Europa (Holly Johnson Album)
''Europa'' is the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Holly Johnson, released in 2014. Background In mid-2014, it was revealed that Johnson would release, ''Europa'', his first studio album in 15 years on his own label Pleasuredome. The singer had hinted at his plans for an album of new material back in 2009 when speaking to Absolute Radio at that year's Q Awards. In 2011, Johnson returned to performing live at the occasional summer festival, mainly in the UK, and in October 2014 he started his first UK solo tour, named after what Johnson described as "the most upbeat song on the ''Europa'' album", "Dancing with No Fear". The album was to precede the seven date tour, set for release on 15 September, but was later pushed back to 29 September. The tour, which was Johnson's first since the final Frankie Goes to Hollywood shows in 1987, marked the 30th anniversary of the release of the band's debut album ''Welcome to the Pleasuredome''. Composition After meeting produ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Holly Johnson
William Holly Johnson (born 9 February 1960) is an English artist, musician, and writer, best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, who achieved huge commercial success in the mid-1980s. Prior to that, in the late 1970s he was a bassist for the band Big in Japan. In 1989, Johnson's debut solo album, ''Blast'', reached number one in the UK albums chart. Two singles from the album – "Love Train" and " Americanos" – reached the top 5 of the UK Singles Chart. In the 1990s, he also embarked on writing, painting, and printmaking careers. Biography Johnson was born on 9 February 1960 in Liverpool, England, to Eric and Pat ('' née'' McGlouchlin) Johnson. His paternal grandfather Patrick was Irish and his maternal grandfather Patrick McGlouchlin was of 3/4 Indian descent. Johnson was the third of four children and was nicknamed Billy as a child. He started his education in Liverpool at St Mary's Church of England primary school and at age eleven went to the Liverp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Arts Desk
''The Arts Desk'' (theartsdesk.com) is a British arts journalism website containing reviews, interviews, news, and other content related to music, theatre, television, films, and other art forms written by journalists from a variety of traditional and web-based publications. It launched in September 2009 as a shareholder collective. From 2010 to 2013, its honorary chairman was Sir John Tusa, former managing director of the BBC World Service and of the Barbican Centre. In 2012, it won an Online Media Award as the best specialist journalism site, jointly with the website for ''The Economist''. Notable contributors to the website include; Aleks Sierz Aleks Sierz is a British theatre critic. He is known for coining the term " In-yer-face theatre", which was the title of a book he published in 2001. Sierz was educated at Manchester University and holds a PhD from Westminster University. He wo ..., Jasper Rees, Matt Wolf, Ismene Brown, Joe Muggs, Tom Birchenough, David Nice, Kie ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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ITunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital multimedia, on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating systems, and can be used to rip songs from CDs, as well as play content with the use of dynamic, smart playlists. Options for sound optimizations exist, as well as ways to wirelessly share the iTunes library. Originally announced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs on January 9, 2001, iTunes' original and main focus was music, with a library offering organization and storage of Mac users' music collections. With the 2003 addition of the iTunes Store for purchasing and downloading digital music, and a version of the program for Windows, it became a ubiquitous tool for managing music and configuring other features on Apple's line of iPod media players, which extended to the iPh ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chris Shepherd
Chris Shepherd (born 11 December 1967) is a double BAFTA nominated television/film writer and director. Born in Anfield, Liverpool, Lancashire, in 1967. He is mainly known for combining live action with animation. His work fuses comedy with commentary on the darker side of human nature. Early years Shepherd's first animation was made in 1989 and it was called ''Safari''. He wanted to make a drama but didn't know any actors, so he made his cast out of plasticine. Using this film he won a place at University for the Creative Arts, Farnham. His first job in the industry was as production manager at Speedy Films which was the creative vehicle for director Paul Vester. His writing and commissioned directorial debut came in 1997 with a Channel 4 film called '' The Broken Jaw''. This animated comedy illustrated the plight of a public house after it has been transformed into a fun pub. During the same year he animated the world stare-out championship for BBC comedy sketch show ''Big T ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Americanos (song)
"Americanos" is a song by English singer Holly Johnson, released in 1989 as the second single from his debut solo album, ''Blast'' (1989). It was written by Johnson, and produced by Andy Richards and Steve Lovell, with additional production from Dan Hartman. The song reached 4 in the United Kingdom and was a commercial success across Europe, topping the Austrian Singles Chart and peaking at No. 3 on the Eurochart Hot 100. A music video was filmed to promote the single. This featured an affluent American family and their somewhat poorer but good hearted neighbours each watching a televised lottery show. Critical reception Upon release, Chris Heath of ''Smash Hits'' described the song as an 80s update of David Bowie's Young Americans in both its content and its spirit, where he acknowledges the superficiality of the American dream but isn't narrow-minded enough to simply condemn it." ''New Musical Express'' noted the song's "acid irony". Steve Sutherland of ''Melody Maker'' descri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Phil Harding (producer)
