Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story
Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story is a musical in two acts written by Alan Janes, featuring the music of Buddy Holly. It opened at London's Victoria Palace Theatre on 12 October 1989. An early example of the jukebox musical, Buddy ran in London's West End for over 12 years, playing 5,140 performances. Janes took over the producing of the show himself in 2004, Buddy has been on tour extensively in the UK since having played Broadway, five U. S. National numerous other productions around the world; the show was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Musical. A late-night fan based conversation in a bar of the Montcalm Hotel in London’s West End in 1988, between the theatrical agent Laurie Mansfield, film producer Greg Smith and writer/producer Janes, about the legendary rock ‘n’ roller Buddy Holly, led Janes to develop and write Buddy. A year supported by Paul McCartney, who owned the copyright to Buddy Holly's music, the show had a try out at the Plymouth Theatre Royal before its transfer to London's Victoria Palace.
Original productionJanes worked with originating director Rob Bettinson, originating musical director Paul Jury, to present the show for a three/week pre-London engagement in August 1989 at Plymouth's Theatre Royal with Paul Hipp as Buddy Holly. The first shows were beset by technical problems as 26 actor/musicians played and acted their way through two and a half hours of drama and hi-octane rock ‘n’ roll concert, but regardless of the set crashes and technical mishaps, the audience would not let the cast leave the stage, demanding encore after encore until the cast had run out of songs to play. West End productionsBuddy transferred to the Victoria Palace Theatre and opened on 12 October 1989. With audiences on their feet every night, structural engineers were called to the theatre to make sure the dress circle could take the weight as the structure bounced with the audience as they danced. Buddy transferred to the Novello Theatre, completing a total of 12 and a half years and 5,140 performances at the two theatres.
In 2007, Janes brought the show back to the West End at the Duchess Theatre, where it played for a further 634 performances making it one of the longest-running musicals in London history. This revival ensured that the 50th Anniversary of Holly's death was celebrated on 3 February with a special performance incorporating several new numbers for that one night; the role of Buddy Holly was shared by Dean Elliott and Matthew Wycliffe, who played the role in the 2007 UK touring company. Ritchie Valens was played by Puerto Rican actor Miguel Angel, J. P. Richardson by actor Lee Ormsby; the 50th Anniversary Tour played concurrently across the UK and starred Oliver Seymour-Marsh and Glen Joseph as Buddy, with Chris Redmond and Dan Graham as the Crickets. UK national toursWhile in the second of its 12-year run in the West End, a second production of Buddy opened in June 1991 at the Plymouth Theatre Royal to embark on a UK wide national tour. Breaking a record of being the first West End production to tour the UK while still on in the West End, a second record was broken with the tours 243 weeks of continuous touring, or 4 years 35 weeks on the road.
This included weekly engagements of 12 weeks at Plymouth's Theatre Royal. Buddy has now toured the UK for 17 of the past 24 years, with the latest tour starting out from Harlow, Essex in August 2016. Broadway production/US national toursAfter a Toronto try-out and 15 previews, the Broadway production starring Hipp, opened on November 4, 1990, at the Shubert Theatre, where it ran for 225 performances. Jill Hennessy played a number of roles, including Holly's wife Maria Elena; the show has toured extensively throughout the U. S. A starting with a 53-week tour in November 1991, with the most recent 5th tour finishing in March 2016. International and touring productionsBuddy has been in more than 17 countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, UK and USA. Over 25 million people have seen the show worldwide. Buddy has had two major tours in Australia, the 1st tour played Sydney's Theatre Royal for 36 weeks before continuing throughout Australia for a further 60 weeks.
