1.
An American Family
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After being edited down from about 300 hours of raw footage, the series ran one season of 12 episodes on Thursday nights at 9,00 p. m. The groundbreaking documentary is considered the first reality series on American television, a year after this program was broadcast, the BBC in 1974 filmed its own similar 12-episode program, called The Family, focusing on the working-class Wilkins family, of Reading, Berkshire, England. The Louds, in claiming that the material had been edited to emphasize the negative, some critics argued that the camera’s presence encouraged the subjects to perform. Some even said it invalidated the project and that line of reasoning, as Mr. Gilbert has pointed out, would invalidate all documentaries. It also discounts the role of performance in life. The show included footage, including of intimate family interactions, including an on-camera separation demand from wife Pat to her husband, in 2002, An American Family was listed at #32 on TV Guides 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time list. It is the earliest example of the reality television genre and he is credited as the first continuing character on television who was openly gay and subsequently became an icon within the LGBT community. One of the notable moments of the series was when, after 21 years of marriage, Pat asked Bill for a divorce. Pats saying to her husband You know theres a problem – with Bills response, – was chosen as one of the Top 100 Television Moments by TV Guide. The series drew over 10 million viewers and considerable controversy, the family was featured in Newsweek on March 12,1973, in the article The Broken Family. In 1974, the BBC made its own program, called The Family. The program consisted of 12 half-hour episodes, showing the lives and concerns of the working-class Wilkins family, of Reading, Berkshire. In 1979, Albert Brooks spoofed the series in his film Real Life, in 1983, HBO broadcast An American Family Revisited, The Louds 10 Years Later. The series inspired the MTV reality television series The Real World, in 2003, PBS broadcast the show Lance Loud. A Death in an American Family, shot in 2001, visiting the family again at the invitation of Lance before his death, the same family members participated in the documentary, with the exception of Grant. Lance was 50 years old, had gone through 20 years of addiction to crystal meth and he died of liver failure caused by a hepatitis C and HIV co-infection that year. The show was billed by PBS as the episode of An American Family. Subsequent to the showing of A Death in an American Family, Pat and Bill Loud moved back in together and they live very close to three of their four surviving children—Grant, Michelle and Delilah—and keep in close contact with Kevin and his family, who live in Arizona
2.
Power pop
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Power pop is a pop rock music subgenre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of devices such as strong melodies, clear vocals and crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements. Instrumental solos are usually kept to a minimum, and blues elements are largely downplayed, in the 1980s and 1990s, power pop continued as a commercially modest genre but by the mid-1990s through the 2000s, power pop was mainly in the underground. While its cultural impact has waxed and waned over the decades, Power pop is a more aggressive form of pop rock that is based on catchy, melodic hooks and energetic moods. The Small Faces are often cited as being among the progenitors of power pop, the Whos role in the creation of power pop has been cited by singer-songwriter Eric Carmen of the Raspberries, who has said, Pete Townshend coined the phrase to define what the Who did. For some reason, it didnt stick to the Who, but it did stick to these groups came out in the 70s that played kind of melodic songs with crunchy guitars. It just kind of stuck to us like glue, and that was okay with us because the Who were among our highest role models, other acts such as the Knickerbockers, the Easybeats and the Outsiders contributed iconic singles. Writer John Borack has noted, Its also quite easy to draw a line from garage rock to power pop. Although the formative influences on the genre were primarily British, the bands that developed and codified power pop in the 1970s were nearly all American. The Raspberries 1972 hit single Go All The Way is an almost perfect embodiment of the elements of power pop, the most influential group of the period may have been Big Star. The Replacements even recorded a song entitled Alex Chilton in honor of Big Stars frontman, spurred on by the emergence of punk rock and new wave, power pop enjoyed a prolific and commercially successful period in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Although coined in the 1960s, and used as early as 1973 in reference to Sweet, as the novelist Michael Chabon has written, Power pop in its essential form. Did not come into existence for a number of years after it was first identified, like so much of the greatest work turned out by popular artists of the 1970s, true power pop is quintessential second-generation stuff. The term was used in reference to critics favorites Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe. Los Angeles-based Bomp. magazine championed power pop in its March 1978 issue, tying the genres roots to 1960s groups like the Who, like their punk brethren, late–1970s power pop groups favored a leaner and punchier sound than their early–1970s predecessors. Some occasionally incorporated synthesizers into their music, though not to the degree as did their new wave counterparts. Representative singles from the period include releases from the Bomp, records label by 20/20, Shoes and the Romantics. Major label groups like Cheap Trick, the Cars and Blondie merged power pop influences with other styles and achieved their first mainstream success with albums released in 1978
3.
Game Theory (band)
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Game Theory is a power pop band founded in 1982 by singer/songwriter Scott Miller, combining melodic jangle pop with dense experimental production and hyperliterate lyrics. Millers posthumously completed Game Theory album, Supercalifragile, is expected in early 2017, Miller was the groups leader and sole constant member, presiding over frequently changing line-ups. Prior to founding Game Theory, Scott Miller had been the singer and songwriter of Alternate Learning, which issued an EP in 1979. Alternate Learning was based in Sacramento and Davis, California, Two members of the band, Jozef Becker and Nancy Becker, would join Miller in Game Theory. Alternate Learning was disbanded in early 1982, someone who was thinking against you, and you had to organize what his moves could be, and what your moves should be, to give yourself the minimum amount of failure. In a 1988 interview, Miller stated, Its a theory of probability thats a mathematical discipline that more or less has been applied improperly to real-life situations and its just that idea of a set of rules that gets misused that intrigued me about it. Kind of a comment on life in general—that you just have to have some sort of set of rules. That theme, according to Miller, was what many Game Theory songs were about and it may just be that the whole game that youre into is something very bogus and you should get out. By mid-1982, Scott Miller had assembled the first iteration of Game Theory, the group consisted of Miller, Nancy Becker, Fred Juhos, and Michael Irwin. The first Game Theory album was the Blaze of Glory LP, due to a lack of funds to both press the album and print a jacket, a thousand copies of the LP were packaged in white plastic trash bags with Xeroxed cover art glued to each bag. With Dave Gill replacing Michael Irwin on drums, two 12-inch EPs followed, in 1983, the group released the six-song EP Pointed Accounts of People You Know, recorded at Samurai Sound Studio, which was co-owned by Gill. The group then recorded the five-song Distortion EP in December 1983, the first three releases, originally released on Rational, were anthologized by Alias Records in 1993 as the Distortion of Glory CD. The early Game Theory was described as a pseudo-psychedelic pop quartet for which Miller sang, on the first three releases, Miller shared co-writing credits on The Young Drug with Alternate Learnings Carolyn ORourke, and on Life in July with Nancy Becker. Juhoss contributions were criticized as failing to mesh with Millers, and Miller later mused and we all had the impression that no one was ever going to get into my stuff and that his one or two would be the ones to catapult us to fame. Reviewers of Distortion of Glory wrote that the band had improved with each successive EP, notable songs included The Red Baron, cited as heartbreaking. An anguished acoustic lost-love song leavened by keyboardist Nancy Beckers mocking fifty or more backing vocal, as well as Shark Pretty, in 1984, the Dead Center LP was released in France, on the Lolita label. Dead Center was a compilation of selected tracks from Pointed Accounts of People You Know and Distortion, Real Nighttime, recorded in July 1984, marked the entrance of Mitch Easter as producer for the bands remaining releases. Easter was also credited as a guest musician on Real Nighttime, along with Quercio, the album was well-reviewed, appearing in the Village Voices annual poll of 1984s best releases
4.
Alternate Learning
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Alternate Learning, which was Scott Millers first band to record on independent recording label Rational Records, was initially formed while its original members were in high school. Miller, Jozef Becker, and Scott Gallawa began performing at Rio Americano High School under the name Alternate Learning as early as 1977, the groups self-titled first release, a four-song 7 EP, was recorded by the three original members in Sacramento, in Millers home recording studio. The EP was independently released on Rational Records in 1979, the band and the Alternate Learning EP both became known by the abbreviation ALRN, which was prominently featured on the front cover of the debut release. Although the disc was labeled with the bands unabbreviated name, the release is most often known as the ALRN EP, the first EP is also sometimes referred to as the Green Card EP, based on the title of its first song. In 1978, Miller moved the band to Davis, California, in 1980, Lynn Ross, Scott Gallawa and Jozef Becker left the group, with Becker citing conflicts of personality. Gallawa and Becker formed the Les-Z-Boys with Guy Kyser, Becker and Kyser went on to become founding members of Thin White Rope. Becker, who was also a member of True West, rejoined Miller as a member of Game Theory from 1989 to 1990, in February 1981, drummer Eric Landers joined Alternate Learning, as did keyboard player Byl Miller. The 1981 lineup of Alternate Learning recorded a full-length LP called Painted Windows, after recording the album, and prior to its release, the Painted Windows line-up debuted in an appearance with Pylon in April 1981. They went on to perform a series of shows from April through October 1981, although the album was released in January 1982, the band did not perform again until late February 1982. All songs on Painted Windows were written and composed by Scott Miller, after the release of Painted Windows, the groups final show took place at the U. C. Davis Coffeehouse on Saturday, February 27,1982. Alternate Learning was officially disbanded by Miller in May 1982, within a few months, Miller had formed his new group, Game Theory. The new band included keyboard player and backing vocalist Nancy Becker, in 1981, Alternate Learning members collaborated with Steve Wynn to form a trio called 15 Minutes, which released one single on Wynns label, Down There Records. 15 Minutes consisted of Wynn on guitar and lead vocals, Caroline ORourke on bass and their single, Thats What You Always Say b/w Last Chance For You, was written and produced by Wynn, with Scott Miller engineering. The A-side, Thats What You Always Say, was recorded by The Dream Syndicate for their 1982 album The Days of Wine. Both songs by 15 Minutes appear as tracks on Rhino Records 2001 remastered CD reissue of The Days of Wine. On Game Theorys double album Lolita Nation, the track Pretty Green Card Shark includes the portion of Green Card. After Scott Millers death, a tribute concert was held in Sacramento on July 20,2013. The material on the version of Blaze of Glory was remastered from the original tapes
5.
Scott Miller (pop musician)
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In 2014, Omnivore Recordings began releasing a series of reissues of Millers entire Game Theory catalog, which had for decades been out of print. A biography of Miller by Brett Milano was published in October 2015, Scott Miller was born in Sacramento, California in 1960. He was of Scottish and Irish ancestry, and his mothers family had lived in the Sacramento area since at least the 1850s California Gold Rush. His father, Vaughn Miller, was an Army veteran of World War II who had a career working for the State of California. Miller was a child, whose musical interests began sometime as a six or seven year old, listening to the Monkees. However, his earliest musical influences were wider-ranging, springing from his fathers record collection – lots of Broadway show tunes. But the things I was really interested in were these New York folk scene records, and after that it was the Beatles all the way. They were gods walking the earth to me, at age nine, while taking folk and classical guitar lessons from Tiny Moore, Miller was writing little albums worth of derivative songs, and started his first band, innocently calling it The Monkees. He later noted, We were really little kids, and we didnt realize you had to have your own personality, I was Mike Nesmith, of course, naming the serious Monkee known as a songwriter. By 1971, Millers lessons switched to guitar, and he had pretty serious bands from seventh grade on. Miller began recording his music at age 15, when he got his first TEAC multitrack recording machine and he reminisced in 1993, Writing songs like the Beatles and trying to obtain real equipment – thats been my goal in life since I can remember. Another passion of Millers youth was art, until college, he noted, I was extremely serious about being a visual artist, and only so-serious about doing music. I was producing really bad music and really good art, Millers first band to release commercial recordings, Alternate Learning, released its self-titled 7 EP in 1979, and a full-length LP called Painted Windows in 1981, on Rational Records. Alternate Learning was formed in 1977 in Sacramento, moved in 1978 to Davis, California, Game Theory was formed by Miller in 1982 in Davis, California, and moved its base to the Bay Area in 1985. From 1982 to 1990, Game Theory released five albums and two EPs, not including compilations, the early Game Theory was described as a pseudo-psychedelic pop quartet for which Miller sang and wrote almost all of the material. The group, a college-rock favorite associated with the Paisley Underground scene of L. A. and Davis, the Davis-based first line-up of Game Theory featured Miller on lead guitar and vocals, with keyboard player Nancy Becker, bassist Fred Juhos, and drummer Michael Irwin. This line-up released the groups debut LP, Blaze of Glory, with new drummer Dave Gill, two EPs followed, Pointed Accounts of People You Know and Distortion. The groups second album, Real Nighttime, marked the entrance of producer Mitch Easter
6.
Dawn Richardson
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Dawn Richardson is an American rock drummer, teacher, and writer of instructional books on percussion. She is best known as drummer for the San Francisco-based band 4 Non Blondes in the 1990s, dawn Richardson was born in Pasadena, California. At the age of 13, after an idea to learn a new instrument intrigued her, she broke away from playing the trombone. Richardson began taking lessons from Jim Volpe, a drum teacher, Richardson earned her undergraduate degree in music, concentrating in percussion, at California State University, Los Angeles. She has studied with the principal percussionist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Richardson joined the band 4 Non Blondes in 1991, after the band had already achieved local popularity in the San Francisco area. At the time,4 Non Blondes had just been signed to Interscope Records, Richardson met the band through mutual friends and was asked to audition for them after the departure of their original drummer, Wanda Day. Richardson was hired directly after her audition, and relocated from Hollywood to San Francisco, the group’s 1992 debut album Bigger, Better, Faster, More. Received Gold and Platinum status in the USA, was the #1 album in 8 countries, went Gold in 16 countries, in 1993, the bands single What’s Up. A rock song written by lead singer Linda Perry, topped the charts, however, after touring North America and Europe, the group disbanded in 1994 while in the middle of recording their second album. On May 11,2014, Richardson and 4 Non Blondes reunited to perform at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, in a fundraiser to benefit the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center. In addition to 4 Non Blondes, Richardson has been a member of such as The Loud Family, The Martinis, Bad Radio, Dolorata. With Joe Gore, she formed the instrumental duo Mental 99 and she has performed, recorded, or toured with Tracy Chapman, Shana Morrison, Penelope Houston, Gus, Angel Corpus Christi, and The Paul & John. She is the author of six books, including most recently an instructional book with an accompanying video, currently, Richardson plays music and teaches drum lessons in San Francisco. Richardson has six book publications, all focused on teaching, mastering, and appreciating the art of drumming. and Edge, the online magazine Percussion Sessions, and for the Pacific Drums web site
7.
Alison Faith Levy
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In 1994, Levy released a solo EP, Grumbelina, followed by the 1995 single The Scientist. Scott Miller invited Levy in 1997 to become a member of the Loud Family, Levy played keyboards and piano and provided backup vocals on the Loud Familys 1998 album Days for Days. On the groups album Attractive Nuisance, Levy also wrote and performed vocals on the song The Apprentice. After Millers death in 2013, she joined Millers 1980s band Game Theory as lead vocalist for a performance at a memorial tribute in Sacramento. She had the most sheer musicianly keyboard chops of anyone I’ve played with, and her vocals are pretty distinctive. More toward the end of things than other female singers I’ve had in the band. So that line-up had more of a Todd Rundgren, Cat Stevens, Rod Argent, in 1998, shortly after the release of the Loud Familys Days for Days, Levy also issued her full-length solo debut, The Fog Show. She released a second solo CD, My World View, in 2000, in the late 1990s, Levy joined San Francisco psychedelic jazz collective Mushroom, and appears as keyboardist and vocalist on a number of their CDs. Levy also performed with British folk rock tribute supergroup The Minstrel In The Galleries, with Jad Fairs guitarist Chuck Marcus, Levy formed the experimental group Sonoptic, which released the album Chore Overload in 1999. In 2008, with rock musician Victor Krummenacher of Camper Van Beethoven, she formed the Americana rock band McCabe. She has also performed in the Bay Area with the Brian Cline Band, Levys first solo CD of childrens music, World of Wonder, produced by indie pop musician Allen Clapp of The Orange Peels, was released in 2012. She now performs with her band Big Time Tot Rock, which includes Clapp on guitar, drummer Andrew Griffin, ukulele player/backing vocalist Karla Kane, the Start of Things, her second solo childrens CD, contains upbeat music with subtle themes of self-expression, self-empowerment and self-acceptance. Levy is married to the independent filmmaker Danny Plotnick, and scored a number of his films. Levy appeared in Plotnicks 2003 rock documentary Loud Family Live 2000 and his 1999 short film Swingers Serenade, and she co-wrote and co-directed the short film I, Socky with him in 1998. As of 2015, Levy and childrens author Veronica Wolff were working with a theater company in San Francisco to adapt Levys CD World of Wonder into a full-length stage musical for families. Official website The Sippy Cups Alison Faith Levy at AllMusic McCabe & Mrs. Miller collection on the Internet Archives live music archive Alison Faith Levy at the Internet Movie Database
8.
Gil Ray
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Gil Ray was an American rock drummer, guitarist, and vocalist, best known for his recordings in the 1980s and 1990s as a member of the bands Game Theory and The Loud Family. In late 2012, he joined Rain Parade as drummer for a series of reunion performances, Gil Ray grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, and formed his first band as a child in 1966. By the mid-1970s, Ray began playing in several local Charlotte bands with a variety of styles that included glam rock, prog rock, jazz, disco, and punk/new wave. In 1979, he recorded a 12 single with a band called The Happy Eggs, followed by their 1981 four-song EP Wake Up, Ray moved to San Francisco in 1982, where he played in several bands including goth rockers Fade To Black. In 1985, Gil Ray joined the band Game Theory, led by Scott Miller, as drummer and backing vocalist for Game Theory, Ray recorded three studio albums produced by Mitch Easter. The 1986 album The Big Shot Chronicles was recorded in September 1985 in Winston-Salem, spins review of The Big Shot Chronicles called it a rare commodity. A pop record that can make you laugh and cry. In addition to Rays contributions to Game Theorys 1987 cult classic Lolita Nation as a performer, in a review of the double album, Spin cited Lolita Nation as some of the gutsiest, most distinctive rock n roll heard in 1987, with sumptuous melodic hooks. The CD version of Lolita Nation, long out of print, has become a collectors item. Spin called the album essential California rock n roll for the 80s – tense, bristling energy, ingenious hooks, but the albums have remained stuck in the cultist-critic-college DJ loop. Soon after the release of Two Steps and Game Theorys 1988 tour, keyboard player Shelley LaFreniere and bassist Guillaume Gassuan departed at that time as well, leaving Ray as the only band member to remain with Scott Miller. Jozef Becker replaced Ray as drummer, and Michael Quercio joined as bassist and backing vocalist. In late 1989, the line-up of Miller, Ray, Becker, the London-based tabloid Bucketfull of Brains wrote, One listen to this latest demo. and you cant help but wonder if pop music can get any better than this. Prior to Game Theorys 1989 mini-tour of the Northwestern United States, Ray was a victim of random violence in San Francisco. Ray ultimately left the group in 1990, and Miller subsequently regrouped with Becker to form The Loud Family in 1991, Game Theory briefly reunited in July 2013 for a tribute performance in Sacramento as a memorial to Scott Miller, in which Ray performed on guitar and vocals. In late May and early June 2016, Ray went into the studio with Nan Becker, Dave Gill, Rays drumming career resumed in 1998, when he teamed again with Scott Miller, joining as a member of Millers 1990s band, The Loud Family. Ray played on the Loud Familys last two albums, Days for Days and Attractive Nuisance. Live performances by Ray were included on the Loud Family album From Ritual to Romance, Ray was also featured in the concert documentary video Loud Family Live 2000, directed by Danny Plotnick, which was released on DVD in 2003
9.
Supercalifragile
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Supercalifragile is the sixth and final studio album by Game Theory, a California power pop band founded by guitarist and singer-songwriter Scott Miller. The album is set for release in early 2017, Scott Miller was the leader and principal songwriter of the 1980s band Game Theory and the 1990s band The Loud Family. He received significant critical acclaim for such as Game Theorys Real Nighttime and Lolita Nation, achieving cult status. Game Theorys catalog went out of print in the 1990s, resulting in decades of unavailability until a series of reissues by Omnivore Recordings began in 2014. With the exception of an album with Anton Barbeau, What If It Works. Miller took an hiatus from his recording career after disbanding the Loud Family in 2000. He stated later in 2006 that he had some unfinished songs for a solo album and he confirmed, in a 2011 interview, that he had continued to write music despite the absence of prospects for an album, and that ideas continue to come. Ill write it down and I put this piece of paper that Ive written it down on in a drawer, and I will sort of remember how these things would go together into songs if I ever did have an opportunity to do an album. So its just in that nascent state, in perpetuity, now, a preliminary decision to release the album under Scott Millers name, using the title I Love You All, was later reconsidered in favor of Millers original plans for a Game Theory project. On May 5,2016, it was announced that the project, now under Millers planned title Supercalifragile as Game Theorys sixth full-length studio album, would be released in early 2017. A Kickstarter campaign was created to fund the pressing and other involved with completing the album. Manns announcement was accompanied by a photo of sheet music bearing the title, in the summer of 2015, recording sessions that included Anton Barbeau, Jozef Becker, Stéphane Schück, and Stringfellow took place at Abbey Road Studios in London. Recording sessions with Game Theory members Nan Becker, Dave Gill, Gil Ray, additional members of Game Theory who are expected to appear include Michael Quercio and Donnette Thayer. Other friends and former collaborators whose involvement was announced include Jon Auer of the Posies, doug Gillard, Nina Gordon, Scott Kannberg, Ted Leo, and Will Sheff. Mitch Easter, Game Theorys former producer, will handle the final mixing of the album, songs recorded for the album include, No Love Time Warner All You Need Is White I Still Dream of Getting Back to Paris
10.
