1.
Single (music)
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In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record, an album or an EP record. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats, in most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. Typically, these are the songs from albums that are released separately for promotional uses such as digital download or commercial radio airplay and are expected to be the most popular, in other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album. As digital downloading and audio streaming have become prevalent, it is often possible for every track on an album to also be available separately. Nevertheless, the concept of a single for an album has been retained as an identification of a heavily promoted or more popular song within an album collection. Despite being referred to as a single, singles can include up to as many as three tracks on them. The biggest digital music distributor, iTunes, accepts as many as three tracks less than ten minutes each as a single, as well as popular music player Spotify also following in this trend. Any more than three tracks on a release or longer than thirty minutes in total running time is either an Extended Play or if over six tracks long. The basic specifications of the single were made in the late 19th century. Gramophone discs were manufactured with a range of speeds and in several sizes. By about 1910, however, the 10-inch,78 rpm shellac disc had become the most commonly used format, the inherent technical limitations of the gramophone disc defined the standard format for commercial recordings in the early 20th century.26 rpm. With these factors applied to the 10-inch format, songwriters and performers increasingly tailored their output to fit the new medium, the breakthrough came with Bob Dylans Like a Rolling Stone. Singles have been issued in various formats, including 7-inch, 10-inch, other, less common, formats include singles on digital compact cassette, DVD, and LD, as well as many non-standard sizes of vinyl disc. Some artist release singles on records, a more common in musical subcultures. The most common form of the single is the 45 or 7-inch. The names are derived from its speed,45 rpm. The 7-inch 45 rpm record was released 31 March 1949 by RCA Victor as a smaller, more durable, the first 45 rpm records were monaural, with recordings on both sides of the disc. As stereo recordings became popular in the 1960s, almost all 45 rpm records were produced in stereo by the early 1970s
2.
Folk rock
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It has also been influential in those parts of the world with close cultural connections to Britain and gave rise to the genre of folk punk. By the 1980s the genre was in decline in popularity. When English bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s defined themselves as electric folk they were making a distinction with the existing folk rock. Folk rock was what they had already been producing, American or American style singer-songwriter material played on instruments, as undertaken by Bob Dylan. They drew the distinction because they were focusing on indigenous songs, the result of this hybridisation was an exchange of specific features drawn from Traditional music and Rock music. For example, electric folk groups, while using traditional material as their source for lyrics and tunes. In the same year, The Beatles began incorporating overt folk influences into their music, the Beatles and other British Invasion bands, in turn, influenced the Californian band The Byrds, who began playing folk-influenced material and Bob Dylan compositions with rock instrumentation. The Byrds recording of Dylans Mr Tambourine Man was released in April 1965 and reached #1 on the U. S. and UK singles charts, setting off the mid-1960s folk rock movement. The Beatles late 1965 album, Rubber Soul, contained a number of songs clearly influenced by the American folk rock boom, such as Nowhere Man and If I Needed Someone. Folk rock became an important genre among emerging English bands, particularly those in the London club scene towards the end of the 1960s. Like the American revival, it was often overtly left wing in its politics, most important among their responses were the foundation of folk clubs in major towns, starting with London where MacColl began the Ballads and Blues Club in 1953. These clubs were usually urban in location, but the songs sung in them often hearkened back to a rural pre-industrial past, in many ways this was the adoption of abandoned popular music by the middle classes. This meant that there were, by the later 1960s, a group of performers with musical skill and knowledge of a variety of traditional songs. The result was an interpretation of the song A Sailors Life. The rapid expansion of electric folk that followed in the wake of Liege, five Hand Reel a band formed out of the remnants of Spencers Feat proved to be one of the more successful and influential folk rock bands. Releasing 4 albums with Topic/RCA records they were popular in Europe. He then quit that and eventually formed the Albion Country Band, later the Albion Band, a much smaller group of English bands were formed in emulation of existing electric rock bands. Fiddlers Dram were often dismissed as one hit wonders for their single Day Trip to Bangor, most of their career, from that point until they disbanded in 1979, was one of declining profile and sales
3.
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
4.
Stephen Schwartz (composer)
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Stephen Lawrence Schwartz is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning four decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as Godspell, Pippin. He has contributed lyrics for a number of films, including Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Prince of Egypt. Schwartz has won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics, three Grammy Awards, three Academy Awards and has been nominated for six Tony Awards and he received the 2015 Isabelle Stevenson Award, a special Tony Award, for his commitment to serving artists and fostering new talent. Schwartz was born in New York City, the son of Sheila Lorna, a teacher, and Stanley Leonard Schwartz and he grew up in the Williston Park area of Nassau County, New York, where he graduated from Mineola High School in 1964. He studied piano and composition at the Juilliard School while attending high school, while attending Carnegie Mellon University, Schwartz composed and directed an early version of Pippin with the student-run theatre group, ScotchnSoda. Schwartz graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1968 with a BFA in drama, upon returning to New York City, Schwartz went to work as a producer for RCA Records, but shortly thereafter began to work in the Broadway theatre. He was asked to be the director of the first American rock opera. He was credited as the producer of the album of the soundtrack with the progressive rock group Smoke Rise on Paramount Records. His first major credit was the song for the play Butterflies Are Free. In 1971, he music and lyrics for Godspell, for which he won several awards including two Grammys. For this musicals Toronto production in 1972, he asked Paul Shaffer to be the musical director, thus starting Shaffers career. Godspell was followed by the English-language texts, in collaboration with Leonard Bernstein, for Bernsteins Mass, in 1972, the long-running Pippin premiered on Broadway. Schwartz had begun writing songs for Pippin while in college, although none of the songs from the college version ended up in the Broadway production, both Pippin and Godspell continue to be frequently produced. Two years after Pippin debuted, Schwartz wrote music and lyrics of The Magic Show, by mid-1974, at age 26, Schwartz had three smash hit musicals playing in New York simultaneously. Next were the music and lyrics of The Bakers Wife, which closed before reaching Broadway after an out-of-town tryout tour in 1976 and he also co-directed the television production, which was presented as part of the PBS American Playhouse series. In 1977, Schwartz wrote a book called The Perfect Peach. In the 1980s, Schwartz wrote songs for a musical for children, The Trip
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John-Michael Tebelak
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John-Michael Tebelak was an American playwright and director. He was most famous for creating the musical Godspell based on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, the music was by Stephen Schwartz. Some of the lyrics are original, with others taken from either the Bible or traditional hymns in the 1940 Episcopal Hymnal, Tebelak originally produced Godspell at age 21 as his masters thesis project, under the tutelage of Lawrence Carra, at Carnegie Mellon University in December 1970. He had been studying Greek and Roman mythology, with the deadline for his thesis two weeks away, but became fascinated by the joy he found in the Gospels. He attended an Easter Vigil service in 1970 at Pittsburghs St. Paul Cathedral, wearing his usual overalls, a police officer frisked him for drugs after the service. He wrote of this experience, I left with the feeling that, rather than rolling the rock away from the Tomb, I went home, took out my manuscript, and worked it to completion in a non-stop frenzy. Though he never completed his coursework at the university, Carnegie Mellon nevertheless awarded him a degree, subsequently, Tebelak directed productions of Godspell at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, the Cherry Lane Theatre, the Promenade Theatre, and on Broadway. He was named Theatre Man of the Year by Elliott Norton of the Boston-Record American and he was also named an Outstanding Ohioan by then-Governor John J. Gilligan. John Michael Tebelak graduated from Berea High School in 1966, in 1972 Tebelak directed the Broadway play Elizabeth I, the off-Broadway play, The Glorious One in 1975, and Ka-Boom in 1980. He also directed Lope de Vegas Fuenteovejuna in Madrid in 1975 and he co-wrote with David Greene the 1973 film version of Godspell. Tebelak once said that he walked into a theatre at the age of nine and he was a lifelong member of the Episcopal Church, possibly thought about becoming a priest, and may have attended an Episcopal seminary for a time. He was dramaturge for the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City, according to Rev. James Parks Morton, whether it was a sermon series or a two-day conference on the environment, he turned it into theater. In 1980, Tebelak was sued in State Supreme Court in Manhattan by his former live-in companion, the lawsuit was an early effort to define the rights of cohabiting homosexual couples. John-Michael returned to his native Berea, Ohio, to direct the 10th Anniversary production of Godspell at the Berea Summer Theater, Summer of 1980 and he subsequently directed Cabaret there, Summer 1981. Tebelak died on April 2,1985, of an attack in New York City at age 35. He was survived by his parents, John and Genevieve Tebelak, his sister Trudy Williams, john-Michael Tebelak at the Internet Broadway Database John Michael Tebelak at musicalschwartz. com, Biography and interview
6.
Godspell
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Godspell is a musical, composed by Stephen Schwartz with the spoken parts by John-Michael Tebelak. Several cast albums have been released over the years and one of its songs, Day by Day from the original cast album, the structure of the musical is that of a series of parables, mostly based on the Gospel of Matthew. The parables are interspersed with a variety of music set primarily to lyrics from traditional hymns. It started as a project performed by students at Carnegie Mellon University. It was then re-scored for a production which became a long-running success. A junior one-act version with songs and monologues removed has also been made under the title Godspell Junior. The show originated in 1970 as Tebelaks masters thesis project, under the direction of Lawrence Carra, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, a version was performed at Carnegie Mellon in 1970, with several of the cast members from the CMU Music Department. Tebelak then directed the show, with much of the student cast, for a two-week, ten performance run at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, New York City, opening February 24,1971. It was brought to the attention of producers Edgar Lansbury, Joseph Beruh, and Stuart Duncan by Carnegie alumnus Charles Haid, the producers hired Stephen Schwartz, another alumnus of Carnegie Mellons theater department, to write a new song score. Schwartzs songs incorporated a variety of styles, from pop to folk rock, gospel. One song, By My Side, written by CMU students Jay Hamburger, as with the original score, most of the non-Schwartz lyrics were from the Episcopal Hymnal. The original cast defined the personalities of each character as the show was developed, most of the characters names are simply the first name of the actor, so the characters are more easily identified by the song they sing. The only two named roles are Jesus, and John the Baptist, who doubles in the show as Judas Iscariot. The stage version applies the following names and traits to the group of characters who act out the parables and sing, Gilmer, Herb, Jeffrey, Joanne, Lamar, Peggy. All ten actors are on stage throughout the show, the show begins with Gods Voice, spoken by Jesus, declaring his supremacy, My name is Known, God and King. I am most in majesty, in whom no beginning may be, the company then enters and takes the role of various philosophers throughout the ages. They sing fragments of their philosophies, first as solos. In response to these philosophers, John the Baptist enters blowing a shofar to call the community to order and he then beckons them to Prepare Ye, The Way of the Lord
7.
Godspell (film)
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Godspell is the 1973 film adaptation of the Off-Broadway musical Godspell created by John-Michael Tebelak with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Directed by David Greene with stars Victor Garber as Jesus and David Haskell as Judas/John the Baptist, John-Michael Tebelak is credited as co-writer of the screenplay and served as the creative consultant, although director David Greene said Tebelak did not write the screenplay. The structure of the musical is, in part, retained. Many of the scenes take advantage of sites around an empty. John the Baptist gathers a band of youthful disciples to follow. These disciples then proceed to form a roving acting troupe that enacts Jesuss parables through the streets of New York and they often make references to vaudeville shtick. While the play very little stage dressing, the film places emphasis on dramatic location shots in Manhattan. Vocally, the chorus is much in the same style. Notably, in All Good Gifts, whereas Lamar Alford had used a tenor voice, Merrell Jackson uses a lighter voice. Regarding the band, all four of the musicians from the stage production. These musicians were Steve Reinhardt on keyboards, Jesse Cutler on acoustic and lead guitar and bass, Richard LaBonte on rhythm guitar and bass, ruhlmann describes Schwartz as being better able to realize the scores pop tendencies than he had on the cast album. This was a complete version of the score, but it was much better performed and produced. The film was entered into the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, Godspell received generally positive reviews in 1973. Allmovie Guide currently gives the film a three out of five rating, various bands have covered songs from the film/musical. The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists,2006, AFIs 100 Years
8.
Richard of Chichester
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Richard of Chichester, also known as Richard de Wych, is a saint who was Bishop of Chichester. In Chichester Cathedral a shrine dedicated to Richard had become a richly decorated centre of pilgrimage, in 1538, during the reign of Henry VIII, the shrine was plundered and destroyed by order of Thomas Cromwell. St Richard of Chichester is patron saint of Sussex in southern England, since 2007, Richard was born in Burford, near the town of Wyche and was an orphan member of a gentry family. On the death of their parents Richards elder brother was heir to the estates but he was not old enough to inherit, so the lands were subject to a feudal wardship. On coming of age his brother took possession of his lands, but was required to pay a medieval form of duty that left the family so impoverished. His brother also made Richard heir to the estate, according to Richards biographers, friends tried to arrange a match with a certain noble lady. However Richard rejected the proposed match, suggesting that his brother might marry her instead, he also reconveyed the estates back to his brother, preferring a life of study, educated at the University of Oxford, Richard soon began to teach in the university. From there he proceeded to Paris and then Bologna, where he distinguished himself by his proficiency in canon law, on returning to England in 1235, Richard was elected Oxfords chancellor. His former tutor, Edmund of Abingdon, had become archbishop of Canterbury, Richard shared Edmunds ideals of clerical reform and supported papal rights even against the king. In 1237, Archbishop Edmund appointed Richard chancellor of the diocese of Canterbury, Richard joined the archbishop during his exile at Pontigny, and was with him when the archbishop died circa 1240. Richard then decided to become a priest and studied theology for two years with the Dominicans at Orléans, upon returning to England, Richard became the parish priest at Charing and at Deal, but soon was reappointed chancellor of Canterbury by the new archbishop Boniface of Savoy. In 1244 Richard was elected Bishop of Chichester, Henry III and part of the chapter refused to accept him, the king favouring the candidature of Robert Passelewe. Archbishop Boniface refused to confirm Passelew, so both sides appealed to the pope, the king confiscated the sees properties and revenues, but Innocent IV confirmed Richards election and consecrated him bishop at Lyons in March 1245. Richard then returned to Chichester, but the refused to restore the sees properties for two years, and then did so only after being threatened with excommunication. Henry III forbade anyone to house or feed Richard, at first, Richard lived at Tarring in the house of his friend Simon, the parish priest of Tarring, visited his entire diocese on foot, and cultivated figs in his spare time. Richards private life was supposed to have displayed rigid frugality and temperance, Richard was an ascetic who wore a hair-shirt and refused to eat off silver. He kept his diet simple and rigorously excluded animal flesh, having been a vegetarian since his days at Oxford, Richard was merciless to usurers, corrupt clergy and priests who mumbled the Mass. He was also a stickler for clerical privilege, when the men of Lewes dragged a thief out of sanctuary and hanged him, he made them cut down the corpse and bury it in the sanctuary
9.