The second Australian tour in 2009 ran for 39 weeks. In Germany, the Stage Theatre in Hamburg was built on land next to the river Elbe for Buddy, where the show played for seven years between 1994 and 2001. Act IThe action takes place in Texas. With the support of local Lubbock Texas radio DJ, Hipockets Duncan and his two friends form a Country & Western band – Buddy Holly & the Crickets – and begin to carve out a career in music. After a difficult start at Decca Records in Nashville, they sign a contract with up-and-coming, innovative record producer Norman Petty, based in Clovis, New Mexico. Within hours, Buddy Holly & the Crickets start to churn out hits from the recording studio built in Norman's backyard, among them "That'll Be The Day", which will rocket up the charts to number one in a matter of weeks. Buddy Holly & the Crickets are the hottest act in the country and out on national tour. Buddy and his band go to New York where they perform at the Apollo Theater making history as the first white band to perform there.
Act IIWhile recording in New York, Buddy proposes to Maria Elena Santiago, the Puerto Rican receptionist of his music publisher after a courtship of all of five hours. Newly married and ambi
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are a hard rock band formed in England in 1978 by David Coverdale, after his departure from his previous band Deep Purple. Their early material has been compared by critics to the blues rock of Deep Purple, but they began moving toward a more commercially accessible rock style. By the turn of the decade, the band's commercial fortunes changed and they released a string of UK top 10 albums, Ready an' Willing, Come an' Get It, Saints & Sinners and Slide It In, the last of, their first to chart in the US and is certified 2x platinum; the band's 1987 self-titled album was their most commercially successful worldwide, contained two major US hits, "Here I Go Again" and "Is This Love", reaching number one and two on the Billboard Hot 100. The album went 8 times platinum in the US, the band's success saw them nominated for the 1988 Brit Award for Best British Group. Slip of the Tongue was a success, reaching the top 10 in the UK and the US, received a platinum US certification; the band split up shortly after this release, but had a reunion in 1994, released a one-off studio album, Restless Heart.
Whitesnake reformed in 2002 and have been touring together since, releasing three albums, Good to Be Bad and The Purple Album. In 2005, Whitesnake were named the 85th greatest hard rock band of all time by VH1. David Coverdale founded Whitesnake in 1978 in Middlesbrough, north-east England; the core line-up had been working as his backing band The White Snake Band on the White Snake album tour and they retained the title before being known as Whitesnake. They toured with Coverdale as his support band and for both of the solo albums he released, White Snake and Northwinds, between exiting Deep Purple and founding Whitesnake. At this time, the band was made up of David Coverdale, Bernie Marsden, Micky Moody, Neil Murray and drummer David "Duck" Dowle with keyboardist Brian Johnston. Johnston would soon be replaced by Procol Harum organ player and keyboardist Pete Solley; because of Solley's producing commitments he was replaced by the former Deep Purple keyboard player Jon Lord, during sessions for the first LP.
Whitesnake recorded the EP Snakebite, released in 1978 and included a cover of a Bobby "Blue" Bland song "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City", their first hit song proving the new wave of British heavy metal could have a chart hit. The EP had some success in the UK and subsequent reissues of this EP included four bonus tracks from Coverdale's second solo album Northwinds produced by Roger Glover. A blues rock debut album Trouble was released in the autumn of 1978 and peaked at No. 50 in the UK album charts. Whitesnake toured Europe to promote the album and their first live album Live at Hammersmith was recorded on this tour and released in Japan in 1979. Tracks from the EP Snakebite were included in a reissue of the album Trouble in 2006. Whitesnake released Lovehunter in 1979, which courted controversy due to its risqué album cover by artist Chris Achilleos, which contained an illustration of a naked woman straddling a coiled snake; the album made the UK Top 30 and contained the minor hit "Long Way from Home", which reached No. 55 in the single charts.
Shortly after that, drummer Ian Paice replaced David Dowle. Giving Whitesnake three ex-Deep Purple members; the new line-up recorded the 1980 release Ready an' Willing, a breakthrough hit for the band, reaching the UK Top 10 and becoming their first entry into the U. S. Top 100; the single "Fool for Your Loving", which the band wrote for B. B. King, made No. 13 in the UK single charts and No. 53 in the US, the title track hit No. 43 in the UK charts. The Ready an' Willing tour included the Saturday night headline appearance at the 1980 Reading Festival, the highlights of which were broadcast by BBC Radio 1 in the UK. While still unknown in the US, the modest success of Ready an' Willing helped Whitesnake increase awareness there as an opening act for established bands such as Jethro Tull and AC/DC; the band released Live... In the Heart of the City, which contained recordings made in 1978 and 1980 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, achieved a No. 5 ranking in the UK album charts. In 1981 the band recorded the album Come an' Get It, which climbed to No. 2 in the UK album charts and produced the Top 20 hit "Don't Break My Heart Again" and the Top 40 hit "Would I Lie to You".
