1.
Bristol
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Bristol is a city and county in South West England with a population of 449,300 in 2016. The district has the 10th largest population in England, while the Bristol metropolitan area is the 12th largest in the United Kingdom, the city borders North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, with the cities of Bath and Gloucester to the south-east and north-east, respectively. Iron Age hill forts and Roman villas were built near the confluence of the rivers Frome and Avon, Bristol received a royal charter in 1155 and was historically divided between Gloucestershire and Somerset until 1373, when it became a county of itself. From the 13th to the 18th century, Bristol was among the top three English cities after London in tax receipts, Bristol was surpassed by the rapid rise of Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham in the Industrial Revolution. Bristol was a place for early voyages of exploration to the New World. On a ship out of Bristol in 1497 John Cabot, a Venetian, in 1499 William Weston, a Bristol merchant, was the first Englishman to lead an exploration to North America. At the height of the Bristol slave trade, from 1700 to 1807, the Port of Bristol has since moved from Bristol Harbour in the city centre to the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth and Royal Portbury Dock. Bristols modern economy is built on the media, electronics and aerospace industries. The city has the largest circulating community currency in the U. K. - the Bristol pound, which is pegged to the Pound sterling. It is connected to London and other major UK cities by road, rail, sea and air by the M5 and M4, Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway mainline rail stations, and Bristol Airport. The Sunday Times named it as the best city in Britain in which to live in 2014 and 2017, the most ancient recorded name for Bristol is the archaic Welsh Caer Odor, which is consistent with modern understanding that early Bristol developed between the River Frome and Avon Gorge. It is most commonly stated that the Saxon name Bricstow was a calque of the existing Celtic name, with Bric a literal translation of Odor. Alternative etymologies are supported with the numerous variations in Medieval documents with Samuel Seyer enumerating 47 alternative forms. The Old English form Brycgstow is commonly used to derive the meaning place at the bridge, utilizing another form, Brastuile, Rev. Dr. Shaw derived the name from the Celtic words bras, or braos and tuile. The poet Thomas Chatterton popularised a derivation from Brictricstow linking the town to Brictric and it appears that the form Bricstow prevailed until 1204, and the Bristolian L is what eventually changed the name to Bristol. Iron Age hill forts near the city are at Leigh Woods and Clifton Down, on the side of the Avon Gorge, a Roman settlement, Abona, existed at what is now Sea Mills, another was at the present-day Inns Court. Isolated Roman villas and small forts and settlements were scattered throughout the area. Bristol was founded by 1000, by about 1020, it was a centre with a mint producing silver pennies bearing its name
2.
Alternative rock
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Alternative rock is a genre of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s and 2000s. In this instance, the word refers to the genres distinction from mainstream rock music. The terms original meaning was broader, referring to a generation of musicians unified by their debt to either the musical style or simply the independent. Ethos of punk rock, which in the late 1970s laid the groundwork for alternative music, Alternative rock is a broad umbrella term consisting of music that differs greatly in terms of its sound, its social context, and its regional roots. Most of these subgenres had achieved minor mainstream notice and a few bands representing them, such as Hüsker Dü, with the breakthrough of Nirvana and the popularity of the grunge and Britpop movements in the 1990s, alternative rock entered the musical mainstream and many alternative bands became successful. By the end of the decade, alternative rocks mainstream prominence declined due to a number of events that caused grunge and Britpop to fade, emo attracted attention in the larger alternative rock world, and the term was applied to a variety of artists, including multi-platinum acts. Post-punk revival artists such as Modest Mouse and The Killers had commercial success in the early, before the term alternative rock came into common usage around 1990, the sort of music to which it refers was known by a variety of terms. In 1979, Terry Tolkin used the term Alternative Music to describe the groups he was writing about, in 1979 Dallas radio station KZEW had a late night new wave show entitled Rock and Roll Alternative. College rock was used in the United States to describe the music during the 1980s due to its links to the radio circuit. In the United Kingdom, dozens of small do it yourself record labels emerged as a result of the punk subculture, according to the founder of one of these labels, Cherry Red, NME and Sounds magazines published charts based on small record stores called Alternative Charts. The first national chart based on distribution called the Indie Chart was published in January 1980, at the time, the term indie was used literally to describe independently distributed records. By 1985, indie had come to mean a particular genre, or group of subgenres, at first the term referred to intentionally non–mainstream rock acts that were not influenced by heavy metal ballads, rarefied new wave and high-energy dance anthems. The use of alternative gained further exposure due to the success of Lollapalooza, for which festival founder, in the late 1990s, the definition again became more specific. Defining music as alternative is often difficult because of two conflicting applications of the word, the name alternative rock essentially serves as an umbrella term for underground music that has emerged in the wake of punk rock since the mid-1980s. Alternative bands during the 1980s generally played in clubs, recorded for indie labels. Sounds range from the gloomy soundscapes of gothic rock to the guitars of indie pop to the dirty guitars of grunge to the 1960s/1970s revivalism of Britpop. This approach to lyrics developed as a reflection of the social and economic strains in the United States and United Kingdom of the 1980s, by 1984, a majority of groups signed to independent record labels mined from a variety of rock and particularly 1960s rock influences. This represented a break from the futuristic, hyper-rational post-punk years
3.
Gothic rock
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Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the ties they had to the English punk rock. Proto-gothic bands include Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, Bauhaus, the genre itself was defined as a separate movement from post-punk due to its darker music accompanied by introspective and romantic lyrics. Gothic rock then gave rise to a subculture that included clubs, fashion. Reynolds described the style as consisting of deep, droning alloys of Jim Morrison. Siouxsie and the Banshees tended to use flanging guitar effects, producing a brittle, cold, several acts used drum machines downplaying the rhythms backbeat. Gothic rock typically deals with dark themes addressed through lyrics and the musics atmosphere, the poetic sensibilities of the genre led gothic rock lyrics to exhibit literary romanticism, morbidity, existentialism, religious symbolism or supernatural mysticism. Musicians who initially shaped the aesthetics and musical conventions of gothic rock include Marc Bolan, the Velvet Underground, the Doors, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, journalist Kurt Loder would write that the song All Tomorrows Parties by the Velvet Underground is a mesmerizing gothic-rock masterpiece. However, Reynolds considers Alice Cooper as the true ungodly godfather of goth due to his theatrics, Nicos 1969 album The Marble Index is sometimes described as the first Goth album. With its stark sound, somber lyrics, and Nicos deliberate change in her look, J. G. Ballard was a strong lyrical influence for many of the early gothic rock groups, the Birthday Party drew on Arthur Rimbaud and Charles Baudelaire. In 1976, Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice was published, the main character, although dark, wanted companionship and love. The book, according to music journalist Dave Thompson, slowly created an audience for gothic rock by word of mouth, the same year saw the punk rock band the Damned debut. The groups vocalist, Dave Vanian, was a gravedigger who dressed like a vampire. Critic John Stickney used the gothic rock to describe the music of the Doors in October 1967. Stickney wrote that the band met the journalists in the gloomy vaulted wine cellar of the Delmonico hotel, the author noted that contrary to the pleasant, amusing hippies, there was violence in their music and a dark atmosphere on stage during their concerts. In the late 1970s, the gothic was used to describe the atmosphere of post-punk bands like Siouxsie. In March 1979, Kent used the adjective in his review of Magazines second album. Kent noted that there was a new sense of authority to their music
4.
Indie rock
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Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United States and the United Kingdom in the 1980s. Originally used to independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produced and was initially used interchangeably with alternative rock. In the mid-1980s, the term began to be used to describe the music produced on punk and post-punk labels. Some prominent indie rock record labels were founded during the 1980s, during the 1990s, Grunge bands broke into the mainstream, and the term alternative lost its original counter-cultural meaning. The term indie rock became associated with the bands and genres that remained dedicated to their independent status, by the end of the 1990s indie rock developed subgenres and related styles including lo-fi, noise pop, emo, slowcore, post-rock and math rock. In the 2000s, changes in the industry and in music technology enabled a new wave of indie rock bands to achieve mainstream success. In the early 2000s, a new group of bands played a stripped-down. The commercial breakthrough from these scenes was led by four bands, The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Hives, emo also broke into mainstream culture in the early 2000s. By the end of the 2000s the proliferation of bands was being referred to as indie landfill. The term indie rock, which comes from independent, describes the small and relatively low-budget labels on which it is released, the influences and styles of the artists have been extremely diverse, including punk, psychedelia, post-punk and country. Allmusic identifies indie rock as including a number of varying musical approaches compatible with mainstream tastes, in fact, there is an everlasting list of genres and subgenres of indie rock. Many countries have developed a local indie scene, flourishing with bands with enough popularity to survive inside the respective country. However, there are still indie bands that start off locally, Indie rock has been identified as a reaction against the macho culture that developed in alternative rock in the aftermath of Nirvanas success. However, Cortney Harding pointed out that this sense of equality is not reflected in the number of women running indie labels. The BBC documentary Music for Misfits, The Story of Indie pinpoints the birth of indie as the 1977 self-publication of the Spiral Scratch EP by Manchester band Buzzcocks, Indie pop and indie were originally synonymous. In the mid-1980s, indie began to be used to describe the music produced on post-punk labels rather than the labels themselves. The indie rock scene in the US was prefigured by the rock that dominated college radio playlists. In the United States, the term was associated with the abrasive, distortion-heavy sounds of the Pixies, Hüsker Dü, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Dinosaur Jr
5.
