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Megaforce Records
Megaforce Records is an American independent record label founded in 1982 by Jon Zazula and his wife Marsha Zazula to release the first works of Metallica, and devoted primarily to hard rock and heavy metal. It has offices in New York City (where the corporate office is located) and Philadelphia. The label is distributed in the United States by RED Distribution, having previously been distributed by Atlantic Records while Anthrax's recordings from 1985 to 1991 were marketed by Island Records. Megaforce artists that have appeared on the Billboard Top 200 chart include Metallica, Blue October, Anthrax, Overkill, Testament, Mushroomhead, Ministry, Bad Brains and Meat Puppets. The Black Crowes and Meat Puppets have both received various RIAA certifications in the US. Marsha Zazula, the co-founder of Megaforce Records, died of cancer on January 10, 2021, at the age of 68. Her husband Jon died a year later, on February 1, 2022, at the age of 69. Artists (current and former) ...
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Jon Zazula
Jonathan Zazula (March 16, 1952 – February 1, 2022), also known as Jonny Z, was an American music industry executive who was the owner of New Jersey's Rock'n Roll Heaven record store and founder of record label Megaforce Records. Zazula's record store in East Brunswick, New Jersey made him a central figure of the East Coast metal scene, regularly playing demo tapes sent to him through his underground tape-trading network which included the likes of Brian Slagel of Metal Blade Records, Ron Quintana (the editor of ''Metal Mania'' magazine), and producer Mark Whitaker. He was also a mentor to radio personality Eddie Trunk. Career His central role in the East Coast metal scene would later be an essential factor in launching the career of Metallica. Zazula offered the band their first opportunity to play in the New York area and organized their first tours with Raven, one of the leading metal bands from the UK at that time. After hearing the demo tape ''No Life 'Til Leather'', he ...
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Blue October
Blue October is an American rock band originally from Houston, Texas. The band was formed in 1995 and is currently composed of singer/guitarist Justin Furstenfeld, drummer Jeremy Furstenfeld, multi-instrumentalist Ryan Delahoussaye, bassist Matt Noveskey and lead guitarist Will Knaak. The band has had seventeen Top 40 singles on the alternative rock chart over their past eight studio albums, and are best known for their platinum singles " Hate Me" and " Into the Ocean" from their 2006 platinum album '' Foiled''. Their latest album, the triple album ''Spinning The Truth Around'' will be released in three installments, the first of which was released October 14, 2022. Band history Early years and ''The Answers'' (1995–1998) Blue October was formed by lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Justin Furstenfeld, his brother Jeremy and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Delahoussaye. The band was discovered by former Kid Rock manager Michael Rand performing at the Pappadeaux Cafe in Houst ...
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Frehley's Comet
Frehley's Comet was an American rock band formed and led by ex-Kiss lead guitarist Ace Frehley. The group released two studio albums and one live EP before Frehley left the band to release his 1989 solo album, '' Trouble Walkin'''. The band name was a pun of a pun; Bill Haley & His Comets was a 1950s Rock-n-Roll band that derived its name as a pun of the typical mispronunciation of Halley's Comet (properly pronounced as "Hal-lee", rhymes with "valley", but commonly mispronounced as "Hay-lee"), a comet which orbits the Sun near Earth about every 75 years. It also helped people pronounce Frehley's name properly to connect it to the common mispronunciation of Halley as "Hay-lee", as in "Fray-lee" vs. the common mispronunciation as "Free-lee". History Before forming a band for his post-KISS career, Frehley had previously done a solo album in 1978 which was the most successful of the Kiss solo albums, and laid the groundwork for his solo career. Frehley left Kiss in 1982, but r ...
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Brendon Small
Brendon Small (born February 15, 1975) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, animator, writer, director, producer, and musician known for co-creating the animated series ''Home Movies'' (1999–2004, with Loren Bouchard) and ''Metalocalypse'' (2006–13, with Tommy Blacha). He also writes the music, and is the main performer for the virtual melodic death metal band Dethklok, which began as the subject of ''Metalocalypse'' but has taken on a life of its own, with four albums and an occasional live touring band, headed by Small. Small has also released two albums under his own name, in a similar musical style to Dethklok. Early life and education Small was born in Illinois in 1975. He moved to California as a child. Small started learning guitar at the age of 14 after a kid in his neighborhood began teaching him about guitar and music. At his first public performance, his hands shook so wildly that he had trouble controlling the guitar. It would be another ten years before he w ...
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Blue Cheer
Blue Cheer was an American rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009. Based in San Francisco, Blue Cheer played in a psychedelic blues rock or acid rock style, and are also credited as being some of the earliest pioneers of heavy metal, with their cover of "Summertime Blues" sometimes cited as the first in the genre. They have also been noted as influential in the development of genres as disparate as punk rock, stoner rock, doom metal, experimental rock, and grunge. History Main career (1966–1969) Blue Cheer were formed in 1966 by Dickie Peterson. Peterson had previously been with the Davis-based band Andrew Staples & The Oxford Circle along with future Blue Cheer members Paul Whaley and Gary Lee Yoder. The original Blue Cheer personnel were singer/bassist Peterson, guitarist Leigh Stephens and Eric Albronda as drummer. Albronda was later replaced by Whaley, who was joined by Peterson's br ...