During 1982 Coverdale took time off to look after his sick daughter and decided to put Whitesnake on hold. When David Coverdale returned to music, he reformed the band, after the recording of the album Saints & Sinners replaced Bernie Marsden, Ian Paice, bass player Neil Murray with Mel Galley from Trapeze, bassist Colin Hodgkinson, Cozy Powell as the new drummer. Saints & Sinners was another Top 10 UK album and contained the hit "Here I Go Again", with Malcolm Birch from Chesterfield-based band Pegasus on keyboards; the new lineup toured in 1982–83 and headlined the Monsters of Rock Festival at Castle Donington UK in August 1983, the single "Guilty of Love" reached No. 31 in the UK singles chart. In late 1983, the band recorded Slide It In, released in Europe in early 1984, it was the band's fourth top 10 album in their native UK, peaking at number 9. At this time, the band secured a major US deal with the Geffen label. Slide It In drew mixed reviews, the negatives focusing on its "flat" mix.
While a personnel change saw the touring band replace Moody with former Thin Lizzy guitarist John Sykes, plus the return of bassist Neil Murray in place of Hodgkinson, producer David Geffen insisted that the album be remixed for the US release. In addition to the remix and Murray re-recorded the l
King Diamond
Kim Bendix Petersen, better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish musician. As a vocalist, he is known in particular his usage of falsetto, he is the eponymous King Diamond. King Diamond's first heavy rock band was called Brainstorm, with Jeanette Blum vocal and bass, Michael Frohn guitar and Jes Jacobsen drums. King Diamond began singing with local Danish hard rock band Black Rose, it was during this time in Black Rose that King Diamond began experimenting with horror-themed theatrics as well as shaping a malevolent quasi-Satanic stage persona. He joined the punk-metal band Brats where he met Hank Shermann. Soon after, the two of them were asked to help Michael Denner with his own project Danger Zone; this band included Timi Hansen and the mentioned musicians would join with King Diamond in 1980 to become Mercyful Fate. Following Mercyful Fate's 1984 release of Don't Break the Oath and the subsequent tour, King Diamond split ways with Mercyful Fate. With him, he took two of his bandmates to pursue a solo career under his own name.
Mercyful Fate recorded five more studio albums. In 2000, King decided to continue on with his solo career. Though Mercyful Fate continues to remain dormant, the band is still under contract with Metal Blade Records. In 1999, King Diamond and Hank Shermann performed the song "Evil" live with Metallica; this performance featured King Diamond without his famous makeup. In recent interviews, King Diamond has stated that Mercyful Fate will record and tour again when the timing is right, saying "It's not finished." In 2001, King Diamond worked out a deal with the band Usurper to sing backup vocals on the song "Necronemesis" in exchange for them shifting their recording schedule around to accommodate the recording of Abigail II: The Revenge. In 2004, King Diamond contributed vocals to "Sweet Dreams", the final track on the album of Dave Grohl's heavy metal side project Probot. In late 2005, King Diamond appeared on the Roadrunner United – The All-Star Sessions album, contributing vocals for his song "In the Fire", which featured multiple Roadrunner Records musicians working together to create individual songs.
