|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 14, 2014 8:10:49 GMT -5
More Than Just… 2 Month continues. Today, we’re looking at another foreign musician who gained a hit in the U.S. It’s Taco with his hit cover of “Puttin’ On The Ritz.” Taco Ockerse, born in Jakarta, Indonesia on July 21, 1955, had spent many of his childhood years moving around the world residing in the Netherlands, the United States, Singapore, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Germany. He attended the International School of Brussels, Belgium, and graduated in 1973. Afterward, he studied interior decoration and finished acting school in Hamburg. He held lead roles in numerous school productions, including You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown; Carousel; The Fantasticks; and Fiddler on the Roof. In 1975, he began his first professional theatrical engagements in Hamburg. This included roles in Children's Theater, and roles as an ensemble member of the Thalia Theater in a number of plays, including Sweet Charity, Chicago, and Three Musketeers. He also directed and choreographed for the musical Nightchild. In 1979, he played "Chino" in John Neumeier's West Side Story at Hamburg Opera House. He founded his first band, Taco's Bizz, in 1979. In 1981, Taco signed his first record contract with Polydor (Germany) for two record releases, whereon he released his first single, "Puttin' on the Ritz", which in 1982 was picked up by RCA Records for US release. The single was widely played throughout the U.S. by late summer of 1983 eventually peaking at Number 4 in September of 1983 on the Hot 100 as well as Number 1 on Cashbox. Although the single eventually earned him a Gold-certification in USA for selling over one million copies, it was Taco's only top-40 hit in the U.S. In 1983 and 1984, he toured extensively throughout Europe. While the single "Puttin' on the Ritz" topped the charts in Sweden and New Zealand, it entered the Top 5 in numerous countries including Norway, Austria and Canada. His subsequent album, After Eight was released in over 40 countries and managed to reach Number 4 in Norway, Number 5 in Canada, Number 11 in Austria, Number 17 in New Zealand, Number 23 in U.S., and Number 59 in Germany. The album earned Taco a number of Gold certifications including one in Finland for selling over 25,000 copies. After the success of “Puttin’ On The Ritz,” Taco released his second single, a cover of "Singing in the Rain." It was only a moderate success peaking at Number 49 in Germany, Number 46 in Canada and Number 98 in the UK. www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgLfgrPeib8 Taco's follow-up album, Let's Face the Music was recorded in 1984 for Polydor (Germany) which peaked at Number 58 at his home of Germany and managed to enter the top-100 in Canada peaking at Number 92. It featured such songs as “Let’s Face The Music (And Dance)” and “La Chambre Séparée (A Media Luz),” both of which had music videos made. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkdVVo8PQ1A www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_8Vja01MSg Taco continued to record, switching labels to Polydore and focusing mostly on the German market. In 1985, he released the album that pretty much exemplifies his career: Swing Classics/In the Mood of Glenn Miller. The album features Taco doing updated covers of old standards, such as “Chattanooga Choo Choo” and “That Old Black Magic.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EeE4B559uAHis next album, Tell Me That You Like It, came out in 1986 with the singles “Heartbreak City” and “You My Answer To It All.” However, neither this album nor the next one proved to be successful. This led Taco to switch labels again, to Perle in 1987 for his self-titled album. www.youtube.com/watch?v=io2O7Wyxwjk www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIhshOO3NFE www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDiO8PB9Om4 www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEtTE0ytmu8 I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but most of Taco’s music had been stuck in the past. His output mainly consisted of new wave covers of songs from the early 20th Century. But, he tried something different in 1989. That year, he briefly flirted with contemporary dance music by releasing a pair of singles, "Love Touch" and "Got to Be Your Lover", that were styled after the high energy disco sound popularized by Stock Aitken Waterman. Afterwards, he repositioned himself as a swing/soul singer. He has collaborated with Geff Harrison of Kin Ping Meh fame. www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnQzx6u9Zakwww.youtube.com/watch?v=ileBJPmksHs Between 1989 to 1996, Taco worked intensively as an actor. He had television acting roles in Friedrichstadt Palast and Das Erbe der Guldenburgs, and an appearance in the film Karniggels. He also appeared as "Chico" in the theater production of Marx Brothers Radio Show, and played lead roles in Shakespeare Rock n Roll in Berlin and Shakespeare as We Like It in Austria. In July 2010 Cleopatra Records - Los Angeles released an entirely new re-recording of "Puttin' on the Ritz". Taco's vocals were recorded in Germany and the backing tracks with top studio musicians in their studio in L.A. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fS8uiEwidY On March 1, 2011 DingDing Music released the original song "Timeless Love" that was written and produced by Edgar Rothermich and Matthias Muentefering in the late 1980s. The studio recording that Taco performed as a duet with the female singer Rozaa Wortham in Berlin was remixed in late 2010 in the U.S. and is now available for download. He currently resides in Germany, performing with his band and as a gala artist. www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhEra994yyc
|
|
|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 15, 2014 16:39:04 GMT -5
More Than Just… 2 Month continues. Today, I have the usual kind of one-hit wonder: the band that got famous off of one big hit and then subsided from the limelight. And, that band for today is Wall Of Voodoo with “Mexican Radio.” Wall of Voodoo had its roots in Acme Soundtracks, a film score business started by Stan Ridgway, later the vocalist and harmonica player for Wall of Voodoo. Acme Soundtracks' office was across the street from the Hollywood punk club The Masque and Ridgway was soon drawn into the emerging punk/new wave scene. Marc Moreland, guitarist for The Skulls, began jamming with Ridgway at the Acme Soundtracks office and the soundtrack company morphed into a new wave band. In 1977, with the addition of Skulls members Bruce Moreland (Marc's brother) as bassist and Chas T. Gray as keyboardist, along with Joe Nanini, who had been the drummer for Black Randy and the Metrosquad, the first lineup of Wall of Voodoo was born. The band was named Wall of Voodoo before their first gig in reference to a comment made by Joe Berardi, a friend of Ridgway's and member of The Fibonaccis. Berardi was listening to some of the Acme Soundtracks music Ridgway and Moreland had created in their studio. When Ridgway jokingly compared the multiple-drum-machine- and Farfisa-organ-laden recordings to Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, Berardi commented it sounded more like a "wall of voodoo" and the name stuck. Wall of Voodoo released a self-titled EP in 1980, which featured a morbid, synthesizer-driven cover of "Ring of Fire." The second half of "Ring of Fire" features a dissonant guitar solo covering the theme to the 1966 film Our Man Flint. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS_CQkPavycThe band's first full-length album, Dark Continent, followed in 1981. Bruce Moreland left the band for the first time soon after this, and Chas Gray performed both bass and synthesizers during this time. A music video was produced for the song "Call Box (1-2-3)" and the band performed "Back in Flesh" in the 1981 concert film Urgh! A Music War. www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4OsEw0xMW0www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NfvI2C5Bus The band recorded their biggest-selling album, Call of the West in 1982. Thesingle, "Mexican Radio," became their only Top 100 hit in the USA, and the video for the song got a great deal of exposure on the newly formed MTV. Bill Noland was added as a keyboardist soon after the release of this album. That same year, Wall of Voodoo opened for The Residents on the cult band's inaugural tour, "The Mole Show," at Perkins Palace in Pasadena in early summer 1982. Other notable songs on the album included the title track and “Lost Weekend.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvnin-u75qYwww.youtube.com/watch?v=9D8ET7cvQfk Stan Ridgway claims that the situation around the band was increasingly chaotic during this era, with a great deal of drug use and out-of-control behavior on the part of the band members, as well as shady behavior by the band's management and record label. Wall of Voodoo appeared at the second US Festival on May 28, 1983 (the largest concert the band had performed), immediately after which Ridgway, Nanini, and Noland all left the band. Stan Ridgway soon went on to a successful solo career, appearing as guest vocalist on a track on the Rumble Fish score and releasing his first solo album in 1986. Joe Nanini soon resurfaced in the country rock band Lonesome Strangers. The remainder of the band, Marc Moreland, Chas T. Gray and a returning Bruce Moreland, carried on under the name Wall of Voodoo. Soon after, Andy Prieboy, formerly of the San Francisco new wave band Eye Protection, joined as singer and Ned Leukhardt was added as drummer. The band continued to record and perform under this lineup until 1988, though their sound was slightly different from the style of music they played in the earlier Stan Ridgway-fronted lineup. In 1985 they released Seven Days in Sammystown. The first single, "Far Side of Crazy", did well in Australia, reaching Number 23 on the ARIA charts. The song is still heard today on the Austereo Triple M network. Other notable tracks from that album included “Faded Love,” and a cover of “Dark As A Dungeon.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6_YsP7u-JY www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyyDz8Y8xKE In 1987, the band released their fourth studio album and their second with Andy Prieboy, Happy Planet, which spawned another hit in Australia: a cover of The Beach Boys' "Do It Again," which charted at Number 40 there. The video for the song featured The Beach Boys' own Brian Wilson. www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bhAHKKLbwQIn 1988, Wall of Voodoo split up, and Andy Prieboy and Marc Moreland went on to solo careers. In 1989, a posthumous live album entitled The Ugly Americans in Australia was issued, which documented their 1987 tour of Melbourne, Australia. Stan Ridgway, Andy Prieboy and Marc Moreland all embarked on solo careers throughout the 1990s and 2000s. Joe Nanini released an EP under the name Sienna Nanini-Bohica in 1996. Two former members died within a few years of each other in the early 2000s; Joe Nanini died of a brain hemorrhage on December 4, 2000, and Marc Moreland died of kidney and liver failure on March 13, 2002. On July 18, 2006 a Stan Ridgway-fronted Wall of Voodoo performed at the Pacific Amphitheatre in Orange County as an opening band for Cyndi Lauper. However, other than Ridgway, none of the surviving Wall of Voodoo members were included in this lineup. Ridgway's album Snakebite: Blacktop Ballads and Fugitive Songs (2005), features the narrative song, "Talkin' Wall Of Voodoo Blues Pt. 1," a history of the band in song. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUEzHQhydpo
|
|
|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 16, 2014 15:15:40 GMT -5