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
10.
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
11.
Key (music)
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In music theory, the key of a piece is a group of pitches, or scale upon which a music composition is created in classical, Western art, and Western pop music. Notes and chords other than the tonic in a piece create varying degrees of tension, the key may be in the major or minor mode, although major is assumed in a phrase like this piece is in C. Popular songs are usually in a key, and so is classical music during the common practice period, longer pieces in the classical repertoire may have sections in contrasting keys. Methods that establish the key for a piece can be complicated to explain. The key signature is not always a reliable guide to the key of a written piece, occasionally, a piece in a mode such as Mixolydian or Dorian is written with a major or minor key signature appropriate to the tonic, and accidentals throughout the piece. Pieces in modes not corresponding to major or minor keys may sometimes be referred to as being in the key of the tonic. A piece using some type of harmony, resolving e. g. to A. An instrument may be said to be in a key, an unrelated usage referring to the pitches considered natural for that instrument. For example, modern trumpets are usually in the key of B♭, a key relationship is the relationship between keys, measured by common tones and nearness on the circle of fifths. The key usually identifies the tonic note and/or chord, the note and/or major or minor triad that represents the point of rest for a piece. For example, the key of G includes the following pitches, G, A, B, C, D, E, and F♯, and its corresponding tonic chord is G—B—D. Most often at the beginning and end of traditional pieces during the common practice period, a key may be major or minor. Music can be described as being in the Dorian mode, or Phrygian, languages other than English may use other key naming systems. Although many musicians confuse key with scale, a scale is a set of notes typically used in a key, while the key is the center of gravity. All of these notes and chords, however, are used in patterns that serve to establish the primacy of the tonic note. Cadences are particularly important in the establishment of key, even cadences that do not include the tonic note or triad, such as half cadences and deceptive cadences, serve to establish key because those chord sequences imply a unique diatonic context. Short pieces may stay in a single key throughout, more elaborate pieces may establish the main key, then modulate to another key, or a series of keys, then back to the original key. In the Baroque it was common to repeat a phrase of music, called a ritornello
12.
NBC
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The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcast television network that is the flagship property of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The network is part of the Big Three television networks, founded in 1926 by the Radio Corporation of America, NBC is the oldest major broadcast network in the United States. Following the acquisition by GE, Bob Wright served as executive officer of NBC, remaining in that position until his retirement in 2007. In 2003, French media company Vivendi merged its entertainment assets with GE, Comcast purchased a controlling interest in the company in 2011, and acquired General Electrics remaining stake in 2013. Following the Comcast merger, Zucker left NBC Universal and was replaced as CEO by Comcast executive Steve Burke, during a period of early broadcast business consolidation, radio manufacturer Radio Corporation of America acquired New York City radio station WEAF from American Telephone & Telegraph. Westinghouse, a shareholder in RCA, had an outlet in Newark, New Jersey pioneer station WJZ. This station was transferred from Westinghouse to RCA in 1923, WEAF acted as a laboratory for AT&Ts manufacturing and supply outlet Western Electric, whose products included transmitters and antennas. The Bell System, AT&Ts telephone utility, was developing technologies to transmit voice- and music-grade audio over short and long distances, the 1922 creation of WEAF offered a research-and-development center for those activities. WEAF maintained a schedule of radio programs, including some of the first commercially sponsored programs. In an early example of chain or networking broadcasting, the station linked with Outlet Company-owned WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island, AT&T refused outside companies access to its high-quality phone lines. The early effort fared poorly, since the telegraph lines were susceptible to atmospheric. In 1925, AT&T decided that WEAF and its network were incompatible with the companys primary goal of providing a telephone service. AT&T offered to sell the station to RCA in a deal that included the right to lease AT&Ts phone lines for network transmission, the divisions ownership was split among RCA, its founding corporate parent General Electric and Westinghouse. NBC officially started broadcasting on November 15,1926, WEAF and WJZ, the flagships of the two earlier networks, were operated side-by-side for about a year as part of the new NBC. On April 5,1927, NBC expanded to the West Coast with the launch of the NBC Orange Network and this was followed by the debut of the NBC Gold Network, also known as the Pacific Gold Network, on October 18,1931. The Orange Network carried Red Network programming, and the Gold Network carried programming from the Blue Network, initially, the Orange Network recreated Eastern Red Network programming for West Coast stations at KPO in San Francisco. The Orange Network name was removed from use in 1936, at the same time, the Gold Network became part of the Blue Network. In the 1930s, NBC also developed a network for shortwave radio stations, in 1927, NBC moved its operations to 711 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, occupying the upper floors of a building designed by architect Floyd Brown
13.
Today (U.S. TV program)
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Today, also called The Today Show, is an American news and talk morning television show that airs on NBC. The program debuted on January 14,1952 and it was the first of its genre on American television and in the world, and is the fifth-longest-running American television series. Originally a two-hour program on weekdays, it expanded to Sundays in 1987, the weekday broadcast expanded to three hours in 2000, and to four hours in 2007. Todays dominance was virtually unchallenged by the other networks until the late 1980s, Today has maintained its No.2 status since the summer of 2012 each year behind GMA. In 2002, Today was ranked No.17 on TV Guides 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, the shows first broadcast aired on January 14,1952. It was the brainchild of Sylvester B, Pat Weaver, Jr. who was then vice president of NBC. Weaver was president of the company from 1953 to 1955, during which time Todays late-night companion The Tonight Show premiered, in pre-production, the shows proposed title was The Rise and Shine Revue. Today was the first program of its genre when it premiered with original host Dave Garroway, the program blended national news headlines, interviews with newsmakers, lifestyle features, other light news and gimmicks, and local news updates from the networks stations. It has spawned several other shows of a type, including ABCs Good Morning America. In other countries, the format was copied – most notably in the United Kingdom with the BBCs Breakfast Time and TV-ams Good Morning Britain, and in Canada with Canada AM on CTV. When Today debuted, it was seen only in the Eastern and Central time zones. Since 1958, Today has been tape-delayed for the five other U. S. time zones, partly to accommodate host Dave Garroways declining health, the program ceased live broadcasts in the summer of 1958, opting instead to broadcast an edition taped the previous afternoon. The experiment, which drew criticism from many sides, ended when John Chancellor replaced Garroway in July 1961, a fourth hour was eventually added on September 10,2007. NBC stations in some markets air the third and fourth hours of Today on tape delay, WHDH in Boston, Massachusetts was an NBC station that would follow this practice to accommodate an hour of local news at 9,00 am. On January 1,2017, the NBC affiliation in Boston moved to a new owned-and-operated station, WBTS, which airs the third and fourth hours of Today at its regular 9,00 am and 10,00 am timeslots. Generally, the program live in the Eastern Time Zone. When breaking news stories warrant, Today will broadcast a live West Coast edition, the live updates typically do not last longer than the 7,00 a. m. hour and once completed, will return to the taped East Coast feed. When the anchors welcome the viewers to the show, they note the current time as being Pacific Time
14.