King Diamond guested on the Cradle of Filth song "Devil Woman" in late 2005. In April 2006, King reunited with Mikkey Dee at a sold-out gig at Kåren in Sweden. In 2001 King referred to Dee as "one of the best drummers of all time and that's something that has bothered us since he left."King Diamond released his album Give Me Your Soul... Please, on 26 June 2007. Following the release the band received a Grammy nomination in the "Best Metal Performance" category for the track "Never Ending Hill." He was forced to cancel a United States tour due to a herniated disk, causing severe back pain, which puts him in intense pain all of the time. He attributes the problem to the long stressful hours spent working on the album. King made an appearance at Ozzfest on 9 August 2008 at Frisco, TX alongside Metallica, performing a medley of Mercyful Fate songs released on Metallica's Garage Inc. album. Earlier in the day, he performed a cover of the Pantera song "A New Level" with Vinnie Paul, Scott Ian, Max Cavalera, Nick Bowcott.
In 2009, King Diamond was revealed to be a playable character for the rhythm game Guitar Hero: Metallica, appearing with Mercyful Fate's song "Evil." Complete the song on any instrument and any difficulty to unlock him. On 29 November 2010, King was taken to the hospital, where they discovered several blockages in his arteries due to his heavy smoking habit, they determined that he needed triple-bypass surgery. The surgery was performed and on 11 December 2010 it was announced that he was at home recovering. All his musical projects at that time were placed on hold. On 7 December 2011, King appeared on stage with Metallica at The Fillmore in San Francisco to celebrate Metallica's 30th anniversary. In June 2012, King performed his comeback concert, on Sweden Rock Festival. On Saturday 8 September 2012, King appeared along with Mark Tremonti on VH1 Classic's That Metal Show discussing his surgery and various details about upcoming events. King appeared on Volbeat's 2013 album, Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies, for guest vocals on the track "Room 24."
In August 2013 King Diamond performed at Open Air Bloodstock Festival UK. Slayer was chosen to headline the 2015 Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival; the bands HELLYEAH, King Diamond, The Devil Wears Prada, Thy Art Is Murder, Jungle Rot, Sister Sin, Sworn In, Shattered Sun, Feed Her To The Sharks, Code Orange & Kissing Candice will be participating in the Rockstar Tour. The festival is slated for 26 stops to run from June 26 through August 2. King Diamond was a special celebrity guest star in four episodes of the Warner Bros. adult-oriented cartoon Metalocalypse as The Blues Devil, Ronald von Moldenberg, a fast food manager, one of the Klokateers in 2006 on Adult Swim. On stage, King Diamond uses a microphone handle consisting of a femur bone and a tibia bone in the shape of a cross. King Diamond had used a human skull, called Melissa, on stage. In the mid-1980s Melissa was stolen after a performance in the Netherlands. King Diamond has changed the design of his make-up over the years. With Conspiracy, he wore a mesh of black and white line war paint, with some red "blood" made to look like a wound coming o
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a 1970 rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started as a rock opera concept album before its Broadway debut in 1971; the musical is sung-through, with little spoken dialogue. The story is loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the last week of Jesus's life, beginning with the preparation for the arrival of Jesus and his disciples in Jerusalem and ending with the crucifixion, it depicts political and interpersonal struggles between Judas Iscariot and Jesus that are not present in the Bible. The work's depiction offers a free interpretation of the psychology of other characters. Much of the plot centers on Judas, both dissatisfied with the direction in which Jesus is steering his disciples and fearful for the harm that may result. Contemporary attitudes and slang pervade the rock-opera's lyrics, ironic allusions to modern life are scattered throughout the depiction of political events. Stage and film productions accordingly contain many intentional anachronisms.
Judas Iscariot, a member of the Twelve Apostles, voices concern over Jesus's rising popularity and the negative repercussions that it will have, criticizing Jesus for accepting his followers' unrealistic beliefs. While Judas loves Jesus, he believes that he is just a man, not God, worries that his following will be seen as a threat to the Roman Empire, which would punish Jesus, his associates, all Jewish people. Judas's warning goes unheeded, as Jesus's followers have their minds set on going to Jerusalem with Jesus; when they ask Jesus for information about his plans for the future, Jesus refuses to give them any, since whatever will happen is determined by God. Recognizing that Jesus is irritated by the badgering and lack of understanding from his followers, Mary Magdalene tries to help Jesus relax. Judas does not like, it seems to Judas that Jesus is contradicting his own teaching, he worries that this apparent lack of judgment will be used against Jesus and his followers. Jesus tells Judas that Mary is with him now, unless Judas is without sin he should not judge the character of others.
