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Virginia Astley
Virginia Astley (born 26 September 1959) is an English singer-songwriter most active during the 1980s and 1990s. Her songwriting career started in 1980. Her classical training influenced her as did a desire to be experimental with her music. Although most popular in Asia, most notably Japan, she remains a cult artist in her native England. Early life Virginia Astley was born in Garston, Hertfordshire, England, alongside her twin, Alison in 1959,Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 207-8 the second daughter of composer Edwin Astley, noted for TV themes such as ''The Saint'', and his wife Hazel Balbirnie, who married in 1945. Virginia Astley's family was from the Warrington area and lived in Grappenhall, where her elder sister Karen was born in 1947. The family relocated to Stanmore, Middlesex because of Edwin's work as a film and TV writer. In the early 1960s, he was musical director at ITC Entertainment in Borehamwood, the company responsibl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garston, Hertfordshire
Garston is a suburban village in Hertfordshire, England. Garston is contiguous with Watford and now, despite retaining a local identity, is effectively a suburb. It is within the Stanborough, Woodside and Meriden Ward (politics), wards of the borough of Watford, although a small number of its streets are in Hertsmere. The Building Research Establishment has its headquarters within Garston. Garston has several large secondary schools including St Michael's Catholic High School, Parmiter's School and Future Academies Watford, formerly known as Francis Combe. The A41 is the perceived border of Garston and North Watford; it crosses St Albans Road (A412) at the Dome Roundabout. Transport Garston railway station (Hertfordshire), Garston railway station on the Abbey line is served by West Midlands Trains services. Arriva London operated a Garston bus garage, bus garage in Garston. It closed in 2018, and was completely demolished in early 2022 [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guildhall School Of Music And Drama
The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with drama and production arts. The school has students from over seventy countries. Widely regarded as one of the leading performing arts institutions in the world, it was ranked first in both the Guardian’s 2022 League Table for Music and the Complete University Guide's 2023 Arts, Drama and Music league table. It is also ranked the sixth university in the world for performing arts in the 2022 QS World University Rankings. Based within the Barbican Centre in the City of London, the school currently numbers just over 1,000 students, approximately 800 of whom are music students and 200 on the drama and technical theatre programmes. The school is a member of Conservatoires UK, the European Association of Conservatoires and the Fede ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicky Holland
Nicky Holland (born 20 February 1959) is an English musician and singer-songwriter, notable for being a previous backing pianist/keyboardist, vocalist and co-songwriter for the band Tears for Fears during the 1980s. Early life Nicky Holland began studying piano at a young age; while attending the Royal Academy of Music, she grew inspired by the makings of Carole King. Career After graduating, Holland proceeded with her studies at the City University in London, England. There, she met classmates Virginia Astley and Kate St John, who she soon formed the band The Ravishing Beauties with in 1981. The trio played in numerous clubs, gaining association with Julian Cope and The Teardrop Explodes, and later supported them on their tours. They also recorded with Echo & the Bunnymen, Skids, and Siouxsie and the Banshees. In 1982, she went on to support Fun Boy Three, becoming their musical director and performing on their album ''Waiting''. Around a year later, she joined T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Teardrop Explodes
The Teardrop Explodes were an English post-punk/neo-psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. Best known for their Top Ten UK single "Reward", the group originated as a key band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s. The group also launched the career of group frontman Julian Cope as well as that of keyboard player and co-manager David Balfe (later a record producer, A&R man and founder of Food Records). Other members included early Smiths producer Troy Tate. Along with other contemporary Liverpudlian groups, The Teardrop Explodes played a role in returning psychedelic elements to mainstream British rock and pop, initially favouring a modernised version of lightly psychedelic late '60s-influenced beat-group sound (sometimes described as "bubblegum trance") and later exploring more experimental areas. In addition to their musical reputation, the band (and Cope in particular) had a reputation for eccentric pronouncements and behaviour, sometimes verging ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Troy Tate
Troy Tate is an English musician and record producer who was a member of several bands including The Teardrop Explodes and Fashion as well as working as a solo artist, for which he is best known for the single "Love Is ..." Biography Born in Liverpool, England, Tate's first band was the Cheltenham-based punk rock band Index, who released one single, "Jet Lag" c/w "Total Bland" in 1978.Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Troy Tate", in ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, He moved on to join former members of The Rezillos in the band Shake, recording two singles with this band. In 1981, he first recorded as a solo artist, releasing the "Thomas" single on the RCA label Why-Fi. He joined The Teardrop Explodes in late 1980, replacing Alan Gill on guitar, and playing on the ''Wilder'' album. While with the band, he continued his solo career, releasing "Lifeline" in 1982. He left The Teardrop Explodes, and joined Fashion in October 1982, leaving in 1983 when he signed to Rough Trade Re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Hope-Evans
Medicine Head were a British blues rock band – initially a duo – active in the 1970s. Their biggest single success was in 1973 with " One and One Is One", which reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart. The group recorded six original albums, the first three of which were released by John Peel's Dandelion label. Main personnel For most of its career, the group was a duo comprising: *John Fiddler (born 25 September 1947, the Moxley area of Darlaston, Staffordshire, England) – (vocalist, guitarist, pianist and drummer) *Peter Hope-Evans (born 28 September 1947, Brecon, Powys, Wales) – (harmonica, Jew's harp, guitarist, and mouthbow player). At various stages, the band used the following musicians: Laurence Archer, Clive Edwards, Keith Relf, Tony Ashton, Roger Saunders, George Ford, John Davies, Rob Townsend and Morgan Fisher. Career Fiddler and Hope-Evans met while attending Wednesfield Grammar School, Wolverhampton and later Stafford Art School, only to then qui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Brzezicki
Mark Michael Brzezicki ( , ; born 21 June 1957) is an English musician, best known as the drummer for the Scottish rock band Big Country. He has also played with the Cult, Ultravox, From the Jam, Procol Harum, Rick Astley, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Roger Daltrey, Fish, Steve Harley, Howard Jones, Nik Kershaw, the Pretenders, Thunderclap Newman, Tiffany, Midge Ure, Pete Townshend and many others. Brzezicki was also the sole drummer on '' Shine'', the second (and final, to date) English-language studio album by Swedish singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad of ABBA. He uses both the traditional and matched grips. He is the son of an English mother and a Polish veteran of the Second World War. Brzezicki left Big Country in July 1989, but rejoined in 1993. He, together with bassist Tony Butler and guitarist Bruce Watson, began gigging again as Big Country in 2007, as part of their 25th anniversary tour. In 2004, Brzezicki helped form a new band, Casbah Club, with Bruce Foxton and Si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Butler (musician)
Anthony Earle Peter Butler (born 13 February 1957) is a British bassist, best known for his work with Scottish rock band Big Country. He has also worked with On the Air, The Pretenders, Roger Daltrey, and Pete Townshend, among others. Early life Butler was born at Hammersmith Hospital in White City, London, England. His parents had emigrated to England from the Caribbean island of Dominica. Career In the late 1970s Butler joined the short-lived band On the Air which also included drummer Mark Brzezicki and Simon Townshend (the younger brother of The Who's guitarist Pete Townshend). On the Air released two singles in 1980 and toured with the Scottish band The Skids, which was where Butler met Stuart Adamson. In 1982 Butler joined Adamson's new band Big Country with his drumming partner Mark Brzezicki, which went on to enjoy success internationally during the 1980s and 1990s, he remained in the band until the end of 2000. He also did session work with other artists including P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kissing The Pink
Kissing the Pink are an English new wave and synth-pop band that formed in London in 1980. The current members are lead singer and guitarist Nick Whitecross, keyboardist Jon Kingsley Hall, second keyboardist George Stewart, and guitarist Simon Aldridge. Former members include saxophonist Josephine Wells, violinist Peter Barnett, drummer Stevie Cusack, and vocalist Sylvia Griffin. Career The band formed in 1980 at the Royal College of Music, located in South Kensington, London. Their debut single was "Don't Hide in the Shadows", recorded with producer Martin Hannett at Strawberry Studios in Stockport. Hannett had previously worked with Joy Division, the Durutti Column, and John Cooper Clarke, but it was not until they dropped their first manager (celebrated in their song "Michael"), and signed a recording contract with Magnet Records that they began to get any airplay. They recorded their debut studio album, ''Naked'', at AIR Studios with Colin Thurston as the main producer. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Les Disques Du Crépuscule
Les Disques du Crépuscule is an independent record label founded in Belgium. The label was founded in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré. It also had a prominent associated sublabel, Factory Benelux. Both are now run by former employee James Nice. "Crépuscule" translates as "twilight", with most of the label's catalogue numbers prefixed by the letters TWI. History Duval and Honoré had previously organised and promoted concerts in Brussels at the Plan K venue. The name ''Les Disques du Crépuscule'' was coined by Honoré. Their first visible work as Crépuscule was the fanzine ''Plein Soleil'', issued in June 1980. The company also issued recordings by Factory Records-affiliated artists as Factory Benelux. Les Disques du Crépuscule went on to release diverse recordings by a cosmopolitan roster that included Michael Nyman, Wim Mertens, Anna Domino, Paul Haig, Josef K, Cabaret Voltaire, Mikado, Cathy Claret, Isabelle Antena, Louis Philippe (under the aliases of T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Jobson (television Presenter)
Richard Jobson (born 6 October 1960) is a Scottish filmmaker (director, writer, producer) who also works as a television presenter. He is also known as the singer-songwriter of the band Skids. Early life Jobson was born in Kirkcaldy and grew up in Crosshill, Ballingry and Fife, the son of a miner and a worker at Rosyth Dockyard. He attended St Columba's Roman Catholic High School, Dunfermline. His family were of Irish Catholic descent. Skids Jobson is the lead singer with the punk rock group Skids, whose original run was from 1977 -1982. Jobson's singing style with Skids was highly distinctive, and he wrote the lyrics, while Stuart Adamson wrote most of the music. ''Scared to Dance'', the first Skids album, featured the 1979 hit single "Into the Valley", the group's most successful single. Jobson appeared on BBC Television's ''Top of the Pops'' singing it. The album also featured "The Saints are Coming", which he said was about the death of a friend in the British Army. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skids (band)
Skids are a Scottish punk rock and new wave band, formed in Dunfermline in 1977 by Stuart Adamson (guitar, keyboards, percussion and backing vocals), William Simpson (bass guitar and backing vocals), Thomas Kellichan (drums) and Richard Jobson (vocals, guitar and keyboards). Their biggest successes were the 1979 single "Into the Valley" and the 1980 album '' The Absolute Game.'' In 2016, the band announced a 40th-anniversary tour of the UK with their original singer Richard Jobson. History Early years (1977–1979) Skids played their first gig on 19 August 1977 at the Bellville Hotel in Pilmuir Street, Dunfermline, Scotland. Within six months they had released the '' Charles'' EP on the No Bad record label, created by Sandy Muir, a Dunfermline music-shop-owner-turned-manager. The record brought them to the attention of national BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel. This led to a local gig supporting The Clash. Virgin Records then signed up Skids in April 1978. The singles "Sweet Su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
