1.
Pop music
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Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form in the United States and United Kingdom during the mid 1950s. The terms popular music and pop music are used interchangeably, although the former describes all music that is popular. Pop and rock were synonymous terms until the late 1960s, when they were used in opposition from each other. Although pop music is seen as just the singles charts, it is not the sum of all chart music. Pop music is eclectic, and often borrows elements from other such as urban, dance, rock, Latin. Identifying factors include generally short to medium-length songs written in a format, as well as the common use of repeated choruses, melodic tunes. David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop music as a body of music which is distinguishable from popular, jazz, according to Pete Seeger, pop music is professional music which draws upon both folk music and fine arts music. Although pop music is seen as just the singles charts, it is not the sum of all chart music, the music charts contain songs from a variety of sources, including classical, jazz, rock, and novelty songs. Pop music, as a genre, is seen as existing and developing separately, pop music continuously evolves along with the terms definition. The term pop song was first recorded as being used in 1926, Hatch and Millward indicate that many events in the history of recording in the 1920s can be seen as the birth of the modern pop music industry, including in country, blues and hillbilly music. The Oxford Dictionary of Music states that while pops earlier meaning meant concerts appealing to a wide audience. Since the late 1950s, however, pop has had the meaning of non-classical mus, usually in the form of songs, performed by such artists as the Beatles. Grove Music Online also states that, in the early 1960s pop music competed terminologically with beat music, while in the USA its coverage overlapped with that of rock and roll. From about 1967, the term was used in opposition to the term rock music. Whereas rock aspired to authenticity and an expansion of the possibilities of music, pop was more commercial, ephemeral. It is not driven by any significant ambition except profit and commercial reward, and, in musical terms, it is essentially conservative. It is, provided from on high rather than being made from below, pop is not a do-it-yourself music but is professionally produced and packaged. The beat and the melodies tend to be simple, with limited harmonic accompaniment, the lyrics of modern pop songs typically focus on simple themes – often love and romantic relationships – although there are notable exceptions
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Maverick (company)
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Maverick was an entertainment company founded in 1992 by Madonna, Frederick DeMann and Veronica Ronnie Dashev. It was owned and operated by Warner Music Group and it included a recording company, a film production company, book publishing, music publishing, Latin record division and a television production company. The first releases for the company were Madonnas 1992 coffee table publication, Sex, DeMann was bought out of the company for a reported $20 million in 1998. Guy Oseary increased his stake in the company and took control as Chairman, Madonna and Dashev left in 2004 after a lawsuit between Maverick and Warner Music Group. As of 2014, the company was revived as a management group founded by Oseary in partnership with Live Nation Entertainment. It consists of Oseary and other recording artist managers Ron Laffitte, Caron Veazey, Gee Roberson, Cortez Bryant, Larry Rudolph, Adam Leber, Scott Rodger, all nine managers and their companies joined and rebranded as Maverick on October 17,2014. Maverick Records was launched in April 1992 as a unit of the Maverick entertainment company and it was a joint venture between Madonna, Frederick DeMann, Veronica Ronnie Dashev and Time Warner. The name is combined from the names of three of the founders, Madonna, Veronica and Frederick, the company had divisions for recording, music publishing, television, film, merchandising and book-publishing. The venture was part of a $60 million recording and business deal between Madonna and Time Warner. It gave her 20% royalties from the proceedings, one of the highest rates in the industry. At the time of its launch, the company was bi-coastal, having offices in both New York City and Los Angeles. The record company division of Maverick also consisted of sub-label, Maverick Musica, the first releases for the company were Madonnas 1992 coffee table publication, Sex and her studio album Erotica which were released simultaneously to great controversy. DeMann was bought out of the company for a reported $20 million in 1998, after which Guy Oseary increased his stake in the company and took control as Chairman and CEO. Throughout the 1990s to the middle 2000s, Maverick would also release albums by Michelle Branch, Meshell Ndegeocello, dana Dane, N-Phase, Dalvin DeGrate, The Prodigy, Cleopatra, Tyler Hilton, Deftones, No Authority and William Orbit. By the early 2000s, Maverick saw its fortunes decline. In March 2004, the label and Madonna filed suit against Warner Music Group, claiming that mismanagement of resources, Warner filed a countersuit, alleging that Maverick had lost tens of millions of dollars on its own. Then Maverick CEO Guy Oseary, meanwhile, retained his position until WMG purchased his shares in 2006. Madonna was still signed to Warner under her recording contract, the same year, the band Lillix, which at the time was signed to the label, claimed that the Maverick no longer existed and that all the artists were now handled by Warner Bros. directly
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Warner Bros. Records
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Warner Bros. Records was established on March 19,1958, as the recorded-music division of the American film studio Warner Bros. For most of its existence it was one of a group of labels owned and operated by larger parent corporations. The sequence of companies that controlled Warner Bros. and its allied labels evolved through a series of corporate mergers. Over this period, Warner Bros. Records grew from a minor player in the music industry to become one of the top recording labels in the world. In 2003, these assets were divested by their then owner Time Warner. This independent company traded as the Warner Music Group before being bought by Access Industries in 2011, WMG is the smallest of the three major international music conglomerates and the worlds last publicly traded major music company. Cameron Strang serves as CEO of the company, artists currently signed to Warner Bros. At the end of the silent movie period, Warner Bros, pictures decided to expand into publishing and recording so that it could access low-cost music content for its films. This new group controlled valuable copyrights on standards by George and Ira Gershwin and Jerome Kern, the label signed rising radio and recording stars Bing Crosby, Mills Brothers, and Boswell Sisters. In December 1931, Warner Bros. offloaded Brunswick to the American Record Corporation for a fraction of its former value, in a lease arrangement which did not include Brunswicks pressing plants. Warner Bros. sold Brunswick a second time, this time along with the old Brunswick pressing plants Warner owned, to Decca Records in exchange for a financial interest in Decca. The studio stayed out of the business for more than 25 years. Warner Bros. reëntered the record business in 1958 with the establishment of its own recording division, by this time, the established Hollywood studios were reeling from multiple challenges to their former dominance - the most notable being the introduction of television in the late 1940s. Legal changes also had a impact on their business—lawsuits brought by major stars had effectively overthrown the old studio contract system by the late 1940s. Pictures sold off much of its library in 1948 and, beginning in 1949. Semenenko in particular had a professional interest in the entertainment business. With the record business booming - sales had topped US$500 million by 1958 - Semnenko argued that it was foolish for Warner Bros, another impetus for the labels creation was the brief music career of Warner Bros. actor Tab Hunter. In 1958, the studio signed Hunter as its first artist to its newly formed record division, to establish the label, the company hired former Columbia Records president James B
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Record producer
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A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performers music, which may range from recording one song to recording a lengthy concept album. A producer has many roles during the recording process, the roles of a producer vary. The producer may perform these roles himself, or help select the engineer, the producer may also pay session musicians and engineers and ensure that the entire project is completed within the record companies budget. A record producer or music producer has a broad role in overseeing and managing the recording. Producers also often take on an entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, contracts. In the 2010s, the industry has two kinds of producers with different roles, executive producer and music producer. Executive producers oversee project finances while music producers oversee the process of recording songs or albums. In most cases the producer is also a competent arranger, composer. The producer will also liaise with the engineer who concentrates on the technical aspects of recording. Noted producer Phil Ek described his role as the person who creatively guides or directs the process of making a record, indeed, in Bollywood music, the designation actually is music director. The music producers job is to create, shape, and mold a piece of music, at the beginning of record industry, producer role was technically limited to record, in one shot, artists performing live. The role of producers changed progressively over the 1950s and 1960s due to technological developments, the development of multitrack recording caused a major change in the recording process. Before multitracking, all the elements of a song had to be performed simultaneously, all of these singers and musicians had to be assembled in a large studio and the performance had to be recorded. As well, for a song that used 20 instruments, it was no longer necessary to get all the players in the studio at the same time. Examples include the rock sound effects of the 1960s, e. g. playing back the sound of recorded instruments backwards or clanging the tape to produce unique sound effects. These new instruments were electric or electronic, and thus they used instrument amplifiers, new technologies like multitracking changed the goal of recording, A producer could blend together multiple takes and edit together different sections to create the desired sound. For example, in jazz fusion Bandleader-composer Miles Davis album Bitches Brew, producers like Phil Spector and George Martin were soon creating recordings that were, in practical terms, almost impossible to realise in live performance. Producers became creative figures in the studio, other examples of such engineers includes Joe Meek, Teo Macero, Brian Wilson, and Biddu