Cleopatra Records
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Cleopatra Records is an American, Los Angeles-based independent record label, founded in 1992 by entrepreneur and music fan Brian Perera. Most recently, Hypnotic has been the home of Blackburner, hip hop acts have also found a home at Cleopatra Records on the X-Ray imprint, which has released albums by SX-10, KRS-One, Westside Connection, and DMX. X-Ray Records achieved a first for Perera and the Cleopatra family in 2005 when its release Its Not a Game by Layzie Bone landed on the Billboard 200. In recent years, the Cleopatra label group has expanded in a variety of directions, working with Sly Stone and William Shatner. Blackburner has been releasing new music at a fast clip, most recently earning the top spot on Beatport’s Dubstep chart for the song “Drop Bass Not Bombs” from the album of the same name. Cleopatra, expanding its interest in punk, acquired the catalog of releases by New Red Archives. The Vibrators released their newest album Punk Mania - Back To The Roots on Cleopatra in late 2014, Cleopatra also released rare and previously unreleased recordings in 2014 by GBH, The Dickies, & The Gun Club amongst others. The label acquired the complete Wax Trax, recordings of Al Jourgensen, including several unreleased Ministry songs as well as albums by Revolting Cocks,1000 Homo DJs, PTP, Pailhead, and Acid Horse. A 7-CD box set of recordings was released in April 2015. Meanwhile, Cleopatra has continued to work with established artists such as Missing Persons’ Dale Bozzio, Thor, The Oak Ridge Boys, Shuggie Otis, Cleopatra owner Brian Perera has also been known as a champion of Hawkwind. Cleopatra released the album by original Hawkwind guitarist Huw Lloyd-Langton. The label is again working with another Hawkwind alum Nik Turner and his album Space Gypsy was released in September 2013. Finally, Cleopatra has another film project currently in development, a sequel to the 2012 horror musical The Devils Carnival, the sequel, entitled The Devils Carnival, Alleluia, will star Paul Sorvino and David Hasselhoff. In 2013, Eli Cook signed a contract with Cleopatra Records. The album was co-produced by Cook, Cleopatra Films is the film division of long time L. A. -based indie label Cleopatra Records, most known for promoting dark and experimental music. Beginning in 2015, the company has distributed, developed, the company has focused primarily on the home video market through partnerships with NY-based film distributor The Orchard as well as AMPED Music Distribution, and MVD Entertainment Group. However, recent projects have shown that the company is capable of theatrical distribution as well, Cleopatra Films officially began in 2015 with the U. S. release of the documentary/concert film about German heavy metal band Scorpions called Forever And A Day. This was followed in August of the year by the company’s first major production
6.
Sony Music
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Sony Music Entertainment is an American music company owned by Sony. It is incorporated as a partnership of Sony Music Holdings Inc. through Sony Entertainment. The company was first founded in 1929 as American Record Corporation and renamed Columbia Recording Corporation in 1938, in 1966, the company was reorganized to become CBS Records. Sony Corporation bought the company in 1987 and renamed it Sony Music Entertainment in 1991, the buyout led to the dissolution of BMG, which relaunched as BMG Rights Management. Sony Music Entertainment is one of the Big Three record companies, being the second largest after Universal Music Group, in 1929, ARC was founded through a merger of several record companies. In 1934, in the midst of Great Depression, the Columbia Phonograph Company, ARC was acquired in 1938 by the Columbia Broadcasting System, which, in turn, had been formed by the Columbia Phonograph Company, but then sold off. ARC was renamed Columbia Recording Corporation, RCA Victor Records executive Ted Wallerstein convinced CBS head William S. Paley to buy ARC and Paley made Wallerstein head of the newly acquired record company. The renamed company made Columbia its flagship label and Okeh its subsidiary label and this allowed ARCs leased labels Brunswick Records and Vocalion Records to revert to their former owner Warner Bros. which sold them to Decca Records. Columbia kept the Brunswick catalogue recorded from December 1931 onward on the Columbia label and he was succeeded by James Conkling as head of Columbia Records. In 1951, Columbia severed its ties with the EMI-owned record label of the same name, Okeh Records continued to be distributed by EMI on the Columbia label. Columbia founded Epic Records in 1953 and in 1956, Conkling left Columbia and he would help establish the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences before eventually becoming the first president of the newly launched Warner Bros. His successor, Goddard Lieberson began the first of two stints as head of the record company, and in 1958, Columbia founded another label, Date Records, which initially issued rockabilly music. In 1960, Columbia/CBS began negotiations with its international distributor Philips Records with the goal of starting its own global record company. Philips acquisition of US-based Mercury Records in 1961 paved the way for this, elsewhere, CBSs Mexican record company, Discos Columbia, was renamed Discos CBS by 1963. In 1964, Columbia set out acquiring record companies in countries for its CBS Records International Unit. EMI continued to distribute Epic and Okeh label material on the Columbia label in the UK until the deal with EMI expired in 1968 when CBS took over distribution. In late 1965, the Date subsidiary label was revived and this label released the first string of hits for Peaches & Herb and scored a few minor hits from various other artists. Dates biggest success was Time of the Season by the Zombies, the label was discontinued in 1970
7.
The Mission (band)
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The Mission are an English gothic rock band formed in 1986. Initially known as The Sisterhood, the band was started by frontman Wayne Hussey and bassist Craig Adams, soon adding drummer Mick Brown, aside from Hussey, the line-up has changed several times during the years and the band has been on hiatus twice. The bands catalogue consists of ten albums with several complementing albums, compilations. After an aborted recording session with Andrew Eldritch in the summer of 1985, Wayne Hussey, based in Leeds, the duo continued to work on various musical ideas and recorded them over the autumn. Dismissing the use of a drum-machine, Adams and Hussey asked Mick Brown to help out with the sessions, by the end of the year, he had joined the band on a permanent basis. With Hussey as both the frontman and principal songwriter, the trio required a second guitarist to facilitate a live set-up and they eventually recruited Simon Hinkler who also contributed keyboards and thus completed the four-piece. The name The Sisterhood was chosen with a nod to past, the new name quickly became a point of discussion in the English music-press, giving the four-piece significant amount of publicity. As The Sisterhood the band made their live-debut on January 20,1986 at the Alice in Wonderland, while the band were on tour as support to the Cult around Europe, Eldritch released a single as The Sisterhood. Back in England, Hinkler was briefly dismissed and reinstated for three UK dates where the band revealed their new name, The Mission, although Hussey and Adams were still under contract with WEA, manager Tony Perrin prepared their material for a release. In May the EP I appeared on the Chapter 22 label as the Expedition I tour took the band around Europe, two months later, II was released on the same label and supported by a number of festival slots that culminated in an appearance on the Reading Festival. Hussey and Adams were released from their WEA contracts and the signed a seven-album deal with Phonogram in July 1986. Their debut Gods Own Medicine was then recorded in six weeks with novice producer Tim Palmer, in October the single III was released, preceding the album that appeared the next month. The band set out on a three-month World Crusade I UK/European tour and they also appeared on British television a number of times and recorded a session for BBC radio. The single IV charted at #11 in January 1987, the World Crusade II tour brought the band to North America, where they were known as The Mission UK. The 41-date trek was characterised by substance abuse and led to the collapse of an inebriated Craig Adams in Los Angeles, in March 1987, the single V with a guest vocal from Julianne Regan was released. Back in England, Adams returned to the band to play a handful of European festivals, a live video entitled Crusade was released, capturing the band and their noisy audience at the early stage of their career. It coincided with the release of The First Chapter in June 1987, in the summer of 1987, Hussey spent some time writing new material that was first aired during the bands headlining slot at the Reading Festival. The Mission enlisted the help of John Paul Jones to produce their second album Children, in October of the same year, Hussey became a father to a girl named Hannah, an event that inspired much of the lyrical content
8.
The Sisters of Mercy
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The Sisters of Mercy are an English rock band, formed in 1980 in Leeds. Currently, the band is a touring outfit only, the group has released three original studio albums, of which the last was released in 1990. Each album was recorded by a different line-up, singer-songwriter Andrew Eldritch, Eldritch and Avalanche were also involved in the Sisterhood, a side-project connected with Eldritchs dispute with former members. The group ceased recording activity in 1993, when they went on strike against their record company Time Warner, although Time Warner released them from their contract in 1997, they have not signed to another label, despite showcasing numerous new songs in their live sets. Since 1985, when the original members left, the Sisters of Mercy has become the artistic vehicle of Eldritch. Former members of the established the bands Ghost Dance and the Mission. The Sisters of Mercy were formed in Leeds, England, in 1980 by two regulars of the F-club punk night—Gary Marx and Andrew Eldritch—to satisfy their desire to hear themselves on the radio. During this time band a single, Damage Done/Watch/Home of the Hit-men, was recorded and released, the name was influenced by Robert Altmans film McCabe & Mrs. Miller, which featured the Leonard Cohen song Sisters of Mercy —because the Captains of Industry wouldnt have been as funny. On the single Marx played guitar through an amplifier and Eldritch was on drums that he had bought from John Langford. The duo each wrote and sang on a song, Eldritch on Damage Done, the band regrouped with Craig Adams on bass, while Eldritchs drumming was replaced by a drum machine, leaving him to concentrate on vocals. The drum machine was christened Doktor Avalanche, and all of its numerous successors kept this moniker, Eldritch took over lyrics-writing, Doktor-programming, and record-producing duties, while co-writing the music with Marx and Adams. This became what is recognised as the first real Sisters line-up. It began with the Doktor/Eldritch/Marx/Adams incarnation of the playing a gig in the Riley Smith Hall of the Leeds University Union building in early 1980. Later in 1981, Ben Gunn was recruited as the Sisters second guitarist, Eldritchs melancholic baritone, Craig Adamss pulsating bass, Doktor Avalanches beat and Marxs flowing guitar led the band to early underground success. In 1982, the band recorded the The Body Electric b/w Adrenochrome single for the CNT label, the bands singles were regularly featured in UK independent charts, some became single of the week in various UK indie magazines. John Ashton of the Psychedelic Furs produced the early classic Alice, the Reptile House E. P. is another example of early Sisters work and marks the maturing songwriter Eldritch. Their live performances featured many versions, among those, a medley consisting of Sister Ray, Ghostrider. Only four of them, the Stooges 1969, the Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter, Hot Chocolates Emma, in late 1983, following the highly successful Temple of Love single, the band signed a contract with major record label WEA
9.
Pauline Murray
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Pauline Murray is best known as the lead singer of the punk rock band Penetration, originally formed in 1976. Pauline Murray was born in Waterhouses, County Durham, England and she left school at age sixteen, studied art at Darlington College and then worked at odd jobs. In May 1976 the 18-year-old Murray saw the Sex Pistols perform, in late 1976, Murray formed a band with friends Robert Blamire and Gary Smallman and named it after the Stooges song Penetration. They played their first gig in October 1976 at the Middlesbrough Rock Garden, the band debuted on vinyl with the single Dont Dictate, issued by Virgin in November of the same year. The band went on to two studio albums, Moving Targets and Coming Up for Air, as well as an official bootleg. Later there would be a Best of Penetration compilation album, after a measure of success during 1978/79, including a headline show at the Rainbow Theatre and a five-week American tour, they announced a split in October 1979. Penetration played a number of gigs around London in 2001-2002, leading to a band reunion, in 2015 the band announced they would release Resolution, a new studio album. John Maher from Buzzcocks also drummed for the band, the resulting album, Pauline Murray and The Invisible Girls, reached Number 25 on the UK Albums Chart in October 1980 and spawned the singles Dream Sequence and Mr. X. The album was received by critics. A reviewer for Melody Maker called it, Unquestionably a musical highpoint of this year or any other, an exciting new area of electronic pop where Motown meets the modern world. Murray also provided vocals for The Only Ones on their song Fools and backing vocals on Me, in 1989 Murray released the EP This Thing Called Love and the album Storm Clouds under her own name. In 2011 Murray established Polestar Studios with Robert Blamire in Byker where bands can rent out rehearsal, in 2013 she booked a number of solo acoustic dates around the North End in the UK. She said about the gigs, This is the first time in my career that I’ve done a solo set with just me. During the tour, she played a number of songs from her career. Murray was married to Peter Lloyd, Penetrations road manager, and she and Robert Blamire then became a couple and moved together to Liverpool. All UK releases except as noted
10.
Dead or Alive (band)
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Dead or Alive were an English pop band, formed in 1979 in Liverpool. The band found success in the 1980s and had seven Top 40 UK singles and they were the first band to have a number one single under the production team of Stock Aitken Waterman. Two of the singles reached the U. S. Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, You Spin Me Round No.11 in 1985 and you Spin Me Round peaked at number one in 1985 in the UK, then charted again in 2003 and 2006 following Burns appearance on the television reality show Celebrity Big Brother. The latter also became the first of two singles to top the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, in December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked them as the 96th most successful dance artist of all-time. The band was discontinued with Pete Burns death in 2016, in 1977 Burns formed a band with contemporaries Julian Cope, Pete Wylie, and Phil Hurst, calling themselves The Mystery Girls. They played only one gig before disintegrating, although signed to the Erics Records label, their only release, a three-track 7 EP entitled Birth of a Nation, appeared in March 1980 on Inevitable Records. A 12-inch single featuring two of the tracks from the EP, Black Leather and Shangri-La, was released in 1985, the EP featured Black Leather, which halfway through turned into K. C. & the Sunshine Bands Thats the Way. Ogden left the band at the beginning of November 1979 shortly before the recording of demos for the planned Inevitable Records release, bassist Ambrose Reynolds helped out on both these sessions and those for the EP a month later. Pete Lloyd joined in January 1980 and the returned to playing live shows early in February. Lloyd and Reid left the band in March 1980, and Hurst followed a month or so later, the band went through several different line-up changes over the next three years while recording a series of independent singles. Burns eccentric and androgynous appearance began attracting attention, often leading to comparisons with Culture Club, Dead or Alives singles started charting on the UK Indie Chart, beginning with 1982s The Stranger reaching No.7 on that chart. This prompted major label Epic Records to sign the band in 1983 and their first release for Epic was the single Misty Circles, which appeared at No.100 on the major UK Singles Chart in 1983. At this point, the band was a five-piece consisting of Burns, Mike Percy, Tim Lever, Steve Coy, two more singles, What I Want and Id Do Anything, attracted club play, but mainstream success continued to elude the band. Dead Or Alives debut album, Sophisticated Boom Boom, was released in May 1984 and featured their first Top 40 UK single, Thats the Way, a remake of the 1975 hit by KC, Hussey departed Dead or Alive just before the albums release. The single peaked at No.22 in the UK and the album at No.29, the single You Spin Me Round went to number one on the UK singles chart after having lingered outside the Top 40 for over two months. The song also hit No.11 in the US and No.1 in Canada, other album tracks released as singles included Lover Come Back To Me, In Too Deep, and My Heart Goes Bang. They all reached the UK Top 30, in late 1986, Dead or Alive released their third album, Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know, also produced by SAW
11.
Marc Bolan
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Marc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, musician, guitarist, and poet. He was best known as the singer of the glam rock band T. Rex. Bolan was one of the first pioneers of the rock movement of the 1970s. He died at age 29 in a car accident in September 1977, Bolan grew up in Stoke Newington Common, in the borough of Hackney, east London, the son of Phyllis Winifred and Simeon Feld, a lorry driver. His father was an Ashkenazi Jew of Russian/Polish extraction, later moving to Wimbledon, southwest London, he fell in love with the rock and roll of Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Arthur Crudup and Chuck Berry and hung around coffee bars such as the 2is in Soho. He was a pupil at Northwold Primary School, Upper Clapton and he appeared as an extra in an episode of the television show Orlando, dressed as a mod. At the age of nine, Bolan was given his first guitar, while at school, he played guitar in Susie and the Hula Hoops, a trio whose vocalist was a 12-year-old Helen Shapiro. During lunch breaks at school, he would play his guitar in the playground to an audience of friends. At 15, he was expelled from school for bad behaviour and he briefly joined a modelling agency and became a John Temple Boy, appearing in a clothing catalogue for the menswear store. He was a model for the suits in their catalogues as well as for cardboard cut-outs to be displayed in shop windows, town magazine featured him as an early example of the mod movement in a photo spread with two other models. This recording is now regarded as possibly the very first known track that the young Mark had put to professional studio tape, There are, however, claims that Marc’s very first recording was with Joe Meek. This is based on a scratchy anonymous acetate disc discovered by the Joe Meek fan club and this recording, a song called Mrs Jones, is thought to date from 1963. Mark Feld then changed his stage-name to Toby Tyler when he met and moved in with child actor Allan Warren, who became his second manager. This encounter afforded Bolan a lifeline to the heart of show business, Bolan at this time liked to appear in boho-chic, wearing a corduroy peaked cap similar to his current source of inspiration, Bob Dylan. A series of photographs was commissioned with photographer Michael McGrath, although he recalls that Bolan left no impression on him at the time, Warren also hired a recording studio and had Bolans first acetates cut. Two tracks were released, the Bob Dylan song Blowin in the Wind. A version of Betty Everetts Youre No Good was later submitted to EMI for a test screening but was turned down, a year or so later, Bolans mother pushed into Kirchs office and shouted at him that he had done nothing for her son. She demanded he tear up the contract and willingly he complied, the tapes of the first two tracks produced during the Toby Tyler recording session vanished for over 25 years before resurfacing in 1991 and selling for nearly $8,000
12.
T. Rex (band)
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Rex were an English rock band, formed in 1967 by singer-songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan. The band was initially called Tyrannosaurus Rex, and released four psychedelic folk albums under this name, in 1969, Bolan began to shift from the bands early acoustic sound to an electric one. The following year, he shortened their name to T. Rex, the 1970 release of the single Ride a White Swan marked the culmination of this development, and the group soon became a commercial success as part of the emerging glam rock scene. Rex encountered a popularity in the UK comparable to that of the Beatles, One of the most prominent acts in British popular culture, they scored four UK number one hits, Hot Love, Get It On, Telegram Sam and Metal Guru. The bands 1971 album Electric Warrior received critical acclaim as a glam rock album. It reached number 1 in the UK, the 1972 follow-up, The Slider, entered the top 20 in the US. Following the release of 20th Century Boy in 1973, which reached three in the UK, T. Rex began to experience less success but continued recording one album per year. In 1977, Bolan died in a car accident several months after releasing their studio album Dandy in the Underworld. Rex have continued to exert a vast influence on a variety of subsequent artists, Marc Bolan founded Tyrannosaurus Rex in August 1967, following a handful of failed solo singles and a brief career as lead guitarist in psych-rock band Johns Children. After a disastrous solitary performance as a four-piece at the Electric Garden in Londons Covent Garden, BBC Radio One Disc jockey John Peel championed the band early in their recording career. Peel later appeared on record with them, reading stories written by Bolan, another key collaborator was producer Tony Visconti, who went on to produce the bands albums well into their second, glam rock phase. The band became regulars on Peel Sessions on BBC radio, by 1969 there was a rift developing between the two halves of Tyrannosaurus Rex. Bolan and his girlfriend June Child were living a life, Bolan working on his book of poetry entitled The Warlock Of Love and concentrating on his songs. Took, however, had embraced the anti-commercial, drug-taking ethos of the UK Underground scene centred around Ladbroke Grove. Took was also attracted to anarchistic elements such as Mick Farren/Deviants and members of the Pink Fairies Rock n Roll, in response to Bolans rebuff, Took contributed two songs as well as vocals and percussion to Twinks Think Pink album. Bolans relationship with Took ended after this, although they were obliged to go through with a US tour which was doomed before it began. Poorly promoted and planned, the duo were overshadowed by the loud electric acts they were billed with
13.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a Christian restorationist church that is considered by its members to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has established congregations, according to the church, it has over 70,000 missionaries and a membership of over 15 million. It is ranked by the National Council of Churches as the fourth-largest Christian denomination in the United States and it is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith during the period of religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening. Adherents, often referred to as Latter-day Saints, or, less formally, Mormons, view faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement as fundamental principles of their religion. The church has a canon which includes four scriptural texts, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants. The current president is Thomas S. Monson, individual members of the church believe that they can also receive personal revelation from God in conducting their lives. The president heads a hierarchical structure with various levels reaching down to local congregations, Bishops, drawn from the laity, lead local congregations. Male members, after reaching age 12, may be ordained to the priesthood, Women do not hold positions within the priesthood, but do occupy leadership roles in some church auxiliary organizations. Both men and women may serve as missionaries, and the church maintains a large missionary program which proselytizes, faithful members adhere to church laws of sexual purity, health, fasting, and Sabbath observance, and contribute ten percent of their income to the church in tithing. The LDS Church was formally organized by Joseph Smith on April 6,1830, Smith intended to establish the New Jerusalem in North America, called Zion. In 1831, the moved to Kirtland, Ohio, and began establishing an outpost in Jackson County, Missouri. However, in 1833, Missouri settlers brutally expelled the Latter Day Saints from Jackson County, the Kirtland era ended in 1838, after a financial scandal rocked the church and caused widespread defections. Smith regrouped with the church in Far West, Missouri. Believing the Saints to be in insurrection, the Missouri governor ordered that the Saints be exterminated or driven from the State, in 1839, the Saints converted a swampland on the banks of the Mississippi River into Nauvoo, Illinois, which became the churchs new headquarters. Nauvoo grew rapidly as missionaries sent to Europe and elsewhere gained new converts who then flooded into Nauvoo, meanwhile, Smith introduced polygamy to his closest associates. He also established ceremonies, which he stated the Lord had revealed to him, to allow people to become gods in the afterlife. He also introduced the church to an accounting of his First Vision. This vision would come to be regarded by the LDS Church as the most important event in history since the resurrection of Jesus
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Mission (LDS Church)
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A mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a geographical administrative area to which church missionaries are assigned. Almost all areas of the world are within the boundaries of an LDS Church mission, as of July 2015, there are 418 missions of the LDS Church. Geographically, a mission may be a city, a city and surrounding areas, typically, the name of the mission is the name of the country, and then the name of the city where the mission headquarters office is located. New missionaries receive a formal mission call, assigning them to a mission for the duration of their two years or eighteen months of service. Each mission has, on average, about 150 missionaries serving there, see main article, Mission president All missionaries serve in a mission under the direction of a mission president, who, like individual missionaries, is assigned by the LDS Church president. The mission president must be a high priest in the Melchizedek Priesthood. In 2013 the mission presidents wife was given leadership roles in the mission. Mission presidents are typically in their forties or older, and usually have the means to devote themselves full-time to the responsibility for three consecutive years. The church provides mission presidents with a living allowance but it normally requires them to supplement it with their own funds. Often, the president must learn the local language spoken in the mission. The mission president has at least two counselors, who are Latter-day Saints usually from the area who keep their regular employment. The role of the counselors varies by mission, but they serve as liaisons between the mission and the local membership of the church. In some areas where the church is newer senior men who are serving full-time missions along with their wives may be called as counselors in the mission presidency, like other units of the church, a leadership council is used to assist in governance of the mission. Prior to April 2013, this was called a zone leader council, consisting of the mission president, assistants to the mission president. Missions are organized in two parallel structures, the first is the organization of the missionaries. There are two or more missionaries who serve as assistants to the president, the missionaries are divided into zones, each led by one or more missionaries assigned as zone leaders. The zones may be large or small depending on the mission. The number of missionaries in a zone also varies widely, the zones are divided into districts, each being led by a missionary assigned as a district leader
15.
