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Love's So Tough
''Love's So Tough'' is a studio album by the Iron City Houserockers. Released in 1979, the Iron City Houserocker's first album attempts to capture the presence of what was essentially a Pittsburgh bar band playing to a blue collar crowd every night. While Joe Grushecky's songwriting skills are clearly still developing, his potential is visible in cuts such as "Dance With Me" and "Heroes Are Hard to Find". The general sound of the album is reminiscent of a slightly "harder" Bruce Springsteen, and the heavy use of harmonica would be a distinguishing factor of the Houserockers for several albums to come. Background In the spring of 1977 Joe Grushecky's brother Jon sent him a full page advertisement from ''Billboard'', about the release of a Ronnie Spector record on Cleveland International Records. The band was known at that time as the Brick Alley Band, and they sent a demo tape to Steve Popovich at Cleveland International Records. After a personal phone call from Steve Popovich, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual Phonograph record#78 rpm disc developments, 78 rpm records collected in a bound book resembling a photograph album; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl LP record, long-playing (LP) records played at revolutions per minute, rpm. The album was the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption from the mid-1960s to the early 21st century, a period known as the album era. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have mostly focused on CD and MP3 formats. The 8-track tape was the first tape format widely used alongside vinyl from 1965 until being phased out by 1983 and was gradually supplanted by the cassette tape during the 1970s and early 1980s; the populari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleveland International Records
Cleveland International Records is an independent record label formed in 1976 by Steve Popovich, Sr. originally founded in Willoughby, Ohio and moved to Nashville. History One of the first albums the label released was ''Bat Out of Hell'' (1977) by Meat Loaf which has sold over 40 million copies worldwide. They have also released recordings by Ronnie Spector, B. J. Thomas, Ian Hunter, Slim Whitman and The Irish Rovers, among others. After working in the Nashville industry for more than a decade, collaborating with the likes of Johnny Cash, Popovich Sr. moved back to Cleveland in 1994. A year later, he re-established the Cleveland International label with a focus on Polka music. The label won a lawsuit in 2005 when Sony Music produced copies of the ''Bat Out of Hell'' CD without the Cleveland International logo. In 2007, a court ordered Sony to pay Cleveland $5 million. With his estate finally settled, Popovich, Sr.'s son, Steve Popovich, Jr. revived the record label in late De ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica include diatonic, chromatic, tremolo, octave, orchestral, and bass versions. A harmonica is played by using the mouth (lips and tongue) to direct air into or out of one (or more) holes along a mouthpiece. Behind each hole is a chamber containing at least one reed. The most common is the diatonic Richter-tuned with ten air passages and twenty reeds, often called the blues harp. A harmonica reed is a flat, elongated spring typically made of brass, stainless steel, or bronze, which is secured at one end over a slot that serves as an airway. When the free end is made to vibrate by the player's air, it alternately blocks and unblocks the airway to produce sound. Reeds are tuned to individual pitches. Tuning may involve changing a reed’s length ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching Drum stick, drumsticks, one in each hand, and uses their feet to operate a foot-controlled hi-hat and bass drum pedal. A standard kit may contain: * A snare drum, mounted on a snare drum stand, stand * A bass drum, played with a percussion mallet, beater moved by a foot-operated pedal * One or more Tom drum, tom-toms, including Rack tom, rack toms and/or floor tom, floor toms * One or more Cymbal, cymbals, including a ride cymbal and crash cymbal * Hi-hat cymbals, a pair of cymbals that can be manipulated by a foot-operated pedal The drum kit is a part of the standard rhythm section and is used in many types of popular and traditional music styles, ranging from rock music, rock and pop music, pop to blues and jazz. __TOC__ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keyboard Instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers which are pressed by the fingers. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic keyboards, including synthesizers and digital pianos. Other keyboard instruments include celestas, which are struck idiophones operated by a keyboard, and carillons, which are usually housed in bell towers or belfries of churches or municipal buildings. Today, the term ''keyboard'' often refers to keyboard-style synthesizers. Under the fingers of a sensitive performer, the keyboard may also be used to control dynamics, phrasing, shading, articulation, and other elements of expression—depending on the design and inherent capabilities of the instrument. Another important use of the word ''keyboard'' is in historical musicology, where it means an instrument whose identity cannot be firmly established. Particularly in the 18th century, the harpsichord, the clavichord, and the early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bass Guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and scale length, and typically four to six strings or courses. Since the mid-1950s, the bass guitar has largely replaced the double bass in popular music. The four-string bass is usually tuned the same as the double bass, which corresponds to pitches one octave lower than the four lowest-pitched strings of a guitar (typically E, A, D, and G). It is played primarily with the fingers or thumb, or with a pick. To be heard at normal performance volumes, electric basses require external amplification. Terminology According to the ''New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', an "Electric bass guitar sa Guitar, usually with four heavy strings tuned E1'–A1'–D2–G2." It also defines ''bass'' as "Bass (iv). A contraction of Double bas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gary Scalese (musician)
Gary Scalese was an American rock musician and the lead guitarist on the Iron City Houserockers The Iron City Houserockers were an American rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, led by the singer and guitarist Joe Grushecky, from 1976 to 1984. History Started in 1976 as the Brick Alley Band by Grushecky, a high school special education ... first album, '' Love's So Tough''. He is credited on Joe Grushecky's Myspace page as "Gary Scalese (R.I.P.)". He died of natural causes at the age of 38 on Friday, August 24, 1990 in St. Petersburg, Florida. He is also credited on two compilation albums, '' Pumping Iron & Sweating Steel: The Best of the Iron City Houserockers'' and '' Outtakes And Demos 1975–2003'' for work done during the 1975–1979 period. 1990 deaths American rock guitarists American male guitarists Year of birth missing {{US-guitarist-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electric Guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic guitar exist). It uses one or more pickups to convert the vibration of its strings into electrical signals, which ultimately are reproduced as sound by loudspeakers. The sound is sometimes shaped or electronically altered to achieve different timbres or tonal qualities on the amplifier settings or the knobs on the guitar from that of an acoustic guitar. Often, this is done through the use of effects such as reverb, distortion and "overdrive"; the latter is considered to be a key element of electric blues guitar music and jazz and rock guitar playing. Invented in 1932, the electric guitar was adopted by jazz guitar players, who wanted to play single-note guitar solos in large big band ensembles. Early proponents of the electric guitar on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lead Vocalist
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ensemble as the dominant sound. In vocal group performances, notably in soul and gospel music, and early rock and roll, the lead singer takes the main vocal melody, with a chorus or harmony vocals provided by other band members as backing vocalists. Lead vocalists typically incorporate some movement or gestures into their performance, and some may participate in dance routines during the show, particularly in pop music. Some lead vocalists also play an instrument during the show, either in an accompaniment role (such as strumming a guitar part), or playing a lead instrument/instrumental solo role when they are not singing (as in the case of lead singer-guitar virtuoso Jimi Hendrix). The lead singer also typically guides the vocal ensem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Grushecky
Joe Grushecky (born Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a rock musician in the United States known for his work with the Iron City Houserockers in the late 1970s and early 1980s; and for his works since the late the 1980s with his act Joe Grushecky and The Houserockers; and for his solo career. After his days with the Iron City Houserockers he continued to have moderate success, mainly in the Pittsburgh area. Biography In 1976, Joe Grushecky, a high school special education teacher, started the Brick Alley Band. They signed to Cleveland International Records in 1977, who rechristened them the Iron City Houserockers. The band's first album was '' Love's So Tough'', released in 1979, and was a fair success. Their next album, '' Have a Good Time but Get out Alive!'' (released in 1980), was a bigger success. Two more albums followed, '' Blood on the Bricks'' in 1981 and ''Cracking Under Pressure'' (1983 as The Houserockers). By 1984, the band wasn't selling many records anymore and they wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the largest online database of electronic music, the site now includes releases in all genres on all formats. After the database was opened to contributions from the public, rock music began to become the most prevalent genre listed. , Discogs contains over 15.7 million releases, by over 8.3 million artists, across over 1.9 million labels, contributed from over 644,000 contributor user accounts – with these figures constantly growing as users continually add previously unlisted releases to the site over time. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc. and located in Portland, Oregon, United States. History The discogs.com domain name was registered in August 2000, and Discogs itself ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Best Of The Iron City Houserockers
''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] |
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