More Than Just… 2 Month continues. Today, we’re looking at one of the weirdest one hit wonders out there. It’s Yello with “Oh Yeah.” Yello is a Swiss electronic band consisting of Dieter Meier and Boris Blank. The band was originally formed by Boris Blank (keyboards, sampling, percussion, backing vocals) and Carlos Perón (tapes) in the late 1970s. Meier (vocals, lyrics), a millionaire industrialist and gambler, was brought in when the two founders realised that they needed a singer. The band’s name, Yello, was chosen as a pun based on a comment made by Meier, "a yelled Hello." Yello's first release was the 1979 single "I.T. Splash." The band’s first album Solid Pleasure, featuring the original short version of "Bostich" (extended to a hit dance single in 1981), was released in November 1980. www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQinDQE7I3Iwww.youtube.com/watch?v=PJFShE1VfEc The next album, Claro Que Si, came out in 1981. It featured the singles “She’s Got A Gun” and “Pinball Cha Cha.” Both of the band’s first two albums failed to chart. But, success was soon on the way for the band. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Enfm4ONRP8kwww.youtube.com/watch?v=265Zn06TguA 3 In 1983, Yello received substantial media attention with the release of "I Love You" and "Lost Again" from their third album You Gotta Say Yes To Another Excess. Perón left the band in 1983 to start a solo career. With their 1983 album You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess, the band began a working relationship with Ernst Gamper, whose "corner cut" logo would represent them for three albums, and who would design covers for the group beyond the demise of this logo. This was also the band’s first album with Elektra Records www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h9VW4ugXqMwww.youtube.com/watch?v=4TatR9GOFw4 But, it was 1985’s Stella that brought the band its biggest success. It was this album that featured “Oh Yeah,” the band’s best known song. It went to only 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 35 on the Dance Charts. But, it has remained in music fans’ memories thanks to its inclusion in the film “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” The album’s other two singles, “Vicious Games” and “Desire,” were minor hits. Ironically, “Vicious Games” did better on the Dance Charts than “Oh Yeah,” going all the way to Number 8. Go figure. www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2dyzd39jdAwww.youtube.com/watch?v=mGopZjakUeAHowever, “Oh Yeah” ended up becoming so popular that the band released it on their next album, 1987’s One Second. The other singles from that album included “Goldrush” and “The Rhythm Devine,” which featured singer Shirley Bassey. But, it was “Oh Yeah” that helped the album to become a hit in the U.K. and the U.S., going to Numbers 48 and 92 respectively. One Second was also the band’s first with Mercury Records. www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_ITf7u4XRAwww.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ9_gLLJgeQ In 1988, the band released the album Flag. It went to Number 56 on the U.K. charts and Number 152 in the U.S. “The Race” ended up being the album’s big hit, going to Number 7 in the U.K. The album’s other singles included “Tied Up,” “Of Course I’m Lying,” and “Blazing Saddles.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0eSq4jCLRE www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYYYfrdufV8www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIAq1aCl57owww.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ98F1dwvZY In 1991, the album Baby was released. It would be the band’s last his album in the U.K. as it went to 37. “Jungle Bill” was the album’s big single, going to Number 40 on the U.S. Dance Charts. www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM9PqfE86j8In 1994, Zebra, the band’s 8th album, was released. The album’s three singles, “Do It,” “Tremendous Pain,” and “How How” were all hits on the U.S. Dance Charts. It was also the band’s first and only album with Fourth & Broadway Records. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fba5VCZ4S2owww.youtube.com/watch?v=eTBen3SXMxQwww.youtube.com/watch?v=Drh4pVJAU9g In 1997, the band’s next album, Pocket Universe, came out. It only had one single that was a hit on the U.S. Dance Charts, “On Track” which went to 16. “To The Sea” was also released as a single. The band would also switch labels to PolyGram. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1srsqsOi7jM www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpqKDgpGx8w In 1999, the album Motion Picture came out. Notable tracks from this album included “Houdini” and “Croissant Bleu.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9K5zPbXdXQwww.youtube.com/watch?v=gIC_Xd53ibk In 2003, The Eye was released. It would be their one and only album released by Motor Music. “Planet Dada” was the album’s big single. www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt4lGAEyuJM The band would release another album until 2009’s Touch Yello. It was their first on Polydor’s Records. Notable tracks on the album included "You Better Hide", "Kiss In Blue," and "Stay." www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCkAaKN3-hcwww.youtube.com/watch?v=nVks6r6ltgUwww.youtube.com/watch?v=A72RzLTXZtI So far, Touch Yello has been the band’s last album. But, they did release a single in 2011, “Mean Monday.” So, they’re pretty much still around. Go figure. www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4uBAHMdl5I
|
|
|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 17, 2014 8:02:22 GMT -5
More Than Just… 2 Month continues. Today, we’re looking at a one-hit wonder that gets played quite frequently on TV. The reason? It’s the theme song for friends. It’s The Rembrandts with “I’ll Be There For You.” Before the foundation of The Rembrandts, Phil Solem and Danny Wilde were well-regarded music industry veterans. Wilde was a member of 1970s cult recording act The Quick and had released several mildly successful solo albums in the 1980s. As well, Wilde and Solem had together been in the well-reviewed but commercially unsuccessful power-pop quartet Great Buildings, a band which released one album for CBS in 1981 before dissolving. After establishing themselves as The Rembrandts in 1989, Solem and Wilde recorded a self-titled album largely in Wilde's home studio. From this album, the group had their first success during 1990 with "Just the Way It Is, Baby", which scored at Number 14 on the Billboard singles chart. Yes, they are technically two-hit wonders. The self-titled album scored number 88 on the album charts. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhbVrxiq9HM The next album Untitled, of 1992, featured the minor successes "Johnny, Have You Seen Her?" and "Chase the Clouds Away." Another track from the album, "Rollin' Down the Hill", was used in the film Dumb and Dumber. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKsLriAUEY0www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcvSelCdbSUwww.youtube.com/watch?v=JwC12ztJmY8 Then came Friends. "I'll Be There for You" was co-written by Friends producers David Crane and Marta Kauffman, Kauffman's husband, composer Michael Skloff, and songwriter Allee Willis, along with both of the Rembrandts. It was initially offered to the rock bands They Might Be Giants and R.E.M, both of whom turned it down. Eventually, The Rembrandts recorded it. "I'll Be There for You," reached Number 1 the Hot 100 Airplay chart for several weeks before being released as a single and peaking at Number 17 U.S. Billboard charts. The single has been released in other countries, including the UK, where it reached Number 3 in 1995 and Number 5 in 1997. The success of Friends has caused a greater awareness of the band, and to greater sales of their recorded albums. The song was also featured on the Friends Soundtrack album. An earlier, previously unreleased version of "I'll Be There for You" with different lyrics was included on their Unreleased Stuff album. “I’ll Be There For You” was also released on the band’s 1995 album, LP, which had three other singles: "This House Is Not a Home," "Don't Hide Your Love," and "Drowning In Your Tears." None of them were able to reproduce the success of “I’ll Be There For You.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_jYLcgUnXAwww.youtube.com/watch?v=ff3kx_GCsxkwww.youtube.com/watch?v=3tyVimtYjns In 1997, the duo split, with Solem returning to Minneapolis to concentrate on his band Thrush. In 1998, Wilde released the album Spin This, credited to "Danny Wilde + The Rembrandts." In 2000, Solem and Wilde reunited, and released the album Lost Together as The Rembrandts the following year. It featured the single “Too Late,” which failed to chart. In 2005, the band released an album of re-recorded favorites called Choice Picks. In 2006, Rhino Records released a collection called Greatest Hits, a 20 song career-spanning retrospective that included material from the lone Great Buildings album, Apart from the Crowd. The duo continues to write new songs and tour, while also working on material and producing for other artists, including Plain White T's, Katie & Katie, Gin Blossoms, Evan & Jaron, and Glen Phillips (Wilde) and Thrush, Catchpenny, Christo Savalas, Matt Dodge, producer John Fields, Dez Dickerson, Joey Molland, and The Melismatics (Solem).
|
|
|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 18, 2014 19:52:07 GMT -5
More Than Just… 2 Month continues. Today’s featured band is Modern English, with their big hit, “I Melt With You.” Formed in Colchester, Essex, England, in 1979 by Robbie Grey (vocals), Gary McDowell (guitar, vocals), and Michael Conroy (bass, vocals), Modern English were originally known as The Lepers. The group expanded to "Modern English" when Richard Brown (drums) and Stephen Walker (keyboards) were subsequently added to the lineup of the band. The band’s first single was “Drowning Man,” on their own 'Limp' label in 1979. Soon after that single’s release, the band signed to 4AD the following year, with two further singles released: “Swans On Glass” and “Gathering Dust.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO1cfd6n6pIwww.youtube.com/watch?v=42jqQWSv3jcwww.youtube.com/watch?v=C3FJ9vFFnjo The band's debut album, Mesh & Lace, came out in 1981. The single “Smiles And Laughter” was also released that year, but it wasn’t featured on the album. Notable tracks from that album included “16 Days” and “Just A Thought.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElRm_BsQnRcwww.youtube.com/watch?v=SHXoVN-DCY8 www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2cpsLUJqc4 The follow-up, After The Snow (April 1982), was more keyboard-oriented and was compared to Simple Minds and Duran Duran. It was also released in the United States by Sire Records the following year, where it reached Number 70 on the Billboard chart, and sold over 500,000 copies. The second single from the album was also a hit in the US, the jangly "I Melt With You" reaching Number 76. The other two singles from were “Life In The Gladhouse” and “Someone’s Calling.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dfDbk7v7M8www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGobXbAPo2Q The band relocated to New York City and worked on a third album, Ricochet Days, which again made the Top 100 in the US, after which the band left 4AD and were solely signed to Sire outside the UK and Canada. The album had two singles, “Chapter 12,” which went to Number 15 on the UK Indie Charts, and “Hands Across The Sea,” which went to Number 91 in the US. www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3udqkmZB9Ewww.youtube.com/watch?v=i_pGRh_vKNw The album Stop Start (1986) was the last record Modern English record released by Sire, with the band splitting up after its release. “Ink And Paper” was the only single released on the album. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrss1jrdpxs Robbie Grey reformed Modern English in 1989 with Mick Conroy and Aaron Davidson to record new album, Pillow Lips, released in 1990 on the American TVT label. The album featured a re-recorded "I Melt With You", which was released as a single, and saw the band again in the Billboard top 100. Funny it peaked at the same number as the original song: 76. The album’s other two singles, “Life’s Rich Tapestry” and “Beautiful People,” failed to chart. www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7EGz_yfaXEwww.youtube.com/watch?v=syOt1gDV_8gwww.youtube.com/watch?v=5kSOO_jhlCk The band split up for a second time in 1991, after contractual problems with TVT, with Grey forming Engine. In 1995, with the legal issues with TVT sorted out, Engine evolved into the next incarnation of Modern English and signed to the Imago label, with Grey and Matthew Shipley (keyboards). This lineup recorded the 1996 album Everything's Mad. Notable tracks from that album included “That’s Right” and “Heaven.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d1CZWjX018www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuKtQsBE2iE Robbie Grey toured the US with a new Modern English lineup from 1998–2002 and travelled coast to coast across the US and recorded a new album with Hugh Jones (producer of earlier Modern English records). The songs written with guitarist Steven Walker (not to be confused with the band's original keyboardist) and including Matthew Shipley came together on the road and back home in London between tours. After a few years on the shelf this collection of songs, entitled Soundtrack, was released on May 24, 2010 on Darla, with Jon Solomon on drums. Two singles were released from that album: “It’s Ok” and “Blister.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW4WVfWuHHowww.youtube.com/watch?v=oBsg1JJqi7o Also in 2010, the original lineup of the band reformed (minus drummer Richard Brown) and toured the US in July and September 2010 and the UK and Paris June 2011. They were invited by film director Mark Pellington to re-record "I Melt With You" for his movie of the same name. This same incarnation of the band remains intact and includes original members Robbie Grey, Mick Conroy, Gary McDowell, and Stephen Walker, augmented by (the "other") Steven Walker on guitar and Ric Chandler on drums.