Liverpool
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Liverpool is a major city and metropolitan borough in North West England.24 million people in 2011. Liverpool historically lay within the ancient hundred of West Derby in the south west of the county of Lancashire and it became a borough from 1207 and a city from 1880. In 1889 it became a county borough independent of Lancashire, Liverpool sits on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary and its growth as a major port is paralleled by the expansion of the city throughout the Industrial Revolution. Along with general cargo, freight, raw materials such as coal and cotton, the city was also directly involved in the Atlantic slave trade. Liverpool was home to both the Cunard and White Star Line, and was the port of registry of the ocean liner RMS Titanic and others such as the RMS Lusitania, Queen Mary, and Olympic. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held the European Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway, several areas of Liverpool city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 2004. The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City includes the Pier Head, Albert Dock, tourism forms a significant part of the citys economy. Liverpool is also the home of two Premier League football clubs, Liverpool and Everton, matches between the two being known as the Merseyside derby, the world-famous Grand National horse race takes place annually at Aintree Racecourse on the outskirts of the city. The city is home to the oldest Black African community in the country. Natives of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians and colloquially as Scousers, a reference to scouse, the word Scouse has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect. Pool is a place name element in England from the Brythonic word for a pond, inlet, or pit, cognate with the modern Welsh. The derivation of the first element remains uncertain, with the Welsh word Llif as the most plausible relative and this etymology is supported by its similarity to that of the archaic Welsh name for Liverpool Llynlleifiad. Other origins of the name have suggested, including elverpool. The name appeared in 1190 as Liuerpul, and it may be that the place appearing as Leyrpole, in a record of 1418. King Johns letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, the original street plan of Liverpool is said to have been designed by King John near the same time it was granted a royal charter, making it a borough. The original seven streets were laid out in an H shape, Bank Street, Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street, Moor Street, in the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, in 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. Since Roman times, the city of Chester on the River Dee had been the regions principal port on the Irish Sea
16.
Eric's Club
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Erics Club was a music club in Liverpool, England. The club was started by Roger Eagle and Ken Testi and joined later by Pete Fulwell, Erics was a membership only venue whereby members had to buy a yearly membership to enter the club. The club lasted until March 1980 when it was raided by police for drug offences, the final acts that night where The Psychedelic Furs supported by Wah. Heats performance was recorded for a John Peel session, and the poem The Last Night of Erics was penned by Rob Jones, later the club reopened as Bradys, to last some 12 months before closing. The clubs main entrance was situated below of the Beatles Mural sculpture on Mathew Street. In October 2011, a new venue called ‘Erics Live’ was opened by a local Liverpool business person, although occupying the same location, the new owner and venue have no connection with the original club. The venture, and use of the name and logo, was condemned by an owner and many members of the original club. The venue reopened once again shortly after, this time under different ownership and it is still open to this day. A musical written by Mark Davies Markham and directed by Jamie Lloyd which ran at The Liverpool Everyman Theatre in September 2008, choreography, Ann Yee Music Director, Alan Williams Designer, Soutra Gilmour Sound Designer, Chris Full Lighting Designer, Jon Clark. Italian born rock photographer Francesco Mellina photographed the scene in Liverpool from 1978 to 1982. He was a contributor to music magazines such as NME. He temporally stopped taking photographs professionally when he became the manager of Nightmares in Wax who later became Dead or Alive and his collection has remained unseen for 30 years when in July 2008 he agreed to publish his work. His work was used in the publicity for Erics The Musical, a major exhibition of his work took place from May to August at the National Conservation Centre in Liverpool. A book consisting of interviews and research of the club
17.
Nightclub
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A nightclub is an entertainment venue and bar which serves alcoholic beverages that usually operates late into the night. Another distinction is that whereas many pubs and sports bars aim at a market, nightclubs typically aim at a niche market of music and dancing enthusiasts. The upmarket nature of nightclubs can be seen in the inclusion of VIP areas in some nightclubs, for celebrities, nightclubs are much more likely than pubs or sports bars to use bouncers to screen prospective clubgoers for entry. Some nightclub bouncers do not admit people with ripped jeans or other clothing or gang apparel as part of a dress code. The busiest nights for a nightclub are Friday and Saturday night, most clubs or club nights cater to certain music genres, such as house music or gothic rock. A nightclub may also be called a discothèque, disco, or dance club, from about 1900 to 1920, working class Americans would gather at honky tonks or juke joints to dance to music played on a piano or a jukebox. Webster Hall is credited as the first modern nightclub, being built in 1886 and starting off as a hall, originally functioning as a home for dance. During Prohibition in the United States, nightclubs went underground as illegal speakeasy bars, with Webster Hall staying open, with rumors circulating of Al Capones involvement and police bribery. With the repeal of Prohibition in February 1933, nightclubs were revived, such as New Yorks 21 Club, Copacabana, El Morocco, in Germany, possibly the first discothèque was Scotch-Club. These discothèques were also patronized by anti-Vichy youth called zazous, there were also underground discothèques in Nazi Germany patronized by anti-Nazi youth called the swing kids. In Harlem, Connies Inn and the Cotton Club were popular venues for white audiences, before 1953 and even some years thereafter, most bars and nightclubs used a jukebox or mostly live bands. The Whisky à Gogo set into place the elements of the modern post World War II discothèque-style nightclub. At the end of the 1950s, several of the bars in Soho introduced afternoon dancing. In the early 1960s, Mark Birley opened a members-only discothèque nightclub, Annabels, in Berkeley Square, in 1962, the Peppermint Lounge in New York City became popular and is the place where go-go dancing originated. However, the first rock and roll generation preferred rough and tumble bars and taverns to nightclubs, disco has its roots in the underground club scene. It brought together people from all walks of life and backgrounds and these clubs acted as safe havens for homosexual partygoers to dance in peace and away from public scrutiny. Disco allowed patrons to explore sexuality and push the envelope on the dance floor, disco clubs acted as an escape from such depressing environments and acted as the fantasy marginalized peoples could escape to forget oppression and racism. Disco clubs originally functioned as liberated party spaces and were seen as places of political statement, a smooth mix of long single records to keep people dancing all night long
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Pete Burns
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Peter Jozzeppi Pete Burns was an English singer-songwriter and television personality. He founded the pop band Dead or Alive in 1980, in which he was vocalist and songwriter, and he later rose to further celebrity status in the British media following his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother 4, in which he finished in fifth place. He appeared on television reality shows, including as a presenter. Burns had a singing voice and was known for his ever-changing, often androgynous appearance. Burns was born in Port Sunlight, Cheshire on 5 August 1959 and his mother, Evelina Maria Bettina Quittner von Hudec, was born in Heidelberg. As her father was Jewish, she moved to Vienna to escape the laws of the Nazis. There, she met an English soldier, Francis Burns, at a tea dance, Evelina Burns was 46 years old when she gave birth to Pete. Burns wrote of his childhood in his autobiography Freak Unique and he described his mothers alcoholism and her suicide attempts but maintained that she was absolutely the best mother in the world. Burns spoke German until he was five, which resulted in local children spending days outside his door shouting Heil Hitler, according to Burns, school was almost non-existent, and his mother frequently kept him away so he could spend the day with her. He dropped out of school at the age of 14 after being summoned to the office because he had arrived at school with no eyebrows, Harmony-red hair. At around this age he was raped by a man who took him for a drive, Burns later recalled that he wasnt upset by this and he stated that he already knew the man, who drove him to Raby Mere and threatened him with an air gun. While building his career, Burns worked at a Liverpool record shop, Probe Records, Burns was notorious for his maltreatment of customers, sometimes throwing their purchases at them because he disapproved of their selection. Burns first performed as a member of the short-lived Mystery Girls, Cope stated that Burnss performing style drew on that of the transgender punk performer Wayne County. In 1980, after replacing several members, Burns changed their name to Dead or Alive, after a minor hit in 1984 with a cover version of Thats the Way, the band had a number one hit in the UK in 1985 with You Spin Me Round. The song went on to become a hit all over the world, in December 2003, the BBC apologised to its viewers after Burns swore repeatedly on its pre-9pm watershed Liquid News show when asked about his views on the Michael Jackson trial. In January 2006, Burns appeared on Channel 4s Celebrity Big Brother 4, police subsequently confiscated the coat and tests were performed on it that revealed that it was not gorilla, but was made out of the fur of colobus monkeys. Burns appeared in the first episode of the series of the UK version of Celebrity Wife Swap. His partner Michael Simpson went to live with former page 3 model Leah Newman, while Burns lived with Newmans partner, Burns was featured in a documentary, with a medium, exploring his rough and harmful childhood
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Craig Adams (musician)