Wet Hot American Summer
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Wet Hot American Summer is a 2001 American satirical romantic comedy film directed by David Wain from a screenplay written by Wain and Michael Showalter. The film takes place during the last full day at a summer camp in 1981. The film was a critical and commercial failure, but has developed a cult following. Netflix released a prequel series starring the entirety of the films original cast on July 31,2015. In 1981, Camp Firewood, a camp located near Waterville. Counselors have one last chance to have an encounter with another person at Camp Firewood. The summer culminates in a talent show, beth, the camp director, struggles to keep her counselors in order—and her campers alive—while falling in love with Henry, an astrophysics associate professor at Colby College. Henry has to devise a plan to save the camp from a piece of NASAs Skylab, Coop has a crush on Katie, his fellow counselor, but has to pry her away from her rebellious, obnoxious, and obviously unfaithful boyfriend, Andy. Only Gene, the shell-shocked Vietnam war veteran and camp chef, all the while, Gary, Genes unfortunately chosen apprentice, and J. J. The film is based on the experiences Wain had while attending Camp Modin, a Jewish camp, located in Belgrade, Maine, during one scene, the counselors take a trip into Waterville, Maine, which is not far from the camp. It is also a parody of, and homage to, other films about summer camp such as Meatballs, Sleepaway Camp, and Indian Summer. Because of the relatively small budget, the cast was paid very little. Principal photography lasted 28 days, and, according to director David Wain, exterior shots were filmed when possible, sometimes under covers or umbrellas, but some scenes were moved indoors instead. In many interior scenes, rain seen outside turns into sun as soon as characters step outside, due to the cold, the actors breath can be seen in some outdoor scenes. The film was shot at Camp Towanda in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, as the film is set in the early 1980s, the films soundtrack features songs from many popular bands of the era, most notably Jefferson Starship, Rick Springfield, Loverboy, and KISS. Blue & Chubb Rock Wet Hot American Summer premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, months later, USA Films offered the filmmakers $100,000 for the film, with virtually no participation for the filmmakers, an offer the films investors accepted. It premiered in New York City on July 27,2001, Wet Hot American Summer received mostly negative reviews from critics. As parody, it fails because it attempts to satirize something ridiculous, Metacritic gives the film a score of 42 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews
15.
Andy Williams
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Howard Andrew Andy Williams was an American popular music singer. He recorded 44 albums in his career,15 of which have been gold-certified and he was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a variety show, from 1962 to 1971. The Andy Williams Show garnered three Emmy awards, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri, is named after the song he is most known for singing—Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancinis Moon River. He sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including 10.5 million certified units in the United States, Williams was born in Wall Lake, Iowa, the son of Jay Emerson and Florence Williams. While living in Cheviot, Ohio, Williams attended Western Hills High School in Cincinnati and he finished high school at University High School, in West Los Angeles, because of his familys move to California. Williams had three older brothers—Bob, Don, and Dick Williams and his first performance was in a childrens choir at the local Presbyterian church. Moving to Los Angeles in 1943, the Williams Brothers sang with Bing Crosby on the hit record Swinging on a Star and they appeared in four musical films, Janie, Kansas City Kitty, Something in the Wind and Ladies Man. A persistent myth is that as a teenager the future singing star dubbed the singing for Lauren Bacall in the 1944 feature film To Have and Have Not, according to authoritative sources, including Howard Hawks and Bacall herself, this was not true. Williams and some female singers were tested to dub for Bacall, but those fears were overshadowed by the desire to have Bacall do her own singing despite her less-than-perfect vocal talent. This myth is refuted in Leonard Maltins Movie Guide in the entry for this film, when Bob completed his military service, Kay hired all four brothers to sing on the soundtrack to Good News. They made their debut in Las Vegas in 1947 and became an overnight sensation, within a year, they were the highest paid nightclub act in the world, breaking records wherever they appeared. Williams revealed in his memoir Moon River and Me that he and Thompson became romantically involved while on tour, the act broke up in 1949 but reunited for another hugely successful tour from the fall of 1951 through the summer of 1953. After that, the four went their separate ways. A complete itinerary of both tours is listed on the Kay Thompson biography website, Williams and Thompson, however, remained very close, both personally and professionally. She mentored his emergence as a singing star. She coached him, wrote his arrangements, and composed songs that he recorded. Using her contacts in the business, Thompson helped Williams land his breakthrough television gig as a singer for two-and-a-half years on The Tonight Show starring Steve Allen
16.
Ray Conniff
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Joseph Raymond Ray Conniff was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s. Conniff was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, and learned to play the trombone from his father and he studied music arranging from a course book. After serving in the U. S. Army in World War II, he joined the Artie Shaw big band and he wrote a top 10 arrangement for Don Cherrys Band of Gold in 1955, a single that sold more than a million copies. He also backed up the albums Tony by Tony Bennett, Blue Swing by Eileen Rodgers, Swingin for Two by Don Cherry, between 1957 and 1968, Conniff had 28 albums in the American Top 40, the most famous one being Somewhere My Love. He topped the album list in Britain in 1969 with His Orchestra, His Chorus, His Singers, His Sound and he also was the first American popular artist to record in Russia—in 1974 he recorded Ray Conniff in Moscow with the help of a local choir. In Brazil and Chile he was treated like a pop superstar in the 1980s and 1990s when he was in his 70s and 80s. I decided to have the choir sing along with the big band using wordless lyrics, the women were doubled with the trumpets and the men were doubled with the trombones. In the booth Mitch was totally surprised and excited at how well it worked, because of the success of his backing arrangements, and the new sound Conniff created, Miller allowed him to make his own record, and this became the successful ’s Wonderful. A collection of standards that were recorded with an orchestra and a singing chorus. His second album was Dance the Bop and it was an experiment by one of the brass at Columbia to cash in on a conceived dance step creation, but from the outset, Conniff disliked it. When it sold poorly, he had it withdrawn from the market, in 1959 he started The Ray Conniff Singers and released the album Its the Talk of the Town. This group brought him the biggest hit he ever had in his career, the lyrics of the albums title selection were written to the music of Laras Theme from the film Doctor Zhivago, and the result was a top 10 single in the US. The album reached the US top 20 and went platinum, the single and album also reached high positions in the international charts, whilst the first of four Christmas albums by the Singers, Christmas with Conniff was also successful. Nearly 50 years after its release, in 2004, Conniff was posthumously awarded a platinum album/CD, musically different highlights in Conniffs career are two albums he produced in cooperation with Billy Butterfield, an old friend from earlier swing days. Conniff Meets Butterfield featured Butterfields solo trumpet and a rhythm group, Just Kiddin Around, released 1963. Both albums are pure light jazz and did not feature any vocals, Conniff recorded in New York from 1955 through 1961 and mainly in Los Angeles from 1962 through 2000. Later in the 1960s he produced an average of two instrumental and one album a year. Conniff sold about 70 million albums worldwide, and continued recording and performing until his death in 2002 and he died in Escondido, California, from a fall he suffered in a bathtub, and is buried in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California
17.