|
|
|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 19, 2014 19:52:25 GMT -5
More Than Just… 2 Month continues. Today, we’re looking at a band with a weird name. It’s Kajagoogoo with “Too Shy.” Formed in Leighton Buzzard in 1979, the band were originally known as Art Nouveau, a four-piece avant-garde instrumental group, with Nick Beggs on bass guitar, Steve Askew on lead guitar, Stuart Croxford Neale on keyboards, and Jeremy "Jez" Strode on drums. Art Nouveau released a track called "The Fear Machine." The single sold a few hundred copies, and was played on The John Peel Show, but the band were unable to get a record deal. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8efCl0tCmBQ In 1982, they advertised for a lead singer, ultimately auditioning and choosing Christopher Hamill, who then went under the stage name Limahl (an anagram of his surname). The name of the group was then changed to Kajagoogoo, coined by phonetically writing out a baby's first sounds, which gave them 'GagaGooGoo' – and with a minor alteration, it became 'Kajagoogoo'. The band signed with EMI Records in July 1982 after Limahl, while working as a waiter at London's Embassy Club, had met Nick Rhodes of the group Duran Duran. Rhodes proceeded to co-produce the band's first single, "Too Shy" with Duran Duran's EMI producer Colin Thurston. The single was released on 10 January 1983 and went on to top the UK Singles Chart (before any of Duran Duran's singles had done so, Rhodes lightheartedly noted). Follow-up singles "Ooh to Be Aah" and "Hang on Now" also both reached the UK Top 20, and the group's debut album White Feathers reached Number 5 in the UK Albums Chart. After being the support act for the Birmingham band Fashion in late 1982, Kajagoogoo embarked on their own headlining White Feathers tour in Spring 1983. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUnV_J-E5ic www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqqIL4T0-KQ As success came, tensions began to rise in the band, which eventually culminated in Limahl being fired by the other band members in mid-1983 and Nick Beggs then taking over as lead singer. Limahl accused the others of being envious of him and said "I've been betrayed!" and "I was sacked for making them a success." However, the other band members went on record as saying that Limahl was an egomaniac and had become increasingly difficult to work with. Soon after Limahl's departure, Beggs commented that, "It was a business decision and not one we took lightly. He wanted the band to go in a different direction to the rest of us. Eventually, we realized we were on a different planet to Limahl." Beggs also stated that the band harbored no ill-will towards Limahl, and blamed the press for sensationalizing the matter. Guitarist Steve Askew commented "At first ... we did everything possible to make Limahl feel like part of the furniture but, you know, his lifestyle is so different from ours. We're very normal people whereas Limahl likes the bright lights." The first single by the new four-piece Kajagoogoo, "Big Apple", was released in September 1983 and reached the UK Top Ten. Their next single, "The Lion's Mouth", was released in February 1984 and made the UK Top 30, but after that public interest waned and their next single "Turn Your Back On Me" failed to make the Top 40. The subsequent new album, Islands, was also a commercial disappointment, peaking at Number 35 in the UK. www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_xt7zpVnGowww.youtube.com/watch?v=bghN_pD-QfAwww.youtube.com/watch?v=4O1aJYwAybg In the U.S., the band renamed themselves as Kaja, and a different edition of the Islands album was released there as Extra Play, peaking at Number 185 on the Billboard charts. However, the single "Turn Your Back On Me" did well on the US Dance Charts peaking at Number 2 for two weeks. Limahl, meanwhile, went on to equally brief success as a solo artist, achieving hits with "Only for Love"(UK Number 16) in 1983, and with "The NeverEnding Story" (UK Number 4) in 1984. Yes, that is the theme song to the famous movie. The guy from Kajagoogoo sang that song. And, now you know. www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpntOiS6GMowww.youtube.com/watch?v=DpGdLsG87qo Meanwhile, Strode then left the band and, in an attempt to gain some credibility and to lose their bubblegum image, the remaining three members relaunched as Kaja in the UK in 1985. Following the name change, the band released the single "Shouldn't Do That" (UK Number 63) in mid-1985. The song was featured on their third album, Crazy People's Right to Speak, but this too was unsuccessful. In December 1985, the band split up. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-B_dJi3r-o The original five-piece line-up of the band briefly joined forces again on VH1's Bands Reunited in 2003. Following the much publicized VH-1 reunion, the original group received many offers and incentives to continue to play together, but disagreements continued between the band members and the reunion was short-lived. The group felt that the VH-1 feature was unfairly edited to portray simplified reasons as to why Strode and Limahl had left the band in the 1980s. All was not lost however, and in 2007, Nick Beggs, Steve Askew and Stuart Neale decided to continue the Kajagoogoo reunion, releasing the single "Rocket Boy" on 24 June 2007. The single received airplay on Steve Wright's BBC Radio 2 show in the UK, and a new album, Gone to the Moon, was scheduled for release on the Spectra Records label later on that year. However, the album was postponed and in February 2008, the three Kajagoogoo members announced plans to reunite with original members singer Limahl and drummer Jez Strode. This was due in part to Bradley Snelling, the organiser of the Retrofest event and the band's new manager. Snelling had succeeded in reuniting the band, arranging their first photo shoot together in 25 years. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfyRgdFH4Tc The band wrote on their official site that "The atmosphere was relaxed, jovial and, after 25 years, Kajagoogoo, in their original five-piece line-up are back". Since reforming, the band have written new material, released an EP, and have extensively toured throughout Europe (with the first date taking place in Denmark on 14 June 2008, at Esbjerg Rock Festival, where they performed the 16 tracks off the remastered edition of Islands, including encores and B-sides, such as "Monochromatic" or "The Garden"). Their Gone to the Moon album, recorded as a three piece outfit prior to the full reunion, was made available via the live shows and "Kajashop", the band's online store. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdNdgpwdeYEwww.youtube.com/watch?v=aYz8qARFNW4 In August 2009 and in addition to the reunion tour commitments, Kajagoogoo again took to the stage to headline the 'Hobble on The Cobbles' all day music event in Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. This was followed in September by a new compilation CD/DVD, released by the band's original label EMI Records, called Too Shy - The Best Of Kajagoogoo & Limahl. It featured two newly recorded tracks, plus a brand new promotional video for "Space Cadet", one of the new recordings. Quick to capitalize on the renewed interest in the band, EMI (UK) released the "White Feathers (Manhattan Clique Remixes) E.P." in December 2009. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hirI6EwR7MY In December 2009, Kajagoogoo performed their last remaining UK concert with a return to The Stables venue in Wavendon, Milton Keynes. In March 2010, dPulse Recordings released the Kajagoogoo track "First Girl on Mars" as a part of the Who Made Your Music? benefit CD, released to raise funds and bring awareness to the rights of marginalized women. Continuing their renewed interest in the Kajagoogoo back catalogue, EMI Records released So80s Presents Kajagoogoo as a part of the So Eighties series curated by Blank & Jones. The album contains extended mixes of classic Kajagoogoo tracks and was released on CD and digital download format. Also made available digitally in April 2011, Kajagoogoo's Gone to the Moon album was given a digital release via iTunes. In June 2011, Kajagoogoo released their first single as a five piece outfit since 1983. The track, "Death Defying Headlines", was released as a digital single as both a single edit and an extended dance remix. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V1lRB2_Bh4 www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lwY8a29_Mw
|
|
|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 20, 2014 14:06:46 GMT -5
More Than Just… 2 Month continues. Today, we’re looking at lady with a weird name. It’s Martika with “Toy Soldiers” Martika was born May 18, 1969 in Whittier, California, and is of Cuban ancestry. She entered mainstream show business in an uncredited role as one of the orphan girls in the 1982 motion picture “Annie.” This led to her being cast as Gloria on the long-running kids show Kids Incorporated as one of a group of neighborhood kids who rise to local fame by singing staged productions at a corner malt shop. Martika and many fellow Kids Incorporated cast members were featured in the musical numbers from the Mr. T motivational video Be Somebody... or Be Somebody's Fool! in 1984. Mr. T would call Martika 'A-Train of fashion' off camera. Following her role in Kids Incorporated and Be Somebody, Martika was signed by Columbia Records. Many called her a potential Madonna-like pop star, but Martika thinks there should be one Madonna and one Martika. Her first solo release, however, was released only in Japan. "We are Music" was recorded to promote Sony cassette tapes in the Japanese market, where the song was released in the 12", 7" and CD formats. In 1987, Martika recorded a version of the Michael Jay/Gregory Smith song "Bounce Back" which included a music video, which was aired on Entertainment '80, although it was not officially available. www.youtube.com/watch?v=amkIoY8ezBcwww.youtube.com/watch?v=JLdVvT4JBDM Her first album, 1988's Martika, spawned the song “Toy Soldiers", which she co-wrote with her producer Michael Jay, and became a top 5 hit in the United Kingdom. In the US, "Toy Soldiers" spent two weeks at Number 1 in 1989 and was certified Gold by the RIAA. Two additional releases also went Top 40 in the US: "More Than You Know" (Number 18) and "I Feel the Earth Move" (Number 25), which was a remake of Carole King's song from her album Tapestry. Both of those tracks also hit the top 20 on the US Dance charts and the UK Singles Chart. Further releases from the debut album were "Water", a modest hit in the UK and Australia, and "Alibis." The album was certified gold in the US in 1989, and sold three million copies worldwide. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lKqzelrMTcwww.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo2K9vkfUoEwww.youtube.com/watch?v=3TsxI3P5DRE www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXsWTTTHFTE In 1990, Martika co-wrote the track "Kiss Me Quick" with Michael Jay and Marvin Morrow. The track was given to freestyle/pop singer Alisha for her 1990 album Bounce Back, where Martika also contributed backing vocals on the track. Martika was encouraged by her agent to combine her love of film and music by scoring soundtracks and, in 1990, she wrote and recorded the song "Blue Eyes Are Sensitive to the Light" for the soundtrack to the film Arachnophobia. The producers of the album did not like her vocals and so the song was re-recorded by Sara Hickman for the film. The song has also been recorded by Brazilian singers Deborah Blando (on her 1991 debut, A Different Story), Elba Ramalho and Frances Ruffelle. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTWEkexVzFswww.youtube.com/watch?v=F5mkFERkrEY In 1991, Martika approached Prince to do some new tracks. Among these was her second (and last) US Top 10 single, "Love... Thy Will Be Done", which also became a Top 10 hit in the UK and Number 1 in Australia. Her second album, Martika's Kitchen, peaked at Number 111 on the Billboard Top Albums chart, and the title track received only minor airplay and reached Number 93 on Billboard Hot 100 chart. However, the album was a bigger success abroad, though on a lesser scale than her debut. It peaked at Number 15 in the UK Albums Chart, and spawned further hits with the songs "Coloured Kisses" and the title track. www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMX27W_1tsQwww.youtube.com/watch?v=OIIJjmjto-A www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UPzX7gT68g In 1991, she wrote the song "Temptation" for Patti LaBelle's album Burnin'. She also played the role of the lounge singer Dahlia Mendez in the early 1990s cop show Wiseguy, opposite Steven Bauer, who took over from Ken Wahl for the fourth and final season, but her return to acting was brief and she eventually faded from the public eye around 1993. In 1997, a greatest hits compilation album entitled The Best of Martika: More Than You Know was released. It achieved sales figures of over 500,000 copies internationally. During the 2000 explosion of Latin pop, Martika re-emerged into the music world, singing backing vocals on various projects and contributing lyrics to releases by other artists, although she failed to grab any major-label attention for herself. Instead she built martika.net in 2001, a website for her fans, and released a remix of a newly self-recorded song called "The Journey". She also recorded a track entitled "Monday" for a new solo album which the website stated was on its way. "The Journey" had 5,000 hits as a free download on mp3.com's music service. Eventually, however, her website was shut down, the album never materializing. In 2003, Martika joined forces with her husband, musician Michael Mozart, to form the band Oppera. Adopting a latin pop sound, she and Mozart released Oppera's debut album Violince in 2004. Rapper Eminem used a sample of her biggest U.S. hit, "Toy Soldiers", for "Like Toy Soldiers", a track on his 2004 album Encore and featured Martika in the chorus of the track. It entered at Number 1 in the United Kingdom. In response, Martika's British greatest hits album was repackaged with its title altered to Toy Soldiers: The Best of Martika. A biography was added to the album insert reflecting the new Eminem sample, though it asserted that she had not released any albums since Martika's Kitchen. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lexLAjh8fPA Oppera released a self-titled second album in 2005. In 2010, Martika, now going under the stage name Vida Edit, starred as Lolly Pop and co-produced a web-based television action program J8ded. The low budget show was made available via subscription for four episodes. It was no longer available for viewing as of November 1, 2011. In October 2011, Martika stopped using the stage name Vida Edit and launched a new personal website. She began uploading video blogs promising an upcoming album. In November 2011, she announced the new album would be released in early 2012, and would be primarily house and dance music titled The Mirror Ball. She then announced the first single, "Flow With the Go". The single's release was delayed for personal reasons; according to her Facebook page, the loss of a family member. The recording of her album was delayed by this, but a second single is expected to be released called "SloMotion". www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0rrK015VWc
|
|
|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 21, 2014 15:33:50 GMT -5
