1.
Heaven (nightclub)
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Heaven is a superclub in London, England which appeals predominantly to the gay market. It is located underneath Charing Cross railway station in Central London, Norman was also chairman of Burkes Peerage, the publishers. The original hi-tech interior was designed by his partner, Derek Frost, Norman had started an earlier club, The Embassy, in Old Bond Street in 1978. Norman, an entrepreneur, took his knowledge and used it to create a new form of gay club on a larger scale. The Embassy had taken London by storm and is seen as the London equivalent of New Yorks Studio 54. Heaven quickly established itself as the centre of the gay London nightlife, until Heaven, most gay clubs were small hidden cellar-bars or pub discos. Heaven brought gay clubbing into the mainstream and finally got a club to rival New Yorks gay super club at the time The Saint. Heaven became home to the Megatripolis club in October 1993 until October 1996 hosting visits from Allen Ginsberg, Terence McKenna and Ram Dass and DJs including Derrick May, as of the mid 1990s Wednesdays hosted a night called Fruit Machine, hosted by Miss Kimberly and her drag queens. Fridays were Garage with DJs Blu Peter and Mrs Wood taking the decks, other nights in the summer involved the use of Heavens swimming pool which was revealed from under the stage. The club was refurbished in 1998 and re-opened as a nightclub to challenge other larger nightclubs in Central London which had since appeared with the growing popularity of house music. Clubs like Trade and The Fridge had constantly challenged Heavens long standing reputation as the major gay nightclub in London. Famous hosts include Miss Kimberley, Scarlet and Zack with Big Dee, Heavens original resident DJ Ian Levine has often been credited with being one of the first DJs in the UK of the now customary style of beatmixing. These DJs then went on to greater acclaim in the mainstream or gay music industry. Original Heaven DJs have included, Tony De Vit, Colin Holsgrove, Marc Andrews, Marc Monroe, George Mitchell, Ian D, Jon Dennis, Rich B & Wayne G. The club was host to the seminal Troll at the Soundshaft in Heaven between 1988 and 1990, which started the career of DJs such as Daz Saund. One of Heavens most famous DJs Marc Andrews left his main Saturday night residency to join rival club The Fridge based in Brixton and their Saturday night presentation Love Muscle created significant competition and created a change in the balance of the pink pound market. The original Heaven sound of the 1980s could be attributed primarily to the producer Giorgio Moroder and later to original resident DJ Ian Levine and it can be described as having disco origins and influenced by the emergent house music style. In 1998 as part of the relaunch of the venue, it was decided to try broadening the appeal of the venue by including a night as part of its new Monday night, Popcorn
2.
Nightclub
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A nightclub is an entertainment venue and bar which serves alcoholic beverages that usually operates late into the night. Another distinction is that whereas many pubs and sports bars aim at a market, nightclubs typically aim at a niche market of music and dancing enthusiasts. The upmarket nature of nightclubs can be seen in the inclusion of VIP areas in some nightclubs, for celebrities, nightclubs are much more likely than pubs or sports bars to use bouncers to screen prospective clubgoers for entry. Some nightclub bouncers do not admit people with ripped jeans or other clothing or gang apparel as part of a dress code. The busiest nights for a nightclub are Friday and Saturday night, most clubs or club nights cater to certain music genres, such as house music or gothic rock. A nightclub may also be called a discothèque, disco, or dance club, from about 1900 to 1920, working class Americans would gather at honky tonks or juke joints to dance to music played on a piano or a jukebox. Webster Hall is credited as the first modern nightclub, being built in 1886 and starting off as a hall, originally functioning as a home for dance. During Prohibition in the United States, nightclubs went underground as illegal speakeasy bars, with Webster Hall staying open, with rumors circulating of Al Capones involvement and police bribery. With the repeal of Prohibition in February 1933, nightclubs were revived, such as New Yorks 21 Club, Copacabana, El Morocco, in Germany, possibly the first discothèque was Scotch-Club. These discothèques were also patronized by anti-Vichy youth called zazous, there were also underground discothèques in Nazi Germany patronized by anti-Nazi youth called the swing kids. In Harlem, Connies Inn and the Cotton Club were popular venues for white audiences, before 1953 and even some years thereafter, most bars and nightclubs used a jukebox or mostly live bands. The Whisky à Gogo set into place the elements of the modern post World War II discothèque-style nightclub. At the end of the 1950s, several of the bars in Soho introduced afternoon dancing. In the early 1960s, Mark Birley opened a members-only discothèque nightclub, Annabels, in Berkeley Square, in 1962, the Peppermint Lounge in New York City became popular and is the place where go-go dancing originated. However, the first rock and roll generation preferred rough and tumble bars and taverns to nightclubs, disco has its roots in the underground club scene. It brought together people from all walks of life and backgrounds and these clubs acted as safe havens for homosexual partygoers to dance in peace and away from public scrutiny. Disco allowed patrons to explore sexuality and push the envelope on the dance floor, disco clubs acted as an escape from such depressing environments and acted as the fantasy marginalized peoples could escape to forget oppression and racism. Disco clubs originally functioned as liberated party spaces and were seen as places of political statement, a smooth mix of long single records to keep people dancing all night long
3.
London Astoria
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The London Astoria was a music venue, located at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England. It had been leased and run by Festival Republic since 2000 and it was closed on 15 January 2009 and has since been demolished. The venue is still today as an iconic music establishment, as it helped to launch the careers of many British rock bands. It was also a venue in Britains LGBT scene, for holding Londons biggest gay new year parties along with G-A-Y. Originally a warehouse during the 1920s, the became a cinema. It was converted for use as a theatre in the 1970s, after further conversion, the building re-opened in the mid-1980s, as a night club and live music venue for well-known musical acts. There were half a dozen smaller music and gay clubs in the adjacent buildings within the neighbourhood, in 2009 the venue closed, and was demolished as part of the development plans of the Crossrail project. The Astoria was built on the site of a former Crosse & Blackwell warehouse and it was designed by Edward A. Stone, who also designed subsequent Astoria venues at Brixton, Old Kent Road, Finsbury Park and Streatham. When first constructed, the building was four storeys tall with a decorative frieze cornice surrounding its exterior, from 1928, the basement was used as a ballroom dancing salon. The venues interior was re-designed with a plainer, modern style in 1968, in 1977 it was converted for theatrical use. The venue went through period of conversion when the theatre closed in 1984. It reopened in 1985 as a nightclub and live music venue with a capacity for 2,000 people, a booklet was published called The History of the Astoria by Nigel Crewe to commemorate its evolving uses. It was the venue for the last live performance by Richey Edwards of Manic Street Preachers, mean Fiddler acquired the lease for the London Astoria in May 2000, securing the future of live music at one of London’s most famous rock ‘n’ roll venues. It was also connected to Astoria 2 so that the two venues could function as a venue when needed. The Astoria continued to operate in this format until its closure in 2009. The Smashing Pumpkins recorded and filmed the live performances of their songs Soma and these videos and recordings appears on Vieuphoria DVD and the Earphoria CD. The Cranberries recorded a concert on 14 January 1994 and they released it on DVD in 2005. The Groundhogs recorded their Live At The Astoria album at the venue in 1999, feeder recorded a matinee show with a live audience in 1999 at the venue to be shown on Fuji TV, a Japanese television station
4.
The Boston Globe
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The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1872 by Charles H. Taylor, it was held until 1973. The company was acquired in 1993 by The New York Times Company, in 2011, a BostonGlobe. com subscription site was launched. In 2013, the newspaper and websites were purchased by John W. Henry, the Boston Globe has been awarded 26 Pulitzer Prizes since 1966, and its chief print rival is the Boston Herald. The Boston Globe was founded in 1872 by six Boston businessmen, including Charles H. Taylor and Eben Jordan, the first issue was published on March 4,1872, and cost four cents. Originally a morning daily, it began a Sunday edition in 1877, in 1878, The Boston Globe started an afternoon edition called The Boston Evening Globe, which ceased publication in 1979. By the 1890s, The Boston Globe had become a stronghold, in 1964, Tom Winship succeeded his father, Larry Winship, as editor. The younger Winship transformed The Globe from a local paper into a regional paper of national distinction. He served as editor until 1984, during which time the paper won a dozen Pulitzer Prizes, the Boston Globe was a private company until 1973 when it went public under the name Affiliated Publications. It continued to be managed by the descendants of Charles H. Taylor, in 1993, The New York Times Company purchased Affiliated Publications for US$1.1 billion, making The Boston Globe a wholly owned subsidiary of The New York Times parent. The Jordan and Taylor families received substantial New York Times Company stock, Boston. com, the online edition of The Boston Globe, was launched on the World Wide Web in 1995. Consistently ranked among the top ten websites in America, it has won numerous national awards. Under the helm of editor Martin Baron and then Brian McGrory, the Boston Globe is credited with allowing Peter Gammons to start his Notes section on baseball, which has become a mainstay in all major newspapers nationwide. In 2004, Gammons was selected as the 56th recipient of the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for outstanding baseball writing, given by the BBWAA, and was honored at the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 31,2005. In 2007, Charlie Savage, whose reports on President Bushs use of signing statements made national news, the Boston Globe has consistently been ranked in the forefront of American journalism. The Boston Globe hosts 28 blogs covering a variety of topics including Boston sports, local politics, on April 2,2009, The New York Times Company threatened to close the paper if its unions did not agree to $20,000,000 of cost savings. Some of the cost savings include reducing union employees pay by 5%, ending pension contributions, the Boston Globe eliminated the equivalent of fifty full-time jobs, among buy-outs and layoffs, it swept out most of the part-time employees in the editorial sections. The papers other three major unions had agreed to concessions on May 3,2009, after The New York Times Company threatened to give the government 60-days notice that it intended to close the paper
5.
NME
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New Musical Express is a British music journalism magazine published since 1952. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, in the 1970s it became the best-selling British music newspaper. It started as a newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s and 1990s. An online version of NME, NME. com, was launched in 1996 and it became the worlds biggest standalone music site, with over seven million users per month. With newsstand sales falling across the UK magazine sector, the paid circulation in the first half of 2014 was 15,830. In 2013, the list of NMEs The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, NME magazine was relaunched in September 2015 as a nationally distributed free publication. NMEs headquarters are in Southwark, London, England, the brands editor-in-chief is Mike Williams, who replaced Krissi Murison in 2012. The paper was established in 1952, the Accordion Times and Musical Express was bought by London music promoter Maurice Kinn, for the sum of £1,000, just 15 minutes before it was due to be officially closed. It was relaunched as the New Musical Express, and was published in a non-glossy tabloid format on standard newsprint. On 14 November 1952, taking its cue from the US magazine Billboard, it created the first UK Singles Chart, the first of these was, in contrast to more recent charts, a top twelve sourced by the magazine itself from sales in regional stores around the UK. The first number one was Here in My Heart by Al Martino, during the 1960s the paper championed the new British groups emerging at the time. The NME circulation peaked under Andy Gray, Editor 1957–1972, with a figure of 306,881 for the period from January to June 1964, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were frequently featured on the front cover. These and other artists appeared at the NME Poll Winners Concert. The concert also featured a ceremony where the winners would collect their awards. The NME Poll Winners Concerts took place between 1959 and 1972, from 1964 onwards they were filmed, edited and transmitted on British television a few weeks after they had taken place. The latter part of the 1960s saw the chart the rise of psychedelia. During this period some sections of pop music began to be designated as rock, in early 1972 the paper found itself on the verge of closure by its owner IPC. Alan Smith was made editor and in 1972 was told by IPC to turn things around quickly or face closure, according to The Economist, the New Musical Express started to champion underground, up-and-coming music. NME became the gateway to a more rebellious world
6.
