to Evanescence, Luther Vandross won four awards however he was unable to attend due to a stroke he suffered several months earlier. Celine Dion sang his song Dance With My Father with Richard Marx playing piano in tribute to Luther Vandross, the song was ultimately awarded the award for Song of the Year later that night. During the show showed a videotaped clip that was pre-taped of him saying Whenever I say goodbye its never for long because I believe in the power of love. Vandross died the year in 2005. The show also featured a Tribute to The Beatles in honor of the 40 year anniversary of their arrival in America, during the show, both widows of deceased members – Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison – made an on-stage appearance. New York Times, February 4,2004, The Grammy Award Winners of 2004
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Marcia Hines
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Marcia Elaine Hines, AM, is an American-Australian vocalist, actress and TV personality. Hines made her debut, at the age of 16, in the Australian production of the stage musical Hair, Hines was voted Queen of Pop by TV Weeks readers for three consecutive years from 1976. Hines stopped recording in the early 1980s until she returned with Right Here and Now in 1994 and she was the subject of the 2001 biography Diva, the life of Marcia Hines which coincided with the release of the compilation album Diva. Since 2003 she has been a judge on Australian Idol, and her 2006 album, Discotheque, peaked at number 6 on the Australian Recording Industry Association albums chart. Hines was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame on 18 July 2007, Hines is the mother of singer Deni Hines, with whom she performed on the duet single Stomp. Born Marcia Elaine Hines in Boston, Massachusetts, U. S. to Jamaican parents, Eugene, Eugene died when Hines was six months old due to an operation to remove shrapnel from a war wound. Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell is her cousin, as is the performer Grace Jones and she was raised with her older brother Dwight, by their mother and began singing as a nine-year-old in her church choir. By her teens she was performing with groups in her local area, at 14, Hines won a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music but left after three months. A month after turning 16, Hines attended the Woodstock Festival, because she was underage, Miller was made her legal guardian. When she made her debut in April 1970 Hines became the youngest person in the world to play a role in any production of Hair. It was produced by Miller and directed by Sharman, fellow performers included Keith Glass, Sharon Redd, Reg Livermore, and John Waters. During the shows run Hines learned she was pregnant, her daughter, Deni Hines, was born in September 1970, the show was a major success. Hines was well received and an Australian tour followed, other cast members included Trevor White, Jon English, Doug Parkinson, Stevie Wright and John Paul Young. When Jesus Christ Superstar finished in February 1974, Hines joined the jazz orchestra Daly-Wilson Big Band, Hines vocals were on the cover songs Aint No Mountain High Enough and Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans. Hines toured with Daly-Wilson Big Band from Australia to United States, supporting B. B. King and Wilson Pickett in Los Angeles, then to Europe, during late 1974 Hines also performed as the backing vocalist on Jim Keays solo concept album The Boy from the Stars. Hines biggest hit was with Tom Snows You, which reached number 2 in the charts in Australia in October 1977. It was a dance song, later covered in the U. S. by Rita Coolidge. The song, however, nearly didnt make it to Marcia, robie Porter had put the song into his dont use pile
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Life (Marcia Hines album)
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Life is the twelfth studio album by Australian singer Marcia Hines, released in Australia on 17 November 2007. It peaked at #21 in Australia, the album is Hines interpretation of songs originally recorded by artists such as John Lennon, R. E. M and Toni Braxton. Following the success of her 2006 album, Discothèque, Hines was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, Hines said of the achievement, I love Australia, but most importantly Im so happy that I am an Australian. Hines recorded a new album, titled, Life, songs that have she claims have helped her survive, and given her strength. Hines continued saying, Everyones life is remarkable and this album is about the heroism of everyday life. I am still a work in progress, but the life that I dreamed of is each day becoming a reality CD A limited edition includes a DVD documentary on the making of Life, Life debuted and peaked at #21 in Australia. Arranged & mixed & produced by – Paul L
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Promises, Promises (musical)
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Promises, Promises is a musical based on the 1960 film The Apartment. The music is by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, musical numbers for the original Broadway production were choreographed by Michael Bennett. Robert Moore directed, and David Merrick produced, the story concerns a junior executive at an insurance company who seeks to climb the corporate ladder by allowing his apartment to be used by his married superiors for trysts. The original Broadway production premiered in 1968, with Jerry Orbach as Chuck Baxter and Jill OHara as Fran Kubelik, a London production opened in 1969 featuring Tony Roberts and Betty Buckley. The cast album won the Grammy Award for best cast recording, after a tryout in Washington, D. C. the show premiered on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre on December 1,1968, and closed on January 1,1972 after 1,281 performances. Featured in small or ensemble