More Than Just… 2 Month continues. Today, we’re looking at a song that was every where soon after it came out. It’s Harvey Danger’s “Flagpole Sitta” (you’ll recognize it when you hear it). Harvey Danger began in 1992 with University of Washington classmates Jeff Lin and Aaron Huffman deciding "it might be fun to start a band." Taking their name from a phrase graffitied onto the wall of the UW student newspaper office, the duo played house parties and bars as they were until the following year, when they invited Evan Sult to be their drummer. Despite his complete lack of drumming experience, Sult agreed, bringing along his own similarly inexperienced classmate Sean Nelson. The foursome played their first show on April 21, 1994 at the now-defunct Lake Union Pub; Sult and Nelson, both under 21, were only permitted entry during the set. That summer, the band moved into Nelson's student house together and began holding band practices in the basement. The band had little money and their drum set for their first few shows consisted of nothing more than a laundry bucket, 3 hubcaps, and a jar of pickles.[citation needed] More shows at the Lake Union Pub and other low-rent Seattle clubs followed, leading to exposure in The Seattle Times. As the band began playing more shows at increasingly reputable venues, their songwriting gained momentum. In 1994, the band produced a six-song demo tape, sold at shows for $3. When three-quarters of the group became unemployed in 1996, they decided to devote yet more attention to the band, moving to another house and renting a rehearsal space. Their shows continued to improve, to the point of becoming regular weekend performers at the Crocodile Cafe. The band recorded a three-track demo tape with producer John Goodmanson, which failed to draw attention from uninterested major labels, but found its way to Greg Glover, a London Records intern who ran his own small label, The Arena Rock Recording Company, Glover expressed interest in releasing a 7" single, and Harvey Danger provided him with an additional three songs, including "Flagpole Sitta," also recorded with Goodmanson. On the strength of these, Glover agreed to bankroll a full-length album. Where have all the merrymakers gone? was released July 29, 1997 to local critical acclaim. The record performed well on college radio charts, and sold steadily in Seattle and New York, among other cities. By the end of the year, however, the band felt as though the record had lost its momentum and the group began to contemplate breaking up. Shortly before taking January 1998 off to contemplate their future, Nelson gave a copy of Merrymakers to KNDD DJ Marco Collins. Within weeks, "Flagpole Sitta" had become KNDD's most-requested song. Influential L.A. radio station KROQ-FM picked the track up, and stations across the country shortly followed suit. When Greg Glover of The Arena Rock Recording Company was hired at Slash/London Records, Harvey Danger were signed to the label. "Flagpole Sitta" made Billboard magazine's Top 40, and appeared in a number of films and television shows. Its video got heavy rotation on MTV and VH1. The song also became famous globally as one of the most memorable songs on the soundtrack for the film American Pie, despite not being on the official soundtrack sold in stores. It also appeared in the movie Disturbing Behavior and its trailer. More recently, the song was used as the opening theme to the British sitcom Peep Show for the second series and onwards. The band toured extensively from March through December 1998, playing headlining and support gigs with some of the most popular artists of the year, and appearing at many radio festivals. Merrymakers's second single, "Private Helicopter," was released in the fall of 1998 to lukewarm reception, and in December, Harvey Danger began writing songs for their follow-up album. www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNH82_MaBvA Harvey Danger began production of their second album in March 1999 at Albert Grossman's Bearsville Studios, near Woodstock, New York. Slash/London was unusually uninvolved in the recording process, a harbinger of what was to come. After three weeks of recording at Bearsville and several more weeks of recording and mixing in Seattle and Los Angeles, the band submitted the record, King James Version, to their label, and waited. What the band refers to as "elaborate corporate reshuffling" began almost immediately after they finished their album: mergers and acquisitions among record labels left them and their record in limbo for over a year, not knowing to whom they were signed, nor when KJV would be released. Attempts to release the album on then-fledgling indie label Barsuk Records fell through due to legal complications, a tour with The Pretenders fell through due to lack of label support, and, just when the band was about to give up, newly reorganized London/Sire Records released King James Version on September 12, 2000. Reviews were strong, but buzz was almost nonexistent: sales of the album were slow, and the single "Sad Sweetheart of the Rodeo" performed poorly on radio and MTV. For the album's supporting tour, Nevada Bachelors guitarist Mike Squires was added as the group's live guitarist as well as The Western State Hurricanes founder John Roderick on keyboard. www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTnLVX689fE Harvey Danger played a "final" show in Portland on April 21, 2001, seven years to the day after their first show, and quietly disbanded for an indefinite period. During the hiatus Jeff Lin returned to school, Evan Sult relocated to Chicago and joined the band Bound Stems and Aaron Huffman formed the group Love Hotel. Sean Nelson recorded and toured with The Long Winters, the group formed by former Harvey Danger live member John Roderick, and worked on solo material, sometimes with Lin and Huffman (actually recording several unreleased songs, among them covers of songs written by Harry Nilsson for a future release entitled Nelson Sings Nilsson). He wrote for the weekly alternative Seattle newspaper, The Stranger; Nelson also became a partner in Barsuk Records and a DJ for Seattle's KEXP. The idea of reforming Harvey Danger was raised several times, but rejected. Nelson, Huffman, and Lin entered a studio together for the first time in three years to record two new song ideas, with Nada Surf's Ira Elliot accompanying on drums. The session went so well that the trio agreed to begin writing music together—with "no strings attached". Sult, busy in Chicago, was unable to return, but sent his blessing for Harvey Danger's reincarnation. April 21, 2004 saw both the 10th anniversary of Harvey Danger and their first show since 2001. With Nada Surf opening and Elliot again filling in on drums, the band played Seattle's Crocodile Cafe to a rapturous audience. Die-hard fans and long time message board members flew cross-country, from as far away as Middletown, NY, Cleveland, Florida and Baltimore to witness the long awaited reunion. The show also previewed songs that would be part of the new album: "Moral Centralia," "Wine, Women, and Song," and "War Buddies." www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q6UWYbsgDkwww.youtube.com/watch?v=QbpW418PDxQ www.youtube.com/watch?v=44wjPZ9uhyU Free of pressure, expectations, and a major label, the band found itself renewed and rededicated to making music. They recruited Seattle-based drummer Michael Welke, formalized their return as a band, and performed with their new lineup at the Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle in the summer of 2004. The year ended with the self-release of a five-song EP, Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas (Sometimes) and another sold-out show at the Crocodile. In February 2005, Harvey Danger entered Robert Lang Studios to record their third album. Joining them again was Goodmanson, accompanied by Steve Fisk. The recording process ran smoothly, and Little By Little... was released on September 13, 2005, five years and one day after King James Version. Citing "a long-held sense that the practice now being demonized by the music biz as 'illegal' file sharing can be a friend to the independent musician," Harvey Danger released their third album, Little By Little..., as a free download via BitTorrent a week after its release, and directly from the band's website (mp3) a week after that. Within two months of release, the album had been downloaded 100,000 times, while the first pressing of physical copies (packaged with a disc of bonus material) had nearly sold out. Reviews of the album were mixed, but mostly positive. The album's first single, "Cream and Bastards Rise," made Rolling Stone's "Hot List." It was also released as a downloadable song for the "Rock Band" video game series on Oct 7, 2008. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqYPuQuFnak On July 25, 2006, Olympia-based label Kill Rock Stars rereleased Little by Little... with a slightly altered track listing (songs on the bonus disc and main album swapped places). This release was much more widely available, and the band set out on its first national tour in five years in support of the album. On October 10, 2006, Barsuk Records released "Little Round Mirrors" as a maxi-single/EP with four B-sides. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vdw4e4b940On May 28, 2009, the band announced, "After 15 years, three albums, hundreds of shows, and far more twists and turns than we ever imagined possible, we've decided to put Harvey Danger to rest. The decision is totally mutual and utterly amicable." Harvey Danger played eight farewell shows in August, the last three of them in Seattle. The band closed with the last song it wrote, "The Show Must Not Go On". The song has since been made available for download on their website. www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCuqHSq6lAs Recently Harvey Danger officially released The Dead Sea Scrolls B-side collection and final single "The Show Must Not Go On" for free on their website. Nearly two decades after its release, Where have all the merrymakers gone? will be re-released, on vinyl, as an LP, for the first time, on July 29, 2014 by the independent record label No Sleep Records.
|
|
|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 22, 2014 19:14:15 GMT -5
More Than Just… 2 Month continues. Today’s one hit wonder has amazingly become relevant again thanks to their big hit being featured in the movie “Guardians Of The Galaxy,” the soundtrack of which is the Number 1 album in America. The song in question is “Hooked On A Feeling” by Blue Swede. Blue Swede was first formed in 1973, when Björn Skifs, a top vocalist in Sweden, was looking for a band to accompany him during his concerts. The band was originally called "Blåblus" (Swedish for "blue blouse" or "blue jeans", a pun on the word "blues") and featured Skifs singing the lead vocals. The band got their international breakthrough in 1974 with their cover of the 1968 B. J. Thomas song "Hooked on a Feeling." Blue Swede recorded Thomas' song in 1973, but based its rendition of the song on a 1971 version released by British pop eccentric Jonathan King, which created the ooga-chaka ooga-chaka introduction. Blue Swede released "Hooked on a Feeling" in Sweden in May 1973 and in the United States in February 1974. The song reached Number 1 in the U.S. for one week April 1974 and stayed in the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 18 weeks. The track also topped charts in Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands, where it reached a peak chart position of 26. To capitalize on the success of the song, Blue Swede also released an album of the same name, in 1974. The group also had a U.S. Top 10 hit with a cover of The Association's "Never My Love", peaking at Number 7. The group recorded a medley of "Hush" by Deep Purple and "I'm Alive" by Tommy James and the Shondells (not The Hollies' song of the same name), which achieved its greatest success in Scandinavia, only reaching Number 61 in the U.S. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YjreDMsdFIwww.youtube.com/watch?v=rP0RzLMPolc In 1974, Blue Swede also released the album Out of the Blue. From this album, they also charted at Number 81 in the U.S. with "Silly Milly", and recorded a cover of Cher's "Half-Breed." www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISsFM3VICmowww.youtube.com/watch?v=KtFtpJrNNw4 The band only lasted for two years. After 1975, they went their separate ways with Skifs going solo. He had a very successful solo career in his native Sweden. In fact, Skifs was so popular in Sweden that he represented the country twice in the Eurovision contest, first in 1978 and then in 1981. www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4iSSEu8VdUwww.youtube.com/watch?v=3-B5HppyJ1Q Skifs appeared as The Arbiter on the original studio album for Chess, released in 1984. A single and video, The Arbiter's Song was released in 1985. Skifs also recorded several demos for the album, including One Night in Bangkok, later performed by Murray Head. Skifs did not perform the role on stage; in the original London production the character was played by Tom Jobe. www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6uh7tRh9Jc In 2002, he had a major hit with the song Håll Mitt Hjärta (Hold My Heart) which is a Swedish version of André de Lang's song Same Ol' Story. It stayed on Svensktoppen between April 27, 2003 and January 8, 2006 for a total of 142 weeks. www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOj2owkg7S0 In 2014, Blue Swedes single "Hooked on a Feeling" featured prominently in the film Guardians of the Galaxy. Prior to the film's release, the song's appearance in a trailer resulted in a significant spike in sales. Skifs also performed at the Royal Wedding for Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Christopher O'Neill in 2013. Not bad for a guy best known for making the phrase “Ooga Chaka” popular.
|
|
|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 23, 2014 20:00:51 GMT -5
More Than Just… 2 Month continues. Today, we’re looking at the video that first played on MTV. It’s The Buggles’ “Video Killed The Radio Star.” Trevor Horn originally started his career producing jingles and music by punk rock groups. Geoff Downes first worked as a keyboardist for the group She's French, and after graduating from Leeds College of Music in 1975, moved to London to look for more bands he could perform as keyboardist in. Nine months later spent in London, both Downes and Horn met in 1976 at auditions for Tina Charles' backing band. The two worked with her producer, Biddu, whose backing tracks had an influence on their early work. Horn met Bruce Woolley while playing bass guitar in the house band at Hammersmith Odeon, whom both had interest in listening to records by artists such as Kraftwerk and Daniel Miller. Woolley, Horn, and Downes began writing and self-recording songs together, and they would later form The Buggles in 1977. Downes claimed that the name of the group arose out of a joke and was actually a pun on The Beatles: "It was originally called The Bugs. The Bugs were studio insects—imaginary creatures who lived in recording studios creating havoc. Then somebody said as a joke that The Bugs would never be as big as The Beatles. So we changed it to The Buggles." Horn, Woolley and Downes did rough demos of early compositions such as "Video Killed the Radio Star", "Clean, Clean", and "On TV". At the time, Horn was producing for groups such as Chromium, The Killers, Lips and Gardner & Boult. The group spent 1978 in vain trying to find a record label to sign them, using the demo for "Video". However, Horn was having a relationship with Jill Sinclair, who was running a new company, Sarm East Studios. The group planned a deal with Sarm East. However, the demo for "Video" caught the attention of Chris Blackwell from Island Records, and on the day the Buggles would sign to Sarm East, Chris Blackwell from Island Records landed them a bigger deal, with recording and publishing contracts. From there they recorded their debut studio album, The Age of Plastic, in the first half in 1979. In a BBC Radio interview, Downes claimed that Island rejected them three times previously. Released in September 1979, "Video" was a Number 1 hit in several countries, and its video, directed by Russell Mulcahy, was to be the first video ever aired on MTV two years later, at midnight on 1 August 1981. Three subsequent singles were released from Plastic: "(Living in) The Plastic Age", "Clean, Clean", and "Elstree", which also charted in the UK. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpmoadE1y-Iwww.youtube.com/watch?v=UzZl_ZpTEiswww.youtube.com/watch?v=S3Ecs07in7Uwww.youtube.com/watch?v=kQiFeTItZwk Later in 1980, Horn and Downes began work on a second album, working in a studio next door to progressive rock band Yes, who had recently lost vocalist Jon Anderson and keyboardist Rick Wakeman. Both members of The Buggles, and Horn in particular, had been long-standing fans of Yes. The Buggles offered a song to Yes, “We Can Fly from Here,” but at the suggestion of Brian Lane, manager of both bands, Yes' bassist Chris Squire invited them to actually replace Anderson and Wakeman as members of Yes. Horn and Downes accepted the offer, and joined Squire, Steve Howe, and Alan White to record the Drama album. www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLkuKXt-nec Overall, the "absorption" of the Buggles by Yes was well received by fans both on record (the UK chart position for Drama is testament to that) and on stage. Trevor Horn was the first to admit that he did not have Jon Anderson's vocal range or style, and many fans missed this, but most were still keen to give the new incarnation of Yes a chance. The critics and some fans, however, were far less forgiving, especially in the United Kingdom. Yes officially disbanded, although temporarily, in early 1981, shortly after the Drama tour came to an end. After Yes broke up, Downes and Horn resumed work on a second Buggles album, the aforementioned Adventures in Modern Recording. As originally intended, “I Am a Camera” was brought to completion as a Buggles song under its original title. However, Downes left the group before the recording of the album to help found Asia with former Yes bandmate Steve Howe, citing musical differences, and Horn completed the album with several new songwriting partners and musicians. Adventures in Modern Recording was released in late 1981, and the five singles released from it ("I Am a Camera", "Adventures in Modern Recording", "On TV", "Lenny," and "Beatnik") failed to live up to the legacy of the first album and "Video Killed the Radio Star". It was at this point that Horn officially brought the Buggles to an end. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOwO_EFAVPwwww.youtube.com/watch?v=WlYlv3klAxUwww.youtube.com/watch?v=yH4bF3_0MPQwww.youtube.com/watch?v=SBkmfEnJbCoAfter leaving The Buggles, Downes joined his former Yes bandmate Steve Howe in forming the aforementioned supergroup Asia, together with John Wetton (ex-King Crimson), and Carl Palmer (ex-Emerson, Lake & Palmer), which made its name with the 1982 hit, “Heat of the Moment.” Downes remains a member of Asia today, being the only member to have stayed with the group since its beginning. In parallel with Asia, he also worked on other projects, including several solo albums and production of acts such as GTR. He has also recently rejoined Yes as their keyboardist, working with Horn on the Fly From Here album and tour. Horn embarked on a very successful career as a record producer, achieving success with bands like ABC, Dollar, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Art of Noise, and even the albums 90125 and Big Generator from a re-formed Yes, with Jon Anderson back on vocals. In 1985, Horn won the Best Producer BRIT Award. More than twenty years on, he is still active, producing with Seal, Tina Turner, Paul McCartney, Tom Jones, Cher, Simple Minds, Belle and Sebastian, t.A.T.u., Charlotte Church, Captain, Pet Shop Boys and Robbie Williams among his many credits. He is currently working with his new band, fittingly named "Producers", who released an album, Made in Basing Street, in 2012. The Buggles would end up reuniting in 2010 and 2011. When asked in 2013 if there would be another upcoming Buggles reunion, Downes said: "Trevor's a really busy guy most of the time with his wide variety of projects and productions, but I don't think we'd ever discount the possibility. It's always a challenge working on new stuff, and I'd love to collaborate with Trevor again. As you know, I'm pretty busy myself right now working on new material with both Yes and Asia, as well as several other projects. So yeah, it's not impossibility, just a matter of making the planets align so that one day we can hopefully make it happen."
