HOME
*





Freak City Soundtrack
''Freak City Soundtrack'' is the third studio album by Material Issue, released on Mercury Records in 1994. It was the last studio album the band would record before frontman Jim Ellison committed suicide in 1996. Production The album was produced by Mike Chapman, who also produced breakthrough albums for Blondie and The Knack. Rick Nielsen appears on the album. Critical reception ''Trouser Press'' called the album "an unqualified triumph," and praised "Help Me Land" as "two minutes of slashing power chords, a frenzied vocal and Zelenko’s totally out-of-control drumming." The ''Hartford Courant'' called it "40 minutes of high-energy, minimal-angst-factor fun." The ''Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...'' called ''Freak City Soundtrack'' "a return t ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Material Issue
Material Issue was an American power pop trio from Chicago, Illinois. The band's trademark is pop songs with themes of love and heartbreak. A number of their song titles used girls' first names. History Material Issue was formed in 1985, led by frontman Jim Ellison, who played guitar, sang lead vocals, and wrote most of the band's songs. Ellison met bassist Ted Ansani while both were attending Columbia College Chicago in 1986. Drummer Mike Zelenko was found through an ad in the ''Illinois Entertainer'' later that year. In 1987, Material Issue released an eponymous EP on their own label, Big Block. The label operated out of Ellison's bedroom at his parents' home in Addison, Illinois, and was named for the big block engines of the 1970s muscle cars Ellison loved. In 1988, their song "Sixteen Tambourines" appeared on ''CMJ New Music Reports compilation and their music was described by ''CMJ'' as a "hooky brand of high-powered psycho-pop". In 1989, Material Issue released the s ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Power Pop
Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and cheerful sounding music underpinned by a sense of yearning, longing, or despair. The sound is primarily rooted in pop and rock traditions of the early to mid-1960s, although some acts have occasionally drawn from later styles such as punk, new wave, glam rock, pub rock, college rock, and neo-psychedelia. Originating in the 1960s, power pop developed mainly among American musicians who came of age during the British Invasion. Many of these young musicians wished to retain the "teenage innocence" of pop and rebelled against newer forms of rock music that were thought to be pretentious and inaccessible. The term was coined in 1967 by the Who guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend to describe his band's style of music. However, power pop bec ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Mercury Records
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is operated through Republic Records; in the United Kingdom and Japan (as Mercury Tokyo in the latter country), it is distributed by EMI Records. Since the separation of Island Records, Motown, Mercury Records, and Def Jam Recordings combining the Island Def Jam Music Group, Mercury Records has been placed under Island Records, although its back catalogue is still owned by the Island Def Jam Music Group (now Island Records). Background Mercury Records was started in Chicago in 1945 and over several decades, saw great success. The success of Mercury has been attributed to the use of alternative marketing techniques to promote records. The conventional method of record promotion used by major labels such as RCA Victor, Decca Records, and ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Mike Chapman
Michael Donald Chapman (born 13 April 1947) is an Australian-American record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s. He created a string of hit singles for artists including The Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Smokie, Mud and Racey with business partner Nicky Chinn, creating a sound that became identified with the "Chinnichap" brand. He later produced breakthrough albums for Blondie and The Knack. Chapman received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2014 Australia Day Honours. Early career Chapman was born in Queensland, Australia, and was educated at the Anglican Church Grammar School. He emigrated to Britain where he became a member of the Downliners Sect and then in 1968 joined the group Tangerine Peel. They released an album in 1969 and had several near-hit singles between 1967 and 1970. In 1970 he met Nicky Chinn while working as a waiter at a London nightclub, Tramp. The pair struck up a song-writing partnership, and ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Destination Universe
''Destination Universe'' is the second studio album by the American band Material Issue, released on Mercury Records in 1992. "What Girls Want" made the top ten on ''Billboards Modern Rock Tracks chart. The band promoted the album with a "Pop Against Recession Tour". Production Recorded at Short Order Recorder, in Zion, Illinois, the album was produced by Jeff Murphy and the band. Material Issue had more time and money to spend on the production. The album cover is a photo of a vintage Schwinn, purchased in Calumet City. Critical reception ''Entertainment Weekly'' wrote: "Think of this music as a sort of landlocked ’90s Merseybeat, and trust in Ellison’s expertise in the mechanics that made that original Liverpool stuff so memorable: pocketsful of melodies, bursting guitars, and the unspoken belief that these are the things that make life worth living." ''Trouser Press'' concluded that the album "suffers from a serious lack of strong tunes." ''Rolling Stone'' deemed it "not ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the database was first made available on the Internet in 1994. AllMusic is owned by RhythmOne. History AllMusic was launched as ''All Music Guide'' by Michael Erlewine, a "compulsive archivist, noted astrologer, Buddhist scholar and musician". He became interested in using computers for his astrological work in the mid-1970s and founded a software company, Matrix, in 1977. In the early 1990s, as CDs replaced LPs as the dominant format for recorded music, Erlewine purchased what he thought was a CD of early recordings by Little Richard. After buying it he discovered it was a "flaccid latter-day rehash". Frustrated with the labeling, he researched using metadata to create a music guide. In 1990, in Big Rapids, Michigan, he founded ''All Music Guide' ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




The Encyclopedia Of Popular Music
''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Knowledge'', Christmas edition, 22 December 2007- 4 January 2008. It was described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". History of the encyclopedia Larkin believed that rock music and popular music were at least as significant historically as classical music, and as such, should be given definitive treatment and properly documented. ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is the result. In 1989, Larkin sold his half of the publishing company Scorpion Books to finance his ambition to publish an encyclopedia of popular music. Aided by a team of initially 70 contributors, he set about compiling the data in a pre-internet age, "relying instead on information gleaned from music magazines, individual expertise a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

The Essential Album Guide
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American Rock music, rock band co-founded by singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the American New wave music, new wave scene of the mid-1970s in New York. Their first two albums contained strong elements of Punk rock, punk and new wave, and although highly successful in the UK and Australia, Blondie was regarded as an underground music, underground band in the U.S. until the release of ''Parallel Lines'' in 1978. Over the next five years, the band achieved several hit singles including "Heart of Glass (song), Heart of Glass," "Call Me (Blondie song), Call Me," "Atomic (song), Atomic," "The Tide Is High," and "Rapture (Blondie song), Rapture". The band became noted for its eclectic mix of musical styles, also incorporating elements of disco, pop music, pop, reggae, and early hip hop music, rap music. Blondie disbanded after the release of its sixth studio album, ''The Hunter (Blondie album), The Hunter'', in 1982. Debbie Harry con ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


The Knack
The Knack was an American rock band based in Los Angeles that rose to fame with its first single, "My Sharona", an international number-one hit in 1979. History Founding (1977–1978) Singer Doug Fieger was a native of Oak Park, Michigan, a northern suburb of Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in the 9 Mile/Greenfield area. The brother of attorney Geoffrey Fieger (later known for representing Jack Kevorkian in a series of assisted suicide cases) Fieger had previously played in an eclectic rock band called Sky as well as the Sunset Bombers. Although Sky had received a modest amount of acclaim, including being produced by Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller, the band broke up without having any chart success. As a result, Fieger made the decision to move to Los Angeles and start another band. Shortly after arriving in L.A., Fieger met Berton Averre (lead guitar, backing vocals and keyboards), and the two started a songwriting partnership. Fieger had also known Bruce Gary (drums) fo ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Rick Nielsen
Richard Alan Nielsen (born December 22, 1948) is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist, primary songwriter, and leader of the rock band Cheap Trick. He is well-known for his numerous custom-made guitars from Hamer Guitars, including his famous five-neck guitar. Career Nielsen was born into a musical family, with both parents being opera singers. His father, Ralph Nielsen, also directed symphonies, choirs and recorded over forty solo albums. During Rick's teens, the family owned a music store in Rockford, Illinois, and he learned to play a number of instruments. After playing drums for six years, Rick changed direction, learning how to play guitar and keyboards. His first school band was The Phaetons, which mutated into The Grim Reapers (which later included Tom Petersson in its line up). The Grim Reapers became Fuse which released one poorly received studio album before disbanding in 1970. Nielsen joined Nazz for a short time (replacing Todd Rundgren) before ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Trouser Press
''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to a song by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and an acronymic play on the British TV show ''Top of the Pops)''. Publication of the magazine ceased in 1984. The unexpired portion of mail subscriptions was completed by ''Rolling Stone'' sister publication ''Record'', which itself folded in 1985. ''Trouser Press'' has continued to exist in various formats. History The magazine's original scope was British bands and artists (early issues featured the slogan "America's Only British Rock Magazine"). Initial issues contained occasional interviews with major artists like Brian Eno and Robert Fripp and extensive record reviews. After 14 issues, the title was shortened to simply ''Trouser Press'', and it gradually transformed into a professional magazine w ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]