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Variety (magazine)
''Variety'' is an American media company owned by Penske Media Corporation. The company was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933 it added ''Daily Variety'', based in Los Angeles, to cover the motion-picture industry. ''Variety.com'' features entertainment news, reviews, box office results, cover stories, videos, photo galleries and features, plus a credits database, production charts and calendar, with archive content dating back to 1905. History Foundation ''Variety'' has been published since December 16, 1905, when it was launched by Sime Silverman as a weekly periodical covering theater and vaudeville with its headquarters in New York City. Silverman had been fired by ''The Morning Telegraph'' in 1905 for panning an act which had taken out an advert for $50. As a result, he decided to start his own publication "that ouldnot be influenced by advertising." With a loan of $1,500 from his father- ...
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RIAA Certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets.RIAA certification criteria
Retrieved on September 11, 2006
Other countries have similar awards (see music recording certification). Certification is not automatic; for an award to be made, the must first request certification. The audit is conducted against net shipments after returns (most often an artist's royalty s ...
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The Black Crowes
The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1984. Their discography includes eight studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer George Drakoulias and released their debut album, '' Shake Your Money Maker'', the following year. Their follow-up, '' The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion'', reached the top of the ''Billboard'' 200 in 1992. The albums ''Amorica'' (1994), ''Three Snakes and One Charm'' (1996), '' By Your Side'' (1999), and ''Lions'' (2001) followed, with each showing moderate popularity but failing to capture the chart successes of the band's first two albums. After a hiatus from 2002 to 2005, the band regrouped and toured for several years before releasing '' Warpaint'' in 2008, which reached number 5 on the Billboard chart. Following the release of their greatest hits/acoustic double album ''Croweology'' in August 2010, the band started a 20th ann ...
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Meat Puppets
Meat Puppets are an American rock band formed in January 1980 in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's original lineup was Curt Kirkwood (guitar/vocals), his brother Cris Kirkwood (bass guitar/vocals), and Derrick Bostrom (drums). The Kirkwood brothers met Bostrom while attending Brophy Prep High School in Phoenix. The three then moved to Tempe, Arizona (a Phoenix suburb and home to Arizona State University), where the Kirkwood brothers purchased two adjacent homes, one of which had a shed in the back where they regularly practiced. Meat Puppets started as a punk rock band, but like most of their labelmates on SST Records, they established their own unique style, blending punk with country and psychedelic rock, and featuring Curt's warbling vocals. Meat Puppets later gained significant exposure when the Kirkwood brothers served as guest musicians on Nirvana's MTV Unplugged performance in 1993. The band's 1994 album '' Too High to Die'' subsequently became their most successful releas ...
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Bad Brains
Bad Brains are an American rock band formed in Washington, D.C. in 1976. Originally a jazz fusion band under the name Mind Power, they are widely regarded as pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members have objected to the use of this term to describe their music. They are also an adept reggae band, while later recordings featured elements of other genres like funk, heavy metal, hip hop, and soul. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine called them "the mother of all black hard-rock bands", and they have been cited as a seminal influence to numerous subgenres of heavy metal, including thrash/speed metal, alternative metal, funk metal and rap/nu metal. Bad Brains are followers of the Rastafari movement. Bad Brains have released nine studio albums. They have broken up and reformed several times over their career, sometimes with different singers or drummers. Their classic lineup includes singer H.R., guitarist Dr. Know, bassist Darryl Jenifer, and drummer Earl Hudson. This lineup ...
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Ministry (band)
Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1981 by producer, singer, and instrumentalist Al Jourgensen. Originally a synth-pop outfit, Ministry evolved into one of the pioneers of industrial rock and industrial metal in the late 1980s. The band's lineup has changed frequently, leaving Jourgensen as the sole original member. Musicians who have contributed to the band's studio or live activities include vocalists Nivek Ogre, Chris Connelly (musician), Chris Connelly, Gibby Haynes, Burton C. Bell and Jello Biafra, guitarists Mike Scaccia and Tommy Victor, guitarist Cesar Soto, bassists Paul Barker, Paul Raven (musician), Paul Raven, Jason Christopher, Tony Campos and Paul D'Amour, drummers Jimmy DeGrasso, Bill Rieflin, Martin Atkins, Rey Washam, Max Brody, Joey Jordison and Roy Mayorga, keyboardist John Bechdel, and rappers and producers DJ Swamp and Arabian Prince. Ministry attained commercial success in the late 1980s and early 1990s with three o ...
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