The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with vocalist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member; the Cure first began releasing music in the late 1970s with their debut album Three Imaginary Boys. During the early 1980s, the band's dark and tormented music was a staple of the emerging style of music known as gothic rock. Following the release of the album Pornography in 1982, the band's future was uncertain. Smith was keen to move past the gloomy reputation his band had acquired, introducing a greater pop sensibility into the band's music. Songs such as "Let's Go to Bed", "Just Like Heaven", "Lovesong", "Friday I'm in Love" aided the band in receiving commercial popularity; the band are estimated to have sold 27 million records as of 2004 and have released 13 studio albums, two EPs and over 30 singles to date. As of March 2019, the band are in the process of recording their fourteenth studio album which they hope to have released by the end of the year.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. The founder members of the Cure were school friends at Notre Dame Middle School in Crawley, West Sussex, whose first public performance was at an end-of-year show in April 1973 as members of a one-off school band called Obelisk; that band consisted of Robert Smith on piano, Michael "Mick" Dempsey on guitar, Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst on percussion, Marc Ceccagno on lead guitar and Alan Hill on bass guitar. In January 1976 while at St Wilfrid's Comprehensive School Ceccagno formed a 5-piece rock band with Smith on guitar and Dempsey on bass, along with two other school friends, they called themselves Malice and rehearsed David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix and Alex Harvey songs in a local church hall. By late April 1976, Ceccagno and the other two school friends had left, Tolhurst, Martin Creasy, Porl Thompson had joined the band; this lineup played all three of Malice's only documented live shows during December 1976. In January 1977, following Martin Creasy's departure, influenced by the emergence of punk rock, Malice's remaining members became known as Easy Cure after a song written by drummer Laurence Tolhurst.
During March 1977 Easy Cure hired and fired a vocalist known only as Gary X, who by April had been replaced by Peter O'Toole. This lineup gave their first live performance on 24 April at Saint Edward's Hall, Sussex, England. On 5 May Easy Cure made the first of many regular live appearances at the Crawley pub known as The Rocket. Within the same month, the band recorded a demo in Robert's parents' house and won a talent contest, signed a recording contract with German record label Ariola-Hansa on 18 May. In September Peter O’Toole left the group to live on a kibbutz in Israel. Both Malice and Easy Cure auditioned several vocalists before Robert Smith assumed the role of Easy Cure's frontman in September 1977; the new fourpiece of Robert, Porl and Laurence recorded their first studio demo sessions as Easy Cure for Hansa at SAV Studios in London between October and November 1977. That year, Easy Cure won a talent competition with German label Hansa Records, received a recording contract. Although the band recorded tracks for the company, none were released.
They continued to perform around Crawley throughout 1977 and 1978. On 19 February 1978 they were joined at The Rocket for the first time by a support band from Horley called Lockjaw, featuring bassist Simon Gallup. Hansa was dissatisfied with the group's demos and did not wish to release "Killing an Arab"; the label suggested. They refused, by March 1978 Easy Cure's contract with the label had been dissolved. Smith recalled, "We were young, they just thought. They wanted us to do cover versions and we always refused."On 22 April 1978, Easy Cure played their last gig at the Montefiore Institute Hall before guitarist Porl Thompson was dropped from the lineup because his lead guitar style was at odds with Smith's growing preference for minimalist songwriting. That month, the band recorded their first sessions as a trio at Chestnut Studios in Sussex, which were distributed as a demo tape to a dozen major record labels; the demo found its way to Polydor Records scout Chris Parry, who signed the Cure to his newly formed Fiction label—distributed by Polydor—in September 1978.