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Craig David Adams is an English musician, bass guitarist and songwriter. Over his career he has worked with a variety of bands while also being part of a touring crew. Brought up in Leeds, Adams left school to pursue a career in music and he initially played keyboards in a local band the Expelairs who released a handful of singles. He left the five-piece due to differences and took up bass. Inspired by Motörhead he began to channel his bass through distortion-effects, after a short conversation in a local bar with Andrew Eldritch he joined the Sisters of Mercy. Here Adams developed his abilities, contributing mainly to arrangements. When Adams and Hussey tired of the way that the Sisters of Mercy worked, they left, Adams recorded four albums with the band and two compilations. As one of the co-founders, Adams presence was pivotal in its success although his occasionally destructive behaviour brought a level of instability to the line-up. During the first tour of North America, Adams broke his hand while punching the window of the bus and was forced to return to the UK to recover, during the Deliverance tour of 1990 guitarist Simon Hinkler left, signalling the disintegration of the band. After the release of the 1992 album Masque, Adams was sacked, in the biographical book about The Mission, Names Are For Tombstones, Baby, it states that they were on good terms personally, but that they were going in opposite directions musically. Adams was recruited by Billy Duffy in 1993 to play bass with the Cult on a European tour, the two had first met when the Sisterhood, including Adams, had opened for the Cult throughout Europe in Jan/ Feb 1986. Adams stayed with the Cult to record the self-titled Cult album in 1994 with producer Bob Rock, and tour extensively throughout Europe and his time with the Cult ended when the group disbanded in Mar 1995. Adams collaborated with Duffy again in 1998, forming Coloursound with Duffy, Mike Peters, and Scott Garrett, Coloursound released one self-titled album in 1999, on Peters own 21st Century Records. Adams continued with Peters in several touring versions of the Alarm 1999-2005, in 2006, Adams was recruited by Kirk Brandon to join post-punk group Spear of Destiny, playing on several releases, including Imperial Prototype, Omega Point and 31. Adams has also contributed to Brandons other ongoing touring project, Theatre of Hate, in 2014, Adams collaborated with Cuban American dark cabaret singer Voltaire in his tenth album, Raised by Bats. In 2012 Adams released the album Demon King, produced by Mike Kelly, the Expelaires The Sisters of Mercy The Mission The Cult Coloursound with Mike Peters of the Alarm and Billy Duffy of the Cult The Alarm Spear of Destiny Theatre of Hate Allmusic profile
20.
Simon Hinkler
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Simon formed his first band, TV Product, while studying at Sheffield Polytechnic in 1978. The other members of the group were his housemate Tony Perrin, after many line-up changes Hinkler left the band to join Artery on keyboards. He was part of the line-up which recorded the groups most well known songs, including Into The Garden and this incarnation of the group started to disintegrate around this time, and Simon spent much of the next year mentoring the young Jarvis Cocker. He joined the 1982 lineup of Pulp and produced the bands first LP, It, playing bass, piano, guitar and mandolin, in late 1985 Wayne Hussey and Craig Adams left The Sisters Of Mercy and formed The Mission with Hinkler and drummer Mick Brown. In early 1986 they embarked on their first European tour, supporting The Cult and they released two singles independently, both reaching No.1 in the UK alternative charts, before signing a worldwide record deal with Phonogram. Their first single for the new label, Stay with Me, went straight into the UK chart at No.30 followed by their album, Gods Own Medicine. They continued to hit singles including anthemic classics such as Wasteland, Tower of Strength, Beyond the Pale, Deliverance. Total worldwide album sales to date have exceeded 3 million, when Wayne Hussey decided to disband The Mission permanently in 2008, after twenty-two years of activity, he invited Hinkler to join the then current lineup on tour. He played with the band for four nights in Germany before moving onto the four nights at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire. The performances were released on a critically acclaimed DVD as The Mission. It was not until 2005 that he released his first solo album, after living in New Mexico and New York City for more than a decade, Hinkler returned to England in 2009. This was, however, cancelled due to problems with the band, in December 2010 Wayne Hussey announced live shows featuring a reformation of the original line up of The Mission to celebrate the bands 25th anniversary. Initially two dates were announced for October 2011 at London O2, Brixton and O2, Leeds, however, in June 2011 Hussey announced extra tour dates in Europe in October and November 2011. In the early part of 2011 Hinkler played a series of guest support appearances with Anne-Marie Hurst, The March Violets, in October 2011 Hinkler performed once more with a reformed Mission. A new Mission album featuring Hinkler, Craig Adams and Hussey is said to be in the workings, in February 2012, The Eden House released their Timeflows EP which features Hinkler as a guest guitarist
21.
Mercury Records
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Mercury Records is an American-based record label owned by Universal Music Group. In the United States, it operates through Island Records, in the UK, Mercury Record Corporation was formed in the American city of Chicago in 1945 by Irving Green, Berle Adams, Ray Greenberg and Arthur Talmadge. They were a force in jazz and blues, classical music, rock and roll. Early in the history, Mercury opened two pressing plants, one in Chicago and the other in St. Louis, Missouri. With the use of presses and providing 24-hour turnaround, they went into direct competition with major recording labels such as Columbia, Decca, Capitol. By hiring two promoters, Tiny Hill and Jimmy Hilliard, they penetrated the pop market with such as Frankie Laine, Vic Damone, Tony Fontane. Rather than rely on radio airplay, Mercury initially relied on jukeboxes to promote their music, some early Mercury recordings featured a caricature of him as its logo. In 1947 Jack Rael, a musician and publicist/manager, persuaded Mercury to let Patti Page record a song that had planned to be done by Vic Damone. The budget was too small for them to hire a second singer to provide the parts to Page. The company released a number of recordings under the Mercury label as well as its subsidiaries. In addition, they leased and purchased material by independent labels, under their own label, Mercury released a variety of recording styles from classical music to psychedelic rock. However, its subsidiaries focused on their own specialized categories of music, Mercurys jazz division had two distinct and important fathers. John Hammond brought his expertise and connections when Mercury bought Keynote Records in the late 1940s, and Mercury was the issuing company and distributor for Norman Granzs pre-Norgran/Verve recordings. Although both Hammond and Granz had departed Mercury by the mid-1950s, they established the company in the jazz world, by the early 1960s, Mercury was releasing jazz under the flagship label and was an early leader in the new stereo sound releases. Highlights of the early and mid-1960s included albums by Quincy Jones, Buddy Rich, Cannonball Adderley, Charles Mingus, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Max Roach, in the early 1950s, Norman Granz started his own record company, Norgran, which later became Verve. In an ironic twist, both Mercury and Verve are now owned by Universal Music Group and Mercurys jazz library falls under the Verve division. Since the early 1990s, Verve has reissued many Mercury jazz titles on CD, often taking care to use original master tapes, in 1962, Mercury began marketing a line of phonographs made by Philips bearing the Mercury brand name. In July 1967, Mercury Records became the first U. S. record company to release cassette music tapes, in 1969, Mercury changed its corporate name to Mercury Record Productions Inc. while its parent Conelco became North American Philips Corp after Philips brought control of the company
22.
Gary Numan
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Gary Anthony James Webb, professionally known as Gary Numan, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Born in Hammersmith, London, he first entered the industry as the lead singer of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, Numan released his solo album The Pleasure Principle in 1979. Most widely known for his chart-topping hits Are Friends Electric, and Cars, Numan achieved his peak of mainstream popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but maintains a loyal cult following. His signature sound consists of heavy synthesizer hooks fed through guitar effects pedals, Numan is also known for his distinctive voice and androgynous android persona. Born in Hammersmith, London, Numan was the son of a British Airways bus driver based at Heathrow Airport. He was educated at Town Farm Junior School in Stanwell, Surrey, Ashford County Grammar School, then Slough Grammar School in Berkshire and he joined the Air Training Corps as a teenager. He then briefly held jobs including forklift truck driver, air conditioning ventilator fitter. When Numan was 15 years old, his father bought him a Gibson Les Paul and he played in various bands, including Mean Street and The Lasers, before forming Tubeway Army with his uncle, Jess Lidyard, and Paul Gardiner. His initial pseudonym was Valerian, probably in reference to the hero in French science fiction comic series Valérian and he later picked the surname Numan from an advert in the Yellow Pages for a plumber whose surname was Neumann. Numan rose to prominence at the end of the 1970s as front man, writer, after recording an albums worth of punk-influenced demo tapes, he was signed by Beggars Banquet Records in 1978 and quickly released two singles, Thats Too Bad and Bombers, neither of which charted. A self-titled, new wave-oriented debut album later that year sold out its limited run and introduced Numans fascination with dystopian science fiction. Tubeway Armys third single, the dark-themed and slow-paced Down in the Park, also failed to chart and it was featured with other contemporary hits on the soundtrack for the movie Times Square, and a live version of the song can be seen in the movie Urgh. Following exposure in a advertisement for Lee Cooper jeans with the jingle Dont be a Dummy. The single took seven weeks before finally reaching No.1 at the end of June, the parent album Replicas simultaneously reached No.1. A few months later Numan found success in the charts on both sides of the Atlantic with Cars, which peaked at No.1 in the UK in 1979, No.1 in Canada and No.9 in the US in 1980. Cars and the 1979 album The Pleasure Principle were both released under Numans own stage name, the album reached number one in the UK, and a sell-out tour followed, the concert video it spawned is often cited as the first full-length commercial music video release. The Pleasure Principle was an album with no guitars, instead, Numan used synthesizers fed through guitar effects pedals to achieve a distorted, phased
23.
The Cure
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The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several changes, with vocalist, guitarist. During the early 1980s, the increasingly dark and tormented music was a staple of the emerging gothic rock genre. After the release of Pornography in 1982, the future was uncertain. The band is estimated to have sold 27 million records as of 2004 and have released thirteen albums, ten EPs. The 1989 album Disintegration is regarded as the commercial and critical peak. That band consisted of Robert Smith on piano, Michael Mick Dempsey on guitar, Laurence Lol Tolhurst on percussion, Marc Ceccagno on lead guitar and Alan Hill on bass guitar. In January 1976 while at St. Wilfrids Comprehensive School Ceccagno formed a 5-piece rock band with Smith on guitar and Dempsey on bass and they called themselves Malice and rehearsed David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix and Alex Harvey songs in a local church hall. By late April 1976, Ceccagno and the two school friends had left, and Tolhurst, Martin Creasy, and Porl Thompson had joined the band. This lineup played all three of Malices only documented live shows during December 1976, both Malice and Easy Cure auditioned several vocalists before Smith assumed the role of Easy Cures frontman in September 1977. That year, Easy Cure won a talent competition with German label Hansa Records, although the band recorded tracks for the company, none were ever released. Following disagreements in March 1978 over the direction the band should take, Smith later recalled, We were very young. They just thought they could turn us into a teen group and they actually wanted us to do cover versions and we always refused. Thompson was dropped from the band in May, and the trio were soon renamed The Cure by Smith. Later that month, the recorded their first sessions as a trio at Chestnut Studios in Sussex. The demo found its way to Polydor Records scout Chris Parry, the Cure released their debut single Killing an Arab in December 1978 on the Small Wonder label as a stopgap until Fiction finalised distribution arrangements with Polydor. The band placed a label that denied the racist connotations on the singles 1979 reissue on Fiction. The Cure released their debut album Three Imaginary Boys in May 1979, because of the bands inexperience in the studio, Parry and engineer Mike Hedges took control of the recording
24.
Liverpool F.C.
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Liverpool Football Club is a professional association football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, the club has won 5 European Cups,3 UEFA Cups,3 UEFA Super Cups,18 League titles,7 FA Cups, a record 8 League Cups, and 15 FA Community Shields. The club was founded in 1892 and joined the Football League the following year, the club has played at Anfield since its formation. The club holds many long-standing rivalries, most notably the North West Derby against Manchester United, the clubs supporters have been involved in two major tragedies. The second was the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, where 96 Liverpool supporters died in a crush against perimeter fencing, the team changed from red shirts and white shorts to an all-red home strip in 1964 which has been used ever since. The clubs anthem is Youll Never Walk Alone, Liverpool F. C. was founded following a dispute between the Everton committee and John Houlding, club president and owner of the land at Anfield. After eight years at the stadium, Everton relocated to Goodison Park in 1892, the team won the Lancashire League in its début season, and joined the Football League Second Division at the start of the 1893–94 season. After finishing in first place the club was promoted to the First Division, Liverpool reached its first FA Cup Final in 1914, losing 1–0 to Burnley. Liverpool suffered its second Cup Final defeat in 1950, playing against Arsenal, the club was relegated to the Second Division in the 1953–54 season. Soon after Liverpool lost 2–1 to non-league Worcester City in the 1958–59 FA Cup, the club was promoted back into the First Division in 1962 and won it in 1964, for the first time in 17 years. In 1965, the club won its first FA Cup, in 1966, the club won the First Division but lost to Borussia Dortmund in the European Cup Winners Cup final. Liverpool won both the League and the UEFA Cup during the 1972–73 season, and the FA Cup again a year later, Shankly retired soon afterwards and was replaced by his assistant, Bob Paisley. In 1976, Paisleys second season as manager, the club won another League, the following season, the club retained the League title and won the European Cup for the first time, but it lost in the 1977 FA Cup Final. Liverpool retained the European Cup in 1978 and regained the First Division title in 1979, Paisley retired in 1983 and was replaced by his assistant, Joe Fagan. Liverpool won the League, League Cup and European Cup in Fagans first season, Liverpool reached the European Cup final again in 1985, against Juventus at the Heysel Stadium. Before kick-off, Liverpool fans breached a fence separated the two groups of supporters, and charged the Juventus fans. The resulting weight of people caused a wall to collapse, killing 39 fans. The incident became known as the Heysel Stadium disaster, the match was played in spite of protests by both managers, and Liverpool lost 1–0 to Juventus
25.
Brazil
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Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama
26.
BBC 6 Music
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BBC Radio 6 Music is one of the BBCs digital radio stations. It was known officially as BBC6 Music from its launch on 11 March 2002 until April 2011,6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available only on media, DAB radio, the Internet, digital television. BBC6 Music has been described as an alternative music station. Many presenters have argued against the perception that the focus is indie guitar music. The station itself describes its output as the edge music of today. Often referred to as the station of BBC Radio 2, it shares common features. The station also features performances from the BBC music archives, including the Peel Sessions put together by John Peel from the late 1960s to 2004. Since 2014 an annual festival,6 Music Festival, has been held in different cities around the United Kingdom. In July 2010, the BBC Trust announced it had rejected a proposal by the BBC to close 6 Music to provide commercial rivals more room, the Trust commented that the station was well-liked by its listeners, was highly distinctive and made an important contribution. In 2016,6 Music is the most listened-to BBC digital-only radio station, BBC6 Music was proposed in October 2000 as a digital-only radio station and named Network Y. The station opened at 7 am, Monday,11 March 2002, the first record played was Ashs Burn Baby Burn 6 Music attracted criticism for changing daytime schedules during late 2007 and early 2008. In response, Lesley Douglas, Controller of BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music at the time and she claimed that men listened to music in an intellectual way while women were more emotionally attached. This in turn brought on more criticism of perceived sexism on Douglas part, in March 2006, BBC6 Music moved from Broadcasting House to new studios in the adjacent Wogan House to allow the regeneration of Broadcasting House. In 2011, BBC Radio 6 Music started the process of moving some of its presenters, staff, the studios are located in Dock House. Among programmes broadcast there are Radcliffe & Maconie, The Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show, in February 2010, in anticipation of a review by the BBC Trust, newspaper reports suggested 6 Music might be axed. The review stopped short of recommending closure but noted that one in five UK residents were aware the station existed. The Times claimed that Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC, proposed closure as part of a bid to scale back BBC operations, a high-profile campaign to oppose closure of the station attracted media attention and led to #SaveBBC6Music quickly becoming a trending topic on Twitter
27.
Cover song
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A cover version can also refer to a rerecording of a song by the original artist or performers under a different record company. Originally, Billboard and other magazines that track the popularity of artists and hit tunes measured the sales success of the published tune. Later, they tracked the airplay that songs achieved, some versions being more successful recording than the original song. Before the onset of rock n roll in the 1950s, songs were published and several records of a song might be out by singers of the day. The Hendrix version, released six months after Dylans original, became a Top 10 single in the UK in 1968 and was ranked 48th in Rolling Stone magazines 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The term cover goes back decades when cover version originally described a version of a tune recorded to compete with the recently released version. The Chicago Tribune described the term in 1952, trade jargon meaning to record a tune that looks like a hit on someone elses label. Examples of records covered include Paul Williams 1949 hit tune The Hucklebuck, both crossed over to the popular Hit Parade and had numerous hit versions. In fact, one of the objects of publishing sheet music was to have a composition performed by as many artists as possible. In previous generations, some artists made very successful careers of presenting revivals or reworkings of once-popular tunes, musicians now play what they call cover versions of songs as a tribute to the original performer or group. Using familiar material is an important method of learning music styles, until the mid-1960s most albums, or long playing records, contained a large number of evergreens or standards to present a fuller range of the artists abilities and style. Artists might also perform interpretations of a favorite artists hit tunes for the pleasure of playing a familiar song or collection of tunes. A cover band plays cover versions exclusively. Some tribute acts salute the Who, The Rolling Stones and many classic rock acts. Many tribute acts target artists who remain popular but no longer perform, many tribute bands attempt to recreate another bands music as faithfully as possible, but some such bands introduce a twist. Dread Zeppelin performs reggae versions of the Zeppelin catalog and Beatallica creates heavy metal fusions of songs by the Beatles, there are also situations in which a member of a tribute band will go on to greater success, sometimes with the original act they tribute. One notable example is Tim Ripper Owens who, once the singer of Judas Priest tribute band British Steel. Cover acts or bands are entertainers who perform a variety of crowd-pleasing cover songs for audiences who enjoy the familiarity of hit songs
28.
Schecter Guitar Research
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Schecter Guitar Research, commonly known simply as Schecter, is a US guitar, bass and amplifier manufacturer. The company was founded in 1976 by David Schecter and originally produced only replacement parts for existing guitars from manufacturers such as Fender and Gibson. Today, the company mass-produces its own line of guitars, bass guitars, and steel-string acoustic guitars, and offers hand-built custom instruments. In 1976, David Schecter opened Schecter Guitar Research, a shop in Van Nuys. The shop manufactured replacement guitar necks and bodies, complete pickup assemblies, bridges, pickguards, tuners, knobs, potentiometers, contrary to popular belief, Schecter never supplied parts to Fender nor Gibson. By the late 1970s Schecter offered more than 400 guitar parts, in 1979, Schecter offered, for the first time, its own fully assembled electric guitars. These guitars were custom shop models based on Fender designs and they were considered to be very high quality and very expensive, and were sold only by twenty retailers across the United States. By 1983, Schecter had reached its custom shop production limit and that year, the company was purchased by a group of Texas investors who wanted to build upon Schecters reputation for quality. The investors moved the company to Dallas, Texas, where they produced above-par quality guitars using both imported parts and Schecter parts under the Schecter name for less than five years. At the 1984 winter NAMM show, Schecter introduced twelve new guitars and basses, the most popular of these guitars was a Telecaster-style guitar similar to those that Pete Townshend played. Although Townshend never endorsed this model, it was unofficially as the Pete Townshend model. Eventually, the Telecaster-style guitar became known as the Saturn, all guitars have the Lawsuit peg heads. Schecter was still using Stratocaster and Telecaster headstocks, which Fender had allowed when they were a parts company and it appears this lawsuit may have essentially led to their closing in late 1986 to early 1987. The name was purchased by the current owners in late 1987, during this period, Schecter managed to sign one notable endorsee, Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen. Schecter built several custom guitars for Yngwie Malmsteen that featured scalloped necks, in 1987, the Texas investors sold the company to Hisatake Shibuya, a Japanese entrepreneur who also owned the Musicians Institute in Hollywood and ESP Guitars. Shibuya moved the back to California and returned Schecter to its custom shop roots, devoting all its efforts to manufacturing high-end. Schecter guitars were once only available from a few retailers, one of them being Sunset Custom Guitars located in Hollywood. Sunset Custom Guitars happened to be the place where Michael Ciravolo, in 1995, Schecter introduced the highly sought-after S Series guitars and basses, which were Fender-style instruments
29.
Gretsch White Falcon
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The Gretsch White Falcon is a high-end electric hollowbody guitar introduced in 1954 by Gretsch. Since then it has various changes, and is still being made. As of 2013, Gretsch offers a number of models including a custom-built replica of the original. In early 1954, Gretsch marketing strategist Jimmie Webster sought to design a guitar to improve upon the Gibson Super 400 and he wanted a Dream Guitar, and gained his inspiration by walking through the Gretsch factory and watching the construction of the diversity of musical instruments the company produced. From the banjo production line, Webster recalled the engraved pearl inlays that adorned the fretboard, many of Gretschs drums were covered with thick sparkly gold plastic that could also be used as binding on guitars. The White Falcon was unveiled at the NAMM show in July 1954 and it was displayed as the guitar of the future, but Gretsch initially had no plans to manufacture the model. It was supposed to be a showpiece, much like GMs Motorama Dream Cars of the day, the high interest from sales representatives led Gretsch to rush the guitar into production, and the first White Falcons were sold in 1955, identified as the model 6136. As the companys new high-end guitar, Gretsch marketed it as the finest guitar we know how to make –, the White Falcon originally cost $600, this price was second only to the $690 price of Gibsons Super 400CESN. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Gretsch tweaked the Falcon, a stereo version became available as well. It also switched to a twin-cutaway body beginning in 1962, Fred Gretsch retired in 1967 and sold his company to the Baldwin Piano Company. Baldwin would have trouble understanding guitars in general and the White Falcon in particular, most who were inspired by the new popular guitarists Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and other musical greats were turning to Fender, rather than Gretsch. The rapidly deteriorating Baldwin Manufacturing then experienced two fires at its new Arkansas plant in 1973. Gretsch limped through the 1970s and finally closed in the 1980s, in 1989 Fred Gretsch III resumed control of the family business and began making guitars again. These instruments are based on classic Gretsch designs, including the White Falcon, models are now available commemorating every phase in the design of the White Falcon. Gretsch added a Brian Setzer Black Phoenix model to its lineup, like Brian Setzers signature Hot Rod 6120, the Black Phoenix features stripped-down electronics that consist of two pickups, a selector switch, and a volume knob. In January 2013, Gretsch introduced the Billy Duffy signature model, replicating the Baldwin-era design with silver binding, bacon, Tony, Dave Burrluck, Paul Day, Michael Wright. The Gretsch Pages, White Falcon models The Gretsch Pages, History 6136 variants Brian Setzer Black Falcon Bono Irish Falcon Silver Falcon Black Falcon with Bigsby
30.
Fender Telecaster
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The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele /ˈtɛli/, is the worlds first commercially successful solid-body electric guitar. Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing, the Fender Telecaster was developed by Leo Fender in Fullerton, California in 1950. In the period roughly between 1932 and 1949, several craftsmen and companies experimented with electric guitars, but none had made a significant impact on the market. Leo Fenders Telecaster was the design that made bolt-on neck, solid body guitars viable in the marketplace, players had been wiring up their instruments in search of greater volume and projection since the late 1920s, and electric semi-acoustics had long been widely available. That hand-built prototype, a white guitar, had most of the features of what would become the Telecaster. The initial single-pickup production model appeared in 1950, and was called the Esquire, fewer than fifty guitars were originally produced under that name, and most were replaced under warranty because of early manufacturing problems. In particular, the Esquire necks had no truss rod and many were replaced due to bent necks, later in 1950, this single-pickup model was discontinued, and a two-pickup model was renamed the Broadcaster. From this point onwards all Fender necks incorporated truss rods, the Esquire was reintroduced in 1951 as a single pickup Telecaster, at a lower price. The so-called Nocaster was a variant of Telecaster. Produced in early to mid-1951, it was the result of action from the Gretsch company over the guitars previous name. By the summer of 1951 the guitar was officially renamed as the Telecaster and has known as such ever since. The term Nocaster was originally coined by collectors to denote these transitional guitars that appeared without a name on the headstock. Since they were manufactured in this form for only a few very early in the Broadcaster/Telecasters history, original Nocasters are highly prized. There are no official numbers, but experts estimate that fewer than 500 Nocasters were produced. Fender has since registered Nocaster as a trademark to denote its modern replicas of this famous rarity, in 1951, Fender released the innovative and musically influential Precision Bass as a similar looking stable-mate to the Telecaster. This body style was released as the Fender Telecaster Bass in 1968 after the Precision Bass had been changed in 1957 to make it more closely resemble the Stratocaster guitar. Leo Fenders simple and modular design was geared to mass production, Guitars were not constructed individually, as in traditional luthiery. Rather, components were produced quickly and inexpensively in quantity and assembled into a guitar on an assembly line, the bodies were bandsawn and routed from slabs, rather than hand-carved individually, as with other guitars made at the time, such as Gibsons
31.
Fender Starcaster
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The Fender Starcaster is a semi-hollowbody electric guitar made by the Fender company. The Starcaster was part of Fenders attempt to enter the semi-hollowbody market, the Starcaster was designed by Gene Fields to be a high quality instrument, although it was manufactured at a time when Fenders standards had lowered considerably. Unlike most semi-hollow guitars which had their necks set in the bodies in the style, the Starcaster retained Fenders bolt-on neck design. The Starcaster was in production from 1976 to 1982, however, an advertisement from 1977 states that the Starcasters first creation was in 1975. The Starcaster name was revived for a range of value-priced Starcaster by Fender guitars, basses, the guitars were usually the same shape as Fenders Stratocaster and the bass the same shape as the Fender Jazz Bass. In September 2013 Fender released a reissue of the original Starcaster guitar in continuation of its 2011 Modern Player series, unlike the original from the 1970s, the new guitar features a tune-o-matic bridge with a stop tailpiece and bound f-holes. Surprisingly, Fender has released a version of the Starcaster. The name Starcaster Bass is purely speculative as the prototypes have only the name Fender on the headstock. The Starcaster was commercially unsuccessful, perhaps because of a notion that Fender was a solidbody, single coil brand and Gibson was the semi-hollow. The most prominent player to use the original 1970s Starcaster was Leo Nocentelli of The Meters and their songs Cissy Strut and Look-Ka Py Py are considered funk classics. Claydes Charles Smith of Kool and the Gang can be using one in the video for Celebration. Several modern high profile guitarists use the Starcaster as a preferred instrument, jonny Greenwood, guitarist of Radiohead, can frequently be seen playing a Starcaster on stage. Sammy James, Jr. guitarist and front man of the Mooney Suzuki, uses a natural finished one, the guitar can also be seen in the music video to Morrisseys single You Have Killed Me. Dave Keuning of The Killers also started using one shortly before the release of the album Sams Town and he could be seen playing his Starcaster during The Killers headline slot at Glastonbury Festival 2007, on Later. With Jools Holland for Read My Mind and in the videos for For Reasons Unknown, scott McMicken of Dr. Dog employs the Starcaster as one of his main guitars, along with an Epiphone Sheraton II and a Gibson ES-335. Trey Anastasio of Phish plays a custom Languedoc guitar that was designed after the vintage Fender Starcaster. Arctic Monkeys guitarist Jamie Cook can also be playing one at the 2009 Reading Festival. Chris Walla of Death Cab For Cutie has occasionally used a Starcaster live, as mentioned on the Roderick on the Line podcast, John Roderick of The Long Winters owned and played a Starcaster
32.
Vox Mark III
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The Mark is an electric guitar made by Vox. The instrument is known as the Vox Teardrop, but this is not the official name. It was followed a year later by the teardrop-shaped Mark VI, the Mark VI was released in three versions, as a 6-string, a 9-string, and a 12-string. The 9-string had three strings and three pairs of unwound strings. The Phantom guitar received a prize for best design when it was released. Even though Vox discontinued the production of guitars in the seventies, accurate copies of the Teardrop. In the late 1990s VOX reissued USA manufactured versions of the Phantom, Mark III Teardrops, the USA made guitars are considered by many to be the most playable versions of these instruments ever made. These travel guitars feature the styling and host a 2-channel guitar amplifier,2 speakers, dozens of rhythm patterns. The Mark VI had 6 strings, the Mark IX had 9, Vox produced a number of other models of 6 and 12 string electric guitars in both England and Italy. Guitar effects pedals, including a version of the wah-wah, used by Jimi Hendrix. In 1962 Vox also introduced the pentagonal Vox Phantom guitar, originally made in England but soon after made by EKO of Italy and this guitar can be seen in Joy Divisions video Love Will Tear Us Apart. This is not a Mark III or VI
33.
