Obscene Phone Caller
"Obscene Phone Caller" is a song recorded by American singer Rockwell, released by the Motown label in 1984, as the second single from his debut studio album '' Somebody's Watching Me''. The song was less successful than his previous single, peaking at No. 35 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Rockwell's final Top 40 hit. However, it was a Top 10 on the Hot Black Singles chart, peaking at No. 9. Reception ''Rolling Stone'' wrote that "Obscene Phone Caller" "plays into the same paranoia as ' Somebody's Watching Me,' yet nods more to upbeat pop than Rockwell’s more sinister-sounding breakthrough hit." According to ''Jet'' magazine, the song was banned from British airwaves because of its lyrics: "Despite Rockwell's popularity in Britain, radio stations there refuse to play "Obscene Phone Caller", the singer's latest hit, until the dirty lyrics of the song are cleaned up." '' Cashbox'' said, "With this second single from the '' Somebody's Watching Me'' LP, Rockwell is sure to sc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rockwell (musician)
Kennedy William Gordy (born March 15, 1964), better known by his stage name Rockwell, is an American singer. He is most well known for his hit 1984 single "Somebody's Watching Me" which features Michael Jackson on the chorus vocals. He is the son of Motown founder Berry Gordy. Other relatives include singers Redfoo, Rhonda Ross Kendrick, and Sky Blu; they are his half-siblings and half-nephew, respectively. Early life Kennedy William Gordy is the son of Motown founder and CEO Berry Gordy and Margaret Norton. His father named him Kennedy William after John F. Kennedy and William "Smokey" Robinson. Career To avoid the appearance of nepotism, he secured his record deal without his father's knowledge. Motown actually came up with the name Rockwell and the young Gordy agreed to the change because he believed he "rocked well." In 1984, Rockwell had his biggest single, "Somebody's Watching Me", with childhood friend Michael Jackson singing the chorus lyrics and Jermaine Jackson sing ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States. The publication has won more than 40 Pulitzer Prizes. It is owned by Patrick Soon-Shiong and published by the Times Mirror Company. The newspaper’s coverage emphasizes California and especially Southern California stories. In the 19th century, the paper developed a reputation for civic boosterism and opposition to labor unions, the latter of which led to the bombing of its headquarters in 1910. The paper's profile grew substantially in the 1960s under publisher Otis Chandler, who adopted a more national focus. In recent decades the paper's readership has declined, and it has been beset by a series of ownership changes, staff reductions, and other controversies. In January 2018, the paper's staff voted to unionize and final ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1984 Singles
Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). * January 10 ** The United States and the Vatican (Holy See) restore full diplomatic relations. ** The Victoria Agreement is signed, institutionalising the Indian Ocean Commission. *January 24 – Steve Jobs launches the Macintosh personal computer in the United States. February * February 3 ** Dr. John Buster and the research team at Harbor–UCLA Medical Center announce history's first embryo transfer from one woman to another, resulting in a live birth. ** STS-41-B: Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' is launched on the 10th Space Shuttle mission. * February 7 – Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk. * February 8– 19 – The 1984 Winter Olympics are held in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Billboard (magazine)
''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music industry. Its music charts include the Hot 100, the 200, and the Global 200, tracking the most popular albums and songs in different genres of music. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows. ''Billboard'' was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson later acquired Hennegan's interest in 1900 for $500. In the early years of the 20th century, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs, and burlesque shows, and also created a mail service for travelling entertainers. ''Billboard'' began focusing more on the music industry as the jukebox, phonograph, and radio became commonplace. Many topics it covered were spun-off ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Official Charts Company
The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts include ones for singles, albums and films, with the data compiled from a mixture of downloads, purchases (of physical media) and streaming. The OCC produces its charts by gathering and combining sales data from retailers through market researchers Kantar, and claims to cover 99% of the singles market and 95% of the album market, and aims to collect data from any retailer who sells more than 100 chart items per week. The OCC is operated jointly by the British Phonographic Industry and the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) (formerly the British Association of Record Dealers (BARD)) and is incorporated as a private company limited by shares jointly owned by BPI and ERA. The Chart Information Network (CIN) took over as compilers of the o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-selling Single (music), singles in the United Kingdom, based upon physical sales, paid-for downloads and music streaming, streaming. The Official Chart, broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and MTV (Official UK Top 40), is the UK music industry's recognised official measure of singles and albums popularity because it is the most comprehensive research panel of its kind, today surveying over 15,000 retailers and digital services daily, capturing 99.9% of all singles consumed in Britain across the week, and over 98% of albums. To be eligible for the chart, a Single (music), single is currently defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as either a 'single bundle' having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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GfK Entertainment Charts