Davis, California
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Davis is a city in the U. S. state of California and the most populous city in Yolo County. It had a population of 65,622 in 2010, not including the population of the University of California, Davis. The city is a suburb of Californias capital, Sacramento, Davis grew into a Southern Pacific Railroad depot built in 1868. It was then known as Davisville, named after Jerome C, however, the post office at Davisville shortened the town name simply to Davis in 1907. The name stuck, and the city of Davis was incorporated on March 28,1917, from its inception as a farming community, Davis has been known for its contributions to agricultural policy along with veterinary care and animal husbandry. The farm, later renamed the Northern Branch of the College of Agriculture in 1922, was upgraded into the seventh UC general campus, the University of California, Davis, in 1959. Davis is located in Yolo County, California,11 mi west of Sacramento,70 mi northeast of San Francisco,385 mi north of Los Angeles, at the intersection of Interstate 80, neighboring towns include Dixon, Winters, and Woodland. Davis lies in the Sacramento Valley, the portion of the Central San Joaquin Valley, in Northern California. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 10.5 square miles. 10.4 square miles of it is land and 0.04 square miles of it is water, the topography is flat, which has helped Davis to become known as a haven for bicyclists. The Davis climate resembles that of nearby Sacramento and is typical of Californias Central Valley Mediterranean climate regime, dry, hot summers and cool, rainy and it is classified as a Köppen Csa climate. Average temperatures range from 46 °F in December and January to 75 °F in July, thick ground fog called tule fog settles into Davis during late fall and winter. This fog can be dense with visibility to nearly zero, as in other areas of northern California, the tule fog is a leading cause of road accidents in the winter season. Record temperatures range from a high of 116 °F on July 17,1925, Davis is internally divided by two freeways, a north–south railroad, an east-west mainline and several major streets. The city is divided into six main districts made up of smaller neighborhoods, Central Davis, north of Fifth Street and Russell Boulevard. East of SR113, and west of the tracks running along G Street. Within these boundaries is the officially denoted neighborhood of Old North Davis, Downtown Davis, roughly the numbered-and-lettered grid north of I-80, south of Fifth Street, east of A Street, and west of the railroad tracks, including the Aggie Village and Olive Drive areas. East Davis, north of I-80, south of Covell Blvd. North Davis, north of Covell Blvd
11.
University of California, Davis
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The University of California, Davis, is a public research university and one of the 10 campuses of the University of California system. It is located in Davis, California, just west of Sacramento, the university has been labeled one of the Public Ivies, a publicly funded university considered to provide a quality of education comparable to those of the Ivy League. The Carnegie Foundation classifies UC Davis as a doctoral research university with a medical program. The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine is the largest in the United States and has ranked first in the nation for two consecutive years,2015 and 2016. The UC Davis Aggies athletic teams compete in the NCAA Division I level, primarily in the Big West Conference as well as the Big Sky Conference, in its first year of full Division I status,11 UC Davis teams qualified for NCAA post-season competition. In 1905, the California legislature passed the University Farm Bill, the commission took a year to select a site for the campus, a tiny town then known as Davisville. UC Davis opened its doors as the University Farm to 40 degree students from UC Berkeley in January 1909, the Farm was established largely the result of the vision and perseverance of Peter J. Shields, secretary of the State Agricultural Society. The Peter J. Shields Library at UC Davis was named in his honor, Shields began to champion the cause of a University Farm to teach agriculture after learning that California students were going to out-of-state universities to pursue such education. After two failed bills, a law authorizing the creation of a University Farm was passed on March 18,1905, Yolo County, home to some of Californias prime farmland, was chosen as the site. A committee appointed by the Regents purchased land near Davisville in 1906, the Regents officially took control of the property in September 1906 and constructed four buildings in 1907. Short courses were first offered in 1908 and a three-year non-degree program set up in 1909, in 1911, the first class graduated from the University Farm. The Farm accepted its first female students in 1914 from Berkeley, the three-year non-degree program continued until 1923. At that time, a two-year non-degree program began, continuing until 1958, in 1922, a four-year undergraduate general academic program was established, with the first class graduating in 1926. Renamed in 1922 as the Northern Branch of the College of Agriculture, by 1951 it had expanded to a size of 3,000 acres. In 1959, the campus was declared by the Regents of the University of California as the general campus in the University of California system. Davis Graduate Division was established in 1961 followed by the College of Engineering in 1962, the Law School opened for classes in Fall 1966, and the School of Medicine began instruction in Fall 1968. In a period of increasing activism, a Native American studies program was started in 1969, one of the first at a major university, it was later developed as a full department within the university. The incident drew attention and led to further demonstrations, a formal investigation
12.
Enigma Records
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Enigma Records was a popular rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s. Enigma Records launched as a division of Greenworld Distribution, an independent music importer/distributor, four years later, in 1985, Enigma severed ties with its former parent Greenworld and became its own company. Enigma was initially located in Torrance, California, then El Segundo, California and finally Culver City, Enigma was founded and run by brothers William and Wesley Hein. Jim Martone joined the company in 1984, Enigma focused on punk rock, alternative, and heavy metal music though it also released techno, jazz and classical music through subsidiary labels. The labels first release was Motley Crues Too Fast For Love, the album was initially released under the bands own Leathür Records imprint but manufactured, marketed and distributed by what would become the Enigma Records team. After the band moved on to Elektra Records, the Enigma Records name was adopted, Enigmas next major success was with the techo pop band Berlin. Enigma Records was initially distributed through independent record importers/distributors such as JEM Records, in 1984, Enigma entered into a joint venture with EMI America to sign and develop new artists. Among the artists signed under the venture were the Red Hot Chili Peppers, in 1986, Enigma moved its distribution to Capitol/EMI, a major record label, while leaving its Restless Records division with the independent distributors who had previously distributed Enigma. Poison, a rock band, and The Smithereens were two of the first artists released under the joint Enigma / Capitol relationship, both of which had significant success. That same year it launched a video line, which was also distributed by Capitol. One of Enigmas biggest commercial successes was with the Christian rock band Stryper, in addition to the primary Enigma Records label, the company had two smaller subsidiary labels as well as a music publishing company. Enigma Retro focused on re-issues of material licensed from other such as Straight Records, Bizarre Records. The Restless Records division focused on alternative artists not intended for major label distribution, Enigma also released film soundtracks including The Terminator and Rivers Edge. Enigma released an album, Enigma Variations, with various artists. Enigma had a joint venture with Mute Records and released certain Mute titles in the United States, sonic Youths landmark 1988 album Daydream Nation was originally released on Enigma Records, in association with Blast First Records. Enigma was formerly acquired by Capitol/EMI in 1989, some of its catalog and operations were merged into the still independent Restless Records in 1991. Enigmas Canadian division was closed in 1992 and was reorganized into FRE Records before shuttering in 1999, the U-Krew Untouchables The Vandals Vinnie Vincent Invasion Voivod Wall of Voodoo Wednesday Week Wild Dogs Ike Willis Wire XYZ List of record labels
13.
Real Nighttime
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Real Nighttime is the second full-length album from Game Theory, a California power pop band founded by guitarist and singer-songwriter Scott Miller. Released in 1985, the album is cited as a work in 80s paisley underground pop. A 30th anniversary reissue was released in March 2015, on CD and in a limited first pressing on red vinyl, the album was the groups first to be produced by Mitch Easter, who continued as the producer of all of their subsequent albums. Real Nighttime was the last of Game Theorys albums to be recorded by the bands Davis, California-based line-up, the newly formed San Francisco version of Game Theory began a new tour in 1985 in support of the Real Nighttime album, on which none of them had appeared. During a break in the Real Nighttime tour, this line-up recorded Game Theorys 1986 album, according to Miller, Easters main contribution as producer was competency and a bigger, more professional sound. In 2003, Miller stated, I don’t think he and I ever clashed at all, Just suddenly we had someone who knew a lot more than I did and we were all grateful. Easter added that he was inclined to think that Scott was so fantastically and entertainingly aware of the minutia of pop culture that he foresaw the latent dangers of using all that. Easter credited this to Millers appreciation of a time stamp factor of hipness becoming dated. The album was recorded in Union City, California from July 22 to July 31,1984, and mixed at the Drive-In Studio in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, from August 15 to August 21,1984. In addition to producing, Easter was credited as a musician on Real Nighttime, as were future Game Theory members Jozef Becker and Michael Quercio, both of whom would join Game Theory in 1989. In response to the change in personnel, a photograph of Miller was substituted for a photograph of the full group that had previously been taken for the albums front cover. On the back cover, band members and guest performers were credited equally as musicians, the back cover of the LP also featured cryptic liner notes by Miller, written in the style of James Joyces novel Finnegans Wake. In the 1993 CD reissue on Alias Records, this text was altered from the original, Real Nighttime has been called a virtual concept album about life after college, resulting in a certain poignancy propelling breathtaking melodies. The album was described as a loose song cycle following a young mans journey from romantic bliss. to soul-crushing disappointment. Harvard professor Stephen Burt wrote in 2011, Throughout the Game Theory songbook, according to critic Mike Appelstein, writing in the 2005 book Lost in the Grooves, the eternal question posed by Miller to himself – coffee or beer. – symbolized the poignant dilemma of finding a specific life direction after college, Mason wrote that 24 displays Millers usual structural quirks such as a slowly-building 30-second instrumental intro, an eternity in a song that barely lasts 2,45. With prolix verses eventually resolve into a simple, straightforward chorus, not really that close at all, according to Mason, despite production by Mitch Easter. On the original release,24 faded out to a puckish acoustic guitar quote from Stairway to Heaven
14.
San Francisco Bay Area
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The San Francisco Bay Area is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses the cities and metropolitan areas of San Jose, San Francisco. The Bay Areas nine counties are Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma. The combined statistical area of the region is the second-largest in California, the fifth-largest in the United States, the Bay Area has the second-most Fortune 500 Companies in the United States, and is known for its natural beauty, liberal politics, entrepreneurship, and diversity. The eastern side of the bay, consisting of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, is known locally as the East Bay, the inner East Bay is more densely populated, with generally older buildings, and a more ethnically diverse population. The word Lamorinda was coined by combining the names of the cities it includes, Lafayette, Moraga, walnut Creek is situated east of Lamorinda and north of the San Ramon Valley and, together with Concord, Martinez, and Pleasant Hill comprises Central Contra Costa County. The cities of Antioch, Pittsburg, Brentwood, Oakley and the areas surrounding them comprise East Contra Costa County. The Tri-Valley consists of the Amador, the Livermore, and the San Ramon Valleys, dublin and Pleasanton comprise the Amador Valley, Livermore lies in the Livermore Valley, and the San Ramon Valley consists of Alamo, Danville, Diablo and its namesake, San Ramon. The outer East Bay is connected to the inner East Bay by BART, Interstate 580 to the south, and State Routes State Route 4 to the north, the outer East Bays infrastructure was mostly built up after World War II. This area remains largely white demographically, although the Hispanic and Filipino populations have grown significantly over the past 2–3 decades, the region north of the Golden Gate Bridge is known locally as the North Bay. This area encompasses Marin County, Sonoma County, Napa County, the city of Fairfield, being part of Solano County, is often considered the easternmost city of the North Bay. With few exceptions, this region is affluent, Marin County is ranked as the wealthiest in the state. The North Bay is relatively rural compared to the remainder of the Bay Area, with areas of undeveloped open space, farmland. Santa Rosa in Sonoma County is the North Bays largest city, with a population of 167,815 and a Metropolitan Statistical Area population of 466,891, making it the fifth-largest city in the Bay Area. The North Bay is the section of the Bay Area that is not currently served by a commuter rail service. The area from San Francisco to the Silicon Valley, geographically part of the San Francisco Peninsula, is known locally as The Peninsula, many of these families are of foreign background and have significantly contributed to the diversity of the area. Whereas the term peninsula technically refers to the entire geographical San Franciscan Peninsula, in local terms, San Francisco is surrounded by water on three sides, the north, east, and west. The city squeezes roughly 870,000 people in under 47 square miles, on any given day, there can be as many as 1 million people in the city because of the commuting population and tourism
15.
Thin White Rope
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Thin White Rope was an American rock band fronted by Guy Kyser and related to the desert rock and Paisley Underground subgenres. The band was formed in Davis, California, during a period spanning 1981 and 1982, founding members Guy Kyser and Jozef Becker were in a band called the Les Z Boys in 1981. Becker and Kyser split off during the 1981-1982 period, and posted an ad at Skips Music seeking a player and another guitarist. Roger Kunkel answered the ad, bringing in bass player Kevin Staydohar, the newly formed band played some of the same covers as the Les Z Boys, and also began to introduce original songs by Kyser. The name Thin White Rope was derived from William S. Burroughs description of human semen in Naked Lunch and it was suggested by a friend of Becker, and agreed upon by the four original members during the 1981–1982 period. Steve Tesluk and Frank French joined the group in 1983, replacing Staydohar and Becker, in 1984, a four-track recording with about 14 songs was sent to a number of labels, and an additional demo was recorded in December with Scott Miller producing. At this time, Jozef Becker rejoined the group, replacing French, lisa Fancher of Frontier Records, who heard of Thin White Rope through a magazine review of the 14-song demo, signed the group to Frontier, and the band then recorded Exploring the Axis. Over time, the band retained singer/songwriter/guitarist Guy Kyser and guitarist Roger Kunkel, with a changing line-up of drummers, like Television, it was noted for its twin guitar attack, innovative use of feedback structures and oblique lyrics. The Rough Guide to Rock called Thin White Rope one of the few worthwhile traditional American guitar rock bands of their era. While most of the groups of the time were pushing back the limits of the form. The band contributed a cover of Roky Ericksons Burn the Flames to the 1990 tribute album Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye. E. M, the Replacements, American Music Club, and Pixies. The double live LP The One That Got Away chronicled TWRs last show in Ghent, Belgium, guitarist Roger Kunkel went on to form the band Acme Rocket Quartet. According to Thomsons 2015 retrospective in The Guardian, Thin White Rope often made a slightly terrifying sound, Kyser wrote fantastic melodies, and while his charred voice could out-Beefheart Beefheart, it also possessed a quavering tenderness. They were kind of funny, as well, though it’s impossible to explain why. com
16.
Lolita Nation
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Lolita Nation is the fourth full-length album by Game Theory, a California power pop band fronted by guitarist and singer-songwriter Scott Miller. Originally released in 1987 as a double LP, the album was reissued by Omnivore Recordings in February 2016 as a double CD set with 21 bonus tracks, thayer, who was then Millers girlfriend, had been a guest musician on Game Theorys first album, Blaze of Glory. This iteration of the band recorded two albums, Lolita Nation and Two Steps from the Middle Ages, Miller told the San Francisco Chronicle that, with Lolita Nation, he wanted to throw away some of the givens. Its meant to have a lot of unexpected things happening on it without being abrasive or industrial, labeling the music experimental pop. He had instead drawn upon the 1962 film version of Lolita for the title concept. In my midtwenties I felt powerless and persecuted, what did the world want me for. The title made me think of a generation of Lolitas. God. —needed us to be there, but the need felt neurotic, in “We Love You Carol and Alison” Im trying to express that teen alienation thing that the kids go for, but I’m also fishing around for a basis of proper adulthood. The unavailability of Game Theory material for two decades had contributed to the bands inability to transcend what Miller described as national obscurity. New liner notes included interviews with the band and original album contributors, notes from Okkervil Rivers Will Sheff, generally considered the groups most critically acclaimed work, the album was nominated in 1988 for a Bay Area Music Award in the category of Outstanding Independent Label Album or EP. In its review of the double LP, Spin cited Lolita Nation as some of the gutsiest, most distinctive rock n roll heard in 1987, with sumptuous melodic hooks. Ham also likened Scott Millers lyric writing to vintage Elvis Costello, chicago Reader′s Peter Margasak cited the albums artistic ambition, with all sorts of cool fragments and sonic experiments scattered among its sophisticated pop songs. Rock critic Joe Harrington placed Lolita Nation at #4 on his list of the Top 100 albums of all time, all songs written by Scott Miller except where noted
17.
Donnette Thayer
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Donnette Thayer is a vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter most active in the 1980s and early 1990s indie rock scenes of Northern California. Thayer was a member of the band Game Theory, and later formed Hex with Steve Kilbey of The Church, Thayer began her musical career in the late 1970s in Davis, California, as guitarist and vocalist for X-Men. She later formed The Veil, which released one album,1000 Dreams Have Told Me, in the mid-1980s, Thayer moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, and formed a short-lived band called No Matter What, which included guitarist Zachary Smith. In 1986, Thayer joined power pop/college rock band Game Theory as a guitarist and vocalist and she had previously appeared as a guest performer on the bands debut album, Blaze of Glory. With Game Theory, Thayer recorded the classic double album Lolita Nation. Thayer wrote the song Look Away, and is credited as co-writer of Mammoth Gardens and she also played on Game Theorys subsequent album, Two Steps from the Middle Ages. Following a promotional tour for the release of Two Steps, Thayer left the band in 1988, in 1988, Thayer teamed up with Steve Kilbey of Australian psychedelic rock band The Church, to create the band Hex. Kilbey and Thayer were romantically involved at the time – Kilbeys nickname for Thayer was Starfish, Starfish featured the single Under The Milky Way, a Top Ten hit for The Church which was No.12 for the year 1988. Hex, the 1989 self-titled debut album by the duo, was released on First Warning. Kilbeys biographer has described this collaboration as one of the most inspired, according to AllMusics Raggett, Thayers singing is more direct at many points, sounding fuller in the mix and in her general delivery. In 1997, Thayer released an album, Chaos and Wonder. Thayer contributed vocals and lyrics to the song Peregrine, music by Tony Pucci and Stefan Horlitz, for the ALS charity CD Songs for Jenny, the Songs for Jenny CD also featured vocal performances by Tim Powles of The Church and Margot Smith, among others. In 2014, Thayer recorded a version of the Scott Miller song The Red Baron and her version, released as a music video in June 2014, is expected to appear on an upcoming Scott Miller memorial tribute album. Thayer graduated from the University of California, Davis, and has published articles in ecology. She has also high school chemistry and English
18.
Rolling Stone
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Rolling Stone is an American biweekly magazine that focuses on popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner, who is still the publisher. It was first known for its coverage and for political reporting by Hunter S. Thompson. In the 1990s, the magazine shifted focus to a readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors. In recent years, it has resumed its traditional mix of content, Rolling Stone magazine was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and Ralph Gleason. To get it off the ground, Wenner borrowed $7,500 from his own family and from the parents of his soon-to-be wife, Jane Schindelheim. The first issue carried a date of November 9,1967. Some authors have attributed the name solely to Dylans hit single, At Gleasons suggestion, Rolling Stone initially identified with and reported the hippie counterculture of the era. In the very first edition, Wenner wrote that Rolling Stone is not just about the music, in the 1970s, Rolling Stone began to make a mark with its political coverage, with the likes of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson writing for the magazines political section. Thompson first published his most famous work Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas within the pages of Rolling Stone, where he remained a contributing editor until his death in 2005. In the 1970s, the magazine also helped launch the careers of prominent authors, including Cameron Crowe, Lester Bangs, Joe Klein, Joe Eszterhas, Patti Smith. It was at point that the magazine ran some of its most famous stories. One interviewer, speaking for a number of his peers, said that he bought his first copy of the magazine upon initial arrival on his college campus. In 1977, the magazine moved its headquarters from San Francisco to New York City, editor Jann Wenner said San Francisco had become a cultural backwater. During the 1980s, the magazine began to shift towards being an entertainment magazine. Music was still a dominant topic, but there was increasing coverage of celebrities in television, films, the magazine also initiated its annual Hot Issue during this time. Rolling Stone was initially known for its coverage and for Thompsons political reporting. In the 1990s, the changed its format to appeal to a younger readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors
19.
Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things
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It was Millers fifth album to be produced by Mitch Easter. Having dissolved his critically acclaimed 1980s band Game Theory, Scott Miller reemerged in 1993 with his new band, plants and Birds and Rocks and Things took its name from a line from the song A Horse with No Name by America. Rolling Stone′s 1993 review, by rock critic J. D, according to Spin, Sonically, the Loud Family offers a more guitar-heavy approach than Game Theory did, but Millers songs and voice are immediately identifiable. Interpersonal relationships are discussed in sweet, brusque terms, Spin reviewer Byron Coley cited the power of the sweet science that exists in Millers songs, despite interspersed jangle and woof
20.
Mitch Easter
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Mitch Easter is a musician, songwriter, and record producer. Frequently associated with the pop style of guitar music, Easter is known as producer of R. E. M. s early albums from 1981 through 1984. Mitchell Blake Easter was born November 15,1954, in Winston-Salem, Easter was deeply involved in music from an early age. He attended the University of North Carolina, from 1974 to his graduation in 1978 and he played in a number of school bands, some of them with his childhood friend Chris Stamey. In 1980, Easter started the Drive-In Studio, a recording studio located in what was originally his parents garage. One of his earliest recording sessions was the single by R. E. M. Drive-In Studio became a part of the local indie-rock scene of Winston-Salem. Easter closed the Drive-In Studio in 1994, and moved from Winston-Salem to Kernersville, North Carolina, as a record producer, Easter is probably best known for his work with R. E. M. from 1981 through 1984. Asked in 1999 about his projects as a producer, Easter cited R. E. M. At the age of 15, in 1970, Easter joined the band Rittenhouse Square which included friends Chris Stamey, Peter Holsapple, membership in the band changed frequently. The group released an independent album in 1972 but broke up in 1973, in 1978, Easter joined Stameys Sneakers, a band which Easter characterized as pre-punk transitional. Prior to Easter, the Sneakers released a self-titled 7-inch EP and one album with Easter replacing Slater, when the Sneakers disbanded in the late 1970s, Stamey and bandmate Will Rigby formed The dBs and moved to New York. Easter did likewise, but soon returned to Winston-Salem, in January 2006, the Sneakers played a reunion show in New York. In the Red has been reissued on CD by East Side Digital and Collectors Choice Music, in 1981, Easter formed Lets Active with then-girlfriend Faye Hunter and drummer Sara Romweber. Around the same time, Easter worked with R. E. M. to record their debut single and this initial work led to a number of collaborations with the band, with Easter producing their debut EP and their first two albums. Lets Active toured with R. E. M. which led to a contract with I. R. S. Although Lets Active was not commercially successful, Easters offbeat style of guitar-based pop music, on the I. R. S. label, Lets Active released the EP Afoot, and the albums Cypress, Big Plans for Everybody, and Every Dog Has His Day. A compilation CD, Cypress/Afoot, was released in 1989, after weathering several line-up changes, Lets Active was disbanded by Easter in 1990
21.
The Big Shot Chronicles
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The Big Shot Chronicles is Game Theorys third full-length album, released in 1986. Produced by Mitch Easter, it was recorded with a new line-up of Game Theory members after leader and songwriter Scott Miller moved the base from Davis to San Francisco. The album was reissued on September 23,2016 on Omnivore Recordings as part of the labels re-issue campaign of the Game Theory catalog, by early 1985, all of the original members of Game Theory had left the band, except for Miller. Miller relocated to San Francisco together with future Game Theory member Donnette Thayer, Miller assembled a new line-up in the San Francisco Bay Area, featuring Shelley LaFreniere on keyboards, Gil Ray on drums, and Suzi Ziegler on bass. The newly formed San Francisco version of Game Theory commenced a tour in 1985 in support of Game Theorys previous album, Real Nighttime. During a break in the middle of the tour for Real Nighttime. Prior to touring in support of The Big Shot Chronicles in 1986, Suzi Ziegler left the band shortly after the conclusion of the Real Nighttime tour in 1985. For the 1986 tour, Donnette Thayer joined Game Theory as rhythm guitarist and vocalist and this line-up remained together to record and tour for two subsequent albums, Lolita Nation and Two Steps from the Middle Ages. The Big Shot Chronicles, released in 1986, was recorded in September 1985 at Mitch Easters Drive-In Studio in Winston-Salem, according to John Borack, Easter did his usual Herculean job behind the console, getting great guitar sounds whether they be gritty and electric. In an October 1986 interview, Miller discussed Mitch Easters role as producer, He helps from the technical end and he doesnt say, Youre going to need a lot of backing vocals here or Use this guitar on this. I usually do most of that stuff, Id say I end up doing half of the production myself. He does pretty much all of the engineering and some of the things youd call production, like he decides where you stand when you do the vocals, and you know, Were going to have a nylon stocking between you and the microphone, some tricks like that. Hell do things like say No, that vocal track wasnt good and he makes a lot of quality decisions, he sort of figures out what we want and has in his head what he thinks a good pop records gonna be and works toward that. Also, he knows how to use all his equipment precisely and utterly, Miller added, Mitch and I are real historians, were both really into 70s rock. The song Ive Tried Subtlety, I said, I want a sound just like Low by David Bowie. Referring to the song Like a Girl Jesus, Miller later recalled that even the spacey sounding instruments were recorded in one take, according to Trouser Press, the title also paraphrases John Cheevers The Wapshot Chronicle. In 2008, Scott Miller wrote that most of the lyrics on album came from dreams Id had, one emotion is missing, never does Miller sing about anger at anyone besides himself. Nerd passion, instead, becomes nerd passive-aggression, barbed puns, in a January 1988 interview, Miller called the album the happiest of the last few, adding It seems like Real Nighttime and Lolita Nation both have this real chip on their shoulders
22.
Los Angeles Times
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The Los Angeles Times, commonly referred to as the Times or LA Times, is a paid daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008, the Times is owned by tronc. The Times was first published on December 4,1881, as the Los Angeles Daily Times under the direction of Nathan Cole Jr. and it was first printed at the Mirror printing plant, owned by Jesse Yarnell and T. J. Unable to pay the bill, Cole and Gardiner turned the paper over to the Mirror Company. Mathes had joined the firm, and it was at his insistence that the Times continued publication, in July 1882, Harrison Gray Otis moved from Santa Barbara to become the papers editor. Otis made the Times a financial success, in an era where newspapers were driven by party politics, the Times was directed at Republican readers. As was typical of newspapers of the time, the Times would sit on stories for several days, historian Kevin Starr wrote that Otis was a businessman capable of manipulating the entire apparatus of politics and public opinion for his own enrichment. Otiss editorial policy was based on civic boosterism, extolling the virtues of Los Angeles, the efforts of the Times to fight local unions led to the October 1,1910 bombing of its headquarters, killing twenty-one people. Two union leaders, James and Joseph McNamara, were charged, the American Federation of Labor hired noted trial attorney Clarence Darrow to represent the brothers, who eventually pleaded guilty. Upon Otiss death in 1917, his son-in-law, Harry Chandler, Harry Chandler was succeeded in 1944 by his son, Norman Chandler, who ran the paper during the rapid growth of post-war Los Angeles. Family members are buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery near Paramount Studios, the site also includes a memorial to the Times Building bombing victims. The fourth generation of family publishers, Otis Chandler, held that position from 1960 to 1980, Otis Chandler sought legitimacy and recognition for his familys paper, often forgotten in the power centers of the Northeastern United States due to its geographic and cultural distance. He sought to remake the paper in the model of the nations most respected newspapers, notably The New York Times, believing that the newsroom was the heartbeat of the business, Otis Chandler increased the size and pay of the reporting staff and expanded its national and international reporting. In 1962, the paper joined with the Washington Post to form the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service to syndicate articles from both papers for news organizations. During the 1960s, the paper won four Pulitzer Prizes, more than its previous nine decades combined, eventually the coupon-clipping branches realized that they could make more money investing in something other than newspapers. Under their pressure the companies went public, or split apart, thats the pattern followed over more than a century by the Los Angeles Times under the Chandler family. The papers early history and subsequent transformation was chronicled in an unauthorized history Thinking Big and it has also been the whole or partial subject of nearly thirty dissertations in communications or social science in the past four decades. In 2000, the Tribune Company acquired the Times, placing the paper in co-ownership with then-WB -affiliated KTLA, which Tribune acquired in 1985
23.
America (band)
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America is a rock band, formed in England in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek, and Gerry Beckley. The trio first met as sons of U. S. Air Force personnel stationed in London, America achieved significant popularity in the 1970s and was famous for the trios close vocal harmonies and light acoustic folk rock sound. This popularity was confirmed by a string of hit albums and singles, the band came together shortly after the members graduation from high school, and a record deal with Warner Bros. Records followed. 1974s Holiday featured the hits Tin Man and Lonely People, History, Americas Greatest Hits, a compilation of hit singles, was released the same year and was certified multi-platinum in the United States and Australia. Peek left the group in 1977, and their fortunes declined. The group continues to record material and tour with regularity and their 2007 album Here & Now was a collaboration with a new generation of musicians who credited the band as an influence. America won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist at the 15th Annual Grammy Awards, the group has also been inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Peek left for the United States for an attempt at college during 1969. Soon after his return to the UK the following year, the three met and began making music together, starting out with borrowed acoustic guitars, they developed a style which incorporated three-part vocal harmony with the style of contemporary folk-rock acts, much like Crosby, Stills & Nash. Eventually the trio dubbed themselves America, chosen because they did not want anyone to think they were British musicians trying to sound American. They played their first gigs in the London area, including some highlights at the Roundhouse, through Ian Samwell and Jeff Dexters efforts they were eventually contracted to Kinney Records in March 1971 by Ian Ralfini and assigned to the UK Warner Brothers label. Their first album America was recorded at Trident Studios in London, Samwell was best known for being Cliff Richards lead guitarist as well as writing Richards 1958 breakthrough hit, Move It. Jeff Dexter, Ians roommate was involved with the business himself. He co-produced the album and became the trios manager, although the trio initially planned to record the album in a similar manner to The Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Samwell convinced them to perfect their acoustic style instead, the debut album America was released in 1971 to only moderate success, although it sold well in the Netherlands, where Dexter had taken them as a training ground to practice their craft. Samwell and Dexter subsequently brought the trio to Morgan Studios to record additional songs. One of them was a Bunnell composition called Desert Song, which Dexter previously demoed during studio rehearsals in Puddletown, the song had its public debut at The Harrogate Festival, four days later, to great audience response. After several performances and a TV show, it was re-titled A Horse with No Name, the song became a major worldwide hit in early 1972
24.
A Horse with No Name
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A Horse with No Name is a song written by Dewey Bunnell, and originally recorded by the band America. It was the bands first and most successful single, released in late 1971 in Europe and early 1972 in the US and it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Americas self-titled debut album was released initially in Europe, without A Horse with No Name, originally called Desert Song, Horse was written while the band was staying at the home studio of Arthur Brown, in Puddletown, Dorset. C. Writer Dewey Bunnell also says he remembered his childhood travels through the Arizona, trying to find a song that would be popular in both the United States and Europe, Warner Bros. was reticent about releasing Beckleys I Need You ballad as the first single from America. The label asked the band if they had any material, then arranged for them to record four more songs at Morgan Studios. A Horse with No Name was released as the song on a three-track single in the UK, Ireland, France, Italy. On the release A Horse with No Name shared the A-side with Everyone I Meet Is from California, however, its early-1972 two-track US release did not include Sandman, with Everyone I Meet Is from California appearing on the B-side. A Horse with No Name was recorded in the key of E minor with acoustic guitars, bass guitar, drum kit, the only other chord is a D, fretted on the low E and G strings, second fret. A 12-string guitar plays an added F♯ on the beat of the Em. A noted feature of the song is the bass line with a hammer-hook in each chorus. A waterfall-type solo completes the arrangement, produced by Ian Samwell on the day of final recording at Morgan Studios, at first the group thought it too corny and took some convincing to actually play it. Gerry Beckley has explained in Acoustic Guitar magazine that the tuning for the guitar is D E D G B D. The chord pattern that repeats throughout the song is,202002. The tuning is unique to this song, they did not use it on any other America song, the song charted earlier in the Netherlands and the UK than it did in the United States. The interpretation of the song as a reference comes from the fact that the word horse is a common slang term for heroin. The songs resemblance to some of Neil Youngs work aroused some controversy, I know that virtually everyone, on first hearing, assumed it was Neil, Bunnell says. I never fully shied away from the fact that I was inspired by him, I think its in the structure of the song as much as in the tone of his voice. It did hurt a little, because we got pretty bad backlash
25.
Spin (magazine)
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Spin is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. The magazine stopped running in print in 2012 and currently runs as a webzine, in its early years, the magazine was known for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college rock, grunge, indie rock, and the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard and it pointedly provided a national alternative to Rolling Stones more establishment-oriented style. Spin prominently placed newer artists such as R. E. M, Spins extensive coverage of hip-hop music and culture, especially that of contributing editor John Leland, was notable at the time. Editorial contributions by musical and cultural figures included Lydia Lunch, Henry Rollins, David Lee Roth, the magazine also reported on cities such as Austin, Texas, or Glasgow, Scotland, as cultural incubators in the independent music scene. A1990 article on the country blues scene brought R. L. Burnside to national attention for the first time. During this time, it was published by Camouflage Associates, in 1997, Guccione sold Spin to Miller Publishing. In February 2006, Miller Publishing sold the magazine to a San Francisco-based company called the McEvoy Group LLC and that company formed Spin Media LLC as a holding company. The new owners replaced editor-in-chief Sia Michel with Andy Pemberton, an editor at Blender. The first issue to be published under his command was the July 2006 issue—sent to the printer in May 2006—which featured Beyoncé on the cover. Pemberton and Spin parted ways the next month, in June 2006, the following editor, Doug Brod, was executive editor during Michels tenure. For Spins 20th anniversary, it published a book chronicling the prior two decades in music. The book has essays on grunge, Britpop, and emo, among other genres of music, as well as pieces on musical acts including Marilyn Manson, Tupac Shakur, nirvana, Weezer, Nine Inch Nails, Limp Bizkit, and the Smashing Pumpkins. In July 2012, Spin was sold to Buzzmedia, which renamed itself SpinMedia. The September/October 2012 issue of Spin was the magazines last print edition, in December 2016, Eldridge Industries acquired SpinMedia via the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group for an undisclosed amount. In 1995, Spin produced its first book, entitled Spin Alternative Record Guide, although the book was not a sales success, it inspired a disproportionate number of young readers to pursue music criticism. Notable contributors to Spin have included, SPIN began compiling year-end lists in 1990, note, The 2000 album of the year was awarded to your hard drive, acknowledging the impact that filesharing had on the music listening experience in 2000. Kid A was listed as number 2, the highest ranking given to an actual album,1994 roadside attack on Spin magazine journalists Anon
26.
Aimee Mann
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Aimee Mann is an American rock singer-songwriter, bassist and guitarist. She was the bassist and a vocalist for the band Til Tuesday during the 1980s and since then she has released albums. Mann grew up in Bon Air, Virginia, attended Midlothian High School in Chesterfield County, in 1978, Mann enrolled in Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. She dropped out of Berklee and joined the Boston punk band the Young Snakes, in 1983, the band released the EP Bark Along with the Young Snakes. In 1983, Mann co-founded the new wave band Til Tuesday with Berklee classmate, in 1985, the band released Voices Carry, the debut album with the title track inspired by Manns breakup with Hausman. It won the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist, in 1986, the band released Welcome Home, their second album. In 1987, she sang vocals with Geddy Lee on the single Time Stand Still by rock band Rush from their 1987 album Hold Your Fire and she also appeared in the music video for the song. In 1988, the band released Everythings Different Now, their third, shortly after its release, Mann said that she was much more pleased with it than the debut, primarily because she felt it made more of a personal statement about her life. The band broke up in 1990 when Mann left to start her solo career, in 1993, Mann released her debut solo album, Whatever, which sold modestly but met with critical praise. In 1995, Mann released Im with Stupid, her album, through Geffen Records which, like her debut, garnered positive reviews. In 2000, Mann released Bachelor No,2, released on SuperEgo, which included some songs from Magnolia and new material. In 2001, she joined the panel for the 1st Annual Independent Music Awards. In 2002, Mann released Lost in Space, an album which features art by Seth, the song High on Sunday 51 from this album was used on the soundtrack of Third Watch, Season 4, Episode 13. The following year she released Lost in Space Special Edition, which features a disc containing six live recordings as well as two B-sides and two previously unreleased songs. In 2004, Mann released Live at St. Anns Warehouse, in 2005, Mann released The Forgotten Arm, a concept album set in the 1970s about two lovers who meet at the Virginia State Fair and go on the run. The Joe Henry-produced album, which was recorded live with few overdubs. The following year Mann received a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package for the albums artwork, in 2006, Mann released One More Drifter in the Snow, a Christmas album featuring both covers and new songs. Smilers, which features Grammy-nominated artwork by Gary Taxali, the album debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 32 and on the Top Independent Albums chart at number 2
27.
Michael Quercio
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Michael Quercio is an American musician. He was the founder, bassist and lead singer of The Three OClock and he is also notable for being the apparent source of the genre name Paisley Underground, originally a joke. The Three OClock were among the most successful artists of the movement of the 1980s. Quercios first significant band, The Salvation Army, bridged the punk scene of the 1980s, often grouped with bands such as Redd Kross, The Pandoras as well as The Chesterfield Kings and The Fuzztones Quercios bands were more melodic and polished than their peers. At the height of The Three OClocks popularity, Quercio had stated that he aspired foremost to be a pop band and he later went on to be a member of Game Theory, Permanent Green Light, and - most recently - Jupiter Affect
28.
Paul McCartney
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Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. With John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, he gained fame with the rock band the Beatles, largely considered the most popular. His songwriting partnership with Lennon is the most celebrated of the post-war era, after the bands break-up, he pursued a solo career and formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda, and Denny Laine. McCartney has been recognised as one of the most successful composers and performers of all time, More than 2,200 artists have covered his Beatles song Yesterday, more than any other copyrighted song in history. Wings 1977 release Mull of Kintyre is one of the all-time best-selling singles in the UK.5 million RIAA-certified units in the United States. McCartney, Lennon, Harrison and Starr all received The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1965, McCartney has released an extensive catalogue of songs as a solo artist and has composed classical and electronic music. He has taken part in projects to promote international charities related to subjects as animal rights, seal hunting, land mines, vegetarianism, poverty. He has married three times and is the father of five children, James Paul McCartney was born on 18 June 1942 in Walton Hospital, Liverpool, England, where his mother, Mary Patricia, had qualified to practise as a nurse. His father, James McCartney, was absent from his sons birth due to his work as a firefighter during World War II. Paul has one brother, Michael. Though the children were baptised in their mothers Catholic faith, their father was a former Protestant turned agnostic, McCartney attended Stockton Wood Road Primary School in Speke from 1947 until 1949, when he transferred to Joseph Williams Junior School in Belle Vale because of overcrowding at Stockton. In 1953, with three others out of ninety examinees, he passed the 11-Plus exam, meaning he could attend the Liverpool Institute. In 1954, he met schoolmate George Harrison on the bus from his home in Speke. The two quickly became friends, McCartney later admitted, I tended to talk down to him because he was a year younger. McCartneys mother Mary was a midwife and the primary wage earner, her earnings enabled them to move into 20 Forthlin Road in Allerton. She rode a bicycle to her patients, McCartney described an early memory of her leaving at about three in the morning streets, on 31 October 1956, when McCartney was fourteen, his mother died of an embolism. McCartneys loss later became a point of connection with John Lennon, whose mother, McCartneys father was a trumpet player and pianist, who had led Jim Macs Jazz Band in the 1920s. He kept a piano in the front room, encouraged his sons to be musical and advised Paul to take piano lessons
29.
Linda McCartney
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Linda Louise, Lady McCartney was an American musician, photographer, animal rights activist, entrepreneur and publisher who was married to Paul McCartney of the Beatles. Prior to marrying Paul, she was a photographer of celebrities and contemporary musicians. Her photos were published in the book Linda McCartneys Sixties, Portrait of an Era. Linda married McCartney in 1969 at St Johns Wood Church in London and her daughter, Heather Louise, from her first marriage to Melville See, was adopted by her new husband. Together, the McCartneys had three other children, in 1971, after they married and following the break-up of the Beatles the previous year, Paul and Linda McCartney recorded the album Ram. Shortly afterwards, they formed the band Wings and she continued to be part of her husbands touring band following Wings break-up in 1981 up until The New World Tour in 1993. She was a rights activist and wrote and published several vegetarian cookbooks. In 1995 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and died from the disease in 1998 at the age of 56, McCartney was born Linda Louise Eastman, the second-eldest of four children, in New York City. She had one brother, John, born in 1939. Her father, Leopold Vail Epstein, was born in 1910 to Jewish Russian immigrants and he later changed his name to Lee Eastman. At her fathers request, Lawrence wrote the song Linda when McCartney was four, the song was recorded by Buddy Clark in 1947 and went to number 1 on the charts. It was again recorded in 1963 by Jan and Dean, McCartneys mother, Louise Sara Eastman, was from a German Jewish family and was the daughter of Max J. Lindner—founder of the Lindner Company clothing store in Cleveland, Ohio. McCartney grew up in the affluent Scarsdale town of Westchester County, New York, following high school, McCartney attended Vermont College, receiving an Associate of Arts degree in 1961. While her brother John followed in his fathers footsteps, also going to Harvard to study law, Linda was less ambitious and avoided such intellectual pursuits. She was considered the sheep of the family, who lacked serious academic desires. Nature and animals were her primary interests, John later became Paul McCartneys attorney and manager. After graduating from Vermont College, she attended the University of Arizona, while there, McCartneys mother died in the 1962 crash of American Airlines Flight 1 in Queens, New York. McCartney later said that because of her mothers death, she hated travelling by air, in Arizona she took up nature photography as a hobby
30.
Interbabe Concern
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Interbabe Concern is The Loud Familys third full-length album, and their first to be produced by Scott Miller instead of Mitch Easter. With the exception of keyboard player Paul Wieneke and Miller, this was a new line-up of the band, for Interbabe Concern, Scott Miller took over the lead guitar duties that he had ceded to Smith on prior Loud Family albums. Paul Wieneke remained on keyboards and occasional vocals, and Kenny Kessel and Dawn Richardson joined the group on bass and drums. Becker remained as long enough to record several tracks on the album. Gordon provided backing vocals on the co-written song The Softest Tip Of Her Baby Tongue, stringfellow is credited for co-writing Sodium Laureth Sulfate and I No Longer Fear the Headless, and also played on Not Expecting Both Contempo And Classique. Former Game Theory drummer Gil Ray and keyboard player Shelley LaFreniere also appeared as guests, Ray would join the Loud Family as a member for their next album, Days for Days. Richardson left the band in 1996, and was replaced on the tour by drummer Mike Tittel. According to the Los Angeles Times, the mood of frustration. Critic William Ham, writing in the 2005 book Lost in the Grooves, called this a harsh, difficult album with dizzying mood-swings, the result, according to Ham, was a jagged sonic mosaic adeptly fashioned by Miller from the shattered pieces. The Tulsa Worlds Thomas Conner identified it as sort of a concept album, an overanalysis of a divorce by one very intriguing artist. Interbabe Concern plays like a somewhat stranger version of Loud Familys debut, Plants and Birds and Rocks, the production has a lot less gloss, and Millers fondness for chaos seems to outweigh his knack for perfect pop hooks. According to Conner, Miller arranges his songs like roller coasters, you know where youre going to end up. Conner cited the song Dont Respond, She Can Tell as a kick with what sounds like a BB dropping on a table keeping time. Reviewers found the album difficult, for example, Deming wrote, Its an inarguably interesting album, some of these songs might play well with the top down, but those who like to listen too closely to their pop music will get more out of the Loud Family. Gently plucked acoustic guitars will suddenly be ripped apart by a mutinous fuzzbox, the review continued, If pop’s purpose is to soothe and delight, then this is either half-pop or fullblooded mutation/mutilation, as there’s nothing soothing about this in the least. It’s disturbing, but the sort of disturbance you’ll be whistling at work
31.
Ernie Kovacs
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Ernest Edward Ernie Kovacs was an American comedian, actor, and writer. Kovacs visually experimental and often comedic style influenced numerous television comedy programs for years after his death by automobile accident. Chevy Chase acknowledged Kovacs influence and thanked him during his speech for his Emmy award for Saturday Night Live. Some of Kovacs unusual behaviors include having pet marmosets and wrestling a jaguar on his live Philadelphia television show and his solution was to hire a taxi driver to come into their apartment with his own key and make breakfast for them both, then take Ernie to the WABC studios. While Kovacs and Adams received Emmy nominations for best performances in a series during 1957. The 1962 Emmy for outstanding camera work and the Directors Guild award came a short time after his fatal accident. A quarter century later, he was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame, Kovacs also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in television. In 1986, the Museum of Broadcasting presented an exhibit of Kovacs work, the Pulitzer Prize–winning television critic, William Henry III, wrote for the museums booklet, Kovacs was more than another wide-eyed, self-ingratiating clown. He was televisions first significant video artist, Kovacs father Andrew emigrated from Hungary at age 13. He worked as a policeman, restaurateur, and bootlegger, the last so successfully that he moved his wife Mary, the end of Prohibition and the Depression resulted in difficult financial times for the family. When Kovacs began drama school, all he could afford was a fifth floor apartment on West 74th Street in New York City. During this time, he watched many Grade B movies, admission was ten cents. Many of these movies influenced his comedy routines later, a 1938 local newspaper photograph shows Kovacs as a member of the Prospect Players, not yet wearing his trademark mustache. Like any aspiring actor, Kovacs used his class time to pursue roles in summer stock companies. While working in Vermont during 1939, he became so ill with pneumonia. During the next year and a half, his comedic talents developed as he entertained both doctors and patients with his antics during stays at several hospitals. While hospitalized, Kovacs developed a love of classical music by the gift of a radio. By the time he was released, his parents had separated and he began work as a cigar salesman, which resulted in a lifelong cigar-smoking habit
32.
Todd Rundgren
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Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. Rundgren has often been at the forefront as a promoter of cutting edge recording technologies, although lesser known, Couldnt I Just Tell You has had a major influence on artists in the power pop musical genre. Rundgren was born in Upper Darby, at the city limits of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father was of half Swedish and half Austrian descent and he began his career in Woodys Truck Stop, a Philadelphia-based group in the style of Paul Butterfield Blues Band. The group gained recognition with the Rundgren-penned songs Open My Eyes. Nazz released three albums during this time – Nazz, Nazz Nazz, and Nazz III, Open My Eyes gained belated recognition thanks to its inclusion in Nuggets, the genre-defining anthology of American 1960s garage punk and psychedelia compiled by musician Lenny Kaye. The groups second LP was originally intended as double album, Rundgren and Van Osten left the band shortly after. Particularly during the years of his career, Rundgrens songwriting was heavily influenced by the music of singer-songwriter Laura Nyro. I met her right after Eli and the Thirteenth Confession, I actually had arranged a meeting, just because I was so infatuated with her and I wanted to meet the person who had produced all this music. We got along, and we were kind of friendly, and actually, after I met her the first time, but the Nazz had just signed a record contract and I couldnt skip out on the band, even though it was incredibly tempting. Rundgrens debut solo album Runt includes the strongly Nyro-influenced Baby Lets Swing, Nazz manager Michael Friedman, who had joined Albert Grossman management brought Rundgren to the firm where he became both a solo artist and producer for many artists in the Grossman stable. He also apparently considered working as a computer programmer, subsequently, he became one of the first artists signed to Grossmans Bearsville Records label. D. Smart, with whom Rundgren worked on later projects. Rothchild, the result was Joplins swansong LP Pearl, which Rothchild pieced together from the session tapes. This was followed by an album for the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. One of these was attended by a budding New York writer called Patti Smith and his work for The Band was followed by a second album for Winchester and the album Taking Care of Business by the James Cotton Blues Band. Rundgren himself wrote, produced, sang and played guitars, keyboards, Smart on the rest of the album. Furthermore, only Rundgren is pictured on the covers of albums, and both albums have been subsequently reissued with the same titles and cover art, but bearing the artist credit Todd Rundgren
33.
Cat Stevens
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Yusuf Islam, commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, humanitarian, and education philanthropist. His 1967 debut album reached the top 10 in the UK, and his albums Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat were both certified triple platinum in the US by the RIAA. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and his 1972 album Catch Bull at Four spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard 200, and fifteen weeks at number one in the Australian ARIA Charts. He earned two ASCAP songwriting awards in 2005 and 2006 for The First Cut Is the Deepest, and his other hit songs include Father and Son, Wild World, Peace Train, Moonshadow, and Morning Has Broken. In 2007 he received the British Academys Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection, in December 1977, Stevens converted to Islam, and he adopted the name Yusuf Islam the following year. In 1979, he auctioned all his guitars for charity and left his career to devote himself to educational. He was embroiled in a controversy regarding comments he made in 1989 about the death fatwa on author Salman Rushdie. He has received two doctorates and awards for promoting peace from two organisations founded by Mikhail Gorbachev. In 2006, he returned to pop music – releasing his first album of new pop songs in 28 years, with that release and subsequent ones, he dropped the surname Islam from the album cover art – using the stage name Yusuf as a mononym. In 2009, he released the album Roadsinger, and in 2014, he released the album Tell Em Im Gone and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. His second North American tour since his resurgence, featuring 12 shows in intimate venues, steven Georgiou, born on 21 July 1948 in the Marylebone area of London, was the youngest child of a Greek Cypriot father, Stavros Georgiou, and a Swedish mother, Ingrid Wickman. He had a sister, Anita, and a brother. All family members worked in the restaurant and his parents divorced when he was about eight years old, but they continued to maintain the family restaurant and live above it. Although his father was Greek Orthodox and his mother a Baptist, Georgiou was sent to St. Joseph Roman Catholic Primary School, Macklin Street, which was closer to his fathers business on Drury Lane. Georgiou developed an interest in piano at a young age, eventually using the family baby grand piano to work out the chords. Inspired by the popularity of the Beatles, at 15 he extended his interest to the guitar, persuaded his father to pay £8 for his first instrument, Stevens emphasised that the advent of West Side Story in particular affected him, giving him a different view of life. He attended other local West End schools, where he says he was constantly in trouble and he was called the artist boy and mentions that I was beat up, but I was noticed. He went on to take a course of study at Hammersmith School of Art
34.
Rod Argent
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Rodney Terence Rod Argent is an English musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer. Argent is one of the composers of The Zombies music. As the bands keyboardist he used a variety of instruments, including the Mellotron, the harpsichord, as a child, Argent sang as a boy chorister in the St Albans Cathedral Choir. While at St Albans School, he met Paul Atkinson, Argent, Atkinson, and Grundy first played together at a jam on Easter 1961 in St Albans, Hertfordshire. Argent wanted to form a band and initially asked his cousin Jim Rodford to join as a bass guitarist, Rodford was playing in local band called the Bluetones at the time, so declined. Colin Blunstone and Paul Arnold joined the new band in early 1961, Arnold left not long after and was replaced by Chris White. After the band won a local contest, they recorded a demo as their prize, Argents song Shes Not There got them a recording contract with Decca. In addition to playing the piano and keyboards in The Zombies, Argent was one of the two main songwriters, penning the hits Shes Not There, Tell Her No, and Time of the Season. Argent was initially the lead singer, with Blunstone on guitar. When Argents keyboard talents became apparent, he became the groups keyboard player. The group continued to record through the 1960s, but disbanded in December 1967, after the band broke-up, Argent went on to form the band Argent, which had a hit album in 1972 with All Together Now, which contained the single Hold Your Head Up. His Hammond B3 solo on track is cited by Rick Wakeman as the greatest organ solo ever. The band also recorded the version of the rock anthem God Gave Rock and Roll to You, written by lead singer Russ Ballard. Argents first album included the song Liar, which became a hit for Three Dog Night, in 1976, the band broke up. In 1978, Argent released his solo album Moving Home with many well-known musicians, including Genesis drummer Phil Collins. In 1980, he wrote a musical titled Masquerade which premiered in London in 1982, in 1988, he issued another solo album, Red House. In the 1980s he began writing for television, in 1986, he composed the theme music for ITVs coverage of the 1986 World Cup, Aztec Gold, which was released as a single under the title of Silsoe. Also in 1986, he composed the music for ITVs The Two of Us
35.
Carole King
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Carole King is an American composer and singer-songwriter. She is the most successful songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century. King also wrote 61 hits that charted in the UK, making her the most successful female songwriter on the UK singles charts between 1952 and 2005. Kings career began in the 1960s when she, along with her then husband Gerry Goffin and she has continued writing for other artists since then. Kings success as a performer in her own right did not come until the 1970s, King has made 25 solo albums, the most successful being Tapestry, which held the record for most weeks at No.1 by a female artist for more than 20 years. Her most recent non-compilation album was Live at the Troubadour in 2010 and her records sales were estimated at more than 75 million copies worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and she is the recipient of the 2013 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, the first woman to be so honored. She is also a 2015 Kennedy Center Honoree, King was born Carol Joan Klein in February 1942 in Manhattan, to a Jewish family. Her mother, Eugenia, was a teacher, and her father and they met in an elevator when they were students at Brooklyn College in 1936. He was majoring in chemistry while her mothers major was English and they married in 1937, during the heights of the Great Depression. Her mother dropped out to run the household while her father also quit college, with the economy struggling, he then took a more secure job as a firefighter in New York. After King was born, they remained in Brooklyn, eventually able to buy a small two-story duplex where they could rent the upstairs for income and her mother had learned how to play piano as a child and, after buying a piano, would sometimes practice. When Carol was four years old, her parents discovered she had developed a sense of relative pitch whereby she could name a note by just hearing it. Her father enjoyed showing off his daughters skill to visiting friends, I enjoyed making my father happy and getting the notes right. Carols mother then began giving her real music lessons when she was four years old and she would climb up on the stool and be raised as yet higher by sitting on a phone book. With her mother sitting alongside, Carol was taught music theory and elementary piano technique, including how to read notation, King wanted to learn as much as possible, My mother never forced me to practice. I wanted so much to master the popular songs that poured out of the radio, Carol began kindergarten when she was four years old, but after her first year she was promoted directly to second grade because she had an exceptional facility with words and numbers. In the 1950s she went to James Madison High School and she formed a band called the Co-Sines, changed her name to Carole King, and made demo records with her friend Paul Simon for $25 a session
36.
From Ritual to Romance (album)
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From Ritual to Romance is The Loud Familys sixth full-length album. It is an album released during a six-year hiatus from studio recording. Scott Miller, the founder and frontman, signed with independent recording label 125 Records after the expiration of the Loud Familys contract with Alias Records. The album was the release by the then newly formed label, founded in 2001 by Joe Mallon and Sue Trowbridge. From Ritual to Romance includes live recordings of two performances at different points in the bands history, the first performance, on tracks 1-7 and 14-19, is from a Hotel Utah show on October 5,1996. The second performance, on tracks 8-13 and 20-21, is from a show at the Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco on August 8,1998, after the release of the album Days for Days. The album includes versions of Debaser by The Pixies, When You Sleep by My Bloody Valentine. The songs Not Because You Can, Go Ahead Youre Dying To, the songs listed as Nine, Five and Eleven are three of the untitled soundscapes from The Loud Familys 1998 studio album Days for Days. The numbered titles reflect track numbers on Days for Days, in which conventionally titled songs are alternated with untitled tracks that amplify themes of the songs that they follow. On Days for Days, track 9 follows Way Too Helpful, track 5 follows Good, There Are No Lions in the Street and its that rare live album thats as dense and demanding as a studio set, and one that also rewards a careful listen
37.
Anton Barbeau
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Anton Barbeau is an American singer-songwriter from Sacramento, California. He is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, keyboards, bass guitar, drums and many others including, most recently, the mbira. Barbeau is known for combining surreal lyrics with pop melodies and is described as being in the songwriting tradition of Robyn Hitchcock, Syd Barrett. He has shared stages with artists like Hitchcock, The Bevis Frond, Weezer, Mono, since he appeared on the music scene in the late 1980s, Barbeau has made a name for himself in the Sacramento area, winning a number of SAMMIE Awards. His first CD, The Horses Tongue, collected songs that had appeared on a number of self-released cassettes,2006 saw the release of Barbeaus collaboration with The Loud Family singer/guitarist Scott Miller, the album What if it Works. Indeed,2006 was a year which also saw the release of the albums Drug Free and In the Village of the Apple Sun. Since then, Barbeau has resided mainly in the UK, where he has released three albums, automatic Door was released in the UK on Oxfords Shifty Disco label in 2007 and in France on Volvox in 2008. Recent releases include Plastic Guitar and Psychedelic Mynde of Moses and his music has continued to develop a decidedly psychedelic streak, though without losing the strong pop aesthetic that has always informed it. Barbeau has also written and produced an album with Sacramento singer Allyson Seconds, the album was entitled Bag of Kittens, and was released in fall of 2009. Barbeau currently plays with Andy Metcalfe and Morris Windsor – erstwhile members of Robyn Hitchcock-led The Soft Boys/Egyptians, the trio have been playing around the UK as Three Minute Tease, including support slots for legendary New Zealand songwriter Don McGlashan. The new album, Three Minute Tease, was released this year and features guest appearances from Stornoway, Barbeau has recorded and performed with Stornoway, Michael Urbano, xrfarflight, Robbie McIntosh, Kimberley Rew, and members of Cake. Barbeau supported Julian Cope on several dates on Copes 2011 and 2012 UK tours and he is currently based in Berlin, Germany. Anton is a cousin of the actress Adrienne Barbeau
38.
Brian Eno
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Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno, RDI is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer, writer, and visual artist. He is best known for his work in rock, ambient, pop. He has been described as one of musics most influential. Born in Suffolk, Eno studied painting and experimental music at art school in the late 1960s before joining glam rock group Roxy Music as synthesizer player in 1971. He took part in frequent collaborations with such as Robert Fripp, Cluster, David Bowie on his Berlin Trilogy. In subsequent decades, Eno continued to record albums, collaborate, and produce for other artists, including U2, Coldplay, Laurie Anderson, James, Grace Jones. He continues to release music, produce, and write, the unusual surname Eno, long established in Suffolk, derives from the French Huguenot surname Hennot. Maria had already had a daughter, and together William and Maria would have two children, Roger and Arlette. In school, Eno used a tape recorder as an instrument and experimented with his first, sometimes improvisational. From that collaboration, he involved in Cornelius Cardews Scratch Orchestra. The first released recording in which Eno played is the Deutsche Grammophon edition of Cardews The Great Learning, Another early recording was the Berlin Horse soundtrack, by Malcom Le Grice, a nine-minute,2 ×16 mm-double-projection, released in 1970 and presented in 1971. He then progressed to appearing on stage as a member of the group. He quit the band on completing the tour for the bands second album, For Your Pleasure, because of disagreements with lead singer Bryan Ferry. If Id walked ten yards further on the platform, or missed that train, or been in the next carriage, during his period with Roxy Music, and for his first three solo albums, he was credited on records only as Eno. Eno embarked on a career almost immediately. Between 1973 and 1977 he created four albums of electronically inflected art pop, Here Come the Warm Jets, Taking Tiger Mountain, Another Green World, and Before and After Science. Tiger Mountain contains the galloping Third Uncle, one of Enos best-known songs and these four albums were remastered and reissued in 2004 by Virgins Astralwerks label. Due to Enos decision not to add any extra tracks of the original material, in 1972, Eno and Robert Fripp developed the Frippertronics tape delay system, a year later, the pair released the proto-ambient album
39.
Pixies
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The Pixies are an American alternative rock band formed in 1986 in Boston, Massachusetts. Until 2013, the band comprised Black Francis, Joey Santiago, Kim Deal, the band disbanded acrimoniously in 1993, but reunited in 2004. Deal left in 2013 and was replaced by Kim Shattuck and then Paz Lenchantin, the Pixies music contains elements including psychedelia, noise pop, hard rock, surf pop, and surf rock. Francis is the Pixies primary songwriter, his surreal lyrics cover offbeat subjects such as extraterrestrials, incest. The Pixies achieved modest popularity in their country, but were more successful in the United Kingdom, mainland Europe. Their jarring pop sound influenced bands such as Nirvana, Radiohead and their popularity grew in the years following their break-up, leading to sold-out world tours following their reunion in 2004. In June 2013, they released their first new material in almost 10 years, guitarist Joey Santiago and songwriter Black Francis met when they lived next to each other in a suite while attending the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Although Santiago was worried about distractions, he noticed Francis played music, Francis embarked on a student exchange trip to Puerto Rico to study Spanish. After six months, he returned to Amherst and dropped out of the university, Francis and Santiago spent 1984 working in a warehouse, with Francis composing songs on his acoustic guitar and writing lyrics on the subway train. The pair formed a band in January 1986 and she was invited to join the band as she liked the songs Francis showed her. She obtained a bass, and the trio started rehearsing in Deals apartment, after recruiting Deal, the band tried unsuccessfully to get her sister, Kelley Deal, to join as drummer. Kims husband suggested they hire David Lovering, whom Kim had met at her wedding reception, the group arrived at a name after Santiago selected the word pixies randomly from a dictionary, liking how it looked and its definition as mischievous little elves. Once the band had settled on a name and line-up, they moved rehearsals to Loverings parents garage in mid-1986 and they began to play shows at bars in and around the Boston area. While the Pixies were playing a concert with Throwing Muses, they were noticed by producer Gary Smith and he told the band he could not sleep until you guys are world famous. The band produced a 17-track demo at Fort Apache soon afterwards, funded by Francis father at the cost of $1000, the recording session was completed in three days. Local promoter Ken Goes became the manager, and he passed the demo to Ivo Watts-Russell of the independent record label 4AD. Watts-Russell nearly passed on the band, finding them too normal, too rock n roll, upon signing with 4AD, eight tracks from the Purple Tape were selected for the Come on Pilgrim mini-LP, the bands first release. Francis drew upon his experiences in Puerto Rico, mostly in the songs Vamos and Isla de Encanta, the religious lyrics in Come on Pilgrim and later albums came from his parents born-again Christian days in the Pentecostal Church
40.
My Bloody Valentine (band)
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My Bloody Valentine are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1983. Since 1987, the lineup has consisted of founding members Kevin Shields and Colm Ó Cíosóig, with Bilinda Butcher. The group are known for their integration of noise, melody and their work in the late 1980s and early 1990s resulted in their pioneering a musical style known as shoegazing. Following several membership changes and unsuccessful releases, My Bloody Valentine signed to Creation Records in 1988, the band released a number of successful EPs, including You Made Me Realise, Glider and Tremolo, and two studio albums, Isnt Anything and Loveless on the label. Loveless, which has described as the bands magnum opus. However, the band were dropped by Creation Records after its due to the albums extensive production costs. In 1992, My Bloody Valentine signed to Island Records and recorded several albums worth of unreleased material, following the departure of Googe and Ó Cíosóig in 1995, My Bloody Valentine later disbanded in 1997. In 2007, Shields announced My Bloody Valentine had reformed and the band toured across Europe, Asia. In 1978, Kevin Shields and Colm Ó Cíosóig were introduced to each other at a tournament in South Dublin. The duo became friends in what has been described as an almost overnight friendship and later formed The Complex, the band, who performed a handful of gigs consisting of Sex Pistols and Ramones songs, disbanded when Ó Maonlaí left to form Hothouse Flowers. Shields and Ó Cíosóig later formed A Life in the Day, a post-punk trio, following A Life in the Days dissolution, Shields and Ó Cíosóig formed My Bloody Valentine in early 1983 with lead vocalist David Conway. Conway, who performed under the pseudonym Dave Stelfox, suggested a number of band names, including the Burning Peacocks. Shields has since claimed he was unaware that My Bloody Valentine was the title of a 1981 Canadian slasher film when the name was suggested and my Bloody Valentine experienced a number of line-up changes during their initial months. Lead guitarist Stephen Ivers and bassist Mark Ross were recruited in April 1983, Walsh, who booked some of the bands early performances, said the rehearsals were too noisy and crazy that next door were giving out hell. Ross left the band in December 1983 and was replaced by Paul Murtagh, in March 1984, Shields, Ivers and Conway recorded the bands first demo on a four-track recorder in Shields parents home in Killiney. Shields and Ó Cíosóig overdubbed bass and drum tracks at Litton Lane Studios, soon after recording the demo, Ivers left My Bloody Valentine and Conways girlfriend, Tina Durkin, joined as a keyboard player. Around this time, Conway, on the suggestion of Shields, contacted Gavin Friday, according to Shields, Conway approached Friday in Finglas, asked him for advice and was told to get out of Dublin. Shields agreed with the advice, commenting in January 1991 that there was no room for us in Ireland, Friday provided the band with contacts that secured them a show in Tilburg, Netherlands
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Brett Milano
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Brett Milano is a Boston-based music critic and columnist. His fourth book, a biography of Game Theorys Scott Miller, was published in October 2015, Milano entered the Boston music scene in the 1980s as a music journalist. He was a long-time columnist for the Boston Phoenix, as well as the Boston Globe, Milano has also written for publications such as Billboard, Pulse, and the College Media Journal. In 2013, he became the editor of OffBeat, where he has written about music since 2005. Turning his hand to fiction, he is the author of two short stories anthologized in the 2011 and 2012 volumes of Tales from the House Band, a series of books edited by Deborah Grabien. He has been interviewed in documentary films as an authority on music, and has written liner notes for albums by Todd Rundgren, the Cars. He compiled and annotated the 1993 Rhino Records CD release D. I. Y, ave, The Boston Scene, a compilation of Boston punk history. The book was written over the course of two years, though Milano had been collecting material for years beforehand. Milanos approach to the problem of structuring the book to reflect the chaos of a local music scene was to at least give a mention to every great band I could. Without making it just a laundry-list of bands, in an effort to catch the spirit of the time and places, and tell some of the more important band histories, and have it flow as a story. Milanos biography of Scott Miller, Dont All Thank Me At Once, in the aftermath of Millers death in April 2013, Milano submitted an initial proposal for a book about the album Lolita Nation to Bloomsbury, the publishers of the 33⅓ book series. There’s some earthshaking music here that I have to tell people about, citing comparisons to Big Star and Nick Drake in a 2016 interview, Milano expressed his hopes and expectation that Millers music will be rediscovered, bringing Miller after-the-fact acclaim. Milano attended Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts before relocating to Boston in 1980, for three years in the early 1990s, he worked in Los Angeles doing A&R and publicity for Alias Records and Rhino Records. He also worked for Harmonix as a writer, editor, Milano continues to live in the Boston area, and was married in 2013
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The Phoenix (newspaper)
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These publications emphasize local arts and entertainment coverage as well as lifestyle and political coverage. The papers are somewhat similar in format and editorial content to the Village Voice, the Phoenix was founded in 1965 by Joe Hanlon, a former editor at MITs student newspaper, The Tech. Since many Boston-area college newspapers were printed at the printing firm, Hanlons idea was to do a four-page single-sheet insert with arts coverage. He began with the Harvard Business Schools newspaper The Harbus News, a student there, James T. Lewis, became Hanlons advertising manager. Boston After Dark began March 2,1966, theater enthusiast Larry Stark began contributing theater reviews with the second issue. When the insert idea did not pan out, the trio continued Boston After Dark as a free paper. A year after the launch, Hanlon sold off his half to Lewis, as the paper expanded, Mindich acquired a half interest. Stark quit in 1972 and began reviewing for the rival Cambridge Phoenix, the first managing editor of the Cambridge Phoenix was April Smith, who later became a novelist and TV writer-producer. Following a two-week writers strike in August 1972, the Cambridge Phoenix was sold to Boston After Dark, in the conflicts between writers and management, ousted writers immediately started another weekly, The Real Paper, while management continued the Boston Phoenix. In 1988, the company owns the Phoenix, Phoenix Media/Communications Group, bought a similar publication in neighboring Rhode Island called the NewPaper. In 1999, PM/CG branched out into Portland, Maine by creating the Portland Phoenix and that same year the nameplate changed from Phoenix B. A. D. to The Boston Phoenix. From 1992 through 2000, there was also a Worcester Phoenix, in 2005, the Phoenix underwent a major redesign, switching from a broadsheet/Berliner format to a tabloid format and introduced a new logo in order to increase its appeal to younger readers. Towards the end of its existence, The Phoenix had a circulation of 253,000. On August 1,2012, it was announced that Stuff Magazine and the Boston Phoenix newspaper would merge, the first issue of the new, glossy-paper Phoenix had a cover date of September 21,2012. On March 14,2013, the announced that the Boston Phoenix would fold effective as of the March 15,2013 print edition, though the Portland. In October 2014, The Phoenix announced that their Providence paper would cease publication. The Boston Phoenix published its last issue on March 14,2013, in November 2014, Mindich sold the Portland Phoenix to the Portland News Club LLC, publishers of The Portland Daily Sun. Although the Daily Sun would cease publication one month later, the Portland Phoenix continues to be published by the new weekly as of 2017
