Happy Nation
Happy Nation is the debut studio album by Swedish pop group Ace of Base. It was released in Denmark on 16 November 1992 by Mega Records. During development of the record, the group was influenced by a Jamaican reggae band residing in a nearby studio. In 1995, Guinness Book of World Records named the LP the best-selling debut studio effort in music history, at more than 19 million copies sold worldwide. By 2007, Happy Nation/The Sign had sold 23 million units including 9 million in the US alone. Happy Nation/The Sign is one of the best-selling albums of all time. Happy Nation was released in 1992 in Scandinavia and early 1993 in the rest of Europe and Latin America on Festival Records, it reached the number one position in at least 14 countries, has sold over 23 million copies worldwide. A second release in Europe, Happy Nation, came on September 25, 1993, to coincide with the album's release in North America under the title The Sign; the Sign was released in North America on November 23, 1993. Despite its title, Happy Nation was never released in the United States.
Both versions have revised track listings. These releases include new tracks, including "The Sign", "Hear Me Calling", "Living in Danger", the Tina Turner cover "Don't Turn Around", along with alternate versions of other tracks. Certain songs included on the original Happy Nation were removed altogether; the re-release climbed to number one in the UK Albums Chart, beating the number 21 peak of the original release. The Sign is listed among the Top 100 Best-selling Albums of All Time by the Recording Industry Association of America. Several songs on the album became Number One singles in the United States and North Africa, including "The Sign", "All That She Wants" and "Don't Turn Around". In 2016, Russian label Mirumir released an "Ultimate Edition" on vinyl containing the original track list from the 1992 release, the additional tracks from The Sign/Happy Nation releases and the iTunes bonuses from the three releases. Notes ^ signifies a co-producer ^ signifies re-editing ^ signifies rap lyrics ^ signifies pre-production ^ signifies a remixer List of best-selling albums in France List of best-selling albums in Germany List of best-selling albums List of diamond-certified albums in Canada List of number-one albums of 1994 List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 1990s
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award, or Grammy, is an award presented by The Recording Academy to recognize achievements in the music industry. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by prominent artists, the presentation of those awards that have a more popular interest; the Grammys are the second of the Big Three major music awards held annually. It shares recognition of the music industry as that of the other performance awards such as the Academy Awards, the Emmy Awards, the Tony Awards, the Game Awards; the first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4, 1959, to honor and respect the musical accomplishments by performers for the year 1958. Following the 2011 ceremony, the Academy overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012; the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, honoring the best achievements from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018, were held on February 10, 2019, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Grammys had their origin in the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the 1950s; as the recording executives chosen for the Walk of Fame committee worked at compiling a list of important recording industry people who might qualify for a Walk of Fame star, they realized there were many more people who were leaders in their business who would never earn a star on Hollywood Boulevard.
The music executives decided to rectify this by creating an award given by their industry similar to the Oscars and the Emmys. This was the beginning of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. After it was decided to create such an award, there was still a question of, they settled on using the name of the invention of Emile Berliner, the gramophone, for the awards, which were first given for the year 1958. The first award ceremony was held in two locations on May 4, 1959 - Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills California, Park Sheraton Hotel in New York City, 28 Grammys were awarded; the number of awards given grew and fluctuated over the years with categories added and removed, at one time reaching over 100. The second Grammy Awards held in 1959, was the first ceremony to be televised, but the ceremony was not aired live until the 13th Annual Grammy Awards in 1971; the gold-plated trophies, each depicting a gilded gramophone, are made and assembled by hand by Billings Artworks in Ridgway, Colorado.
In 1990 the original Grammy design was revamped, changing the traditional soft lead for a stronger alloy less prone to damage, making the trophy bigger and grander. Billings developed a zinc alloy named grammium, trademarked; the trophies with the recipient's name engraved on them are not available until after the award announcements, so "stunt" trophies are re-used each year for the broadcast. By February 2009, a total of 7,578 Grammy trophies had been awarded; the "General Field" are four awards. Record of the Year is awarded to the performer and the production team of a single song if other than the performer. Album of the Year is awarded to the performer and the production team of a full album if other than the performer. Song of the Year is awarded to the writer/composer of a single song. Best New Artist is awarded to a promising breakthrough performer who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording that establishes the public identity of that artist; the only two artists to win all four of these awards are Christopher Cross, who won all four in 1980, Adele, who won the Best New Artist award in 2009 and the other three in 2012 and 2017.
Other awards are given for performance and production in specific genres, as well as for other contributions such as artwork and video. Special awards are given for longer-lasting contributions to the music industry; because of the large number of award categories, the desire to feature several performances by various artists, only the ones with the most popular interest - about 10 to 12, including the four General Field categories and one or two categories in the most popular music genres - are presented directly at the televised award ceremony. The many other Grammy trophies are presented in a pre-telecast'Premiere Ceremony' earlier in the afternoon before the Grammy Awards telecast. On April 6, 2011, The Recording Academy announced a drastic overhaul of many Grammy Award categories for 2012; the number of categories was cut from 109 to 78. The most important change was the elimination of the distinction between male and female soloists and between collaborations and duo/groups in various genre fields.
Several categories for instrumental soloists were discontinued. Recordings in these categories now fall under the general categories for best solo performances. In the rock field, the separate categories for hard rock and metal albums were combined and the Best Rock Instrumental Performance category was eliminated due to a waning number of entries. In R&B, the distinction between best contemporary R&B album and other R&B albums has been eliminated, they now feature in general Best R&B Album category. In rap, the categories for best rap soloist and best rap duo or group have been merged into the new Best Rap Performance category; the most eliminations occurred in the roots category. Up to and including 2011, there were separate categories for various regional American music forms, such as Hawaiian music, Native American music and Zydeco/Cajun music. Due to the low number
Record producer
A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performer's music, which may range from recording one song to recording a lengthy concept album. A producer has varying roles during the recording process, they may gather musical ideas for the project, collaborate with the artists to select cover tunes or original songs by the artist/group, work with artists and help them to improve their songs, lyrics or arrangements. A producer may also: Select session musicians to play rhythm section accompaniment parts or solos Co-write Propose changes to the song arrangements Coach the singers and musicians in the studioThe producer supervises the entire process from preproduction, through to the sound recording and mixing stages, and, in some cases, all the way to the audio mastering stage; the producer may perform these roles themselves, or help select the engineer, provide suggestions to the engineer. The producer may pay session musicians and engineers and ensure that the entire project is completed within the record label's budget.
A record producer or music producer has a broad role in overseeing and managing the recording and production of a band or performer's music. A producer has many roles that may include, but are not limited to, gathering ideas for the project, composing the music for the project, selecting songs or session musicians, proposing changes to the song arrangements, coaching the artist and musicians in the studio, controlling the recording sessions, supervising the entire process through audio mixing and, in some cases, to the audio mastering stage. Producers often take on a wider entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules and negotiations. Writer Chris Deville explains it, "Sometimes a producer functions like a creative consultant — someone who helps a band achieve a certain aesthetic, or who comes up with the perfect violin part to complement the vocal melody, or who insists that a chorus should be a bridge. Other times a producer will build a complete piece of music from the ground up and present the finished product to a vocalist, like Metro Boomin supplying Future with readymade beats or Jack Antonoff letting Taylor Swift add lyrics and melody to an otherwise-finished “Out Of The Woods.”The artist of an album may not be a record producer or music producer for his/her album.
While both contribute creatively, the official credit of "record producer" may depend on the record contract. Christina Aguilera, for example, did not receive record producer credits until many albums into her career. In the 2010s, the producer role is sometimes divided among up to three different individuals: executive producer, vocal producer and music producer. An executive producer oversees project finances, a vocal producers oversees the vocal production, a music producer oversees the creative process of recording and mixings; the music producer is often a competent arranger, musician or songwriter who can bring fresh ideas to a project. As well as making any songwriting and arrangement adjustments, the producer selects and/or collaborates with the mixing engineer, who takes the raw recorded tracks and edits and modifies them with hardware and software tools to create a stereo or surround sound "mix" of all the individual voices sounds and instruments, in turn given further adjustment by a mastering engineer for the various distribution media.
The producer oversees the recording engineer who concentrates on the technical aspects of recording. Noted producer Phil Ek described his role as "the person who creatively guides or directs the process of making a record", like a director would a movie. Indeed, in Bollywood music, the designation is music director; the music producer's job is to create and mold a piece of music. The scope of responsibility may be one or two songs or an artist's entire album – in which case the producer will develop an overall vision for the album and how the various songs may interrelate. At the beginning of record industry, the producer role was technically limited to record, in one shot, artists performing live; the immediate predecessors to record producers were the artists and repertoire executives of the late 1920s and 1930s who oversaw the "pop" product and led session orchestras. That was the case of Ben Selvin at Columbia Records, Nathaniel Shilkret at Victor Records and Bob Haring at Brunswick Records.
By the end of the 1930s, the first professional recording studios not owned by the major companies were established separating the roles of A&R man and producer, although it wouldn't be until the late 1940s when the term "producer" became used in the industry. The role of producers changed progressively over the 1960s due to technology; the development of multitrack recording caused a major change in the recording process. Before multitracking, all the elements of a song had to be performed simultaneously. All of these singers and musicians had to be assembled in a large studio where the performance was recorded. With multitrack recording, the "bed tracks" (rhythm section accompaniment parts such as the bassline and rhythm guitar could be recorded first, the vocals and solos could be added using as many "takes" as necessary, it was no longer necessary to get all the players in the studio at the same time. A pop band could record their backing tracks one week, a horn section could be brought in a week to add horn shots and punches, a string section could be brought in a week after that.
Multitrack recording had another pro
Living in Danger
"Living in Danger" is a song recorded by Swedish group Ace of Base. It was released as the seventh and final single from their debut album, Happy Nation and fourth single from their American debut release The Sign; the single peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U. S. in 1994. The song topped the American dance chart in December of that year, and at the Cash Box Top 100 it peaked at number 10. In 1995, "Living in Danger" reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart. Billboard wrote about the song: "Swedish pop phenomenon shows no sign of loosening its hypnotic hold over top 40 programmers and pop-minded consumers. Latest single from act's red-hot debut album, "The Sign," sticks pretty close to the formula of previous hits: Galloping pop/reggae beats are covered with fluttering synths, a contagious hook, somewhat disconnected vocal."Network 40 wrote: "Already stamped as "The Artists of'94," the Swedish quartet strikes again. Showcasing their trademark groove, this number will soar to the top of the charts."
Ace of Base performed this song on the first MTV Europe Music Awards held in Germany in 1994. Ace of Base performed "Living in Danger" in the front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, they were nominated for Best Cover with "Don't Turn Around" this year. A music video was produced to promote the single; the video was directed by Matt Broadley. He directed the music videos of "All That She Wants", "Happy Nation" and "Don't Turn Around"; the video was shot in Kungsträdgårdens tunnelbana, an underground metro station in Stockholm in September 1994. The music video of "Living in Danger" opens with the four members of Ace of Base singing at different places on an underground metro station. We see three people, two men and a woman, rushing into the underground station. There is a woman sitting in a ticket office watching the busy people, she feels that no one sees her in the ticket booth. On the train the woman believes; the woman runs off the train. In her haste, she falls over behind the ticket office; the woman in the ticket booth offers her some coffee.
The man with sunglasses is a former pilot. Some old flashbacks are shown from a war. In the war he met a priest; the second man from the beginning of the video is revealed to be the priest, the two begin talking. At the end of the video we see Buddha leaving the metro station together. Linn and Jenny are standing together on the metro. One of the people used a Game Boy in the video. United Kingdom Maxi CD:Living in Danger - 3:10 Living in Danger - 3:39 Living in Danger - 10:03 Living in Danger - 3:35 Living in Danger - 10:15United States Maxi CDLiving in Danger - 3:10 Living in Danger - 3:19 Living in Danger - 4:56 Living in Danger - 10:08 Living in Danger - 8:50 Living in Danger - 3:35 Vocals by Linn Berggren, Jenny Berggren and Ulf Ekberg Backing Vocals by John Ballard Written by Jonas Berggren and Ulf Ekberg Produced by Tommy Ekman and Per Adebratt Pre-Production by Jonas Berggren and Ulf Ekberg, T. O. E. C. Recorded at Tuff Studios, Gothenburg "Living in Danger" Official music video on YouTube Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s
Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the'90s is a music reference book by American music journalist and essayist Robert Christgau. It was published in October 2000 by St. Martin's Press and collects 3,800 capsule album reviews written by Christgau between 1990 and 2000 for his "Consumer Guide" column in The Village Voice. Text from his other writings for the Voice, Rolling Stone and Playboy during this period was featured; the book is the third in a series of "Consumer Guide" collections, following Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies and Christgau's Record Guide: The'80s. As the music industry and record production expanded during the 1980s, Robert Christgau found himself overwhelmed by records to listen to and review for his "Consumer Guide" column in The Village Voice. In September 1990, he abandoned his original letter-grading scheme on a scale of A-plus to E-minus, which had B-plus records as the most reviewed and grades going lower than C-minus. Instead, he decided to focus on writing reviews for A-minus to A-plus albums, with A-minus becoming the most common and those that would have ranged from B-minus to C-plus ignored.
This change was made because, as Christgau said, "most of my readers—not critics and bizzers, but real-life consumers—used my primary critical outlet for its putative purpose. They wanted to know what to buy."In this new format, B-plus records were only reviewed and most were filed under an "Honorable Mention" section, featuring one short phrasal statement for each album alongside its recommended tracks. Records he considered poor were relegated to a list of ungraded "Duds" or featured in a special November column dedicated to negative reviews, with the highest possible grade a B-minus. Christgau refined his new format further as the 1990s progressed, anticipating the decade's rapid increase in music recording and the diversification of the CD into longer album lengths and archival releases. In 1992, he started a "Neither" category denoting albums unworthy of an "honorable mention" but better than "duds"; the following year, an argument with fellow critic Eric Weisbard persuaded Christgau to review in each column a "Dud of the Month", unlike the "Turkey Shoot", featured "a fair number of dull, disappointing, or overhyped B's".
In the book, Christgau advises consumers to regard anything graded B and lower as a failure. The book explains each grade as follows: A-plus: "a record of sustained beauty, insight, and/or googlefritz that has invited and repaid repeated listenings in the daily life of someone with 500 other CDs to get to."A: "a record that flags for more than two or three tracks. Not every listener will feel what it's trying to do, but anyone with ears will agree that it's doing it."A-minus: "the kind of garden-variety good record, the great luxury of musical micromarketing and overproduction. Anyone open to its aesthetic will enjoy more than half its tracks."B-plus: "remarkable one way or another, yet flirts with the humdrum or the half-assed." Honorable Mention: "an enjoyable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well treasure." Honorable Mention: "an likable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well enjoy." Honorable Mention: "a worthy effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well like."
Christgau clarified that the three- and two-star honorable mentions "are B pluses I adjudge unworthy of a full review. Neither: "may impress once or twice with consistent craft or an arresting track or two, it won't." When the "Neither" entries were republished on Christgau's website, they were indicated by a cartoon impassive face. Choice Cut: "a good song on an album that isn't worth your time or money--sometimes a Neither, more a Dud." The "choice cut" entries are indicated by cartoon scissors on Christgau's website. Dud: "a bad record whose details merit further thought. At the upper level it may be overrated, disappointing, or dull. Down below it may be contemptible." Album era 1990s in music Rockism and poptimism Spin Alternative Record Guide Christgau, Robert. Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the'90s. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Christgau, Robert. "Xgau Sez". Robertchristgau.com. Archived from the original on January 1, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2019. Murray, Noel. "Inventory: 17 Essential Books About Popular Music".
The A. V. Club. Retrieved August 20, 2018. Reviews and interviews about the book Cartwright, Garth. "Master of the rock review". The Guardian. Dansby, Andrew. "Critic Christgau Wraps the'90s". Rolling Stone. Klein, Joshua. "Robert Christgau: Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums Of The'90s". The A. V. Club. Manzler, Scott. "Christgau's Consumer Guide To Albums Of The'90s". No Depression. Murray, Noel. "A Critical Matter". Nashville Scene. Pick, Steve. "The Pleasure Principle". Riverfront Times. Official website
Ulf Ekberg
Ulf Gunnar Ekberg known as Buddha, is a Swedish singer-songwriter, musician and television and film producer, best known as a founding member of the pop group Ace of Base, along with siblings Jonas Berggren, Linn Berggren and Jenny Berggren. Ace of Base released its debut album in 1992 and went on to attain major chart success throughout the 1990s. Ekberg has produced several artists, TV productions and events and has sold over 40 million records world wide. Ulf restarted Ace of Base in 2006, touring the world with them from 2007 to 2009. In 2009, he started a new music production/publishing and management company together with Jonas Berggren based in LA, London and Stockholm. After Ekberg experienced the tsunami in Phuket, Thailand, he founded the Surin Relief Fund to support affected children by providing facilities to educate children and care for orphaned children. In its 27 March 1993 edition, the Swedish newspaper Expressen reported that Ekberg had once been a member of a band called "Commit Suiside", which sang songs with explicit racist lyrics.
Ekberg claims that the cited lyrics were not recorded by Commit Suiside, but says he regrets this past part of his life as a big mistake. Commit Suiside was a neo-Nazi band active in Gothenburg from 1983 to 1986, when Ulf was between the ages of 13 and 16. Other media outlets reported. In 1988 he was a part of the leadership of the Sweden Democrats in Gothenburg. In 1998 some of his old songs were released on the compilation album Uffe was a Nazi!. Including songs like Rör inte vårt land, Vit makt, svartskalleslakt! and a cover of Skrewdriver's "Smash the IRA", with the lyrics changed to refer to the VPK. In the 1997 documentary Our Story, Ekberg said: "I told everyone I regret what I've done. I closed that book. I don't want to talk about it, that time does not exist in me any more. I closed it and I threw the book away 1987. I took the experience from it, I learned from it, but that life is not me. It's somebody else." Ekberg dated the Swedish model/actress Emma Sjöberg from 1994 to 2000. He lives in London with his girlfriend Johanna Aybar and their three children: Viggo and Valentina.
Ekberg has written and produced the following songs: "Wheel of Fortune" "All That She Wants" "Young and Proud" "Living in Danger" "My Mind" "Dancer in Daydream" "Happy Nation" "Voulez-Vous Danser" "Waiting for Magic" "Münchhausen" "Blah, blah on the Radio" "Southern California" "One Day" "Doreen" "Precious" "Black Sea" "Vision in Blue" "Who am I" "Told My Ma" "Hear Me Calling" "Love In December" "Change With the Light" "Que Sera" "Perfect World" "Edge of Heaven" "Look Around Me" "Angel of Love" "Mercy Mercy" "I Pray" "Don't Go Away" "All For You" "The Golden Ratio" "Mr Replay" Ekberg has contributed vocals to the following songs: "All That She Wants" "Wheel of Fortune" "Living in Danger" "My Mind" "Happy Nation" "Don't Turn Around" "Waiting for Magic" "Fashion Party" "Münchhausen" "Hear Me Calling" "Perfect World" "I Pray" "Change With the Light" "Mr. Replay" Ulf Ekberg on IMDb
Wheel of Fortune (Ace of Base song)
"Wheel of Fortune" is a song by Swedish pop group Ace of Base, their debut single. It was first released in the Nordics in April 1992 through Danish Mega Records as the first single from the album Happy Nation, it was re-released worldwide in April 1993 after the success of "All That She Wants". The single peaked within the top 10 in Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland, and within the top 20 in Finland, Iceland and the UK. "Wheel Of Fortune" is a reggae tinged dance-pop song written by Jonas Berggren and Ulf Ekberg. It was recorded in Studio Decibel in Stockholm, Sweden for a budget of SEK 30,000, it didn't enter the charts. It was the third re-release of the single that entered the charts after radio stations and clubs started to play it; the song reached #1 in Norway, in Denmark and Netherlands. The original version's music video was directed by Viking Nielson and features all four original members, it begins with Linn singing. A woman is sitting in a chair on the middle of a big wheel of fortune.
Different characters appear along the video. Like a boxing blonde, a little girl playing with an hourglass, a bride in an wedding dress, an angel playing with a golden ball and an older couple. Sometimes the woman in the chair appears with a man or with the older couple. In between these characters, we see the four members of Ace of Base performing standing together in a circle with their backs against each other. Linn sometimes sings in the chair on the wheel. Other times she sings standing with Jenny. Joker and Buddha are seen playing on different instruments such as keyboard and trumpet. A clockwise turns in the background; the 2009 re-recording was only single released by the band as a trio. For this version, the label decided not to shoot a video for the song. However, a promo video was published on 21 October 2008 on the band's official website. Similar to their 1998 single "Always Have Always Will", the video consists of live footage from their Redefined tour and video footage from a photoshoot.
The edit used in the video is a combination of the radio and album versions, lasting at 3:15 minutes. The 1992 version failed to reach the singles chart on its first two releases, but when it was re-released a third time in September, it reached number two. After the success of "All That She Wants" in the United Kingdom, it was released as the second UK single and it reached number 20 in the UK Singles Chart in August 1993. Prior to the official release of the song, a live version of the song entered the charts at #2 in Brazilian radio station Emboabas FM on 3 December 2007; the song entered the Radio Aachen chart in Germany at #26 on 15 December 2007. It entered the Euro WebCharts at #5 in the last week of 2007 and reached #1. CD single - The Nordics"Wheel of Fortune"CD maxi - UK"Wheel of Fortune" — 3:42 "Wheel of Fortune" — 5:27 "Wheel of Fortune" — 4:39 "My Mind" — 4:197" single"Wheel of Fortune" — 3:42 "Wheel of Fortune" — 4:39 Digital single"Wheel of Fortune 2009" "Wheel of Fortune 2009" CD single - Promo"Wheel of Fortune 2009" "Wheel of Fortune 2009" "Wheel of Fortune 2009" "Wheel of Fortune" "Wheel of Fortune" Vocals by Linn Berggren, Jenny Berggren and Ulf Ekberg Written by Jonas Berggren and Ulf Ekberg Produced by Jonas Berggren and Ulf Ekberg, T.
O. E. C. Recorded at Studios Decibel Cover Version In 1993, Hong Kong singer Shirley Kwan covered this song in Cantonese. Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
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