New York City
The City of New York called either New York City or New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2017 population of 8,622,698 distributed over a land area of about 302.6 square miles, New York is the most densely populated major city in the United States. Located at the southern tip of the state of New York, the city is the center of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass and one of the world's most populous megacities, with an estimated 20,320,876 people in its 2017 Metropolitan Statistical Area and 23,876,155 residents in its Combined Statistical Area. A global power city, New York City has been described as the cultural and media capital of the world, exerts a significant impact upon commerce, research, education, tourism, art and sports; the city's fast pace has inspired the term New York minute. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy.
Situated on one of the world's largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, each of, a separate county of the State of New York. The five boroughs – Brooklyn, Manhattan, The Bronx, Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898; the city and its metropolitan area constitute the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States. As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. New York City is home to more than 3.2 million residents born outside the United States, the largest foreign-born population of any city in the world. In 2017, the New York metropolitan area produced a gross metropolitan product of US$1.73 trillion. If greater New York City were a sovereign state, it would have the 12th highest GDP in the world. New York is home to the highest number of billionaires of any city in the world. New York City traces its origins to a trading post founded by colonists from the Dutch Republic in 1624 on Lower Manhattan.
The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York. New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790, it has been the country's largest city since 1790. The Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the U. S. by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is an international symbol of the U. S. and its ideals of liberty and peace. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a global node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance, environmental sustainability, as a symbol of freedom and cultural diversity. Many districts and landmarks in New York City are well known, with the city having three of the world's ten most visited tourist attractions in 2013 and receiving a record 62.8 million tourists in 2017. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world. Times Square, iconic as the world's "heart" and its "Crossroads", is the brightly illuminated hub of the Broadway Theater District, one of the world's busiest pedestrian intersections, a major center of the world's entertainment industry.
The names of many of the city's landmarks and parks are known around the world. Manhattan's real estate market is among the most expensive in the world. New York is home to the largest ethnic Chinese population outside of Asia, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is the largest single-operator rapid transit system worldwide, with 472 rail stations. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, Rockefeller University, which have been ranked among the top universities in the world. Anchored by Wall Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York has been called both the most economically powerful city and the leading financial center of the world, the city is home to the world's two largest stock exchanges by total market capitalization, the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. In 1664, the city was named in honor of the Duke of York.
James's older brother, King Charles II, had appointed the Duke proprietor of the former territory of New Netherland, including the city of New Amsterdam, which England had seized from the Dutch. During the Wisconsinan glaciation, 75,000 to 11,000 years ago, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth; the erosive forward movement of the ice contributed to the separation of what is now Long Island and Staten Island. That action left bedrock at a shallow depth, providing a solid foundation for most of Manhattan's skyscrapers. In the precolonial era, the area of present-day New York City was inhabited by Algonquian Native Americans, including the Lenape, whose homeland, known as Lenapehoking, included Staten Island; the first documented visit into New York Harbor by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown. He named it Nouvelle Angoulême. A Spanish expedition led by captain Estêvão Gomes, a Portuguese sailing for Emperor Charles V, arrived in New York Harbor in January 1525 and charted the mouth of the Hudson River, which he named Río de San Antonio.
The Padrón Rea
Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey, known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for the Beatles. He sang lead vocals with the group for one song on each album, including "With a Little Help from My Friends", "Yellow Submarine", "Good Night", their cover of "Act Naturally", he wrote and sang the Beatles' songs "Don't Pass Me By" and "Octopus's Garden", is credited as a co-writer of others, including "What Goes On" and "Flying". Starr was afflicted by life-threatening illnesses during childhood, he fell behind in school as a result of prolonged hospitalisations, he held a position with British Rail before securing an apprenticeship at a Liverpool equipment manufacturer. Soon afterwards, he became interested in the UK skiffle craze and developed a fervent admiration for the genre. In 1957, he co-founded his first band, the Eddie Clayton Skiffle Group, which earned several prestigious local bookings before the fad succumbed to American rock and roll by early 1958.