The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie. GfK Entertainment is the provider of weekly Top 100 single and album charts, as well as various other chart formats for genres like compilations, jazz, classical music, schlager, hip hop, dance, comedy, and music videos. Following a lawsuit in March 2014 by Media Control AG, Media Control® GfK International had to change its name. Dissemination of the charts is conducted by various media outlets, some of which include MTV music channel, and the Swiss charts website. Other entities that present the charts are MusicLoad and Mix 1, both of which are online associations that post almost all the charts published by GfK Entertainment on a weekly basis. Furthermore, GfK Entertainment also runs a dedicated website providing chart-related ne ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles)
The Ambassador Hotel was a hotel in Los Angeles, California. Designed by architect Myron Hunt, the Ambassador Hotel formally opened to the public on January 1, 1921. Later renovations by architect Paul Williams were made to the hotel in the late 1940s. It was also home to the Cocoanut Grove nightclub, Los Angeles’ premier night spot for decades; host to six Oscar ceremonies and to every United States President from Herbert Hoover to Richard Nixon. Prominent figures such as Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis, Nat King Cole, Lena Horne, Barbra Streisand, Bing Crosby, John Wayne, Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe, Yma Sumac and The Supremes were some of the many entertainers who attended and performed professionally at the Cocoanut Grove. The hotel was the site of the assassination of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy on June 5, 1968. Due to the decline of the hotel and the surrounding area, the Ambassador Hotel was closed to guests in 1989. In 2001, the Los Angeles ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Torture (The Jacksons Song)
"Torture" is the second single released off the album ''Victory (The Jacksons album), Victory'' by the band The Jackson 5, The Jacksons. Written by Jackie Jackson and fellow Motown Records, Motown veteran Kathleen Wakefield, Kathy Wakefield, the song is about someone ending a relationship and the torture that the member of the relationship, who is still in love with the other person, can feel. Jackie was originally going to sing the song with his brother, Michael Jackson, Michael, but Jackie's role instead went to Jermaine Jackson, whose availability for the album was in question until the last minute. The rest of the Jacksons sang the chorus along with Michael, Jermaine and Jackie. The song received mixed reactions from critics. The video was probably best known for Michael not being available, and the use of a wax dummy in his place throughout the video. Paula Abdul replaced Perri Lister as the video's choreographer, in which various scenes of torture are displayed with the Jacks ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most of their career consisted of brothers Jackie Jackson, Jackie, Tito Jackson, Tito, Jermaine Jackson, Jermaine, Marlon Jackson, Marlon and Michael Jackson, Michael. They were managed by their father Joe Jackson (manager), Joe Jackson. The group were among the first African Americans, African American performers to attain a crossover following. The Jackson 5 performed in talent shows and clubs on the Chitlin' Circuit, then signed with Steeltown Records in 1967 and released two singles. In 1968, they left Steeltown Records and signed with Motown, where they were the first group to debut with four consecutive number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart with the songs "I Want You Back", "ABC (The Jackson 5 song), ABC", " ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Courier-News
The ''Courier News'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Somerville, New Jersey, that serves Somerset County and other areas of Central Jersey. The paper has been owned by Gannett since 1927. Notable employees * John Curley, former president, chairman and CEO of Gannett Co., Inc, the first editor of ''USA Today'', chairman of the Newspaper Association of America, and a member of the Gannett Board of Directors from 1983 to 2001. His newspaper career spanned 30 years with Gannett and including publisher of the ''Courier-News''. The sports journalism department at Penn State is named in his honor. *Tom Curley, former president and chief executive officer of the Associated Press. Curley is also a former president, publisher, and one of the co-creators of ''USA Today''. He was publisher of the ''Courier-News'' from 1983 until 1985. *Guy Sterling, retired journalist and currently author of several books and historian in Newark, New Jersey. *Chauncey F. Stout (d. 1972) joined t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a four-decade career, his contributions to music, dance, and fashion, along with his publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture. Jackson influenced artists across many music genres; through stage and video performances, he popularized complicated dance moves such as the moonwalk, to which he gave the name, as well as the robot. He is the most awarded musician in history. The eighth child of the Jackson family, Jackson made his public debut in 1964 with his older brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon as a member of the Jackson 5 (later known as the Jacksons). Jackson began his solo career in 1971 while at Motown Records. He became a solo star with his 1979 album '' Off the Wall''. His music videos, incl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |