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To Cut A Long Story Short
"To Cut a Long Story Short" is the debut single by the English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 31 October 1980. The band began recording the song before they were signed to a record label because of the interest they had generated with a debut concert for patrons of the exclusive weekly London nightclub the Blitz as well as a Christmas party at that establishment. After having tried other popular genres, the band had been preparing to make their debut as performers of dance music and wanted the public to associate them with the young crowd who met at the Blitz every Tuesday. They needed their guitarist/songwriter, Gary Kemp, to come up with something that they could feel confident about presenting to the top tier of the club's regulars at their first performance. By shaping their image around an exclusive club scene, Spandau Ballet piqued the interest of a television documentary filmmaker who then wanted to film the band in concert as part of presenting their story. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet () were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids, playing "European Dance Music" as "The Applause" for this new club culture's audience. They became one of the most successful groups of the New Romantic era of British pop and were part of the Second British Invasion of the ''Billboard'' Top 40 in the 1980s, selling 25 million albums and having 23 hit singles worldwide. The band have had eight UK top 10 albums, including three greatest hits compilations and an album of re-recorded material. Their musical influences ranged from punk rock and soul music to the American crooners Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. The band's classic lineup featured Gary Kemp on guitar, synthesiser and backing vocals, his brother Martin Kemp on bass, vocalist Tony Hadley, saxophonist Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble. Gary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second British Invasion
The Second British Invasion consisted of music acts from the United Kingdom that became popular in the U.S. during the early-to-mid 1980s primarily due to the cable music channel MTV. The term derives from the similar British Invasion of the U.S. in the 1960s. These acts primarily brought with them synth-pop and new wave styles of music to the US charts, and according to ''Rolling Stone'', brought a "revolution in sound and style". During the late 1980s, glam metal and dance music replaced Second Invasion acts atop the US charts. Background In the late 1970s and early 1980s, music from the United Kingdom was informed by the after-effects of the "punk/ new wave" revolution. In early 1979 " Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits and " Roxanne" by the Police cracked the American Top 40, followed by the more modest chart successes of Elvis Costello, Sniff 'n' the Tears, the Pretenders, Gary Numan, Squeeze, and Joe Jackson, the latter scoring a new wave hit with "Is She Really Going ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cut-up Technique
The cut-up technique (or ''découpé'' in French) is an aleatory literary technique in which a written text is cut up and rearranged to create a new text. The concept can be traced to the Dadaists of the 1920s, but it was developed and popularized in the 1950s and early 1960s, especially by writer William S. Burroughs. It has since been used in a wide variety of contexts. Technique The cut-up and the closely associated fold-in are the two main techniques: *''Cut-up'' is performed by taking a finished and fully linear text and cutting it in pieces with a few or single words on each piece. The resulting pieces are then rearranged into a new text, such as in poems by Tristan Tzara as described in his short text, ''TO MAKE A DADAIST POEM''. *''Fold-in'' is the technique of taking two sheets of linear text (with the same linespacing), folding each sheet in half vertically and combining with the other, then reading across the resulting page, such as in '' The Third Mind''. It is a joint ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, and his music and stagecraft had a significant impact on popular music. Bowie developed an interest in music from an early age. He studied art, music and design before embarking on a professional career as a musician in 1963. "Space Oddity", released in 1969, was his first top-five entry on the UK Singles Chart. After a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with his flamboyant and androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust (character), Ziggy Stardust. The character was spearheaded by the success of Bowie's single "Starman (song), Starma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mastertapes