When the Beatles formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool group, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. After achieving moderate success in the UK and Hamburg, he quit the Hurricanes and joined the Beatles in August 1962, replacing Pete Best. Starr appeared in numerous others. After the band's break-up in 1970, he released several successful singles including the US number-four hit "It Don't Come Easy", number ones "Photograph" and "You're Sixteen". In 1972, he released his most successful UK single, "Back Off Boogaloo", he achieved commercial and critical success with his 1973 album Ringo, a top-ten release in both the UK and the US. He hosted television shows, he narrated the first two series of the children's television programme Thomas & Friends and portrayed "Mr Conductor" during the first season of the PBS children's television series Shining Time Station. Since 1989, he has toured with thirteen variations of His All-Starr Band. Starr's musicianship has received praise from other drummers, including Phil Collins and Journey's Steve Smith.
He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2011, Rolling Stone readers named Starr the fifth-greatest drummer of all time. Starr, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a Beatle in 1988, was inducted for his solo career in 2015, making him one of 21 performers inducted more than once, he is the richest drummer in the world with a net worth of US$350 million. He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to music. Richard Starkey was born on 7 July 1940, at 9 Madryn Street, in Liverpool, he was the only child of confectioners Richard Elsie Gleave. Elsie enjoyed singing and dancing, a hobby that she shared with her husband, an avid fan of swing. Prior to the birth of their son – whom they nicknamed "Ritchie" – the couple had spent much of their free time on the local ballroom circuit, but their regular outings ended soon after his birth. Elsie adopted an overprotective approach to raising her son. Subsequently, "Big Ritchie", as Starkey's father became known, lost interest in his family, choosing instead to spend long hours drinking and dancing in pubs, sometimes for several consecutive days.
In an effort to reduce their housing costs, his family moved in 1944 to another neighbourhood in the Dingle, Admiral Grove. Starkey stated that he has "no real memories" of his father, who made little effort to bond with him, visiting as few as three times thereafter. Elsie found it difficult to survive on her ex-husband's support payments of thirty shillings a week, so she took on several menial jobs cleaning houses before securing a position as a barmaid, an occupation that she held for twelve years. At age six Starkey developed appendicitis. Following a routine appendectomy he contracted peritonitis, causing him to fall into a coma that lasted days, his recovery spanned twelve months, which he spent away from his family at Liverpool's Myrtle Street children's hospital. Upon his discharge in May 1948, his mother allowed causing him to miss school. At age eight, he remained illiterate, with a poor grasp of mathematics, his lack of education contributed to a feeling of alienation at school, which resulted in his playing truant at Sefton Park.
After several years of twice-weekly tutoring from his surrogate sister and neighbour, Marie Maguire Crawford, Starkey had nearly caught up to his peers academically, but in 1953, he contracted tuberculosis and was admitted to a sanatorium, where he remained for two years. During his stay the medical staff made an effort to stimulate motor activity and relieve boredom by encouraging their patients to join the hospital band, leading to his first exposure to a percussion instrument: a makeshift mallet made from a cotton bobbin that he used to strike the cabinets next to his bed. Soon afterwards, he grew interested in drumming, receiving a copy of the Alyn Ainsworth song "Bedtime for Drums" as a convalescence gift from Crawford. Starkey commented: "I was in the hospital band... That's where I started playing. I never wanted anything else from there on... My grandparents gave me a mandolin and a banjo. My grandfather gave me a harmonica... we had a piano – nothing. Only the drums."Starkey attended St Silas, a Church of England primary school near his house where his classmates nicknamed him "Lazarus", Dingle Vale Secondary modern school, where he showed an aptitude for ar
Puhdys
The Puhdys were a veteran German rock band, formed in Oranienburg, GDR, in 1969, although by they had been performing together—with various lineups—as the Puhdys since 1965. Although they are popular in their native eastern Germany, the Puhdys enjoyed significant success outside the GDR, were one of the first East German bands allowed to tour West Germany, they are one of the most successful German-language rock groups. The Puhdys developed out of the Udo-Wendel-Combo, founded in 1965; when guitarist and singer Wendel left the band late in the year, it needed a new name. The four members took the letters from their first names — keyboardist Peter Meyer, drummer Udo Jacob, bassist Harry Jeske, lead guitarist and singer Dieter Hertrampf — to become the Puhdys; the band went through further personnel changes until 1969, when they were given a professional performance license, all-important in East Germany. By Jacob had been replaced by Gunter Wosylus and vocalist-guitarist Dieter Birr had joined, cementing the band's lineup for the next ten years.