roles were Kelly Bishop, Graciela Daniele, Ken Howard, Baayork Lee, Donna McKechnie, Frank Pietri, Margo Sappington, a national tour starring Melissa Hart as Fran performed throughout the United States during the early 1970s. Freatured ensemble included Laurent Giroux, Carla Lewis, Dennis Grimaldi, the show was first produced in Londons West End at the Prince of Wales Theatre in 1969, featuring Tony Roberts and Betty Buckley. A reading for a revival of the musical was held in October 2008 with Sean Hayes, the revival opened at the Broadway Theatre on April 25,2010, after previews starting on March 27. Directed and choreographed by Rob Ashford, the revival starred Sean Hayes, Kristin Chenoweth, Brooks Ashmanskas, Katie Finneran and Tony Goldwyn. The Bacharach-David songs I Say a Little Prayer, a 1967 million-selling hit written for Dionne Warwick, due to pregnancy, Katie Finneran departed the role of Marge on October 10,2010, and was replaced by Saturday Night Live veteran Molly Shannon. Hayes, Chenoweth and Shannon remained with the production until its closing on January 2,2011, the show had 291 performances and 30 previews. Regional theatre productions have included a 1993 staging at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, held a staged concert in March 1997, starring Martin Short, Kerry OMalley, Eugene Levy, Dick Latessa and Christine Baranski. 2014 San Francisco Production The musical opened at San Francisco Playhouse in November 2014 and it featured Jeffrey Brian Adams in the role of Chuck and Monique Hafen as Fran. 2017 Southwark Playhouse, London Ran from January to February, directed by Bronagh Lagan with Gabriel Vick in the role of Chuck, Chuck Baxter is an ambitious bachelor and junior executive for a large insurance company, Consolidated Life, who expresses his frustrations and hopes for career advancement. To curry favor with higher-ups in the company, he allows his apartment to be used for their romantic trysts in return for promises of promotion, Chuck has his own eye set on Fran Kubelik, a waitress in the company cafeteria whom hes always admired from a distance. While talking together she wonders if she ever find someone to share her life with. Chuck hopes that she might notice him, J. D. Sheldrake, the companys powerful personnel director, notices the glowing reviews written by Chucks superiors and deduces the reason for them. He requests sole use of the apartment for his affairs in exchange for Chucks long-awaited promotion, Chuck asks Fran to attend the basketball game with him, and she agrees to meet him there after first having a drink with her soon-to-be ex-lover
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Steps (group)
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Steps are a British dance-pop group consisting of Lee Latchford-Evans, Claire Richards, Lisa Scott-Lee, Faye Tozer and Ian H Watkins. Steps formed in May 1997 by Barry Upton and Steve Crosby and released four studio albums and their music has a 1990s dance-pop sound. Their name was based on a premise, that each of their music videos were to be choreographed. The group has sold over 20 million records worldwide in addition to acquiring a BRIT Award nomination in 1999 for Best Newcomer while supporting Britney Spears on tour the same year, when Richards and Watkins departed, the group disbanded on 26 December 2001. Their penultimate single reached number five in the UK charts while their album of greatest hits. Steps reformed in May 2011 for a documentary series on Sky Living titled Steps. The series started airing on 28 September, following an announcement of a second Greatest Hits album, The Ultimate Collection, the album entered the charts at number 1, becoming the bands third UK number 1 album. Series 2 of Steps Reunion titled Steps, On the Road Again aired on Sky Living in April 2012, the group reformed for a second time on 1 January 2017 in celebration of their 20th Anniversary. Steps were formed by Steve Crosby & Barry Upton alongside manager Tim Byrne after auditioning hopefuls who answered an ad in The Stage newspaper, Byrne had previously been involved in the production of the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party, the BBC collaboration with the pop magazine, Smash Hits. After auditions, the original line-up of H, Lisa, Derek OBrien, Maddy Chan, and Mitch Stevens was finalised, however, Derek, Maddy, and Mitch left, as they wanted more than a one-hit wonder, and saw no long-term future with Steps. Their first single 5,6,7,8 was a line dance song. Though not typical of what became their style, it was their first hit both in the UK and internationally, despite only peaking at number 14, the single achieved considerable longevity in the fast-paced singles climate of 1997-1998, racking up over four months on the UK chart. The track remains one of the highest selling singles never to reach the top 10 on the UK Singles Chart and its release in Australia gave the group their first number one in 1998. The group were signed by Jive Records and following the success of their debut single, watermans stated intention was to try to recreate the sound of ABBA and blend it with a more modern style. He often referred to the group as ABBA on speed, in April 1998, Steps launched their second single, a cover version of Bananaramas Last Thing on My Mind, which became their first UK top ten peaking at number 6. By August 1998, Steps continued to build momentum with their third single One for Sorrow which peaked at number 2, unlike many other pop acts of the era, Steps singles success translated into impressive album sales as their debut album Step One entered the chart at number 2. It was certified 5x Platinum following a run of 50 weeks in the Top 20, the next single release was a double A-side which provided Steps with their signature song and biggest career seller. The single was a version of the Bee Gees Tragedy
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