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Billy Connolly
Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, musician, television presenter, artist and retired stand-up comedian. He is sometimes known by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his idiosyncratic and often improvised observational comedy, frequently including strong language, Connolly has topped many UK polls as the greatest stand-up comedian of all time. In 2017, he was knighted at Buckingham Palace for services to entertainment and charity. In 2022, he received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Connolly's trade, in the early 1960s, was that of a welder (specifically a boilermaker) in the Glasgow shipyards, but he gave it up towards the end of the decade to pursue a career as a folk singer. He first sang in the folk rock band the Humblebums alongside Gerry Rafferty and Tam Harvey, with whom he stayed until 1971, before beginning singing as a solo artist. In the early 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knight Bachelor
The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the most ancient sort of British knight (the rank existed during the 13th-century reign of Henry III of England, King Henry III), but Knights Bachelor rank below knights of chivalric orders. A man who is knighted is formally addressed as "Sir [First Name] [Surname]" or "Sir [First Name]" and his wife as "Lady [Surname]". The designation "Bachelor" in this context conveys the concept of "junior in rank". Criteria Knighthood is usually conferred for public service; amongst its recipients are all male judges of His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England. It is possible to be a Knight Bachelor and a junior member of an order of chivalry without being a knight of that or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BAFTA Fellowship
The BAFTA Fellowship, or the Academy Fellowship, is a lifetime achievement award presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in recognition of "outstanding achievement in the art forms of the moving image". The award is the highest honour the Academy can bestow, and has been awarded annually since 1971. Fellowship recipients have mainly been film directors, but some have been awarded to actors, film producer, film/television producers, cinematographers, film editing, film editors, screenwriters, and (since 2007) contributors to the video game industry. In 2002, Merchant Ivory Productions became the first organisation to win the award. People from the United Kingdom dominate the list, but it includes over a dozen U.S. citizens and several from other countries in Europe, though none of the latter have been recognized since 1996. In 2010, Shigeru Miyamoto became the first citizen of an Asian country to receive the award. The inaugural recipient of the award ... [...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 work, 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 United Kingdom, 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 Jim Pattison Group, 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 bran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featured more than 51,446 scheduled performances of 3,746 different shows across 262 venues from 60 different countries. Of those shows, the largest section was comedy, representing almost 40% of shows, followed by theatre, which was 26.6% of shows. Established in 1947 as an unofficial offshoot to (and on the "fringe" of) the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place in Edinburgh every August. The combination of Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Edinburgh International Festival has become a world-leading celebration of arts and culture, surpassed only by the Olympics and the World Cup in terms of global ticketed events. It is an open-access (or " unjuried") performing arts festival, meaning that there is no selection committee, and anyon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932. Though most famous for their visual spectacle, revues frequently satirized contemporary figures, news or literature. Similar to the related subforms of operetta and musical theatre, the revue art form brings together music, dance and sketches to create a compelling show. In contrast to these, however, revue does not have an overarching storyline. Rather, a general theme serves as the motto for a loosely related series of acts that alternate between solo performances and dance ensembles. Owing to high ticket prices, wikt:ribald, ribald publicity campaigns and the occasional use of wikt:prurient, prurient material, the revue was typically patronized by audience members who earned mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cumbernauld
Cumbernauld (; ) is a large town in the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated town in North Lanarkshire, positioned in the Centre of Scotland, centre of Scotland's Central Belt. Geographically, Cumbernauld sits between east and west, being on the Scottish watershed between the Firth of Forth, Forth and the Firth of Clyde, Clyde; however, it is culturally more weighted towards Glasgow and the New towns in the United Kingdom#Scotland, New Town's planners aimed to fill 80% of its houses from Scotland's largest city to reduce housing pressure there. Traces of Roman occupation are still visible, for example at Westerwood and, less conspicuously, north of the M80 motorway, M80 where the legionaries surfaced the Via Flavii, later called the "Auld Cley Road". This is acknowledged in Cumbernauld Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerry Rafferty
Gerald Rafferty (16 April 1947– 4 January 2011) was a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. He was a founding member of Stealers Wheel, whose biggest hit was "Stuck in the Middle with You" in 1973. His solo hits in the late 1970s included "Baker Street", " Right Down the Line" and " Night Owl". Rafferty was born into a working-class family in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. His mother taught him both Irish and Scottish folk songs when he was a boy; later, he was influenced by the music of the Beatles and Bob Dylan. He joined the folk-pop group the Humblebums (of which Billy Connolly was a member) in 1969. After they disbanded in 1971, he recorded his first solo album, '' Can I Have My Money Back?'' Rafferty and Joe Egan formed the group Stealers Wheel in 1972. In 1978, he recorded his second solo album, '' City to City''. A heavy drinker for much of his life, Rafferty died from liver failure in 2011. Early years Rafferty was born in 1947 into a wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Humblebums
The Humblebums were a Scottish folk rock band, based in Glasgow. Its members included Billy Connolly, who later became a stand-up comedian and actor; guitarist Tam Harvey; and singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty. The band was active from 1965 to 1971. Career Connolly co-founded the band with Tam Harvey in 1965, and played in the pubs and clubs around Glasgow, most notably the Old Scotia Bar. Connolly sang, played banjo and guitar, and entertained the audience with his humorous introductions to the songs. Harvey was an accomplished bluegrass guitarist. A first album, ''First Collection of Merry Melodies'', was released in February 1969. Rafferty joined later in 1969 and for a short time they performed as a trio. However, the nature of the act had changed and Harvey departed shortly afterwards. The remaining duo broke up in the early 1970s after recording two more Humblebums albums of material: ''The New Humblebums'' and ''Open Up the Door'', the former graced by a cover by John ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Folk Rock
Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers such as Bob Dylan and the Byrds—several of whose members had earlier played in folk ensembles—attempted to blend the sounds of rock with their pre-existing folk repertoire, adopting the use of electric instrumentation and drums in a way previously discouraged in the U.S. folk community. The term "folk rock" was initially used in the U.S. music press in June 1965 to describe the Byrds' music. The commercial success of the Byrds' cover version of Dylan's " Mr. Tambourine Man" and their debut album of the same name, along with Dylan's own recordings with rock instrumentation—on the albums '' Bringing It All Back Home'' (1965), '' Highway 61 Revisited'' (1965), and '' Blonde on Blonde'' (1966)—encouraged other folk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Folk Singer
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted orally, music with unknown composers, music that is played on traditional instruments, music about cultural or national identity, music that changes between generations (folk process), music associated with a people's folklore, or music performed by custom over a long period of time. It has been contrasted with commercial and classical styles. The term originated in the 19th century, but folk music extends beyond that. Starting in the mid-20th century, a new form of popular folk music evolved from traditional folk music. This process and period is called the (second) folk revival and reached a zenith in the 1960s. This form of music is sometimes called contemporary folk music or folk re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boilermaker
A boilermaker is a Tradesman, tradesperson who Metal fabrication, fabricates steels, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2014-15 Edition, Boilermakers, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/boilermakers.htm (visited January 23, 2014) Although the name originated from craftsmen who made boilers, boilermakers assemble, maintain, and repair other large vessels and closed vats, in addition to boilers. The boilermaker trade evolved from industrial Blacksmith, blacksmithing; in the early nineteenth century, a boilermaker was called a ''boilersmith''. The involvement of boilermakers in the shipbuilding and engineering industries came about because of the changeover from wood to iron as a construction material. It was often easier, and less expensive, to h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