Philip James Harding (born 1957) is an English Record producer, music producer, Audio engineering, audio engineer, remixer, academic and author. Harding started in the music industry aged 16 at London's Marquee Studios in 1973, where he got to work as an assistant engineer under the guidance of top producers on albums for artists such as Elton John, Kiki Dee and Barry Blue. As Harding's career progressed, a long list of credits began to accumulate, with artists as diverse as The Clash, Killing Joke, Toyah Willcox, Amii Stewart and Matt Bianco, all taking advantage of Harding's fast-growing reputation as a top engineer. The very first band Harding worked with was Killing Joke where he was a young in-house engineer. By 1984, a newly formed production team at The Marquee – Stock Aitken Waterman – was added to the list. Harding engineered and mixed their first chart successes, Divine (performer), Divine and Hazell Dean, and their breakthrough international hit and first No. 1 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Michael Ball (singer)
Michael Ashley Ball (born 27 June 1962) is an English singer, presenter and actor. He made his West End debut in 1985 playing Marius Pontmercy in the original London production of ''Les Misérables'', and went on to star in 1987 as Raoul in ''The Phantom of the Opera''. In 1989, he reached number two in the UK Singles Chart with " Love Changes Everything", a song taken from the musical ''Aspects of Love'', where he played Alex. He played the role in London and on Broadway. His album ''Coming Home To You'' reached number one in the UK making it his 4th number one album to date. On 24 April 2020, Ball and Captain Tom Moore entered the UK Singles Chart at number one with a cover of "You'll Never Walk Alone", with combined chart sales of 82,000 making it the fastest-selling single of 2020. In 1992, Ball represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest, finishing second with the song " One Step Out of Time". In 1995, he reprised the role of Marius in '' Les Misérabl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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XLR8R
''XLR8R'' (pronounced "accelerator") is a website that covers music, culture, style, and technology. It was originally also a print magazine. History and profile ''XLR8R'' was founded as a newsprint zine in 1993 by publisher Andrew Smith in Seattle. It has offices in San Francisco and New York City. While ''XLR8R''’s initial focus was on electronic music, it has widened its scope to include indie rock, hip-hop, and reggae/ dancehall music as well as related trends in style, art, fashion, and technology. ''XLR8R'' was published 10 times per year and distributed internationally. Special issues included a Music Technology issue, a year-end "Best Of" issue, and an entire issue devoted to the music scene of a particular city (Berlin, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, etc.). Subscribers receive ''Incite'', a free monthly CD of tracks hand-picked by the magazine's editors. Standout features of the publication include "Audiofile," a collection of short pieces on u ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nemone
Nemone Metaxas (born 3 November 1972 in Chester, Cheshire), often billed simply as Nemone, is an English DJ, radio presenter and television presenter/producer. She is also a trained psychotherapist practising in West and Central London. She is an active sportswoman, participating in triathlons and open water swimming and is a former track and field athlete. Early life and family Nemone's Greek father's maternal ancestral village is in Sykia (Συκέα) and the family name is Anastasakis. Broadcasting career After finishing her degree in psychology at the Victoria University of Manchester in 1995, Nemone worked as a research assistant in a psychiatric ward. She went on to become a receptionist at Kiss 102 in Manchester where she learned production and broadcasting skills in her spare time. In 1997, she became the presenter and producer of ''The Word'' radio programme as Kiss 105 went on the air. She subsequently presented Galaxy 102 FM's Morning Show, Network Chill Out Show ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ken Bruce
Kenneth Robertson Bruce (born 2 February 1951) is a British broadcaster who is best known for hosting his long-running weekday mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2 from 1986 to 1990, and then again since 1992. Early life and career Bruce was born and raised in Glasgow. He attended Hutchesons' Boys' Grammar School, Glasgow, before training as a chartered accountant. Bruce's first job was washing cars. He began his broadcasting career with the Hospital Broadcasting Service in Glasgow. Bruce became a staff announcer for BBC Radio 4 Scotland. Following the launch of BBC Radio Scotland in November 1978, he became one of the original presenters of ''Nightbeat'', alongside Iain Purdon. Charles Nove subsequently joined the presentation rota. He also presented a Saturday morning show. In 1980, he took on the mid-morning slot and then, in 1983, he presented a daily afternoon entertainment show. He hosted his mid-morning show on the BBC World Service in the late 1980s. BBC Radio 2 History ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jamie Reid
Jamie Reid (born 16 January 1947 in London, United Kingdom) is an English artist and anarchist. Career His work, featuring letters cut from newspaper headlines in the style of a ransom note, came close to defining the image of punk rock, particularly in the UK. His best known works include the Sex Pistols album ''Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols'' and the singles "Anarchy in the UK", "God Save The Queen" (based on a Cecil Beaton photograph of Queen Elizabeth II, with an added safety pin through her nose and swastikas in her eyes, described by Sean O'Hagan of ''The Observer'' as "the single most iconic image of the punk era"),Heard, Chris (2004)Art and style of punk's shocking past, BBC, 7 October 2004. Retrieved 2 February 2010O'Hagan, Sean (2007)Art anarchy in the UK, ''The Observer'', 3 June 2007. Retrieved 2 February 2010Donald, Ann (1998) "The angry revolt into style; Punk's explosion still reverberates in the world of graphic design. Ann Donald catches the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, advertising, and celebrity culture that flourished by the 1960s, and span a variety of media, including painting, silkscreening, photography, film, and sculpture. Some of his best-known works include the silkscreen paintings '' Campbell's Soup Cans'' (1962) and ''Marilyn Diptych'' (1962), the experimental films ''Empire'' (1964) and ''Chelsea Girls'' (1966), and the multimedia events known as the '' Exploding Plastic Inevitable'' (1966–67). Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Warhol initially pursued a successful career as a commercial illustrator. After exhibiting his work in several galleries in the late 1950s, he began to receive recognition as an influential and controversial artist. His New York studio, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |