1.
The Walkabouts
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The Walkabouts were an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1984. The core members were vocalist Carla Torgerson and vocalist and songwriter Chris Eckman, although the rest of the line-up changed occasionally, for most of the time the other members were Michael Wells, Glenn Slater and Terri Moeller. Their sound was rich, with string arrangements and keyboards in addition to the standard rock instruments. In reviews the bands music was described as melancholic or mellow, while Eckmans lyrics, concerning such themes as human relations. The Walkabouts achieved commercial success and a fanbase in Europe. They occasionally even made it high on the charts in countries such as Greece. Carla Torgerson and Chris Eckman met and began playing together in 1983 while attending Whitman College in Walla Walla. In 1984 they moved to Seattle, and the band was born when they joined forces with Chris two younger brothers, drummer Grant and bassist Curt. The Eckman brothers had been playing in punk rock and pop groups during their college years. The band took their name from Nicolas Roegs cult film, Walkabout and they released their first EP,22 Disasters, in early 1985. Curt Eckman then left the band, to be replaced by Michael Wells and their second EP, Linda Evans/Cyclone, was released in 1987. The following year released their first album, See Beautiful Rattlesnake Gardens, on the PopLlama label. Adding keyboard player and multi-instrumentalist Glenn Slater, they released three albums on Sub Pop over the few years - Cataract, Rag & Bone. They also toured extensively, particularly in Europe, in 1992 they left Sub Pop Seattle, but remained with Sub Pop Europe who issued three more albums, New West Motel, Satisfied Mind, and Setting the Woods on Fire. Drummer Terri Moeller replaced Grant Eckman in 1992, when he left to care for his newborn son, Dakota Eckman. In 1995 the band signed with Virgin Records in Germany and released Devils Road - recorded in part with the Warsaw Philharmonic - and Nighttown, the video for The Light Will Stay On, the lead single from Devils Road was in heavy rotation on MTV Europe. Michael Wells left the band for years in 1996, rejoining in 2003. In 2015 Eckman confirmed in an interview with Uncut magazine, and in a subsequent Facebook post, Eckman and Torgerson have also released albums as side projects under the name Chris & Carla and as solo artists
2.
Ronnie James Dio
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Ronald James Padavona, better known by his stage name Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal singer, songwriter and musician. He fronted and/or founded numerous groups including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and he is credited with popularizing the metal horns hand gesture in metal culture and is known for his medieval themed lyrics. S. The family resided in Portsmouth for only a time before returning to Cortland. Dio listened to a deal of opera while growing up. His first and only formal training began at age 5 learning to play the trumpet. During high school, Dio played in the band and was one of the youngest members selected to play in the schools official Dance Band. It was also during high school that Dio formed his first rock-n-roll group, though Dio began his rock-n-roll career on trumpet, he quickly added bass guitar to his skillset once he assumed singing duties for the group. Dio graduated from Cortland High School in 1960, though he claimed in a later interview to have been offered a scholarship to the prestigious Juilliard School of Music, he did not pursue it due to his continuing interest in rock-n-roll music. Instead, after graduation, he attended the University at Buffalo and he only attended from 1960 to 1961 and played trumpet in the universitys concert band, but did not graduate. Despite being known for his singing voice, Dio claimed never to have taken any vocal training. Rather, he attributed his ability to the use of correct breathing techniques learned while playing trumpet. Dios musical career began in 1957 when several Cortland, New York musicians formed the band, the groups lineup consisted of Dio on bass guitar, Billy DeWolfe on lead vocals, Nick Pantas on guitar, Tom Rogers on drums, and Jack Musci on saxophone. In 1958, the band changed their name from Ronnie & The Rumblers to Ronnie. Musci left the band in 1960, and a new guitarist, Dick Botoff, the Redcaps released two singles, The first single was Conquest/Lover with the A-side being an instrumental reminiscent of The Ventures and the B-side featuring DeWolfe on lead vocals. The second single was An Angel Is Missing/Whatd I Say which featured Dio on lead vocals for both tracks, explanations vary for how Padavona adopted the stage name Dio. One story is that Dio was a reference to mafia member Johnny Dio, another has it that Padavonas grandmother said he had a gift from God and should be called Dio, although this was debunked by Padavonas widow, Wendy Dio, in a February 2017 interview. Padavona first used the name on a recording in 1960, when he added it to the second release on Seneca. Soon after that the band modified their name to Ronnie Dio, the Prophets lineup lasted for several years, touring throughout the New York region and playing college fraternity parties
3.
Desert Moon
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Desert Moon is the debut solo album from former Styx keyboard player/singer/songwriter Dennis DeYoung. It was released in 1984 by A&M Records, the album reached No.24 on the Billboard 200 album charts in the fall of 1984 and was certified Gold in Canada. The albums biggest hit was its title cut which hit No.10 on the Billboard singles chart, the albums second single Dont Wait for Heroes reached No.83 and got MTV play
4.
Dear Darlin'
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Dear Darlin is a song by English recording artist Olly Murs, from his third studio album, Right Place Right Time. The song was released as the single from the album on 26 May 2013. It was co-written by Murs, Ed Drewett and Jim Eliot, Drewett and Eliot also co-produced the song. The song reached number five on the UK Singles Chart, on 2 September 2013, Murs released a new version of the song for its release in France which featured French vocals from singer Alizée, and was later included on the Special Edition of the album. On 18 April 2013, Murs revealed via Twitter that Dear Darlin would be the single released from Right Place Right Time. Dear Darlin was co-written by Murs, Ed Drewett and Jim Eliot, of the track, Murs said, Writing with Ed and him being my friend helped, as we sat there for hours before writing, going over old relationships and recalling their scenarios. Its about writing to someone to tell them how I feel about losing someone and its not the kind of song youd expect me and Ed to write, as were bubbly characters, but we were able to open up to each other. Murs has said that the song was inspired by Eminems song Stan, Dear Darlin was one of the three songs that was previewed prior to the albums release. Robert Copsey of Digital Spy gave the song a positive review commenting and he ended his review writing, There are Christmassy chimes to be heard throughout, so we wouldnt be surprised if this is the next pre-Christmas single. The song reached number 196 on the UK Singles Chart, with downloads from the album only, the song has so far reached a peak of #8 in the Irish Charts, #4 on the Australian Charts and #29 on the New Zealand Charts. The song peaked number one in Austria, marking his first number one there, on 18 April, Murs tweeted that the music video would be shot the following week in Los Angeles. It was shown on Murs Vevo channel on 13 May and it shows Murs thinking about when he and his girlfriend moved into their new home and later after a falling out the girl moves out. It was subsequently performed on his UK and Ireland arena tour for the album in March 2013. In May 2013, he was interviewed and performed the song on Alan Carr, Chatty Man. The song was performed at the 2013 Royal Variety Performance
