Shooglenifty
Shooglenifty are a Scottish, Edinburgh-based six-piece Celtic fusion band, that tours internationally. The band blends Scottish traditional music with influences ranging from electronica to alternative rock, they contributed to Afro Celt Sound System's 1996 album Volume 1: Sound Magic. The band have performing in countries including Australia, Cuba, France, Ireland, Denmark, New Zealand, South Africa, France, the USA, Malaysia, Japan, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Corsica, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Switzerland, Portugal and the UK, they have performed for a number of notable fans, including Prince Charles, Tony Blair, Nelson Mandela, Emperor Akihito of Japan. Several of the band members had played together in Swamptrash. Angus R. Grant, the band's fiddler and frontman, died in October 2016 at the age 49. Eilidh Shaw joined the band on fiddle after Grant's death. Venus in Tweeds – 1994 A Whisky Kiss – 1996 Live at Selwyn Hall – 1996 Solar Shears – 2001 The Arms Dealer's Daughter – 2003 Radical Mestizo – 2005 Troots – 2007 Murmichan – 2009 The Untied Knot – 2015 Malcolm Crosbie – acoustic and electric guitars Garry Finlayson – banjo and banjax James Mackintosh – drums, drum machines and darabuka Ewan MacPherson – mandolin and tenor banjo Quee MacArthur – bass and percussion Eilidh Shaw – fiddle Kaela Rowan – vocals Angus R. Grant – fiddle Iain McLeod – mandolin Conrad Ivitsky – bass Luke Plumb – mandolin Official website Shooglenifty biography at Footstompin.com
Capercaillie (band)
Capercaillie is a Scottish folk band, founded in the 1980s by Donald Shaw and led by Karen Matheson. Capercaillie performs traditional contemporary English songs; the group adapts traditional Gaelic music and traditional lyrics with modern production techniques and instruments such as electric guitar and bass guitar, though synthesizers or drum machines. The group's albums have appeared in the UK Albums Chart. Originating from Argyll, a region of western Scotland, the band is named after the Western capercaillie, sometimes called a wood grouse, a native Scottish bird, their first album, was recorded in 1984. Capercaillie's repertoire includes both traditional Gaelic songs and tunes, as well as modern English-language songs and tunes, composed by other folk writers and musicians, or by members of the band; the group adapt traditional Gaelic songs and music using modern production techniques, mix musical forms, combining traditional lyrics and tunes with modern techniques and instruments such as synthesisers, drum machines, electric guitar and bass.
Capercaillie's first two albums and Crosswinds featured few modern instruments and the tunes and songs were played in a more traditional arrangement. However beginning with albums such as Sidewaulk, the soundtrack of The Blood Is Strong, Capercaillie began to experiment with adding funk bass-lines into certain tracks, as well as synthesisers and electric guitar; this fusion style gained Capercaillie chart success in the 1990s, on albums such as Delirium and Secret People and reached its peak in the albums To the Moon and Beautiful Wasteland, with the remix albums Get Out and Capercaillie being released during this period. Since the 2000s, Capercaillie have drawn back from the heavy fusion style featured on their albums the 1990s, their more recent albums from Nàdurra up to At the Heart of It All feature more traditional arrangements and instruments, while still retaining a slight fusion feel, although not to the extremes of their albums of the 1990s; the opening track from their 2000 album Nàdurra, "Skye Waulking Song", is used in the Edexcel Music GCSE Specification from 2009 onwards.
