Mark Spiro
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Mark Spiro
Mark Spiro (born March 28, 1957) is an American songwriter, record producer and recording artist. Represented on millions of records sold worldwide, Spiro has delivered songs to artists such as Julian Lennon, Cheap Trick, John Waite, Heart, Laura Branigan, Bad English, Lita Ford, and Giant. He has also released solo material sporadically. Career Originally from Seattle, Spiro relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career within the music industry in his early 20s. While in L.A., he met German record producer/label owner Jack White, after which he spent several years in Germany working as a singer, songwriter, and producer (Laura Branigan, Anne Murray, Engelbert Humperdinck, Pia Zadora, Hazell Dean, David Hasselhoff). Upon Spiro's return to Los Angeles in the mid-1980s, he began building a reputation as a successful songwriter with his first major cut on the ''Top Gun'' soundtrack and has continued to write songs and produce for other artists. Spiro was one of the first recording ...
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Songwriter
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. A songwriter who mainly writes the lyrics for a song is referred to as a lyricist. The pressure from the music industry to produce popular hits means that song writing is often an activity for which the tasks are distributed between a number of people. For example, a songwriter who excels at writing lyrics might be paired with a songwriter with the task of creating original melodies. Pop songs may be composed by group members from the band or by staff writers – songwriters directly employed by music publishers. Some songwriters serve as their own music publishers, while others have external publishers. The old-style apprenticeship approach to learning how to write songs is being supplemented by university degrees, c ...
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Sony Records
Sony Records was a record label founded by R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner in 1963. It was not affiliated with Sony Group Corporation. Ike Turner produced singles by members of the Kings of Rhythm and the Ikettes on Sony Records. Records on the label were distributed by CIRCA distributing firm. CIRCA (Consolidated International Record Company of America) was formed in 1962 to operate as a releasing company for independent labels by working with various distributors around the US. Discography See also * Sonja Records * Innis Records * Teena Records *Prann Records * List of record labels File:Alvinoreyguitarboogie.jpg File:AmMusicBunk78.jpg File:Bingola1011b.jpg Lists of record labels cover record labels, brands or trademarks associated with marketing of music recordings and music videos. The lists are organized alphabetically, b ... References American record labels Rhythm and blues record labels Pop record labels Ike Turner Ike & Tina Turner Record labels e ...
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Pia Zadora
Pia Zadora (born Pia Alfreda Schipani, May 4, 1954) is an American actress and singer. After working as a child actress on Broadway, in regional theater, and in the film ''Santa Claus Conquers the Martians'' (1964), she came to national attention in 1981 when, following her starring role in the highly criticized ''Butterfly'', she won a Golden Globe Award as New Star of the Year while simultaneously winning the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress and the Worst New Star for the same performance. When in the 1980s Zadora's film career failed to achieve critical success, she switched her focus to music. As a singer, Zadora has released several albums featuring popular standards, often backed by a symphonic orchestra. She was nominated for a Grammy in 1984. Early life Zadora was born Pia Alfreda Schipani in Hoboken, New Jersey. Her father, Alphonse Schipani, was an Italian-American violinist, and her mother, Saturnina Schipani (née Zadorowski), was a Polish-American theatrica ...
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Engelbert Humperdinck (singer)
Arnold George Dorsey (born 2 May 1936), known professionally as Engelbert Humperdinck, is an English pop singer who has been described as "one of the finest middle-of-the-road balladeers around". He achieved international prominence in 1967 with his recording of " Release Me". Starting as a performer under the name of Gerry Dorsey in the late 1950s, he later adopted the name of the German composer Engelbert Humperdinck as a stage name and found success after he partnered with manager Gordon Mills in 1965. His recordings of the ballads " Release Me" and "The Last Waltz" both topped the UK Singles Chart in 1967, selling more than a million copies each. Humperdinck scored further major hits in rapid succession, including " There Goes My Everything" (1967), "Am I That Easy to Forget" (1968) and "A Man Without Love" (1968). In the process, he attained a large following, with some of his most devoted fans calling themselves "Humperdinckers". Three of his singles were among the bes ...
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Anne Murray
Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian singer. Her albums, consisting primarily of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, have sold over 55 million copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray was the first Canadian female solo singer to reach No. 1 on the U.S. charts and also the first to earn a Gold record for one of her signature songs, "Snowbird" (1970). Murray is also well known for her Grammy Award-winning 1978 number 1 US hit "You Needed Me". She is often cited as one of the female Canadian artists who paved the way for other international Canadian success stories such as k.d. lang, Céline Dion, and Shania Twain. She is also the first woman and the first Canadian to win "Album of the Year" at the 1984 Country Music Association Awards for her Gold-plus 1983 album '' A Little Good News''. Murray has received four Grammys, a record 24 Junos, three American Music Awards, three Country Music Association Awards, and three Canadian ...
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Jack White (producer)
Jack White (born Horst Nußbaum, 2 September 1940) is a German composer, producer and former footballer. Born in Cologne, White developed an interest in both football and music in his childhood, but initially chose footballing as a career. He played professionally for six years, then chose to play at an amateur level while pursuing a career in music. As a singer, his work was popular in his native country and other German-speaking nations, but the majority of his success came from his production work on international records. In his music career, White has created 25 of his own records, and is credited on 2512 other records, including 870 production credits. Some of the most notable artists he has worked with are Laura Branigan, Barry Manilow and David Hasselhoff. As most of his work was with English speaking musicians, White changed his name to make it easier to deal with English-speaking stars and their managers. In the international market, White’s productions have sold mil ...
