1.
Ellensburg, Washington
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Ellensburg is a city in, and the county seat of, Kittitas County, Washington, United States. The population was 18,174 at the 2010 census, Ellensburg is located just east of the Cascade Range on Interstate 90 and is known as the most centrally located city in the state. Ellensburg is the home of Central Washington University, the surrounding Kittitas Valley is internationally known for the timothy hay that it produces. There are several local hay brokering and processing operations that ship to Pacific Rim countries, Downtown Ellensburg has many historic buildings, many of which were constructed in the late 19th century. This is a legacy of its bid to be the state capital, CWU being placed there is another product of that legacy. The state legislature selected Ellensburg as the location for the then Normal School as a consolation prize, Ellensburg was officially incorporated on November 26,1883. John Alden Shoudy came to the Kittitas Valley in 1871, robbers Roost was the first business in the valley, other than the early trading that occurred among American Indians, cattle drivers, trappers, and miners. Robbers Roost was located on the present-day 3rd Avenue, just west of Main Street near the alley, there is a placard on the wall commemorating the location, as well as a small stone monument against the wall on the sidewalk. Shoudy named the town after his wife, Mary Ellen Shoudy, the city was originally named Ellensburgh, until the final -h was dropped under standardization pressure from the United States Postal Service and Board of Geography Names in 1894. There were several early newspapers in Ellensburg, the Daily Record, however, began in 1909 and is the name of the local newspaper today. Concerns over the state of Ellensburgs historic downtown led to the formation of the Ellensburg Downtown Association to work on revitalizing the area and this downtown event showcases art of all forms. The local businesses, galleries and museums come alive with art, music, wine, the Kittitas County Farmers Market is held every Saturday from May to October in the heart of downtown Ellensburg. Ellensburg hosts the annual Winterhop Brewfest in January, over 21 micro breweries from around the Pacific Northwest serve their product at various venues in the historic downtown buildings. Every June, Ellensburg hosts Dachshunds on Parade, an event that draws Dachshund dog owners from all over the Northwest, events include a parade, Dachshund races, pet tricks, and a dog costume contest. Ellensburg hosts the annual Jazz in the Valley music festival on the last weekend in July, Ellensburg is a stop on the PRCA professional rodeo circuit, occurring each year on Labor Day weekend. The Ellensburg Rodeo has been a tradition since 1923, and is the largest rodeo in Washington state. The rodeo arena is encompassed by the popular Kittitas County Fair, the Kittitas County Fair officially began in 1885, and has been held at its current location since 1923. Downtown Ellensburg hosts Buskers in the Burg the last Saturday in September, featuring a variety of street performers, giant puppet art parade, tasting halls, childrens activities, and outdoor evening concert
2.
Washington (state)
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It was admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889. Washington is sometimes referred to as Washington State or the State of Washington to distinguish it from Washington, Washington is the 18th largest state with an area of 71,362 square miles, and the 13th most populous state with over 7 million people. Washington is the second most populous state on the West Coast and in the Western United States, Mount Rainier, an active stratovolcano, is the states highest elevation at almost 14,411 feet and is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States. Washington is a leading lumber producer and its rugged surface is rich in stands of Douglas fir, hemlock, ponderosa pine, white pine, spruce, larch, and cedar. Manufacturing industries in Washington include aircraft and missiles, shipbuilding and other equipment, lumber, food processing, metals and metal products, chemicals. Washington has over 1,000 dams, including the Grand Coulee Dam, built for a variety of purposes including irrigation, power, flood control, the Washington Territory was named after George Washington, the first President of the United States. The area was part of a region called the Columbia District after the Columbia River. The area was renamed Washington in order to avoid confusion with the District of Columbia, Washington is the only U. S. state named after a president. To distinguish it from the U. S. capital, which is named for George Washington, Washington is sometimes referred to as Washington State, or, in more formal contexts. Washingtonians and other residents of the Pacific Northwest refer to the state simply as Washington, calling the nations capital Washington, D. C. or, often, Washington is the northwestern-most state of the contiguous United States. Washington is bordered by Oregon to the south, with the Columbia River forming the western part, to the west of Washington lies the Pacific Ocean. The high mountains of the Cascade Range run north-south, bisecting the state, from the Cascade Mountains westward, Western Washington has a mostly marine west coast climate, with mild temperatures and wet winters, autumns and springs, and relatively dry summers. The Cascade Range contains several volcanoes, which reach altitudes significantly higher than the rest of the mountains, from the north to the south, these major volcanoes are Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams. Mount Rainier, the tallest mountain in the state, is 50 miles south of the city of Seattle and it is also covered with more glacial ice than any other peak in the contiguous 48 states. Western Washington also is home of the Olympic Mountains, far west on the Olympic Peninsula and these deep forests, such as the Hoh Rainforest, are among the only temperate rainforests in the continental United States. Eastern Washington – the part of the state east of the Cascades – has a dry climate. It includes large areas of steppe and a few truly arid deserts lying in the rain shadow of the Cascades. Farther east, the climate becomes less arid, with annual rainfall increasing as one goes east to 21.2 inches in Pullman, the Okanogan Highlands and the rugged Kettle River Range and Selkirk Mountains cover much of the northeastern quadrant of the state
3.
Seattle
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Seattle is a seaport city on the west coast of the United States and the seat of King County, Washington. With an estimated 684,451 residents as of 2015, Seattle is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America. In July 2013, it was the major city in the United States. The city is situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about 100 miles south of the Canada–United States border, a major gateway for trade with Asia, Seattle is the fourth-largest port in North America in terms of container handling as of 2015. The Seattle area was inhabited by Native Americans for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent European settlers. Arthur A. Denny and his group of travelers, subsequently known as the Denny Party, arrived from Illinois via Portland, the settlement was moved to the eastern shore of Elliott Bay and named Seattle in 1852, after Chief Siahl of the local Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. Logging was Seattles first major industry, but by the late-19th century, growth after World War II was partially due to the local Boeing company, which established Seattle as a center for aircraft manufacturing. The Seattle area developed as a technology center beginning in the 1980s, in 1994, Internet retailer Amazon was founded in Seattle. The stream of new software, biotechnology, and Internet companies led to an economic revival, Seattle has a noteworthy musical history. From 1918 to 1951, nearly two dozen jazz nightclubs existed along Jackson Street, from the current Chinatown/International District, to the Central District, the jazz scene developed the early careers of Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Ernestine Anderson, and others. Seattle is also the birthplace of rock musician Jimi Hendrix and the alternative rock subgenre grunge, archaeological excavations suggest that Native Americans have inhabited the Seattle area for at least 4,000 years. By the time the first European settlers arrived, the people occupied at least seventeen villages in the areas around Elliott Bay, the first European to visit the Seattle area was George Vancouver, in May 1792 during his 1791–95 expedition to chart the Pacific Northwest. In 1851, a party led by Luther Collins made a location on land at the mouth of the Duwamish River. Thirteen days later, members of the Collins Party on the way to their claim passed three scouts of the Denny Party, members of the Denny Party claimed land on Alki Point on September 28,1851. The rest of the Denny Party set sail from Portland, Oregon, after a difficult winter, most of the Denny Party relocated across Elliott Bay and claimed land a second time at the site of present-day Pioneer Square, naming this new settlement Duwamps. For the next few years, New York Alki and Duwamps competed for dominance, david Swinson Doc Maynard, one of the founders of Duwamps, was the primary advocate to name the settlement after Chief Sealth of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. The name Seattle appears on official Washington Territory papers dated May 23,1853, in 1855, nominal land settlements were established. On January 14,1865, the Legislature of Territorial Washington incorporated the Town of Seattle with a board of managing the city
4.
Alternative rock
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Alternative rock is a genre of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s and 2000s. In this instance, the word refers to the genres distinction from mainstream rock music. The terms original meaning was broader, referring to a generation of musicians unified by their debt to either the musical style or simply the independent. Ethos of punk rock, which in the late 1970s laid the groundwork for alternative music, Alternative rock is a broad umbrella term consisting of music that differs greatly in terms of its sound, its social context, and its regional roots. Most of these subgenres had achieved minor mainstream notice and a few bands representing them, such as Hüsker Dü, with the breakthrough of Nirvana and the popularity of the grunge and Britpop movements in the 1990s, alternative rock entered the musical mainstream and many alternative bands became successful. By the end of the decade, alternative rocks mainstream prominence declined due to a number of events that caused grunge and Britpop to fade, emo attracted attention in the larger alternative rock world, and the term was applied to a variety of artists, including multi-platinum acts. Post-punk revival artists such as Modest Mouse and The Killers had commercial success in the early, before the term alternative rock came into common usage around 1990, the sort of music to which it refers was known by a variety of terms. In 1979, Terry Tolkin used the term Alternative Music to describe the groups he was writing about, in 1979 Dallas radio station KZEW had a late night new wave show entitled Rock and Roll Alternative. College rock was used in the United States to describe the music during the 1980s due to its links to the radio circuit. In the United Kingdom, dozens of small do it yourself record labels emerged as a result of the punk subculture, according to the founder of one of these labels, Cherry Red, NME and Sounds magazines published charts based on small record stores called Alternative Charts. The first national chart based on distribution called the Indie Chart was published in January 1980, at the time, the term indie was used literally to describe independently distributed records. By 1985, indie had come to mean a particular genre, or group of subgenres, at first the term referred to intentionally non–mainstream rock acts that were not influenced by heavy metal ballads, rarefied new wave and high-energy dance anthems. The use of alternative gained further exposure due to the success of Lollapalooza, for which festival founder, in the late 1990s, the definition again became more specific. Defining music as alternative is often difficult because of two conflicting applications of the word, the name alternative rock essentially serves as an umbrella term for underground music that has emerged in the wake of punk rock since the mid-1980s. Alternative bands during the 1980s generally played in clubs, recorded for indie labels. Sounds range from the gloomy soundscapes of gothic rock to the guitars of indie pop to the dirty guitars of grunge to the 1960s/1970s revivalism of Britpop. This approach to lyrics developed as a reflection of the social and economic strains in the United States and United Kingdom of the 1980s, by 1984, a majority of groups signed to independent record labels mined from a variety of rock and particularly 1960s rock influences. This represented a break from the futuristic, hyper-rational post-punk years
5.
Grunge
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Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock and a subculture that emerged during the mid-1980s in the Pacific Northwest U. S. state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. The early grunge movement revolved around Seattles independent record label Sub Pop, the success of these bands boosted the popularity of alternative rock and made grunge the most popular form of rock music at the time. Grunge was also an influence on subsequent genres such as post-grunge, Grunge fuses elements of punk rock and heavy metal, such as the distorted electric guitar used in both genres, although some bands performed with more emphasis on one or the other. Like these genres, grunge typically uses electric guitar, bass guitar, a drummer, Grunge also incorporates influences from indie rock bands such as Sonic Youth. Lyrics are typically angst-filled and introspective, often addressing themes such as alienation, apathy, concerns about confinement. A number of factors contributed to decline in prominence. During the mid-late 1990s, many grunge bands broke up or became less visible, the word grunge was used in print in prior to the use of the term in mainstream publications to refer to the Seattle music genre. Rock has always been about it, Theres primal grunge. distortion. and fuzz. especially on the underground, a reference to distorted sounds in rock in a general sense. Mark Arm, the vocalist for the Seattle band Green River—and later Mudhoney—is generally credited as being the first to use the term grunge to describe the Seattle genre of music. Arm first used the term in 1981, when he wrote a letter under his given name Mark McLaughlin to the Seattle zine Desperate Times, criticizing his own band Mr. Epp and the Calculations as Pure grunge. Sub Pop called Green Rivers 1986 EP Dry as a Bone ultra-loose GRUNGE that destroyed the morals of a generation, Everett True states that when Arm stated that the streets of Seattle paved with grunge, he was using the term disparagingly. In this use of the word grunge, Arm was using it as an adjective, Arm said years later, Obviously, I didnt make grunge up. I got it from someone else, the term was already being thrown around in Australia in the mid-80s to describe bands like King Snake Roost, The Scientists, Salamander Jim, and Beasts of Bourbon. Arm used grunge as a descriptive rather than a genre term. When grunge first developed, music journalists called it rock, due to the genres focus on impossibly. Evergreen State was a college which did not use grading. Bands from Portland, Oregon, such as the Wipers, also influenced the genres pioneers. Some bands associated with the genre, such as Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains, have not been receptive to the label, preferring instead to be referred to as rock and roll bands
6.
Folk rock
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It has also been influential in those parts of the world with close cultural connections to Britain and gave rise to the genre of folk punk. By the 1980s the genre was in decline in popularity. When English bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s defined themselves as electric folk they were making a distinction with the existing folk rock. Folk rock was what they had already been producing, American or American style singer-songwriter material played on instruments, as undertaken by Bob Dylan. They drew the distinction because they were focusing on indigenous songs, the result of this hybridisation was an exchange of specific features drawn from Traditional music and Rock music. For example, electric folk groups, while using traditional material as their source for lyrics and tunes. In the same year, The Beatles began incorporating overt folk influences into their music, the Beatles and other British Invasion bands, in turn, influenced the Californian band The Byrds, who began playing folk-influenced material and Bob Dylan compositions with rock instrumentation. The Byrds recording of Dylans Mr Tambourine Man was released in April 1965 and reached #1 on the U. S. and UK singles charts, setting off the mid-1960s folk rock movement. The Beatles late 1965 album, Rubber Soul, contained a number of songs clearly influenced by the American folk rock boom, such as Nowhere Man and If I Needed Someone. Folk rock became an important genre among emerging English bands, particularly those in the London club scene towards the end of the 1960s. Like the American revival, it was often overtly left wing in its politics, most important among their responses were the foundation of folk clubs in major towns, starting with London where MacColl began the Ballads and Blues Club in 1953. These clubs were usually urban in location, but the songs sung in them often hearkened back to a rural pre-industrial past, in many ways this was the adoption of abandoned popular music by the middle classes. This meant that there were, by the later 1960s, a group of performers with musical skill and knowledge of a variety of traditional songs. The result was an interpretation of the song A Sailors Life. The rapid expansion of electric folk that followed in the wake of Liege, five Hand Reel a band formed out of the remnants of Spencers Feat proved to be one of the more successful and influential folk rock bands. Releasing 4 albums with Topic/RCA records they were popular in Europe. He then quit that and eventually formed the Albion Country Band, later the Albion Band, a much smaller group of English bands were formed in emulation of existing electric rock bands. Fiddlers Dram were often dismissed as one hit wonders for their single Day Trip to Bangor, most of their career, from that point until they disbanded in 1979, was one of declining profile and sales
7.
Blues
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Blues is a genre and musical form originated by African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the end of the 19th century. The genre developed from roots in African musical traditions, African-American work songs, spirituals, Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads. Blue notes, usually thirds or fifths flattened in pitch, are also a part of the sound. Blues shuffles or walking bass reinforce the trance-like rhythm and form a repetitive effect known as the groove, Blues as a genre is also characterized by its lyrics, bass lines, and instrumentation. Early traditional blues verses consisted of a single line repeated four times, Early blues frequently took the form of a loose narrative, often relating the troubles experienced in African-American society. Many elements, such as the format and the use of blue notes. The origins of the blues are closely related to the religious music of the Afro-American community. The first appearance of the blues is often dated to after the ending of slavery and, later and it is associated with the newly acquired freedom of the former slaves. Chroniclers began to report about blues music at the dawn of the 20th century, the first publication of blues sheet music was in 1908. Blues has since evolved from unaccompanied vocal music and oral traditions of slaves into a variety of styles and subgenres. Blues subgenres include country blues, such as Delta blues and Piedmont blues, as well as urban blues styles such as Chicago blues, World War II marked the transition from acoustic to electric blues and the progressive opening of blues music to a wider audience, especially white listeners. In the 1960s and 1970s, a form called blues rock evolved. The term blues may have come from blue devils, meaning melancholy and sadness, the phrase blue devils may also have been derived from Britain in the 1600s, when the term referred to the intense visual hallucinations that can accompany severe alcohol withdrawal. As time went on, the phrase lost the reference to devils, by the 1800s in the United States, the term blues was associated with drinking alcohol, a meaning which survives in the phrase blue law, which prohibits the sale of alcohol on Sunday. Though the use of the phrase in African-American music may be older, it has been attested to in print since 1912, in lyrics the phrase is often used to describe a depressed mood. The lyrics of traditional blues verses probably often consisted of a single line repeated four times. Two of the first published songs, Dallas Blues and Saint Louis Blues, were 12-bar blues with the AAB lyric structure. Handy wrote that he adopted this convention to avoid the monotony of lines repeated three times, the lines are often sung following a pattern closer to rhythmic talk than to a melody
8.
Sub Pop
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Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt. In 1988, Sub Pop Records LLC was formed by Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle alternative rock scene. In 1995 the owners of Sub Pop sold a 49% stake of the label to the Warner Music Group, the origins of Sub Pop can be traced back to the early 1980s when Bruce Pavitt started a fanzine called Subterranean Pop that focused exclusively on American independent record labels. Pavitt undertook the project in order to earn course credit while attending Evergreen State College in Olympia, by the fourth issue, Pavitt had shortened the name to Sub Pop and began alternating issues with compilation tapes of underground rock bands. The Sub Pop #5 cassette, released in 1982, sold two thousand copies, in 1983, Pavitt moved to Seattle, Washington and released the ninth and final issue of Sub Pop. While in Seattle, he wrote a column for local newspaper The Rocket titled Sub Pop U. S. A, a column he ended in 1988. In 1986, Pavitt released the first Sub Pop LP, the compilation Sub Pop 100, which featured material by artists including Sonic Youth, Naked Raygun, Wipers, and Scratch Acid. Seattle group Green River chose to record their Dry as a Bone EP for Pavitts new label in June 1986, when finally released, Dry as a Bone was promoted by Sub Pop as ultra-loose grunge that destroyed the morals of a generation. Poneman soon became a partner in the label. Pavitt focused on the artists and repertoire aspects, while Poneman dealt with the business. Both men decided they wanted the label to focus on this primal rock stuff that was coming out, in early 1988 Pavitt and Poneman quit their jobs to devote their full attention to Sub Pop. Raising $43,000, they incorporated that April, of course that was spent in, like, thirty days, Pavitt recalled. We almost went bankrupt after a month and that August Sub Pop released the first single by Mudhoney, a band featuring former members of Green River. Sub Pop released the Mudhoney single Touch Me Im Sick in a limited first pressing of 800 copies to create demand. The strategy was adopted by other independent labels. Pavitt and Poneman studied earlier independent labels ranging from Motown to SST Records, the pair sought to create a cohesive brand identity for Sub Pop. The labels ads promoted the label more than any particular band. The label also sought to market a Seattle sound, which was accomplished with the help of producer Jack Endino, who produced 75 singles, albums, and EPs for Sub Pop between 1987 and 1989
9.
4AD
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4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1980 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, originally funded by Beggars Banquet. 4AD continued to have success in the 1990s and 2000s with releases from The Breeders, Red House Painters, TV on the Radio, St. Vincent, the labels current roster includes indie rock acts such as The National, Camera Obscura, Deerhunter, Grimes and Future Islands. 4AD forms part of the Beggars Group, along with Matador Records, Rough Trade Records and its history has been detailed by Martin Aston in his biography of the label, Facing The Other Way, released 2013. Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, employees of the Beggars Banquet record store and label, after the first four Axis singles in early 1980, the name was changed when it became apparent that the name Axis was already being used by another music company. The solution to this came from a promotional flyer that they had printed up to call attention to the new releases. Peter Kent agreed, and, with that decision, 4AD was named. An initial idea for the label was that it would be a ground for Beggars Banquet. The only band to follow this path would be Bauhaus, who were signed to Beggars Banquet in late 1980 right before Ivo, the two were the sole owners for about a year. Kent sold his share to Watts-Russell at the end of 1981, Watts-Russell would maintain ownership of the label, and act as its president, until the late 1990s. Watts-Russell invited the graphic designer Vaughan Oliver to create art for the label. In 1983, 4AD had a hit in America with the Modern English single I Melt With You. In 1987, 4AD had a UK number-one hit with the collaged Pump up the Volume by M|A|R|R|S, in the 1990s, 4AD established an office in Los Angeles and enjoyed success with bands such as The Breeders, Red House Painters, Unrest, and His Name Is Alive. In 1999, Watts-Russell sold his share in 4AD back to the Beggars Group, the labels deal with Warner Bros. Records in the United States in 1992 would start the beginning of a new phase in 4AD history. New signings that year included American underground acts Kendra Smith, Tarnation, Air Miami, simon Halliday took control of the label at the end of 2007. Immediate successes were Bon Ivers critically lauded debut For Emma, Forever Ago, in 2008, the Beggars Group re-aligned itself so that several labels were folded up on to the 4AD label. Bands like The National were moved to 4AD as a part of this merger, the latest signings to the label are bEEdEEgEE, of Gang Gang Dance, Lo-Fang, and British producer SOHN. At the start of 2014, the label announced the additions of Future Islands and Merchandise. The United States had always been a market for 4AD
10.
Screaming Trees
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Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington in 1985 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the time the band reached its most successful period, although widely associated with grunge, the bands sound incorporated hard rock and psychedelic elements. Since its formation, Screaming Trees released seven albums, five EPs. Screaming Trees is known as one of the Godfathers of Grunge along with the Melvins, Mudhoney, U-Men, Skin Yard, Soundgarden, Green River, Cosmic Psychos and Malfunkshun. The band achieved one top ten single on the Modern Rock Tracks charts, Screaming Trees were plagued by extended inactivity due to their problems with making a follow up to Dust. This led to their breakup in 2000. The Conner brothers formed Screaming Trees with Mark Lanegan and Mark Pickerel in 1985 in Ellensburg, Washington, the band was drawn together in high school by an interest in punk, garage, and classic rock. The band rehearsed at the Conner familys video rental store and recorded their demo tape Other Worlds in the summer of 1985 with Steve Fisk at Creative Fire recording studio in Ellensburg. The band talked the owner of the studio into releasing it as a cassette on the indie label. In 1986, they released their album, Clairvoyance, also on the Velvetone label. Musically, the album is a combination of rock and hard rock. With Fisks help, the LP caught the attention of Greg Ginn, in 1987, the band released their second LP, and their first for SST, Even If and Especially When. After the release of the album in 1987, the band working the American indie circuit, playing shows across the US with other SST bands such as Firehose. Their next album, Invisible Lantern, was released in 1988, buzz Factory, released in 1989, was the fourth full-length album by Screaming Trees and their last for SST Records. In 1990 the band had signed a contract with Epic Records. In 1991, the released their fifth album, and first for a major label. The single was the first Screaming Trees release to chart, although Uncle Anesthesia sold better than their previous efforts, the band remained a cult act. Late in 1991, Nirvanas Nevermind became a commercial success
11.
Queens of the Stone Age
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Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1996. The bands line-up includes founder Josh Homme, alongside longtime members Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita, formed after the dissolution of Hommes previous band, Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age developed a style of riff-oriented, heavy rock music. Their sound has evolved to incorporate a variety of different styles and influences, including working with ZZ Top member Billy Gibbons. After the breakup of his previous band, Kyuss, in 1995, Josh Homme briefly joined Screaming Trees as a touring guitarist, before deciding to form a new band, in 1996 they released the eponymous Gamma Ray EP, featuring Born to Hula and If Only Everything. The EP featured Matt Cameron of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, Van Conner from Screaming Trees, Gamma Ray changed their name in 1997 after the German power metal band Gamma Ray threatened to sue. The name Queens of the Stone Age came from a given to Kyuss by their producer Chris Goss. Homme said of the name, Kings would be too macho, the Kings of the Stone Age wear armor and have axes and wrestle. The Queens of the Stone Age hang out with the Kings of the Stone Ages girlfriends when they wrestle, Rock should be heavy enough for the boys and sweet enough for the girls. That way everyones happy and its more of a party, Kings of the Stone Age is too lopsided. The first release under the Queens of the Stone Age name was the song 18 A. D. released on the compilation album Burn One Up, music for Stoners which featured members of the Dutch stoner rock band Beaver. The bands first live appearance was on November 20,1997, at OK Hotel in Seattle, Washington, with Cameron on drums, Mike Johnson of Dinosaur Jr. on bass and John McBain of Monster Magnet on guitar. Queens of the Stone Age released their debut in 1998 on Stone Gossards and Regan Hagars label Loosegroove Records. Homme played guitar and bass on the album, Alfredo Hernández on the drums, Homme reportedly asked Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan to appear on the record, but he was unable due to other commitments. Soon after the sessions were finished for the album, former Kyuss bassist Nick Oliveri joined. Guitarist Dave Catching joined shortly after, from this point forward, the bands line-up would change frequently, by the time their second album was being recorded, Hernández was no longer in the band. The success of the record earned the band notable opening slots with The Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, Hole. It was during this time that Homme stated, Theres a robotic element to our albums and we also wanted to do a record that had a lot of dynamic range. We wanted to set it up in this band so we could play anything and we dont want to get roped in by our own music
12.
Isobel Campbell
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Isobel Campbell is a Scottish singer-songwriter, cellist and composer. She later collaborated with singer Mark Lanegan on three albums, campbells music has been described as either indie pop, chamber pop or singer-songwriter. Regardless of genre, Campbell makes gentle and sombre music, often using classical instruments and her bright, slightly nasal voice with bittersweet and they named themselves Belle & Sebastian after a childrens book of the same name. Murdoch was the singer on the first two albums, with Campbell playing cello, percussion and singing backing vocals. A classically trained cellist, Campbell also played keyboards and she also took lead vocals on a few songs from the band, and co-wrote their top-20 UK single Legal Man. Their follow-up was The Boy with the Arab Strap which contained the track Is It Wicked Not to Care, where for the first time Campbell sang lead vocals. The bands next album was Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant, most of 2002 was spent on touring and recording a soundtrack album, Storytelling. Campbell left the band in spring of 2002, in the middle of the bands North American tour. In 1999, Campbell released her first solo album, The Green Fields of Foreverland, on the label as Belle & Sebastian, Jeepster Records. In 2002, she collaborated with Scottish jazz musician Bill Wells on a collection of Billie Holiday songs, in 2003, Campbell released Amorino, her first solo album under her own name. Bill Wells was featured again, along with other jazz musicians. The follow-up to The Green Fields of Foreverland would become Swansong for You released on 6 November 2000 and this album would be the last release by Campbell as The Gentle Waves. In 2003 she released a new album Amorino under her own name and her next album, 2006s Ballad of the Broken Seas, was a collaboration with former Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan and was well received by critics. Her fourth studio album was released on 23 October 2006 entitled Milkwhite Sheets and it brings traditional songs from United Kingdom and songs written by Campbell. Campbell has stated that album was inspired by the works of Jean Ritchie, Anne Briggs, in April 2004, Campell released an EP with former Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age singer Mark Lanegan, titled Time Is Just the Same. They would later release a single entitled Ramblin Man for their collaboration album Ballad of the Broken Seas, Campbell wrote and recorded the majority of the albums tracks in Glasgow, with Lanegan adding vocals in Los Angeles. The album was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Prize, Lanegan and Campbell played four UK concerts in January 2007, with the London date being moved to a larger venue as a result of high demand for tickets. In 2007, the duo recorded an album together, entitled Sunday at Devil Dirt
13.
Soulsavers
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Soulsavers is an English production and remix team comprising Rich Machin and Ian Glover. The Soulsavers downtempo electronica sound incorporates influences of rock, gospel, soul, Soulsavers third album, Broken, was released on 17 August 2009. Mark Lanegan once again featured as the main vocalist, other prominent musicians such as Mike Patton, Jason Pierce, Richard Hawley, and Gibby Haynes also feature on the album. The non-album single Sunrise, a written by Lanegan and sung by Will Oldham. The B-side is a cover of Palace Brothers You Will Miss Me When I Burn, a written by Oldham and sung by Lanegan. The pair have worked as film score composers, such as on BattleGround,21 Days on the Empires Edge produced by the Guerrilla News Network. Their song Revival was featured on the 22 November 2007 episode of Greys Anatomy, the song was also featured on the 10 December episode of Friday Night Lights, titled Giving Tree. It is also featured in the snowboarding movie Thats It, Thats All, Revival also featured in the trailer of the 2011 film Machine Gun Preacher. Kingdoms of Rain featured in the Lie to Me episode Truth or Consequences and they supported Depeche Mode during the European leg of their Tour of the Universe in late 2009. Depeche Modes frontman Dave Gahan is the main vocalist and lyricist on Soulsavers fourth album The Light the Dead See, information appeared on Twitter at the beginning of May 2013 stating that Soulsavers had started to work on material for their up-and-coming fifth studio album. On 14 January 2014 this information was confirmed on Depeche Modes official website, according to Gahan, the new Soulsavers album will be released in spring 2015. Almost one year later an announcement appeared on the German fans website depechemode. de and it confirmed that Rich Machin, Ian Glover and Dave Gahan were going to start working in the studio mid-January, with the new album being released towards the end of 2015
14.
The Gutter Twins
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The Gutter Twins is a musical collaboration between rock musicians Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan. On Christmas Day 2003, Dulli and Lanegan began work on the collaboration, in July 2007, the music website Pitchfork Media announced that the duo, two of the alt-rock eras greatest frontmen, had signed to Seattle label Sub Pop. Soon thereafter, Sub Pop reported a 4 March 2008 release date for their debut album Saturnalia, the Gutter Twins appeared with their backup band on the Late Show with David Letterman on March 20,2008, and toured the album throughout the USA and Europe during the year. Critical response to the album was good, Blast Magazine called it an audial descent into the dark emotions that often lurk beneath the surface. And that The haunting “God’s Children” sounds like it was penned by U2’s long-lost cousin from Seattle, and Uncut said With Lanegan at his stentorian best and Dulli in full confessional mode, Saturnalia is a feast, certainly – but one where the dishes are served delightfully raw. In September 2008, The Gutter Twins released the Adorata EP through iTunes and it features two original songs and cover versions of songs by José González, Primal Scream, Scott Walker, Vetiver, and Eleven. A portion of Adorata’s proceeds will go to the Natasha Shneider Memorial Fund, Shneider was a friend of the band and the late lead singer of Eleven. As of January 2009, The Gutter Twins are touring as a duet, the setlist includes song for both their albums, acoustic versions of some tracks from their previous bands and a few covers. They usually segue Gods Children into Bob Dylans All Along The Watchtower, stations is also occasionally started with a short quote from the intro of Stairway To Heaven, which Dulli states is his favorite song of all time. The band is currently on hiatus, Saturnalia Adorata - Digital only Official website The Gutter Twins official MySpace page The Gutter Twins at Sub Pop Gutter Twins comprehensive discography at The Shawn Smith Collective
15.
Mad Season (band)
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Mad Season was an American rock supergroup formed in Seattle, Washington in 1994 by members of three popular Seattle-based bands, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Screaming Trees. Mad Season released only one album, Above, and is best known for the single River of Deceit, the band went on a semi-permanent hiatus in 1996 due to the band members conflicting schedules and vocalist Layne Staleys problems with substance abuse. Attempts were made in the late 1990s to revive the group without Staley, however, Staley died three years later of a drug overdose. During the production of 1994s Vitalogy, Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready went into drug and alcohol rehab at the Hazelden Clinic in Minnesota, in 1994, when the two returned to Seattle, Washington, they formed a side band with drummer Barrett Martin. McCready then brought in friend and Alice in Chains frontman Layne Staley to round out the line-up, McCready had hoped that being around sober musicians would push Staley to get himself sober. The song Artificial Red, which was also to appear on the album, two more gigs were scheduled at the same venue, with the band calling itself The Gacy Bunch, after both the notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy of Chicago and the 1970s sitcom The Brady Bunch. The album, Above, which was recorded in Seattle, Washington at Bad Animals Studio and co-produced by the band and Pearl Jam sound engineer Brett Eliason and it also included guest vocals and additional lyrics by Screaming Trees frontman and solo artist Mark Lanegan. McCready said, We did all the Mad Season music in seven days. It took Layne just a few days to finish his vocals. The album was released on March 14,1995 through Columbia Records to critical and commercial success, Staleys lyrics dealt with his personal troubles, with Martin saying, Layne Staley felt as though he was on a spiritual mission through his music. During the lyric writing process, Staley was reading the book The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, which was an influence on the lyrics. Over the course of 1995, Above scaled the Billboard 200, eventually peaking at No.24, above was certified gold on June 14,1995. The band continued to play shows during the spring of 1995 before going on hiatus so that the members could return to work with their main bands. During this time the band released the Live at the Moore video, also, during this time the band contributed a cover of John Lennons I Dont Wanna Be a Soldier to the 1995 John Lennon tribute album, Working Class Hero. In 1997, attempts were made by McCready, Saunders and Martin to revive Mad Season, as a result he declined to participate in the project any further, thus leaving Mad Season without a singer. With Staley now out of the picture, the band recruited vocalist Mark Lanegan, with the switch in frontmen the group also switched names adopting the Disinformation moniker in late 1997. Work reportedly began in 1998 on what would have been Disinformations debut album, over the course of the year the quartet gradually grew apart, making a Disinformation album all the more unlikely. Another critical blow was dealt to the project in January 1999 with the death of bassist John Baker Saunders from an overdose of heroin, the group was deeply saddened to hear news of his death
16.
Unkle
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Unkle are a British musical outfit founded in 1994 by school friends James Lavelle and Tim Goldsworthy. Originally categorized as trip hop, the group once included producer DJ Shadow and have employed a variety of guest artists, Lavelle and Goldsworthy were joined by Masayuki Kudo and Toshio Nakanishi of the Japanese hip hop crew Major Force. Lavelle drafted in DJ Shadow to work on the debut album, Lavelle and Shadow released Psyence Fiction in 1998 to critical acclaim. The album included collaborations with a lineup including Thom Yorke, Mark Hollis, Mike D, Kool G. Rap, Jason Newsted, Badly Drawn Boy. The album was mixed by Shadows long-time collaborator, producer Jim Abbiss, Shadow left the group after touring Psyence Fiction and was replaced by turntablist group the Scratch Perverts, who deconstructed the album and performed it live on turntables in 1999. Also in 1999, former producer Rich File remixed the track Unreal, adding vocals by Ian Brown, on 1 February 1999, Lavelle and the Scratch Perverts appeared on the Radio 1 program The Breezeblock, utilising 5 turntables. The set was based on tracks from Psyence Fiction, with some of them reworked live by Lavelle for the live performance. The Scratch Perverts contribution consisted of scratching over the top of the Unkle tracks, a version of Be There. In 2001, Lavelle and File resurfaced as Unklesounds, with a DJ mix created for Japanese radio entitled Do Androids Dream of Electric Beats. This highlighted a new, more electronic direction the group had taken, Rich File co-produced, played and sang on the second album, Never, Never, Land, released in 2003. The album again featured a number of contributors, including Ian Brown, Josh Homme, Robert Del Naja. Lavelle and File continued releasing mixes as Unklesounds, a single CD version was handed out at the event, and it was released officially as an extended two disc set in 2005. The group recorded music for a film titled The Seed directed by Joe Hahn alongside John Debney. It also contained remixes of a track mooted for their album, featuring Ian Astbury of The Cult. War Stories, the album from Unkle, was released in summer 2007. The album again featured a number of guests including Josh Homme, Gavin Clark, Robert Del Naja, Ian Astbury, The Duke Spirit, Autolux, following the release of the single Hold My Hand, Pablo Clements became an Unkle member. In January 2008 Unkle released More Stories, containing a mix of B-sides, remixes, unreleased War Stories session tracks, the same month, Rich File announced he was leaving Unkle after 10 years collaboration to pursue work with his new band, We Fell to Earth. Unkle began touring the UK with Zoot Woman and Sebastian and Mr. Flash from the French electro record label Ed Banger Records
17.
Gary Lee Conner
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Gary Lee Conner was the lead guitarist for rock act Screaming Trees, along with his brother Van Conner, who was the bands bassist. Conner began his career with Screaming Trees in 1985 which lasted until their disbanding in 2000, appearances on other artists material include, Beat Happening Indian Summer and Midnight a Go-Go from Jamboree as well as Against the 70s by Mike Watt from Ball-Hog or Tugboat. After ten years of seclusion he finally released a new album in 2010 from his band Microdot Gnome, the album 4D Sugarcubes was released on Moonbus International Recordings in April 2010 as was available on CD and MP3. At the moment he is planning future releases from Microdot Gnome, in August 2016, Conner released a long-awaited solo album, Ether Trippers, on Strange Earth Records. Gary Lee Conner on Facebook Microdot Gnome on Facebook Microdot Gnome on MySpace Microdot Gnome on Reverb Nation
18.
Van Conner
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Van Conner is an American rock musician. In 1984 he co-founded the band Screaming Trees with his brother Gary Lee Conner and close friends Mark Lanegan, on the 25 June 2000 Screaming Trees announced their official breakup. Conner would start a low key band under the name Gardener which released its album in the 1990s under the name New Dawning Time. Conner has also had appearances as a session musician with other known bands such as Queens of the Stone Age. Conner is now the lead vocalist/guitarist of the alternative metal-band VALIS, VALIS has announced that their new studio album is getting released under Small Stone Records. VALIS has also announced a US tour which started in June where they are going to shows at the Northwest US
19.
The Winding Sheet
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The Winding Sheet is a studio album by alternative rock artist Mark Lanegan. It was released in 1990 on Sub Pop, the album was Lanegans first solo work, and is notable in its departure from the characteristic sound of Screaming Trees, the band he fronted from 1985 until 2000. The album was a modest success, the term winding sheet is a synonym of shroud. The Winding Sheet is also the title of a sea shanty that was the basis of the well known Streets of Laredo. The album showcases Lanegans adept skills as a lyricist and his deep, highlights include Mockingbirds, Ugly Sunday and the haunting Wild Flowers. On Down in the Dark good friend Kurt Cobain sings while on the folk classic Where Did You Sleep Last Night Cobain contributes guitar and vocals, nirvana would later also cover Where Did You Sleep Last Night on their Unplugged album. The album is produced by Mike Johnson, who also co-wrote many of the songs, all songs written by Mark Lanegan and Mike Johnson except as noted
20.
Kurt Cobain
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Kurt Donald Cobain was an American musician, artist, songwriter, guitarist and poet. Born in Aberdeen, Washington, Cobain formed the band Nirvana with Krist Novoselic in 1987 and established it as part of the Seattle music scene, Nirvanas debut album Bleach was released on the independent record label Sub Pop in 1989. After signing with major label DGC Records, the band found success with Smells Like Teen Spirit from their second album Nevermind. Following the success of Nevermind, Nirvana was labeled the band of Generation X. During the last years of his life, Cobain struggled with addiction, chronic health problems. He also had difficulty coping with his fame and public image, on April 8,1994, Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle, the victim of what was officially ruled a suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. The circumstances of his death at age 27 have become a topic of public fascination, since their debut, Nirvana, with Cobain as a songwriter, has sold over 25 million albums in the U. S. and over 75 million worldwide. Cobain was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, along with Nirvana bandmates Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, Cobain was born at Grays Harbor Hospital in Aberdeen, Washington, the son of waitress Wendy Elizabeth and automotive mechanic Donald Leland Cobain. His parents were married on July 31,1965 in Coeur dAlene and his ancestry included Dutch, English, French, German, Irish, and Scottish. His Irish ancestors migrated from Carrickmore, County Tyrone in 1875, researchers found that they were shoemakers, originally named Cobane, who came from Inishatieve, a townland within Carrickmore. As migrants, they first settled in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, Cobain himself believed his family came from County Cork. His younger sister, Kimberly, was born on April 24,1970, Cobains family had a musical background. Kurt was described as being a happy and excitable child, who also exhibited sensitivity and care. His talent as an artist was evident from an age, as he would draw his favorite characters from films and cartoons, such as the Creature from the Black Lagoon and Donald Duck. This enthusiasm was encouraged by his grandmother, Iris Cobain, who was a professional artist, Cobain began developing an interest in music early in life. According to his aunt Mari, he began singing at the age of two, at age four, he started playing the piano and singing, writing a song about a trip to a local park. When Cobain was nine years old, his parents divorced and he later said that the divorce had a profound effect on his life, while his mother noted that his personality changed dramatically, Cobain became defiant and withdrawn. In a 1993 interview, he elaborated, Cobains parents both found new partners after the divorce, although his father had promised not to remarry, after meeting Jenny Westeby, he did, to Kurts dismay
21.
Nirvana (band)
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Nirvana was an American rock band formed by singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1987. Nirvana went through a succession of drummers, the longest-lasting being Dave Grohl, despite releasing only three full-length studio albums in their seven-year career, Nirvana has come to be regarded as one of the most influential and important alternative bands in history. Though the band dissolved in 1994 after the suicide of Cobain, their music maintains a following and continues to influence modern rock. In the late 1980s, Nirvana established itself as part of the Seattle grunge scene, releasing its first album, Bleach and they developed a sound that relied on dynamic contrasts, often between quiet verses and loud, heavy choruses. After signing to major label DGC Records, Nirvana found unexpected success with Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvanas third studio album, In Utero, released to critical acclaim, featured an abrasive, less mainstream sound and challenged the groups audience. Nirvanas active career ended following the death of Cobain in 1994, but various posthumous releases have been issued since, overseen by Novoselic, Grohl, and Cobains widow Courtney Love. Since its debut, the band has sold over 25 million records in the United States alone, Nirvana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, in its first year of eligibility. Cobain and Novoselic met while attending Aberdeen High, although they never connected, the pair eventually became friends while frequenting the practice space of the Melvins. Cobain wanted to form a band with Novoselic, but Novoselic did not respond for a period of time. In persuading Novoselic to form a band, Cobain gave him a tape of his project Fecal Matter. Three years after the two first met, Novoselic notified Cobain that he had listened to the Fecal Matter demo. The pair recruited Bob McFadden on drums, but after a month the project fell apart, in early 1987, Cobain and Novoselic recruited drummer Aaron Burckhard. The three practiced material from Cobains Fecal Matter tape but started writing new material soon after forming, during its initial months, the band went through a series of names, starting with Skid Row and including Pen Cap Chew, Bliss, and Ted Ed Fred. The group finally settled on Nirvana, which Cobain said was chosen because I wanted a name that was kind of beautiful or nice and pretty instead of a mean, raunchy punk name like the Angry Samoans. With Novoselic and Cobain having moved to Tacoma and Olympia, Washington, respectively, the pair instead practiced with Dale Crover of the Melvins, and Nirvana recorded its first demos in January 1988. In early 1988, Crover moved to San Francisco but recommended Dave Foster to the band as his replacement on drums, Cobain and Novoselic put an ad in Seattle music publication The Rocket seeking a replacement drummer, which only yielded unsatisfactory responses. Meanwhile, a friend introduced them to Chad Channing. Channing continued to jam with Cobain and Novoselic, although the drummer noted, They never actually said okay, youre in, Nirvana released its first single, a cover of Shocking Blues Love Buzz, in November 1988 on the Seattle independent record label Sub Pop
22.
Nevermind
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Nevermind is the second studio album by American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24,1991 by DGC Records. Produced by Butch Vig, Nevermind was the bands first release on DGC and it was also their first album to feature drummer Dave Grohl. Despite low commercial expectations by the band and its label, Nevermind became a surprise success in late 1991, largely due to the popularity of its first single. By January 1992, it had replaced Michael Jacksons album Dangerous at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, the album also produced three other successful singles, Come as You Are, Lithium, and In Bloom. The Recording Industry Association of America has certified the album diamond, Nirvana was a grunge rock band from Aberdeen, Washington, formed by Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic in 1987, that had signed to Seattle independent record label Sub Pop. The band released their debut album Bleach in 1989, with Chad Channing on drums, however, Channing left Nirvana in 1990, and the band was in need of a permanent drummer. During a show by punk band Scream, the groups drummer, Dave Grohl, impressed Cobain. When Scream unexpectedly disbanded, Grohl contacted Novoselic, made his way to Seattle, Novoselic said in retrospect that when Grohl joined the band, everything fell into place. Meanwhile, Cobain was writing a number of new songs, at the time Cobain was listening to bands like The Melvins, R. E. M. A key development was the single Sliver, released on Sub Pop in 1990, I had to write a pop song and release it on a single to prepare people for the next record. I wanted to more songs like that. Grohl said that the band at that point often made the analogy of likening their music to childrens music, by the start of the 1990s, Sub Pop was experiencing financial difficulties. With rumors that Sub Pop would sign up as a subsidiary of a record label. In early 1990, Nirvana began planning its second album for Sub Pop, for the album, Sub Pop head Bruce Pavitt suggested Butch Vig as a potential producer. Nirvana particularly liked Vigs work with Killdozer and called Vig up to tell him, in April 1990, the band traveled out to Vigs Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin to begin work on the album. Most of the song arrangements were completed by that time, but Cobain was still working on lyrics. Ultimately, eight songs were recorded, Immodium, Dive, In Bloom, Pay to Play, Sappy, Lithium, Here She Comes Now, the band had planned to record more tracks, but Cobain severely strained his voice on Lithium, forcing Nirvana to shut down recording. Vig was told that the group would come back to more songs
23.
Lead Belly
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Huddie William Ledbetter /ˈhjuːdi/ was an American folk and blues musician notable for his strong vocals, virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the folk standards he introduced. He is best known as Lead Belly, though many releases list him as Leadbelly, he himself wrote it as Lead Belly, which is also the spelling on his tombstone and the spelling used by the Lead Belly Foundation. Lead Belly usually played a guitar, but he also played the piano, mandolin, harmonica, violin. In some of his recordings he sang while clapping his hands or stomping his foot. Lead Bellys songs covered a range, including gospel music, blues about women, liquor, prison life, and racism, and folk songs about cowboys, prison, work, sailors, cattle herding. He also wrote songs about people in the news, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler, Jean Harlow, Jack Johnson, Lead Belly was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2008. Lead Belly was born Huddie William Ledbetter on the Jeter Plantation near Mooringsport, Louisiana, the 1900 United States Census lists Hudy Ledbetter as 12 years old, born January 1888, and the 1910 and 1930 censuses also give his age as corresponding to a birth in 1888. The 1940 census lists his age as 51, with supplied by wife. However, in April 1942, when Ledbetter filled out his World War II draft registration, he gave his date as January 23,1889. His grave marker bears the date given on his draft registration, Ledbetter was the younger of two children born to Wesley Ledbetter and Sallie Brown. The pronunciation of his name is purported to be HYEW-dee or HUGH-dee and he can be heard pronouncing his name as HUH-dee on the track Boll Weevil, from the Smithsonian Folkways album Lead Belly Sings for Children. His parents had cohabited for several years, but they married on February 26,1888. When Huddie was five years old, the family settled in Bowie County, by 1903, Huddie was already a musicianer, a singer and guitarist of some note. He performed for nearby Shreveport audiences in St. Pauls Bottoms, the 1910 census of Harrison County, Texas, shows Hudy Ledbetter living next door to his parents with his first wife, Aletha Lethe Henderson. Aletha is registered as age 19 and married one year, others say she was 15 when they married in 1908. It was in Texas that Ledbetter received his first instrument, an accordion from his uncle Terrell, by his early twenties, having fathered at least two children, Ledbetter left home to make his living as a guitarist and occasional laborer. Influenced by the sinking of the Titanic in April 1912, Ledbetter wrote the song The Titanic, his first composed on the twelve-string guitar, which later became his signature instrument. Initially played when performing with Blind Lemon Jefferson in and around Dallas, Texas, Johnson had in fact been denied passage on a ship for being black, but it was not the Titanic
24.
Layne Staley
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Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the early 1990s. The band became known for Staleys distinct vocal style, as well as the vocals between him and Cantrell. Staley was also a member of the supergroups Mad Season and Class of 99, by mid-1996, Staley was out of the public spotlight, never to perform live again. Staley struggled for much of his life with depression and a drug addiction. Layne Thomas Staley was born to Phillip Blair Phil Staley and Nancy Elizabeth Staley in Kirkland and he was seven years old when his parents divorced, after which he was raised by his mother and stepfather, Jim Elmer. He took his stepfathers name while enrolled in Meadowdale High School in Lynnwood, in late 2001, shortly before his death, he would describe the experience of witnessing his parents divorce, My world became a nightmare, there were just shadows around me. I got a call saying that my dad had died, since that call I always was wondering, Where is my dad. I felt so sad for him and I missed him and he dropped out of my life for 15 years. Staley approached music through his parents collection, listening to Black Sabbath and he began playing drums at age 12, he played in several glam bands in his early teens, but by this point, Staley had aspirations of becoming a singer. In 1984, Staley joined a group of Shorewood High students in a band called Sleze, in 1986, Sleze morphed into Alice N Chains, a band which Staley said dressed in drag and played speed metal. The new band performed around the Seattle area playing Slayer and Armored Saint covers, Staley met guitarist Jerry Cantrell while working at Music Bank rehearsal studios, and the two fast friends lived as roommates for over a year in the dilapidated rehearsal space they shared. Alice N Chains soon disbanded and Staley joined a band who at the time also required a guitarist. He asked Cantrell to join as a sideman, Cantrell agreed on condition that Staley join Cantrells band, which at the time included drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Starr. Eventually the funk project broke up and in 1987 Staley joined Cantrell on a full-time basis, the band eventually took the name of Alice in Chains. Alice in Chains released their debut album Facelift on August 21,1990, the second single, Man in the Box, with lyrics written by Staley, became a huge hit. Facelift has since been certified platinum by the RIAA for sales of two million copies in the United States. The band toured in support of the album for two years before releasing the acoustic EP Sap in early 1992, in September 1992, Alice in Chains released Dirt. The critically acclaimed album, also the bands most successful, debuted at six on the Billboard 200
25.
Mike McCready
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Michael David Mike McCready is an American musician who serves as the lead guitarist for the American rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the members of Pearl Jam. McCready was also a member of the side project bands Flight to Mars, Temple of the Dog, Mad Season and he is also the proprietor of Hockey Talkter Records. McCready will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pearl Jam on April 7,2017, Mike McCready was born in Pensacola, Florida, but his family moved to Seattle, shortly after his birth. When he was a child, his parents played Jimi Hendrix and Santana, while his friends listened to Kiss and Aerosmith, at the age of eleven, McCready purchased his first guitar and began taking lessons. In eighth grade, McCready formed his first band, Warrior, originally a cover band playing during free periods at Roosevelt High School, the band eventually began writing original material and recording demo tapes. After high school, McCready worked at a restaurant where he befriended musician Pete Droge. In 1986, Shadow relocated to Los Angeles and attempted to cut a record deal, however, according to McCready, We played to a couple bartenders down there, but even though it was a bad scene, it was a good experience. Basically, we werent that good of a band, and we didnt realize it until we got down there, I guess we lost our focus, got really bummed out and came back to Seattle. In 1988, Shadow returned to Seattle and split up soon afterwards, McCready lost interest in playing guitar for some time, stating that he was so depressed about life. He cut his hair, enrolled in a community college. He credits a friend named Russ Riedner for getting me out of my college mode, McCready was inspired to pick up his guitar again after attending a Stevie Ray Vaughan concert at The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington. McCready said, As soon as he started Couldnt Stand the Weather, these huge clouds rolled in overhead, when the song ended, the rain stopped. It was like an experience, and it changed me. It lifted me out of the negative mindset I was in, I thank him forever for that. McCready gradually went back to playing guitar and finally joined another band called Love Chile, a childhood friend, Stone Gossard, went to one of the bands shows and appreciated McCreadys work after hearing him perform Stevie Ray Vaughans Couldnt Stand the Weather. Gossard had known McCready from back before high school when the two would trade rock band pictures with each other, after the demise of Gossards band Mother Love Bone, he asked McCready if he wanted to play music together with him. After a few months of practicing together, McCready in turn encouraged Gossard to reconnect with his Mother Love Bone alum Jeff Ament, the bands line-up was completed by the addition of Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron
26.
Rated R (Queens of the Stone Age album)
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Rated R is the second studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age, released on June 6,2000 on Interscope Records. Rated R was a critical and commercial success and became the breakthrough album. It peaked at number 16 on the Top Heatseekers and reached positions on charts worldwide. The album has been certified gold in the United Kingdom, Rated R is the bands first album to feature bass guitarist Nick Oliveri and vocalist Mark Lanegan. As a whole, the album contains references to drugs. When you think something strange is going on, and everyone around you is so adamant about telling you its fine, but then you start thinking Wouldnt that be exactly what youd say if you didnt want me to know, and there is something going on. And so its kind of about that paranoid mentality which maybe I have sometimes, Rated R features the debut of bassist Nick Oliveri and guest vocalist Mark Lanegan, who both made vocal and songwriting contributions to the band. Quick and to the Pointless drum, bass, guitar and vocal tracks were recorded simultaneously in just one take. Oliveris vocal performance was intended to be a scratch vocal. The other song, the acoustic instrumental Lightning Song was penned by touring keyboardist, second guitarist, the 70s-era MPAA R rating bumper features on the albums cover, along with the text RESTRICTED TO EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE, ALL THE TIME. Rated R was the breakout album in the UK. Upon its release in June 2000, the peaked at number 16 on the Top Heatseekers album chart. It granted Queens of the Stone Age recognition in the United Kingdom and has been certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry. Rated R included the hit single The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret, not only did its music video receive mild airplay on music television, the song was featured in the Entourage episode I Love You Too. It was also the single from the album to get a chart position, reaching number 21 on the Mainstream Rock chart, number 36 on the Modern Rock chart. Its still got the vaunted Arizona-desert vibes of Kyuss, but it evokes a more relaxed, spacious, twilight feel, rhapsody called it the best rock album of the decade on its Rock’s Best Albums of the Decade list. Rolling Stone named it the 82nd best album of the decade, all tracks written by Joshua Homme and Nick Oliveri, except where noted. Lead vocals by Homme, except where noted, most European editions separate In the Fade and the Feel Good Hit of the Summer reprise into two tracks,3,51 and 0,34 in length
27.
Songs for the Deaf
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Songs for the Deaf is the third studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age. Released on August 27,2002, the album features Foo Fighters, like their other albums, Songs for the Deaf has a large number of guest musicians, a signature of the bands releases. The album garnered acclaim, and the band earned its first gold record certification in the United States. One million copies of the album were sold in Europe, earning the band a platinum certification from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry in 2008. Songs for the Deaf was the first Queens of the Stone Age album that featured Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters on drums and he replaced the previous drummer, Gene Trautmann, who started working on other projects. Grohl had been an admirer of Queens of the Stone Age since the band opened for Foo Fighters on tour. He joined Queens of the Stone Age in October 2001 when he received a call from Josh Homme with whom he had been friends since 1992. Grohl admitted that he had not drummed for a long time, Grohl put Foo Fighters on temporary hiatus, delaying their upcoming album One by One to October 22,2002 because of touring duties in support of the album. Grohls first performance with the band occurred at March 7,2002 at The Troubadour, Los Angeles and he returned to Foo Fighters soon after, with Danzig drummer Joey Castillo eventually announced as his long-term replacement in August 2002. The album also included the first musical contribution to a Queens of the Stone Age album by multi-instrumentalists Natasha Shneider, another change in personnel came with the arrival of producer Eric Valentine, who had previously worked on a pair of Dwarves albums with Oliveri. Valentine was a requirement by Interscope and did not do his job according to Homme, rounding out the core recording lineup of Homme, Oliveri, and Grohl, was singer/songwriter Mark Lanegan, formerly of Screaming Trees, a band that Homme had toured with previously. According to Oliveri, they are a jibe at how a lot of play the same thing over and over. We dont get played on the radio, so I figure we should talk shit about them, several songs that appeared on the album were re-worked forms of tracks previously recorded and released in The Desert Sessions, a side project of Josh Homme with various guest collaborators. You Think I Aint Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire was the track of Volume 5, Poetry for the Masses. Hangin Tree first appeared on Volume 7, Gypsy Marches, also, both A Song for the Deaf and Go with the Flow were previously performed as early as 2001 with the former having very different lyrics and vocals completely by Mark Lanegan. The main riff for No One Knows comes from another Desert Sessions track, the album was initially planned for release on August 13,2002, but was eventually postponed for two weeks. The cover art for the U. S. double LP version of the album is different from the CD version and it was released on red vinyl. The UK vinyl version cover is the same as the CD cover, the dashboard/interior with superimposed logos is that of a Fiat 124 Sport Spider, a 1960s–1980s mass market Italian sports car
28.
Lullabies to Paralyze
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Lullabies to Paralyze is the fourth studio album by Queens of the Stone Age, released on March 21,2005. The album has been certified gold in the UK, where it has sold over 100,000 units and it is also the bands first album to be released after Nick Oliveri was fired from the band. The album title Lullabies to Paralyze was intended to bridge Lullabies with its predecessor Songs for the Deaf by naming it after a line in Mosquito Song, the final track on Songs for the Deaf. The deluxe limited edition of the album includes a bonus track, videos were produced for singles Little Sister, In My Head and Burn the Witch, and Someones in the Wolf. The video for Someones in the Wolf was featured on the bonus DVD of Lullabies to Paralyze. The album was delayed during 2004 because of changes to the line-up, bassist, vocalist. Lanegan can still be singing on several songs of the album as well as contributing lyrics. Because of this turmoil, there had been rumours that Lanegan had left the band, nevertheless, he encouraged these rumours to draw the attention off the band by giving the press something to focus on while I was just making the record. The album received positive reviews, although slightly lower than its predecessor. JustPressPlay ranked it #31 on its list of the Top 100 Albums of the 2000s, Lullabies To Paralyze was certified gold in the UK on April 15,2005 with sales exceeding 100,000 copies. All tracks written by Joshua Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen and Joey Castillo, all lyrics written by Homme, except additional lyrics on Medication, Tangled Up in Plaid and Long Slow Goodbye by Mark Lanegan. The Hidden Outro later appears as the riff in the song Running Joke. Like a Drug –3,15 Included on the edition, Limited Tour Edition. The song was a new recording, originally on The Desert Sessions Volume 6, Precious and Grace –3,23 Included on the Limited Tour Edition, UK and Japanese versions. Infinity –3,59 Included on the Japanese version, a version of Infinity is available on the Heavy Metal 2000 soundtrack. The album had two LP pressing runs, the first pressing was released by AntAcidAudio and contains a different cover to the CD version. The sides are named Once, You, Were & Lost, after a line from Someones in the Wolf, with containing a mixture of the CDs album. The second pressing is a reissue by Dutch record label Music On Vinyl, the reissue is different from the first pressing in that it does not have its sides named after the line from Someones in the Wolf, and it uses the cover art from the CD release
29.
Era Vulgaris (album)
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Era Vulgaris is the fifth full length studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age. The album was completed in early April 2007 and released on June 8,2007 in some countries, June 11,2007 in the United Kingdom and June 12,2007 in the United States. The tracks Sick, Sick, Sick and 3s & 7s were released as singles in early June, with a third single Make It wit Chu released around Halloween of 2007. In other countries it has reached much loftier debut positions, mostly in the top ten and he described the record as dark, hard, and electrical, sort of like a construction worker, …its like dirt, clearly seen. The albums title Era Vulgaris refers to the Latin term for Common Era, two tracks from the album had previously been released or performed elsewhere. In June 2006, in an interview on the Australian radio station Triple J, eventually on the DFA internet forum, Keeler revealed that due to conflicting schedules, he would not be appearing on the album. The album was recorded and mixed by Alain Johannes, while it was produced by Josh Homme, the primary contributors to the recording were Homme, Troy van Leeuwen, Joey Castillo, Johannes and Goss. We basically started a year ago, and like I said, we didn’t really have anything written. So it was a long process and it was the longest Ive ever taken to make a record, frankly. Ive made records over the process of a year but this was the first time its ever been my total focus for that long and this was the first time Ive ever done that. total focus for 10 months. Goss and Johannes were replaced by Dean Fertita and Michael Shuman for later bonus track recordings, regarding the bands line-up changes for Era Vulgaris, Homme commented, I like combinations that no one would expect… Its the cool part of any surprise party. Era Vulgaris displays influences from different genres. The album departs from the softer, hollowbody guitar sound of their previous album Lullabies to Paralyze with heavy, crunchy guitars, rolling Stone noted the influence of New Wave synth geek Gary Numan…all over this record. Musically, the album has been described as brand new retro, a fusion of punk, rock, blues and southern grit, and slower, moodier, and groggier than the bands previous efforts. Shortly after the announcement in February 2007, a video was posted on the bands official website showing Homme, Castillo. Along with brief footage of the session for Misfit Love. A second video of the recording of the album surfaced subsequently on YouTube, depicting the recording a new track. In early April, the band website was updated with a 37 second excerpt from Sick, Sick, Sick
30.
...Like Clockwork
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. Like Clockwork is the sixth studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age, released on June 3,2013, on Matador Records in the UK, and on June 4 in the United States. After several false starts and stops, the began recording. Like Clockwork in August 2012. It was a time and I thought, I can run away from this. The album was nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Album, in 2011, frontman Josh Homme was hospitalized for thirteen days, and subsequently bedridden for four months, following complications during a routine surgical procedure on his knee. Homme noted, I woke up and there was a going, ‘Shit. I couldn’t get up for four months, when I did, I hadn’t got a clue what was going on. During this time, Homme sank into a depression, noting I would never say. But back then, I would definitely think it, Homme noted, I had to ask them If you want to make a record with me right now, in the state I’m in, come into the fog. Its the only chance you got and it brought us much closer, because you never really know someone till everything goes wrong. The band subsequently reissued its debut album, Queens of the Stone Age, in 2011. Homme stated, Doing the rehearsals for the first record is really defining the new one and its been turning the new record into something else. What we were doing was kind of bluesy, and now its turned into this trancey, however, in 2013, Homme noted, I was hoping that playing the first record would really inspire me and make me fall in love with music again. But I think I was just lost, looking for something in the dark, in that dark I found. Like Clockwork. On August 20,2012, the band stated via their Facebook page that they were recording their new album, tumult that surfaced during the recording of the album provided inspiration for the LPs title. Homme explained to Rolling Stone magazine, Wed have these great victories and then something would go south for a bit, I think a sick sense of humor is whats always been our preservation mechanism, so this time were using that sick sense of humor for a title. In November 2012, Homme told BBCs Zane Lowe that Joey Castillo had left the band and that drums on the new album would be performed by Dave Grohl, Homme also confirmed that the album would be released prior to their performance at the Download Festival in June 2013. In addition to Grohl, other former members contributing to the album include former bassists Nick Oliveri and Alain Johannes as well as vocalist Mark Lanegan. A number of collaborations from different musicians were present for the new album, including Trent Reznor, Jake Shears, Alex Turner, James Lavelle, Brody Dalle
31.
Greg Dulli
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Greg Dulli is an American musician. Greg Dulli was born and brought up in Hamilton, Ohio, although he was raised a Roman Catholic, he is now agnostic. Dulli first came to attention in the late 1980s with The Afghan Whigs when he joined D. C. transplant bassist John Curley and Louisville, Kentucky. The band fused alternative rock and R&B, dullis career in production was halted as The Afghan Whigs began playing more gigs, drawing bigger and bigger crowds. The band was brought to the attention of Sub Pop Records in Seattle. They were the first non-Northwestern U. S. band to record for the Sub Pop label, the Whigs amicably split in 2001. In 1994, Dulli was a lead vocalist in the Backbeat Band, other members of the Backbeat Band were Thurston Moore, Don Fleming, Mike Mills, Dave Grohl, and Dave Pirner. Dulli was the musician that appeared on the Foo Fighters first record aside from Dave Grohl. Dulli was watching Grohl record the songs, Grohl eventually asked him if he wanted to play and handed him a guitar. He added a part to the song X-Static. In 1997, Dulli bought the rights to a book by Ann Imbrie called Spoken in Darkness. In December 1998, Dulli was hospitalized suffering a fracture at the hands of a bouncer following an altercation at the Liberty Lunch Club in Austin. In 1999, Dulli was invited to participate on an album for Moby Grape founding member Skip Spence. Dulli appears on the album More Oar, A Tribute To The Skip Spence Album, the album was released shortly after Spences death, though Spence had listened to a pre-release version of the album shortly before his death. Dulli is now the singer and main songwriter of the band The Twilight Singers who released their fifth album titled Dynamite Steps in February 2011. He is also working with Mark Lanegan on their side project, Lanegan also appears on The Twilight Singers EP, A Stitch in Time. The shows were recorded and released in October 2008 as a download on Gregs own label. In 2009, Dulli was invited to participate in an album to the late Doug Sahm
32.
Belle and Sebastian
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Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish band formed in Glasgow in January 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released 9 albums to date, much of their work had been released on Jeepster Records, but they are now signed to Rough Trade Records in the United Kingdom and Matador Records in the United States. Though often praised by critics, Belle and Sebastian have enjoyed limited commercial success. Belle and Sebastian were formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1996 by Stuart Murdoch, as the band had a number of songs already and the label was extremely impressed with the demos, Belle and Sebastian were allowed to record a full-length album, which was titled Tigermilk. Murdoch once described the band as a product of botched capitalism, the band took their name from the television adaptation of the French novel Belle et Sébastien. Tigermilk was recorded in three days and originally only one thousand copies were pressed on vinyl and these original copies now sell for up to £400. After the success of the album, Belle and Sebastian were signed to Jeepster Records in August 1996 and If Youre Feeling Sinister. The album was named by Spin as one of the 100 greatest albums between 1985 and 2005, and is considered the bands masterpiece. Just before the recording of Sinister, Sarah Martin joined the band, following this a series of EPs were released in 1997. The first of these was Dog on Wheels, which contained four tracks recorded before the real formation of the band. In fact, the only band members to play on the songs were Murdoch, David, and Mick Cooke. It charted at No.59 in the UK singles chart, the Lazy Line Painter Jane EP followed in July. The track was recorded in the church where Murdoch lived and features vocals from Monica Queen, the EP narrowly missed out on the UK top 40, peaking at No.41. The last of the 1997 EPs was Octobers 3, the EP was made Single of the Week in both the NME and Melody Maker and reached No.32 in the charts, thus becoming the bands first top 40 single. The band released their third LP, The Boy with the Arab Strap in 1998, during the recording of the album, long-time studio trumpet-player Mick Cooke was asked to join the band as a full member. The This Is Just a Modern Rock Song EP followed later that year, in 1999 the band was awarded with Best Newcomer at the BRIT Awards, upsetting better-known acts such as Steps and 5ive. That same year, the band hosted their own festival, the Bowlie Weekender, Tigermilk was also given a full release by Jeepster before the band started work on their next LP. The result was Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant, a stand-alone single, Legal Man, reached No.15 and gave them their first appearance on Top of the Pops
33.
Melissa Auf der Maur
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Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur is a Canadian musician, singer-songwriter, photographer and actress. Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Auf der Maur began performing in 1993 after forming the rock band Tinker while she was a student at Concordia University. She was recruited as the bassist for the American alternative rock band Hole in the summer of 1994 and is featured on several Hole releases, Best known for her music career, Auf der Maur is also a photographer and occasional actress. Her photographs have featured in National Geographic and exhibited at Sothebys. As an actress, she has appeared in How to Make the Cruelest Month, Beyond Borders, Stone and Auf der Maur are the creative directors and owners of Basilica Hudson, an arts and performance center in Hudson, New York, United States. Auf der Maur was born in Montreal, Quebec to journalist and politician Nick Auf der Maur and journalist, Auf der Maur is of Swiss–German descent on her fathers side and American descent on her mothers side, Gaboriau was born in Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. As a result, she holds dual Canadian–American citizenship, Auf der Maurs surname translates to English as on the wall, as maur was derived from the German word for wall. She has stated that her grandmother, Theresia Schaelin-Auf der Maur, was always pounding my heritage down my throat—reminding me that Im the last one in North America to further the name, Auf der Maur did not meet her father until she was three years old. Gaboriau called Nick Auf der Maur after her daughter began questioning her about her fathers identity, reflecting on the encounter, Auf der Maur said realised my mother Linda was the love of his life because shed offered the gift of this child without any demands. He fell madly in love with her pursued her for two years, Auf der Maur and Gaboriau married in 1978 when Melissa was six years old. The couple divorced in 1979 after which Auf der Maur traveled worldwide with her mother, a portion of Auf der Maurs childhood was spent living in a circus caravan in Wales, a red post-office box truck in Morocco, and a hut in Kenya with her mother. During her time in Kenya, she contracted three bouts of malaria and returned to Montreal, in Montreal, Auf der Maur attended the Fine Arts Core Education School and Moving in New Directions High School—both of which are schools of alternative education. At FACE, she was a member of the choir and at MIND, she was part of the small English elite. At school, she became interested in photography and subsequently attended Concordia University, at Concordia at age 19, Auf der Maur began working part-time as a disc jockey at Bifteck, a well known rock club, where she met several musicians including Steve Durand. During her time as a DJ at Bifteck, Auf der Maur met several musicians who frequented the bar, after the bar closed, musicians would often use it as a rehearsal space for late-night jam sessions. During one session, Auf der Maur met fellow Concordia University student Steve Durand, Durand assumed guitar duties and Auf der Maur began playing bass, using a Fender Precision Bass that her father had purchased for her 21st birthday. The duo recruited a second guitarist, Jordon Zadorozny, and a drummer, at a Smashing Pumpkins performance at Les Foufounes Électriques in 1991, Auf der Maur had become friends with vocalist and guitarist Billy Corgan. Auf der Maur explained, My friend Bruce, who became the drummer in Godspeed You
34.
Martina Topley-Bird
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Martina Gillian Topley-Bird is an English vocalist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who first gained fame as the featured female vocalist on trip hop pioneer Trickys debut album, Maxinquaye. She also worked with him on his subsequent albums Nearly God, in 2003, Topley-Bird released her debut solo album, Quixotic, which was critically praised and earned her a Mercury Prize nomination. This was followed by Anything, The Blue God, and Some Place Simple. She has also collaborated with Gorillaz, appearing on their album Demon Days, as well as with Mark Lanegan, Diplo, and Massive Attack on Heligoland and her work has been sampled by such artists as Stephen Marley, Berry Weight, and The Weeknd. Martina Topley-Bird was born in London, England to Charlette Conlon, and Martin Geoffrey Topley and her stepfather is British direct marketing specialist Drayton Bird, whose surname she adopted in addition to her fathers. Her mother is of Salvadoran and Seminole Indian descent, while her father was of untraceable African American descent, Topley-Bird grew up in a large family, with five siblings and three step-siblings. Her family later relocated from London to Bristol and we moved about a bit when I was a child, which wasnt a problem for me, she recalled. If youre not white and middle-class, then slightly different. I thrived, and survived, on those situations and she attended Clifton College, where she was a member of the school choir and took piano lessons. Topley-Bird grew up listening to R&B, opera, and soul music throughout her childhood, as a teenager, she began listening to alternative rock, and became a fan of The Sugarcubes, Faith No More, and Janes Addiction. In 1993, as a teenager at Clifton College, Topley-Bird was discovered by trip hop pioneer Tricky when he saw her sitting on a wall near his house, thats really how it happened, she recalled. Its one of things people are always surprised to find out is true. I remember the graveyard behind the wall, a few weeks later, I went around to his house with some friends. Wed been drinking cider after our GCSEs and we were banging on his door, but he wasnt in. Then Mark Stewart, who lived there, came up to us and said, Yeah, so I jumped through, opened the door and we got mashed. She and Tricky formed a partnership, and Topley-Bird collaborated with Tricky as a featured vocalist on his debut album Maxinquaye. Almost all of her vocals on the album were recorded in a single take, in describing the recording sessions, she recalled, It was totally instinctive. There was no time to drum up an alter ego, I liked the idea that the information people needed about me was what they would hear when they put the record on
35.
Moby
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Richard Melville Hall, better known by his stage name Moby, is an American DJ, singer, songwriter, musician, photographer and animal rights activist. He is well known for his music, veganism. Moby has sold over 20 million records worldwide, allMusic considers him one of the most important dance music figures of the early 1990s, helping bring the music to a mainstream audience both in the UK and in America. Moby gained attention in the early 1990s with his dance music work. With his fifth album, the electronica and house music-influenced Play. His next major release, 2005s mostly upbeat Hotel was a departure, incorporating more alternative rock elements than previous albums. It sold around 2 million copies worldwide, Moby released Innocents on October 1,2013 to positive reviews. Following the release of Innocents, Moby released the ambient album, Long Ambients 1, the album was given away for free on his website. Mobys most recent album These Systems Are Failing was released on October 14,2016, the album has received mostly positive reviews. He was raised by his mother in Darien, Connecticut and he has also released music under the names Voodoo Child and Schaumgummi. During the 1980s, Hall played guitar for the punk band Vatican Commandos. Later in the decade, he was a guitarist for the rock group Ultra Vivid Scene. It left me very intrigued and impressed in a strange way, Moby released his first singles for Instinct under several different names, such as Barracuda, Brainstorm, and UHF. His first single was a commercial failure—a rap record with vocalist Jimmy Mack, titled Times Up, featuring several remixes, very few copies were ever sold. His first single under the pseudonym Moby was Mobility, but it was his remix of Mobilitys b-side, Go and he released his eponymous debut in 1992. Some of his singles in 1992 and 1993 were Next Is the E, Thousand. In 1991 and 1992 he remixed The B-52s, The Prodigy, Orbital, Bob Taggett - Mind Metal, Erasure, Michael Jackson and he also provided a rap for a Recoil track called Curse. In 1993, Moby signed with Mute Records and released an EP titled Move and this became his second appearance on Top of the Pops
36.
Bomb the Bass
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Bomb the Bass is an electronic dance music one-man band consisting of English musician and producer Tim Simenon. So the concept was one of bombing the bass line with different ideas, bombing was a graffiti term for writing, like people would bomb trains or whatever. Whilst the bass line and drum tracks of Beat Dis were written by Simenon, the rest of the track was compiled from samples. According to the BBC, which featured Beat Dis on their clip-based TOTP2 show, the contains a alleged 72 samples, including lifts from hip hop like Public Enemy, funk. Also featured were dialogue clips from the television shows Dragnet, made up of ten tracks, the collection expanded further the bands fascination with hip-hop breakbeats, rap, and that musical sub-cultures creative mashing of multi-media pop culture references. The second single, Megablast, took its bassline from the music to the John Carpenter film Assault on Precinct 13. Other early hits included Dont Make Me Wait, and a cover of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David composition I Say a Little Prayer and he co-produced Neneh Cherrys Buffalo Stance and Crazy by Seal. In 1991 Love So True with vocals from Loretta Heywood was the first single of new Bomb the Bass material, the band name Bomb the Bass was considered to fall into this category, along with that of Massive Attack. Copies of the Love So True single were re-issued credited to Tim Simenon instead, with the contentious Pink Floyd sample removed, the album campaign revved up once again. Second single Winter in July fared much better, subsequently becoming a summer-fuelled UK Top 10 hit, the track, co-written with Guy Sigsworth and vocalist Loretta Heywood featured several prominent samples from the Japan track Ghosts. Once again pioneering new sounds in the arena, and following the success of Winter in July. During this period, Simenon also collaborated with former Ultravox singer John Foxx on the 12 single Remember as Nation 12, in 1995, Bomb the Bass released their third album, Clear, on the Stoned Heights imprint of Island Records. As a headlining act, Bomb the Bass would remain dormant throughout the rest of the 1990s, of note was his additional production and remixing duties on the one-off soundtrack single Play Dead by Björk and David Arnold. Other names included David Bowie, Gavin Friday and Depeche Mode among others, says Gahan, There was loads of names being thrown at us, but in the end we picked because Martin and I really liked the Gavin Friday album that he did. Shag Tobacco is a brilliant album, we really loved the sounds he produced. I started to feel really ill, so I took a break and had a few months off. I was just mentally and physically exhausted, itd been non-stop for more than 10 years, and I was just burnt out. It all just caught up, and took its toll, just left me feeling very, very uninspired, the Tracks EP was recorded in collaboration with Jack Dangers, from Meat Beat Manifesto, and the first actual Bomb the Bass material to be released via Electric Tones
37.
The Twilight Singers
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The Twilight Singers is an American indie rock band. The group was formed as a side project of The Afghan Whigs leader Greg Dulli in 1997. After the Afghan Whigs disbanded, Dulli used The Twilight Singers as his own artistic vehicle and these demos set an exceptionally dark, tense mood, even for Greg Dulli. As a result of The Afghan Whigs label troubles, it is debated whether or not Elektra may have leaked the demo tapes unto the internet, the Afghan Whigs settled their dispute with Elektra and signed with Sony/Columbia in April 1998. Columbia optioned The Twilight Singers recordings, but preferred to release a new Afghan Whigs album instead, the Afghan Whigs swan song 1965 was released in October 1998 to wide critical acclaim. The band toured for one year in support of the album, in 2000, Greg Dulli revived The Twilight Singers, reworking the original leaked demos with dance producers and remix auteurs Fila Brazillia. Columbia released the album as Twilight as Played by The Twilight Singers in September 2000, the band toured with members of Howlin Maggie and former Afghan Whigs drummer, Michael Horrigan, on bass. Dulli took time off following the tour for Twilight, investing in a bar in Los Angeles. In 2001, he working on the follow-up for Twilight tentatively titled Amber Headlights. The death of Dullis friend, director Ted Demme in January 2002, forced him to shelve the project, after reading the Jack London book Martin Eden, and experiencing an earthquake, Dulli set about writing the concept album that became Blackberry Belle. Critics welcomed Dullis return and were eager to give his album, independently financed and released through One Little Indian Records in October 2003. A second touring version of The Twilight Singers including Jon Skibic, Scott Ford, John Nooney and Bobby Macintyre, made two legs through the United States and Europe in 2003 and 2004. In August 2004, the released their third album, She Loves You, a collection of cover songs from artists as varied as Fleetwood Mac, Mary J. Blige, Björk. In September 2005, Dulli finally released his formerly shelved Amber Headlights album as his first solo album and he continued working on his fourth Twilight Singers album which was partly recorded by generator power in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Twilight Singers released Powder Burns on May 16,2006, supported by tours in the United States, Europe, Israel, Australia, the third touring version of The Twilight Singers included Dave Rosser, Scott Ford, singer/songwriter Jeff Klein and Bobby Macintyre. Mark Lanegan also toured with the group, on January 3,2007, The Twilight Singers made their television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Performing their songs Forty Dollars from Powder Burns and Sublime from A Stitch in Time, the band was joined by friend and musician Joseph Arthur on guitar and vocals. In mid-2009, The Twilight Singers cover of When Doves Cry was issued on Spin magazines download album Purpleish Rain, Greg Dulli completed work on the fifth Twilight Singers album, entitled Dynamite Steps, in late 2010
38.
Baritone
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A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice types. It is the most common male voice, the baritone voice type is generally divided into the baryton-Martin baritone, lyric baritone, Kavalierbariton, Verdi baritone, dramatic baritone, baryton-noble baritone, and the bass-baritone. The first use of the term baritone emerged as baritonans, late in the 15th century, at this early stage it was frequently used as the lowest of the voices, but in 17th-century Italy the term was all-encompassing and used to describe the average male choral voice. Baritones took roughly the range as it is today at the beginning of the 18th century. Indeed, many works of the 18th century have roles marked as bass that in reality are low baritone roles. Examples of this are to be found, for instance, in the operas, the greatest and most enduring parts for baritones in 18th-century operatic music were composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. They include Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Papageno in The Magic Flute and these included the likes of Filippo Galli, Giovanni Inchindi, and Henri-Bernard Dabadie. The basse-taille and the bass were commonly confused because their roles were sometimes sung by singers of either actual voice part. The bel canto style of vocalism which arose in Italy in the early 19th century supplanted the castrato-dominated opera seria of the previous century and it led to the baritone being viewed as a separate voice category from the bass. More often than not, however, baritones found themselves portraying villains, the principal composers of bel canto opera are considered to be, Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, Vincenzo Bellini, Giacomo Meyerbeer, and the young Giuseppe Verdi. Figaro in Il barbiere is often called the first true baritone role, however, Donizetti and Verdi in their vocal writing went on to emphasize the top fifth of the baritone voice, rather than its lower notes—thus generating a more brilliant sound. The major international baritone of the first half of the 19th century was the Italian Antonio Tamburini and he was a famous Don Giovanni in Mozarts eponymous opera as well as being a Bellini and Donizetti specialist. Commentators praised his voice for its beauty, flexibility and smooth tonal emission, Tamburinis range, however, was probably closer to that of a bass-baritone than to that of a modern Verdi baritone. His French equivalent was Henri-Bernard Dabadie, who was a mainstay of the Paris Opera between 1819 and 1836 and the creator of several major Rossinian baritone roles, including Guillaume Tell. Dabadie sang in Italy, too, where he originated the role of Belcore in Lelisir damore in 1832, the most important of Tamburinis Italianate successors were all Verdians. In France, Paul Barroilhet succeeded Dabadie as the Paris operas best known baritone, like Dabadie, he also sang in Italy and created an important Donizetti role, in his case, Alphonse in La favorite. Antonio Pini-Corsi was the standout Italian buffo baritone in the period between about 1880 and World War I, reveling in comic roles by Rossini, Donizetti and Paer. In 1893, he created the part of Ford in Verdis last opera, notable among their contemporaries were the cultured and technically adroit French baritones Jean Lassalle, Victor Maurel, Paul Lhérie, and Maurice Renaud
39.
Leonard Cohen
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Leonard Norman Cohen CC GOQ was a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, poet, novelist, and painter. His work mostly explored religion, politics, isolation, sexuality, Cohen was inducted into both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame as well as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nations highest civilian honor, in 2011, Cohen received one of the Prince of Asturias Awards for literature and the ninth Glenn Gould Prize. Cohen pursued a career as a poet and novelist during the 1950s and early 1960s, and did not launch a music career until 1967, at the age of 33. His first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen, was followed by three albums of folk music, Songs from a Room, Songs of Love and Hate. His 1977 record Death of a Ladies Man was co-written and produced by Phil Spector, in 1979, Cohen returned with the more traditional Recent Songs, which blended his acoustic style with jazz and Oriental and Mediterranean influences. Hallelujah was first released on Cohens studio album Various Positions in 1984, Im Your Man in 1988 marked Cohens turn to synthesized productions and remains his most popular album. In 1992, Cohen released its follow-up, The Future, which had dark lyrics, Cohen returned to music in 2001 with the release of Ten New Songs, which was a major hit in Canada and Europe. His eleventh album, Dear Heather, followed in 2004, Cohen was born on September 21,1934 in Westmount, Quebec, an English-speaking area of Montreal, into a middle-class Canadian Jewish family. His mother, Marsha Klonitsky, was the daughter of a Talmudic writer, Rabbi Solomon Klonitsky-Kline and his paternal grandfather, whose family had moved from Poland to Canada, was Lyon Cohen, the founding president of the Canadian Jewish Congress. His father, Nathan Cohen, owned a clothing store. The family observed Orthodox Judaism, and belonged to Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, on the topic of being a Kohen, Cohen told Richard Goldstein in 1967, I had a very Messianic childhood. I was told I was a descendant of Aaron, the high priest and he became especially interested in the poetry of Federico García Lorca. During all of that period, Cohen taught himself to play the acoustic guitar, after a young Spanish guitar player taught him a few chords and some flamenco, Cohen switched to a classical guitar. He has attributed his love of music to his mother, who, he said, had such a voice, Cohen frequented Saint Laurent Boulevard for fun. According to journalist David Sax, Cohen and one of his cousins would go to the Main Deli to watch the gangsters, pimps, in that period and that place, Cohen wrote the lyrics to some of his most famous songs. Cohen published his first poems in March 1954 in the magazine CIV/n, the issue also included poems by Cohens poet–professors, Irving Layton and Louis Dudek. Cohen graduated from McGill the following year with a B. A. degree and his literary influences during this time included William Butler Yeats, Irving Layton, Walt Whitman, Federico García Lorca, and Henry Miller
40.
Tom Waits
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Thomas Alan Tom Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. He has worked as a composer for movies and musicals and has acted in supporting roles in films, including Paradise Alley and he also starred in Jim Jarmuschs 1986 film Down by Law. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on One from the Heart. Waits lyrics frequently present atmospheric portraits of grotesque, often seedy characters and places and he has a cult following and has influenced subsequent songwriters despite having little radio or music video support. His songs are best-known through cover versions by more artists, Jersey Girl, performed by Bruce Springsteen, Ol 55, by the Eagles. Although Waits albums have met with mixed success in his native United States. He has been nominated for a number of music awards and has won Grammy Awards for two albums, Bone Machine and Mule Variations. In 2011, Waits was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and he is also included among the 2010 list of Rolling Stones 100 Greatest Singers, as well as the 2015 list of Rolling Stones 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. Waits lives in Sonoma County, California, with his wife Kathleen Brennan, Waits was born at Park Avenue Hospital in Pomona, the son of schoolteachers Alma Fern McMurray and Jesse Frank Waits. After his parents divorced in 1960, he lived with his mother in Whittier, Waits, who taught himself how to play the piano on a neighbors instrument, often took trips to Mexico with his father, who taught Spanish. He would later say that he found his love of music during these trips through a Mexican ballad that was probably a Ranchera, you know, on the car radio with my dad. By 1965, while attending at Hilltop High School in Chula Vista and he later admitted that he was not a fan of the 1960s music scene, stating, I wasnt thrilled by Blue Cheer, so I found an alternative, even if it was Bing Crosby. Five years later, he was working as a doorman at the Heritage nightclub in San Diego, where artists of every genre performed, when he did his first paid gig for $6. A fan of Bob Dylan, Lord Buckley, Jack Kerouac, Louis Armstrong, Howlin Wolf, in 1971, Waits moved to the Echo Park neighborhood of L. A. and signed with Herb Cohen at the age of 21. From August to December 1971, Waits made a series of recordings for Zappa and Cohens Bizarre/Straight label. These early tracks were released 20 years later on The Early Years, Volume One, Waits signed to Asylum Records in 1972, and after numerous abortive recording sessions, his first record—the jazzy, folk-tinged Closing Time—was released in 1973. Lee Hazlewood became one of the first major artists to cover a Tom Waits song, using the title variation Those Were Days Of Roses on his album for Capitol, Poet, Fool, or Bum. Also in 1973, Tim Buckley released the album Sefronia, which contained another version of Waits song Martha from Closing Time
41.
Combine harvester
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The combine harvester, or simply combine, is a machine that harvests grain crops. The name derives from its three separate operations comprising harvesting—reaping, threshing, and winnowing—into a single process. Among the crops harvested with a combine are wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn, sorghum, soybeans, flax, sunflowers, and canola. Combine harvesters are one of the most economically important labour saving inventions, Scottish inventor Patrick Bell invented the reaper in 1826. The combine was invented in the United States by Hiram Moore in 1834, early versions were pulled by horse, mule or ox teams. In 1835, Moore built a version and by 1839. By 1860, combine harvesters with a cutting, or swathe, australian Hugh Victor McKay produced a commercially successful combine harvester in 1885, the Sunshine Harvester. Combines, some of them large, were drawn by mule or horse teams. Later, steam power was used, and George Stockton Berry integrated the combine with an engine using straw to heat the boiler. At the turn of the century, horse drawn combines were starting to be used on the American plains. In 1911, the Holt Manufacturing Company of California produced a self-propelled harvester, in Australia in 1923, the patented Sunshine Auto Header was one of the first center-feeding self-propelled harvesters. In 1923 in Kansas, the Baldwin brothers and their Gleaner Manufacturing Company patented a self-propelled harvester that included several other improvements in grain handling. Both the Gleaner and the Sunshine used Fordson engines, early Gleaners used the entire Fordson chassis, in 1929 Alfredo Rotania of Argentina patented a self-propelled harvester. International Harvester started making horse-pulled combines in 1915, at the time horse powered binders and stand alone threshing machines were more common. In the 1920s Case Corporation and John Deere made combines and these were starting to be pulled with a second engine aboard the combine to power its workings. The world economic collapse in the 1930s stopped farm equipment purchases thus people largely retained the older method of harvesting, a few farms did invest and used Caterpillar tractors to move the outfits. Tractor-drawn combines became common after World War II as many began to use tractors. An example was the All-Crop Harvester series and these combines used a shaker to separate the grain from the chaff and straw-walkers to eject the straw while retaining the grain
42.
Alice in Chains
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Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Starr, although widely associated with grunge music, the bands sound incorporates heavy metal elements. Since its formation, Alice in Chains has released five studio albums, the band is known for its distinctive vocal style, which often included the harmonized vocals of Staley and Cantrell. Alice in Chains rose to fame as part of the grunge movement of the early 1990s, along with other Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam. The band was one of the most successful acts of the 1990s, selling over 20 million records worldwide. In 1992 the bands album, Dirt, was released to critical acclaim and was certified quadruple platinum. Their third album, Alice in Chains, was released in 1995 and has been certified double platinum and it achieved No.1 position on the Billboard 200 chart. The band has had 14 top ten songs on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, although never officially disbanding, Alice in Chains was plagued by extended inactivity from 1996 onwards due to Staleys substance abuse, which resulted in his death in 2002. The band reunited in 2005 for a benefit show, performing with a number of guest vocalists. They toured in 2006, with William DuVall taking over as lead vocalist full-time, the new line-up released the bands fourth studio album, Black Gives Way to Blue, in 2009. The album received gold certification by the RIAA, in 2013, the band released The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, its fifth studio album. The band has toured extensively and released videos in support of these albums. Alice in Chains is currently working on their studio album. Other members of this group at that time were guitarists Johnny Bacolas and Zoli Semanate, drummer James Bergstrom and this was prompted by a conversation that Bacolas had with a singer from another band about backstage passes. Staley met guitarist Jerry Cantrell while working with Alice N Chains at Music Bank rehearsal studios, the two struggling musicians became roommates, living in a rehearsal space they shared. Alice N Chains soon disbanded, and Staley joined a band that also required a guitarist at the time. Staley asked Cantrell to join as a sideman, Cantrell agreed on condition that Staley join Cantrells band, which at the time included drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Starr. Local promoter Randy Hauser became aware of the band at a concert, however, one day before the band was due to record at the Music Bank studio in Washington, police shut down the studio during the biggest cannabis raid in the history of the state
43.
Pearl Jam
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Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the bands line-up has comprised Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready, Stone Gossard, the bands fifth member is drummer Matt Cameron, who has been with the band since 1998. Boom Gaspar has also been a member with the band since 2002. Drummers Dave Krusen, Matt Chamberlain, Dave Abbruzzese and Jack Irons are former members of the band, formed after the demise of Gossard and Aments previous band, Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam broke into the mainstream with its debut album, Ten, in 1991. In 2006, Rolling Stone described the band as having spent much of the past decade deliberately tearing apart their own fame, to date, the band has sold nearly 32 million records in the United States and an estimated 60 million worldwide. Pearl Jam has outlasted and outsold many of its contemporaries from the alternative rock breakthrough of the early 1990s, stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic referred to Pearl Jam as the most popular American rock & roll band of the 90s. Pearl Jam is to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 7,2017, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament were members of pioneering grunge band Green River during the mid-1980s. Green River toured and recorded to moderate success but disbanded in 1987 due to a division between the pair and bandmates Mark Arm and Steve Turner. In late 1987, Gossard and Ament began playing with Malfunkshun vocalist Andrew Wood, in 1988 and 1989, the band recorded and toured to increasing interest and found the support of the PolyGram record label, which signed the band in early 1989. Mother Love Bones debut album, Apple, was released in July 1990, Ament and Gossard were devastated by the death of Wood and the resulting demise of Mother Love Bone. Gossard spent his time writing material that was harder-edged than what he had been doing previously. After a few months, Gossard started practicing with fellow Seattle guitarist Mike McCready, whose band, Shadow, had broken up, after practicing for a while, the trio sent out a five-song demo tape in order to find a singer and a drummer. They gave former Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons the demo to see if he would be interested in joining the band, Irons passed on the invitation but gave the demo to his basketball buddy, San Diego, California singer Eddie Vedder. Vedder was the lead vocalist for a San Diego band, Bad Radio and he listened to the tape shortly before going surfing, where lyrics came to him. He then recorded the vocals to three of the songs in what he described as a mini-opera entitled Momma-Son. Vedder sent the tape with his vocals back to the three Seattle musicians, who were impressed enough to fly Vedder up to Seattle for an audition, within a week, Vedder had joined the band. With the addition of Dave Krusen on drums, the band took the name Mookie Blaylock, the band played its first official show at the Off Ramp Café in Seattle on October 22,1990, and soon signed to Epic Records and renamed themselves Pearl Jam. In a 2006 Rolling Stone cover story however, Vedder admitted that this story was total bullshit, Pearl Jam entered Seattles London Bridge Studios in March 1991 to record its debut album, Ten
44.
Soundgarden
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Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Matt Cameron became the bands drummer in 1986, while bassist Ben Shepherd became a permanent replacement for Yamamoto in 1990. Soundgarden was one of the bands in the creation of grunge, a style of alternative rock that developed in Seattle. In 1997, the broke up due to internal strife over its creative direction. After more than a decade of working on projects and other bands, Soundgarden reunited in 2010 and their studio album. As of 2012, Soundgarden had sold more than 10.5 million records in the United States, vH1 ranked Soundgarden at number 14 in their special 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Soundgardens origins can be found in a band called The Shemps, which performed around Seattle in the early 1980s, following Yamamotos departure, the band recruited guitarist Kim Thayil as its new bassist. Soundgarden was formed in 1984 by Cornell, Yamamoto, and Thayil, Cornell originally played drums while singing, but in 1985 the band enlisted Scott Sundquist to allow Cornell to concentrate on vocals. The band traveled around playing various concerts with this line-up for about a year and their first recordings were three songs that appeared on the 1986 compilation album for C/Z Records called Deep Six. It also featured songs by fellow grunge pioneers Green River, Skin Yard, Malfunkshun, The U-Men, in 1986, Sundquist left the band to spend time with his family, and was replaced by Matt Cameron, the drummer from Skin Yard. KCMU DJ Jonathan Poneman was impressed after seeing Soundgarden perform one night, later saying, Poneman offered to fund a release by the band, so Thayil told him to team up with Bruce Pavitt. Poneman offered to contribute $20,000 in funding for Sub Pop, Soundgarden signed to Sub Pop, and the label released Hunted Down in 1987 as the bands first single. Through Sub Pop, the released the Screaming Life EP in 1987. A combination of the two was issued as Screaming Life/Fopp in 1990, though the band was being courted by major labels, in 1988 it signed to the independent label SST Records for its debut album, Ultramega OK, released on October 31,1988. Cornell said that the band made a mistake with Ultramega OK since they used a producer suggested by SST who didnt know what was happening in Seattle. On that album, Soundgarden demonstrates, according to Steve Huey of AllMusic, the bands first music video, Flower, was directed by Mark Miremont, and aired regularly on MTVs 120 Minutes. Soundgarden supported Ultramega OK with a tour in the United States in the spring of 1989 and a tour in Europe, Ultramega OK earned the band a Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance in 1990. After touring in support of Ultramega OK the band signed with A&M Records, Thayil said, In the beginning, our fans came from the punk rock crowd
45.
Mudhoney
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Mudhoney is an American alternative rock band. Original bassist Matt Lukin left the band in 1999, mudhoneys early releases on the Sub Pop label, particularly their debut single Touch Me Im Sick and the Superfuzz Bigmuff EP, were massively influential on the Seattle music scene. More than almost any other release of the era they inspired the dirty, later on, Mudhoney also mixed heavy blues rock and punk rock into their sound at various stages. Although the band has little commercial success during its long career. Mudhoney started in Bellevue, Washington, a suburb of Seattle in 1980, while at Bellevue Christian High School, Mark McLaughlin and some friends started Mr. Epp and the Calculations, a band named after a math teacher of his. Mr. Epp and the Calculations played their first real show in 1981, to make the band seem more serious, Mr. Epp added a second guitarist Steve Turner, who was in a small garage band called The Ducky Boys. Mark Arm and Steve Turner became instant friends, Mr. Epp and the Calculations appeared on KZAM-AM radio and were introduced as the worst band in the world. They played their last show on February 3,1984 with Malfunkshun at Seattles Metropolis, Mark Arm and Steve Turner formed a joke-punk band called The Limp Richerds in 1984 near the end of Mr. Epp but this band ended shortly after Mr. Epps ending as well. Green River was formed in 1984 when Arm and Turner recruited Alex Vincent as drummer, bassist Jeff Ament joined the band after arriving in Seattle with his band Deranged Diction. Stone Gossard, another of Turners former bandmates, was recruited as second guitarist, green River recorded their debut EP, Come on Down, in 1985, and it is often regarded as the first true grunge record. Turner left the band after its due to his distaste of the bands hard rock leanings. He was replaced by another Deranged Diction member, Bruce Fairweather, after recording another EP and a full-length album, the band disbanded in late 1987. Gossard, Ament, and Fairweather went on to join Mother Love Bone, following lead singer Andrew Woods death, Gossard and Ament went on to form Pearl Jam, and Fairweather joined Love Battery. In January 1988, Arm reunited with Turner to form Mudhoney, Turner wanted to start a band that rehearsed before playing to a live audience. He and Arm began songwriting with Bundle of Hiss drummer Dan Peters, the trio decided that Matt Lukin, who had recently left Melvins, should join the band as bassist. They named themselves after the Russ Meyer film Mudhoney, in 1988, the band recorded and released their debut EP, Superfuzz Bigmuff, and their first single, Touch Me Im Sick, on the Sub Pop label. The single attracted attention and the band enjoyed success in the United States. Mudhoney quickly became Sub Pops flagship band, sonic Youth, who were fans of the band, had invited Mudhoney to join them for a tour in the UK in 1989