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Nigel Wright (record producer)
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Nigel Wright is a record producer from England. Wrights career in theatre and film include serving as the producer for Andrew Lloyd Webber, in a successful partnership that had, as of May 2009. Wright first rose to prominence as producer of the jazz-funk group Shakatak, during the 1980s he also produced medleys under various names. Released under the group name Enigma, it reached number 11 in the UK singles chart and was followed by I Love Music which reached number 25, through the 1980s Wright continued to produce medleys under other names including Mojo and Mirage. Under the latter name, he created the popular Jack Mix series of medleys which included the 1987 top ten hit singles Jack Mix II and Jack Mix IV and albums Jack Mix 88 and he continued to create medleys into the early 1990s, now under the name UK Mixmasters. Under this title he produced three UK hit singles, the biggest of these being The Bare Necessities Megamix, which peaked at No.14 in 1991, Mirage was a British pop music group active in the 1980s and specializing in medleys. It achieved particular success in 1987-8 with the Jack Mix series of singles, Mirage had its origins in Enigma, a 1981 project created by Nigel Wright to cash in on the success of Dutch medley group Stars on 45. Enigmas Aint No Stopping, a medley of disco hits played by musicians, was released while Stars on 45 was still climbing the charts. Aint No Stopping peaked at number 11 in the UK singles chart and was followed up with I Love Music, although the medley craze faded quickly, Wright continued to produce medleys, first under the name Mojo, before settling on Mirage. The first Mirage medley to make an impact was the 1984 release Give Me The Night, other single-artist medleys followed, Lets Groove, Get Down on It and the Tracey Ackerman-fronted Into The Groove Medley. Though popular in UK clubs, only Give Me The Night crossed over into the mainstream charts, Mirage came to much greater prominence in 1987 when Wright spotted an opportunity in the new house music style which was beginning to enter the mainstream. In January 1987, Steve Silk Hurley achieved the first house music number one hit in the UK with Jack Your Body, Wright quickly responded by releasing the 12 single Jack Mix under the Mirage name – a medley/montage of Jack Your Body, Showing Out and Axel F. Following positive response from the clubs, a version was released, titled Jack Mix II. This became the first UK-produced house record to reach the British top ten, several TV advertised albums also charted, with the most successful being Jack Mix 88 and Jack Mix in Full Effect, both of which reached number 7. Wright has produced a number of cast recordings, as well as the NBC version, Grease, Youre the One that I Want. In 2007, he served as director for the follow-up to How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria. In 2008 he was also the director for the TV program where a Nancy and Oliver were selected Id Do Anything and conducted the Orchestra on BBCs Eurovision. He is the director of the live heats of The X Factor
6.
Alan Parker
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Sir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer and screenwriter. Parkers early career, beginning in his teens, was spent as a copywriter. After about ten years of filming adverts, many of which won awards for creativity, Parker is noted for having a wide range of filmmaking styles and working in differing genres. His films have won nineteen BAFTA awards, ten Golden Globes, Parker was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to the British film industry and knighted as a Knight Bachelor in 2002. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema, along with being a member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain. In 2013 he received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, the highest honour the British Film Academy can give a filmmaker, Parker donated his personal archive to the British Film Institutes National Archive in 2015. Parker was born into a family in Islington, North London, the son of Elsie Ellen, a dressmaker, and William Leslie Parker. He grew up on an estate of Islington, which has always made it easy for him to remain almost defiantly working-class in attitudes said the British novelist. Parker says that although he had his share of fun growing up, he felt he was studying for his secondary school exams. He had a background with no aspirations to become a film director, nor did anyone in his family have any desire to be involved in the film industry. The closest he came, he says, to anything related to films was learning photography. Parker attended Dame Alice Owens School, concentrating on science in his last year and he left school when he was eighteen to work in the advertising field, hoping that the advertising industry might be a good way to meet girls. His first job was office boy in the post room of an advertising agency, but more than anything, he says, he wanted to write, and would write essays and ads when he got home after work. His colleagues also encouraged him to write, which led him to a better position in the company. The great thing about advertising from a British point of view, is that it didnt have a kind of distinction as other jobs had. If you were half bright, they gave you a chance, I was very fortunate that they gave me that chance. Parker credits Puttnam with inspiring him and talking him into writing his first film script, by 1968, Parker had moved from copywriting to successfully directing numerous television advertisements. In 1970, he joined Alan Marshall to establish a company to make advertisements and that company eventually became one of Britains best commercial production house, winning nearly every major national and international award open to it
7.
Andrew Lloyd Webber
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Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway and he has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass. In 2001 the New York Times referred to him as the most commercially successful composer in history, ranked the fifth most powerful person in British culture by The Telegraph in 2008, the lyricist Don Black stated Andrew more or less single-handedly reinvented the musical. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is an inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and his company, the Really Useful Group, is one of the largest theatre operators in London. Producers in several parts of the UK have staged productions, including national tours, Lloyd Webber is also the president of the Arts Educational Schools London, a performing arts school located in Chiswick, West London. He is involved in a number of activities, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Nordoff Robbins, Prostate Cancer UK. His younger brother, Julian Lloyd Webber, is a solo cellist. Lloyd Webber started writing his own music at a young age and he also put on productions with Julian and his Aunt Viola in his toy theatre. Later, he would be the owner of a number of West End theatres and his aunt Viola, an actress, took him to see many of her shows and through the stage door into the world of the theatre. He also had set music to Old Possums Book of Practical Cats at the age of 15. Lloyd Webbers first collaboration with lyricist Tim Rice was The Likes of Us, although composed in 1965, it was not publicly performed until 2005, when a production was staged at Lloyd Webbers Sydmonton Festival. In 2008, amateur rights were released by the National Operatic and Dramatic Association in association with the Really Useful Group, the first amateur performance was by a childrens theatre group in Cornwall called Kidz R Us. In this respect, it is different from the composers later work, which tends to be either predominantly or wholly through-composed. Joseph began life as a cantata that gained some recognition on its second staging with a favourable review in The Times. For its subsequent performances, Rice and Lloyd Webber revised the show and this culminated in a two-hour-long production being staged in the West End on the back of the success of Jesus Christ Superstar. In 1969 Rice and Lloyd Webber wrote a song for the Eurovision Song Contest called Try It and See, with rewritten lyrics it became King Herods Song in their third musical, Jesus Christ Superstar. The planned follow-up to Jesus Christ Superstar was a comedy based on the Jeeves. Tim Rice was uncertain about this venture, partly because of his concern that he not be able to do justice to the novels that he
8.
Babyface (musician)
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For the guitarist and Beard Of Wales, see Thee Faction. Kenneth Brian Edmonds, known professionally as Babyface, is an American singer, songwriter and he has written and produced over 26 number-one R&B hits throughout his career, and has won 11 Grammy Awards. Edmonds was born on April 10,1959, in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Marvin, Barbara was a production operator at a pharmaceutical plant. Edmonds, who is the fifth of six brothers, attended North Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, when he was in eighth grade, Edmonds father died of lung cancer, leaving his mother to raise her sons alone. At this stage, Edmonds became determined to have a career in music, Edmonds later played with funk performer Bootsy Collins, who tagged him Babyface because of his youthful look. He also performed in the group Manchild as a guitarist and he played keyboards in the light-funk and R&B group the Deele. One of his first major credits as a songwriter for outside artists came when he wrote the tune Slow Jam for the R&B band Midnight Star in 1983, Babyface remained in the Deele until 1988, when both he and Reid left the group. His album Playlist consists of eight songs and two original works. It was released on September 18,2007 and it was the first album on the newly re-launched Mercury Records label. On February 4,2014, he released a Grammy Award-winning duet album with Toni Braxton titled Love, Marriage & Divorce on Motown Records. In the late 1980s, he contributed to the creation of new jack swing, writing and producing music for the likes of Bobby Brown, Karyn White, Pebbles, Paula Abdul, in 1989, Edmonds co-founded LaFace Records with Reid. Three of the early artists TLC, Usher, and Toni Braxton were very successful. TLCs second album CrazySexyCool, for which he wrote and produced some of the hits, under his direction, TLC was able to sell more than 60 million albums worldwide, and a combined total of 75 million records. Toni Braxtons first two albums, Toni Braxton and Secrets, for which he wrote the majority of the songs, Babyface helped form the popular late-1990s R&B group Az Yet. Edmonds also helped to mold and work some of his then-wife Tracey Edmonds acts, such as Jon B. Edmonds has worked with many performers in contemporary music. “I’m Your Baby Tonight”, produced for Whitney Houston, was his first No.1 Top 40 hit in the US. He also wrote and produced Boyz II Mens 1992 End of the Road and 1994 Ill Make Love to You and he received three consecutive Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year from 1995 to 1997
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Guy Sigsworth
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Guy Sigsworth is a British composer, producer and songwriter. He has also collaborated with many celebrated instrumental musicians, including Talvin Singh, Jon Hassell and he was previously a member of the band Frou Frou together with Imogen Heap. Sigsworth grew up in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, where he developed a passion for early music. His earliest musical heroes were the multi-instrumentalist David Munrow and the maverick field-recordist and he was a pupil at Leeds Grammar School in the 1970s, where he and his band performed a memorable version of Red House which ended prematurely after he cut his hand rather badly on a cymbal. He studied the harpsichord, first at summer schools at the Casa de Mateus in Portugal and he toured Europe playing harpsichord for the European Union Baroque Orchestra. Sigsworth has worked with engineers and programmers of distinction. Returning to the UK he moved to London and made a change of direction. He became fascinated with the burgeoning Acid House sound, and immediately bought a Roland sampler and he met Seal, co-writing four songs on Seals debut album, Crazy, The Beginning, Wild and Violet, plus the B-side, Sparkle. The albums producer, Trevor Horn, was the first pop record producer Sigsworth had ever met and he also worked with Simenon on Hector Zazous 1992 album Sahara Blue, performing alongside the celebrated French actor Gérard Depardieu on the track, Ill Strangle You. Sigsworth subsequently contributed to Zazous 1994 album Songs From The Cold Seas accompanying Björk, while working on sessions for Japanese drummer/producer Gota Yashiki, Sigsworth met the virtuoso tabla player Talvin Singh. He subsequently played synthesizer and harpsichord for Singhs live shows, and later played and contributed remixes on Singhs debut album, Guy Sigsworth produced early 1993 the benefit Song „Survival Game for the relief organization Menschen für Menschen in Ethiopia, founded by the actor Karlheinz Böhm. The song was written by Mike Turtle and Dean Frederick, the Single Survival Game was 1995 worldwide released by BMG Ariola / Coconut Records. The remixes made by Paul Dakeyne hit the Charts in South America, the It’s 5 to 12 / Survival Game project was originally initiated by the Swiss Media Manager Ditti Brook. It was through Singh that Sigsworth met Björk, becoming keyboard player, Sigsworth brought his early music sensibility to Björks live performances and recordings, adding harpsichord, clavichord, regal and positive organ accompaniments to her music. Sigsworths harpsichord can be heard on the song Cover Me from Post, clavichord on the song All Is Full of Love, Unravel was Sigsworths first co-written song with Björk. Sigsworth first met Imogen Heap in 1996 after a friend played him a demo of her song Come Here Boy and he immediately fell in love with her distinctive voice. He was also amazed to hear that she shared his love of melodies featuring wide, angular intervals - especially major 7ths. They wrote two songs together, Getting Scared and Airplane, which Sigsworth produced for her debut album, in return, Heap sang backing vocals on Sigsworths band project with Alexander Nilere, Acacia
10.
Spike Stent
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Stent grew up in Hampshire, England and first gained experience as an engineer at Jacob Studios as a teenager before a two-year stint at Trident Studios. After Trident, Stent worked out of Olympic Studios in Barnes, Olympic Studios was built as part of a joint venture between himself and EMI. While at Olympic, Stent worked with such as Massive Attack, Bjork, Madonna, U2, Keane. Stent currently works out of two studios, Mix Suite LA in EastWest Studios and Mix Suite UK
11.
Music (Madonna album)
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Music is the eighth studio album by American singer Madonna, released on September 18,2000 by Maverick and Warner Bros. Following the success of her previous album Ray of Light, she intended to embark on a tour, however, her record company encouraged her to return to the studio and record new music before going on the road. Her collaboration with producers Mirwais Ahmadzaï and William Orbit resulted a more experimental direction for the album, Music has an overall dance-pop and electronica vibe, with influences from rock, country and folk. The album was recorded at Sarm West and East Studios in London. Elaborating a country theme for the album, Madonna reinvented her image as a cowgirl, Music was generally acclaimed by most critics and earned Madonna five Grammy Award nominations, ultimately winning one for Best Recording Package. In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it number 452 on the magazines list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The record was also a success, debuting at number one in over 23 countries across the world. In the United States, Music debuted at one on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 420,000 units. The album was promoted with her concerts at Brixton Academy and Roseland Ballroom, as well as several television such as the 2000 MTV Europe Music Awards. The album was supported by the Drowned World Tour, which grossed over US$75 million, three singles were released from the album. Its lead single, Music, topped the charts in 25 countries worldwide. It was followed with another Hot 100 top-five hit Dont Tell Me, Impressive Instant was released as promotional single, peaking at number one on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. In June 1999, Madonna released a song recorded for the film Austin Powers, The Spy Who Shagged Me, called Beautiful Stranger. It peaked number nineteen on the Billboard Hot 100 and received a Grammy at the 42nd Grammy Awards for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. In March 2000, Madonna released a version of Don McLeans American Pie as part of the soundtrack of the film The Next Best Thing. The song received mixed reviews, and was a success in European charts, although not released commercially in the United States, it reached number 29 on the Hot 100 chart due to strong radio airplay. By 2000, she became pregnant with her son Rocco, from her relationship with director Guy Ritchie, wanting to distract herself from the media frenzy surrounding this news, Madonna concentrated on the development of her eighth studio album, entitled Music. Buoyed by the success of her previous album, she was keen on getting back to the studio to record new music
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American Life
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American Life is the ninth studio album by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It was first released on April 21,2003, by Maverick Records, the album, produced in its entirety by Madonna and Mirwais Ahmadzaï, features references to many parts of American culture. The album is an album, with recurring themes of the American Dream. These themes reject the reputation Madonna held in the 1980s, earned by songs such as her worldwide hit Material Girl, the album contains folk and folktronica music, as well as influences of acoustic music on many tracks. American Life received mixed reviews from critics, with responses noting its consistency. The album peaked at one in fourteen countries. The album became the 32nd-best-selling album of 2003 and has five million copies to date. American Life garnered two nominations at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004, four singles were released from the album. The first, the track, was released to a generally negative critical reception. It charted at number 37 in the US while it entered the top ten in most countries, a controversial music video was pulled after scenes of war and violence were criticized which led to an edited version being released. Its following single, Hollywood, became her first single not to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 since 1983, Nothing Fails and Love Profusion, the third and fourth singles respectively, featured a lack of promotion resulting in a poor commercial performance. Despite it, both peaked at one in Spain. Madonna promoted the album during a promotional tour for the album in April. American Life was supported by Madonnas sixth concert tour, the Re-Invention World Tour, the tour was chronicled in a documentary titled Im Going to Tell You a Secret, which led to Madonnas first live album of the same name. However, by the beginning of the new millennium, Madonna was living a calmer, more introspective and wholesome life with her husband Guy Ritchie and their children Lourdes and Rocco. According to biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, the presence of Ritchie in Madonnas life had an effect on the singer, making her more matured. Concentrating on her career, Madonna was busy throughout of 2001 on her Drowned World Tour. On September 11,2001, suicide bombers hijacked two jet airliners and crashed into the World Trade Center, resulting in the death of nearly 3,000 people, the event had a profound effect on American society, with the cultural mood being bleakness and paranoia
13.