The Cure released their debut single "Killing an Arab" in December 1978 on the Small Wonder label as a stopgap until Fiction finalised distribution arrangements with Polydor. "Killing an Arab" garnered both acclaim and controversy: while the single's provocative title led to accusations of racism, the song is based on French existentialist Albert Camus's novel The Stranger. The band placed a sticker label that denied the racist connotations on the single's 1979 reissue on Fiction. An early NME article on the band wrote that the Cure "are like a breath of fresh suburban air on the capital's smog-ridden pub-and-club circuit", noted, "With a John Peel session and more extensive London gigging on their immediate agenda, it remains to be seen whether the Cure can retain their refreshing joie de vivre." The Cure released their debut album Three Imaginary Boys in May 197
Mink DeVille
Mink DeVille was a rock band known for its association with early punk rock bands at New York's CBGB nightclub and for being a showcase for the music of Willy DeVille. The band recorded six albums in the years 1977 to 1985. Except for frontman Willy DeVille, the original members of the band played only on the first two albums. For the remaining albums and for tours, Willy DeVille assembled musicians to play under the name Mink DeVille. After 1985, when Willy DeVille began recording and touring under his own name, his backup bands were sometimes called "The Mink DeVille Band," an allusion to the earlier Mink DeVille. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame songwriter Doc Pomus said about the band, "Mink DeVille knows the truth of a city street and the courage in a ghetto love song, and the harsh reality in his voice and phrasing is yesterday and tomorrow — timeless in the same way that loneliness, no money, troubles find each other and never quit for a minute." Mink DeVille was formed in 1974 when singer Willy DeVille met drummer Thomas R. "Manfred" Allen, Jr. and bassist Rubén Sigüenza in San Francisco.
Said DeVille, "I met Manfred at a party. I met Rubén at a basement jam in San Francisco, he liked everything I liked from The Drifters to, uh, Fritz Lang." Willy DeVille sat in with the band Lazy Ace, which included Allen Jr. on drums and Ritch Colbert on piano. When Lazy Ace broke up, DeVille, Allen Jr. Colbert, Rubén Sigüenza, guitarist Robert McKenzie formed a band called Billy de Sade and the Marquis. "We were playing the leather bars down on Folsom Street," Willy DeVille recalled. "We were the Marquis then. We played the Barracks. After a while they would take their clothes off; this one guy—Jesus Satin he called himself—he'd dance on the pool table. It was nuts! Crazy!" In 1975, the band changed its name to Mink DeVille. Said DeVille, "We were sitting around talking of names, some of them were rude, I was saying, guys we can't do that. One of the guys said how about Mink DeVille? There can't be anything cooler than a fur-lined Cadillac can there?" DeVille remarked about the name, "What could be more pimp than a mink Cadillac?
In an impressionistic sort of way." Another story about the Mink DeVille name says that it originated with Fast Floyd, who owned an old Cadillac with a cracked dashboard. To cover the cracks, Fast Floyd glued an old mink coat he had purchased at a thrift store to the dashboard. According to a 1977 article in Creem, DeVille's wife Toots Deville suggested the name: "...the band looked like it might have been going nowhere, in reverse. So maybe another name change would help—God knows the music was great. Mink Pie... hmmmm.'No, it's gotta be something slick—something sorta French, somethin' sorta black... poetry. Mink... MINK DE VILLE!' Blurted out Toots, Willie's omnipresent, black-bouffanted old lady, whose quiet intensity is not unlike his own." This issue of Creem shows a picture of DeVille driving a car with what looks to be mink on the dashboard. Looking at music magazines in City Lights Bookstore, DeVille noticed a small ad in The Village Voice inviting bands to audition in New York City. "I convinced the guys that I could get them work, we climbed in the van and drove back the other way."
Guitarist Fast Floyd and keyboard player Ritch Colbert arrived in New York City several months later. Fast Floyd was replaced by Louis X. Erlanger, who had played with John Lee Hooker and brought a deeper blues sensibility to the band. From 1975 to 1977, Mink DeVille was one of the original house bands at CBGB, the New York City nightclub where punk rock music was born in the mid 1970s. "We auditioned along with hundreds of others. We played for three years... uring that time we didn't get paid more than fifty bucks a night", DeVille said. In 1975, CBGB was the epicenter of punk rock and what would be called new wave, but Mink DeVille didn't fit in the scene. "Onstage, Willy's band, Mink DeVille, had nothing in common with the new wave CBGB bands that the press had lumped them with," wrote Alex Halberstadt. "Unlike Television, The Ramones, or Blondie, at heart Mink DeVille was an R&B band, Willy an old-fashioned soul singer..." Wrote Mark Keresman, "Mink DeVille's earthy, streamlined sound, rejecting the mainstream high-gloss that ruined much of 1970s rock, was accepted by the same folks who'd go to see Blondie, The Shirts, Television."