|
|
|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 24, 2014 20:36:45 GMT -5
More Than Just… 2 Month continues. Today, we have Katrina And The Waves. (That’s all I got for the intro.) First, their big hit, “Walking On Sunshine.” The band's earliest incarnation was as The Waves, a group that played in and around Cambridge, England, from 1975 to 1977 and featured guitarist Kimberley Rew and drummer Alex Cooper. This incarnation of the Waves never issued any recordings, and broke up when Rew left to join the Soft Boys. A more direct ancestor of Katrina and the Waves was the band Mama's Cookin', a pop cover band hailing from Feltwell, England. This band, founded in 1978, featured American Katrina Leskanich on vocals and keyboards, and her then-boyfriend (and fellow American) Vince de la Cruz on vocals and lead guitar. By late 1980, Alex Cooper had joined the band on drums, with Bob Jakins on bass. Mama's Cookin' proceeded to gig steadily in England over the next two years, specialising in covers of songs by American acts such as Heart, Foreigner, Linda Ronstadt, and ZZ Top. When The Soft Boys broke up in 1981, Rew contacted his old Wave-mate Cooper to see about renewing their musical partnership. Cooper convinced Rew to join Mama's Cookin', and the five-piece group (Leskanich/Rew/Cooper/de la Cruz/Jakins) was quickly renamed The Waves after the band Rew and Cooper had been in together in the mid-1970s. The Waves were initially fronted by singer/songwriter/guitarist Rew, who brought a wealth of original material to the band. Leskanich, meanwhile, originally only sang lead vocals on the cover tunes in the band's repertoire. However, over the first year of the Waves' existence, Rew began to write material for Leskanich to sing, and she was soon the primary vocalist. The Waves made their initial recorded appearances on a 1982 single ("Nightmare"/"Hey, War Pig!"); both tracks were included on the 1982 Rew solo album called The Bible of Bop. The Waves then issued their debut EP Shock Horror later in 1982. Around this time, bassist Jakins left the band. Jakins was not replaced, as de la Cruz took over on bass and the band was rechristened Katrina and the Waves. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YiMUdS-rjI In early 1983, the fledgling band recorded an LP of their original material designed to be sold at gigs. Rew wrote all the songs on this LP, while Leskanich sang eight of the album's ten tracks. (Rew sang lead on the other two.) The LP was shopped around to various labels, but only Attic Records in Canada responded with an offer. Consequently, although they were based in England, Katrina and The Waves' first album Walking On Sunshine was released only in Canada. The album garnered enough critical attention and radio play, especially for the title track, to merit a Canadian tour. In 1984, the group released a follow-up album in Canada, Katrina and the Waves 2, with Leskanich now handling all the lead vocals. Rew was still the primary songwriter, but de la Cruz was also responsible for a few songs, including the Canadian airplay hit "Mexico." Also in 1984, their song “Going Down to Liverpool” was covered by the Bangles, which added to their profile. With the group building a fan base with their recordings and extensive touring, major label interest began to build, and Katrina and the Waves eventually signed an international deal with Capitol Records in 1985. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KHbPXbMHqUwww.youtube.com/watch?v=MZGwY49TXWs For the first Capitol album, the band re-recorded, remixed, or overdubbed 10 songs from their earlier Canadian releases to create their self-titled international debut album in 1985. The Katrina and the Waves album was a substantial critical and commercial success, and the group had a worldwide hit with the song "Walking on Sunshine," (No. 9 US, No. 8 UK, a completely re-recorded, and substantially rearranged version of the song when compared to its initial 1983 Canada-only release). A Grammy award nomination for "Best New Artist" followed, as did constant touring, both of which helped to spur moderate sales of new releases. A follow-up single to "Walking on Sunshine" called "Do You Want Crying" (written by de la Cruz) also became a top 40 US hit, reaching No. 37 in the late summer of 1985. www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7xreT4mCM4 However, the band's follow-up album to Katrina and the Waves (simply entitled Waves) didn't meet with the same measure of success, either critically or commercially. Rew wrote only two of the ten songs on the LP; de la Cruz and Leskanich each wrote four. Drummer Cooper, interviewed some years later, claimed "It was (a) mistake when we started taking over from Kimberley in the musical contribution side. The second Capitol album was awful...". The album did spin off a minor UK and US hit in the form of the Rew-penned "Is That It?" (No. 70 US, No. 82 UK), and "Sun Street" (a de la Cruz composition) was a UK Top 30 hit in 1986. However, Capitol dropped the band after the Waves album didn't perform to expectations. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKkP2lYP_B0www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kci70gWc6w The band subsequently recorded a 1989 album for Capitol-distributed SBK Records called Break of Hearts, a harder, more rock-oriented effort than their previous releases. The album included "That's the Way" which reached No. 16 in the US (credited to Leskanich/Rew), but subsequent singles, including "Rock 'n' Roll Girl", failed to chart, and the band once again were dropped from their label. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgMEAdW97wcwww.youtube.com/watch?v=swc2ozTO-hQ Throughout the1990s, Katrina and the Waves recorded fairly steadily, though most releases were available only in continental Europe and/or Canada, and they issued no charting singles. Though, they did record a cover of "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" with Eric Burdon for the TV series "China Beach" in 1990. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sydt0oM29o By the late nineties, however, the band had all but disappeared, until they, surprisingly if briefly, surged back into the limelight by winning the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom on May 3, 1997 with the song "Love Shine a Light". Reacting to the win, Leskanich said it was the second landslide victory in a week; the song won by a record points margin, and Tony Blair had won the 1997 British general election two days previously. The song won by a then-record margin of 70 points over the Irish runner-up. "Love Shine a Light" became Katrina and the Waves' biggest-ever UK hit, peaking at No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart. www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8oTtSTRdSw Despite their return to the public eye in the UK, Katrina and the Waves were not able to follow up "Love Shine a Light" with another hit, and Leskanich left the group in 1998 after several disagreements within the band. Legal wrangling followed, preventing Leskanich from using the band name. Though attempts were made by the Waves to find a new "Katrina" to front the group, the three remaining group members eventually dissolved the band to pursue individual careers in 1999. It wouldn’t be until 2005 when Katrina would enter the spotlight again. Only, for horrible reasons. When Hurricane Katrina and its storm surge devastated much of the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005, the MSNBC news program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, dubbed its coverage of the hurricane, "Katrina and the Waves"; the name also appeared in numerous headlines and blog postings. A New York Times reporter contacted Katrina Leskanich, who said: "The first time I opened the paper and saw 'Katrina kills 9,' it was a bit of a shock. ... I hope that the true spirit of 'Walking on Sunshine' will prevail. I would hate for the title to be tinged with sadness, and I will have to do my own part to help turn that around." 2010 marked the 25th anniversary of the release of "Walking on Sunshine" and a series of back-catalogue reissues and a re-recorded version of the track were released. A free download of one of the tracks from Kimberley Rew's solo album Bible of Bop was given away in March 2010 from the band's website. Katrina Leskanich released The Live Album in July 2010 - a mix of Katrina and the Waves hits and new songs recorded in London and Germany. In June, 2011, the group threatened legal action against U.S. presidential candidate Michele Bachmann for playing their music on her campaign trail. A statement on the group's official website reads: "Katrina & The Waves would like it to be known that they do not endorse the use of Walking On Sunshine by Michele Bachmann and have instructed their lawyers accordingly." Leskanich stated that she wants to ban the Republican from using the track because she does not agree with her politics. In July, 2013, Katrina rejoined the Waves to perform at the San Fermín festival in Spain for the penultimate gig of the season on Plaza del Castillo.
|
|
|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 25, 2014 16:29:39 GMT -5
More Than Just… 2 Month continues. Today, we’re looking at another common type of one hit wonder: the musician who has had success on within a certain type of genre and ended up with a huge crossover hit. And, that singer we’ll be looking at is Billy Ray Cyrus, known for his big hit, “Achy Breaky Heart.” William Ray Cyrus was born in Flatwoods, Kentucky, to Ron Cyrus, a politician and former steelworker, and his wife, the former Ruth Ann Casto. Growing up, he was surrounded by bluegrass and gospel music from his family. He attended Georgetown College on a baseball scholarship before changing to music. He dropped out of Georgetown during his junior year, realized he wanted to become a musician after attending a Neil Diamond concert, and set a 10-month goal to start a career. In the 1980s, he played in a band called Sly Dog, before signing a record contract with Mercury Nashville Records. While trying to get a recording contract in Los Angeles, Cyrus suffered many hardships including living in his neighbor's car. However, in 1990, he was signed to PolyGram/Mercury. That same year, he opened for Reba McEntire. Cyrus began to record and write music for his debut album, released in 1992. Some Gave All was released in 1992. The album became an instant chart and sales success. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums, Billboard 200, Canadian Country Albums chart, Canadian Albums Chart, and on the charts of several other foreign countries. The album featured four consecutive Top 40 singles on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart from 1992 to 1993, including an album cut, the title track. The most successful single released was "Achy Breaky Heart". It reached No. 1 on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and was also a hit on the pop charts, where it reached No. 4. Although the song was the only number one single, "Could've Been Me" reached No. 2, "Wher'm I Gonna Live?" reached No. 23, and "She's Not Cryin' Anymore" reached No. 6. Some Gave All was certified 9× Multi-Platinum in the United States in 1996, and has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI9tfNx1M1Ewww.youtube.com/watch?v=oms-KjgG38Uwww.youtube.com/watch?v=ROwUAT8oSIw In 1993, Cyrus and Mercury Records quickly released Cyrus' second studio album, It Won't Be the Last. The album featured four singles; however, only three made the Top 40. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Country charts, and No. 3 on the Billboard 200. By the end of the year, It Won't Be the Last was certified Platinum by the RIAA. The highest charting single, the lead-off single, "In the Heart of a Woman", charted to No. 3, with "Somebody New" charting to No. 9, "Words By Heart" at No. 12, and "Talk Some" at No. 63. Also in 1993, Cyrus appeared on Dolly Parton's single "Romeo"; though the single only reached 27 on the country singles charts, the accompanying video was popular on CMT. www.youtube.com/watch?v=P12ikFL1QRYwww.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeOflVibEE0www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRjwD-Rd_K4www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFWaCSWWB_8www.youtube.com/watch?v=afF3XHW7mZ4 Cyrus' third studio album, Storm in the Heartland, was released in 1994. It was the final album he recorded for PolyGram, as they closed their doors in 1995. The album was not as successful as its predecessors. It only reached No. 11 on the Country albums chart, and only the title track made the Top 40 of the Country singles chart. "Deja Blue" was the second single released; however, it only managed to chart to No. 66, and the third and final single, "One Last Thrill", failed to chart at all. The album only managed to be certified Gold in the U.S. Before Cyrus started on his next album, he was transferred to Mercury Nashville. Also in 1994, Cyrus contributed the song "Pictures Don’t Lie" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization. www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPKHnpCv2f0www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2oh9qefbSIwww.youtube.com/watch?v=F1Xy0gVQFc4 Cyrus' most critically acclaimed album was 1996's Trail of Tears on Mercury Records. The album debuted at No. 20 on the Country chart when released. Only two songs made the cut to radio, although neither one hit the Top 60. The title track and "Three Little Words" reached No. 69 and No. 65 respectively. The album failed to reach any certification, and was on and off the charts after only four weeks. www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT7B6m8fKKAwww.youtube.com/watch?v=NCdvnbKOCOU In 1998, Billy Ray Cyrus released his last album for Mercury Records Shot Full of Love. The album became his lowest-peaking album, debuting at No. 32. The first single, "Under the Hood", failed to chart, "Time for Letting Go" hit No. 70, "Busy Man" charted No. 3, and "I Give My Heart to You" reached No. 41. After the single fell from the charts, Cyrus left Mercury's roster and signed with Monument Records in 1999. www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdKRxGfQ57owww.youtube.com/watch?v=tc3ekhupOs4www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY0D_rIMZnQwww.youtube.com/watch?v=oZZ4BxaDKLs His debut album for Monument, Southern Rain, was released in 2000. It debuted at No. 13 on the Country albums chart and No. 102 on the Billboard 200. Five singles were released and all five charted. The lead-off single, "You Won't Be Lonely Now", was the highest-peaking single from the album, charting to No. 17. Other singles include "We the People" (#60), "Burn Down the Trailer Park" (#43), "Crazy 'Bout You Baby" (#58), and the title track (#45). Also during this time, Cyrus began an acting career. His most notable roles at the time were a small part in David Lynch's 2001 film Mulholland Drive as Gene, a pool cleaner who had been having an affair with the wife of Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux), and the lead role on the PAX (now ION Television) comedy-drama Doc, which became the network's highest-rated show. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVW9DevYqjEwww.youtube.com/watch?v=LSXBEzL1KUkwww.youtube.com/watch?v=dzaTlYrRvjM www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI-FtFwmS58 www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwRnqz-li0w After the singles from Southern Rain finished their chart runs, Cyrus began to record two Christian albums. Both albums, Time Flies and The Other Side, were released in 2003. The first album debuted and peaked at a low No. 56 on the Country album charts. Three singles, "Bread Alone", "What Else Is There", and "Back to Memphis," were released; however, only the final single charted, peaking at No. 60. www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIv3FQjotmQwww.youtube.com/watch?v=qlZRQqAhwZowww.youtube.com/watch?v=EHxwBb8VlxA The second Christian album, The Other Side, was recorded while Cyrus filmed his PAX series, Doc. It debuted at No. 5 on the Top Christian Albums chart, No. 18 Top Country Albums, and No. 131 on Billboard 200. Two of three singles charted, "Face of God" (#54) and "The Other Side" (#45), while "Always Sixteen" failed to chart at all. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZgGKE1TovUwww.youtube.com/watch?v=G5sZE1irVJwwww.youtube.com/watch?v=lOBgmKj7Lpc The album Wanna Be Your Joe was Billy Ray's first country album since 2000's Southern Rain. As with its preceding albums, it too, was recorded on a new record label: New Door/UMe Records. It was released while Cyrus was filming the show Hannah Montana, which starred his daughter, Miley. You may have heard of here. Wanna Be Your Joe made it to No. 24 on the Country charts and No. 113 on the all-genre charts. The album initially sold well, but no hit-single was released. The title track was released as the first single, and was followed by "I Want My Mullet Back", both of which were ignored by country radio. Although not released as a single, a music video was made for the track "Stand", a duet with daughter Miley. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Spf5jPpmi4Qwww.youtube.com/watch?v=RnMj1FI9Jpowww.youtube.com/watch?v=jdOr0ye49bQ Also in 2006, Billy Ray appeared with metal-rock group Metal Skool (now Steel Panther), and performed several songs including "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol, and the song "I Want My Mullet Back", which appears on Wanna Be Your Joe. In mid-2007, Cyrus was a celebrity contestant on the 4th season of the show Dancing with the Stars. Cyrus was partnered with Karina Smirnoff. As the show began to air, Cyrus was instantly a fan favorite. Cyrus and Smirnoff made it to the semi-finals where they finished in 5th place. www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7ITlW6xb0Q From his exposure on Dancing with the Stars and Hannah Montana, his record label pushed up the release date a month in advance of his new album. Home at Last was released in July 2007 on Walt Disney Records. It debuted at No. 3 on the country charts, making it Cyrus' first Top 5 entry since It Won't Be the Last debuted at No. 1 in 1993. Beginning sales for the album were very strong; however, the album failed to be certified. The single "Ready, Set, Don't Go", was initially released as a solo single. The solo version made it to No. 33 on the Hot Country Songs chart. In October 2007, Cyrus and daughter Miley Cyrus performed a duet version of the song on Dancing with the Stars. The duet of the song debuted at No. 27 on the Country charts and eventually peaked at No. 4 in 2008, giving Billy Ray his first Top 5 single since "Busy Man" in 1999, as well as Miley's first Top 5 on any Billboard chart. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eqpHvzkc_0 www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dK2T9YvVbA Cyrus was a part of the Disney collection Country Sings Disney in 2008. Two of his songs, "Ready, Set, Don't Go" and the Sheryl Crow-penned song "Real Gone," appeared on the album. Billy Ray's version of "Real Gone" was also made into a music video that is in rotation on both CMT and GAC; the song also appears on Back to Tennessee. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdTpEG0DsUs In late-2008, his website confirmed that a new studio album would be released by the end of the year from Lyric Street Records, entitled Back to Tennessee. The album was originally planned to be released on October 21, 2008, but was pushed back to November 18. When the album was not released, it was announced for a January 13, 2009 release. The first single, "Somebody Said a Prayer", debuted at No. 53 in August 2008 and reached No. 33 in November of that year. On March 14, 2009, the album's title track debuted at No. 59 on the country singles chart and a month later on April 7, Back to Tennessee was released. The song only charted to No. 47 after 11 weeks. A third single, "A Good Day", debuted at No. 60 on the country charts for the chart week of September 5, 2009. www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcekzICS3Howww.youtube.com/watch?v=7xnjrqotlgUwww.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7pyg7fJcjA It was less successful in its first week out as Home at Last. It only reached No. 13 on the charts and only sold approximately 14,000 copies in its opening week. The album's release date coincided with the release of Hannah Montana: The Movie. The song "Back to Tennessee" was included on the movies soundtrack, as well as a duet with Miley Cyrus, entitled "Butterfly Fly Away". The latter song would peak at No. 56 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at No. 50 and Canadian Hot 100. www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7ouN-dvqZI Shortly after the chart debut of Back to Tennessee's third single, "A Good Day", Cyrus and Lyric Street Records parted ways after only one album. Cyrus, Phil Vassar, Jeffrey Steele, and John Waite then formed a new supergroup together in early 2009 called Brother Clyde. On Twitter, Cyrus confirmed the supergroup, saying they just cut the first single from the new album, Lately. On June 30, 2010. Cyrus released on his Facebook information about the new alternative rock group, Brother Clyde, with the old members substituted by Samantha Maloney, Jamie Miller, Dan Knight, and Dave Henning. He also stated that their single, "Lately", was available on iTunes and that their debut album would be out on August 10, 2010. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5afhiqSL4W4 In late 2010, Cyrus suspended his activities in the band Brother Clyde, and announced the release of his new solo patriotic album, entitled I'm American. Initially scheduled to be released in November 2010, it was pushed back to a May 24, 2011 release with a re-recording of "Some Gave All" that featured guest vocals from Darryl Worley, Jamey Johnson and Craig Morgan being released as the lead-off single. However, in April 2011, the single was changed to "Runway Lights". I'm American was released on June 28, 2011. A second single, "Nineteen", was released in August 2011. The song entered the Hot Country Songs chart for the week of October 8, 2011, where it debuted at number 58, becoming Cyrus' first charted single since "A Good Day" in 2009. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydWhRObVxrMwww.youtube.com/watch?v=_Apcvg5DdD0www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbRy-akGjbw Cyrus released the album Change My Mind on October 23, 2012. Its first single, the title track, was released on September 6. www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc8s_j8DX4A
|
|
|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 26, 2014 12:41:50 GMT -5
More Than Just… 2 Month continues. In the late 1980s/early 1990s, there were a whole slew of rap artists who tried to start a revolution of socially conscious hip-hop. And, they all failed due in large part to music fans overwhelming choosing gangsta rap as their preferred form of hip-hop. One of these groups was Arrested Development, known for their big hit, Tennessee. In 1987, Speech joined with fellow DJ Headliner to form the group Arrested Development. The groups other members included: Montsho Eshe, One Love, Tasha Larae, Rasadon (aka Don Norris), Baba Oje (aka the weird old guy who stood around in their videos), JJ Boogie, Za, Aerle Taree, and Dionne Farris. After over three years together, the group released their inaugural album, 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of... It was a huge hit, going 4x platinum in the U.S. and producing the hit song “Tennessee.” The song was a worldwide hit and has been the band’s signature song ever since. Though, it wasn’t the only song from the album to be a hit. “People Everyday” and “Mr. Wendal” were also pretty big hits, going to Numbers 8 and 6 respectively in the U.S. The group won two Grammy Awards in 1993 for Best New Artist and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, and were also named Band of the Year by Rolling Stone magazine. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGusP7aCCYcwww.youtube.com/watch?v=wyDjRd0TjssA few months later, the group was approached by film director Spike Lee, to compose a song for his upcoming biopic based on the life of Malcolm X. The group then recorded "Revolution", which appeared on the oldies-dominated soundtrack for the film, as well as the second half of its closing credits when the film was released in 1992. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWlvOolOic4 Their 1994 follow-up Zingalamaduni, which did well with some critics but sold poorly. The album produced three singles: "United Front," "Ease My Mind," and "Africa's Inside Me." The first two were minor hits, while the last one failed to chart. Needless to say, they had failed to live up to the success of their debut. www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDcMKGgbxhAwww.youtube.com/watch?v=GEmukFkQBTgwww.youtube.com/watch?v=iszZkjDl100 After the group broke up due to "creative differences" in 1996, Speech released a solo album. Sales were poor in the United States but better in Japan, with the albums’ lead single going to Number 1 there. Speech wasn’t the only member to go solo. The female vocalist on "Tennessee", Dionne Farris, released a successful solo album in 1994, Wild Seed-Wild Flower. The album spawned the hit single "I Know". www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIG6Qgntm44www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT9h_-pGKK0 The group reunited in 2000 and has been touring and releasing records via Speech's Vagabond Productions and Speech Music. In 2002, they released the album Heroes Of The Harvest, the first since Zingalamaduni. The album’s lead single, “Hit The Road Jack,” failed to chart. www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4B2Yy3cOxg In November 2003, the group sued the Fox network over the name of the TV show Arrested Development. They felt it was copyright infringement, apparently failing to realized that the phrase “arrested development” had been around long before either the band or the TV were created. The suit is referenced in the Arrested Development episodes "Public Relations", "Motherboy XXX," and "For British Eyes Only." In 2004, the group released the album Among The Trees. Its lead single, “Honeymoon Day,” was also a bit of a failure. In June 2005, the group won the first round of NBC's television series contest Hit Me, Baby, One More Time, performing "Tennessee" and covering Los Lonely Boys' "Heaven". They gave the proceeds ($20,000) to UNICEF. www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3lvfFUUgcYwww.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5nLDyKvZLc The group's follow-up to Among The Trees was Since The Last Time, released internationally (not in the U.S.) on September 18, 2006. Since The Last Time was later released in the United States on October 30, 2007, on Vagabond Record & Tapes, Speech's boutique label. It featured two singles: "Down & Dirty (Clap Your Hands)" and "Miracles." www.youtube.com/watch?v=78uvP3pE9gowww.youtube.com/watch?v=lceZYoaKZPo In March 2007, they toured Australia as part of a triple-bill, along with Simple Minds and INXS, which is probably the weirdest collection of bands to ever play together. The group released their ninth album Strong under Vagabond Records and Tapes, and licensed to the Japanese record label Cutting Edge, on December 9, 2009, and had a top ten hit with the single "The World is Changing" in Japan. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e-jeL8nGwQ In August 2012, the group released its 10th album Standing At The Crossroads, recorded while touring internationally. The album, given away for free from the group's official website, took a lo-fi approach and was recorded entirely on a Mac laptop. The same month they announced a new tour throughout the United States and Australia to celebrate their 20th anniversary. While Arrested Development has struggled to regain a following in the United States, they have met consistent success in Japan. Aerle Taree didn't return to Arrested Development because of vocal problems and DJ Headliner refused to rejoin the band due to bad blood over business differences. Today Aerle is a poet, and she's converted from Buddhism to Christianity. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxo7LfL4JkQ
|
|
|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 27, 2014 20:04:59 GMT -5
More Than Just… 2 Month continues. Today, we have another hip hop revolution that wasn’t with PM Dawn and their big hit “Set Adrift On Memory Bliss.” PM Dawn was formed in 1988 by brothers Attrell Cordes (known by his stage name Prince Be, sometimes credited as Prince Be the Nocturnal) and Jarrett Cordes (known as DJ Minutemix) in Jersey City, New Jersey. The Cordes brothers' father died of pneumonia when they were children. Further family tragedy saw their baby brother Duncan drown at the age of two. The two elder brothers were raised by their mother and their stepfather George Brown, a founding member of Kool & the Gang. Prince Be began DJing parties and composing songs in ninth grade. Within a few years, he had determined to make a demo tape of some of those pieces with the $600 he had set aside from his after school job as a security guard at a homeless shelter. By then, he and his brother were putting in studio time as P.M. Dawn. They first approached Tommy Boy Records, the rap music subsidiary of Warner Brothers, with their demo, but they were told that they were too much like alternative hip-hoppers De La Soul, and not hardcore or ghetto, and were turned away. Eventually, Warlock, an independent record label, issued a debut single, "Ode to a Forgetful Mind", in 1989, but it went unnoticed. www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9bDV6zLnSw The record label that released the single in the United Kingdom, Gee Street Records, found greater success. Gee Street mixed and marketed the song so that it earned considerable attention from music reviewers, and P.M. Dawn found themselves courted not just by Gee Street's head, Jon Baker, but also by most of the major UK record labels. Gee Street brought the brothers to London in 1990 to record tracks for an album. However, the label found itself facing bankruptcy during the recording. The entire Gee Street operation, along with P.M. Dawn's recording contract, was sold to the highest bidder, Island Records. Island issued a few more singles in the United Kingdom before releasing their debut album, Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience. Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross featured the international hit "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss", which sampled the Spandau Ballet song "True", and featured a cameo by Spandau Ballet singer Tony Hadley in the music video of the song. "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" hit Number 1 the week of November 30, 1991, and holds the distinction of being the first Number 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart following the introduction of Nielsen SoundScan to the chart. The song also reached Number 3 in the United Kingdom. "Paper Doll", which was one of the early singles Island released in the United Kingdom, was released in the U.S. as a follow-up to "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss," and peaked at Number 28 in early 1992. "Paper Doll" is said well over 100 times in the song, which makes it second only to MC Hammer's "Pray" which holds the record for the most times a title is repeated in a U.S. Top 40 hit (147). www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVdpXF8E-1Q Before releasing their follow-up album, The Bliss Album…? (Vibrations of Love and Anger and the Ponderance of Life and Existence), P.M. Dawn contributed the single "I'd Die Without You" to the 1992 Eddie Murphy comedy Boomerang and its soundtrack. This Number 2 pop hit was also included on The Bliss Album…?, as was the Billboard Number 2 pop hit "Looking Through Patient Eyes." "Looking Through Patient Eyes" featured backing vocals by Cathy Dennis and sampled George Michael's hit "Father Figure". The music video for the song was shot in a church, and featured Christian images throughout, most notably, Prince Be wore a T-shirt with "Thank you, Jesus" written across it in black lettering. www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_qWlPCEnGMwww.youtube.com/watch?v=RPPvA3buNLU The Bliss Album…? featured the Boy George duet "More Than Likely" and a cover of The Beatles' "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)." The album also included "So On and So On," which led to a 1999 sampling lawsuit. In the lawsuit Batiste v. Island Records, Inc., Paul and Michael Batiste claimed that P.M. Dawn's song "So On and So On" used unauthorized samples from David Batiste & The Gladiators' "Funky Soul". The fifth Circuit Federal Appellate Court found that the Batistes point to no evidence in the record demonstrating that consumers were confused or deceived by either the use of a digital sample of "Funky Soul" in "So On and So On", or the attribution to David Batiste as a co-author of the track. The Batistes' claim that Paul and Michael Batiste were improperly excluded from the liner notes accompanying the album also failed to suggest that consumers were confused, especially because the liner notes do credit the name of the band in which both Paul and Michael Batiste performed. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aznqNWBn5cwww.youtube.com/watch?v=nY0bh0pbHSEwww.youtube.com/watch?v=iZz0wSR9Dz4 P.M. Dawn contributed a cover of "You Got Me Floatin'" to the 1993 compilation album Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix. Artists ranging from Pat Metheny to Eric Clapton to Ice-T's Body Count were included. www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj7fiMVTbZw Their 1995 album Jesus Wept was unable to attain the success of their first two albums. The album's highest charting single was "Downtown Venus", which contained a sample of Deep Purple's "Hush", and reached Number 48 on the Billboard chart. Also, in 1995, P.M. Dawn was credited with the remix of White Zombie's "Blood, Milk and Sky" (Miss September Mix) on the Supersexy Swingin' Sounds compilation album. www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv18GCmngCgIn 1996, P.M. Dawn contributed "Non-Fiction Burning" to the AIDS-Benefit Album Red Hot + Rio produced by the Red Hot Organization. In 1998, Prince Be contributed the tracks "Perfect for You" and "Gotta Be...Movin' on Up" to the Marlon Wayans and David Spade comedy Senseless, followed later in the year by P.M. Dawn's fourth album, Dearest Christian, I'm So Very Sorry for Bringing You Here. Love, Dad. It was less successful again, with the album's single, "Being So Not For You (I Had No Right)" being only a minor chart hit. In 2000, they released the compilation, The Best of P.M. Dawn. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilj_5pxCTQI www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKWRRfbbkZ4www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnyVrA5xOwAwww.youtube.com/watch?v=AC6MD2d1RY0 Prince Be suffered a massive stroke in early 2005 that left him paralyzed on the left side of his body. Undeterred, P.M. Dawn appeared on NBC's Hit Me, Baby, One More Time, performing "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss", and covered Puddle of Mudd's "Blurry." Despite the fact that Prince Be was still suffering the effects of this stroke, they beat Animotion, Missing Persons, Juice Newton, and Shannon to claim the $20,000 charitable prize, which they contributed to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, as Prince Be is a diabetic. www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPe8lyR8a2g Following their appearance on Hit Me, Baby, One More Time, Minutemix decided to leave P.M. Dawn to pursue an interest in a solo career. This led to the introduction of The Doc Of The Dawn-Doc.G, also known as 'Dr.Giggles' or 'Blissboy #2', who is the Cordes brothers' paternal first cousin. In June 2006, P.M. Dawn commenced a summer tour called "Summer of Bliss, 2006", playing venues across the United States in an effort to promote a new album planned for release in 2007, with a live album also expected to be recorded that year. P.M. Dawn Greatest Hits Live was finally released in early 2010. The Doc Of The Dawn-Doc.G released a new single on May 20, 2011 called "99 Bottle (The Stripe & Goose Song)" on iTunes, Amazon, and other mp3 websites. On May 24, 2011 The Doc Of The Dawn-Doc.G released his first solo album titled The Purr-Script-Shun. Prince Be and Doc. G continue to tour and perform P.M. Dawn classics and new material. On May 15, 2010 (Prince Be's 40th birthday), Doc.g performed at the Mall of Asia concert series in Manila, receiving a standing ovation from 50,000 fans and dedicating the performance to the memories of Guru from Gangstarr and Francis M.
|
|
|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 28, 2014 20:56:15 GMT -5
More Than Just… 2 Month continues. For today, we have another actor who managed to score one hit trying to have a singing career. And, that actor is Bruce Willis, with his hit cover of The Staples Singers’ “Respect Yourself.” Willis had been struggling as an actor until he caught his big break with Moonlighting. The famously meta show was known for its wild experimentation, which lead to Willis and co-star to sing on the show every once in a while. This, along with the show’s popularity, lead to a soundtrack, on which Willis sang a cover of “Good Lovin’,” which appeared on the episode that was a mini adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Taming Of The Shrew. Yeah, it was a weird show. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRaqV7A8YQo Soon after, Willis caught the singing bug. He enjoyed moderate success as a recording artist, recording an album of pop-blues titled The Return of Bruno, which included the hit single "Respect Yourself" and was promoted by a Spinal Tap–like rockumentary parody featuring scenes of him performing at famous events including Woodstock. “Respect Yourself” went to Number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. He also released a version of the Drifters song "Under The Boardwalk" as a follow-up, which got to Number 2 in the UK Top 40, though was less successful in the U.S. Other covers on the album included The Coasters’ “Young Blood” and “Secret Agent Man.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2zk56DDjGcwww.youtube.com/watch?v=_YmqnIiCPgQ www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v6pBscvuZI In 1989, Willis released a second album, If It Don't Kill You, It Just Makes You Stronger. Needless to say, it wasn’t as successful as his first album. Unlike the first album, this one featured original songs. Yes, Bruce Willis started writing his own songs. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh4WnkW06yg www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRLR-Ph5HLw After that, Willis stopped making albums. But, he didn’t stop singing, mostly at the Planet Hollywood restaurants he started with Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He also made some contributions to the soundtracks of movies he starred in, like “Hudson Hawk” and “Rugrats Go Wild.” Yeah, his music career wasn’t as successful as his acting career. www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8KvM3vZo0wwww.youtube.com/watch?v=XuxayMkieCw www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpUkFTXvz0w www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KN613P-2X0 In 2001, a compilation album of Willis’s music was released. Yes, I am serious. And, it was seriously called Classic Bruce Willis: The Universal Masters Collection. Anyway, in 2008, Willis contributed a spoken word piece to the Blues Traveler’s album North Hollywood Shootout; it was called "Free Willis (Ruminations from Behind Uncle Bob's Machine Shop)." And, I couldn’t find it on YouTube. But, here are a few more songs I could find. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I_lJUKxZ8wwww.youtube.com/watch?v=nDXkd2NyCCE
|
|
|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 29, 2014 9:39:19 GMT -5
More Than Just… 2 Month continues. Today, we’re looking at a band that can definitely be called a one-hit wonder, in that they had one big hit song and soon disappeared after its success. It’s the New Radicals with “You Get What You Give.” New Radicals were formed in Los Angeles, California in 1997 by Gregg Alexander, who had previously released two solo albums, 1989's Michigan Rain and 1992's Intoxifornication. Both didn’t have much success, but Alexander continued to pursue a music career leading up to the New Radicals’ formation. www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8HDAfgc3Cswww.youtube.com/watch?v=UYFTnMQsRpY Michael Rosenblatt, MCA Records' A&R Senior Vice President, signed the band to the label in 1998, and Alexander received a $600,000 advance for their first (and only) album, Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too. The album was released on October 20, 1998, and was well received by music critics, who praised the record for its wide range of atypical influences for a modern pop-rock album, such as Todd Rundgren, World Party and Hall & Oates, and compared its funk and soul-influenced upbeat pop rock to the early work of Prince and Mick Jagger. Also popular with the general audience, the album reached No. 10 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 41 on the Billboard 200 in the U.S., where it also achieved platinum status. It was also certified gold in the United Kingdom and in Canada. The album was followed on November 17, 1998 by the release of their first single, "You Get What You Give" (co-written with Rick Nowels), reached No. 36 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart, and No. 1 on the RPM Canadian Singles Chart. The song received heavy radio airplay and rotation on MTV and much media attention. In large part this attention focused on the celebrity-slamming line "Fashion shoots with Beck and Hanson/ Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson/ You're all fakes run to your mansions/ Come around we'll kick your ass in." When asked about it in an interview, Marilyn Manson replied he was "not mad that [Alexander] said he'd kick my ass, I just don't want to be used in the same sentence with Courtney Love" and would "crack his skull open if I see him." Beck reported that "I was in a grocery store and he [Alexander] came running up to me, so apologetic, and saying, 'I hope you weren't offended. It wasn't supposed to be personal.' I was kind of pleased, because he's a big guy." Hanson said they weren't really bothered by the song, as they saw it as just a pop-culture reference. They also co-wrote the song "Lost Without Each Other" from their 2004 album Underneath with Alexander. Zac Hanson said that "It was cool working with Gregg... [he]'s definitely a character but he's a cool guy." When the band canceled their appearance at the Atlanta open-air music festival RockFest, as well as their UK tour (scheduled to start on May 17, 1999) rumors started they would break up, while MCA Records claimed an unspecified member of the band (although explicitly not Alexander) being ill was the cause for the canceled shows. The New Radicals went on to shoot the video for their second single "Someday We'll Know." However, less than two weeks before its release, Gregg Alexander issued a press release on July 12, announcing the breakup of the group. Alexander said that the New Radicals "will no longer be a recording, promoting, or performing entity" and that he would focus on producing and writing material for other artists. He went on to say that he "accomplished all of [his] goals with this record" and that "the fatigue of traveling & getting three hours sleep in a different hotel every night to do boring 'hanging and schmoozing' with radio and retail people, is definitely not for [him]", that he "lost interest in fronting a 'One Hit Wonder' to the point that [he] was wearing a hat while performing so that people wouldn't see [his] lack of enthusiasm" and that he would go on to form a production company to focus on producing and writing songs freelance for other artists. His first production work after the New Radicals' breakup was the album Portable Life by fellow Radical Danielle Brisebois, originally set to be released in October 1999, but cancelled by RCA Records until eventually being released digitally almost a decade later in September 2008. Given the band's breakup and the resulting lack of promotion, "Someday We'll Know" failed to have a notable impact on the charts; it did not chart the Billboard Hot 100 and reached only No. 28 on the U.S. Adult Top 40 and No. 48 on the UK Singles Chart, and the band is therefore regarded as a one-hit wonder. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDmA8qQKhMY Although no third single was released, there are some conflicting clues as to what would have been the third single. Certain promotional copies of Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too come with a sticker reading "includes 'You Get What You Give' 'I Don't Wanna Die Anymore' 'Someday We'll Know'", suggesting that "I Don't Wanna Die Anymore" would join the other two as a single release. Several websites selling the album also marked the track as "Album Version", indicating that there would be a single version at some point. However, there also exist copies of "Mother We Just Can't Get Enough" as both a one-track promotional single and as a four-track commercial single with a barcode. These apparently never made it to retail and were probably test pressings. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ewcqq6s8hgwww.youtube.com/watch?v=r-pho4qy7K4 In addition to the songs released on the United States version of Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too, two additional studio songs by the New Radicals were produced. The song "To Think I Thought" was included as the B Side to "You Get What You Give" and as an additional track on the Japanese version of the album, and "The Decency League" was a B-side to the single "Someday We'll Know." www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsPVISL2iTAwww.youtube.com/watch?v=1VY60HLlu24 In the years following New Radicals' breakup, Alexander worked with artists such as Ronan Keating, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and Enrique Iglesias, often collaborating with producer/songwriter Rick Nowels. His most successful song as a producer/songwriter was the 2003 Grammy Award-winning "The Game of Love" by Santana and Michelle Branch (which Alexander also recorded himself). Rod Stewart also recorded Alexander and Nowels' "I Can't Deny It" for his 2001 album, Human. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bJrHl4TeN0www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1Iedzd-yGs In 2003, a new Gregg Alexander song entitled "A Love Like That" was released at PickTheHits.com, a website where users could rate new music. While it was uncredited, fans immediately recognized Alexander's voice and parts of the lyrics that had already appeared in the booklet for Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too. The song was (as official sites listing Alexander's song repertoire reveal) written by Alexander and Rick Nowels. In 2012, Alexander was last seen making an almost unregconized rare appearance onstage alongside Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine and Tim McIlrath, at a Nurses United Anti-NATO Protest in Chicago playing "This Land is Your Land." He also co-wrote the music for the 2013 musical romance-drama film “Begin Again,” along with long-time collaborators Danielle Brisebois and Rick Nowels, as well as Nick Lashley. The soundtrack includes “Lost Stars,” which Alexander co-wrote with Brisebois, Nowels, Lashely and Nick Southwood. Alexander performs songs on the film's soundtrack under the name Cessyl Orchestra. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq9jzRWoMGY www.youtube.com/watch?v=MELWU0o0VwQ
|
|
|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 30, 2014 10:32:00 GMT -5
More Than Just… 2 Month is nearing the end. So, let’s go out with a bang. Here is the supergroup Power Station, with their big hit, “Some Like It Hot.” Like I said, Power Station was a 1980s supergroup made up of singer Robert Palmer, former Chic drummer Tony Thompson, and Duran Duran members John Taylor (bass) and Andy Taylor (guitar). Bernard Edwards, also of Chic, was involved on the studio side as recording producer and for a short time also functioned as The Power Station's manager. The group’s origins can be traced to July 23, 1983, at Duran Duran's charity concert at Villa Park, which took place in aid of Mencap. Duran Duran had been known to be big fans of Robert Palmer so he was invited to take part. After Duran Duran's third album Seven and the Ragged Tiger, the members of the band went on a planned short hiatus, going into two projects. One of these was the band Arcadia, which maintained the melodic and atmospheric aspects of Duran Duran's previous recordings. The other was The Power Station, in which John and Andy Taylor worked with Palmer, Thompson, and Edwards to create a rhythmic, harder rock, funk sound. Roger Taylor was mainly the drummer for Arcadia but also contributed percussion to The Power Station. The group began as something of a whim. It was a one-time gathering of friends to provide backing to model and would-be singer Bebe Buell who wanted to record a cover of the 1972 T. Rex song "Get It On (Bang A Gong)". Both John and Andy Taylor were eager to branch out from the synthesizer-heavy pop of Duran Duran and play some Led Zeppelin-flavored rock and roll. The participation of their idols from Chic lent the project a horn-inflected funk vibe that meshed surprisingly well with the crunching guitars and booming drums. Soon the project evolved into the idea of a revolving supergroup; a tentative name for the band was Big Brother. The original plan for the one-album project was for the three musicians (Taylor, Taylor and Thompson) to provide musical continuity to an album full of material, with a different singer performing on each track. Those who were approached included Mick Jagger, Billy Idol, Mars Williams, and Richard Butler (of The Psychedelic Furs), and Mick Ronson. The group then invited Robert Palmer to record vocals for the track "Communication." When he heard that they had recorded demos for "Get It On (Bang A Gong)," he asked to try out vocals on that song as well. Before long, they had decided to record the entire album with Palmer. The group was quickly signed with Capitol Records. On February 16, 1985, the band performed "Some Like It Hot" and "Get It On (Bang A Gong)" on Saturday Night Live. It was the only time that Robert Palmer performed live with the original line-up. The horn section for The Power Station's Saturday Night Live appearance included saxophonist Lenny Pickett, who would join the show's house band that fall and eventually become the show's musical director. In March 1985, the band issued the album The Power Station, produced by Bernard Edwards with some informal assistance from Nile Rodgers. It reached Number 12 in the UK and Number 6 on the US album chart. The album is sometimes referred to as Power Station 33⅓ as the sleeve for the original vinyl record release bore that subtitle, indicating the speed of a record turntable. Later compact disc issues used CD as a subtitle instead. The album's cover graphics and color scheme, which were also used in the videos, were based on sketches by John Taylor. Three singles were released from the album, two of them major hits, thus making them two-hit wonders. The first, "Some Like It Hot," reached Number 14 on the UK Singles Chart and Number 6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The second single, "Get It On (Bang A Gong)," went to Number 22 in the UK and Number 9 in the U.S., while competing against the Duran Duran single "A View to a Kill," which was a US number one. But the third single, "Communication," was not as successful; it barely reached the Top 40 in the U.S., and disappeared after hitting number 75 in the UK. The band also released a collection of their three music videos called The Power Station Video EP. www.youtube.com/watch?v=alFlaMC2b3cwww.youtube.com/watch?v=yxatBrCauL8 The group's unexpected success led to two incompatible results: the band decided to headline a summer tour in America with Paul Young, Nik Kershaw and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Robert Palmer decided to record a solo album to take advantage of his sudden name recognition. This led to Palmer's departure from the band. Though Tony Thompson, Andy Taylor and future Power Station bass player Bernard Edwards all contributed to Palmer's highly successful 1985 solo album Riptide. When Palmer bailed on the tour, some critics referred to it as "unprofessional behavior." In Number One magazine he hit back at the claims he joined the band for money: "Firstly, I didn't need the money and, secondly the cash wasn't exactly a long time coming. It wasn't exactly an experience that set me up for retirement." He was also accused of ripping off the Power Station sound for his own records. He snapped: "Listen, I gave The Power Station that sound. They took it from me, not the other way around." So with Palmer bowing out, they recruited singer/actor Michael Des Barres (formerly of Silverhead, Checquered Past and Detective) for the tour. Des Barres also performed with them at the Live Aid charity concert in Philadelphia that summer. Des Barres' friendship with actor Don Johnson led to the band's guest appearance on an episode of the TV drama Miami Vice. Similarly, his friendship with producer Joel Silver led to The Power Station writing a song called "We Fight for Love" for the Arnold Schwarzenegger action film Commando (1985). The track was originally titled "Someday, Somehow, Someone's Gotta Pay." An EP containing the song plus some live songs from their tour was planned for release that same year, but was scrapped by their record company. www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSFoFz6b-E0 The band folded late in 1985, as its members turned to other projects. John Taylor returned to Duran Duran, while Andy Taylor chose to leave Duran Duran in favour of a solo career. A reformed Led Zeppelin played at the Live Aid concert in 1985, with Thompson sharing drumming duties with Phil Collins. Thompson was to take the place of John Bonham in a re-formed Led Zeppelin, but after a few days of rehearsal he was seriously injured in a 1986 car accident and the reunion never got off the ground. Palmer continued his revitalized solo career, while Des Barres released his second solo album in 1986. The band reunited ten years later with its original members: Robert Palmer, Andy Taylor, John Taylor and Tony Thompson. The group worked together on writing and arranging a new album, however, personal issues forced bassist John Taylor to withdraw from the project and leave the band before any recording took place. Producer Bernard Edwards (Chic bassist) stepped in to become The Power Station's bassist and new fourth member, playing all bass parts on Living In Fear (1996). Edwards was prepared to tour with the group, but then died suddenly of pneumonia during a trip to Japan. The Power Station decided to press on as a trio augmented by session musicians, and toured first with bassist Guy Pratt and then Manny Yanes and second guitarist Luke Morley, to moderate success. The group disbanded permanently shortly after. Only one single was released from Living in Fear: “She Can Rock It,” which went to 63 on the U.K. charts. The album also featured covers of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” and The Beatles’ “Taxman.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_DVv54IjcQwww.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg5MnZI2YfQwww.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzxl0IiabjM In 2002, EMI Music issued The Best of The Power Station as part of their Ten Best Series. All tracks are from the first album (some in remixed form), except the final track: a previously unreleased live version of "Dancing in the Street," recorded at the Hartford Civic Center in 1985 and sung by Michael Des Barres. Both Robert Palmer and Tony Thompson died in late 2003. EMI released a new version of the album Power Station on February 21, 2005, to commemorate the album's 20th anniversary. The package includes the original eight-song album, seven bonus tracks (mostly remixes) and a 40-minute eight-chapter DVD. Among the bonus tracks on the album is the track "Someday, Somehow, Someone's Gotta Pay" (from the Commando OST), sung by Michael Des Barres.
|
|
|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 31, 2014 9:15:54 GMT -5
More Than Just… 2 Month has come to an end. So, let’s end with another famous one hit wonder. It’s The Proclaimers with “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).” Craig and Charlie Reid were born in Leith in 1962, and grew up in Edinburgh, Cornwall and Auchtermuchty. When they stayed in Auchtermuchty they attended Bell Baxter High School. After several punk rock bands at school they formed The Proclaimers in 1983. The pair came to public attention when an Inverness-based fan sent their demo to the British band The Housemartins, who were impressed enough to invite The Proclaimers on their 1986 United Kingdom tour. The exposure of the tour won them a January 1987 appearance on the British pop music television programme The Tube on Channel Four. The single "Letter from America" peaked at Number 3 in the UK Singles Chart, while the album This is the Story went gold. The album’s other two singles were “Throw The ‘R’ Away” and “Make My Heart Fly.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuMtZstnoT8www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUE2jeSaHeM www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6gVhQBtTh8 The follow-up album, 1988’s Sunshine on Leith, featured "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)," "I'm On My Way," and the title track as singles. Even though "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" would be the album’s big hit, it would be a few years before its success came. In the meantime, the band had a hit with their EP King of the Road, which reached Number 9 in the UK in 1990. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmMwH1mUqBswww.youtube.com/watch?v=H1yYDuSf3C4www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAZNhftw8bIThe band went on a bit of a hiatus after King Of The Road. During that time, “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” was featured in the 1993 movie “Benny And Joon.” It became very popular, going all the way to Number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Funny enough, the song has had a longer shelf life than the movie, still popping up in movies and TV shows, like How I Met Your Mother, “Alvin And The Chipmunks,” and “Pitch Perfect.” With the song’s newfound success, the Reid’s decided to go back to recording, making 1994’s Hit The Highway. The album’s singles included “Let’s Get Married,” “What Makes You Cry?,” and “These Arms Of Mine,” all of which were minor hits in the U.K. Though, none of the songs produced the success of “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).” So, another hiatus came about. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb6hZVp2n6Iwww.youtube.com/watch?v=oFLdqdghpPswww.youtube.com/watch?v=d_N8YXBgOT0 After seven low-profile years, they released their comeback album Persevere in 2001. The album’s single “There’s A Touch” failed to chart. Nevertheless, the band made two more albums: 2003’s Born Innocent and 2005’s Restless Soul. www.youtube.com/watch?v=n64ntR-5Mdowww.youtube.com/watch?v=EQOdsBK8vPIwww.youtube.com/watch?v=xugo1dZE850 In March 2007 they recorded a new version of "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" with television comedy characters Andy Pipkin (played by Matt Lucas) and Brian Potter (Peter Kay) for the Comic Relief charity. A long list of celebrities were featured in the music video for this new version, including David Bellamy, Rod, Jane and Freddy, Paul O'Grady, David Tennant, Frank Sidebottom and many more. This new version of the song reached number one in the UK Singles Chart. 2007 also saw the release of their album Life With You, with the singles “Whole Wide World” and “New Religion.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnUOPsjC2qkwww.youtube.com/watch?v=908MNJnjSiQwww.youtube.com/watch?v=SsLQfj00CC8 A stage musical featuring their songs, "Sunshine on Leith", was created in 2007 for Dundee Rep and adapted as a feature film in 2013. The band has also released two more albums: 2009’s Notes & Rhymes (with the single “Love Can Move Mountains”) and 2012’s Like Comedy (with the singles “Spinning Around In The Air,” “Whatever You Got,” and the title track). www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaGNgggIqYcwww.youtube.com/watch?v=HRNc_2mtexEwww.youtube.com/watch?v=c1hFPlB1duUwww.youtube.com/watch?v=7pa9PtjzZJs
|
|
|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Sept 1, 2014 9:55:53 GMT -5
Back to business as usual. Here's Eminem with "Monster." Enjoy.
|
|
|
Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Sept 2, 2014 19:47:37 GMT -5
I don't have a good intro for today. But, I do have the Talking Heads. Here is "This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)." Enjoy.
|
|