Drowned World Tour 2001
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Drowned World Tour 2001 is the fifth video album by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It was released on November 13,2001, by Warner Music Vision, Warner Reprise Video, the video chronicles a live date from Madonnas Drowned World Tour, which visited Europe and North America, grossing over US $76.8 million in total. It was recorded at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Drowned World Tour 2001 was captured with a 14-camera High Definition shoot. It is presented in a ratio of 1.33,1 on the single-sided, double-layered DVD, due to those dimensions. The set list for the show consisted mainly of songs from her studio albums Ray of Light, among her pre-1990s hits, only Holiday and La Isla Bonita were added to the set list. Following its release, the video received mixed response from critics, the Drowned World Tour was the fifth concert tour by Madonna. It supported her seventh and eighth studio albums Ray of Light and Music respectively and it was also her first tour in eight years, following The Girlie Show World Tour in 1993. The tour was supposed to start in 1999, but was delayed until 2001 as Madonna gave birth to her son Rocco, got married to Guy Ritchie, was working on Music, and was busy filming The Next Best Thing. When the tour was decided, Madonna appointed Jamie King as choreographer, designer Jean Paul Gaultier developed the costumes in such way that they indicated different phases of Madonnas career. The tour garnered positive reception from contemporary critics, Tour dates were limited to cities in Europe and United States and it became the first and only Madonna tour to skip over Canada completely. Drowned World Tour became the concert tour of 2001 by a solo artist, as well as the fourth highest-grossing among all, behind U2, NSYNC. Drowned World received the Major Tour of the Year and Most Creative Stage Production awards nominations at the 2001 Pollstar Awards, but lost them to U2. The concert was recorded on August 26,2001, and broadcast live on HBO from The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan, – Drowned World Tour 2001, the broadcast was announced by Nancy Geller, senior vice president of HBO Original Programming. The broadcast was produced by Marty Callner and directed by Hamish Hamilton, the broadcast was Madonnas first since 1993, when Madonna Live Down Under, The Girlie Show from Sydney, Australia became HBOs most-watched original program of the year. Three months later, a video titled Drowned World Tour 2001 was released in all regions on November 13,2001, Drowned World Tour 2001 was captured with a 14-camera High Definition shoot. It is presented in a ratio of 1.33,1 on the single-sided, double-layered DVD, due to those dimensions. Three audio tracks were made available—a DTS track, a Dolby Digital 5.1 track, a photo gallery was included as a bonus feature. The photographs used on the DVD packaging were taken by Madonnas friend Rosie ODonnell, manhattan group Effanel Music, a mobile and portable multitrack remote recording company and its sub-division, L7 Group, did the recording and post-production works on the DVD
14.
The Immaculate Collection
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The Immaculate Collection is the first greatest hits album by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It was released on November 9,1990, by Sire and it contains new remixes of fifteen of her hit singles from 1983 to 1990, as well as two new songs, Justify My Love and Rescue Me. The title of the album is a pun on the Immaculate Conception. An extended play titled The Holiday Collection was issued in Europe to accompany the compilation and it is the first album ever to use an audio technology called QSound. Justify My Love, the albums first single, became Madonnas ninth number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and was one of her most controversial due to its sexually explicit music video. Rescue Me was released as the single and became the highest-debuting single on Hot 100 by a female artist at that time, entering the chart at number fifteen. It became Madonnas second album to be certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipment of ten million copies across the United States. It spent the second highest number of weeks at number one for a female solo artist in the UK. The album has sold 30 million copies worldwide, making it the best selling album by a solo artist. The actual title of the album, The Immaculate Collection, is a pun on the Immaculate Conception. In the booklet, Madonna dedicated the album to The Pope and it became the first album ever to use an audio technology called QSound. While all the vocals remain the same as in the recordings, Like a Prayer. Pettibone commented, Well, actually some of the songs we changed up a bit, like Holiday, Lucky Star, et cetera, et cetera, those were all the original productions. The remix was just really to create the Q Sound, but then again, that was one of those -- you know, Hurry up, this has to be out last week. That was a rush job. Warner Bros. released an extended play in the United Kingdom, the full-length version of Holiday was included alongside True Blue, Whos That Girl, and a remix of Causing a Commotion. The re-released Holiday eventually went to five in the UK charts. Two new songs were added to the album along with Madonnas greatest hits, Kravitz added the title hook and chorus to the demo while Madonna corrected one line
15.
Music journalism
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Music journalism is media criticism and reporting about popular music topics, including pop music, rock music, and related styles. Journalists began writing music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on what is now thought of as classical music. An influential English 19th-century music critic, for example, was James William Davison of The Times, the composer Hector Berlioz also wrote reviews and criticisms for the Paris press of the 1830s and 1840s. The 1840s could be considered a point, in that music critics after the 1840s generally were not also practicing musicians. However, counterexamples include Alfred Brendel, Charles Rosen, Paul Hindemith, in the early 1980s, a decline in the quantity of classical criticism began occurring when classical-music criticism visibly started to disappear from the media. Also of concern in classical music journalism was how American reviewers can write about ethnic and folk music from other than their own, such as Indian ragas. The performers be treated as human beings and their music be treated as human activity rather than a mystical or mysterious phenomenon, the review should show an understanding of the musics cultural backgrounds and intentions. A key finding in a 2005 study of journalism in America was that the profile of the average classical music critic is a white, 52-year old male. Demographics indicated that the group was 74% male, 92% white, davis, one of the most respected voices of the craft, said he had been forced out after 26 years. Music writers only started treating pop and rock music seriously in 1964 after the breakthrough of the Beatles, one of the early music magazines in Britain, Melody Maker, complained in 1967 about how newspapers and magazines are continually hammering pop music. Melody Maker magazine advocated the new forms of pop music of the late 1960s, by 1999, the quality press was regularly carrying reviews of popular music gigs and albums, which had a key role in keeping pop in the public eye. As more pop music critics began writing, this had the effect of legitimating pop as an art form, as a result, in the world of pop music criticism, there has tended to be a quick turnover. In the realm of music, as in that of classical music. Frank Zappa declared that, Most rock journalism is people who cant write, interviewing people who cant talk, in the 2000s, online music bloggers began to supplement, and to some degree displace, music journalists in print media. In 2006, Martin Edlund of the New York Sun criticized the trend, arguing that while the Internet has democratized music criticism, slate magazine writer Jody Rosen discussed the 2000s-era trends in pop music criticism in his article The Perils of Poptimism. Rosen noted that much of the debate is centered on a perception that rock critics regard rock as normative … the standard state of popular music … to which everything else is compared. At a 2006 pop critic conference, attendees discussed their guilty pop pleasures, reconsidering musicians and genres which rock critics have dismissed as lightweight. Rosen stated that this new paradigm is called popism — or, more evocatively
16.
Recording Industry Association of America
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The Recording Industry Association of America is a continental North and South American trade organization that represents the recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors, which the RIAA says create, the RIAA headquarters is in Washington, D. C. The RIAA was formed in 1952 and its original mission was to administer recording copyright fees and problems, work with trade unions, and do research relating to the record industry and government regulations. Early RIAA standards included the RIAA equalization curve, the format of the record groove and the dimensions of 33 1/3 rpm,45 rpm. Since 2001, the RIAA has spent $2 to $6 million each year on lobbying in the United States, the RIAA also participates in the collective rights management of sound recordings, and it is responsible for certifying Gold and Platinum albums and singles in the United States. Cary Sherman has been the RIAAs chairman and CEO since 2011, Sherman joined the RIAA as its general counsel in 1997 and became president of the board of directors in 2001, serving in that position until being made chairman and CEO. Mitch Glazier has been the RIAAs senior executive vice president since 2011 and he served as executive vice president for public policy and industry relations from 2000 to 2011. The past RIAA chairman and CEO is Mitch Bainwol, who served from 2003 to 2011 and he left in 2011 to become president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. The board of directors consists of 26 members of the board, the RIAA operates an award program for albums that sell a large number of copies. The program originally began in 1958, with a Gold Award for singles, the criterion was changed in 1975 to the number of copies sold, with albums selling 500,000 copies awarded the Gold Award. In 1976, a Platinum Award was added for one million sales, the awards are open to both RIAA members and non-members. Since 2000, the RIAA also operates a program for Latin music sales. Currently, a Disco De Oro is awarded for 30,000 units, the RIAA defines Latin music as a type of release with 51% or more of its content recorded in Spanish. In 2006, digital ringtones were added to branch of certification. In the same year, the RIAA introduced the Latin Digital Award for digital recordings in Spanish and this release format includes DVD and VHS releases, and certain live albums and compilation albums. The certification criteria is different from other styles. Gold,50,000 Platinum,100,000 Multi-Platinum,200,000 copies The RIAA opposes unauthorized sharing of its music, studies conducted since the association began its campaign against peer-to-peer file-sharing have concluded that losses incurred per download range from negligible to moderate. The association has commenced high-profile lawsuits against file sharing service providers and it has also commenced a series of lawsuits against individuals suspected of file sharing, notably college students and parents of file sharing children
17.