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Giant (band)
Giant is an American melodic rock band that was formed in 1987. The band originally consisted of founding members Dann Huff (lead vocals and guitar) and Alan Pasqua (keyboard), and had Dann's brother David Huff on drums and Mike Brignardello on bass. The Huff brothers were part of the founding members of the Christian rock band White Heart. The band scored one hit, the 1990 power ballad "I'll See You in My Dreams", written by Alan Pasqua and Mark Spiro. Giant disbanded in the early 1990s after recording two albums, but resurfaced in 2000 minus Alan Pasqua and released the album ''III'' in late 2001. In December 2009, Frontiers Records announced that they would release Giant's fourth studio album ''Promise Land'' in 2010. The band included Terry Brock (Strangeways, Seventh Key) on lead vocals and John Roth (Winger) on guitars. Dann Huff was not a part of the band due to his busy schedule, but he co-wrote seven songs and guested on guitar on two. The album was released on Febru ...
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Lita Ford
Lita Rossana Ford (born 19 September 1958) is an English-born American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band the Runaways in the late 1970s, before embarking on a successful glam metal solo career that hit its peak in the late 1980s. The 1989 single "Close My Eyes Forever", a duet with Ozzy Osbourne, remains Ford's most successful song, reaching No. 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Early life Ford was born to Harry Lenard Ford and Isabella Benvenuto in London, England; her father was British and her mother was Italian. When she was in second grade, she moved with her family to the United States, eventually settling in Long Beach, California. Inspired by Ritchie Blackmore's work with Deep Purple, she began playing the guitar at the age of 11. Her vocal range is mezzo-soprano. Music career The Runaways (1975–1979) In 1975, at age sixteen, Ford was recruited by recording impresario Kim Fowley to join t ...
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Bad English
Bad English was an American/British glam metal supergroup formed in 1987. It reunited Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain with singer John Waite and bassist Ricky Phillips, his former bandmates in the Babys, along with Journey guitarist Neal Schon and drummer Deen Castronovo. The band is mainly known for their hit single " When I See You Smile", which peaked at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in November 1989. History The members decided on a name for the band while playing pool. John Waite missed a shot and Jonathan Cain made a comment on how bad his "" was (referring to the spin a player puts on the cue ball), and the band decided to use the phrase. Jonathan Cain and guitarist Neal Schon, members of the successful rock band Journey, formed Bad English with Waite after Journey disbanded. They were joined by Ricky Phillips, who had played bass for the Babys on two albums with Waite and Cain, and drummer Deen Castronovo. First album The band's first album, Bad English, wa ...
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Laura Branigan
Laura Ann Branigan (July 3, 1952 – August 26, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her signature song, the platinum-certified 1982 single " Gloria", stayed on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 36 weeks, then a record for a female artist, peaking at No. 2. It also reached number one in Australia and Canada. Branigan's "Gloria" was a cover of a song written by Italian singer-songwriters Giancarlo Bigazzi and Umberto Tozzi. In 1984, she reached number one in Canada and Germany with the U.S. No. 4 hit "Self Control", which was released by Italian singer and songwriter Raf the same year. Both "Gloria" and "Self Control" were successful in the United Kingdom, making the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart. Seeing her greatest level of success in the 1980s, Branigan's other singles included the Top 10 hit " Solitaire" (1983), the U.S. AC chart number one "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" (1983), the Australian No. 2 hit "Ti amo" (1984), her return to the top ...
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Heart (band)
Heart is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Seattle, Washington, as The Army. Two years later they changed their name to Hocus Pocus. The year following they changed their name to White Heart, and eventually changed the name a final time to Heart, in 1973. By the mid-1970s, original members Roger Fisher (guitar) and Steve Fossen (bass guitar) had been joined by sisters Ann Wilson (lead vocals and flute) and Nancy Wilson (rhythm guitar, vocals), Michael Derosier (drums), and Howard Leese (guitar, keyboards and backing vocals) to form the lineup for the band's initial mid- to late-1970s success period. These core members were included in the band's 2013 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Heart rose to fame with music influenced by hard rock and heavy metal, as well as folk music. The band underwent a major lineup change as the 1970s transitioned into the 1980s; by 1982 Fisher, Fossen, and Derosier had all left and were replaced by Mark Andes (bass) and Denny C ...
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John Waite
John Charles Waite (born 4 July 1952) is an English musician. As a solo artist, he has released ten studio albums and is best known for the 1984 hit single " Missing You", which reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the top ten on the UK Singles Chart. He was also the lead vocalist for the successful rock bands The Babys and Bad English. Career Waite was born in Lancaster, Lancashire, and was educated at Greaves Secondary Modern and Lancaster Art College (The Storey Institute). As a performer, Waite first came to attention as the lead singer and bassist of The Babys, a British rock band that had moderate chart success. The band achieved two pop hits that both coincidentally peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, " Isn't It Time" (1977) and "Everytime I Think of You" (1979), and a solid following of their concert tours. Over the course of five years, the band produced five albums ending with the final album ''On the Edge'' in October 1980, after which the grou ...
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