The Independent
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The Independent is a British online newspaper. The printed edition of the paper ceased in March 2016, nicknamed the Indy, it began as a broadsheet newspaper, but changed to tabloid format in 2003. Until September 2011, the paper described itself on the banner at the top of every newspaper as free from party political bias and it tends to take a pro-market stance on economic issues. The daily edition was named National Newspaper of the Year at the 2004 British Press Awards. In June 2015, it had a daily circulation of just below 58,000,85 per cent down from its 1990 peak. On 12 February 2016, it was announced that The Independent, the last print edition of The Independent on Sunday was published on 20 March 2016, with the main paper ceasing print publication the following Saturday. Launched in 1986, the first issue of The Independent was published on 7 October in broadsheet format and it was produced by Newspaper Publishing plc and created by Andreas Whittam Smith, Stephen Glover and Matthew Symonds. All three partners were former journalists at The Daily Telegraph who had left the paper towards the end of Lord Hartwells ownership, marcus Sieff was the first chairman of Newspaper Publishing, and Whittam Smith took control of the paper. The paper was created at a time of a change in British newspaper publishing. Rupert Murdoch was challenging long-accepted practices of the print unions and ultimately defeated them in the Wapping dispute, consequently, production costs could be reduced which, it was said at the time, created openings for more competition. As a result of controversy around Murdochs move to Wapping, the plant was effectively having to function under siege from sacked print workers picketing outside, the Independent attracted some of the staff from the two Murdoch broadsheets who had chosen not to move to his companys new headquarters. Launched with the advertising slogan It is, and challenging both The Guardian for centre-left readers and The Times as the newspaper of record, The Independent reached a circulation of over 400,000 by 1989. Competing in a market, The Independent sparked a general freshening of newspaper design as well as, within a few years. Some aspects of production merged with the paper, although the Sunday paper retained a largely distinct editorial staff. It featured spoofs of the other papers mastheads with the words The Rupert Murdoch or The Conrad Black, a number of other media companies were interested in the paper. Tony OReillys media group and Mirror Group Newspapers had bought a stake of about a third each by mid-1994, in March 1995, Newspaper Publishing was restructured with a rights issue, splitting the shareholding into OReillys Independent News & Media, MGN, and Prisa. In April 1996, there was another refinancing, and in March 1998, OReilly bought the other 54% of the company for £30 million, brendan Hopkins headed Independent News, Andrew Marr was appointed editor of The Independent, and Rosie Boycott became editor of The Independent on Sunday. Marr introduced a dramatic if short-lived redesign which won critical favour but was a commercial failure, Marr admitted his changes had been a mistake in his book, My Trade
7.
MAMA & Company
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MAMA & Company is a live music and lifestyle entertainment company which was founded in 2005 and owns and operates a number of live music venues and festivals in the United Kingdom. The venues range in capacities from 300 to 2,300, in addition, MAMA operates festivals and events which include Lovebox, Wilderness, The Great Escape, Somersault, GlobalGathering, Godskitchen and Future Gods events. On 11 June 2007, the company purchased the Hammersmith Apollo, the same year, MAMA Group acquired Mean Fiddler Holdings Limited the company which owned The Jazz Café, The Garage, The Borderline and held a majority share in G-A-Y. On 6 March 2008, the group acquired The Picture House, Edinburgh from Luminar Liquid Limited, MAMA acquired 100% of Global Gathering Group Limited in 2011. On 22 September 2008, MAMA Group acquired Heaven Limited, the company owns the leasehold of the Heaven Nightclub. On 15 January 2009, HMV Group purchased a 50 percent stake in MAMA Group, in January 2010 HMV bought the whole of the MAMA Group in a deal worth £46m. HMV sold the Hammersmith Apollo to AEG Live and Eventim UK in May 2012 for £32 million. It sold the remainder of MAMA & Company to management backed by Lloyds Development Capital in December 2012 for £7.3 million, MAMA acquired East Village Arts Club, Liverpool on 5 February 2013 and Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen on 13 March 2013. In 2015, MAMA was acquired by LN-Gaity, a joint venuture of Live Nation UK and the parent company of MCD Productions
8.
G-A-Y (album)
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G-A-Y was a 40-track compilation album which was released by London Records in the UK on Monday 3 July 2000. The album featured songs by 40 different artists who had appeared at London club G-A-Y, the G-A-Y album was heavily promoted in both the gay and mainstream media. TV commercials ran on music such as MTV and The Box. A nationwide poster campaign took place, and advertisements were placed in the gay and teen press, appearing in publications as Gay Times. Commercials also ran on radio in the weeks prior to release. On Saturday 1 July 2000, a show was held at G-A-Y to promote the release of the album, seven acts who appeared on the album performed. These acts were Shola Ama, All Saints, Bananarama, Dina Carroll, Honeyz, each act performed only one song, apart from Louise, who also performed her new single 2 Faced. The G-A-Y album contained 40 tracks, kylie Minogue - Better the Devil You Know 03. Steps - Loves Got A Hold On My Heart 04, All Saints - Pure Shores 06. Boyzone - No Matter What 07, westlife - Swear It Again 08. S Club 7 - S Club Party 10, vengaboys - Boom Boom Boom Boom 11. Tin Tin Out featuring Emma Bunton - What I Am 13, billie - Honey To The Bee 14. B*Witched - Cest La Vie 15, Honeyz - Wont Take It Lying Down 16. Alice Deejay - Back In My Life 17, mousse T vs Hot N Juicy - Horny 18. Tamperer featuring Maya - Feel It 19, ant & Dec - Lets Get Ready To Rumble 20. Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive 22, donna Summer - Bad Girls 23. Nicki French - Dont Play That Song Again 28, dannii Minogue - This Is It 29. Dina Carroll - Aint No Man 30, martine McCutcheon - Perfect Moment 31
9.