Drowned World Tour
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Drowned World Tour was the fifth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna in support of her seventh and eighth studio albums Ray of Light and Music. It was also her first tour in eight years, following The Girlie Show World Tour in 1993. The tour was supposed to start in 1999, but was delayed until 2001 as Madonna gave birth to her son, got married to Guy Ritchie, was working on Music, and was busy filming The Next Best Thing. When the tour was decided, Madonna appointed Jamie King as choreographer, designer Jean-Paul Gaultier was the costume designer who designed the costumes in such way that they indicated different phases of Madonnas career. The poster and logo for the tour included references to Kabbalah, the show was divided into five segments, namely Cyber-Punk, Geisha, Cowgirl, Spanish, and Ghetto. The setlist consisted mainly of songs from the last two albums released at that point, with two pre-1990s song added. The first segment displayed performances with Madonna wearing a kilt. In the geisha segment performances Madonna wore a kimono and later performed airborne martial arts, acoustic songs were performed in the country segment which featured Madonna in cowboy costumes. The Latin segment featured flamenco dancing and the last segment featured ghetto-themed performances, Drowned World Tour was critically appreciated from contemporary critics who complimented her ability to re-invent continuously. The tour was a commercial success and it went on to become the highest-grossing concert tour of 2001 by a solo artist. She grossed more than US $76.8 million, selling out shows and eventually playing in front of 730,000 fans throughout the United States. It received Major Tour of the Year and Most Creative Stage Production awards nominations at the 2001 Pollstar awards, the concert was broadcast live on HBO from The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan on August 26,2001. A DVD titled Drowned World Tour 2001 was released in November 2001, and then Ill probably play up until the millennium, New Years Eve. The tour was delayed until 2001, as she had, in her own words, been distracted by having children and she also began a serious relationship with Guy Ritchie in 1999. By 2000, she had become pregnant with her son Rocco Ritchie, released her studio album Music that year. When Madonna finally decided to go on the tour, time was short, auditioning for the dancers started around March 2001. Jamie King was signed up as the director and the choreographer of the show. King said in an interview that the tour was so hectic that I suffered from depressions, rehearsals continued for thirteen hours a day, five days a week, with more and more dancers joining for the show
18.
What It Feels Like for a Girl
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What It Feels Like for a Girl is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna recorded for her eighth studio album Music. It was written by Madonna, Guy Sigsworth and David Torn, while production was done by Madonna, Sigsworth, what It Feels Like For a Girl is a mid-tempo electronic and synthpop song, with filtered bass licks, tidal keys and pads as part of its instrumentation. Lyrically, it conveys societys double standard toward women, addressing hurtful myths about female inferiority, to emphasize the message, the song opens with a spoken word sample of Charlotte Gainsbourg from the 1993 film The Cement Garden. The song received acclaim from most music critics, who agreed it was a highlight from the album, an accompanying music video for the song was filmed by Madonnas then-husband Guy Ritchie and premiered on March 22,2001. It features Madonna in a blonde bob wig as she was portraying a woman on a crime spree. The video was criticized for its depiction of violence and abuse, the single was also released on DVD and VHS containing the music video, which sold 6,200 copies in its first week and earning a place in the Guiness World Record. The song was used as an interlude and was performed in Spanish on the Drowned World Tour. The song was covered by the Fox TV series Glee. Madonna was also signed to be on the film The Next Best Thing, in January 2000, Madonna announced that she was going to experiment with electronica on her then-upcoming album and was said to be venturing into the popular European dance style known as trance. Later, it was announced that she added Guy Sigsworth to work with her on the album. Sigsworth created a demo backing track that was finished enough to impress, according to him, What It Feels Like For a Girl was done very quickly. I sent her a track, and she wrote a top line to it, we put it together. So the whole job, apart from recording the voice, was moving things around in Pro Tools and he remarked that he sent her two sketches and that she chose the more unusual one. And at the start of it, I put this sample from a movie of the actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, I just knew that M would fall in love with that, and she did, he declared. What It Feels Like For a Girl was written by Madonna and Guy Sigsworth, while production was done by Madonna, Sigsworth, David Torn was included as an additional composer to the track, after Madonna found out Sigsworth had sampled Torns Cloud About Mercury album. The song is set in the key of Eb major, with Madonnas vocals spanning from the octave of G3 to the higher note of Bb4 note. Jose F. Promis considers the song a semi-ballad, the beginning of the song opens with a dialogue from the 1993 British film, The Cement Garden, directed by Andrew Birkin and starring his niece, Charlotte Gainsbourg. In the dialogue, Gainsbourg says, Girls can wear jeans and cut their hair short, cause its OK to be a boy
19.
BBC
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The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. It is headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, the BBC is the worlds oldest national broadcasting organisation and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees. It employs over 20,950 staff in total,16,672 of whom are in public sector broadcasting, the total number of staff is 35,402 when part-time, flexible, and fixed contract staff are included. The BBC is established under a Royal Charter and operates under its Agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The fee is set by the British Government, agreed by Parliament, and used to fund the BBCs radio, TV, britains first live public broadcast from the Marconi factory in Chelmsford took place in June 1920. It was sponsored by the Daily Mails Lord Northcliffe and featured the famous Australian Soprano Dame Nellie Melba, the Melba broadcast caught the peoples imagination and marked a turning point in the British publics attitude to radio. However, this public enthusiasm was not shared in official circles where such broadcasts were held to interfere with important military and civil communications. By late 1920, pressure from these quarters and uneasiness among the staff of the licensing authority, the General Post Office, was sufficient to lead to a ban on further Chelmsford broadcasts. But by 1922, the GPO had received nearly 100 broadcast licence requests, John Reith, a Scottish Calvinist, was appointed its General Manager in December 1922 a few weeks after the company made its first official broadcast. The company was to be financed by a royalty on the sale of BBC wireless receiving sets from approved manufacturers, to this day, the BBC aims to follow the Reithian directive to inform, educate and entertain. The financial arrangements soon proved inadequate, set sales were disappointing as amateurs made their own receivers and listeners bought rival unlicensed sets. By mid-1923, discussions between the GPO and the BBC had become deadlocked and the Postmaster-General commissioned a review of broadcasting by the Sykes Committee and this was to be followed by a simple 10 shillings licence fee with no royalty once the wireless manufactures protection expired. The BBCs broadcasting monopoly was made explicit for the duration of its current broadcast licence, the BBC was also banned from presenting news bulletins before 19.00, and required to source all news from external wire services. Mid-1925 found the future of broadcasting under further consideration, this time by the Crawford committee, by now the BBC under Reiths leadership had forged a consensus favouring a continuation of the unified broadcasting service, but more money was still required to finance rapid expansion. Wireless manufacturers were anxious to exit the loss making consortium with Reith keen that the BBC be seen as a service rather than a commercial enterprise. The recommendations of the Crawford Committee were published in March the following year and were still under consideration by the GPO when the 1926 general strike broke out in May. The strike temporarily interrupted newspaper production and with restrictions on news bulletins waived the BBC suddenly became the source of news for the duration of the crisis. The crisis placed the BBC in a delicate position, the Government was divided on how to handle the BBC but ended up trusting Reith, whose opposition to the strike mirrored the PMs own
20.
Jo Whiley
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Johanne Jo Whiley is an English radio DJ and television presenter. She was the host of the long-running weekday Jo Whiley Show on BBC Radio 1, Whiley was born in Northampton to Martin, an electrician, and Christine, a postmistress. She attended Campion School at Bugbrooke, near Northampton and then studied applied languages at Brighton Polytechnic, the illness is congenital and Whiley is a carrier. In 2006, she said that she had tested at each of her pregnancies. In Whileys final year of her degree, still unsure of what she wanted to do and it allowed anyone to get on the radio and required Whiley to attend shows and interview the musicians. After a year, Whiley left for City University London for a course on radio journalism. After writing many letters, she got a job as a researcher on WPFM, when the presenters Terry Christian and Gary Crowley left, she took over, gaining her first presenting role. Whiley moved on to BBC Radio 1 from September 1993 until March 2011, during the heyday of Britpop with bands such as Blur and she hosted a weekday evening show called The Evening Session with Steve Lamacq, which was oriented towards less-mainstream, non-dance music. Whiley presented her own show on Saturday afternoon in late 1995, from 1995 to 1998, Whiley was a regular guest presenter on Top of the Pops, initially co-presenting with fellow DJ Steve Lamacq before flying solo and alternating with Zoë Ball and Jayne Middlemiss. The three women are referred to by the Top of the Pops website as the 90s girls, however, the only occasion when all three presented together was on Christmas Day 1997. Whiley returned to the show twice between 2005–06 to co-present with lead presenter Fearne Cotton, in July 2009, Whiley published her autobiography, My World in Motion, on CD from Random House Audiobooks. From February 1997, Whiley had a weekday show, called The Jo Whiley Show. This included elements of the show, such as tour dates. When Simon Mayo left Radio 1 for Radio Five Live in February 2001, as of 2005, the BBC paid Whiley a salary of £250,000. In July 2008, The Jo Whiley Show was fined £75,000 for misleading listeners for an incident involving a member of BBC staff posing as a member of the taking part in a competition. The BBC claim Whiley herself was unaware of the deception at the time of its broadcast, in July 2009, it was announced that the Jo Whiley show would end broadcasting in September as part of a major shake-up of Radio 1s weekday schedule. The shake-up, billed as the biggest at Radio 1 for five years, would see Greg James move to the afternoon slot, Cotton took over many of Whileys popular features including the famous Live Lounge segment. Her final weekday programme took place on 18 September 2009, following the Jo Whiley Show, Whiley went on to present a weekend show on Radio 1 between 1pm and 4pm
21.
