|
The Freshies
The Freshies are an English punk rock band, formed in Manchester, England in 1978. The band was founded by singer-songwriter and comedian Chris Sievey, whose best-known creation – comedy character Frank Sidebottom – originated as a mascot for the group. Over a four-year period between their formation and break-up in 1982, the Freshies released several singles, as well as three studio albums. Since Sievey's death in 2010, the Freshies reformed for sporadic appearances at tribute events to their founder; these occasionally included his son Harry Sievey on lead vocals and guitar, until his passing in 2017. Original members Barry Spencer and Rick Sarko reformed the band permanently in 2019, following the release of the documentary ''Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story''. This lineup of the Freshies includes Paul Taylor (guitar) and Chris Connolly (drums). In 2020, the band announced plans to release their first new material since 1982. Career Chris Sievey had recorded since t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two cities and the surrounding towns form one of the United Kingdom's most populous conurbations, the Greater Manchester Built-up Area, which has a population of 2.87 million. The history of Manchester began with the civilian settlement associated with the Roman fort ('' castra'') of ''Mamucium'' or ''Mancunium'', established in about AD 79 on a sandstone bluff near the confluence of the rivers Medlock and Irwell. Historically part of Lancashire, areas of Cheshire south of the River Mersey were incorporated into Manchester in the 20th century, including Wythenshawe in 1931. Throughout the Middle Ages Manchester remained a manorial township, but began to expand "at an astonishing rate" around the turn of the 19th century. Manchest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Smirks
The Smirks were an English new wave band from Manchester who played from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. Although they failed to meet with commercial success, they built a small but loyal base of fans. They are remembered mostly for a quirky vocal style and for a curious campaign ''Smirks against Travolta'', simultaneously a homage and a parody of ''Rock Against Racism''. The Smirks session for the John Peel show was recorded on 19 April 1978 and broadcast a week later. Despite being more of the new wave/power pop genre, they did support Killing Joke and Joy Division at the ULU gig in London, 1980. Their acrimonious dispute with Beserkley Records, for whom they recorded an album that was never released, is also noteworthy and was the subject of a BBC Radio 4 documentary. The album was finally due to be released in October 2007, but was delayed by the sale of Sanctuary Records to Universal Music and is still awaiting release. Parody ''Smirks against Travolta'' was only one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newsfield Publications Ltd
Newsfield Publications Ltd (also known as Newsfield) was a British magazine publisher during the 1980s and early 1990s. Newsfield Publications Ltd was founded by Roger Kean, Franco Frey and Oliver Frey in 1983. Based in Ludlow, Shropshire, Newsfield published a number of popular computer game magazines from the mid-1980s to early 1990s. This line-up was later supplemented by a number of less successful magazines covering role-playing games, film, horror and youth culture. Faced with financial difficulties, the company went bankrupt towards the end of 1991. This didn't spell the immediate end for some of their magazines though. Another magazine publisher, Europress, continued to publish Newsfield's flagship publications, Zzap!64 and Crash, for a further six months before the former was relaunched as Commodore Force and the latter sold to rival publisher EMAP and merged with Sinclair User. Thalamus Ltd, Newsfield's sister company, was set up in 1985 to publish a number of compute ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
45-rpm Record
In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. In other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album. Despite being referred to as a single, in the era of music downloads, singles can include up to as many as three tracks. The biggest digital music distributor, the iTunes Store, accepts as many as three tracks that are less than ten minutes each as a single. Any more than three tracks on a musical release or thirty minutes in total running time is an extended play (EP) or, if over six tracks long, an album. Historically, when mainstream music was purchased via vinyl records, singles would be released double-sided, i.e. there was an A-side and a B-side, on which two songs would appear, one on each sid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musician
A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who write both music and lyrics for songs, conductors who direct a musical performance, or performers who perform for an audience. A music performer is generally either a singer who provides vocals or an instrumentalist who plays a musical instrument. Musicians may perform on their own or as part of a group, band or orchestra. Musicians specialize in a musical style, and some musicians play in a variety of different styles depending on cultures and background. A musician who records and releases music can be known as a recording artist. Types Composer A composer is a musician who creates musical compositions. The title is principally used for those who write classical music or film music. Those who write the music for popular songs may b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solo (music)
In music, a solo (from the Spanish language, Spanish and Italian language, Italian based-word: ''Solo'', meaning ''alone'' or ''by yourself'') is a musical composition, piece or a section (music), section of a piece played or sung featuring a single performer, who may be performing completely alone or supported by an accompanying instrument such as a piano or Organ (music), organ, a Basso continuo, continuo group (in Baroque music), or the rest of a choir, orchestra, band, or other ensemble. Performing a solo is "to solo", and the performer is known as a ''soloist''. The plural is soli or the anglicisation, anglicised form solos. In some contexts these are interchangeable, but ''soli'' tends to be restricted to classical music, and mostly either the solo performers or the solo passage (music), passages in a single piece. Furthermore, the word ''soli'' can be used to refer to a small number of simultaneous parts assigned to single players in an orchestral composition. In the Baroq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinclair Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colour'' and ''ZX82'', it was launched as the ''ZX Spectrum'' to highlight the machine's colour display, which differed from the black and white display of its predecessor, the ZX81. The Spectrum was released as six different models, ranging from the entry level with 16 KB RAM released in 1982 to the ZX Spectrum +3 with 128 KB RAM and built in floppy disk drive in 1987; altogether they sold over 5 million units worldwide (not counting unofficial clones). The Spectrum was among the first home computers in the United Kingdom aimed at a mainstream audience, and it thus had similar significance to the Commodore 64 in the US and the Thomson MO5 in France. The introduction of the ZX Spectrum led to a boom in companies producing software an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Biz (video Game)
''The Biz'' is a management simulation game published by Virgin Games for the ZX Spectrum in 1984. In ''The Biz'', the player manages a rock band. The price of the game on release was £6.95, which is equivalent to £ today. The tape cassette contained the program, an interview with Frank Sidebottom and Chris Sievey, and eight singles. Gameplay left, In this screeenshot, the player's father has won £40,000 while gambling on football. Unfortunately, the player only gets £10 as a way to keep the game balanced. Players set up their rock band with gigs, make them rehearse new songs, and hire a recording studio for producing new albums. The player starts out with no talent or money and an agent must be hired in order to better co-ordinate the band. The stage presence of the band and the fanbase are improved with every gig performed. School dances and YMCAs are the first places that accept the player's newly formed band. Real television stations are included: a band from either S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneur at a young age. His first business venture, at the age of 16, was a magazine called ''Student''. In 1970, he set up a mail-order record business. He opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records—later known as Virgin Megastores—in 1972. Branson's Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s, as he started Virgin Atlantic airline and expanded the Virgin Records music label. In 1997, Branson founded the Virgin Rail Group to bid for passenger rail franchises during the privatisation of British Rail. The Virgin Trains brand operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from 1997 to 2019, the InterCity CrossCountry franchise from 1997 to 2007, and the InterCity East Coast franchise from 2015 to 2018. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manchester Evening News
The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 2019. The newspaper is owned by Reach plc (formerly Trinity Mirror), /sup> one of Britain's largest newspaper publishing groups. Since adopting a 'digital-first' strategy in 2014, the ''MEN'' has experienced significant online growth, despite its average print daily circulation for the first half of 2021 falling to 22,107. In the 2018 British Regional Press Awards, it was named Newspaper of the Year and Website of the Year. History Formation and ''The Guardian'' ownership The ''Manchester Evening News'' was first published on 10 October 1868 by Mitchell Henry as part of his parliamentary election campaign, its first issue four pages long and costing a halfpenny. The newspaper was run from a small office on Brown Street, with approximately ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Hit Singles & Albums
''British Hit Singles & Albums'' (originally known as ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' and ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums'') was a music reference book originally published in the United Kingdom by the publishing arm of the Guinness breweries, Guinness Superlatives. Later editions were published by HiT Entertainment (who had bought the Guinness World Records brand). It listed all the singles and albums featured in the Top 75 pop charts in the UK. In 2004 the book became an amalgamation of two earlier Guinness publications, originally known as ''British Hit Singles'' and ''British Hit Albums''. The publication of this amalgamation ceased in 2006, with Guinness World Records being sold to The Jim Pattison Group, owner of ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!''. At this point, the Official UK Charts Company teamed up with Random House/Ebury Publishing to release a new version of the book under the Virgin Books brand. Entitled ''The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Richard Branson")
