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A Rockapella Holiday
''A Rockapella Holiday'' is the seventeenth overall, twelfth North American, and fifth holiday album released by the a cappella group Rockapella. The tracks consist of new songs premiered on the album and songs the group has perfected since 2003 during their holiday concerts of the same name. Announcement, publicity, and release The album was first mentioned in an interview with Scott Leonard during the band's 2010 holiday tour, where he revealed it would include both "new and newly arranged Christmas songs." No other official news about the album was released until October 2, 2011, when Rockapella appeared on the Japanese internet show WorldNet.tv during their Japanese tour and disclosed the name of the album to be ''A Rockapella Holiday'' and that it would be released in November 2011. On November 16, 2011, Rockapella posted a picture on their official Facebook account announcing the cover art and track list for the album and that it would be available on iTunes the next day, wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rockapella
Rockapella is an American a cappella musical group formed in 1986 in New York City. The group's name is an amalgam of "rock" and "a cappella". Rockapella sings original vocal music and a cappella covers of pop and rock songs; and over time, their sound has evolved from high-energy pop and world music toward a more R&B-style sound. Rockapella initially found their biggest success in Japan throughout their career. They are also known for their role as a vocal house band and resident comedy troupe on the PBS children's geography game show '' Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?'', based on the educational computer game of the same name developed and published by Broderbund. Rockapella has released 19 albums in both Japan and the United States, and three compilation albums in Japan. The text "All sounds provided by the voices and appendages of Rockapella", the central idea of the band, has appeared on all of their CDs since the addition of their vocal percussionist. Band history ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jingle Bell Rock
"Jingle Bell Rock" is an American Christmas song first released by Bobby Helms in 1957. Since its release, it has received frequent airplay in the United States during every Christmas season since then. "Jingle Bell Rock" was composed by Joseph Carleton Beal (1900–1967) and James Ross Boothe (1917–1976), although both Helms and session guitarist on the song Hank Garland disputed this (see Authorship controversy section below). Beal was a Massachusetts-born public relations professional and longtime resident of South Ocean Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Boothe was an American writer in the advertising business. Helms recordings "Jingle Bell Rock" has been performed by many, but Helms' first version from 1957 produced by Paul Cohen is the best known. The song's title and some of its lyrics are an extension of the old Christmas standard, "Jingle Bells". It makes brief references to other popular songs of the 1950s, such as " Rock Around the Clock", and mentions going to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeff Thacher
Jeffrey Thomas Thacher (born December 23, 1967) is an American musician, best known as a member of the vocal group Rockapella. A professional vocal percussionist (a practice also referred to as " mouth drumming" and related to the hip hop-derived beatboxing) and singer who emerged on the early contemporary a cappella scene in 1991, Jeff Thacher co-founded the Boston-based a cappella group Five O'Clock Shadow (aka FOCS) that year and went on to join Rockapella in 1993 as their full-time mouth-drummer. Thacher was a 1990 graduate of Berklee College of Music's Music Production & Engineering program, and afterward spent several years in television & radio production when not performing Vocal percussion, as a full-time occupation amidst a band or ensemble, was a fairly new idea in 1991, and Thacher performed as a tenor in Five O'Clock Shadow when not mouth-drumming. At that time, Rockapella was halfway through their stint on the children's television geography gameshow '' Wher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Baldi III
George William Baldi III (born August 29, 1970) is an American singer best known as the bass singer of the a cappella singing group Rockapella from 2002 to 2014, and then returned to the group since 2022. Early life Baldi grew up in Philadelphia. He discovered his musical and performing talents at a young age by singing and dancing in the jam sessions his family would have at his aunt's house after having Sunday dinner at his grandmother's. Baldi attended the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where he majored in vocal music. While a student at CAPA, Baldi was a founding member of Unique Attraction, a group that later evolved into Boyz II Men. Baldi left Unique Attraction upon graduating in 1988, at which time he continued his musical education at Morris Brown College as a vocal performance major, receiving a BA in Music in 1993. Musical career Baldi auditioned for a job at Walt Disney World after graduating from college, and in 1994 began perfor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steven Dorian
Steven Dorian (born November 15, 1977) is an American singer best known as a tenor in the a cappella group Rockapella from 2010 to 2016. Early life Born in Northbridge, Massachusetts, Northbridge, Massachusetts to parents who were both teachers and musically involved, his father playing saxophone and clarinet and his mother a singer, Dorian has always been surrounded by music, and began playing the guitar at age 13. His first gig was at a Bar (establishment), pub his high school science teacher owned, playing a duo show with his brother, Greg Asadoorian. Over the next 6 years, Dorian and his brother continued to play shows both by themselves and with various bands on through their college years. Dorian credits this to be the experience that taught him how to sing lead and harmonies. "I owe most of my musical knowledge to my brother during those years. He taught me so much, and still does to this day." In high school, however, music always took a backseat to Dorian's interest in s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is in a "light Scots dialect" of English, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these writings his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest. He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement, and after his death he became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism, and a cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish diaspora around the world. Celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. In 2009 he was chosen as the greatest Scot by the Scottish pub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Auld Lang Syne