Wrote Daily Telegraph critic Neil McCormick: DeVille and his band reached deep into blues and soul, the classic romantic pop of Ben E. King and The Drifters, with a side order of Spanish spices and New Orleans Zydeco swing, they favoured castanets over tom-toms, accordion over distorted guitars, Willy delivered his vocals with a sweet, tuneful flexibility that brought out the emotional resonance beneath his nasal sneer. What the wiry, dapper DeVille had that tied him to fellow CBGB resident bands like The Ramones, Television and Talking Heads was an edge, he was drawing on some of the same musical areas that Bruce Springsteen's epic rock dipped into, but Willy was an different creature, a macho dandy in a pompadour and pencil mustache, with the dangerous air of a New York gangfighter and an underbelly vulnerability that came out through the romanticism of his music. Springsteen sounded. DeVille sounded like he cou
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United Kingdom. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock, acid rock, the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, massive sound, characterized by amplified distortion, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, overall loudness; the genre's lyrics and performance styles are sometimes associated with machismo. In 1968, three of the genre's most famous pioneers, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple were founded. Though they came to attract wide audiences, they were derided by critics. During the mid-1970s, Judas Priest helped spur the genre's evolution by discarding much of its blues influence. Beginning in the late 1970s, bands in the new wave of British heavy metal such as Iron Maiden and Def Leppard followed in a similar vein. Before the end of the decade, heavy metal fans became known as "metalheads" or "headbangers". During the 1980s, glam metal became popular with groups such as Mötley Crüe.
Underground scenes produced an array of more aggressive styles: thrash metal broke into the mainstream with bands such as Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax, while other extreme subgenres of heavy metal such as death metal and black metal remain subcultural phenomena. Since the mid-1990s popular styles have further expanded the definition of the genre; these include groove metal and nu metal, the latter of which incorporates elements of grunge and hip hop. Heavy metal is traditionally characterized by loud distorted guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass-and-drum sound, vigorous vocals. Heavy metal subgenres variously alter, or omit one or more of these attributes; the New York Times critic Jon Pareles writes, "In the taxonomy of popular music, heavy metal is a major subspecies of hard-rock—the breed with less syncopation, less blues, more showmanship and more brute force." The typical band lineup includes a drummer, a bassist, a rhythm guitarist, a lead guitarist, a singer, who may or may not be an instrumentalist.
Keyboard instruments are sometimes used to enhance the fullness of the sound. Deep Purple's Jon Lord played an overdriven Hammond organ. In 1970, John Paul Jones used a Moog synthesizer on Led Zeppelin III; the electric guitar and the sonic power that it projects through amplification has been the key element in heavy metal. The heavy metal guitar sound comes from a combined use of heavy distortion. For classic heavy metal guitar tone, guitarists maintain moderate levels gain at moderate levels, without excessive preamp or pedal distortion, to retain open spaces and air in the music. Thrash metal guitar tone has scooped mid-frequencies and compressed sound with lots of bass frequencies. Guitar solos are "an essential element of the heavy metal code... that underscores the significance of the guitar" to the genre. Most heavy metal songs "feature at least one guitar solo", "a primary means through which the heavy metal performer expresses virtuosity"; some exceptions are nu grindcore bands, which tend to omit guitar solos.
With rhythm guitar parts, the "heavy crunch sound in heavy metal... palm muting" the strings with the picking hand and using distortion. Palm muting creates a tighter, more precise sound and it emphasizes the low end; the lead role of the guitar in heavy metal collides with the traditional "frontman" or bandleader role of the vocalist, creating a musical tension as the two "contend for dominance" in a spirit of "affectionate rivalry". Heavy metal "demands the subordination of the voice" to the overall sound of the band. Reflecting metal's roots in the 1960s counterculture, an "explicit display of emotion" is required from the vocals as a sign of authenticity. Critic Simon Frith claims; the prominent role of the bass is key to the metal sound, the interplay of bass and guitar is a central element. The bass guitar provides the low-end sound crucial to making the music "heavy"; the bass plays a "more important role in heavy metal than in any other genre of rock". Metal basslines vary in complexity, from holding down a low pedal point as a foundation to doubling complex riffs and licks along with the lead or rhythm guitars.
Some bands feature the bass as a lead instrument, an approach popularized by Metallica's Cliff Burton with his heavy emphasis on bass guitar solos and use of chords while playing bass in the early 1980s. Lemmy of Motörhead played overdriven power chords in his bass lines; the essence of heavy metal drumming is creating a loud, constant beat for the band using the "trifecta of speed and precision". Heavy metal drumming "requires an exceptional amount of endurance", drummers have to develop "considerable speed and dexterity... to play the intricate patterns" used in heavy metal. A characteristic metal drumming technique is the cymbal choke, which consists of striking a cymbal and immediately silencing it by grabbing it with the other hand, producing a burst of sound; the metal drum setup is much larger than those employed in other forms of rock music. Black metal, death metal and some "mainstream metal" bands "all depend upon double-kicks and blast beats". In live performance, loudness—an "onslaught of sound", in sociologist Deena Weinstein's description—is considered vital.
In his book Metalheads, psychologist Jeffrey Arnett refers to heavy me
Joe Cocker
John Robert Cocker, known as Joe Cocker, was an English singer. He was known for his gritty voice, spasmodic body movement in performance, distinctive versions of popular songs of varying genres. Cocker's recording of the Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends" reached number one in the UK in 1968, he performed the song live at Woodstock in 1969 and performed the same year at the Isle of Wight Festival, at the Party at the Palace concert in 2002 for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. His version became the theme song for the TV series The Wonder Years, his 1974 cover of "You Are So Beautiful" reached number five in the US. Cocker was the recipient of several awards, including a 1983 Grammy Award for his US number one "Up Where We Belong", a duet with Jennifer Warnes. In 1993, Cocker was nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Male, in 2007 was awarded a bronze Sheffield Legends plaque in his hometown and in 2008 he received an OBE at Buckingham Palace for services to music.
Cocker was ranked number 97 on Rolling Stone's 100 greatest singers list. Cocker was born on 20 May 1944 at 38 Tasker Road, Sheffield, he was the youngest son of a civil servant, Harold Cocker, Madge Cocker, née Lee. According to differing family stories, Cocker received his nickname of Joe either from playing a childhood game called "Cowboy Joe", or from a local window cleaner named Joe. Cocker's main musical influences growing up were Lonnie Donegan. Cocker's first experience singing in public was at age 12 when his elder brother Victor invited him on stage to sing during a gig of his skiffle group. In 1960, along with three friends, Cocker formed the Cavaliers. For the group's first performance at a youth club, they were required to pay the price of admission before entering; the Cavaliers broke up after a year and Cocker left school to become an apprentice gasfitter working for the East Midlands Gas Board British Gas, while pursuing a career in music. Cocker was not related to fellow Sheffield-born musician Jarvis Cocker, despite a rumour to this effect.
In 1961, under the stage name Vance Arnold, Cocker continued his career with a new group, Vance Arnold and the Avengers. The name was a combination of Vince Everett, Elvis Presley's character in Jailhouse Rock, country singer Eddy Arnold; the group played in the pubs of Sheffield, performing covers of Chuck Berry and Ray Charles songs. Cocker developed an interest in blues music and sought out recordings by John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins and Howlin' Wolf. In 1963, they booked their first significant gig when they supported the Rolling Stones at Sheffield City Hall. In 1964, Cocker signed a recording contract as a solo act with Decca and released his first single, a cover of the Beatles' "I'll Cry Instead". Despite extensive promotion from Decca lauding his youth and working-class roots, the record was a flop and his recording contract with Decca lapsed at the end of 1964. After Cocker recorded the single, he dropped his stage name and formed a new group, Joe Cocker's Blues Band.
There is only one known recording of Joe Cocker's Blues Band on an EP given out by The Sheffield College during Rag Week and called Rag Goes Mad at the Mojo. In 1966, after a year-long hiatus from music, Cocker teamed up with Chris Stainton, whom he had met several years before, to form the Grease Band; the Grease Band was named after Cocker read an interview with jazz keyboardist Jimmy Smith, where Smith positively described another musician as "having a lot of grease." Like the Avengers, Cocker's group played in pubs in and around Sheffield. The Grease Band came to the attention of Denny Cordell, the producer of Procol Harum, the Moody Blues and Georgie Fame. Cocker recorded the single "Marjorine" without the Grease Band for Cordell in a London studio, he moved to London with Chris Stainton, the Grease Band was dissolved. Cordell set Cocker up with a residency at the Marquee Club in London, a "new" Grease Band was formed with Stainton and keyboardist Tommy Eyre. After minor success in the United States with the single "Marjorine", Cocker found commercial success with a rearrangement of "With a Little Help from My Friends," another Beatles cover, many years was used as the opening theme for The Wonder Years.
The recording features lead guitar from Jimmy Page, drumming by B. J. Wilson, backing vocals from Sue and Sunny, Tommy Eyre on organ; the single made the Top Ten on the UK Singles Chart, remaining there for thirteen weeks and reaching number one, on 9 November 1968. It reached number 68 on the US charts. Upon hearing about Cocker's death in 2014, Paul McCartney said the following about Cocker's version of the Beatles 1967 song: He was a lovely northern lad who I loved a lot and, like many people, I loved his singing. I was pleased when he decided to cover "With a Little Help from My Friends" and I remember him and Denny Cordell coming round to the studio in Savile Row and playing me what they'd recorded and it was just mind-blowing turned the song into a soul anthem and I was forever grateful to him for doing that; the new touring line-up of Cocker's Grease Band featured Henry McCullough on lead guitar, who would go on to play with McCartney's Wings. After touring the UK with the Who in autumn 1968 and Gene Pitney and Marmalade in early winter 1969, the Grease Band embarked on their first tour of the United States in spring 1969.
Cocker's album With a Little Help from My Fri
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin formed in 1976. The group consists of Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr.. Rooted in post-punk, U2's musical style has evolved throughout their career, yet has maintained an anthemic quality built on Bono's expressive vocals and the Edge's effects-based guitar textures, their lyrics embellished with spiritual imagery, focus on personal and sociopolitical themes. Popular for their live performances, the group have staged several ambitious and elaborate tours over their career; the band formed as teenagers while attending Mount Temple Comprehensive School, when they had limited musical proficiency. Within four years, they released their debut album, Boy. Subsequent work such as their first UK number-one album and the singles "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Pride" helped establish U2's reputation as a politically and conscious group. By the mid-1980s, they had become renowned globally for their live act, highlighted by their performance at Live Aid in 1985.
The group's fifth album, The Joshua Tree, made them international superstars and was their greatest critical and commercial success. Topping music charts around the world, it produced their only number-one singles in the US to date: "With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". Facing creative stagnation and a backlash following their documentary/double album and Hum, U2 reinvented themselves in the 1990s through a new musical direction and public image. Beginning with their acclaimed seventh album, Achtung Baby, the multimedia-intensive Zoo TV Tour, the band integrated influences from alternative rock, electronic dance music, industrial music into their sound, embraced a more ironic, flippant image; this experimentation continued through their ninth album and the PopMart Tour, which were mixed successes. U2 regained critical and commercial favour with the records All That You Can't Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, which established a more conventional, mainstream sound for the group.
Their U2 360° Tour of 2009–2011 is the highest-attended and highest-grossing concert tour in history. The group most released the companion albums Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, the former of which received criticism for its pervasive, no-cost release through the iTunes Store. U2 have released 14 studio albums and are one of the world's best-selling music artists in history, having sold an estimated 150–170 million records worldwide, they have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band, in 2005, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone ranked U2 at number 22 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Throughout their career, as a band and as individuals, they have campaigned for human rights and social justice causes, including Amnesty International, Jubilee 2000, the ONE/DATA campaigns, Product Red, War Child, Music Rising. In 1976, Larry Mullen Jr. a 14-year-old student at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin, posted a note on the school's notice board in search of musicians for a new band.
Six people met at Mullen's house on 25 September. Set up in the kitchen, Mullen was on drums, with: Paul Hewson on lead vocals. Mullen described it as "'The Larry Mullen Band' for about ten minutes Bono walked in and blew any chance I had of being in charge." Martin, who had brought his guitar and amplifier to the first practice but could not play, did not remain with the group, McCormick was dropped after a few weeks. The remaining five members settled on the name "Feedback" for the group because it was one of the few technical terms they knew. Most of their initial material consisted of cover songs, which they admitted was not their forte; some of the earliest influences on the band were emerging punk rock acts, such as the Jam, the Clash and Sex Pistols. The popularity of punk rock convinced the group that musical proficiency was not a prerequisite to success. In April 1977, Feedback played their first gig for a paying audience at St. Fintan's High School. Shortly thereafter, the band changed their name to "The Hype".
Dik Evans, older and by this time at college, was becoming the odd man out. The rest of the band was leaning towards the idea of a four-piece ensemble. In March 1978, the group changed their name to "U2". Steve Averill, a punk rock musician and family friend of Clayton's, had suggested six potential names from which the band chose "U2" for its ambiguity and open-ended interpretations, because it was the name that they disliked the least; that same month, U2, as a four-piece, won a talent contest in Limerick sponsored by Harp Lager and the Evening Press. The prize consisted of £500 and studio time to record a demo which would be heard by CBS Ireland, a record label; the win was an important affirmation for the fledgling band. Within a few days, Dik Evans was phased out of the band with a farewell concert at the Presbyterian Church Hall in Howth. During the show, which featured the group playing cover songs as the Hype, Dik ceremonially walked offstage; the remaining four band members returned in the concert to play original material as U2.
Dik soon joined the Virgin Prunes, which comprised mutual friends of U2's.
Ernst-Happel-Stadion
The Ernst Happel Stadion in Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district of Austria's capital Vienna, is the largest stadium in Austria. It was built between 1929 and 1931 for the second Workers' Olympiad to the design of German architect Otto Ernst Schweizer; the stadium was renamed in honour of Ernst Happel following his death in 1992. The stadium hosted seven games in UEFA Euro 2008, including the final which saw Spain triumph over Germany; the stadium is owned by the City of Vienna. It is managed by the Wiener Stadthalle Betriebs und Veranstaltungsgesellschaft m.b. H. A subsidiary of Wien Holding; the foundation stone was laid in November 1928 in honor of the 10-year celebration of the Republic of Austria. The stadium was constructed in 23 months, from 1929 to 1931, it was built according to a design by the Tübingen architect Otto Ernst Schweizer and the second Workers' Olympiad. Schweizer designed the adjacent Stadionbad. According to its location in Vienna's Prater, it was named Prater Stadium, it was a modern stadium at the time in Europe, because of its short discharge time of only 7 to 8 minutes.
The stadium had a capacity of 60,000 people. During the National Socialist Era following Anschluss, the stadium was used as a military barracks and staging area and as a temporary prison for the deportation of Jewish citizens. Between September 11 and 13, 1939, after the attack on Poland, over a thousand Polish-born Viennese Jews were detained on the orders Reinhard Heydrich, they were imprisoned beneath the grandstands in the corridors of Section B. On September 30, 1,038 prisoners were deported to the Buchenwald concentration camp; the next day, the stadium was back to being used for a football match. 44 men were released in early 1940, 26 were freed in 1945, the rest were murdered in the camps. In 1988, one of the surviving victims, Fritz Klein, was awarded a compensation by the Austrian government equivalent to 62,50 euros for being detained in the stadium. In 2003 a memorial plaque, commemorating these events, was unveiled in the VIP area by a private initiative. In 1944, the stadium was damaged during a bomb attack on the Wehrmarcht Staff offices.
After the war and the reconstruction of the stadium, it was again sporting its original use. In 1956, the stadium's capacity was expanded to 92,708 people by Theodor Schull, but in 1965 the capacity was reduced; the attendance record was 91,000 spectators set on October 30, 1960 at the football match between Spain and Austria. In the mid-1980s, the stands were covered and equipped with seats. At its reopening a friendly match against archrivals Germany was organised. Austria won the match 4-1. After the death of former Austrian top player and coach Ernst Happel, the Prater Stadium was renamed after him in 1992. In 1964, 1987, 1990, 1995, the Ernst Happel Stadium was the venue of the European Cup/UEFA Champions League final. In 1970, the stadium was the venue of the 1970 European Cup Winners' Cup Final which saw Manchester City F. C. beat Górnik Zabrze by 2 goals to 1 in an entertaining match. Neil Young and a Francis Lee penalty sealed the win for City; this final was played under torrential rain in what was an uncovered stadium.
This along with the fact no Polish supporters were allowed to travel to the match restricted the attendance, variously reported at between 7,900 to 15,000 spectators. So, City's travelling support numbered over 4,000, a record for an english club playing on continental europe. During the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament, the Ernst Happel Stadium was the venue for the Final match; the three group matches of the Austrian National Team, two quarter finals and a semifinal match took place in the stadium. In preparation for the tournament, the first and second place additional rows of seats increased the stadium's capacity to 53,000 seats. Leading up to the tournament, it was fitted with a heated pitch in the summer of 2005. In May 2008, a connection to the Vienna U-Bahn was established, easing access from all over the city; the cost of the rebuilding was €39,600,000. The following games were played at the stadium during the UEFA Euro 2008: The Ernst Happel Stadium is the largest football stadium in Austria.
It is the home of the Austrian national football team. Club football matches are limited to the domestic cup final and international competitions featuring one of Vienna's top clubs, FK Austria Wien and SK Rapid Wien, as their regular stadiums are too small to host UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup matches. Vienna derby matches between FK Austria and SK Rapid have been played in the stadium; the stadium is rated one of UEFA's Five Star Stadiums permitting it to host the UEFA Champions League final. The seating capacity was temporarily expanded to 53,008 for the UEFA Euro 2008 championship, with the final played in the stadium; the stadium hosted 3 group games, 2 quarter-final matches, a semi-final and final. The attendance record of 92,706 for the match against the Soviet Union was in 1960; the capacity has since been reduced. UEFA Euro 2008 Final: Spain 1–0 Germany 1995 UEFA Champions League Final: Ajax Amsterdam 1–0 Milan 1994 UEFA Cup Final: Internazionale 1–0 Austria Salzburg 1990 European Cup Final: Milan 1–0 Benfica 1987 European Cup Final: Porto 2–1 Bayern Munich 1970 European Cup Winners' Cup Final: Manchester City 2–1 Górnik Zabrze 1964 European Cup Final: Internazionale 3–1 Real Madrid Other sporting events are held in the stadium, including athletics and tennis.
In 1950, 35,000 watched Austrian Josef Weidinger win the European Heavyweight crown against Stefan Olek (
Nürburg
Nürburg is a town in the German district of Ahrweiler, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is the name of the local castle, Nürburg Castle, built in the High Middle Ages; the name is derived from the Latin word "niger" which means'black', burg which means "castle". The castle is made of basalt which has black color; the 24 kilometer race track, the Nürburgring, is nearby. The Nürburg rises above the village of the same name on the second-highest hill in the Eifel; the castle and hill are regarded as a characteristic feature of the Eifel. Though it is one of the most significant castles in the Eifel, it still needs to be researched in full. There are no written sources relating to the history of the castle's construction in the Middle Ages; the hill is referred to in documentary evidence in AD 954 by the name mone nore, which means black hill. In descriptions of boundaries which served to clarify which property belonged to whom, it was used as a significant reference marker; the name Nürburg is thought to derive from mons nore, as the color of the volcanic basalt used to build the castle exhibits an unusually dark color.