Jesus reproaches the rest of the apostles and bitterly complains that not a single one of them cares if he comes or goes. Mary Magdalene tries to reassure Jesus while anointing him with oil. Judas angrily insists. Sadly, Jesus answers that they do not have the resources to end poverty, that they should be glad for what comforts they have, including himself. Meanwhile, the High Priest of Israel, assembles the Pharisees together at the Sanhedrin to talk about Jesus and his disciples. According to the Pharisees, Jesus's growing following consists of Jews unwilling to accept the Romans as their rulers, the priests believe that Jesus may come to be seen as a threat to the Roman Empire, to the priesthood's integrity. Caiaphas concludes that there could be great bloodshed and suggests that they kill him for the greater good, the Pharisees concur upon his decision; as Jesus and his followers arrive exultantly in Jerusalem, they are confronted by Caiaphas, who demands that Jesus should postpone the parade, which Jesus says would be futile and change nothing, he proceeds to greet the happy Israelites instead.
As the crowd cheers him on, they ask Jesus if he would die for them. To this, Jesus visibly reacts with concern. One of his apostles, Simon the Zealot, suggests that Jesus lead his mob in a war against Rome and gain absolute power. Jesus rejects this suggestion, stating that none of his followers understand what true power is, nor do they understand his true message. Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea, has a dream in which he meets with a Galilean and receives all of the blame for the man's violent and mournful death, predicting the rise of Christianity. Jesus arrives at the Temple in Jerusalem and finds that it has become a haven of sin and debauchery as it is being used for selling everything from usury and weapons to prostitutes and drugs. A group of lepers begin to chime up to Jesus for healing. Though he heals some, their number increases, he is overwhelmed. Unable to solve everyone's problems, Jesus screams at them to heal themselves until he finds Mary Magdalene by his side, laying him to rest.
While Jesus is asleep, Mary acknowledges that she is unconditionally in love with him, unlike any man she has known before, it frightens her. Conflicted, Judas seeks out the Pharisees and promises to help them arrest Jesus, believing that he is acting with unselfish motives and that Jesus himself would approve if he knew those motives. Sustaining his testimony and Annas ask that Judas reveal the location of Jesus so that the authorities can apprehend him. In exchange for the information, Judas is offered thirty pieces of silver as a fee so that he can assuage his conscience by using the money charitably. Judas decides that it would be better to turn Jesus in before his popularity leads to the deaths of him and his followers, Judas included, he reveals. At what Jesus knows will be
Theater (structure)
A theater, theatre or playhouse, is a structure where theatrical works or plays are performed, or other performances such as musical concerts may be produced. While a theater is not required for performance, a theater serves to define the performance and audience spaces; the facility is traditionally organized to provide support areas for performers, the technical crew and the audience members. There are as many types of theaters. Theaters may be built for a certain types of productions, they may serve for more general performance needs or they may be adapted or converted for use as a theater, they may range from open-air amphitheaters to ornate, cathedral-like structures to simple, undecorated rooms or black box theaters. Some theaters may have a fixed acting area, while some theaters, such as black box theaters, may not, allowing the director and designers to construct an acting area suitable for the production; the most important of these areas is the acting space known as the stage. In some theaters proscenium theaters, arena theaters and amphitheaters, this area is permanent part of the structure.
In a blackbox theater the acting area is undefined so that each theater may adapt to a production. In addition to these acting spaces, there may be offstage spaces as well; these include wings on either side of a proscenium stage where props and scenery may be stored as well as a place for actors awaiting an entrance. A Prompter's box may be found backstage. In an amphitheater, an area behind the stage may be designated for such uses while a blackbox theater may have spaces outside of the actual theater designated for such uses. A theater will incorporate other spaces intended for the performers and other personnel. A booth facing the stage may be incorporated into the house where lighting and sound personnel may view the show and run their respective instruments. Other rooms in the building may be used for dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms, spaces for constructing sets and costumes, as well as storage. There are two main entrances: one at the front, used by the audience, that leads into the back of the audience, sometimes first going through a ticket booth.
The second is called the stage door, it is accessible from backstage. This is the means by which the cast and crew enter and exit the theater, fans wait outside it after the show in order to get autographs, called "stage dooring"; this term can be used to refer to going to a lot of shows or living in a big theater city, such as New York or Chicago. All theaters provide a space for an audience; the audience is separated from the performers by the proscenium arch. In proscenium theaters and amphitheaters, the proscenium arch, like the stage, is a permanent feature of the structure; this area is known as the house. Like the stage in a blackbox theater, this area is defined by the production The seating areas can include some or all of the following: Stalls or arena: the lower flat area below or at the same level as the stage; the word parterre is sometimes used to refer to a particular subset of this area. In North American usage this is the rear seating block beneath the gallery whereas in Britain it can mean either the area in front near the orchestra pit, or the whole of the stalls.
The term can refer to the side stalls in some usages. Derived from the gardening term parterre, the usage refers to the sectioned pattern of both the seats of an auditorium and of the planted beds seen in garden construction. Throughout the 18th century the term was used to refer to the theater audience who occupied the parterre. Balconies or galleries: one or more raised seating platforms towards the rear of the auditorium. In larger theaters, multiple levels are stacked vertically behind the stalls; the first level is called the dress circle or grand circle. The next level may be the loge, from the French version of loggia. A second tier inserted beneath the main balcony may be the mezzanine; the highest platform, or upper circle, is sometimes known as the gods in large opera houses, where the seats can be high and a long distance from the stage. Boxes: placed to the front and above the level of the stage, they are separate rooms with an open viewing area which seat up to five people. These seats are considered the most prestigious of the house.
A "state box" or "royal box" is sometimes provided for dignitaries. House seats: these are "the best seats in the house", giving the best view of the stage. Though each theater's layout is different, these are in the center of the stalls; these seats are traditionally reserved for the cast and crew to invite family members and others. If they are not used, they go on sale on the day of the performance. Greek theater buildings were called a theatron; the theaters were open-air structures constructed on the slopes of hills. They consisted of three principal elements: the orchestra, the skene, the audience; the centerpiece of the theater was the orchestra, or "dancing place", a large circular or rectangular area. The orchestra was the site of the choral performances, the religious rites, the acting. An altar was located in the middle of the orchestra. Behind the orchestra was a large rectangular building called the skene, it was used as a "backstage" area where actors could change their costumes and masks, but also
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, heavy metal, however the band themselves describe their music as "rock and roll". AC/DC underwent several line-up changes before releasing their first album, High Voltage, in 1975. Membership subsequently stabilised around the Young brothers, singer Bon Scott, drummer Phil Rudd, bass player Mark Evans. Evans was replaced by Cliff Williams in 1977 for the album Powerage. In February 1980, a few months after recording the album Highway to Hell, lead singer and co-songwriter Bon Scott died of acute alcohol poisoning; the group considered disbanding but stayed together, bringing in Brian Johnson as replacement for Scott. That year, the band released their first album with Johnson, Back in Black, which they dedicated to Scott's memory; the album launched them to new heights of success and became one of the best selling albums of all time.
The band's next album, For Those About to Rock We Salute You, was their first album to reach number one in the United States. The band fired Phil Rudd as drummer in 1983, Simon Wright filled his place until quitting in 1989, being in turn replaced by Chris Slade; the band experienced a commercial resurgence in the early 1990s with the release of The Razors Edge. Phil Rudd returned in 1994; the band's studio album Black Ice, released in 2008, was the second highest-selling album of that year, their biggest chart hit since For Those About to Rock reaching No.1 on all charts worldwide. The band's line-up remained the same until 2014 with Malcolm Young's retirement due to early-onset dementia and Rudd's legal troubles. In 2016, Johnson was advised to stop touring due to worsening hearing loss, Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose stepped in as the band's vocalist for the remainder of that year's dates. Long-term bass player and background vocalist Cliff Williams retired from the band at the end of their 2016 Rock or Bust World Tour.
