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The Dream Of Christmas
''The Dream of Christmas'' is the sixth solo studio and first Christmas album by English singer-songwriter Gary Barlow, released on 26 November 2021 through Polydor Records. The album includes collaborations with actress and singer Sheridan Smith, vocal trio the Puppini Sisters, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Welsh singer Aled Jones. It was preceded by the singles "Sleigh Ride", the title track, "The Dream of Christmas", and on 24 November 2021, "How Christmas Is Supposed to Be" featuring Sheridan Smith. Barlow toured in the UK in support of the album on his All the Hits Live Tour from 27 November 2021. Background Barlow began writing original songs for and working on the album due to the COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ... in 2020, also saying that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, having written thirteen number-one singles (ten with Take That, two solo, one with the Robbie Williams song "Candy") and twenty-four top-ten hits. As a solo artist, he has had three number-one singles, six top-ten singles and three number-one albums, and has additionally had seventeen top-five hits, twelve number-one singles and eight number-one albums with Take That. Barlow has also established himself as a talent show judge and television personality. He has judged on ''The X Factor UK'' (2011–2013), '' Let It Shine'' (2017), and ''Walk the Line'' (2021). Barlow has received six Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, including the award for Outstanding Services to British Music. He has sold ove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donny Hathaway
Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and arranger whom ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto", "This Christmas", "Someday We'll All Be Free", and "Little Ghetto Boy". Hathaway is also renowned for his renditions of " A Song for You", "For All We Know", and "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know", along with "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You", two of many collaborations with Roberta Flack. He has been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame and won one Grammy Award from four nominations. Hathaway was also posthumously honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. Dutch director David Kleijwegt made a documentary called ''Mister Soul – A Story About Donny Hathaway'', which premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam on January 28, 2020. Early life Hathaway, the son of Drusella Huntley, was born in Chicago ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Sinfield
Peter John Sinfield (born 27 December 1943) is an English poet and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and former lyricist of King Crimson, whose debut album ''In the Court of the Crimson King'' is considered one of the first and most influential progressive rock albums ever released. Sinfield's lyrics are known for their surreal imagery, often involving common fantasy concepts, nature, or the sea. They often also deal with emotional concepts and, sometimes, storyline concepts. Later in his career, he adapted his songwriting to better suit pop music, and wrote a number of successful songs for artists such as Celine Dion, Cher, Cliff Richard, Leo Sayer, Five Star, and Bucks Fizz. In 2005, Sinfield was referred to as a "prog rock hero" in ''Q'' magazine for his lyrical work and influence in the music industry. Early life Sinfield was born at Fulham, London, to mixed English-Irish ancestry and a bohemian activist mother Deidre (also known as Joey or Daphne). He seldom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greg Lake
Gregory Stuart Lake (10 November 1947 – 7 December 2016) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock bands King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP). Born and brought up in Dorset, Lake began to play the guitar at the age of 12 and wrote his first song, " Lucky Man", at the same age. He became a full-time musician at 17, playing in several rock bands until his friend and fellow Dorset guitarist Robert Fripp invited him to join King Crimson as lead singer and bassist. They found commercial success with their influential debut album, ''In the Court of the Crimson King'' (1969). Lake left the band in 1970 and achieved significant success in the 1970s and beyond as the singer, guitarist, bassist, and producer of ELP. As a member of ELP, Lake wrote and recorded several popular songs including "Lucky Man" and " From the Beginning". Both songs entered the UK and US singles charts. Lake launched a solo c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Believe In Father Christmas
"I Believe in Father Christmas" is a song by English musician Greg Lake with lyrics by Peter Sinfield. Although it is often categorised as a Christmas song, this was not Lake's intention. He said that he wrote the song in protest at the commercialisation of Christmas. Sinfield, however, said that the words are about a loss of innocence and childhood belief. Released in 1975, the song reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, number 17 on the Irish Singles Chart and number 98 in Australia. Background Lake wrote the song at his west London home, after tuning the bottom string of his guitar from E down to D. While the song is against the commercialisation of Christmas, it has often been misinterpreted as an anti-religious song and, because of this, Lake was surprised at its success. He explained in a ''Mojo'' magazine interview:"I find it appalling when people say it's politically incorrect to talk about Christmas, you've got to talk about 'The Holiday Season'. Christmas was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russia, Berlin arrived in the United States at the age of five. He published his first song, "Marie from Sunny Italy", in 1907, receiving 33 cents for the publishing rights,Starr, Larry and Waterman, Christopher, American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MP3, Oxford University Press, 2009, pg. 64 and had his first major international hit, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", in 1911. He also was an owner of the Music Box Theatre on Broadway. For much of his career Berlin could not read sheet music, and was such a limited piano player that he could only play in the key of F-sharp; he used his custom piano equipped with a transposing lever when he needed to play in keys other than F-sharp. "Alexander's Ragtime Band" sparked an international dance craze ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
"I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" is a popular song copyrighted in 1937 by its composer, Irving Berlin, and first recorded by (i) Ray Noble (January 5, 1937), Howard Barrie, vocalist, and (ii) Red Norvo (January 8, 1937), Mildred Bailey, vocalist. The song – sung by Dick Powell and Alice Faye – debuted on film February 12, 1937, in the musical, ''On the Avenue''. Background The Noble, Norvo, and film renditions were successful that year, as well as other 1937 recordings that included Billie Holiday and Glen Gray (vocal by Kenny Sargent). Les Brown's instrumental version, arranged by Skip Martin and recorded in 1946 as Columbia #38324, became a million-seller and ''Billboard'' top ten song in 1949. Brown said that he got a call from Columbia Records after he performed the song telling him to record it, only to respond that he had recorded it three years earlier. That same year vocal group The Mills Brothers also had a chart hit with their version on Decca #24550. Other r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Lewis (singer-songwriter)
Al Lewis (born 1984 in Pwllheli, Wales) is a Welsh singer and songwriter. He became known in the Welsh language media after his song came second in the Cân i Gymru contest in 2007. Biography Lewis attended Ysgol y Creuddyn in Conwy, where he formed a cover band called Bluewood.Kathryn Williams (22 December 2013"The Welsh singer-songwriter with a surprise Christmas hit that cost just £1,000 to make" ''Wales Online''. Retrieved 18 April 2016. He participated in Cân i Gymru in 2007, the 38th edition of the competition. He came second in the competition with the song ''Llosgi'' (''Burning''), jointly composed by Lewis and Arwel Lloyd Owen. In 2007, Lewis released his first Welsh language EP entitled ''Byw Mewn Breuddwyd''. Lewis appeared at the Wakestock Festival, alongside Mark Ronson, and at the inaugural Sŵn Festival in Cardiff. In June 2009, Lewis released his first Welsh language album, ''Sawl Ffordd Allan'', reaching number one in the C2 Radio Cymru Welsh langua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dylan Thomas
Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under Milk Wood''. He also wrote stories and radio broadcasts such as ''A Child's Christmas in Wales'' and ''Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog''. He became widely popular in his lifetime and remained so after his death at the age of 39 in New York City. By then, he had acquired a reputation, which he had encouraged, as a "roistering, drunken and doomed poet". Thomas was born in Swansea, Wales, in 1914. In 1931, when he was 16, Thomas, an undistinguished pupil, left school to become a reporter for the '' South Wales Daily Post''. Many of his works appeared in print while he was still a teenager. In 1934, the publication of "Light breaks where no sun shines" caught the attention of the literary world. While living in London, Thomas met Caitli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Child's Christmas In Wales
''A Child's Christmas in Wales'' is a piece of prose by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas recorded by Thomas in 1952. Emerging from an earlier piece he wrote for BBC Radio, the work is an anecdotal reminiscence of a Christmas from the viewpoint of a young boy, portraying a nostalgic and simpler time. It is one of Thomas's most popular works. As with his poetry, ''A Child's Christmas in Wales'' does not have a tight narrative structure but instead uses descriptive passages in a fictionalised autobiographical style, designed to create an emotive sense of the nostalgia Thomas is intending to evoke, remembering a Christmas from the viewpoint of the author as a young boy. Thomas searches for a nostalgic belief in Christmases past"It was snowing. It was always snowing at Christmas"furthering his idyllic memory of childhood by describing the snow as being better and more exciting than the snow experienced as an adult. The dissertation, with exaggerated characters for comedic effect, show how ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Heatlie
Bob Heatlie (born 1946) is a Scottish songwriter and record producer who has collaborated with many music acts, both bands and solo artists. He has also been successful in producing musical scores of television entertainment series. Biography Early life Born in 1946 in Craigmillar, in Edinburgh, Scotland, he started learning the saxophone from his father when he was six years old. He later played drums in his father's band. Chart hit songs His most successful and prominent songs are " Japanese Boy" and "Merry Christmas Everyone", both substantial 1980s pop chart hits across Europe and beyond: the first being a 1981 novelty hit, recorded by Scottish singer Aneka and released by the German record label Hansa, while the latter being a 1985-released Christmas hit, recorded by Welsh artist Shakin' Stevens. This last song reached no. 1 of the chart that year, and has since then become an annual mainstay of radio airplay in and around the December holidays. This song was writ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merry Christmas Everyone
"Merry Christmas Everyone" is a festive song recorded by Welsh singer-songwriter Shakin' Stevens. Written by Bob Heatlie and produced by Dave Edmunds, it is the fourth and to date last number one single for Shakin' Stevens on the UK Singles Chart. It was released on 25 November 1985 and was the List of UK Singles Chart Christmas number ones, Christmas number one for that year. Ever since it has been included on many top-selling Christmas collections and received frequent airplay every Christmas. In 2007, the song re-entered the UK top 30 and reached number 22 on the Christmas chart. This is because Music downloads#United Kingdom, downloads are now included in the UK Singles Chart; whereas in past years this would have been impossible unless there was a physical re-release of the song. From 2007 to 2017, the song charted in the UK at peak positions 22, 36, 47, 68, 42, 46, 54, 38, 26, 17 and 10. Originally only in the chart for eight weeks, it has since amassed over 70. In December ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
