1.
EMI
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EMI was a British multinational conglomerate founded in March 1931 and was based in London. At the time of its break-up in 2012, it was the fourth-largest business group and its EMI Records Ltd. group of record labels included EMI Records, Parlophone, Virgin Records and Capitol Records. EMI also had a publishing arm, EMI Music Publishing—also based in London with offices globally. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE100 Index, other members of the Sony consortium include the Estate of Michael Jackson, The Blackstone Group, and Abu Dhabi–owned investment fund Mubadala Development Company. The new vertically integrated company produced sound recordings as well as recording, the companys gramophone manufacturing led to forty years of success with larger-scale electronics and electrical engineering. He was killed in 1942 whilst conducting flight trials on an experimental H2S radar set, post-war, the company resumed its involvement in making broadcasting equipment, notably providing the BBCs second television transmitter at Sutton Coldfield. It also manufactured broadcast television cameras for British television production companies as well as for the BBC, the commercial television ITV companies also used them alongside cameras made by Pye and Marconi. Exports of this piece of equipment were low, however, the company was also for many years an internationally respected manufacturer of photomultipliers. This part of the business was transferred to Thorn as part of Thorn-EMI, in 1958 the EMIDEC1100, the UKs first commercially available all-transistor computer, was developed at Hayes under the leadership of Godfrey Hounsfield, an electrical engineer at EMI. In 1973 EMI was awarded a prestigious Queens Award for Technological Innovation for what was called the EMI scanner. After brief, but brilliant, success in the imaging field, EMIs manufacturing activities were sold off to other companies. Subsequently, development and manufacturing activities were sold off to companies and work moved to other towns such as Crawley. Emihus Electronics, based in Glenrothes, Scotland, was owned 51% by Hughes Aircraft, of California, US and it manufactured integrated circuits electrolytic capacitors and, for a short period in the mid-1970s, hand-held calculators under the Gemini name. Early in its life, the Gramophone Company established subsidiary operations in a number of countries in the British Commonwealth, including India, Australia. Over 150,000 78-rpm recordings from around the world are held in EMIs temperature-controlled archive in Hayes, in 1931, the year the company was formed, it opened the legendary recording studios at Abbey Road, London. During the 1930s and 1940s, its roster of artists included Arturo Toscanini, Sir Edward Elgar, during this time EMI appointed its first A&R managers. These included George Martin, who brought the Beatles into the EMI fold. When the Gramophone Company merged with the Columbia Graphophone Company in 1931, at this point RCA had a majority shareholding in the new company, giving RCA chair David Sarnoff a seat on the EMI board
2.
Kate Bush
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Catherine Kate Bush, CBE is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. She has since released twenty-five UK Top 40 singles, including the top ten hits The Man with the Child in His Eyes, Babooshka, Running Up That Hill, Dont Give Up and King of the Mountain. She has released ten albums, all of which reached the UK Top 10, including the UK number-one albums Never for Ever. She is the first British solo female artist to top the UK album charts, Bush has received widespread critical acclaim for her eclectic and idiosyncratic music as well as her theatrical performances. She has been nominated 13 times for British Phonographic Industry accolades, during the course of her career, she has also been nominated for three Grammy Awards. In 2002, she was recognised with an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music, Bush was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to music. A diverse range of artists have claimed Bush as an influence on their work, Bush was born in Bexleyheath, Kent, to English medical doctor Robert Bush and Hannah Daly. She was raised as a Roman Catholic in their farmhouse in East Wickham, both brothers were involved in the local folk music scene. One of the instructors, Dave Hazard, later noted in his autobiography that her dance moves seemed to owe something to karate and her familys musical influence inspired Bush to teach herself the piano at the age of 11. She also played the organ in a barn behind her parents house and she soon began writing her own tunes and eventually added lyrics to them. Bush attended St Josephs Convent Grammar School, a Catholic girls school, in Woolwich Road, Abbey Wood, south east London, during this time her family produced a demo tape with over 50 of her compositions, which was turned down by record labels. David Gilmour of Pink Floyd received the demo from Ricky Hopper, a friend of Gilmour. Impressed with what he heard, Gilmour helped the sixteen-year-old Bush get a more professional-sounding demo tape recorded that would be more saleable to the record companies, three tracks in total were recorded and paid for by Gilmour. The tape was produced by Gilmours friend Andrew Powell, who would go on to produce Bushs first two albums, and sound engineer Geoff Emerick, the tape was sent to EMI executive Terry Slater. Slater was impressed by the tape and signed her, the British record industry was reaching a point of stagnation. Progressive rock was popular and visually oriented rock performers were growing in popularity. Bush was put on retainer for two years by Bob Mercer, managing director of EMI group-repertoire division. According to Mercer he felt Bushs material was good enough to be released but felt if the album failed it would be demoralising
3.
Cliff Richard
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Sir Cliff Richard OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor and philanthropist. Richard has sold more than 250 million records worldwide and he has total sales of over 21 million singles in the United Kingdom and is the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart history, behind the Beatles and Elvis Presley. Richard was originally positioned as a rock and roll singer in the style of Little Richard. With his backing group, The Shadows, Richard dominated the British popular music scene in the period of the late 1950s to early 1960s. Increased focus on his Christian faith and subsequent softening of his music later led to a middle of the road pop image. He has had more than 130 singles, albums and EPs make the UK Top 20, Richard has had 67 UK top ten singles, the second highest total for an artist behind Elvis Presley. Richard holds the record as the act to make the UK singles charts in all of its first six decades. He has achieved 14 UK No.1 singles, and is the singer to have had a No.1 single in the UK in five consecutive decades. Richard has never achieved the same impact in the United States despite eight US Top 40 singles, including the million-selling Devil Woman and We Dont Talk Anymore. He has remained a music, film, and television personality in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Northern Europe and Asia. Richard has been a resident in the United Kingdom for most of his life and he divides his time between living in Barbados and Portugal. Harry Rodger Webb was born in India at King Georges Hospital, Victoria Street, in Lucknow and his parents were Rodger Oscar Webb, a manager for a catering contractor that serviced the Indian Railways, and the former Dorothy Marie Dazely. Richard is primarily of English heritage, but he has one great-grandmother who was of half Welsh and half Spanish descent, the Webb family lived in a modest home in Maqbara, near the main shopping centre of Hazratganj. Dorothys mother served as the matron at the La Martiniere Girls School. In 1948, following Indian independence, the family embarked on a sea voyage to Tilbury, Essex. The Webbs moved from comparative wealth in India, where lived in a company-supplied flat at Howrah near Calcutta. Harry Webb attended a primary school, Stanley Park Juniors. He then attended Cheshunt Secondary Modern School from 1952 to 1957, as a member of the top stream, he stayed on beyond the minimum leaving age to take GCE Ordinary Level examinations and gained a pass in English literature
4.
Pet Shop Boys
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Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic pop duo, formed in London in 1981 and consisting of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. Pet Shop Boys have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, Other hit songs include a cover of Go West, Opportunities and What Have I Done to Deserve This. in a duet with Dusty Springfield. At the 2009 Brit Awards in London, Pet Shop Boys received an award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, in 2016, Billboard magazine named Pet Shop Boys the No.1 Billboard Dance duo/group over the 40 years since the charts inception in 1976. In 2017 the duo received NMEs Godlike Genius Award, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe met in an electronics shop on Kings Road in Chelsea, London, in August 1981. Recognising a mutual interest in music, they began to work together on material, first in Tennants flat in Chelsea and from 1982. It was during early years that several future hit songs were created, including Its a Sin, West End Girls, Rent. Their big break came in August 1983, when Tennant was assigned by Smash Hits to interview The Police in New York, the duo were obsessed with a stream of Hi-NRG records made by New York producer Bobby Orlando, simply known as Bobby O. According to Tennant, I thought, well, if Ive got to go and see The Police play, in April 1984, the Orlando-produced West End Girls was released, becoming a club hit in Los Angeles and San Francisco. On 2 November, it was voted Screamer of the Week by listeners of Long Island and it was a minor dance hit in Belgium and France, but was only available in the United Kingdom as a 12 import. In March 1985, after negotiations, Pet Shop Boys cut their contractual ties with Bobby O. Hiring manager Tom Watkins, they signed with the London-based Parlophone label, in April, Tennant left Smash Hits and in July, a new single, Opportunities, was released, reaching number 116 in the UK. The B-side to this single, In the Night, later resurfaced, in a remixed version, as the opening track to the duos first remix album, Disco. This version was used as the theme for the UK television series The Clothes Show. Unperturbed by the low position, the band returned to the studio in August to re-record West End Girls with producer Stephen Hague. Released in October 1985, this new version entered the charts at a similarly low position. It was subsequently number one in the United States, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Israel, New Zealand and Norway and it remains the most-heard Pet Shop Boys song to date. After the success of West End Girls, Pet Shop Boys released a single, Love Comes Quickly. The single reached number 19 in the UK Singles Chart and was followed by their album, Please
5.
Queen (band)
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Queen are a British rock band that formed in London in 1970. Their classic line-up was Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, before forming Queen, Brian May and Roger Taylor had played together in a band named Smile. Freddie Mercury was a fan of Smile and encouraged them to experiment with elaborate stage. Mercury joined the band in 1970, suggested Queen as a new band name, John Deacon was recruited before the band recorded their eponymous debut album in 1973. The latter featured Bohemian Rhapsody, which stayed at one in the UK for nine weeks. The bands 1977 album News of the World contained We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions, by the early 1980s, Queen were one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world. Their performance at the 1985 Live Aid concert has been ranked among the greatest in history by various music publications. In 1991, Mercury died of bronchopneumonia, a complication of AIDS, since then, May and Taylor have performed under the name of Queen with Paul Rodgers and Adam Lambert as vocalists on several tours. The band have released a total of 18 number-one albums,18 number-one singles, estimates of their record sales generally range from 150 million to 300 million records, making them one of the worlds best-selling music artists. Queen received the Outstanding Contribution to British Music Award from the British Phonographic Industry in 1990 and they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. In 1968, guitarist Brian May, a student at Londons Imperial College, may placed an advertisement on a college notice board for a Mitch Mitchell/Ginger Baker type drummer, Roger Taylor, a young dental student, auditioned and got the job. While attending Ealing Art College, Tim Staffell became friends with Farrokh Bulsara, Bulsara felt that he and the band had the same tastes and soon became a keen fan of Smile. In 1970, after Staffell left to join the band Humpy Bong, the band had a number of bass players during this period who did not fit with the bands chemistry. It was not until February 1971 that they settled on John Deacon and they recorded four of their own songs, Liar, Keep Yourself Alive, The Night Comes Down and Jesus, for a demo tape, no record companies were interested. It was also around this time Freddie changed his surname to Mercury, inspired by the line Mother Mercury, on 2 July 1971, Queen played their first show in the classic line-up of Mercury, May, Taylor and Deacon at a Surrey college outside London. Having attended art college, Mercury also designed Queens logo, called the Queen crest, the logo combines the zodiac signs of all four members, two lions for Leo, a crab for Cancer, and two fairies for Virgo. The lions embrace a stylised letter Q, the crab rests atop the letter with flames rising directly above it, There is also a crown inside the Q and the whole logo is over-shadowed by an enormous phoenix. The whole symbol bears a resemblance to the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom
6.
Pink Floyd
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Pink Floyd were an English rock band formed in London. They achieved international acclaim with their progressive and psychedelic music, Pink Floyd were founded in 1965 by students Syd Barrett on guitar and lead vocals, Nick Mason on drums, Roger Waters on bass and vocals, and Richard Wright on keyboards and vocals. Guitarist David Gilmour joined in December 1967, Barrett left in April 1968 due to deteriorating mental health. Waters became the primary lyricist and conceptual leader, devising the concepts behind their albums The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall. The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall became two of the albums of all time. Following creative tensions, Wright left Pink Floyd in 1979, followed by Waters in 1985, Gilmour and Mason continued as Pink Floyd, Wright rejoined them as a session musician and, later, a band member. The three produced two more albums—A Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell —and toured through 1994, Barrett died in 2006, and Wright in 2008. The final Pink Floyd studio album, The Endless River, was recorded without Waters, Pink Floyd were inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. By 2013, the band had more than 250 million records worldwide. Roger Waters met Nick Mason while they were both studying architecture at the London Polytechnic at Regent Street and they first played music together in a group formed by Keith Noble and Clive Metcalfe with Nobles sister Sheilagh. Richard Wright, an architecture student, joined later that year. Waters played lead guitar, Mason drums, and Wright rhythm guitar, the band performed at private functions and rehearsed in a tearoom in the basement of the Regent Street Polytechnic. They performed songs by the Searchers and material written by their manager and songwriter, Mason moved out after the 1964 academic year, and guitarist Bob Klose moved in during September 1964, prompting Waters switch to bass. Sigma 6 went through several names, including the Meggadeaths, the Abdabs and the Screaming Abdabs, Leonards Lodgers, in 1964, as Metcalfe and Noble left to form their own band, guitarist Syd Barrett joined Klose and Waters at Stanhope Gardens. Barrett, two younger, had moved to London in 1962 to study at the Camberwell College of Arts. Waters and Barrett were childhood friends, Waters had often visited Barrett, Noble and Metcalfe left the Tea Set in late 1963, and Klose introduced the band to singer Chris Dennis, a technician with the Royal Air Force. In December 1964, they secured their first recording time, at a studio in West Hampstead, through one of Wrights friends, Wright, who was taking a break from his studies, did not participate in the session. When the RAF assigned Dennis a post in Bahrain in early 1965, later that year, they became the resident band at the Countdown Club near Kensington High Street in London, where from late night until early morning they played three sets of 90 minutes each
7.
Duran Duran
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Duran Duran are an English new wave and synthpop band formed in Birmingham in 1978. The band grew from alternative sensations in 1982 to mainstream pop stars by 1984, by the end of the decade, membership and music style changes challenged the band before a resurgence in the early 1990s. The group were a band in the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US. They have placed 14 singles in the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart and 21 in the Billboard Hot 100, when they first emerged, they were generally considered part of the New Romantic scene, along with bands such as Spandau Ballet. Soon they would shed this image, using fashion and marketing to build a more refined and they were also awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The video age catapulted Duran Duran into the mainstream with the introduction of the 24-hour music channel MTV, many of their videos were shot on 35 mm film, which gave a much more polished look than was standard at the time. They also collaborated with film directors to take the quality a step further. In 1984, the band were early innovators with video technology in their stadium shows. These five members featured the most commercially successful line-up, the reunion of the original five members in the early 2000s created a stir among the bands fans and music media. Andy Taylor left the once again in mid-2006, and guitarist Dom Brown has since been working with the band as a session player. John Taylor and Nick Rhodes formed Duran Duran in Birmingham, England in 1978, at the club they were doing jobs such as John working the door and with Nick deejaying for £10 a night. They began rehearsing and regularly playing at the venue, There were many nearby nightclubs, and the one significant one, where bands such as The Sex Pistols and The Clash played gigs, was called Barbarellas. They would go on to name the band after a character from Barbarella, the character, played by Milo OShea, is named Dr. Durand Durand. The bands first singer was Stephen Duffy, Simon Colley soon joined Taylor, Rhodes and Duffy. Colley was the original bass player, as John Taylor was the guitarist at this point. This was the first complete line-up of the band played live shows. For drums and percussion, a drum machine belonging to Rhodes was used. Colley left the prior to the addition of Andy Taylor
8.
Iron Maiden
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Iron Maiden are a British heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. The bands discography has grown to thirty-eight albums, including sixteen studio albums, eleven albums, four EPs. Pioneers of the new wave of British heavy metal, Iron Maiden achieved initial success during the early 1980s,1 in 28 countries and receiving widespread critical acclaim. Their sixteenth studio album, The Book of Souls, was released on 4 September 2015 to similar success, the band won the Ivor Novello Award for international achievement in 2002. As of October 2013, the band have played over 2000 live shows throughout their career. For the past 35 years, the band have been supported by their famous mascot, Eddie, Iron Maiden were formed on Christmas Day in 1975 by bassist Steve Harris shortly after he left his previous group, Smiler. Harris attributes the name to a film adaptation of The Man in the Iron Mask from the novel by Alexandre Dumas. After months of rehearsal, Iron Maiden made their debut at St. Nicks Hall in Poplar on 1 May 1976, before taking up a semi-residency at the Cart and Horses Pub in Maryland Point, Stratford. The original line-up did not last very long, however, with vocalist Paul Day being the first casualty as, according to Harris and he was replaced by Dennis Wilcock, a Kiss fan who used make-up and fake blood during live performances. Wilcocks friend Dave Murray was invited to join, to the dismay of the bands guitarists Dave Sullivan and their frustration led Harris to temporarily disband Iron Maiden in 1976, though the group reformed soon after with Murray as the sole guitarist. Steve Harris and Dave Murray remain the bands longest-standing members and have performed on all of their releases, Iron Maiden recruited yet another guitarist in 1977, Bob Sawyer, who was sacked for embarrassing the band on stage by pretending to play guitar with his teeth. Tension ensued again, causing a rift between Murray and Wilcock, who convinced Harris to fire Murray, as well as original drummer Ron Matthews. A new line-up was put together, including future Cutting Crew member Tony Moore on keyboards, Terry Wapram on guitar, and drummer Barry Purkis. A bad performance at the Bridgehouse, a pub located in Canning Town, in November 1977 was the line-ups first and only concert, at the same time, Moore was asked to leave as Harris decided that keyboards did not suit the bands sound. A few months later, Dennis Wilcock decided that he had had enough with the group and left to form his own band, V1, as he preferred to be the bands sole guitarist, Wapram disapproved of Murrays return and was also dismissed. Steve Harris, Dave Murray and Doug Sampson spent the summer, a chance meeting at the Red Lion pub in Leytonstone in November 1978 evolved into a successful audition for vocalist Paul DiAnno. Steve Harris has stated, Theres sort of a quality in Pauls voice, a raspiness in his voice, or whatever you want to call it, that just gave it this great edge. At this time, Murray would typically act as their sole guitarist, with Harris commenting, the plan was always to get a second guitarist in, but finding one that could match Davey was really difficult
9.
Abbey Road Studios
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Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St Johns Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, Abbey Road Studios is most notable as being the 1960s venue for innovative recording techniques adopted by the Beatles, Pink Floyd, the Hollies, Badfinger and others. One of its earliest world-famous-artist clients was Paul Robeson, who recorded December 1931, towards the end of 2009, the studio came under threat of sale to property developers. However, the British Government protected the site, granting it English Heritage Grade II listed status in 2010, originally a nine-bedroom Georgian townhouse built in 1831 on the footpath leading to Kilburn Abbey, the building was later converted to flats where the most flamboyant resident was Maundy Gregory. In 1931, the Gramophone Company acquired the premises and converted it into studios, pathé filmed the opening of the studios when Sir Edward Elgar conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in recording sessions of his music. In 1934, inventor of stereo sound, Alan Blumlein, recorded Mozarts Jupiter Symphony which was conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham at the studios, the neighbouring house is also owned by the studio and used to house musicians. During the mid-20th century, the studio was used by leading British conductor Sir Malcolm Sargent. The Gramophone Company amalgamated with Columbia Graphophone Company to form EMI and it was under this name that in 1936 cellist Pablo Casals became the first to record Johann Sebastian Bachs Cello Suites No.1 &2 at the command of EMI head Fred Gaisberg. The recordings went on to spur a revolution among Bach aficionados, in 1958, Studio Two at Abbey Road became a centre for rock and roll music when Cliff Richard and the Drifters recorded Move It there, and later pop music material. The Beatles named their 1969 album Abbey Road, after the street where the studio is located, the studio was renamed Abbey Road Studios in 1970 after the Beatles album had made it famous. Iain Macmillan took the cover photograph outside the studios, with the result that the nearby zebra crossing has become a place of pilgrimage for Beatles fans. It has been a tradition for visitors to pay homage to the band by writing on the wall in front of the even though it is painted over every three months. December 2010, the crossing at Abbey Road was given a Grade II listed status. Pink Floyd recorded most of their late 1960s to mid-1970s albums here, the Shadows named their Live at Abbey Road album after the studio, with the cover spoofing the Beatles album. The chief mastering engineer at Abbey Road was Chris Vinyl Blair, in 1979, EMI commissioned the British jazz fusion band Morrissey-Mullen to record Britains first digitally recorded single record at Abbey Road Studios. From July 18 to September 11,1983, the public had an opportunity to see inside the legendary Studio Two where The Beatles made most of their records. While a new mixing console was being installed in the control room, the soundtrack to the video had a number of recordings that were not made commercially available until the release of The Beatles Anthology project over a decade later. The Red Hot Chili Peppers used a photograph of the walking across the zebra crossing naked on the front of The Abbey Road E. P. which was released in 1988