American Pie (song)
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American Pie is a song by American folk rock singer and songwriter Don McLean. Recorded and released on the American Pie album in 1971, the single was a number-one US hit for four weeks in 1972, in the UK, the single reached No.2 on its original 1972 release and a reissue in 1991 reached No.12. The song was listed as the No.5 song on the RIAA project Songs of the Century, the song was covered by Madonna in 2000 and reached No.1 in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. The repeatedly mentioned day the music died refers to the 1959 plane crash which killed early rock and roll performers Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens. The meaning of the lyrics has long been debated, and for decades, McLean declined to explain the symbolism behind the many characters. However, the theme of the song is the loss of innocence of the early rock. In 2017, McLeans original recording was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being culturally, historically, or artistically significant. While it has claimed that Don McLean began writing the song in upstate Saratoga Springs, New York, at Caffe Lena. Some employees at Caffe Lena claim that he started writing the song there, McLean claims that the song was only written in Cold Springs and Philadelphia. Tin & Lint, a bar on Caroline Street in Saratoga Springs, claims the song was there. He also stated in an editorial published in 2009, on the 50th anniversary of the crash that killed Holly, Ritchie Valens and it was also speculated that the song contains numerous references to post-World War II American events, and elements of culture, including 1960s culture. When asked what American Pie meant, McLean jokingly replied, It means I dont ever have to work again if I dont want to, later, he stated, You will find many interpretations of my lyrics but none of them by me. Sorry to leave you all on your own like this but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence. He also commented on the popularity of his music, I didnt write songs that were just catchy, in February 2015, McLean announced he would reveal the meaning of the lyrics to the song when the original manuscript went for auction in New York City, in April 2015. The lyrics and notes were auctioned on April 7, and sold for $1.2 million, in the sale catalogue notes, McLean revealed the meaning in the songs lyrics, Basically in American Pie things are heading in the wrong direction. I dont know whether you consider that wrong or right but it is a morality song in a sense, reflected, American Pie just made perfect sense to me as a song and that’s what impressed me the most. I could say to people this is how to write songs. ”In 2017, sure, the jester writes songs like Masters of War, A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall, It’s Alright, Ma – some jester. I have to think he’s talking about somebody else, in 1999, Weird Al Yankovic wrote and recorded a parody of American Pie
22.
This Used to Be My Playground
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This Used to Be My Playground is a song recorded by American singer Madonna. It is the theme for the film A League of Their Own, which starred Madonna, Madonna was asked to record a song for the films soundtrack. At that time she was recording her fifth studio album, Erotica. They worked on ideas and came up with This Used to Be My Playground in two days. Once presented to director Penny Marshalls team, the song was released as a single on June 16,1992. However, it was not available on the soundtrack due to contractual obligations and was later added to the Olympics-inspired Barcelona Gold compilation album. The song was included on Madonnas 1995 ballads compilation Something to Remember, written and produced by Madonna and Pettibone, This Used to Be My Playground was the first time that Pettibone worked with live string arrangement. Madonna recorded the song on a Shure SM57 microphone, with instrumentation from piano, organ, strings, during the final recording, the duo had to redo the whole orchestra section to tailor it for the song. This Used to Be My Playground starts with an introduction and strings, with Madonna singing in expressive. Its verse and chorus merge into each other for having a continuity in the song, lyrically it discusses visiting ones childhood places and not letting go of the past. The song received positive reviews critics, who noted it as an essential addition in Madonnas repertoire. The song earned the singer a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Original Song, even though the song was commercially successful, Madonna has never performed it in any of her concert tours, nor included it on her greatest hits albums, GHV2 and Celebration. In 1992, Madonna starred in the Penny Marshall directed film A League of Their Own, Columbia Records representatives presented music supervisor Jay Landers with the films script. Together with Michael Dilbeck, head of music for Columbia Pictures, according to Landers, Marshall being well connected to the music community also helped them choose the artists they wanted to work with. The director wanted the music and songs to be performed by artists, but catering to the period of 1943–44. Carole King had already written the song for A League of Their Own. After the shooting was over, Madonna was busy in the sessions for her fifth studio album. Throughout January–March 1992, Madonna and Pettibone worked on demos for the album, when Lars called Madonna and asked her to record a song for the film, the singer and Pettibone had just completed working on the ballad Rain
23.
Rain (Madonna song)
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Rain is a song by American singer Madonna from her fifth studio album Erotica. The song was released on July 6,1993 by Maverick Records as the fifth single internationally. It was later included on her compilation album Something to Remember. The song was written and produced by Madonna and Shep Pettibone, a pop ballad with influence from trip hop and new-age music, Rain features a more friendly composition than the other singles released from the album. Lyrically the song likens rain to the effect of love. Like the other songs on Erotica, sexual contact is also a possible interpretation of the song, Rain received positive response from music critics, who noted it as an exceptional ballad amongst the overtly sexual content on Erotica. It peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, while becoming a hit in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan. The accompanying music video was shot in black and white by director Mark Romanek and it features Madonna singing the song against various backdrops on a set. The music video was praised by critics for its innovation. Madonna has only performed the song during The Girlie Show World Tour in 1993, after the completion of filming A League of Their Own, Madonna began working on her fifth studio album Erotica with Shep Pettibone. Rain was one of the first songs developed for the album, alongside Deeper and Deeper, Erotica, according to Pettibone, these songs were essentially Madonnas stories and the things she wanted to say. Rain was written and produced together by Madonna and Pettibone and she had initially written the song for a musical version to be directed by Alek Keshishian based on the 1939 film, Wuthering Heights. Pettibone also sequenced, programmed, and played keyboards for the song, the recording process was engineered by P. Dennis Mitchell and Robin Hancock, while the mixing was engineered by Goh Hotoda. Another musician involved was Tony Shimkin, who provided the drum programming, Rain was released as the fifth single from Erotica on July 6,1993. The song served as the fourth single in the United States and Canada since the previous single. The single release featured an unreleased track, Up Down Suite, which is a 12-minute dub version of Goodbye to Innocence. This version of the single included a Danny Saber remix of the album track Waiting which features a rap by Everlast. In the United Kingdom, the single included the 1986 track Open Your Heart which was being used in a Peugeot car commercial at the time, Rain was later included on Madonas ballads compilation Something to Remember and has not appeared on any other compilation since
24.
I'll Remember
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Ill Remember is a song by American singer Madonna. It was released on March 15,1994, by Warner Bros. Records as the single of the film With Honors. Warner Bros. had Madonna sing the song after noting most of her previous singles had achieved commercial success. It utilizes a synthesized keyboard arrangement to bring about a continuously reverberating heartbeat sound, Madonnas voice is supported by backing vocals. Contemporary critics praised the song, hailing it as one of her best works and it was nominated for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television at the 37th Grammy Awards and Best Original Song at the 52nd Golden Globe Awards. Ill Remember was also a success, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming her fourth number-one hit on the Adult Contemporary chart. It also topped the charts in Canada and Italy. The accompanying music video portrayed Madonna singing the song in a recording studio. Her look and style was compared to the imagery of the video of previous single Rain. The androgynous portrayal of Madonna smoking in the last shot, was appreciated critically for breaking gender barriers, the year 1992 saw the release of the book Sex by Madonna. However, the book, which contained explicit sexual imagery and pictures of voyeuristic fantasies, was accepted by the critics as well as some her fans. Madonnas fifth studio album Erotica and the film Body of Evidence were released at the same time, hence she decided to re-invent her image, to connect with her fans and repair the damage that her provocative image had caused to her career. Ill Remember was one of the songs that was developed for this purpose, the ballad was initially composed by musician Richard Page before being reworked by Madonna and Patrick Leonard. According to Page, Madonna was brought in and she changed all my lyrics for the better. She really did a great job, I cant tell you how painful the idea of singing Like a Virgin or Material Girl is to me now. I didnt write either of those songs, and wasnt digging very deep then, I also feel more connected emotionally to the music Im writing now, so its more of a pleasure to do it. Ill Remember was used as the song of the film With Honors. Madonnas own label, Maverick, was charged with the task of putting together the soundtrack album and they decided to include Ill Remember, after noticing that all of her soundtrack releases have been commercially successful
25.
You'll See
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Youll See is a song by American recording artist Madonna from her ballads compilation, Something to Remember. The album was released with the intention of toning down the image of Madonna, the singer decided to work with producer David Foster, who co-wrote and produced three songs with Madonna in September 1995. Youll See was released on October 30,1995, by Maverick Records as the single from the album. An acoustic pop ballad, Youll See features instrumentation from percussion, tremolo guitar and piano, the song received positive reception from contemporary critics, with reviewers praising Madonnas vocals. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers honored it as the Most Performed Song, Youll See was commercially successful, reaching the top five in Austria, Canada, Finland, Italy and the United Kingdom. The single also managed to peak at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100 making it Madonnas 29th top-ten single on the chart. An accompanying music video was directed by Michael Haussman, where the line served as a sequel to Madonnas previous music video for Take a Bow. An alternate Spanish version, written by Argentine singer-songwriter Paz Martinez, also received a music video, Madonna has performed the song live on the British television program Top of the Pops and on selected US shows of her 2001 Drowned World Tour. In 2009, Scottish singer Susan Boyle included a cover of the song on her studio album I Dreamed a Dream. After a controversy-fueled period, Madonnas personal life had started to dominate over her musical career. She knew it was time to make a change as said by one member of her management team who claimed that she wanted to prove there was more to her than the constant media circus surrounding her. On the albums notes, Madonna further explained, So much controversy has swirled around my career this past decade that very little attention ever gets paid to my music. The songs are all but forgotten, while I have no regrets regarding the choices Ive made artistically, Ive learned to appreciate the idea of doing things in a simpler way. So without a lot of fanfare, without any distractions, I present to you this collection of ballads, some are old, some are new. All of them are from my heart, for the new songs, Madonna worked with David Foster, a well-known producer who had worked with the likes of Barbra Streisand, Al Jarreau and Earth, Wind & Fire. Foster initially did not expect Madonna would collaborate with him, as he believed that his music would not really hip enough for her, the recording session with Foster resulted in two new songs to the final track list, Youll See and One More Chance. Foster commented, At the end of the day, the songs we did were not particularly impressive, though one of them, Madonna had written a great lyric and I thought my music was great. The track was produced and arranged by Madonna and Foster, who worked on the song during the weekend of September 1995
26.
Something to Remember
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Something to Remember is a compilation album by American recording artist Madonna, released by Maverick and Warner Bros. on November 3,1995. The record was conceived after a period in Madonnas career. For producing the new songs for the album, Madonna worked with David Foster and Nellee Hooper, Madonna stated that the concept for the album was to make fans and critics alike remember her music contributions rather than her media controversies. Something to Remember was well received by critics who were impressed with Madonnas vocals. It was also a success, topping charts in Australia, Austria, Finland, and Italy. In the United States, it reached number six on the Billboard 200 and was certified three times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of three million units, worldwide, Something to Remember has sold over ten million copies. Four singles and one single were released to promote the album. Originally intended as the lead single, I Want You was released as the promotional single preceding the album. Youll See was released as the albums first single on October 23,1995, accompanied by a Spanish version titled Verás and a music video directed by Michael Haussman. The song peaked at six on the Billboard Hot 100, while reaching the top five in Austria, Canada, Finland, Italy. After a controversy-fueled period, Madonnas personal life had started to dominate over her musical career. She knew it was time to make a change as said by one member of her management team who claimed that she wanted to prove there was more to her than the constant media circus surrounding her. J. Described as a letter from Madonna to her fans. On the albums liner note, Madonna further explained, So much controversy has swirled around my career this past decade that very little attention ever gets paid to my music, the songs are all but forgotten. While I have no regrets regarding the choices Ive made artistically, so without a lot of fanfare, without any distractions, I present to you this collection of ballads. Some are old, some are new, all of them are from my heart. The new material for the saw her collaboration with a well-known producer David Foster. Not long after the dinner, Madonna and Foster began the session in his Malibu studio
27.
Swept Away (2002 film)
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Swept Away is a 2002 romantic comedy film written and directed by Guy Ritchie. The film is a remake of Lina Wertmüllers 1974 Italian film of the same name, the film stars Ritchies then-wife Madonna and Adriano Giannini with a supporting cast featuring Bruce Greenwood, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Elizabeth Banks. Produced by Matthew Vaughn and released theatrically by Screen Gems, the film received negative reviews and was a box office bomb. Amber Leighton is 40, beautiful, rich, spoiled, foul-mouthed, nothing makes this woman happy, including her wealthy but passive husband, Tony, a pharmaceutical kingpin. When a storm leaves the two shipwrecked on an island, however, the tables suddenly turn, with Giuseppe gaining the upper hand. Madonna had only finished her 2001 Drowned World Tour two weeks prior to filming, giancarlo Gianninis son Adriano Giannini plays his original film role. The film received negative reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes currently holds a 5% rating, based on 78 reviews, the sites consensus states, Muddled and lacking the political context of the original, Swept Away offers further proof that Madonna cant act. Metacritic reports an 18 out of 100 rating, based on 27 critics, roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun-Times, who called the original Swept Away such an absorbing movie that he bestowed with a 4-out-of-4 star rating, gave the remake only 1 star. Additionally, wrote Ebert, Madonnas character starts out so hateful that she can never really turn it around and gain any redemption or believable change. Scott of the New York Times wrote, In her concerts, music videos and recordings, Madonna has often been a mesmerizing performer, but she is still not much of an actress. Striking a pose is not the same as embodying a person, in his otherwise negative review of the film, Slant Magazine critic Ed Gonzalez said, Madonna gives her best performance since Abel Ferrara had her beaten to a pulp in his Dangerous Game. The way critics take it out on me now is to have a go at anything me and Guy do together, everyone in England has slagged it off without having seen it. But I think the knives were going to out for Guy anyway. He had too much success with his first two films, thats how the media is, eventually they have to pull you down. When the studio screened the film for Wertmüller, director of the film, it is alleged that Wertmüller left the theatre at the end crying out. Swept Away was a box office bomb, from a $10 million budget, it grossed $598,645 in the United States and it was shown only on 196 screens for two weeks, dropping down to 59 in the final third week of release. In Italy, it grossed €71,575 and in Spain €105,371 from 174 screens, the film was awarded five awards at the 2002 Golden Raspberry Awards
28.
InStyle
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InStyle is a monthly women’s fashion magazine published in the United States by Time Inc. Along with advertising, the magazine articles about beauty, fashion, home, entertaining, charitable endeavors. Its editor is Laura Brown, and its publisher is Connie Anne Phillips, after originating in the United States, InStyle has expanded its brand and as of 2012 is distributed as international editions in 17 other countries. It was one of the first magazines of its type to have a musical artist or actor as the cover model. The magazine features celebrities who open their homes to be featured, in 2016, former executive editor of U. S. Harpers Bazaar Laura Brown was announced as the new Editor-in-Chief, taking over for Ariel Foxman, who had been managing editor since 2009. Browns first issue was December 2016, official website Theodora & Callum Interview with Ariel Foxman American InStyle – magazine profile at Fashion Model Directory
29.
HBO
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Home Box Office is an American premium cable and satellite television network that is owned by Time Warner through its respective flagship company Home Box Office, Inc. HBO is the oldest and longest continuously operating pay television service in the United States, in 2014, HBO had an adjusted operating income of US$1.79 billion, compared to the US$1.68 billion it accrued in 2013. HBO has 49 million subscribers in the United States and 130 million worldwide as of 2016, the network provides seven 24-hour multiplex channels, including HBO Comedy, HBO Latino, HBO Signature and HBO Family. It launched the streaming service HBO Now in April 2015, and has over 2 million subscribers in the United States as of February 2017. In addition to its U. S. subscriber base, HBO distributes content in at least 151 countries, HBO subscribers generally pay for an extra tier of service that includes other cable- and satellite-exclusive channels even before paying for the channel itself. Cable providers can require the use of a converter box – usually digital – in order to receive HBO, many HBO programs have been syndicated to other networks and broadcast television stations, and a number of HBO-produced series and films have been released on DVD. The new system, which Dolan named Sterling Information Services, became the first urban underground cable system in the United States. In that same year, Time-Life, Inc. purchased a 20% stake in Dolans company, in the summer of 1971, while on a family vacation in France, Charles Dolan began to think of ideas to make Sterling Manhattan profitable. He came up with the concept for a television service. Dolan later presented his idea to Time-Life management, though satellite distribution seemed only a distant possibility at the time, he persuaded Time-Life to back him on the project. To gauge whether consumers would be interested in subscribing to a pay television service, in a meeting of Dolan and some Time-Life executives who were working on the project, various other names were discussed for the new service. Home Box Office launched on November 8,1972, however, HBOs launch came without fanfare in the press, as it was not covered by any local or national media outlets. Home Box Office distributed its first sports event immediately after the film, Four months later in February 1973, Home Box Office aired its first television special, the Pennsylvania Polka Festival. Home Box Office would use a network of relay towers to distribute its programming to cable systems throughout its service area. Sterling Manhattan Cable continued to lose money because the company had only a small base of 20,000 customers in Manhattan. Time-Life dropped the Sterling name and the company was renamed Manhattan Cable Television under Time-Lifes control in March 1973, Gerald Levin, who had been with Home Box Office since it began operations as its vice president of programming, replaced Dolan as the companys president and chief executive officer. In September 1973, Time-Life, Inc. completed its acquisition of the pay service. HBO would eventually increase its fortunes within two years, by April 1975, the service had around 100,000 subscribers in Pennsylvania and New York state, in 1974, they settled on using a geostationary communications satellite to transmit HBO to cable providers throughout the United States
30.
Japanese input methods
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Japanese input methods are the methods used to input Japanese characters on a computer. There are two methods of inputting Japanese on computers. One is via a version of Japanese called rōmaji. Some systems may also work via a user interface, or GUI. Japanese keyboards have both hiragana and Roman letters indicated, the JIS, or Japanese Industrial Standard, keyboard layout keeps the Roman letters in the English QWERTY layout, with numbers above them. Many of the symbols are the same as on English-language keyboards. The hiragana symbols are also ordered in a consistent way across different keyboards. For example, the Q, W, E, R, T, Y keys correspond to た, て, い, す, か, ん respectively when the computer is used for direct hiragana input. Since Japanese input requires switching between Roman and hiragana entry modes, and also conversion between hiragana and kanji, there are several special keys on the keyboard. This varies from computer to computer, and some OS vendors have striven to provide a consistent user interface regardless of the type of keyboard being used, on non-Japanese keyboards, option- or control- key sequences can perform all of the tasks mentioned below. On most Japanese keyboards, one key switches between Roman characters and Japanese characters, sometimes, each mode may even have its own key, in order to prevent ambiguity when the user is typing quickly. There may also be a key to instruct the computer to convert the latest hiragana characters into kanji, some keyboards have a mode key to switch between different forms of writing. This of course would only be the case on keyboards that contain more than one set of Japanese symbols, hiragana, katakana, halfwidth katakana, halfwidth Roman letters, and fullwidth Roman letters are some of the options. A typical Japanese character is square while Roman characters are typically variable in width, since all Japanese characters occupy the space of a square box, it is sometimes desirable to input Roman characters in the same square form in order to preserve the grid layout of the text. These Roman characters that have been fitted to a character cell are called fullwidth. In some fonts these are fitted to half-squares, like some monospaced fonts, often, fonts are available in two variants, one with the halfwidth characters monospaced, and another one with proportional halfwidth characters. The name of the typeface with proportional halfwidth characters is often prefixed with P for proportional, finally, a keyboard may have a special key to tell the OS that the last kana entered should not be converted to kanji. Sometimes this is just the Return/Enter key, a thumb-shift keyboard is an alternative design, popular among professional Japanese typists
31.
Pound sterling
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It is subdivided into 100 pence. A number of nations that do not use sterling also have called the pound. At various times, the sterling was commodity money or bank notes backed by silver or gold. The pound sterling is the worlds oldest currency still in use, the British Crown dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey produce their own local issues of sterling, the Guernsey pound and the Jersey pound. The pound sterling is also used in the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, the Bank of England is the central bank for the pound sterling, issuing its own coins and banknotes, and regulating issuance of banknotes by private banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Sterling is the fourth most-traded currency in the exchange market, after the United States dollar, the euro. Together with those three currencies it forms the basket of currencies which calculate the value of IMF special drawing rights, Sterling is also the third most-held reserve currency in global reserves. The full, official name, pound sterling, is used mainly in formal contexts, otherwise the term pound is normally used. The abbreviations ster. or stg. are sometimes used, the term British pound is commonly used in less formal contexts, although it is not an official name of the currency. The pound sterling is also referred to as cable amongst forex traders, the origins of this term are attributed to the fact that in the 1800s, the dollar/pound sterling exchange rate was transmitted via transatlantic cable. Forex brokers are sometimes referred to as cable dealers, as another established source notes, the compound expression was then derived, silver coins known as sterlings were issued in the Saxon kingdoms,240 of them being minted from a pound of silver. Hence, large payments came to be reckoned in pounds of sterlings, in 1260, Henry III granted them a charter of protection. And because the Leagues money was not frequently debased like that of England, English traders stipulated to be paid in pounds of the Easterlings, and land for their Kontor, the Steelyard of London, which by the 1340s was also called Easterlings Hall, or Esterlingeshalle. For further discussion of the etymology of sterling, see sterling silver, the currency sign for the pound sign is £, which is usually written with a single cross-bar, though a version with a double cross-bar is also sometimes seen. The ISO4217 currency code is GBP, occasionally, the abbreviation UKP is used but this is non-standard because the ISO3166 country code for the United Kingdom is GB. The Crown dependencies use their own codes, GGP, JEP, stocks are often traded in pence, so traders may refer to pence sterling, GBX, when listing stock prices. A common slang term for the pound sterling or pound is quid, since decimalisation in 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence. The symbol for the penny is p, hence an amount such as 50p properly pronounced fifty pence is more colloquially, quite often, pronounced fifty pee /fɪfti, pi and this also helped to distinguish between new and old pence amounts during the changeover to the decimal system
32.
Turner Prize
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The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. Awarding the prize is organised by the Tate gallery and staged at Tate Britain, since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the UKs most publicised art award. As of 2004, the award was established at £40,000. There have been different sponsors, including Channel 4 television and Gordons Gin, a prominent event in British culture, the prize has been awarded by various distinguished celebrities, in 2006 this was Yoko Ono, and in 2012 it was presented by Jude Law. The prize was named after Turner because while he is now considered one of the countrys greatest artist, while he was active his work was controversial. While he is now looked at as a traditionalist, his new approach to landscape painting changed the course of art history, each year after the announcement of the four nominees and during the build-up to the announcement of the winner, the Prize receives intense attention from the media. Much of this attention is critical and the question is often asked, artists are chosen based upon a showing of their work that they have staged in the preceding year. Nominations for the prize are invited from the public, although this was considered to have negligible effect—a suspicion confirmed in 2006 by Lynn Barber. The exhibition remains on view until January, the prize is officially not judged on the Tate show, however, but on the earlier exhibition for which the artist was nominated. The exhibition and prize rely on commercial sponsorship, by 1987, money for the prize was provided by Drexel Burnham Lambert, its withdrawal after its demise led to the cancellation of the prize for 1990. Channel 4, an independent television channel, stepped in for 1991, doubling the money to £20,000. In 2004, they were replaced as sponsors by Gordons Gin, doubling the money to £40,000, with £5,000 going to each of the shortlisted artists. Tate Director Sir Nicholas Serota has been the Chair of the jury since his tenure at the Tate, there are conflicting reports as to how much personal sway he has over the proceedings. Most of the artists nominated for the prize selection become known to the public for the first time as a consequence. Some have talked of the difficulty of the media exposure. Sale prices of the winners have generally increased, Chris Ofili, Anish Kapoor and Jeremy Deller later became trustees of the Tate. Some artists, notably Sarah Lucas, have declined the invitation to be nominated, the first Turner Prize was awarded to Malcolm Morley, an English artist living in the United States. Other nominees included sculptor Richard Deacon, graphic-styled collaborative duo Gilbert & George, abstract painter Howard Hodgkin, Howard Hodgkin is awarded the Turner Prize for A Small Thing But My Own
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