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Tony Fletcher
Tony Fletcher (born 27 April 1964) is a British music journalist best known for his biographies of drummer Keith Moon and the band R.E.M., and also as a show director for the Rock Academy in Woodstock. ''Jamming!'' Born in Yorkshire, England, Fletcher was inspired by the London punk rock movement and started a fanzine as a thirteen-year-old schoolboy which he named ''Jamming!''. Founded in 1977, the magazine began as a school-printed fanzine and in 1978, with the fifth issue featuring interviews with Paul Weller, Adam Ant and John Peel, adopted professional printing and wider distribution. From 1979-84, it was printed and partly distributed by Better Badges. Between 1978-83, ''Jamming!'' featured interviews with a range of artists that included Pete Townshend, Aztec Camera, Dexys Midnight Runners, the Damned, Delta 5, the Jam, Bill Nelson, Scritti Politti, the Selecter, the Beat, Dead Kennedys and more. In September 1983, ''Jamming!'' went bi-monthly, and later monthl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Music Journalist
Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on what is now regarded as classical music. In the 1960s, music journalism began more prominently covering popular music like rock and pop after the breakthrough of The Beatles. With the rise of the internet in the 2000s, music criticism developed an increasingly large online presence with music bloggers, aspiring music critics, and established critics supplementing print media online. Music journalism today includes reviews of songs, albums and live concerts, profiles of recording artists, and reporting of artist news and music events. Origins in classical music criticism Music journalism has its roots in classical music criticism, which has traditionally comprised the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of music that has bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Nelson (musician)
William Nelson (born 18 December 1948) is an English singer, guitarist, songwriter, producer, painter, video artist, writer and experimental musician. He rose to prominence as the chief songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of the rock group Be-Bop Deluxe, which he formed in 1972. Nelson has been described as "one of the most underrated guitarists of the seventies art rock movement". In 2015, he was recognised with the Visionary award at the Progressive Music Awards. Early life and personal life Nelson was born in Wakefield in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to Jean and Walter Nelson. Walter Nelson was an alto saxophone player who led his own dance band, and Jean a member of a dance troupe when younger. Bill Nelson attended local schools in the Wakefield area and in the 1960s went to Wakefield College of Art. Nelson's younger brother, Ian (1956–2006), collaborated on the Be-Bop Deluxe song "Ships in the Night" and formed the band Fiat Lux; he also played on the 1979 Red Noise alb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madness (band)
Madness are an English ska and pop band from Camden Town, North London, who formed in 1976. One of the most prominent bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s two-tone ska revival, they continue to perform with six of the seven members of their original line-up.Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Retrieved on 19 June 2007. Madness's most successful period was from 1980 to 1986, when the band's songs spent a total of 214 weeks on the UK Singles Chart. (UB40 shared the same number of weeks, the largest for any British group in the decade, but over a longer period.), IMDb.com, Retrieved on 10 June 2007. Madness have had 15 singles reach the UK top ten, including "One Step Beyond", "Baggy Trousers" and " It Must Be Love", one UK number-one single "House of Fun" and two number ones in Ireland, "House of Fun" and " Wings of a Dove". " Our House" was their biggest US hit, reaching number 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 2000, the band received the Ivor Novello Award from the British Academy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Everything But The Girl
Everything but the Girl (occasionally referred to as EBTG) are an English musical duo formed in Kingston upon Hull in 1982, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, producer and singer Ben Watt. Everything but the Girl has received eight gold and two platinum album BPI certifications in the UK, and one gold album RIAA Certification in the US. They have had four top ten singles and twelve top forty singles in the UK. Their biggest hit song " Missing" charted high in several countries and reached number two on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1995 and spent over seven months on the UK Singles Chart thanks to an extremely popular remix by Todd Terry which later led to a Brit Award nomination for Best British Single. The duo have also been nominated for MTV, EMA and Ivor Novello Awards and received an award from the BMI for sales of over 3 million in the UK alone. Watt and Thorn are also a couple, though they are very private ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Specials
The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English Two-tone (music genre), 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall (singer), Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Lynval Golding and Roddy Radiation on guitars, Horace Panter on bass, Jerry Dammers on keyboards, John Bradbury (drummer), John Bradbury on drums, and Dick Cuthell and Rico Rodriguez (musician), Rico Rodriguez on horn. Their music combines the danceable rhythms of ska and rocksteady with the energy and attitude of punk rock, punk. Lyrically, they present a "more focused and informed political and social stance". The band wore mod (subculture), mod-style "1960s period rude boy outfits (pork pie hats, tonic and mohair suits and loafers)". In 1980, the song "Too Much Too Young", the lead track on their ''The Special AKA Live!'' Extended play, EP, reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. In 1981, the recessi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrumentalist Simon Raymonde in 1983. The group earned critical praise for their ethereal, effects-laden sound and the soprano vocals of Fraser, whose lyrics often eschew any recognisable language. They pioneered the 1980s alternative subgenre of dream pop. After signing with the British record label 4AD in 1982, they released their debut album '' Garlands'' later that year. The addition of Raymonde in 1983 solidified their final lineup, which produced their biggest hit in the UK, "Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops", peaking at No. 29 on the UK Singles Chart. In 1988, Cocteau Twins signed with Capitol Records in the United States, distributing their fifth album, ''Blue Bell Knoll'', through a major label in the country. After the 1990 release of their m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lloyd Cole
Lloyd Cole (born 31 January 1961) is an English singer and songwriter. He was lead singer of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions from 1984 to 1989 and subsequently worked solo. Early life Cole was born in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. He grew up in nearby Chapel-en-le-Frith and went to New Mills Grammar School and later attended Runshaw College in Leyland. He studied a year of law at University College London but switched to the University of Glasgow, where he studied philosophy and English, and also met the future members of The Commotions. Career 1984–1989: Lloyd Cole and the Commotions The Commotions' 1984 debut, ''Rattlesnakes'', contained literary and pop culture references to such figures as Arthur Lee, Norman Mailer, Grace Kelly, Eva Marie Saint, Simone de Beauvoir, Truman Capote and Joan Didion. The group produced two more albums, ''Easy Pieces'' and '' Mainstream'', before disbanding in 1989. Songs by the band include "Perfect Skin", "Rattlesnakes", "Forest Fire", "Ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julian Cope
Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side projects such as Queen Elizabeth, Brain Donor and Black Sheep. Cope is also an author on Neolithic culture, publishing ''The Modern Antiquarian'' in 1998, and a political and cultural activist with a public interest in occultism and paganism. He has written two volumes of autobiography, ''Head-On'' (1994) and ''Repossessed'' (1999); two volumes of archaeology, ''The Modern Antiquarian'' (1998) and ''The Megalithic European'' (2004); and three volumes of musicology, ''Krautrocksampler'' (1995), ''Japrocksampler'' (2007); and ''Copendium: A Guide to the Musical Underground'' (2012). Early life Cope's family resided in Tamworth, Staffordshire, but he was born in Deri, Glamorgan, Wales, where his mother's parents lived, while she was stayi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is heavily centred on bringing about change and involving the younger generation in activist causes. Early life Bragg was born in 1957 in Barking, Essex (which is now in Greater London) to Dennis Frederick Austin Bragg, an assistant sales manager to a Barking cap maker and milliner, and his wife Marie Victoria D'Urso, who was of Italian descent. Bragg's father died of lung cancer in 1976, and his mother died in 2011. Bragg was educated at Northbury Junior School and Park Modern Secondary School (now part of Barking Abbey Secondary School) in Barking, where he failed his eleven-plus exam, effectively precluding him from going to university. However he developed an interest in poetry at the age of twelve, when his English teacher chose him t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerge from the 1980s British independent music scene. The Smiths signed to the independent label Rough Trade Records in 1983 and released their first album, ''The Smiths'', in 1984. They based their songs on the songwriting partnership of Morrissey and Marr. Their focus on a guitar, bass, and drum sound and a fusion of 1960s rock and post-punk was a rejection of the synth-pop sound that was predominant at the time. Several Smiths singles reached the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart, and all their studio albums reached the top five of the UK Albums Chart, including the number-one album ''Meat Is Murder'' (1985). They achieved mainstream success in Europe with ''The Queen Is Dead'' (1986) and ''Strangeways, Here We Come'' (1987), both of which en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk rock, punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, satirizing political figures and authority in general, as well as popular culture and even the punk movement itself. During their initial incarnation between 1978 and 1986, they attracted considerable controversy for their provocative lyrics and artwork. Several stores refused to stock their recordings, provoking debate about censorship in rock music; in the mid-1980s, vocalist and primary lyricist Jello Biafra became an active campaigner against the Parents Music Resource Center. This culminated in an obscenity trial between 1985 and 1986, which resulted in a hung jury. The group released a total of four studio albums and one EP before disbanding in 1986. Following the band's dissolution, Biafra continued to collaborate and record with othe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