Cilla Black
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Priscilla Maria Veronica White OBE, known by her stage name Cilla Black, was an English singer, television presenter, actress, and author. Championed by her friends the Beatles, she began her career as a singer in 1963, Black had eleven Top Ten hits on the British charts between then and 1971. In May 2010, new research published by BBC Radio 2 showed that her version of Anyone Who Had a Heart was the UKs biggest selling single by a female artist in the 1960s. Youre My World was also a modest hit in the US, along with a successful recording career in the 1960s and early 1970s, Black hosted her own variety show, Cilla, for the BBC between 1968 and 1976. In 2013, Black celebrated her 50 years in show business, British television network ITV honoured this milestone with a one-off entertainment special which aired on 16 October 2013. The show, called The One & Only Cilla Black, featured Black herself and was hosted by Paul OGrady, Black died on 1 August 2015 after a fall in her villa in Estepona, Spain. The day after her funeral, the compilation album The Very Best of Cilla Black went to one on the UK Albums Chart. Priscilla White was born in Liverpool, England, on 27 May 1943 and her parents were John Patrick White and Priscilla Blythen. She had a Welsh grandfather, Joseph Henry Blythen, who was born in Wrexham, and Irish great-grandparents on both her fathers and mothers sides of the family. She was raised in a Roman Catholic household, and attended St. Anthonys School, situated behind St. Anthonys Church in Scotland Road, and Anfield Commercial College, where she learned office skills. Determined to become an entertainer, Cilla White gained a job as a cloakroom attendant at Liverpools Cavern Club. Her impromptu performances impressed the Beatles and others and she was encouraged to begin singing by a Liverpool promoter, Sam Leach, who booked her first gig at the Casanova Club, on London Road, where she appeared as Swinging Cilla. She became a guest singer with the Merseybeat bands Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, Kingsize Taylor, meanwhile, she worked as a waitress at the Zodiac coffee lounge, where she later met her future husband Bobby Willis. She then took the name Black as part of her stage name and she was introduced to Epstein by John Lennon, who persuaded him to audition her. John was encouraged by his Aunt Mimi to introduce Cilla to Epstein, Epstein had a portfolio of local artists but initially showed little interest in her. Her first audition was a failure, partly because of nerves, in her autobiography Whats It All About. She wrote, Id chosen to do Summertime, but at the very last moment I wished I hadnt. I adored this song, and had sung it when I came to Birkenhead with the Big Three and it was too late for second thoughts, though
18.
Day by Day with Cilla
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Day by Day with Cilla is the title of Cilla Blacks seventh solo studio album released in 1973 by Parlophone Records. The album marked the end of a significant era in Blacks recording career as it was her last project to be produced by George Martin and it was also Blacks final record released on the Parlophone Records label. Music arranger on three of the songs, Thank Heavens Ive Got You, Ive Stiill Got My Heart Joe, alan Hawkshaw, later composer of the music for Channel 4s Countdown, played piano for these songs. Gunning described working on songs as some of the most enjoyable work he had ever done. This album was also Blacks first to be produced under the guise of her own production company Cilla Black Limited, on 7 September 2009, EMI Records release a special edition of the album exclusively to digital download. This re-issue features all of the original recordings re-mastered by Abbey Road Studios from original 1/4 stereo master tapes
19.
George Martin
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Sir George Henry Martin CBE was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, audio engineer and musician. He was referred to as the Fifth Beatle, including by Paul McCartney, Martin produced 30 number-one hit singles in the United Kingdom and 23 number-one hits in the United States. Martin produced comedy and novelty records in the early 1950s, working with Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Bernard Cribbins and his career spanned more than six decades of work in music, film, television and live performance. He held a number of executive roles at media companies and contributed to a wide range of charitable causes, including his work for The Princes Trust. In recognition of his services to the industry and popular culture. Martin was born in Highbury, London, when he was six, Martins family acquired a piano that sparked his interest in music. As a child, he attended schools, including a convent school in Holloway, St Josephs School, and at St Ignatius College. When WWII broke out, and St. Ignatius College students were evacuated to Welwyn Garden City, his family left London, I remember well the very first time I heard a symphony orchestra. I was just in my teens when Sir Adrian Boult brought the BBC Symphony Orchestra to my school for a public concert. Hearing such glorious sounds I found it difficult to them with ninety men and women blowing into brass. Despite Martins continued interest in music, and fantasies about being the next Rachmaninov and he worked briefly as a quantity surveyor, and later for the War Office as a Temporary Clerk, which meant filing paperwork and making tea. In 1943, when he was 17, he joined the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy and became an aerial observer, the war ended before Martin was involved in any combat, and he left the service in 1947. Martins oboe teacher was Margaret Eliot, after that, Martin explained that he had just picked it up by himself. On 3 January 1948 – while still at the Academy – Martin married Sheena Chisholm and he later married Judy Lockhart-Smith on 24 June 1966, and they also had two children, Lucie and Giles Martin. Following his graduation, he worked for the BBCs classical music department, then joined EMI in 1950 as an assistant to Oscar Preuss, the head of EMIs Parlophone Records from 1950 to 1955. Although having been regarded by EMI as a vital German imprint in the past, after taking over Parlophone when Preuss retired in 1955, Martin recorded classical and Baroque music, original cast recordings, and regional music from around Britain and Ireland. Martin also produced numerous comedy and novelty records, later that decade Martin worked with Peter Sellers on two very popular comedy LPs. One was released on 10 format and called The Best Of Sellers, the album was Bridge on the River Wye
20.
DC Talk
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DC Talk is a Christian rap and rock trio. The group was formed at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1987 by Toby McKeehan, Michael Tait and they released five major studio albums together, DC Talk, Nu Thang, Free at Last, Jesus Freak, and Supernatural. In 2002, the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music called DC Talk the most popular overtly Christian act of all time, in 2000, the group released an EP titled Solo, which contained two solo songs from each member. Since that time, DC Talk has been on an hiatus. They performed and recorded individual songs together several times during the 2000s, the groups musical style evolved significantly throughout its career. Its first two releases, DC Talk and Nu Thang, were of the hip hop genre, DC Talks third album, Free at Last, also mainly took influence from the hip hop style, although the groups music began taking on a rock sound. The trios last two albums, Jesus Freak and Supernatural, were predominantly pop rock, DC Talk was a nickname that Toby Michael McKeehan, later TobyMac, who was born in Falls Church, Virginia, was given for being from the Washington D. C. area. While attending Liberty University, McKeehan met Michael DeWayne Tait, Tait had been featured singing on Jerry Falwell’s The Old Time Gospel Hour and recorded with the Falwell Singers. He also performed solo, what TobyMac later described his kind of an R&B / church-oriented music, the two joined forces to record a song that McKeehan had written, Heavenbound. They performed the song before an audience of 8,000 Liberty students with McKeehan rapping, the song was well received, selling out the approximately 3,000 copies of their demo tape, Christian Rhymes to a Rhythm. The tape included Heavenbound and was distributed by the group in the Washington D. C. area, the group’s demo tape eventually led to a recording contract with Forefront Records in 1988. Kevin Max Smith, later Kevin Max, came from a rock band to join the group, and the trio called themselves DC Talk. The name was simplified to DC Talk, which came to stand for decent Christian talk. After signing the contract with ForeFront the label released their self-titled debut album, DC Talk, in 1989 with Mike Valliere. The music video for their first single, Heavenbound, received airplay on the BET network, the album became the best selling debut by a Christian artist, but has since been surpassed. Their follow-up release, Nu Thang, and a Christmas EP titled Yo, Yo Ho Ho had three songs — the title track, Reason for the Season and The King, which was also on DC Talks first album. Nu Thang had two singles, I Luv Rap Music and Can I Get a Witness. Apart from dealing strictly with Christian themes, the band incorporated songs addressing social issues, such as racism in the song Walls and abortion in Children Can Live Without It
21.