''Mastertapes'' is a BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ... programme, presented by John Wilson, which discusses the making of significant rock albums. The featured artists are interviewed, in front of an audience, and perform exclusive live tracks, many of which are available on the programme's website. Each album is discussed over two half-hour programmes: the "A side" programme features the artist being interviewed by Wilson, with the "B side" programme featuring questions from the studio audience. Episodes Each episode has two parts ("Side A" and "Side B"). The "First broadcast" date refers to "Side A". Series 1 Series 2 Series 3 Series 4 Series 5 Series 6 References External links {{commons category, Mastertapes BBC w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House, London. The station controller is Mohit Bakaya. Broadcasting throughout the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands on FM, LW and DAB, and on BBC Sounds, it can be received in the eastern counties of Ireland, northern France and Northern Europe. It is available on Freeview, Sky, and Virgin Media. Radio 4 currently reaches over 10 million listeners, making it the UK's second most-popular radio station after Radio 2. BBC Radio 4 broadcasts news programmes such as ''Today'' and ''The World at One'', heralded on air by the Greenwich Time Signal pips or the chimes of Big Ben. The pips are only accurate on FM, LW, and MW; there is a delay on digital radio of three to five seconds and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Classic Pop (magazine)
''Classic Pop'' is a bi-monthly British music magazine, which launched in October 2012. It was devised and founded by Ian Peel (journalist), Ian Peel, who was also editor for the first 19 issues. Rik Flynn stepped in as editor until Issue 23 followed by current editor Steve Harnell. Ian Peel remains involved as Founder & Editor-at-Large. Launched as a bi-monthly magazine by Anthem Publishing, Classic Pop had become a monthly magazine by the time Anthem temporarily paused publication of the title in April 2020 due to Covid-19. After a break of three months, which saw Anthem cease publication of sister magazine "Long Live Vinyl", Classic Pop returned as a bi-monthly publication with occasional special editions (such as "Synthpop Volume 2: Electric Dreams"). Its overriding philosophy is summed up on one of its occasional series, ''Five Decades of...'' which interviews and appraises the work of an influential musician or group who may have been constantly overlooked by other media b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Norman
Steven Antony Norman (born 25 March 1960) is an English musician who plays tenor saxophone, guitar, percussion and other instruments, for the English band Spandau Ballet. Biography Early years Steve Norman was born in Stepney, east London, and was considered a musical child prodigy. He started pursuing an interest in popular music as a guitarist in a Dame Alice Owen's School band called The Cut with Gary Kemp, Tony Hadley and John Keeble in 1976. The band was later named The Makers, The Gentry and then Spandau Ballet. Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet signed with Chrysalis Records. By the third Spandau Ballet album, Norman brought percussion to the mix and introduced the alto saxophone, which has since become his signature instrument. With Spandau Ballet, Norman toured the globe and continued to have hits throughout the 1980s. In 1985 Norman appeared with the band at Live Aid at Wembley Stadium. Because of a dispute over royalties, the band split up in the early 1990s. After a 20-ye ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blitz Kids
The Blitz Kids were a group of people who frequented the Tuesday club-night at Blitz in Covent Garden, London in 1979-80, and are credited with launching the New Romantic subcultural movement. History Steve Strange and Rusty Egan co-hosted these exclusive nights without giving them a name, according to Strange's autobiography, and publicised them solely by word of mouth. An emphasis on style was ensured by enforcing a strict dress code at the door. Crucially, the Blitz lay between two art colleges (St Martin's School and Central School) and it became a testbed for student fashion designers who set London ablaze during the 1980s. These included Stephen Jones, David Holah, Stevie Stewart, Darla Jane Gilroy, Kim Bowen, Fiona Dealey, Stephen Linard, among others. The Blitz began making headlines thanks to its patrons outrageous styles of clothes and make-up for both sexes, subsequently documented by Gary Kemp in his 2009 first-person book, ''I Know This Much'', and by Graham S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for initiating the Punk subculture, punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians. Their fashion and hairstyles were a significant influence on punk fashion, punk image, and they are often associated with anarchism within music. The Sex Pistols originally comprised vocalist Johnny Rotten (John Lydon), guitarist Steve Jones (musician), Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook, and bassist Glen Matlock; Matlock was replaced by Sid Vicious in early 1977. Under the management of Malcolm McLaren, the band attracted some controversies that both captivated and appalled Britain. Through an obscenity-laced television interview in December 1976 and their May 1977 single "God Save the Queen (Sex Pistols song), God ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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