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Essar (album)
''Essar'' is a 1984 album by American singer Smokey Robinson. It was produced and arranged by Robinson with Reginald "Sonny" Burke. The album was released on the Motown sub-label ''Tamla''. The album's title is a pun on the initials of Robinson's name. Reception The album only peaked at #141 on ''Billboard'' pop charts, and at #35 on R&B charts. "And I Don't Love You" peaked at #106 Billboard and #33 R&B charts, and "I Can't Find" at #109 Billboard and #41 R&B charts. Although the 12" B-side of "And I Don't Love You" Larry Levan's Instrumental (Dub) became a House Music classic in the late 2000s. William Ruhlmann gave 2 out of 5 stars on AllMusic, addressing it as "the low point" in Robinson's career and holding Sonny Burke's dominating synthesiser play responsible. Where Robert Christgau rated it as B+, acknowledging that there are "fillers", but concluding with "one thing you can say about Smokey's filler that you can't say about anybody else's--Smokey's singing it". Tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief songwriter and producer. He led the group from its 1955 origins as "the Five Chimes" until 1972, when he announced his retirement from the group to focus on his role as Motown's vice president. However, Robinson returned to the music industry as a solo artist the following year. Robinson left Motown Records in 1990, following the sale of the company two years earlier. Robinson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and was awarded the 2016 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for his lifetime contributions to popular music. In 2022, he was inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame. Early life and early career William Robinson Jr. was born to an African-American father and a mother of African-American and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became an early proponent of musical movements such as hip hop, riot grrrl, and the import of African popular music in the West. Christgau spent 37 years as the chief music critic and senior editor for ''The Village Voice'', during which time he created and oversaw the annual Pazz & Jop critics poll. He has also covered popular music for ''Esquire'', ''Creem'', ''Newsday'', ''Playboy'', ''Rolling Stone'', ''Billboard'', NPR, ''Blender'', and ''MSN Music'', and was a visiting arts teacher at New York University. CNN senior writer Jamie Allen has called Christgau "the E. F. Hutton of the music world – when he talks, people listen." Christgau is best known for his terse, letter-graded capsule album reviews, composed in a concentrat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Robinson (drummer)
John Frederick Robinson (born December 29, 1954), known professionally as JR, is an American drummer and session musician who has been called "one of the most recorded drummers in history". He is known for his work with producer Quincy Jones, including Michael Jackson's multi-platinum ''Off the Wall'' album and the charity single "We Are the World". JR's drum fill kicks off Jackson's chart topper "Rock with You", and his drum solo opens the Steve Winwood album ''Back in the High Life'' (1986) to begin the number 1 song "Higher Love". ''Rolling Stone'' listed JR in 2016 at number 81 in their list of the top 100 "Greatest Drummers of All Time". He was awarded one Grammy Award for the Rufus/Chaka Khan single "Ain't Nobody", but has played drums on more than 50 Grammy winners. JR plays in many different styles. His first fame came with the funk band Rufus, and he recorded dance/funk hits with the Pointer Sisters. In the pop and rock fields, his work stretches from the straight-up r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
LinnDrum
The LinnDrum, also referred to as the LM-2, is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics between 1982 and 1985. About 5,000 units were sold. Its high-quality samples, flexibility and affordability made the LinnDrum popular; it sold far more units than its predecessor (the LM-1) and its successor (the Linn 9000) combined. Roger Linn re-used the moniker on the LinnDrum Midistudio and the Roger Linn Designs' LinnDrum II. The LinnDrum was used on many recordings throughout the 1980s, including international hits such as Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Relax", a-Ha's "Take On Me", Harold Faltermeyer's "Axel F", Billy Idol's " Eyes Without a Face", Deniece Williams's "Let's Hear It for the Boy" and Madonna's " Lucky Star". When Linn Electronics closed in 1986, Forat Electronics purchased its assets and offered service, sounds and modifications for the LinnDrum. The LinnDrum was pre-MIDI, using a DIN sync interface, but MIDI Retrofit Kits were offered by JL Cooper and are curre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Chemay
Joe Chemay is an American bassist and background singer, known for his recording session work. Biography Chemay started out working as a session and touring support musician in Los Angeles, but moved to Nashville in 1989. Chemay has worked with Elton John, Shania Twain, Bill Medley, Peter Cetera, Lionel Richie, Christopher Cross, The Beach Boys, Leon Russell, Michael Nesmith, and others. In 1980 and 1981, Chemay participated in Pink Floyd's The Wall Tour, providing backing vocals. Chemay also was a member of Roger Waters' Bleeding Heart Band, staging a 1990 production of ''The Wall''. In 2006, Chemay formed the Trifectone Music Group with Biff Watson and Ed Seay to write, develop and produce commercial music. Discography Solo recordings * 2007: ''Unformattable'' (Trifectone Music Group) With The Joe Chemay Band * 1981: ''The Riper the Finer'' (Unicorn Records), "Proud" #68, US Hot 100 Also appears on 1976 - 1979 * 1976: Elton John - ''Blue Moves'' ( MCA / Rocket) * 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freddie Washington (bassist)
