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Jonathan Smeeton
Jonathan Smeeton is a British lighting and production designer who was active in the UK from the late 1960s, and then in the US from late 1970s up to his retirement in 2018. Smeeton started out in the UK underground scene in the late 1960s. By 1971, he had become involved with Hawkwind, using the alias Liquid Len and the Lensmen (a reference to the ''Lensman'' space opera books), and remained with them for seven years developing his craft. He was name-checked in the Genesis song " The Battle of Epping Forest" from ''Selling England by the Pound'' (1973), later going on to work for the band's singer Peter Gabriel: He retired from the business in April 2018, his last official show being for Diana Ross and the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in June 2018. In 2018, he received the Parnelli Visionary Award. List of acts he has worked for: *1970s: Bob Hope; War; Captain Beefheart; Free; Traffic; Hawkwind; Motörhead; Fairport Convention; Black Sabbath; The Commodores ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British People
British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, which can be acquired, for instance, by descent from British nationals. When used in a historical context, "British" or "Britons" can refer to the Ancient Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain and Brittany, whose surviving members are the modern Welsh people, Cornish people, and Bretons. It also refers to citizens of the former British Empire, who settled in the country prior to 1973, and hold neither UK citizenship nor nationality. Though early assertions of being British date from the Late Middle Ages, the Union of the Crowns in 1603 and the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 triggered a sense of British national identity.. The notion of Britishness and a shared Brit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free (band)
Free were an English rock band formed in London in 1968, best known for their hit songs "All Right Now" and "Wishing Well". Although renowned for their live shows and non-stop touring, their studio albums did not sell very well until their third, '' Fire and Water'' (1970), featured the massive hit "All Right Now". The song helped secure them a place at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, where they played to an audience of 600,000 people. In the early 1970s they became one of the biggest-selling British blues rock groups; by the time they disbanded, they had sold more than 20 million records worldwide and had played more than 700 arena and festival concerts. "All Right Now" remains a R&B staple, and has been entered in ASCAP's "One Million" airplay singles club. The band disbanded in 1973; lead singer Paul Rodgers went on to become the frontman of the more successful rock supergroup Bad Company, which also featured his Free bandmate Simon Kirke on drums. Guitarist Paul Kossoff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1973 by former members of Santana, Steve Miller Band, and Frumious Bandersnatch. The band currently consists of guitarist/vocalist Neal Schon (the last original member), keyboardists/vocalists Jonathan Cain and Jason Derlatka, drummer/vocalist Deen Castronovo, bassist Todd Jensen, and lead vocalist Arnel Pineda. Journey had their biggest commercial success between 1978 and 1987, when Steve Perry was lead vocalist; they released a series of hit songs, including "Don't Stop Believin' (1981), which in 2009 became the top-selling track in iTunes history among songs not released in the 21st century. ''Escape'', Journey's seventh and most successful album, reached number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 and yielded another of their most popular singles, " Open Arms". The 1983 follow-up album, ''Frontiers'', was almost as successful in the United States, reaching number two and spawning several successful singles; it broadened ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WHAM!
Wham! (briefly known in the US as Wham! U.K.) were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981. The duo consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to 1986. Influenced by funk and soul music and presenting themselves as disaffected youth, Wham!'s 1983 debut album ''Fantastic'' addressed the United Kingdom's unemployment problem and teen angst over adulthood. Their second studio album ''Make It Big'' in 1984 was a worldwide pop smash hit, charting at number one in both the UK and the United States. Associated with the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US, the singles from the album—"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Everything She Wants" and "Careless Whisper"—all topped the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 1985, Wham! made a highly publicised 10-day visit to China, the first by a Western pop group. The event was seen as a ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Jarreau
Alwin Lopez Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and musician. His 1981 album '' Breakin' Away'' spent two years on the ''Billboard'' 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and R&B sound. The album won Jarreau the 1982 Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. In all, he won seven Grammy Awards and was nominated for over a dozen more during his career. Jarreau also sang the theme song of the 1980s television series ''Moonlighting'', and was among the performers on the 1985 charity song "We Are the World." Early life and career Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on March 12, 1940, the fifth of six children. His father Emile Alphonse Jarreau was a Seventh-day Adventist Church minister and singer, and his mother Pearl (Walker) Jarreau was a church pianist. Jarreau and his family sang together in church concerts and in benefits, and Jarreau and his mother performed at PTA meetings. Jarreau was student c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon (originally stylized as R.E.O. Speedwagon) is an American rock band from Champaign, Illinois. Formed in 1967, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial success throughout the 1980s. The group's best-selling album, ''Hi Infidelity'' (1980), contained four US top 40 hits and sold more than 10 million copies. Over the course of their career, the band has sold more than 40 million records and has charted 13 top 40 hits, including the number ones " Keep On Loving You" and "Can't Fight This Feeling". REO Speedwagon's mainstream popularity waned in the late 1980s, but the band remains a popular live act. History Formation In the autumn of 1966, Neal Doughty entered the electrical engineering program at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois, as a junior. On his first night, he met fellow student Alan Gratzer. They held an impromptu jam session in the basement of their Illinois Street Residence Hall dormitory and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colosseum II
Colosseum II was a British progressive jazz-rock band formed in 1975 by former Colosseum drummer and bandleader Jon Hiseman, which featured guitarist Gary Moore. History Following the demise of his previous band, Tempest, Hiseman announced his plan for a new, as yet unnamed, outfit in November 1974, but only Moore was named as a member. Rehearsals were due to begin on 1 January 1975 but a permanent line-up was not finalised until May 1975. Among the musicians considered were singer Graham Bell, keyboardist Duncan Mackay and former Colosseum and Tempest bassist Mark Clarke. The line-up was eventually completed by singer Mike Starrs, keyboardist Don Airey and bassist Neil Murray. The band was oriented toward jazz fusion, much of which was driven by the guitar work of Moore, leading to a much heavier sound than the original Colosseum. After disappointing sales of their first album, ''Strange New Flesh'', Murray left and Starrs was sacked in July 1976. They continued with a ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Van Morrison
Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in the late 1950s, he played a variety of instruments such as guitar, harmonica, keyboards and saxophone for several Irish showbands, covering the popular hits of that time. Known as "Van the Man" to his fans, Morrison rose to prominence in the mid 1960s as the lead singer of the Northern Irish R&B and rock band Them. With Them, he recorded the garage band classic " Gloria". Under the pop-oriented guidance of Bert Berns, Morrison's solo career began in 1967 with the release of the hit single "Brown Eyed Girl". After Berns's death, Warner Bros. Records bought out Morrison's contract and allowed him three sessions to record ''Astral Weeks'' (1968). While initially a poor seller, the album has become regarded as a classic. ''Moondance'' (1970) e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Average White Band
The Average White Band (also known as AWB) are a Scottish funk and R&B band that had a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980. They are best known for their million-selling instrumental track " Pick Up the Pieces", and their albums '' AWB'' and '' Cut the Cake''. The band name was initially proposed by Bonnie Bramlett. They have influenced others, such as the Brand New Heavies, and been sampled by various musicians, including the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, TLC, The Beatnuts, Too Short, Ice Cube, Eric B. & Rakim, Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, Leena Conquest, Christina Milian, and Arrested Development, making them the 15th most sampled act in history. As of 2022, 50 years after their formation, they continue to perform. Career Formation AWB was formed in early 1972 in London by Alan Gorrie, and Malcolm "Molly" Duncan, with Owen "Onnie" McIntyre, Michael Rosen (trumpet), Roger Ball, and Robbie McIntosh joining them in the original line-up. Hamish Stuart quickly repla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, Virtuoso, musical virtuosity and satire of American culture. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and ''musique concrète'' works, and produced almost all of the 60-plus albums that he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. Zappa also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. He is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse musicians of his generation. As a self-taught composer and performer, Zappa had diverse musical influences that led him to create music that was sometimes difficult to categorize. While in his teens, he acquired a taste for 20th-century classica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Commodores
Commodores are an American funk and Soul music, soul band, which were at their peak in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s. The members of the group met as mostly freshmen at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1968, and signed with Motown in November 1972, having first caught the public eye opening for the Jackson 5 while on concert tour, tour. The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the co-lead singer. The band's biggest hit record, hit singles are Sentimental ballad, ballads such as "Easy (Commodores song), Easy", "Three Times a Lady", and "Nightshift (song), Nightshift"; and funk-influenced dance songs; including "Brick House (song), Brick House", "Fancy Dancer", "Lady (You Bring Me Up)", and "Too Hot ta Trot". Commodores were inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and Vocal Group Hall of Fame. The band has also won one Grammy Award out of nine nominations. The Commodores have sold over 70 million a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped define the genre with releases such as ''Black Sabbath (album), Black Sabbath'' (1970), ''Paranoid (album), Paranoid'' (1970) and ''Master of Reality'' (1971). The band had multiple line-up changes following Osbourne's departure in 1979 and Iommi is the only constant member throughout their history. After previous iterations of the group – the Polka Tulk Blues Band and Earth – the band settled on the name Black Sabbath in 1969. They distinguished themselves through occult themes with horror-inspired lyrics and down-tuned guitars. Signing to Philips Records in November 1969, they released their first single, "Evil Woman (Crow song), Evil Woman", in January 1970, and their debut album, ''Black Sabbath'', was rel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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