The song is in the world music section, is used as a representation of traditional folk music combined with rock music. Their 1992 EP, A Prince Among Islands, was the first Scottish Gaelic-language record to have a single that reached the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart: "Coisich A Ruin" peaked at #39. Another single, "Dark Alan" reached No. 65 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1995. The album Secret People reached No. 40, To the Moon peaked at No. 41 in the UK Albums Chart. Cascade Crosswinds Sidewaulk Delirium Secret People To the Moon Beautiful Wasteland Nàdurra Choice Language Roses and Tears At the Heart of It All Live in Concert The Blood Is Strong Glenfinnan Get Out Capercaillie Dusk till Dawn: The Best of Capercaillie Grace and Pride: The Anthology 2004-1984 Karen Matheson – vocals Charlie McKerron – fiddle Michael McGoldrick – flute, uilleann pipes Manus Lunny – bouzouki, guitar Donald Shaw – keyboards, accordion Ewen Vernal – bass David "Chimp" Robertson – percussion Che Beresford – drums James Mackintosh – drums Marc Duff – whistle, wind synthesizer, bodhrán Fred Morrison – Highland small pipes and low whistle John Saich – bass, guitar Shaun Craig – guitar, bouzouki Anton Kirkpatrick – guitar Martin MacLeod – bass, fiddle Joan Maclachlan – fiddle, vocals Capercaillie's official website Vertical Records website Capercaillie's Valley Entertainment Artist Page Capercaillie's Complete Discography An outdated but somewhat useful FAQ of Capercaillie
The Specials
The Specials known as The Special AKA, are an English 2 Tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Lynval Golding and Roddy Radiation on guitars, Horace Panter on bass, Jerry Dammers on keyboards, John Bradbury on drums, Dick Cuthell and Rico Rodriguez on horns, their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude". Lyrically, they present a "more focused and informed political and social stance"; the band wore mod-style "1960s period rude boy outfits". In 1980, the song "Too Much Too Young", the lead track on their The Special AKA Live! EP, reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart. In 1981, the recession-themed single "Ghost Town" hit No. 1 in the UK. After seven consecutive UK Top 10 singles between 1979 and 1981, main lead vocalists Hall and Staple, along with guitarist Golding, left to form Fun Boy Three. Continuing as "The Special AKA", a revised Specials line-up issued new material through 1984, including the top 10 UK hit single "Free Nelson Mandela".
After this and songwriter Jerry Dammers dissolved the band and pursued political activism. The group reformed in 1993, have continued to perform and record with varying line-ups, none of them involving Dammers; the group was formed in 1977 by songwriter/keyboardist Dammers, vocalist Tim Strickland, guitarist/vocalist Lynval Golding, drummer Silverton Hutchinson and bassist Horace Panter. Strickland was replaced by Terry Hall shortly after the band's formation; the band was first called the Automatics the Coventry Automatics. Vocalist Neville Staple and guitarist Roddy Byers joined the band the following year. Joe Strummer of the Clash had attended one of their concerts, invited the Special AKA to open for his band in their "On Parole" UK tour; this performance gave the Special AKA a new level of national exposure, they shared the Clash's management. The Specials began at the same time as Rock Against Racism, first organised in 1978. According to Dammers, anti-racism was intrinsic to the formation of the Specials, in that the band was formed with the goal of integrating black and white people.
Many years Dammers stated that "Music gets political when there are new ideas in music...punk was innovative, so was ska, and, why bands such as the Specials and the Clash could be political". In 1979, shortly after drummer Hutchinson left the band to be replaced by John Bradbury, Dammers formed the 2 Tone Records label and released the band's debut single "Gangsters", a reworking of Prince Buster's "Al Capone"; the record became a Top 10 hit that summer. The band had begun wearing mod/rude boy/skinhead-style two-tone tonic suits, along with other elements of late 1960s teen fashions. Changing their name to the Specials, they recorded their eponymous debut album in 1979, produced by Elvis Costello. Horn players Dick Cuthell and Rico Rodriguez were featured on the album, but would not be official members of the Specials until their second album; the Specials led off with Dandy Livingstone's "Rudy, A Message to You" and had covers of Prince Buster and Toots & the Maytals songs from the late 1960s.
In 1980, the EP Too Much Too Young was a No. 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart, despite controversy over the song's lyrics, which reference teen pregnancy and promote contraception. Reverting once again to the name of the Specials, the band's second album, More Specials, was not as commercially successful and was recorded at a time when, according to Hall, conflicts had developed in the band. Female backing vocalists on the Specials' first two studio albums included: Chrissie Hynde. In the first few months of 1981, the band took a break from recording and touring, released "Ghost Town", a non-album single, which hit No. 1 in 1981. At their Top of the Pops recording of the song, Staples and Golding announced they were leaving the band. Golding said: "We didn't talk to the rest of the guys. We couldn't stay in the same dressing room. We couldn't look at each other. We stopped communicating. You only realise. At the time, we were on a different planet." Shortly afterwards, the three left the band to form Fun Boy Three.
For the next few years, the group was in a constant state of flux. Adding Dakar to the permanent line-up, the group recorded "The Boiler" with Dakar on vocals, Dammers on keyboards, Bradbury on drums, John Shipley on guitar, Cuthell on brass and Nicky Summers on bass; the single was credited to "Rhoda with the Special AKA". The controversial track described an incident of date rape, its frank and harrowing depiction of the matter meant that airplay was limited, it managed to reach No. 35 on the UK charts, American writer Dave Marsh identified "The Boiler" as one of the 1,001 best "rock and soul" singles of all time in his book The Heart of Rock & Soul. After going on tour with Rodriguez, the band recorded the non-charting single "Jungle Music"; the line-up for the single was Rodriguez, Dammers, Shipley, returning bassist Panter, new
Crowded House
Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1985. Its founding members were Australians Paul Hester and Nick Seymour. Band members included Neil Finn's brother, Tim Finn, Americans Mark Hart and Matt Sherrod. Active from 1985 to 1996, Crowded House had consistent commercial and critical success in Australia and New Zealand and international chart success in two phases, beginning with a self-titled debut album that reached number twelve on the US Album Chart in 1987 and provided the Top Ten hits "Don't Dream It's Over" and "Something So Strong". Further international success came in the UK, Europe and South Africa with their third and fourth albums and the compilation album Recurring Dream, which included the hits "Fall at Your Feet", "Weather with You", "Distant Sun", "Locked Out", "Instinct" and "Not the Girl You Think You Are". Neil and Tim Finn were each awarded an OBE in June 1993 for their contributions to the music of New Zealand. In June 1996, Crowded House announced.
The band played several farewell concerts that year, including the "Farewell to the World" concerts in Melbourne and Sydney. On 26 March 2005, Hester died by suicide, aged 46. In 2006, the group re-formed with drummer Matt Sherrod and released two further albums, each of which reached number one on Australia's album chart; as of July 2010, Crowded House had sold 10 million albums. In November 2016, the band was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. Neil Finn and drummer Paul Hester were former members of New Zealand band Split Enz, which spent part of 1975–6 in Australia and several years in England. Neil Finn is the younger brother of Split Enz founding member Tim Finn, who joined Crowded House in 1990 on vocals and keyboards for the album Woodface. Bassist Nick Seymour is the younger brother of singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Seymour of the now defunct Australian rock group Hunters & Collectors. Finn and Hester decided to form a new band during the first Split Enz farewell tour, "Enz with a Bang", in late 1984.
Seymour approached Finn during the after party for the Melbourne show and asked if he could audition for the new band. The Mullanes formed in Melbourne in early 1985 with Finn, Hester and guitarist Craig Hooper and first performed on 11 June, they secured a record contract with Capitol Records, but Hooper left the band before the remaining trio moved to Los Angeles to record their debut album. At Capitol's behest, the band's name was changed to Crowded House, which alluded to the lack of space at the small Hollywood Hills house they shared during the recording of the album Crowded House. Former Split Enz keyboardist Eddie Rayner produced the track "Can't Carry On" and was asked to join the band, he was unable to become a full member due to family commitments. Thanks to their Split Enz connection, the newly formed Crowded House had an established Australasian fanbase, they began by playing at festivals in Australia and New Zealand and released their debut album, Crowded House, in June 1986. Capitol Records failed to see the band's potential and gave them only low-key promotion, forcing the band to play at small venues to try and gain attention.
The album's first single, "Mean to Me", reached the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart top 30 in June. It failed to chart in the US. A single, "Don't Dream It's Over", was released in December 1986 and proved an international hit, reaching number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one in Canada. New Zealand radio stations gave the song little support until months when it became successful internationally; the song reached number one on the New Zealand singles chart and number eight in Australia. It remains the group's most commercially successful song. In March 1987, the group were awarded "Best New Talent", along with "Song of the Year" and "Best Video" awards for "Don't Dream It's Over" at the inaugural ARIA Music Awards; the video earned the group the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist that year. The song has been covered by other artists and gave Paul Young a hit single in 1991, it was used for a New Zealand Tourism Board advertisement in its "100% Pure New Zealand" worldwide promotion from October 2005.
In May 2001, "Don't Dream it's Over" was voted seventh in a poll of the best Australian songs of all time by the Australasian Performing Right Association. In June 1987, a year after its release, Crowded House reached number one on the Kent Music Report Album Charts, it reached number three in New Zealand and number twelve on the US Billboard album chart. The follow-up to "Don't Dream it's Over", "Something So Strong", was another global smash, reaching the Top 10 in New Zealand and Canada. "World Where You Live" and "Now We're Getting Somewhere" were released as singles with chart success. As the band's primary songwriter, Neil Finn was under pressure to create a second album to match their debut and the band joked that one potential title for the new release was Mediocre Follow-Up. Titled Temple of Low Men, their second album was released in July 1988 with strong promotion by Capitol Records; the album did not fare as well as their debut in the US, only reaching number 40, but it achieved Australasian success, reaching number one in Australia and number two in New Zealand.
The first single "Better Be Home Soon" peaked at number two on both Australian and New Zealand singles charts and reached top 50 in the US, though th
Adelaide Festival
The Adelaide Festival of Arts known as the Adelaide Festival, is an arts festival held annually in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It is considered to be one of the world's major celebrations of the arts, a pre-eminent cultural event in Australia. Begun in 1960, the Adelaide Festival is held in the autumnal month of March, it is made up of several events, but overall features include opera, dance and contemporary music, literature, visual art and new media. The festival is based in the city centre, principally in venues along the cultural boulevard of North Terrace, but elsewhere in the city and its parklands; the Adelaide Festival Centre and River Torrens form the nucleus of the event, in recent years Elder Park has played host to opening ceremonies. The popularity of the event is sometimes attributed to the city's unique design that locates many pleasant settings within short distance of each other. Presented biennially, the festival has been held annually since 2012; the festival attracts interstate and overseas visitors, generated an estimated gross expenditure of $76.1 million for South Australia in 2018.
The Adelaide Festival began with efforts by Sir Lloyd Dumas in the late 1950s to establish a major arts festival that would bring to South Australia world-class cultural exhibitions. In 1958, Sir Lloyd organised a gathering of prominent members of the Adelaide business and government community; the proposal for an event similar to the Edinburgh International Festival was supported and the first Festival Board of Governors was formed. The event began to take form when Sir Lloyd partnered with John Bishop, Professor of Music at the University of Adelaide; the two gained the support of the Lord-Mayor and Adelaide City Council and a financial backing of 15,000 pounds. A number of leading businesses sponsored the first festival including The Advertiser, the Bank of Adelaide, John Martin & Co. the Adelaide Steamship Company, Kelvinator. The inaugural Adelaide Festival of Arts ran from 12–26 March 1960 and was directed by Professor Bishop with some assistance from Ian Hunter, the Artistic Director of the Edinburgh Festival.
There were 105 shows covering all aspects of the arts. The Adelaide Festival continued to grow in successive years with the support of the South Australian Government, it has developed a number of incorporated events including Adelaide Writers' Week, Australia's original literary festival. It spawned the Adelaide Fringe Festival which has become the largest event of its kind in the world after the Edinburgh Fringe; the Adelaide Festival is seen as a template for other arts festivals, it has been replicated to some extent by other Australian cities. More the Adelaide Festival moved from a biennial to annual event from 2012 in celebration of its 50th anniversary, has recorded strong box office growth in combination with increased government investment; the Adelaide Festival has had 19 Artistic Directors in its history, two of whom resigned and four of whom have directed the festival more than once. Anthony Steel holds the record for most stints as director, being at the head of 5 festivals, however the tenure of current Artistic Directors, Neil Armfield and Rachel Healy has been extended until 2021.
There were no directors for the festivals of 1966 and 1968, with an advisory board taking on the responsibility. Peter Sellars' brief directorship of the 2002 Adelaide Festival remains the most controversial and he was replaced by Sue Nattrass. Adelaide Festival Official Website American Express inclusion of AF in the top twenty theatre festivals worldwide “The most important arts event in the country” The New York Times, 12 Mar 2014 Past Adelaide Festival programs WOMADelaide Adelaide Festival Theatre
Botanic Park, Adelaide
Botanic Park, a part of Park 11 is a 34 hectare park in the Northeast Parklands of the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It is bordered by Frome Roads. Unisa, University of Adelaide and the old RAH are next to this park; the park abuts the Adelaide Zoo and River Torrens on its northern side and an avenue of Plane Trees planted in 1874 to its southern side. It is dotted with exotic species such as century-old Moreton Bay Figs from Queensland, it was acquired by the adjacent Adelaide Botanic Garden in 1866, being the venue for the Royal Adelaide Show from 1844 to 1859. The park was the venue for the first Australasian meeting of the Salvation Army in 1880; the park has been compared to the Hyde Park in London: with its own Speakers' Corner since the 1890s, Botanic Park is a venue for public debate on a wide range of topics. The Speakers' Corner with less prominence than in times-past. Today, the park is better known as a site for picnics, wedding-party photographs, major events such as WOMADelaide, Gardens Alive and Moonlight Cinema
Miriam Makeba
Zenzile Miriam Makeba, nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, actress, United Nations goodwill ambassador, civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop and world music, she was an advocate against apartheid and white-minority government in South Africa. Born in Johannesburg to Swazi and Xhosa parents, Makeba was forced to find employment as a child after the death of her father, she had a brief and abusive first marriage at the age of 17, gave birth to her only child in 1950, survived breast cancer. Her vocal talent had been recognized when she was a child, she began singing professionally in the 1950s, with the Cuban Brothers, the Manhattan Brothers, an all-woman group, the Skylarks, performing a mixture of jazz, traditional African melodies, Western popular music. In 1959, Makeba had a brief role in the anti-apartheid film Come Back, which brought her international attention, led to her performing in Venice and New York City. In London, she met the American singer Harry Belafonte, who became a colleague.
She moved to New York City, where she became popular, recorded her first solo album in 1960. Her attempt to return to South Africa that year for her mother's funeral was prevented by the country's government. Makeba's career flourished in the United States, she released several albums and songs, her most popular being "Pata Pata". Along with Belafonte she received a Grammy Award for her 1965 album An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba, she testified against the South African government at the United Nations and became involved in the civil rights movement. She married Stokely Carmichael, a leader of the Black Panther Party, in 1968; as a result, she lost support among white Americans and faced hostility from the US government, leading her and Carmichael to move to Guinea. She continued to perform in African countries, including at several independence celebrations, she began to perform music more explicitly critical of apartheid. After apartheid was dismantled in 1990, Makeba returned to South Africa.
She continued recording and performing, including a 1991 album with Nina Simone and Dizzy Gillespie, appeared in the 1992 film Sarafina!. She was named a UN goodwill ambassador in 1999, campaigned for humanitarian causes, she died of a heart attack during a 2008 concert in Italy. Makeba was among the first African musicians to receive worldwide recognition, she brought African music to a Western audience, popularized the world music and Afropop genres. She made popular several songs critical of apartheid, became a symbol of opposition to the system after her right to return was revoked. Upon her death, former South African President Nelson Mandela said that "her music inspired a powerful sense of hope in all of us." Zenzile Miriam Makeba was born on 4 March 1932 in the black township near Johannesburg. Her Swazi mother, Christina Makeba, was a sangoma, or traditional healer, a domestic worker, her Xhosa father, Caswell Makeba, was a teacher. Makeba said that before she was conceived, her mother had been warned that any future pregnancy could be fatal.
Neither Miriam nor her mother seemed to survive after a difficult labour and delivery. Miriam's grandmother, who attended the birth muttered "uzenzile", a Xhosa word that means "you brought this on yourself", to Miriam's mother during her recovery, which inspired her to give her daughter the name "Zenzile"; when Makeba was eighteen days old, her mother was arrested and sentenced to a six-month prison term for selling umqombothi, a homemade beer brewed from malt and cornmeal. The family could not afford the small fine required to avoid a jail term, Miriam spent the first six months of her life in jail; as a child, Makeba sang in the choir of the Kilnerton Training Institute in Pretoria, an all-black Methodist primary school that she attended for eight years. Her talent for singing earned her praise at school. Makeba was baptised a Protestant, sang in church choirs, in English, Xhosa and Zulu; the family moved to the Transvaal. After her father's death, she was forced to find employment, she described herself as a shy person at the time.
Her mother worked for white families in Johannesburg, had to live away from her six children. Makeba lived for a large number of cousins in Pretoria. Makeba was influenced by her family's musical tastes, her father played the piano, his musical inclination was a factor in Makeba's family accepting what was seen as a risque choice of career. In 1949, Makeba married James Kubay, a policeman in training, with whom she had her only child, Bongi Makeba, in 1950. Makeba was diagnosed with breast cancer, her husband, said to have beaten her, left her shortly afterwards, after a two-year marriage. A decade she overcame cervical cancer via a hysterectomy. Makeba began her professional musical career with the Cuban Brothers, a South African all-male close harmony group, with whom she sang covers of popular American songs. Soon afterwards, at the age of 21, she joined a jazz group, the Manhattan Brothers, who sang a mixture of South African songs and pieces from popular African-American groups. Makeba was the only wo