Their first concert took place in Freiberg, Saxony, on November 21, 1969. Early performances were influenced by British hard rock bands such as Deep Purple and Uriah Heep, although the band were fond of earlier American rockers such as Elvis Presley. At first, they performed cover versions of foreign acts. Although there was a great demand for covers in East Germany because the audience was unable to buy western albums, rock music was still viewed with suspicion in the GDR; the artistic climate changed after Erich Honecker came to power in 1971, the Puhdys were offered the chance to record for the state-run Amiga label, as long as they performed in the German language and remained apolitical. The result was the band's first single, "Türen öffnen sich zur Stadt", recorded in 1971. At over five minutes in length, it showed the influence of progressive rock, in particular Uriah Heep's "Gypsy," and established the Puhdys as one of East Germany's top bands, its music was composed by Birr, who had emerged as the band's main singer, the lyrics were written by Wolfgang Tilgner, who would remain one of the band's principal lyricists, along with Burkhard Lasch.
The following year, the Puhdys were offered the chance to appear in the Heiner Carow film The Legend Of Paul And Paula. Although the film was withdrawn in the GDR for its not-so-subtle political message, it had been seen by three million viewers, the four Puhdys songs in it became big hits. In 1973, the band played to its first large audience at the 10th World Festival of Youth and Students in East Berlin; the first Puhdys album, released in early 1974, was successful, remains a well-regarded album among the band's fans, despite being in part derivative of western artists. It compiled the band's singles including three of the four songs from the film. Whatever the weaknesses of their second album, the Puhdys' third, Sturmvogel made up for them, proved to be popular. Avoiding hard rock, the band recorded a cover version of "Schlafe ein und fang die Träume", by the Polish band 2 plus 1. Sturmvogel included fan favorites "Lebenszeit", "Reise zum Mittelpunkt der Erde", the title track. However, the tune, to become the band's signature song was released as a single.
"Alt wie ein Baum" was released in 1976. Sung by Hertrampf, the tune became a sing-along anthem, the Puhdys played it twice or three times at a single concert, it appeared on the band's first greatest hits album the following year. Although the Puhdys had performed and toured in other communist countries, beginning with the Soviet Union in 1973, their biggest following outside the GDR was in West Germany, where their albums had begun to be released. However, GDR officials were reluctant to allow artists to travel to the west for fear of defection; the band were the first East German rock band to do so, in Belgium and the Netherlands in 1974. Unusually, they were allowed to keep part of their hard currency royalties, which in East Germany were taken by the state. Following the success of these concerts, the band's albums were released in West Germany in
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in Manhattan, New York City. It is located between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side bounded by Fifth Avenue on the east, Central Park West on the west, Central Park South on the south, Central Park North on the north. Central Park is the most visited urban park in the United States, with 40 million visitors in 2013, one of the most filmed locations in the world. In terms of area, Central Park is the fifth largest park in New York City. Central Park was first approved in 1853 as a 778-acre. In 1857, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and architect/landscape designer Calvert Vaux won a design competition to construct the park with a plan they titled the "Greensward Plan". Construction began the same year, the park's first areas were opened to the public in late 1858. Additional land at the northern end of Central Park was purchased in 1859, the park was completed in 1873. After a period of decline in the early 20th century, New York City parks commissioner Robert Moses started a program to clean up Central Park.
Another decline in the late 20th century spurred the creation of the Central Park Conservancy in 1980, which refurbished many parts of the park during the 1980s and 1990s. Central Park was designated a National Historic Landmark by the U. S. Department of the Interior in 1963, it was placed on the tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage sites in April 2017; the park, managed for decades by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, is managed by the Central Park Conservancy under contract with the municipal government in a public-private partnership. The Conservancy is a non-profit organization that contributes 75 percent of Central Park's $65 million annual budget and is responsible for all basic care of the 843-acre park. Central Park is the fifth-largest park in New York City, behind Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Van Cortlandt Park, the Staten Island Greenbelt, Pelham Bay Park. Central Park is located on 843 acres of land; the park, with a perimeter of 6.1 miles, is bordered on the north by Central Park North, on the south by Central Park South, on the west by Central Park West, on the east by Fifth Avenue.
It is 2.5 miles long between Central Park South and Central Park North, is 0.5 mile wide between Fifth Avenue and Central Park West. Central Park's size and cultural position, similar to London's Hyde Park and Munich's Englischer Garten, has served as a model for many urban parks, including San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, Tokyo's Ueno Park, Vancouver's Stanley Park; the park, which receives 35 million visitors annually, is the most visited urban park in the United States. It is the most filmed location in the world. A December 2017 report found that 231 movies have used Central Park for on-location shoots, more than the 160 movies that have filmed in Greenwich Village or the 99 movies that have filmed in Times Square; because of its cultural and historical significance, Central Park has been a National Historic Landmark since 1962. Central Park is divided into thirds. From north to south, they are the "North End", north of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir; the park contains six visitor centers: Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, North Meadow Recreation Center, Belvedere Castle, Chess & Checkers House, the Dairy, Columbus Circle.
While planting and land form in much of the park appear natural, it is in fact entirely landscaped. The park contains several natural-looking lakes and ponds that have been created artificially by damming natural seeps and flows. There is a large area of woods in addition to seven major lawns, the "meadows", many minor grassy areas; the 6 miles of drives within the park are used by joggers, cyclists and inline skaters. Central Park constitutes its own United States census tract, number 143. According to American Community Survey 5-year estimates, the park's population in 2017 was four people, all female, with a median age of 19.8 years. However Central Park officials have rejected the claim of anyone permanently living there; the real estate value of Central Park was estimated by property appraisal firm Miller Samuel to be about $528.8 billion in December 2005. Central Park is patrolled by its own New York City Police Department precinct, the 22nd Precinct, located at 86th Street Transverse Road.
The precinct employs both regular auxiliary officers. The 22nd Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 87.2% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct saw 0 murders, 3 rapes, 13 robberies, 4 felony assaults, 0 burglaries, 27 grand larcenies, 0 grand larcenies auto in 2018; the New York City Parks Enforcement Patrol patrols Central Park. There is an all-volunteer ambulance service, the Central Park Medical Unit, that provides free emergency medical service to patrons of Central Park and the surrounding streets, it operates a rapid-response bicycle patrol during major events such as the New York City Marathon, the 1998 Goodwill Games, concerts in the park. The park is maintained by the Central Park Conservancy, a private, not-for-profit organization that manages the park under a contract with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, in which t
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon was an English singer and peace activist who co-founded the Beatles, the most commercially successful band in the history of popular music. He and fellow member Paul McCartney formed a much-celebrated songwriting partnership. Along with George Harrison and Ringo Starr, the group achieved worldwide fame during the 1960s. In 1969, Lennon started the Plastic Ono Band with his second wife, Yoko Ono, he continued to pursue a solo career following the the Beatles' break-up in April 1970, he was born as John Winston Lennon in Liverpool, where he became involved in the skiffle craze as a teenager. In 1957, he formed his first band, the Quarrymen, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Further to his Plastic Ono Band singles such as "Give Peace a Chance" and "Instant Karma!", Lennon subsequently produced albums that included John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, songs such as "Working Class Hero", "Imagine" and "Happy Xmas". After moving to New York City in 1971, he never returned to England for the remainder of his life.
In 1975, he disengaged himself from the music business to raise his infant son Sean, but re-emerged with Ono in 1980 with the album Double Fantasy. He was shot and killed in the archway of his Manhattan apartment building three weeks after the album's release. Lennon revealed a rebellious nature and acerbic wit in his music, drawings, on film and in interviews, he was controversial through his political and peace activism. From 1971 onwards, his criticism of the Vietnam War resulted in a three-year attempt by the Nixon administration to deport him; some of his songs were adopted as anthems by the larger counterculture. By 2012, Lennon's solo album sales in the United States had exceeded 14 million units, he had 25 number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart as a co-writer or performer. In 2002, Lennon was voted eighth in a BBC poll of the 100 Greatest Britons and in 2008, Rolling Stone ranked him the fifth-greatest singer of all time. In 1987, he was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Lennon was twice posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: first in 1988 as a member of the Beatles and again in 1994 as a solo artist. Lennon was born on 9 October 1940 at Liverpool Maternity Hospital, to Alfred Lennon. Alfred was a merchant seaman of Irish descent, away at the time of his son's birth, his parents named him John Winston Lennon after his paternal grandfather, John "Jack" Lennon, Prime Minister Winston Churchill. His father was away from home but sent regular pay cheques to 9 Newcastle Road, where Lennon lived with his mother; when he came home six months he offered to look after the family, but Julia, by pregnant with another man's child, rejected the idea. After her sister Mimi complained to Liverpool's Social Services twice, Julia gave her custody of Lennon. In July 1946, Lennon's father visited her and took his son to Blackpool, secretly intending to emigrate to New Zealand with him. Julia followed them – with her partner at the time, Bobby Dykins – and after a heated argument, his father forced the five-year-old to choose between them.
In one account of this incident, Lennon twice chose his father, but as his mother walked away, he began to cry and followed her. According to author Mark Lewisohn, Lennon's parents agreed that Julia should take him and give him a home. A witness, there that day, Billy Hall, has said that the dramatic portrayal of a young John Lennon being forced to make a decision between his parents is inaccurate. Lennon had no further contact with Alf for close to 20 years. Throughout the rest of his childhood and adolescence, Lennon lived at Mendips, 251 Menlove Avenue, with Mimi and her husband George Toogood Smith, who had no children of their own, his aunt purchased volumes of short stories for him, his uncle, a dairyman at his family's farm, bought him a mouth organ and engaged him in solving crossword puzzles. Julia visited Mendips on a regular basis, when John was 11 years old, he visited her at 1 Blomfield Road, where she played him Elvis Presley records, taught him the banjo, showed him how to play "Ain't That a Shame" by Fats Domino.
In September 1980, Lennon commented about his family and his rebellious nature: Part of me would like to be accepted by all facets of society and not be this loudmouthed lunatic poet/musician. But I cannot be what I am not... I was the one who all the other boys' parents – including Paul's father – would say, "Keep away from him"... The parents instinctively recognised I was a troublemaker, meaning I did not conform and I would influence their children, which I did. I did my best to disrupt every friend's home... Out of envy that I didn't have this so-called home... but I did... There were five women. Five strong, beautiful women, five sisters. One happened to be my mother. Just couldn't deal with life, she was the youngest and she had a husband who ran away to sea and the war was on and she couldn't cope with me, I ended up living with her elder sister. Now those women were fantastic... And, my first feminist education... I would infiltrate the other boys' minds. I could say, "Parents are not gods because I don't live with mine and, therefore, I know."
He visited his cousin, Stanley Parkes, who lived in Fleetwood and took him on trips to local cinemas. During the school holidays, Parkes visited Lennon with Leila Harvey, another cousin, the threesome travelled to Blackpool two or three times a week to watch shows, they would
Green Day
Green Day is an American rock band formed in 1986 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist Mike Dirnt. For much of the band's career, they have been a trio with drummer Tré Cool, who replaced John Kiffmeyer in 1990 prior to the recording of the band's second studio album, Kerplunk. Green Day was part of the punk scene at the DIY 924 Gilman Street club in Berkeley, California; the band's early releases were with the independent record label Lookout! Records. In 1994, their major label debut Dookie, released through Reprise Records, became a breakout success and shipped over 10 million copies in the U. S. Green Day is credited alongside fellow California punk bands including Sublime, Bad Religion, The Offspring and Rancid with popularizing mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States. Though Insomniac and Warning, did not match the success of Dookie and Nimrod reached double platinum and Warning achieved gold status. Green Day's seventh album, American Idiot, a rock opera, found popularity with a younger generation, selling six million copies in the U.
S. 21st Century Breakdown was achieved the band's best chart performance. It was followed by a trilogy of albums, ¡Uno!, ¡Dos! and ¡Tré!, released in September and December 2012 respectively. Green Day's twelfth studio album, Revolution Radio, was released on October 7, 2016 and became their third to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. Green Day has sold more than 85 million records worldwide; the group has won five Grammy Awards: Best Alternative Album for Dookie, Best Rock Album for American Idiot, Record of the Year for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", Best Rock Album for the second time for 21st Century Breakdown and Best Musical Show Album for American Idiot: The Original Broadway Cast Recording. In 2010, a stage adaptation of American Idiot debuted on Broadway; the musical was nominated for three Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Scenic Design and Best Lighting Design, losing only the first. In the same year, VH1 ranked Green Day 91st in its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. In 1986, friends Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt, 14 years old at the time, formed a band called Sweet Children; the group's first live performance took place on October 17, 1987, at Rod's Hickory Pit in Vallejo, California. In 1988, Armstrong and Dirnt began working with former Isocracy drummer John Kiffmeyer known as "Al Sobrante". Armstrong cites the band Operation Ivy as a major influence, a group that inspired him to form a band. In 1988, Larry Livermore, owner of Lookout! Records, saw the band signed the group to his label. In 1989, the band recorded its debut extended 1,000 Hours. Before 1,000 Hours was released, the group dropped the name Sweet Children; the band adopted the name Green Day, due to the members' fondness for cannabis. Lookout! Released Green Day's debut studio album, 39/Smooth in early 1990. Green Day recorded two extended plays that year and Sweet Children, the latter of which included older songs that the band had recorded for the Minneapolis independent record label Skene!
Records. In 1991, Lookout! Records re-released 39/Smooth under the name 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, added the songs from the band's first two EPs, 1,000 Hours. In late 1990, shortly after the band's first nationwide tour, Kiffmeyer left the East Bay area to attend Humboldt State University in Arcata, California; the Lookouts drummer Tré Cool began filling in as a temporary replacement and Cool's position as Green Day's drummer became permanent, which Kiffmeyer "graciously accepted". The band went on tour for most of 1992 and 1993, played a number of shows overseas in Europe; the band's second studio album Kerplunk sold 50,000 copies in the U. S. Kerplunk's underground success led to a number of major record labels being interested in signing Green Day, the band left Lookout! and signed to Reprise Records after attracting the attention of producer Rob Cavallo. The group was impressed by his work with fellow Californian band The Muffs, remarked that Cavallo "was the only person we could talk to and connect with".
Reflecting on the period, Armstrong told Spin magazine in 1999, "I couldn't go back to the punk scene, whether we were the biggest success in the world or the biggest failure... The only thing I could do was get on my bike and go forward." After signing with Reprise, the band went to work on recording Dookie. Recorded in three weeks, released in February 1994, Dookie became a commercial success, helped by extensive MTV airplay for the videos of the songs "Longview", "Basket Case", "When I Come Around", all of which reached the number one position on the Modern Rock Tracks charts; the album went on to sell over 10 million copies in the US. At a performance on September 9, 1994 at Hatch Memorial Shell in Boston, mayhem broke out during the band's set and by the end of the rampage, 100 people were injured and 45 arrested; the band joined the lineups of both the Lollapalooza festival and Woodstock'94, where the group started an infamous mud fight. During the concert, a security guard mistook bassist Mike Dirnt for a stage-invading fan and punched out some of his teeth.
Viewed by millions by pay-per-view television, the Woodstock 1994 performance further aided Green Day's growing publicity and recognition, helped push its album to eventual diamond status. In 1995, Dookie won the Grammy Awa
R.E.M.
R. E. M. was an American rock band from Athens, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist/backing vocalist Mike Mills, lead vocalist Michael Stipe. One of the first alternative rock bands, R. E. M. was noted for Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style, Stipe's distinctive vocal quality and obscure lyrics, Mills' melodic basslines and backing vocals, Berry's tight, economical style of drumming. R. E. M. Released its first single—"Radio Free Europe"—in 1981 on the independent record label Hib-Tone; the single was followed by the Chronic Town EP in 1982, the band's first release on I. R. S. Records. In 1983, the group released its critically acclaimed debut album and built its reputation over the next few years through subsequent releases, constant touring, the support of college radio. Following years of underground success, R. E. M. Achieved a mainstream hit in 1987 with the single "The One I Love"; the group signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1988, began to espouse political and environmental concerns while playing large arenas worldwide.
By the early 1990s, when alternative rock began to experience broad mainstream success, R. E. M. was viewed by subsequent acts such as Pavement as a pioneer of the genre. The band released its two most commercially successful albums, Out of Time and Automatic for the People, which veered from the band's established sound and catapulted it to international fame. R. E. M.'s 1994 release, was a return to a more rock-oriented sound, but still continued its run of success. The band began its first tour in six years to support the album. In 1996, R. E. M. Re-signed with Warner Bros. for a reported US$80 million, at the time the most expensive recording contract in history. Its 1996 release, New Adventures in Hi-Fi, though critically acclaimed, fared worse commercially than its predecessors; the following year, Bill Berry left the band, while Stipe and Mills continued the group as a trio. Through some changes in musical style, the band continued its career into the next decade with mixed critical and commercial success, despite having sold more than 85 million albums worldwide and becoming one of the world's best-selling music artists of all time.
In 2007, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in their first year of eligibility. R. E. M. Disbanded amicably in September 2011, announcing the split on its website. In January 1980, Michael Stipe met Peter Buck in Wuxtry Records, the Athens record store where Buck worked; the pair discovered that they shared similar tastes in music in punk rock and protopunk artists like Patti Smith and the Velvet Underground. Stipe said, "It turns out that I was buying all the records, saving for himself." Through mutual friend Kathleen O'Brien and Buck met fellow University of Georgia students Mike Mills and Bill Berry, who had played music together since high school and lived together in Georgia. The quartet agreed to collaborate on several songs, their still-unnamed band spent a few months rehearsing in a deconsecrated Episcopal church in Athens, played its first show on April 5, 1980, supporting The Side Effects at O'Brien's birthday party held in the same church, performing a mix of originals and 1960s and 1970s covers.
After considering Twisted Kites, Cans of Piss, Negro Eyes, the band settled on "R. E. M.", which Stipe selected at random from a dictionary. The band members dropped out of school to focus on their developing group, they found a manager in Jefferson Holt, a record store clerk, so impressed by an R. E. M. performance in his hometown of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, that he moved to Athens. R. E. M.'s success was immediate in Athens and surrounding areas. Over the next year and a half, R. E. M. Toured throughout the Southern United States. Touring was arduous because a touring circuit for alternative rock bands did not exist; the group toured in an old blue van driven by Holt, lived on a food allowance of $2 each per day. During April 1981, R. E. M. recorded its first single, "Radio Free Europe", at producer Mitch Easter's Drive-In Studios in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Distributing it as a four-track demo tape to clubs, record labels and magazines, the single was released in July 1981 on the local independent record label Hib-Tone with an initial pressing of 1,000 copies—600 of which were sent out as promotional copies.
The single sold out, another 6,000 copies were pressed due to popular demand, despite the original pressing leaving off the record label's contact details. Despite its limited pressing, the single garnered critical acclaim, was listed as one of the ten best singles of the year by The New York Times. R. E. M. recorded the Chronic Town EP with Mitch Easter in October 1981, planned to release it on a new indie label named Dasht Hopes. However, I. R. S. Records acquired a demo of the band's first recording session with Easter, circulating for months; the band turned down the advances of major label RCA Records in favor of I. R. S. with whom it signed a contract in May 1982. I. R. S. Released Chronic Town that August as its first American release. A positive review of the EP by NME praised the songs' auras of mystery, concluded, "R. E. M. Ring true, it's great to hear something as unforced and cunning as this."I. R. S. First paired R. E. M. with producer Stephen Hague to record its debut album. Hague's emphasis on technical perfection le