Jesus Freak (album)
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Jesus Freak is the fourth studio album by the band DC Talk and was released on November 21,1995 on ForeFront Records. The style was a departure from the groups previous releases, incorporating a heavier rock sound. The album was released to critical and commercial acclaim. It peaked at number 16 on the Billboard 200 and six of the seven singles reached number one across various Christian radio formats. It won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album, Jesus Freak is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential albums in the history of Christian music. After three years, DC Talk returned with songs featuring an alternative rock sound. Thus, the lead single, Jesus Freak, was considered unexpected by fans. Michael Tait said, I was totally into rock and roll at the time I really wanted to make a rock record, the band decided to focus on more rock-oriented music, with touches of rap and pop interwoven into the mix. Tait later explained, We wanted to write songs that would touch a generation. Compared to DC Talks other albums, Jesus Freak was, stylistically, the album was a fusion of various musical genres, including pop, rock, and grunge, all combined with hip hop. The title track, Jesus Freak, is also of historical importance and it is believed to be the first link between grunge and rapcore in CCM. The song was played on some secular stations. In addition, the album contains cover songs, including Day by Day, from the musical Godspell. Several spoken-word samples are heard, Minds Eye features the words of Billy Graham. Jesus Freak was released on November 21,1995 and it debuted at number 16 on the Billboard 200, selling over 85,800 copies in its first week of release. This number was the highest debut for a Christian album at the time, after the album, released through ForeFront Records, proved to be extremely successful, the band signed an exclusive distribution deal with Virgin Records. The label made it a priority to promote the album to music fans. Due to this increase, Between You and Me became a hit for the band
22.
Judy Collins
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Judith Marjorie Judy Collins, affectionately known as Judy Blue Eyes, is an American singer and songwriter known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records and for her social activism. The single hit the Top 10 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and she enjoyed further success with her recordings of Someday Soon, Chelsea Morning, Amazing Grace, and Cook with Honey. Collins experienced the biggest success of her career with her recording of Stephen Sondheims Send in the Clowns from her best-selling 1975 album Judith, Collins was born the eldest of five siblings in Seattle, Washington, where she spent the first ten years of her life. Her father, a singer and radio disc jockey, took a job in Denver, Colorado, in 1949. Collins studied classical piano with Antonia Brico, making her debut at age 13. Brico took a dim view, both then and later, of Collins developing interest in music, which led her to the difficult decision to discontinue her piano lessons. Years later, after she became known internationally, she invited Brico to one of her concerts in Denver, when they met after the performance, Brico took both of Collins hands in hers, looked wistfully at her fingers and said, Little Judy—you really could have gone places. Still later, Collins discovered that Brico herself had made a living when she was playing jazz. In her early life, Collins had the fortune of meeting many professional musicians through her father. It was the music of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger and the songs of the folk revival of the early 1960s, however. Three years after her debut as a prodigy, she was playing guitar. Her first public appearances as a folk artist after her graduation from Denvers East High School were at Michaels Pub in Boulder, Colorado, and her music became popular at the University of Connecticut, where her husband taught. She performed at parties and for the radio station along with David Grisman. She eventually made her way to Greenwich Village, New York City, where she played in clubs like Gerdes Folk City until she signed with Elektra Records, in 1961, Collins released her first album, A Maid of Constant Sorrow, at age 22. At first she sang traditional songs or songs written by others – in particular the protest songwriters of the time, such as Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs. She recorded her own versions of important songs from the period, such as Dylans Mr. Tambourine Man, Collins was also instrumental in bringing little-known musicians to a wider public. For example, she recorded songs by Canadian poet Leonard Cohen and she also recorded songs by singer-songwriters such as Eric Andersen, Ian Tyson, Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, Robin Williamson and Richard Fariña long before they gained national acclaim. Mark Abramson produced and Joshua Rifkin arranged the album, adding lush orchestration to many of the numbers, the album was a major departure for a folk artist and set the course for Collins subsequent work over the next decade
23.
House of Heroes
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House of Heroes is an alternative rock band from Columbus, Ohio. They have released six albums, What You Want Is Now, House of Heroes, The End Is Not the End, Suburba, Cold Hard Want, and Colors. The band also released the album Ten Months under their name, No Tagbacks. They also re-released their self-titled record under the name of Say No More, the band is composed of Tim Skipper, Colin Rigsby, A. J. The band got started in 1996 at Hilliard Davidson High School, originally as a band called Plan B, with Tim Skipper. Babcock, and Nate Rothacker on drums, in 1998, Colin Rigsby replaced Nate Rothacker on drums and they changed their name to No Tagbacks, then later to House of Heroes. The band recorded demos at Chris Lundquists home studio LundquistAudio. In 2003 they released their first album What You Want Is Now under the name House of Heroes, Jared Rigsby replaced A. J. Babcock as the bands live bassist in December 2005, as Babcock had married and focused on a side project with his wife called FlowerDagger. Babcock eventually rejoined the band as the live bassist and Jared Rigsby became a member as the bands second guitarist. In 2009, Babcock stopped touring for the time and was replaced by Eric Newcomer as the live bassist. After Babcock rejoined the band once more in 2012 as bassist, Newcomer became a member as the bands second guitarist. After only a touring stint in early 2012, Babcock stopped touring again. Jared Rigsby did not appear in the bands In The Studio video for Cold Hard Want, in March 2010 Colin Rigsby was replaced by Josh Dun on drums as Rigsby felt he needed to spend more time with his family. In October 2010 Rigsby resumed drumming duty, according to drummer, Colin Rigsby, some of House of Heroes influences are, The Beatles, Queen, Bruce Springsteen, and The Clash. Tim Skipper also said that Muse is a source of influence, in his free time, Rigsby works on Art, and has his own website. He is currently working with Jon Schneck of Relient K on a novel titled En Carne. Though they are considered to be Christian rock due to their association with Gotee Records. We kind of felt like we should straddle the line, in another interview, bassist AJ Babcock said, We never wanted to try to pander to a Christian audience by saying things that necessarily were just kind of, you know, lip service to people
24.
Homer Simpson
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Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American animated television series The Simpsons as the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, Homer was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James L. Brooks office. Groening had been called to pitch a series of shorts based on his comic strip Life in Hell and he named the character after his father, Homer Groening. After appearing for three seasons on The Tracey Ullman Show, the Simpson family got their own series on Fox that debuted December 17,1989, Homer and his wife Marge have three children, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. As the familys provider, he works at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant as a plant operator. Despite the suburban blue-collar routine of his life, he has had a number of remarkable experiences. He has appeared in other media relating to The Simpsons – including video games, The Simpsons Movie, The Simpsons Ride, commercials and comic books – and inspired an entire line of merchandise. His signature catchphrase, the annoyed grunt Doh. has been included in The New Oxford Dictionary of English since 1998, Homer is one of the most influential characters in the history of television. The British newspaper The Sunday Times described him as the greatest comic creation of time, for voicing Homer, Castellaneta has won four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance and a special-achievement Annie Award. In 2000, Homer and his family were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Homer is the bumbling husband of Marge and father of Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson. He is the son of Mona and Abraham Grampa Simpson, Homer held over 188 different jobs in the first 400 episodes of The Simpsons. In most episodes, he works as the Nuclear Safety Inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, a position he has held since Homers Odyssey, the third episode of the series. At the plant, Homer is often ignored and completely forgotten by his boss Mr. Burns, Matt Groening has stated that he decided to have Homer work at the power plant because of the potential for Homer to wreak havoc. Each of his other jobs has lasted only one episode, in the first half of the series, the writers developed an explanation about how he got fired from the plant and was then rehired in every episode. In later episodes, he began a new job on impulse. The Simpsons uses a floating timeline in which the characters never age, and, as such. Nevertheless, in episodes, events in Homers life have been linked to specific time periods. However, the episode That 90s Show contradicted much of this backstory, portraying Homer and Marge as a childless couple in the early 1990s
25.
The Simpsons
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The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a depiction of working-class life epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa. The show is set in the town of Springfield and parodies American culture, society, television. The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a solicitation for a series of animated shorts with producer James L. Brooks, Groening created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after members of his own family, substituting Bart for his own name. The shorts became a part of The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19,1987. After a three-season run, the sketch was developed into a prime time show and became an early hit for Fox. Since its debut on December 17,1989,615 episodes of The Simpsons have been broadcast and its 28th season began on September 25,2016. It is the longest-running American sitcom and the longest-running American animated program, the Simpsons Movie, a feature-length film, was released in theaters worldwide on July 27,2007, and grossed over $527 million. On May 4,2015, the series was renewed for seasons 27 and 28, on November 4,2016, the series was renewed for seasons 29 and 30, consisting of 22 episodes each. The Simpsons received widespread critical acclaim throughout its first nine or ten seasons, Time named it the 20th centurys best television series, and Erik Adams of The A. V. Club named it televisions crowning achievement regardless of format, on January 14,2000, the Simpson family was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 31 Primetime Emmy Awards,30 Annie Awards, Homers exclamatory catchphrase Doh. has been adopted into the English language, while The Simpsons has influenced many adult-oriented animated sitcoms. Despite this, the show has also criticized for what many perceive as a decline in quality over the years. The Simpsons are a family who live in a fictional Middle American town of Springfield, Homer, the father, works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, a position at odds with his careless, buffoonish personality. He is married to Marge Simpson, a stereotypical American housewife, although the family is dysfunctional, many episodes examine their relationships and bonds with each other and they are often shown to care about one another. The family owns a dog, Santas Little Helper, and a cat, Snowball V, renamed Snowball II in I, both pets have had starring roles in several episodes. The show includes an array of supporting characters, co-workers, teachers, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople. The creators originally intended many of these characters as jokes or for fulfilling needed functions in the town
26.
Meet the Parents
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Meet the Parents is a 2000 American comedy film written by Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg and directed by Jay Roach. Starring Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, the film chronicles a series of events that befall a good-hearted. Teri Polo, Blythe Danner, and Owen Wilson also star, Meet the Parents is a remake of a 1992 film of the same name directed by Greg Glienna and produced by Jim Vincent. Glienna—who also played the films main protagonist—and Mary Ruth Clarke co-wrote the screenplay. Universal Studios purchased the rights to Gliennas film with the intent of creating a new version, Jim Herzfeld expanded the original script but development was halted for some time. Jay Roach read the script and expressed his desire to direct the film. At that time, Steven Spielberg was interested in directing the film while Jim Carrey was interested in playing the lead role, the studio only offered the film to Roach once Spielberg and Carrey left the project. Released in the United States and Canada on October 6,2000 and distributed by Universal Studios and it went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of 2000, earning over $160 million in North America and over $330 million worldwide. Meet the Parents was well received by critics and viewers alike, winning several awards. Ben Stiller won two awards for his performance and the film was chosen as the Favorite Comedy Motion Picture at the 2001 Peoples Choice Awards. The success of Meet the Parents inspired two sequels, namely Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers released in 2004 and 2010 respectively. Meet the Parents also inspired a reality show titled Meet My Folks. Gaylord Greg Focker is a living in Chicago. He intends to propose to his girlfriend Pam Byrnes, but his plan is disrupted when he learns that Pams sisters fiance had asked Pams father for permission before proposing, Greg and Pam travel to Pams parents house to attend Pams sisters wedding. Greg hopes to propose to Pam in front of her family after receiving her fathers permission, but this plan is put on hold when the airline loses his luggage, including the engagement ring. At the Byrnes home, Greg meets Pams overbearing father Jack, mother Dina, Jack takes an instant dislike to Greg and openly criticizes him for his choice of career as a male nurse and whatever else he sees as a difference between Greg and the Byrnes family. Greg tries to impress Jack, but his efforts fail, Greg becomes even more uncomfortable after he receives an impromptu lie detector test from Jack and later learns from Pam that her father is a retired CIA counterintelligence officer. Meeting the rest of Pams family and friends, Greg still feels like an outsider and he also feels inferior to Kevin, Pams ex-fiance who, unlike him, receives nothing but warmth and friendliness from Jack
27.
Ben Stiller
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Benjamin Edward Meara Ben Stiller is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of comedians and actors Jerry Stiller. After beginning his career with a play, Stiller wrote several mockumentaries, and was offered his own show entitled The Ben Stiller Show. Having previously acted in television, he began acting in films, in addition, he has had multiple cameos in music videos, television shows, and films. Stiller is a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known as the Frat Pack and his films have grossed more than $2.6 billion in Canada and the United States, with an average of $79 million per film. Throughout his career, he has received awards and honors, including an Emmy Award, multiple MTV Movie Awards. Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller was born on November 30,1965 in New York City and his father, comedian and actor Jerry Stiller, is from a Jewish family that emigrated from Poland and Galicia in Eastern Europe. His mother, actress/comedian Anne Meara, who was from an Irish Catholic background, while the family was never very religious, they celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas, and Stiller had a Bar Mitzvah. His parents frequently took him on the sets of their appearances and he considered his childhood unusual, stating In some ways, it was a show-business upbringing—a lot of traveling, a lot of late nights—not what youd call traditional. His elder sister, Amy, has appeared in many of his productions, including Reality Bites, DodgeBall, A True Underdog Story, Stiller displayed an early interest in filmmaking and made Super 8 movies with his sister and friends. At nine years old, he made his debut as a guest on his mothers short-lived television series. In the late 1970s, he performed with the New York City troupe NYCs First All Childrens Theater, playing roles, including the title role in Clever Jack. After being inspired by the television show Second City Television while in high school, during his high school years, he was also the drummer of the punk band Capital Punishment, which released a studio album named Roadkill in 1982. Stiller attended The Cathedral School of St. John the Divine and he started performing on the cabaret circuit as opening act to the cabaret siren Jadin Wong. Stiller then enrolled as a student at the University of California. After nine months, Stiller left school to move back to New York City and he made his way through acting classes, auditioning and trying to find an agent. When he was approximately 15, Stiller obtained a part with one line on the television soap opera Guiding Light. He was later cast in a role in the 1986 Broadway revival of John Guares The House of Blue Leaves, alongside John Mahoney, during its run, Stiller produced a satirical mockumentary whose principal was fellow actor Mahoney
28.
Robert De Niro
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Robert Anthony De Niro is an American actor, producer and director who has both Italian and American citizenship. He was cast as the young Vito Corleone in the 1974 film The Godfather Part II and his longtime collaboration with director Martin Scorsese earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Jake La Motta in the 1980 film Raging Bull. He received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2003, the Golden Globe Cecil B, deMille Award in 2010, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2016. De Niros first major roles were in the sports drama, Bang the Drum Slowly. He earned Academy Award nominations for the psychological thrillers Taxi Driver and Cape Fear, De Niro received additional nominations for Michael Ciminos Vietnam war drama, The Deer Hunter, Penny Marshalls drama Awakenings, and David O. Russells romantic comedy-drama, Silver Linings Playbook. His portrayal of gangster Jimmy Conway in Scorseses crime film, Goodfellas, other notable performances include roles in Once Upon a Time in America, Brazil, The Untouchables, Heat, and Casino. He has directed and starred in such as the crime drama A Bronx Tale. Robert Anthony De Niro was born in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan, New York, the son of Virginia Admiral and Robert De Niro Sr. Both of his parents were painters, his father was of half Italian and half Irish descent, while his mother was of half German ancestry, with her other roots being French, English and Dutch. De Niros parents, who had met at the classes of Hans Hofmann in Provincetown, Massachusetts. De Niro was raised by his mother in the Greenwich Village and his father lived within walking distance and De Niro spent much time with him as he grew up. His mother was raised Presbyterian but became an atheist as an adult, against his parents wishes, his grandparents had him secretly baptized into the Catholic Church while he was staying with them during his parents divorce. De Niro attended PS41, an elementary school in Manhattan. He then went to Elisabeth Irwin High School, the upper school of the Little Red School House. He was accepted into the High School of Music and Art for the ninth grade, De Niro began high school at the private McBurney School and later attended the private Rhodes Preparatory School, although he never graduated from either. Nicknamed Bobby Milk for his pallor, De Niro hung out with a group of kids as a youth in Little Italy. The direction of his future had already been foreshadowed by his debut at age 10. Along with finding relief from shyness through performing, he was also fixated by cinema and he studied acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory, as well as Lee Strasbergs Actors Studio
29.