"Auld Lang Syne" (: note "s" rather than "z") is a popular song, particularly in the English-speaking world. Traditionally, it is sung to bid farewell to the old year at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. By extension, it is also often heard at funerals, graduations, and as a farewell or ending to other occasions; for instance, many branches of the Scouting movement use it to close jamborees and other functions. The text is a Scots-language poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 but based on an older Scottish folk song. In 1799, it was set to a traditional tune, which has since become standard. "Auld Lang Syne" is listed as numbers 6294 and 13892 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The poem's Scots title may be translated into standard English as "old long since" or, less literally, "long long ago", This book was purchased at Burns Cottage, and was reprinted in 1967, and 1973. "days gone by", "times long past" or "old times". Consequently, "For auld lang syne", as it appear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Simeone
Harry Moses Simeone (May 9, 1910 – February 22, 2005) was an American music arranger, conductor and composer who popularized the Christmas song "The Little Drummer Boy", for which he received co-writing credit. Early years Simeone was born in Newark, New Jersey, United States. He grew up listening to stars performing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, not far from his native Newark. Initiated and inspired by this childhood passion, he sought a career as a concert pianist. To this end, he enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music, which he attended for three years, but when he was offered work at CBS as an arranger for bandleader Fred Waring, he dropped out of Juilliard to accept it. Initial prominence After garnering vocal and music arrangement credits for the 1938 RKO motion picture ''Radio City Revels,'' Simeone relocated to Hollywood with his wife, Margaret McCravy Simeone, who briefly sang with Benny Goodman's orchestra, using the stage name Margaret McCrae, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katherine K
Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christian era it came to be associated with the Greek adjective (), meaning "pure", leading to the alternative spellings ''Katharine'' and ''Katherine''. The former spelling, with a middle ''a'', was more common in the past and is currently more popular in the United States than in Britain. ''Katherine'', with a middle ''e'', was first recorded in England in 1196 after being brought back from the Crusades. Popularity and variations English In Britain and the U.S., ''Catherine'' and its variants have been among the 100 most popular names since 1880. The most common variants are ''Katherine,'' ''Kathryn,'' and ''Katharine''. The spelling ''Catherine'' is common in both English and French. Less-common variants in English include ''Katheryn'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Little Drummer Boy
"The Little Drummer Boy" (originally known as "Carol of the Drum") is a popular Christmas song written by American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. First recorded in 1951 by the Trapp Family, the song was further popularized by a 1958 recording by the Harry Simeone Chorale; the Simeone version was re-released successfully for several years, and the song has been recorded many times since. In the lyrics, the singer relates how, as a poor young boy, he was summoned by the Magi to the Nativity of Jesus. Without a gift for the Infant, the little drummer boy played his drum with approval from Jesus's mother, Mary, recalling, "I played my best for him" and "He smiled at me". Origins and history The song was originally titled "Carol of the Drum". While speculation has been made that the song is very loosely based on the Czech carol "Hajej, nynjej", the chair of the music department at Davis's alma mater Wellesley College claims otherwise. In an interview with Music Depart ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lewis Redner
Lewis Henry Redner (December 15, 1831, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – August 29, 1908, Hotel Marlborough, Atlantic City, New Jersey) was an American musician, best known as the composer of the popular Christmas carol "St. Louis", better known as "O Little Town of Bethlehem". Redner worked in the real-estate business in Philadelphia, and played the organ at four different churches during his life. He spent 19 years as organist at the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia. While there, he set Pastor Phillips Brooks's poem of his recollection of a pilgrimage to Bethlehem to music on Christmas Eve, 1868, and the carol was first sung the next day. Redner was very involved with local charities. He served on the first board of Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter and soup kitchen, in 1878. Redner never married. He was buried at The Woodlands Cemetery The Woodlands is a National Historic Landmark District on the west bank of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phillips Brooks
Phillips Brooks (December 13, 1835January 23, 1893) was an American Episcopal clergyman and author, long the Rector of Boston's Trinity Church and briefly Bishop of Massachusetts. He wrote the lyrics of the Christmas hymn, "O Little Town of Bethlehem". He is honored on the Episcopal Church liturgical calendar on January 23. Background Early life and education Born in Boston, Brooks was descended through his father, William Gray Brooks, from the Rev. John Cotton; through his mother, Mary Ann Phillips, he was a great-grandson of Samuel Phillips, Jr., founder of Phillips Academy (Andover, Massachusetts). Three of Brooks' five brothersFrederic, Arthur and John Cottonwere eventually ordained in the Episcopal Church. Phillips Brooks prepared for college at the Boston Latin School and graduated from Harvard University in 1855 at the age of 20, where he was elected to the A.D. Club. He worked briefly as a school teacher at Boston Latin, but, upon being fired, felt that he had f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