Bananarama
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Bananarama are a British female pop music vocal group formed in London in 1979 by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward. Their success on pop and dance charts have earned them a listing in The Guinness Book of Records as the all-female group with the most chart entries in the world. The groups 10 UK Top 10 hits include It Aint What You Do, Really Saying Something, Shy Boy, Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye, Cruel Summer, Robert De Niros Waiting. and Love in the First Degree. In 1986, they had a US number one with another of their UK Top 10 hits, in total, they had 11 singles reach the US Billboard Hot 100, including two more in the top 10, with Cruel Summer and I Heard a Rumour. They are associated with the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US, in 1988, Love in the First Degree earned them a Brit Award nomination for Best British Single, while their fourth album Wow. topped the Australian ARIA albums chart. Their 1988 music video for the groups hit cover of The Supremes 1971 smash single Nathan Jones earned them another Brit Award nomination. Following Faheys departure from the group in 1988, Jacquie OSullivan joined the group for three years and they had UK Top 10 hits with I Want You Back and Help. In addition to their success, the band is also known for their vocal style. Since 1992, Woodward and Dallin have continued Bananarama as a duo, with hits including Movin On and they returned to the UK Top 20 for the first time since 1991 with the 2005 single Move in My Direction. Between 1982 and 2009, they had 28 singles reach the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart, in December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked them the 94th most successful dance artist of all-time. The pair became a trio when Dallin met Fahey while studying journalism in London. They became friends because they dressed more radically than the other students. In 1981, Bananaramas members were living above the room that was used by former Sex Pistols members Steve Jones. With their help, Bananarama recorded their first demo Aie a Mwana, the demo was heard at Demon Records, who consequently offered Bananarama their first deal. The song was a hit and Bananarama were signed by Decca. Bananaramas only previous experience in a studio at the time was as background vocalists on the Department S B-side, Solid Gold Easy Action. During this early period Bananarama were approached by Malcolm McLaren, who offered to manage the group, Bananarama passed on both the material and McLaren as their manager. UK fashion magazine The Face featured an article on Bananarama after the release of their first single
10.
Billie Piper
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Billie Paul Piper is an English singer, dancer and actress. She made her debut in Scratchy & Co, the single was followed by Pipers album Honey to the B, which was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand and platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. In 2000, she released her album, Walk of Life. In 2003, she retired from the industry and launched an acting career. Pipers transition into acting began in 2004 and her most famous role is as Rose Tyler, companion to The Doctor from 2005 to 2006, in the BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who, a role she reprised in 2008,2010, and 2013. From 2007 until 2011, she starred as the high-flying escort Belle de Jour in the TV series Secret Diary of a Call Girl and she also starred as Brona Croft/Lily in the Showtime series Penny Dreadful. More recently Piper has taken to the stage, Piper was born in Swindon, Wiltshire. Her first name, Leian, was changed to Billie on 25 April 1983, by her parents, Paul Victor Piper. She has one brother, Charley, and two younger sisters, Harley and Elle. She studied at the Sylvia Young Theatre School and Bradon Forest School, Pipers career began when she was selected to appear on the Saturday morning childrens television show Scratchy & Co. She later landed a role in a commercial promoting the pop magazine Smash Hits. Her follow-up single Girlfriend also debuted at number one, at the 1998 Smash Hits Poll Winners party, Piper was nominated for Best New Act and won Princess of Pop. She then released She Wants You as the single from the album. Honey to the Bee was released as the single from the album, like the previous single. At the same time, She Wants You was released in the US and she then started to tour and release in Asia. The singles and the album were released during mid-to-late 1999, in August of that year, the follow-up to Because We Want To was released in Japan, a single comprising Girlfriend and She Wants You combined. She recorded a song for Pokémon, The First Movie titled Makin My Way, during that time, Piper recorded her second album. She decided to further records under her full name of Billie Piper
11.
Honeyz
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The Honeyz are an English R&B girl group. Formed in 1997, the original consisted of Célena Cherry, Heavenli Denton. Mariama Goodman first replaced Denton in 1999, the group had five UK Top 10 hits between 1998 and 2000, including Finally Found, End of the Line and Wont Take It Lying Down. Between 2005 and 2009, the member of the group was Candace Cherry. In 2012, Célena Cherry, Denton and Goodman reformed for the ITV reality show The Big Reunion and this was the first time Denton and Goodman appeared in the same line-up. They went on to perform in the successful 14-date Big Reunion arena tour in May 2013, Denton once again left the group in 2015, with Cherry and Goodman continuing as a duo. The original line-up was Cherry, Heavenli Denton and Naima Belkhiati, after three singles, Goodman left the group in 2000 due to a disagreement with Belkhiati and Denton rejoined. The group signed with Def Jam Records, but were dropped in 2001, throughout this period, the group released one studio album, Wonder No. 8, on 23 November 1998 with the original line-up, the record was re-released on 1 November 1999 with the second line-up. A second studio album, Harmony, was incomplete when the band was dropped by Def Jam. Honeyz reformed in 2005 for the ITV show Hit Me, Baby, One More Time, Denton left a second time and they were replaced by Goodman and Cherrys sister Candace. Honeyz continued to perform occasional gigs 2009, on 18 October 2012, it was announced that Honeyz, along with B*Witched, Five, Liberty X, Atomic Kitten and 911, would reunite for the ITV2 reality-documentary series The Big Reunion. Original member Belkhiati had other commitments, so the line-up consisted of Cherry, Denton and Goodman, the show began airing on 31 January 2013 and followed the six bands meeting for the first time since they split, and rehearsing for a comeback performance at Hammersmith Apollo. In May 2013, Honeyz began touring for the first time in ten years with a new song, Price You Pay. The Honeyz have sold over 4 million records worldwide, in 1997, Mercury Records cultivated the girl group Essence, made up of Heavenli Denton and Célena Cherry. The duo were hailed as an R&B alternative to the Spice Girls, according to Heavenli, We felt that there was a place for a younger, vibey kind of pop R&B group. We were looking at En Vogue as someone that we would like to aspire to, Célena admitted that Essence was an OK name, but it wasnt really hitting it. One night, when Heavenli and Célena were departing from the nightclub Subterranea, the two girls thought that name sounded better and they became Honeyz
12.
Louise Redknapp
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Louise Elizabeth Redknapp, professionally known as Louise, is an English singer and media personality. She was a member of Eternal, an R&B girl group debuted in 1993 with their quadruple-platinum studio album Always & Forever. In 1995, Redknapp departed the group for a career, in which she released the platinum-selling albums Naked, Woman In Me. Redknapp has sold over 15 million records in her home country, aside from music, Redknapp is also a television presenter, and she has presented several television shows and was a judge on the UK version of So You Think You Can Dance. She is married to the English footballer and television pundit Jamie Redknapp, in 2016, she reached the final in the fourteenth series of BBC Ones Strictly Come Dancing. Redknapp was born in Lewisham, London and her father was a builder and her mother worked at Gatwick Airport. Louise and her two brothers grew up in Eltham, London, and Oxted, Surrey. At the age of 11, she joined the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London, while out clubbing at the age of 16, Louise met the music producer Denis Ingoldsby, who was forming an all-girl group. She subsequently introduced Denis to Kéllé Bryan, Kéllé and Louise, together with sisters Easther and Vernie Bennett, formed the band Eternal in 1992. The group performed R&B, and recorded a number of hits during the 1990s. Eternals debut single Stay entered the UK charts at number four, in late 1995, Louise signed a record deal with First Avenue management and EMI Records. Now professionally known simply as Louise, her solo single was the orchestral ballad Light of My Life. Her second solo release, In Walked Love, fared less well, however, Louises third single, Naked, turned things around and became her then biggest hit to date, peaking at number five in the UK. Louises debut solo album, also entitled Naked, was released in 1996 on the back of the singles success. The album received lukewarm reviews, but nevertheless peaked at seven in the UK album charts. It was later certified Platinum by the BPI for over 300,000 copies sold, two further singles were released, Undivided Love and One Kiss From Heaven. In 1997, Louise returned with the single Arms Around The World and her second solo album, Woman in Me, peaked at number five in the UK and went on to gain multi-platinum status. The album also made an impact across Europe, charting well in a number of countries, to support and celebrate the success of the album, Louise embarked on a UK wide sell-out arena tour of over twenty dates, including Wembley Arena
13.
Soho
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Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and is part of the West End of London, England. Since the 1980s, the area has undergone considerable gentrification and it is now predominantly a fashionable district of upmarket restaurants and media offices, with only a small remnant of sex industry venues. Soho is a small, multicultural area of central London, a home to industry, commerce, culture and entertainment, record shops cluster in the area around Berwick Street, with shops such as Phonica, Sister Ray and Reckless Records. On many weekends, Soho is busy enough to warrant closing off some of the streets to vehicles, Westminster City Council pedestrianised parts of Soho in the mid-1990s, but later removed much of the pedestrianisation, apparently after complaints of loss of trade from local businesses. The name Soho first appears in the 17th century, Most authorities believe that the name derives from a former hunting cry. James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, used soho as a call for his men at the Battle of Sedgemoor on 6 July 1685. The Soho name has been imitated by other entertainment and restaurant districts such as Soho, Hong Kong, Soho, Málaga, SOHO, Beijing, SoHo, London, Ontario, Canada, and Palermo Soho, Buenos Aires. SoHo, Manhattan, gets its name from its location SOuth of HOuston Street, however, apart from Oxford Street, all of these roads are 19th-century metropolitan improvements, so they are not Sohos original boundaries. Soho has never been a unit, with formally defined boundaries. The area to the west is known as Mayfair, to the north Fitzrovia, to the east St Giles and Covent Garden, and to the south St Jamess. According to the Soho Society, Chinatown, the area between Leicester Square to the south and Shaftesbury Avenue to the north, is part of Soho, Soho is part of the West End electoral ward which elects three councillors to Westminster City Council. In 1536, the land was taken by Henry VIII as a park for the Palace of Whitehall. In the 1660s, ownership of Soho Fields passed to Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans and he was granted permission to develop property and quickly passed the lease and development to bricklayer Richard Frith. Soho was part of the ancient parish of St Martin in the Fields, as the population started to grow a new church was provided and in 1687 a new parish of St Anne was established for it. The parish stretched from Oxford Street in the north, to Leicester Square in the south and it therefore included all of contemporary eastern Soho, including the Chinatown area. The western portion of modern Soho, around Carnaby Street was part of the parish of St James, building progressed rapidly in the late 17th century, with large properties including Monmouth House, Leicester House, Fauconberg House, Carlisle House and Newport House. Soho Square was first laid out in the 1680s on the former Soho Fields, firth built the first houses around the square, and by 1691,41 had been completed. It was originally called King Square in honour of Charles II, several upper-class families moved into the area
14.
Old Compton Street
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Old Compton Street is a road that runs east–west through Soho in the West End of London. The street was named after Henry Compton who raised funds for a parish church. The area in general and this street in particular became the home of Huguenots, by the end of the 18th century, fewer than ten of the houses were without shop fronts. In the middle of the 19th century, while there were some workshops too, as well as restaurants and public houses, Old Compton Street had its resident curiosity in the form of Wombwells Menagerie. George Wombwell kept a boot and shoe shop on the street between 1804 and 1810 and, by all accounts, was quite an entrepreneur. Of short statue and an alcoholic, he built up three hugely successful menageries from a starting point of two snakes bought at a bargain price. The menageries travelled around England and made him a man before his death in 1850. Between 1956 and 1970 the 2 Is Coffee Bar was located here, many well-known 1960s pop musicians played in its cramped surroundings. Today, the street is the centre of Londons gay community, in the middle of Soho, it features several gay bars, restaurants and cafés, as well as a popular theatre. Whilst a pedestrianisation project proved unpopular with local traders and was reversed, the Prince Edward Theatre is located on the east end of the street. Until 2004 the long-running production of Mamma Mia, a musical based upon the songs of ABBA, was showing at the theatre. When Mamma Mia. moved to premises in another part of the West End, a production of Mary Poppins moved in. It is now home to Aladdin, London producer and director Adam Spreadbury-Maher lives at the northern end of Old Compton Street. In 1999, the Admiral Duncan pub was the site of a bomb attack which killed three people and injured over a dozen. A neo-nazi, David Copeland, was found guilty of the bombing. Previously decorated in colours, the Admiral Duncan was re-opened with a flamboyant pink. The flag has remained ever since, in defiance of Westminster City Councils planning permission laws. Along the street are numerous other gay bars including Comptons of SOHO, also on the street are a variety of cafés, tea rooms and restaurants, and sex shops
15.
Canal Street (Manchester)
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Canal Street, the centre of the Manchester Gay Village, is a street in Manchester city centre in North West England. The pedestrianised street, which runs along the west side of the Rochdale Canal, is lined with gay bars, at night time, and in daytime in the warmer months, the street is filled with visitors, often including gay and lesbian tourists from all over the world. The northern end of the street meets Minshull Street and the southern meets Princess Street, Canal Street developed when the Rochdale Canal was constructed in 1804, a trade artery running through the city. Pubs and other businesses evolved to service the users of the canal, not until the 20th century, however, did the area first begin to be properly associated with gay people. By the 1960s, usage of the canal had greatly declined due to competition from other methods of transport, whilst assuming the form of an industrial area full of cotton factories, by night the area was a red-light district. With the collapse of the industry in Northern England, the area suffered urban decay. The area along the canal was perfect for gay men to meet clandestinely as it was dark and unvisited, but was near to good transport links such as Oxford Road and Piccadilly railway stations. James Anderton, when questioned about the policing of the Canal Street area, greater Manchester Police under his leadership ran a strict licensing regime for bars and nightclubs in the central Manchester area. The opening of Manto in 1990 was regarded as a catalyst for the development of many of the current style of bars, Manto was created when Carol Ainscow, a gay property developer, alongside her business partner Peter Dalton, bought a garage repair building on Canal Street. The building was the first in the area to be clad with large glass windows, Ainscow stated, I felt sick of having to knock on doors. Despite this, Ainscow stated that for the first six months of business, another catalyst for the expansion in the 1990s was its official recognition by Manchester City Council. This included major support for the Mardi Gras and purchase of the Sackville Street Gardens in 1990, the Village has been unified by issues regarding the gay community, such as Section 28 in the run-up to it becoming law in 1988 and subsequently. Ian Wilmott, a gay Labour councillor, said Section 28 was such an attack on civil liberties that hundreds of campaigners came together to oppose it. We had no homeland, no part of the city and it had to be more than a club. We willed the village into existence, additionally, raising awareness over the HIV/AIDS threat to the community have been integral to bringing the village together, according to John Hamilton, chair of the Village Business Association. This focus led to several of the pubs on or near Canal Street acquiring a predominantly gay clientele, in 1991 Manto bar opened at no.46. It was built in 1989 by Benedict Smith Architects, unlike the other gay bars at that time, Manto had large glass windows, allowing the casual passer-by to view what was going on inside. A brick-and-mortar refusal to any more, to remain underground
16.
Alesha Dixon
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Alesha Dixon is a British singer, dancer, rapper, model and television presenter from Welwyn Garden City, England. She found fame in the all-female R&B/garage trio Mis-Teeq, the trio disbanded in 2005 and Dixon pursued a music career as a solo artist, signing to Polydor Records. She began recording her solo album, Fired Up, in 2006. In 2007, Dixon won Strictly Come Dancing and her television exposure led to a successful comeback, which included her signing to Asylum Records, an offshoot of Warner Music Group. In September 2009, Dixon became a judge on the series of Strictly Come Dancing, replacing Arlene Phillips. The replacement of Phillips by Dixon attracted criticism, as some questioned the extent of Dixons dancing knowledge, in 2010, Dixon returned for the eighth series of Strictly Come Dancing and released her third studio album, The Entertainer. In January 2012, shortly after completing the series and her third year as a judge on Strictly Come Dancing. As a television presenter, she has hosted Your Face Sounds Familiar, Text Santa, Alesha Anjanette Dixon was born in Welwyn Garden City to a Jamaican father, Melvin, and English mother, Beverly Harris. Maternally, she has two half-brothers, and on her fathers side, she has three half-brothers and a half-sister and she was educated at Monks Walk School, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. Dixons parents split up when Dixon was four and Dixons father moved away, between the ages of eight and ten, Dixon witnessed her mother suffer domestic violence from her partner, she only spoke publicly about the issue 21 years later, in 2010. The negative times and the times have blocked anything that was good. I believe that child has the right to grow up in an environment where they feel secure and fearless going into the world. Dixons first job was at Ladbrokes, although she aspired to become a PE teacher after leaving college, whilst travelling back home on the train she was approached by another scout who was forming a band and asked if she was interested. Dixons career began in 1999 when she met Sabrina Washington as they joined a dance school in Fulham, south west London. Together, they decided to form a band when Dixon and Washington, Dixon and Washington proposed that Nash join the group and together they formed a trio. They were soon signed to Telstar Records with the addition of a new member, Zena McNally, in October 2000, Dixon, then relatively unknown, featured on the single Rumours by Damage, which charted modestly at 22 on the UK Singles Chart. The genre of the track departed from the bands R&B style, in favour of a sound, however. In January 2001, Mis-Teeq released their first single, Why, the track remained commercially unnoticed until a garage remix was produced and the track charted at 8 in April of that year
17.
Anastacia
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Anastacia Lyn Newkirk is an American singer-songwriter, producer and former dancer. She is best known for her pop music of the early 2000s which had a significant impact in Europe. Her first two albums Not That Kind and Freak of Nature were released in succession to major success. Spurred on by the multi-platinum, global smash Im Outta Love and her commercial appeal continued with international hits such as Paid My Dues, One Day In Your Life and the official song of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Boom. After recovering from cancer, she returned with 2004s Anastacia which deviated from previous albums into pop-rock, peaking at number one in 11 countries, it became Europes second biggest selling album of the year. Its lead Left Outside Alone remained at one on the European Billboard chart for 15 weeks. In 2005, the multi-platinum compilation project Pieces of a Dream was released which spawned the chart topping duet with Eros Ramazzotti, Anastacia established herself as one of the top selling international female pop-singers of the 2000s before taking a hiatus in late 2006. She has sold over 52 million records worldwide and has topped the U. S. dance chart on two separate occasions. In 2014, Anastacia made a comeback with her studio album Resurrection, which reached the top ten in the Italian, Netherlands, Switzerland, German. Her Ultimate Collection was released in 2015 and peaked in the top ten of the UK charts, known for her powerful mezzo-soprano voice and her small stature of 5 feet 2 inches, she has been dubbed the little lady with the big voice. Also famed for her glasses, she underwent corrective lasic surgery in August 2005. During her life Anastacia has battled many health problems and she was diagnosed with Crohns disease at age 13, breast cancer at age 34, and supraventricular tachycardia at age 39. In 2013 Anastacia was diagnosed with breast cancer for a second time, on October 1,2013 to coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Anastacia informed the media that she had undergone a double mastectomy. Anastacia was born in Chicago, Illinois, her late father Robert Newkirk was a club-singer and her mother Diane Hurley an actress on Broadway, after her father left the Newkirk family, they moved to New York City when she was a teenager. Then she enrolled at the Professional Childrens School in Manhattan, Anastacia was diagnosed with Crohns disease when she was thirteen. Despite her illness she soon became interested in dance, at age 19, a diet triggered a Crohns relapse. Despite her ongoing health problems Anastacia continued to pursue her ambitions for the next decade, Anastacia started her career in 1983 as a dancer for hire. Her first claim to fame was as a dancer, making regular appearances in the mid-1980s and early-90s on MTVs Club MTV
18.
B*Witched
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B*Witched are an Irish girl group consisting of twin sisters Edele and Keavy Lynch, Lindsay Armaou, and Sinéad OCarroll. Originally active between 1997 and 2002, they enjoyed success in both Europe and North America between 1998 and 2000, releasing two albums and eight singles, all of which made the UK Top 20. Their first four singles, Cest la Vie, Rollercoaster, To You I Belong and Blame It on the Weatherman, in 2002, having sold over 3 million albums worldwide, B*Witched were dropped by their record company. Soon afterwards, when OCarroll decided to leave, the split up. In 2006, the Lynch sisters formed a group, Ms. Lynch, the show follows the six groups as they reunited for the first time in a decade and rehearsed ahead of a comeback performance at the Hammersmith Apollo on 26 February 2013. Due to the success of the show and the demand for tickets at the Hammersmith Apollo gig. In May 2013, B*Witched unveiled a new song called Love, during a radio interview in October 2013, Edele Lynch confirmed that the group would be releasing new material. On 28 September 2014, they released an EP, entitled Champagne or Guinness and they are set to tour Australia in 2017. All four members of B*Witched came from families and were accomplished musicians from young ages. Sinéad OCarroll met Keavy Lynch in a garage where Keavy was working as a part-time mechanic, meanwhile, Lindsay Armaou met up with Keavy at a kickboxing class. In 1996, Keavy, Sinéad and Keavys identical twin sister Edele decided to put a group together and they were originally called Butterfly Farm. They later became a four-piece when Lindsay joined, the group later experimented with the name DZire and Sister, before finally choosing B*Witched. The band members deliberately cultivated an image and, in order to appeal to a younger audience. Edele and Keavys brother Shane Lynch helped the group find a manager, former New Kids on the Block manager Kim Glover was appointed to the role, and in 1997 she signed the group to Glowworm Records, the Epic Records label she ran. The label was co-run by Ray Madman Hedges, who produced all of B*Witcheds releases, B*Witched released their debut single Cest la Vie on 25 May 1998 prior to their first ever show at Lawmuir Primary School in Bellshill as part of Jobees 20th anniversary. Despite mixed reviews, it reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, following its release in the United States, the song went to number nine on the Billboard Hot 100. Subsequent singles Rollercoaster, To You I Belong and Blame It on the Weatherman all topped the UK chart as well and they also sang the theme song for Sabrina, The Animated Series. Their self-titled debut album, B*Witched, was released in October 1998, the album also peaked at number 12 on the US Billboard 200 and was ceritified Platinum in the US
19.
Britney Spears
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Britney Jean Spears is an American singer, dancer, and actress. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, she performed acting roles in stage productions, Spearss first and second studio albums. Baby One More Time and Oops. I Did It Again, became international successes, with the former becoming the album by a teenage solo artist. Title tracks. Baby One More Time and Oops, I Did It Again broke international sales records. In 2001, Spears released her third studio album, Britney. She assumed creative control of her studio album, In the Zone. In 2007, Spearss much-publicized personal issues sent her career into hiatus and her fifth studio album, Blackout, was released later that year, and spawned singles such as Gimme More and Piece of Me. Her erratic behavior and hospitalizations continued through the year, at which point she was placed under a still ongoing conservatorship. Spearss sixth studio album, Circus, included the international chart-topping single Womanizer and her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale, became her first to yield three top-ten singles in the United States. She released her studio album Britney Jean in 2013. Later that year, Spears began the four-year residency show, Britney, Piece of Me, in 2016, Spears released her ninth studio album, Glory. Spears is regarded as a pop icon and credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and she became the best-selling teenage artist of all time and garnered honorific titles including the Princess of Pop. In 2009, Billboard ranked her as the 8th overall Artist of the Decade, the Recording Industry Association of America lists Spears as the eighth top-selling female artist in the United States, with 34 million certified albums. She has sold 100 million albums and over 100 million singles worldwide making her one of the music artists of all time. According to Billboard Spears has sold about 22.38 million singles in digital downloads in US and is the fourth best-selling female artist since Nielsen SoundScan began. Forbes reported that Spears was the highest paid musician of 2012, with earnings of $58 million. Spears was born in McComb, Mississippi, the child of Lynne Irene Bridges and James Parnell Spears. Her maternal grandmother, Lillian Portell, was English, and one of Spearss maternal great-great-grandfathers was Maltese and her siblings are Bryan James and Jamie Lynn
20.
Ellie Goulding
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Elena Jane Ellie Goulding is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was spotted by Jamie Lillywhite. After signing to Polydor Records in July 2009, Goulding released her extended play, An Introduction to Ellie Goulding. In 2010, she became the second artist to top the BBCs annual Sound of, poll and win the Critics Choice Award at the Brit Awards in the same year. She released her studio album, Lights, in 2010. The albums title track, Lights, was released in the US in March 2011, Gouldings second studio album, Halcyon, was released in October 2012. Anything Could Happen preceded the album as the lead single, Halcyon debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart and after 65 weeks reached number one. Halcyon debuted at nine on the US Billboard 200. Halcyon Days, an edition of Halcyon, was released on 23 August 2013, it included new singles including Burn. At the 2014 Brit Awards, she received the award for British Female Solo Artist, Goulding released her third studio album, titled Delirium, on 6 November 2015, with On My Mind as the albums lead single. In December 2015, she received her first Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance for her single Love Me like You Do. Elena Jane Goulding was born on 30 December 1986 in Hereford and raised in Lyonshall, a village near Kington, Herefordshire. Her father, Arthur Goulding, came from a family of undertakers, while her mother, Tracy, when she was 5, her parents separated, later she had a stepfather who was a lorry driver, whom she considered horrible. At 9, she playing the clarinet and at 14 began learning guitar. Goulding attended Lady Hawkins High School in Kington where she won the role of the Scarecrow in a production of The Wizard of Oz. At 15, she started songwriting and while at Hereford Sixth Form College entered a competition and won. After she successfully showcased for Turn First head Sarah Stennett, she was told to leave university and was set up in a house in West London, Lillywhite became her manager and introduced her to the producer Starsmith who would become her chief collaborator and the primary producer of Lights. The single peaked at number fifty-three on the UK Singles Chart following an appearance on Later
21.
Fifth Harmony
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Fifth Harmony is an American girl group formed on the second season of The X Factor US in July 2012. The group consists of members Ally Brooke, Normani Kordei, Dinah Jane, Lauren Jauregui and previously, Camila Cabello, whose departure was announced on December 18,2016. In January 2013, they signed a joint deal with Syco Music, owned by Simon Cowell, in December 2016, it was reported that all group members are also individually signed to Epic Records. Following their exit from The X Factor, they released their debut single Miss Movin On and its music video won the group the MTV Video Music Award for Artist to Watch. Their debut extended play, Better Together, had a first week position of six on the US Billboard 200. The group released their studio album Reflection in 2015, debuting at number five on the Billboard 200. The album included the platinum singles Boss, Sledgehammer and Worth It, the latter achieved triple platinum certification in the United States and reached the top-ten in thirteen countries. Work from Home, the single from their second album 7/27, became the groups first top-ten single on the US Billboard Hot 100. As of December 2016, Fifth Harmony has sold a total of 424,000 albums, seven million digital songs and earned 1.6 billion on-demand streams in the United States, according to Nielsen Soundscan. On July 27,2012, they were formed as a group at the end of bootcamp by Simon Cowell and Demi Lovato, originally, the groups name was LYLAS, but another group called The Lylas claimed that the show stole their name. Thereafter, LYLAS changed their name to 1432, which was announced on the first live show on October 31,2012, Simon Cowell and L. A. Reid were critical of the new name, and Cowell suggested that the group be renamed again. During the first live show on November 1,2012,1432 performed Skyscraper by Demi Lovato in a sing-off with Sister C. Cowell decided to send 1432 through to the Top 12 and he announced that they would be renamed by the viewers online, the name chosen by the public was announced, Fifth Harmony. In the semi-finals stage of the show, they performed Ellie Gouldings Anything Could Happen as well as Shontelles Impossible and their performance of Anything Could Happen was a finals-caliber performance according to L. A. Reid and described as magic by Britney Spears. Their performance of Impossible received mostly negative reviews from the judges because the group had performed the song at Simon Cowells home. Three members of the group sang parts of the song in fluent Spanish, the following nights public vote results advanced Fifth Harmony to the final 3 along with Tate Stevens and Carly Rose Sonenclar. On the Top three live show, Fifth Harmony performed Ellie Gouldings Anything Could Happen for the time as their Song of the Series song. Their second song was a duet with The X Factor judge Demi Lovato singing Give Your Heart a Break and their final song of the night was Let It Be by The Beatles, billed as their $5 million song
22.
Kylie Minogue
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Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE, often known simply as Kylie, is an Australian singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. She achieved recognition starring in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, where she played tomboy mechanic Charlene Robinson, since then, Minogue has been a recording artist and has achieved commercial success and critical acclaim in the entertainment industry. Minogue has been recognised with several nicknames including Princess of Pop. She is recognised as the highest-selling Australian artist of all time by the Australian Recording Industry Association, born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, Minogue has for many years worked and lived in London. She signed to PWL in 1987 and released her first studio album Kylie the next year, in 1992, she left PWL and signed with Deconstruction Records and where she created her self-titled studio album and Impossible Princess, both of which received positive reviews from critics. Returning to more mainstream dance-oriented music, Minogue signed to Parlophone and her 2001 single Cant Get You Out of My Head became one of the most successful singles during the 2000s, selling over ten million units. It is recognised as her song and was named the catchiest song ever by Yahoo. Her album Fever was a hit in countries, including the United States. In 2005, while Minogue was on her Showgirl, The Greatest Hits Tour, after treatment, she resumed the tour under the title Showgirl, The Homecoming Tour, which critics viewed as a triumph. Minogue resumed work as an actress and appeared in the films Moulin Rouge, Jack & Diane, and Holy Motors. In 2014, she appeared as a judge on the series of The Voice UK. Her other ventures include product endorsements, children books and fashion, as of 2015, Minogue has had worldwide record sales of more than 80 million. She has mounted several successful and critically acclaimed concert world tours and she was appointed OBE by Charles, Prince of Wales in 2008. She was appointed by the French government as a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her contribution to the enrichment of French culture, Minogue was awarded an honorary Doctor of Health Science degree by Anglia Ruskin University for her work in raising awareness for breast cancer. In November 2011, on the 25th anniversary of the ARIA Music Awards, in December 2016, Billboard ranked her as the 18th most successful dance artist of all-time. Kylie was born to Ronald Charles Minogue and Carol Ann Jones in Melbourne, Australia and her father is a fifth generation Australian, and has Irish ancestry, while her mother came from Maesteg, Wales. Jones had lived in Wales until age ten when her mother and father, Millie and Denis Jones, just before Kylies birth, Ron qualified as an accountant and worked through several jobs while Carol worked as a professional dancer. Kylies younger brother, Brendan, is a cameraman in Australia, while her younger sister Dannii Minogue is also a singer