The group has not disbanded and unconfirmed reports of a new album continue to circulate. AC/DC have sold more than 200 million records worldwide, including 71.5 million albums in the United States, making them the tenth highest-selling artist in the United States and the 14th best selling artist worldwide. Back in Black has sold an estimated 50 million units worldwide, making it the third highest-selling album by any artist, the highest-selling album by any band; the album has sold 22 million units in the US, where it is the sixth-highest-selling album of all time. AC/DC ranked fourth on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" and were named the seventh "Greatest Heavy Metal Band of All Time" by MTV. In 2004, AC/DC ranked No. 72 on the Rolling Stone list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Producer Rick Rubin, who wrote an essay on the band for the Rolling Stone list, referred to AC/DC as "the greatest rock and roll band of all time". In 2010, VH1 ranked AC/DC number 23 in its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
Brothers Malcolm and George Young were born in Glasgow, Scotland living at 6 Skerryvore Road in the Cranhill area. The Big Freeze of 1963 was the worst winter on record in Scotland with snow eight feet deep. A TV advertisement at the same time offered assisted travel for families for a different life in Australia. Fifteen members of the Young family left Scotland by plane in late June 1963. Before moving into a house at 4 Burleigh Street in the suburb of Burwood they stayed at Villawood Migrant Hostel in Nissen huts, where George Young met and became friends with another migrant, Dutchman Harry Vanda. George was the first to learn to play the guitar, he became a member of one of Australia's most successful bands of the 1960s. Malcolm followed in George's footsteps by playing with a Newcastle, New South Wales, band called the Velvet Underground, their older brother Alex Young chose to remain in Britain to pursue musical interests. In 1967, Alex formed and played bass in the London-based band Grapefruit—initially called "The Grapefruit"—with three former members of Tony Rivers and the Castaways, John Perry, Geoff Swettenham, Pete Swettenham.
Malcolm and Angus Young developed the idea for the band's name after their sister, Margaret Young, saw the initials "AC/DC" on a sewing machine. "AC/DC" is an abbreviation meaning "alternating current/direct current" electricity. The brothers felt that this name symbolised the band's raw energy, power-driven performances of their music. "AC/DC" is pronounced one letter at a time, though the band are colloquially known as "Acca Dacca" in Australia. The AC/DC band name is stylised with a high voltage sign separating the "AC" and "DC" and has been used on all studio albums, with the exception of the international version of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. In November 1973, Malcolm and Angus Young formed AC/DC and recruited bassist Larry Van Kriedt, vocalist Dave Evans, Colin Burgess, ex-Masters Apprentices drummer. Pushing hard for the band's success were Australia's roadie Ray Arnold and his partner Alan Kissack. Gene Pierson booked the band to play at Chequers nightclub on New Year's Eve, 1973. By this time, Angus Young had adopted his characteristic school-uniform stage outfit.
The idea was his sister. Angus had tried other costumes: Spider-Man, Zorro, a gorilla, a parody of Superman, named Super-Ang. In its early days, most members of the band dressed in some form of satin outfit. On stage, Evans was replaced by the band's first manager, Dennis Laughlin, ori
Scorpions (band)
Scorpions are a German rock band formed in 1965 in Hanover by Rudolf Schenker. Since the band's inception, its musical style has ranged from hard rock to heavy metal; the lineup from 1978–1992 was the most successful incarnation of the group, included Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Matthias Jabs, Francis Buchholz, Herman Rarebell. The band's only constant member has been Schenker, although Meine has been the lead singer for all of Scorpions' studio albums, while Jabs has been a consistent member since 1979, bassist Paweł Mąciwoda and drummer Mikkey Dee have been in the band since 2003 and 2016 respectively. During the mid-1970s, with guitarist Uli Jon Roth part of the line-up, the music of the Scorpions was defined as hard rock. After the departure of Roth in 1978, Matthias Jabs joined and, following the guidance of producer Dieter Dierks, the Scorpions changed their sound towards hard rock/heavy metal, mixed with rock power ballads. Throughout the 1980s the group received positive reviews and critical acclaim from music critics, experienced commercial success with the albums Animal Magnetism, Love at First Sting, the live recording World Wide Live, Savage Amusement and Best of Rockers'n' Ballads, their best-selling compilation album.