"Ready" Freddie Washington is an American session bassist who has played with artists such as Herbie Hancock, Michael Jackson, Al Jarreau, Aaron Neville, Lionel Richie, Anita Baker, B.B. King, Elton John, Patrice Rushen, Stevie Wonder and Whitney Houston, Donald Fagen, The Crusaders, George Benson, Deniece Williams, Johnny Mathis, Burt Bacharach, Kenny Loggins and Steely Dan. He is best known for his songwriting contribution to "Forget Me Nots" by Patrice Rushen, which heavily features his bass work and was later sampled by Will Smith for "Men in Black". During the 1990s, Washington and Rushen were part of a popular rhythm section known as "The Meeting". More recently, Washington has toured with Steely Dan. In 2005, Washington was a participant in Star Licks Productions Star Licks Productions (also known as StarLicks) was an instructional music publishing company conceived by Mark Freed and co-founded by Andrew Cross and Robert Decker. The company was at the forefront of cre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Jackson Jr
Paul Milton Jackson Jr. (born December 30, 1959) is an American fusion/urban jazz composer, arranger, producer and guitarist. He was born and raised in Los Angeles. Jackson knew by the age of fifteen that he wanted to become a professional musician. He attended the University of Southern California, majoring in music. In addition to being a recording artist in his own right, Jackson is also a highly accomplished L.A. session player, with a career spanning multiple decades. He has supported artists ranging from Michael Jackson (no relation)Vogel, Joachim (1995). ''Masters of Rhythm Guitar'', p. 93. AMA Verlag. (on the albums ''Thriller'', '' Bad'', '' Dangerous'', ''HIStory'' and '' Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix'') to the Temptations, Whitney Houston, Alexander O'Neal, Five Star (on the album '' Silk and Steel''), Howard Hewett, Thomas Anders, Patti LaBelle and Luis Miguel, to rockers such as Chicago and Elton John, to jazz-oriented players such as George Duke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dann Huff
Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004, and 2016 at the Country Music Association Awards and the ''Producer of the Year'' award in 2006 and 2009 at the Academy of Country Music. He is the father of American singer and songwriter Ashlyne Huff and brother of Giant and White Heart drummer David Huff. Career Huff grew up in Nashville and attended Brentwood Academy. His father, Ronn Huff, was an arranger, composer and conductor who wrote orchestrations for film and television and was the pops conductor for the Nashville Symphony. Huff began his career as part of the original Christian rock band White Heart in which he played with his brother David Huff, and later in the melodic hard rock band Giant. He has since then been active as a session guitarist and producer in both rock music and country musi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
'Wah Wah' Watson
Melvin M. Ragin (December 8, 1950 – October 24, 2018), known professionally as "Wah Wah Watson", was an American guitarist who was a member of The Funk Brothers, the studio band for Motown Records. Career A native of Richmond, Virginia, Melvin Ragin moved to Detroit and became a member of the Motown Records studio band The Funk Brothers, where he recorded with artists like The Temptations (his guitar work on "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" is particularly notable), The Jackson 5, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and The Supremes. He played on numerous sessions in the 1970s and 1980s for many top soul, funk and disco acts, including Herbie Hancock; he both recorded and composed songs with the Pointer Sisters. In 1977, Watson released his first solo album, ''Elementary'', on Columbia Records. The album was co-produced by Watson and David Rubinson. In 1994, Watson appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, '' Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool''. The album, meant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David T
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the third king of the United Kingdom of Israel. In the Books of Samuel, he is described as a young shepherd and harpist who gains fame by slaying Goliath, a champion of the Philistines, in southern Canaan. David becomes a favourite of Saul, the first king of Israel; he also forges a notably close friendship with Jonathan, a son of Saul. However, under the paranoia that David is seeking to usurp the throne, Saul attempts to kill David, forcing the latter to go into hiding and effectively operate as a fugitive for several years. After Saul and Jonathan are both killed in battle against the Philistines, a 30-year-old David is anointed king over all of Israel and Judah. Following his rise to power, David c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Fearing
Raydio is an American funk and R&B vocal group formed in 1977 by Ray Parker Jr., with Vincent Bonham, Jerry Knight, and Arnell Carmichael. Career 1970s and Raydio After securing a record deal, the group scored their first big hit in early 1978 with "Jack and Jill", which was taken from their self-titled debut album. The song peaked at #8 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, and reached #11 in the UK Singles Chart, earning a gold record in the process. "Is This a Love Thing" peaked at #27 in the UK in August 1978. Their next successful follow-up hit, "You Can't Change That" was released in 1979, and lifted from their ''Rock On'' album. The single reached #9 on the ''Billboard'' chart that year. In September 1979, they participated in an anti-nuclear concert at Madison Square Garden. Their performance of "You Can't Change That" at this show appears on the ''No Nukes'' album. The 1980s and "Ray Parker Jr. and Raydio" By late 1980, by which point Knight had left to pursue a so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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