The Nürburg is considered to be the "highest castle in Rhineland-Pfalz", on a clear day, the spires of the Cologne Cathedral may be seen. The history of when the Nürburg was established has not been definitively clarified. There is no evidence to suggest that it was built instead of a Roman fort, the held view in the local area. Discoveries of Roman coins do not constitute sufficient evidence. Owing to a similarity between names, one legend traces the Nürburg back to a fort established by Emperor Nero. Among other things, archaeological barrows attest to the fact that the area surrounding the castle was populated in early historical times. However, there are no indications that the castle hill was once home to a refuge or prehistoric walled fortification, as is thought. While local historians held the view that the castle had been erected by Theoderich I, Count of Are, as a refuge for the ruling court of Adenau, nowadays his son Ulrich von Are, the self-proclaimed Count of Nürburg, is considered to be the person responsible for commissioning the building of the castle though there is no source material to back this theory.
Castle Are is situated above Altenahr, was built by a group of counts the Ahrgau counts. The group was named itself after it; the Nürburg is situated 20 km south of Castle Are, where the Counts of Are belonged to a family circle whose members can be traced back to the 9th century. In the 10th century, they are alleged to have held rights in what would subsequently become the village of Nürburg; the counts were able to build up an independent power base within the High Eifel and at the upper Ahr and this power base was centered between Adenau, Nürburg, Altenahr. The counts were divided up between several ancestral lines: the Are-Hochstaden line held the property in the village of Nürburg. Around 1220/30, a different ancestral line built Neuenahr Castle. With the death of Count Lothar in around 1246, the Counts of Are-Hochstaden died out, their estate was inherited by the Archbishop of Cologne. Count Ulrich von Nürburg first appears in documents linking him to the Nürburg in 1169, he is considered to be the person responsible for commissioning the building of the castle.
There is a document originating from 1166 in which Are and Nürburg Castles are mentioned within the context of rights which the Archbishop of Cologne granted to Count Ulrich and his family. At that time, the castle was an open house of the Archbishop of Cologne: the opening right affording him access to the castle and the option to use it if he needed to. In those days, the counts of Are-Nürburg were supporters of the Staufian imperial family. Historians suspected that the officials who were pledged the use of the castle from the 14–16th century were more concerned with exploiting the castle than with preserving it; this was reflected in the large amount of damage that Augustin von Braunsberg noted when he financed its repair in 1534. According to his report, Augustin had the gate to the valley re-erected and had a stable built in the courtyard. A storm had torn off the roof of the main tower and damaged the vaults within. In order to prevent its total collapse, the tower was reconstructed in 1535.
Augustin financed the construction of a brewery, meat house, bakery within the walls. In 1587, the castle was plundered by Dutch soldiers. There are reports from the early 17th century outlining the damage to, decline of the castle. An occupation in 1605 by southern European soldiers caused significant damage; the soldiers removed the lead bracing in the main tower leaving it in a perilous state of near collapse. In 1607, funds were raised by the local archiepiscopal commission, restoration work carried out in 1612, where 77 windows were installed to make the castle more livable. However, that same year, a severe storm tore the chimneys and roofs off some of the buildings leaving the castle in a nearly ruined state. In 1633, during Thirty Years' War, the castle was occupied by Swedish troops as a defensible position, by 1656, the castle fell into a state of near uninhabitability. Despite the crumbling walls, the castle was still seen an important military site due to its high position and relative ease of defense.
In 1752, the main tower of Castle Nürburg was used as a prison until the dungeons fell into a state of total ruin. From this point, the castle was abandoned and left to decay, as farmers in the area continued to remove stones from the site for use as local building mater
