1.
"Weird Al" Yankovic
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Alfred Matthew Weird Al Yankovic is an American singer, songwriter, parodist, record producer, satirist, actor, voice actor, music video director, film producer, and author. Since his first-aired comedy song in 1976, he has more than 12 million albums, recorded more than 150 parody and original songs. His works have earned him four Grammy Awards and a further 11 nominations, four gold records, Weird Als first top ten Billboard album and single were both released in 2006, nearly three decades into his career. His latest album, Mandatory Fun, became his first number-one album during its debut week and he directed later videos himself and went on to direct for other artists including Ben Folds, Hanson, The Black Crowes, and The Presidents of the United States of America. Weird Al has stated that he may forgo traditional albums in favor of timely releases of singles, in addition to recording his albums, Weird Al wrote and starred in the film UHF and The Weird Al Show. He has also made guest appearances and voice acting roles on television shows and video web content. He has also written two books, When I Grow Up and My New Teacher and Me. Yankovic was born in Downey, California and raised in Lynwood. He is the child of Mary Elizabeth and Nick Yankovic. Mary, who was of Italian and English descent, had come to California from Kentucky, Als first accordion lesson, which sparked his career in music, was on the day before his sixth birthday. A door-to-door salesman traveling through Lynwood offered the Yankovic parents a choice of accordion or guitar lessons at a music school. Yankovic said that parents chose the accordion because they were convinced it would revolutionize rock and he continued lessons at the school for three years before continuing to learn on his own. Yankovics early accordion role models included Frankie Yankovic and Myron Floren, in the 1970s, Yankovic was a big fan of Elton John and claims Johns Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album was partly how I learned to play rock n roll on the accordion. Other sources of inspiration for his comedy come from Mad magazine, Monty Python, Yankovic began kindergarten a year earlier than most children, and he skipped second grade. My classmates seemed to think I was some kind of rocket scientist so I was labeled an early on. As his unusual schooling left him two years younger than most of his classmates, Yankovic was not interested in sports or social events at school and we started the club just to get an extra picture of ourselves in the yearbook. Weird Al graduated in 1975 and was valedictorian of his senior class, Yankovic attended California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo where he earned a bachelors degree in architecture. Yankovic received his first exposure via southern California and syndicated radio personality Dr. Dementos radio show, saying If there hadnt been a Dr. Demento. The tapes first song, Belvedere Cruisin - about his familys Plymouth Belvedere - was played on Dementos comedy radio show, launching Yankovics career
2.
Record producer
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A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performers music, which may range from recording one song to recording a lengthy concept album. A producer has many roles during the recording process, the roles of a producer vary. The producer may perform these roles himself, or help select the engineer, the producer may also pay session musicians and engineers and ensure that the entire project is completed within the record companies budget. A record producer or music producer has a broad role in overseeing and managing the recording. Producers also often take on an entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, contracts. In the 2010s, the industry has two kinds of producers with different roles, executive producer and music producer. Executive producers oversee project finances while music producers oversee the process of recording songs or albums. In most cases the producer is also a competent arranger, composer. The producer will also liaise with the 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, indeed, in Bollywood music, the designation actually is music director. The music producers job is to create, shape, and mold a piece of music, at the beginning of record industry, producer role was technically limited to record, in one shot, artists performing live. The role of producers changed progressively over the 1950s and 1960s due to technological developments, 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 and the performance had to be recorded. As well, for a song that used 20 instruments, it was no longer necessary to get all the players in the studio at the same time. Examples include the rock sound effects of the 1960s, e. g. playing back the sound of recorded instruments backwards or clanging the tape to produce unique sound effects. These new instruments were electric or electronic, and thus they used instrument amplifiers, new technologies like multitracking changed the goal of recording, A producer could blend together multiple takes and edit together different sections to create the desired sound. For example, in jazz fusion Bandleader-composer Miles Davis album Bitches Brew, producers like Phil Spector and George Martin were soon creating recordings that were, in practical terms, almost impossible to realise in live performance. Producers became creative figures in the studio, other examples of such engineers includes Joe Meek, Teo Macero, Brian Wilson, and Biddu
3.
Rick Derringer
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Rick Derringer is an American guitarist, vocalist, Grammy Award-winning producer and entertainer. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of The McCoys and he then turned to blues rock, scoring a 1974 hit with Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo. He has worked extensively with brothers Edgar and Johnny Winter, and he also worked with Weird Al Yankovic, producing Yankovics Grammy Award-winning songs Eat It and Fat, and with the World Wrestling Federation, penning entrance songs for Hulk Hogan and Demolition. Derringer was born in Fort Recovery, Ohio, the son of Janice Lavine and John J. Zehringer and he started a band in Ohio initially known as The Rick Z Combo, and later known as Rick and the Raiders. In the summer of 1965, when Derringer was 17, he recorded vocals over an already-recorded backing track provided by The Strangeloves for the song Hang on Sloopy. It was released under the band name The McCoys, to avoid confusion with another band of the era, Paul Revere. It became the one song in America for a week, Yesterday by The Beatles knocked it out of the top spot. The single was issued by Bang Records, Derringer adopted his stage name at this time, inspired by the Bang Records logo which featured a derringer pistol. The McCoys opened for The Rolling Stones on the entire 1966 American tour, before Hang on Sloopy they were seen often at LeSourdsville Lake Amusement Park in southwest Ohio at Friday night WSAI radio-sponsored dances. They were a part of the summer dance experience along with Ivan. Derringer also recorded and played with a version of Johnny Winters band called Johnny Winter And. Derringer also had a successful solo career, and his solo version of Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo was a hit single in 1973. The years 2013–2014 mark the 40th anniversary of Derringers first solo tracks on All American Boy, the albums success was rated so highly by its record company, Blue Sky Records, that it claimed every college dorm room in America had one. He also recorded extensively with Steely Dan, playing guitar on songs including Show Biz Kids. Derringer appeared on Alice Coopers Killer album in 1971, playing the solo on Under My Wheels, in late 1974, Derringer played guitar on Joe Vitales debut solo album Roller Coaster Weekend produced by The Albert Brothers. The album featured other famous guitarists Joe Walsh and Phil Keaggy, in the last half of the 1970s, Rick Derringer fronted the hard rock band Derringer, releasing a self-titled debut, followed by Sweet Evil and If I Werent So Romantic, Id Shoot You. The latter included a cover of Warren Zevons Lawyers, Guns and Money as well as material by Alice Cooper, bassist Kenny Aaronson and drummers Vinny Appice and Myron Grombacher passed through the groups lineup. Appice later joined Black Sabbath during the Ronnie James Dio era, Derringer opened for Led Zeppelin in Oakland, California on their last American tour in 1977. Derringer was also a featured guitarist on several Todd Rundgren albums in the 1970s, a Wizard, a True Star, Initiation and the live album Back to the Bars
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