Scorpions' eleventh studio album Crazy World was well-received, included the song "Wind of Change", a symbolic anthem of the political changes in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s and the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is one of the best-selling singles in the world with over fourteen million copies sold. Scorpions have sold over 110 million records in total, they have released 27 compilation albums and 74 singles. Six of their singles have reached number one on the charts in different countries, their albums, singles and video releases have reached gold and multi-platinum status 200 times in different countries. Rolling Stone described the Scorpions as "the heroes of heavy metal", MTV called them "Ambassadors of Rock"; the band was ranked number 46 on VH1's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock programme, with "Rock You Like a Hurricane" at number 18 on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs. "Still Loving You" ranked 22nd place among the greatest ballads. The Scorpions have received prestigious awards such as three World Music Awards, a star on the Hollywood Rock wall, a presence in the permanent exhibition of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 2015 the group celebrated its 50th anniversary. Rudolf Schenker, the band's rhythm guitarist, launched the band in 1965. At first, the band had beat Schenker himself handled the vocals. Things began to come together in 1970 when Schenker's younger brother Michael and vocalist Klaus Meine joined the band. With this line-up they won a music contest in 1972 and recorded 2 songs for a single, never released on the CCA label, but the songs, early versions of the Sweet cover Action and the original I'm Going Mad were released on different compilation albums including Psychedelic Gems 2. In 1972 the group recorded and released their debut album Lonesome Crow, with Lothar Heimberg on bass and Wolfgang Dziony on drums and re-recorded versions of their CCA songs. During the Lonesome Crow tour, the Scorpions opened for upcoming British band UFO. Near the end of the tour, guitarist Michael Schenker accepted an offer of lead guitar for UFO. Uli Jon Roth, a friend of Michael's, was introduced to the band and he helped them to finish off the tour.
The departure of Michael Schenker led to the breakup of the band. In 1973, Uli Roth, who had helped the Scorpions complete the Lonesome Crow tour, was offered the role as lead guitarist, but turned the band down, preferring instead to remain in the band Dawn Road. Rudolf Schenker decided he wanted to work with Roth, but did not want to resurrect the last Scorpions lineup, he attended some of Dawn Road's rehearsals and decided to join the band, which consisted of Roth, Francis Buchholz, Achim Kirschning and Jürgen Rosenthal. Uli Roth and Buchholz persuaded Rudolf Schenker to invite Klaus Meine to join on vocals, which he soon did. While there were more members of Dawn Road than Scorpions in the band, they decided to use the Scorpions name because it was well known in the German hard rock scene and an album had been released under that name. In 1974, the new line-up released Fly to the Rainbow; the album proved to be more successful than Lonesome Crow and songs such as "Speedy's Coming" and the title track established the band's sound.
Achim Kirschning decided to leave after the recordings. Soon after, Jürgen Rosenthal had to leave. In 1976, he joined, he was replaced in July 1974 by Jurgen Fechter. In 1975 Rudy Lenners from Belgium became the next drummer; that year the band released In Trance, which marked the beginning of their long collaboration with German producer Dieter Dierks. The album established their heavy metal formula, it garnered a fan base at home and abroad with cuts such as "In Trance", "Dark Lady" and "Robot Man". Meanwhile, as "The Hunters", the band recorded "Fuchs geh' voran" and "Wenn es richtig losgeht", German cover versions of "Action" and "Fox on the Run" by the Sweet for EMI's Electrola label. In 1976, the Scorpions released Virgin Killer, the album cover of which featured a nude prepubescent girl behind a broken pane of glass; the cover art was designed by Stefan Bohle, the product manager for RCA Records, their label at the time. The cover brought the band considerable market exposure but was subsequently pulled o