Grace (prayer)
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A grace is a short prayer or thankful phrase said before or after eating. The term most commonly refers to Christian traditions, some traditions hold that grace and thanksgiving imparts a blessing which sanctifies the meal. In English, reciting such a prayer is referred to as saying grace. Ecumenical – God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food. By his hands we all are fed, thank you for our daily bread. Catholic – Bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy gifts, Catholic – We give Thee/You thanks, Almighty God, for all Thy benefits, and for the poor souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, may they rest in peace. Eastern Orthodox – O Christ God, bless the food and drink of Thy servants, for holy art Thou, always, now and ever, there are also seasonal hymns which are sung during the various Great Feasts. At Easter, it is customary to sing the Paschal troparion, anglican Bless, O Father, Thy gifts to our use and us to Thy service, for Christ’s sake. Lutheran Come, Lord Jesus, be our Guest, and let Thy/these gifts to us be blessed, lutheran O give thanks unto/to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy/love endureth/endures forever. Methodist/Wesleyan Be present at our table Lord and these mercies bless and grant that we may feast in fellowship with Thee. Methodist/Wesleyan We thank thee, Lord, for this our food, let manna to our souls be given, The Bread of Life, sent down from heaven. Some hae meat and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it, But we hae meat, Australian Come Lord Jesus, be our Guest, let this food of ours be blessed. Common in British and Australian religious schools, for what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful. Used at some YMCA summer camps Our Father, for day, for our friends, for this food. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Dear Heavenly Father, we thank thee for the food that has been provided and we ask thee to bless it that it may nourish and strengthen our bodies. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen, the Jewish mealtime prayer is known as Birkat Hamazon. With the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD, thereafter, the Rabbis prescribed the substitution of other ritual actions to fill this void in Jewish obedience to the Torah. The ritual washing of hands and eating of salted bread is considered to be a substitute for the offerings of the kohanim
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International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
31.
Superstar (Delaney and Bonnie song)
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The songs working title during portions of its development was Groupie Song. In its first recorded incarnation, the song was called Groupie, released by Atlantic Records, the full credit on the single was to Delaney & Bonnie and Friends Featuring Eric Clapton. Sung by Bonnie, the arrangement featured slow guitar and bass parts building up to an almost gospel-style chorus using horns, as suggested in the title, the song was the story of a groupie who holds a strong love for a rock musician. After a brief involvement he has moved on to the next town and she is alone, waiting and yearning for a return that will never come. Despite his promises to see her again, the music on the radio is all she has left, through the chorus she pleads, Dont you remember. You told me you loved me, baby You said youd be coming back this way again, baby Baby, baby, baby, baby, oh, baby I love you. But Delaney & Bonnie were not yet known at the time. During the first half of 1970, Joe Cockers Mad Dogs, ex-Delaney and Bonnie vocalist Rita Coolidge was a backup singer on this tour, and song co-writer Leon Russell was the bandleader. Some accounts have Coolidge suggesting or inspiring the creation in the first place. Rita Coolidge has said that she came up with the idea of the song after seeing fans reaction to Eric Clapton. In any case, Coolidge was given a vocal on the song during the tour, she took the verses with an air of resignation. The arrangement was fueled by Russells evocative piano line laced with dynamic fills, with understated horns, guitar, and choir behind it. In August 1970, the live album Mad Dogs and Englishmen was released, using performances of the song under the title Superstar, recorded in March and June of that year. The Mad Dogs album became a hit, reaching number 2 on the Billboard pop albums chart. The performance helped vault Coolidge to greater visibility, especially when it was included in the 1971 film of the revue. The then unknown but very lively singer Bette Midler, subsequently an actress as well, during one such appearance, she sang Superstar in an understated arrangement that featured only a piano for accompaniment. Later, once the Carpenters version had become a hit, she sang it again on The Tonight Show in October 1971, around September 1970, Cher recorded Superstar as her last single for Atco Records. Released in October or November 1970, and in the gap between Sonny and Chers heyday and the start of Chers solo successes, it did not chart
32.
Waltzing Matilda
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Waltzing Matilda is Australias best-known bush ballad, and has been described as the countrys unofficial national anthem. The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot with ones belongings in a matilda slung over ones back, the song narrates the story of an itinerant worker, or swagman, making a drink of billy tea at a bush camp and capturing a stray jumbuck to eat. When the jumbucks owner, a squatter, and three mounted policemen pursue the swagman for theft, he declares Youll never take me alive, and commits suicide by drowning himself in a nearby billabong, after which his ghost haunts the site. The original lyrics were written in 1895 by Australian poet Banjo Paterson, in 2012, to remind Australians of the songs significance, Winton organised the inaugural Waltzing Matilda Day to be held on 6 April, the anniversary of its first performance. The song was first recorded in 1926 as performed by John Collinson, the words were written to a tune played on a zither or autoharp by 31‑year‑old Christina Macpherson, one of the family members at the station. Paterson decided that the music would be a piece to set lyrics to. The march was based on the Scottish Celtic folk tune Thou Bonnie Wood of Craigielea, written by Robert Tannahill and first published in 1806, in the early 1890s it was arranged as the The Craigielee march music for brass band by Australian compser Thomas Bulch. This tune, in turn, was based on the old melody of Go to the Devil and Shake Yourself. In September 1894, some shearers at Dagworth Station were again on strike, the situation turned violent with the striking shearers firing their rifles and pistols in the air and setting fire to the woolshed at Dagworth, killing dozens of sheep. The owner of Dagworth Station and three policemen gave chase to a man named Samuel Hoffmeister – also known as French, rather than be captured, Hoffmeister shot and killed himself at the Combo Waterhole. Bob Macpherson and Paterson are said to have taken together at Dagworth. Here they would probably have passed the Combo Waterhole, where Macpherson is purported to have told this story to Paterson, although not remaining in close contact, Paterson and Christina Macpherson both maintained this version of events until their deaths. Amongst Macphersons belongings, found after her death in 1936, was a letter to a music researcher that read. One day I played a tune, which I had heard played by a band at the Races in Warrnambool and he then said he thought he could write some words to it. He then and there wrote the first verse and we tried it and thought it went well, so he then wrote the other verses. Similarly, in the early 1930s on ABC radio Paterson said The shearers staged a strike and Macphersons woolshed at Dagworth was burnt down, miss Macpherson used to play a little Scottish tune on a zither and I put words to it and called it Waltzing Matilda. The song itself was first performed on 6 April 1895 by Sir Herbert Ramsay at the North Gregory Hotel in Winton, the occasion was a banquet for the Premier of Queensland. In February 2010 ABC News reported an investigation by barrister Trevor Monti that the death of Hoffmeister was more akin to an assassination than to suicide