Ovation Guitar Company
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The Ovation Guitar Company is a manufacturer of guitars. Ovation primarily manufactures steel-string acoustic guitars and nylon-string acoustic guitars, often with pickups for electric amplification, in 2015, it became a subsidiary of Drum Workshop after being acquired from KMCMusicorp. The companys Ovation and Adamas guitars are known for their round backs, the latter are also well known for the use of carbon fiber tops. Among musicians the relatively thin neck stands out as well, compared to other acoustic guitars, founder Charles Kaman developed the first Ovation guitar in 1965–1966. Kaman, an amateur guitarist from an age, worked on helicopter design as an aerodynamacist at United. Eventually, he founded a design company, Kaman Aircraft. The Kaman Corporation soon diversified, branching into nuclear weapons testing, commercial flight, development and testing of chemicals. In the early 1960s, however, financial problems from the failure of their commercial flight division forced them to expand new markets, such as entertainment. Charles Kaman, still a guitar player, became interested in making guitars. From 1966 to 2007 Ovation guitars, and later on Adamas guitars, were a brand of KMCMusicorp, in 2008 KMCMusicorp was sold to the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In 2014, Fender announced that they were closing the iconic Ovation guitar factory in New Hartford, Connecticut, before that announcement Fender established a U. S. production of various acoustic guitars in the New Hartford factory. Alongside Ovation and Adamas guitars, which have been produced there for decades, Fender started a U. S. production of other Fender-owned brands in that factory, as is known, Guild and Fender. Shortly after closing the New Hartford factory it was announced that the Ovation brand has sold to the company Drum Workshop. The announcement was made on January 7,2015, aside from the Ovation brand, Drum workshop has also bought the New Hartford factory and reinstated the previously ceased U. S. production of Ovation and Adamas guitars, basses, ukuleles and mandolins. Charles Kaman put a team of employees to work to invent a new guitar in 1964, for the project, Kaman chose a small team of aerospace engineers and technicians, several of whom were woodworking hobbyists as well. One of these was Charles McDonough, who created the Ovation Adamas model, Kaman founded Ovation Instruments, and in 1965 its engineers and luthiers worked to improve acoustic guitars by changing their conventional materials. The R&D team spent months building and testing prototype instruments and their first prototype had a conventional dreadnought body, with parallel front and back perpendicular to the sides. The innovation was the use of a thinner, synthetic back, unfortunately, the seam joining the sides to the thin back was prone to breakage
34.
Aria (guitar company)
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Aria is a Japanese manufacturer of acoustic and electric guitars and basses. Aria was formed in Japan in 1956 by Shiro Arai as Arai & Co. Inc and they began retailing acoustic guitars in 1960, although the company did not start manufacturing their own until 1964. Aria arranged for Matsumoku, the instrument maker, to build the guitars for them under contract. Arai and Matsumoku started building guitars in 1964, and then electric guitars in 1966, using Arai, Aria, Aria Diamond, Diamond. The Aria brandname was changed to Aria Pro II in late 1975, though this has been used mostly for electric guitars, all guitars were made in Japan until 1988, when production of less expensive models was switched to Korea. In the mid-1990s a few models were made in the United States, guitar designer and audio engineer, Ronnie Parker started his career with Aria in 1985 when they were located in the City of Industry, California. Aria Pro II did some copies of famous American guitars such as the Fender Stratocaster, in the 70s and early 80s the company came into its own in the United States with a series of high end professional instruments. The company had professional endorsements from Herb Ellis, Yngwie Malmsteen, Neal Schon, John Taylor, Henrik Flyman, Loose Wayne and SS of Dark Frost and many more. Cliff Burton of Metallica used an Aria SB Black N Gold I as well as an SB-1000 bass but was never an official endorser and he has a posthumous Signature Model called the SB-CB produced in Korea. Aria makes guitars ranging from beginner to professional models, some of their professional models were known as Firebrands because of the Firebranded Aria logo on the reverse of the headstock. The Firebrand guitars were produced in small runs. They were then given to either named artists who promoted Aria Guitars or to the top dealers as gifts. Firebranded Guitars were produced to a greater standard than production runs. Aria has also built amps, such as the 10W Birdy, Aria Guitars Website Aria UK Guitars Website Aria UK Guitars Website The Guitars of Matsumoku - Includes scans of many original Aria catalogs Shiro Arai Interview NAMM Oral History Library
35.
Sophisticated Boom Boom
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Sophisticated Boom Boom is the debut album by the British pop group Dead or Alive, released in 1984 on Epic Records. That song, with Misty Circles, were hits on the U. S, the original cassette version of the album was released with three bonus tracks. In 2007, the album was re-released on CD by Cherry Red Records with seven bonus tracks, the cover photograph was taken by Peter Ashworth. All tracks written by Dead or Alive, except Thats the Way by Harry Wayne Casey, pete Burns - Vocals Mike Percy - Bass guitar Tim Lever - Keyboards Steve Coy - Drums Wayne Hussey - Guitar Additional personnel Tim Palmer - Engineer, Mixer Sophisticated Boom Boom at Discogs
36.
Body and Soul (EP)
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Body and Soul is the third EP by The Sisters of Mercy. It was the first release under a contract with WEA, issued on 12 vinyl on 4 June 1984 by Merciful Release. The EP was never released on CD, but the track was included on the A Slight Case of Overbombing collection. All tracks written by Andrew Eldritch, Andrew Eldritch - vocals Craig Adams - bass guitar Wayne Hussey - guitar Gary Marx - guitar Doktor Avalanche - drums
37.
First and Last and Always
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First and Last and Always is the debut studio album by English rock band The Sisters of Mercy. It was released on 11 March 1985, through record labels Merciful Release, the band was founded in 1980 by Andrew Eldritch and Gary Marx in Leeds. Up to 1983, the band produced five singles and two EPs, which were released on the bands own indie label Merciful Release and were distributed independently as well. As the band became successful and featured regularly in the UK Indie Chart. Eldritch estimated the costs at £40,000, a sum which exceeded the financial capabilities of an indie band. Around the same time talks with interested record labels began, in October 1983, guitarist Ben Gunn left. At the end of the year, through CBS Records, who were interested in signing the band, Eldritch, who handled management and business affairs of the band, negotiated with several record companies early in the new year and finally signed a satisfactory contract with WEA Records. The new band played its debut concert on 7 April 1984. The gig was followed by a short American tour until 16 April, after returning to the UK, Eldritch wrote a new song called Wide Receiver, which was inspired by a term in American Football and which he recorded on his own at home as a demo. The rudimentary song wasnt used in the end, but Eldritchs solo demo recording appeared in early 1992 on a bootleg album. At Strawberry Recording Studios in Stockport, The Sisters of Mercy recorded their first single for WEA, which was composed and produced by Eldritch himself, Body and Soul did not make the Top 40 and stalled at no.46. From 2 May to 6 June, the band toured the UK and Europe, recommended by WEA Records, Cure producer Dave Allen saw the band in Amsterdam and later got a telegram by Andrew Eldritch which said, The Sisters say yes to Dave Allen. After the end of the tour, they began to themselves for the album recordings. The session was broadcast on 13 July when The Sisters of Mercy were already in the recording studio. After intense songwriting sessions, Gary Marx entered Parkside Studios, a studio in a rehearsal complex off Armley Road where Id been with Wayne to record some new demos with him singing. The recordings were engineered by Steve Allen, at the end of June 1984, The Sisters of Mercy went with producer Dave Allen into the Strawberry Recording Studios in Stockport, near Manchester, for five weeks to record their first studio album. Studio costs were £500 a day and £3,250 a week, Eldritch spent the whole five weeks inside the studio and, according to Dave Allen, used large amounts of amphetamine on a daily basis. In Stockport, backing tracks and vocals were to be recorded, additional vocals, overdubs and the final mix were planned for August at Genetic Studios
38.
God's Own Medicine
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Gods Own Medicine is the debut studio album by the English gothic rock band The Mission. It was released in November 1986 through by the Phonogram label Mercury Records, the original LP version contains 10 songs. The CD and cassette versions had the songs Blood Brother and Island in the Stream added, both had previously appeared on the III single. The band had spent much of 1986 touring around Europe and had performed two radio broadcasts for the BBC, in the summer of that year they signed with Phonogram Records after releasing two independent singles. Much of the material had featured on the tour and the band completed Gods Own Medicine within a period of four weeks, the record was produced by Tim Palmer and the Mission and recorded at Ridge Farm and Utopia Studios. Three singles were released from the album, Stay With Me, Wasteland, all lyrics written by W. Hussey, all music composed by C. Adams, M. Brown, S. Hinkler, W. Hussey, trouser Press described the album as a dull and insipid guitar/keyboard/string bombast, and a horrible amalgam of Led Zeppelin, Yes and Echo & the Bunnymen. AllMusic described it as the marker for goth rocks invasion of the U. K. charts for a chunk of the late 80s. A remastered version appeared in June 2007 with four bonus tracks and it was certified gold in the UK
39.
The First Chapter (The Mission album)
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The First Chapter is a compilation album by gothic rock band The Mission. It gathered the material released on the first two EPs released through the Chapter 22 label, titled I and II the album was released on Mercury Records in June 1987. It includes all the songs from the first EP in its entirety, the US release was augmented with the b-sides of the V EP. The tracks that were left off this compilation were included on the expanded and remastered edition. This restored both the short intermissions and swan song from the II EP, christ True of allmusic. com called the album an interesting piece of history of an oft-forgotten era of English rock
40.
Children (The Mission album)
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Children is the second regular studio album by the British rock-band The Mission. It was released in February 1988 by Mercury Records, two singles were released from the album, Tower of Strength and Beyond the Pale. A third single, Kingdom Come was scheduled but appeared as a promo-only, singer Julianne Regan sang vocals on two tracks - Beyond The Pale and Black Mountain Mist. The album was re-issued in 2007 with four bonus tracks
41.
Carved in Sand
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Carved in Sand is the third regular studio album by The Mission, released in 1990. It reached #7 in the UK Albums Chart, making it the second of two top ten albums and overall best-selling album in the bands career, four singles were released from the album, Butterfly on a Wheel, Deliverance, Into the Blue, Hands Across the Ocean/Amelia. The band had invited members of its fan club to help select the tracks for the album, a companion album with outtakes that were not included on Carved in Sand, entitled Grains of Sand, was released in November the same year. A deluxe two disc edition of the album was released in February 2008 and it included outtakes, the Grains of Sand album and some live cover songs from the 1970s, performed under the name The Metal Gurus. The album saw the return of Tim Palmer as producer, the album was recorded at Jacobs studios and mixed at Swanyard studios
