British Hit Singles
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British Hit Singles
''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 ...
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Reference Work
A reference work is a document, such as a Academic publishing#Scholarly paper, paper, book or periodical literature, periodical (or their electronic publishing, electronic equivalents), to which one can refer for information. The information is intended to be found quickly when needed. Such works are usually ''referred'' to for particular pieces of information, rather than read beginning to end. The writing style used in these works is informative; the authors avoid opinions and the use of the first person, and emphasize facts. Index (publishing), Indices are a common navigation feature in many types of reference works. Many reference works are put together by a team of contributors whose work is coordinated by one or more editors, rather than by an individual author. Updated edition (book), editions are usually published as needed, in some cases annual publication, annually, such as ''Whitaker's Almanack'', and ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who''. Reference works include textbook ...
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Music Week
''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music Week''. On 17 January 1981, the title again changed, owing to the increasing importance of sell-through videos, to ''Music & Video Week''. The rival '' Record Business'', founded in 1978 by Brian Mulligan and Norman Garrod, was absorbed into Music Week in February 1983. Later that year, the offshoot ''Video Week'' launched and the title of the parent publication reverted to ''Music Week''. Since April 1991, ''Music Week'' has incorporated ''Record Mirror'', initially as a 4 or 8-page chart supplement, later as a dance supplement of articles, reviews and charts. In the 1990s, several magazines and newsletters become part of the Music Week family: ''Music Business International (MBI)'', ''Promo'', ''MIRO Future Hits'', ''Tours Report'', ''Fono ...
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Photographs
A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. The process and practice of creating such images is called photography. Most photographs are now created using a smartphone or camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of what the human eye would perceive. Etymology The word ''photograph'' was coined in 1839 by Sir John Herschel and is based on the Greek φῶς ('' phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light". History The first permanent photograph, a contact-exposed copy of an engraving, was made in 1822 using the bitumen-based " heliography" process developed by Nicéphore Niépce. The first photographs of a real-world scene, made using a camera obscura, followed a few ...
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Classical Music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" can also be applied to List of classical and art music traditions, non-Western art musics. Classical music is often characterized by formality and complexity in its musical form and Harmony, harmonic organization, particularly with the use of polyphony. Since at least the ninth century, it has been primarily a written tradition, spawning a sophisticated music notation, notational system, as well as accompanying literature in music analysis, analytical, music criticism, critical, Music history, historiographical, musicology, musicological and Philosophy of music, philosophical practices. A foundational component of Western culture, classical music is frequently seen from the perspective of individual or com ...
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Guinness Book Of British Hit Singles 7th Edition 1988 Book Cover
Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based multinational alcoholic beverage maker Diageo. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in over 120. Sales in 2011 amounted to 850,000,000 litres (190,000,000 imp gal; 220,000,000 U.S. gal). It is the highest-selling beer in both Ireland and the United Kingdom. The Guinness Storehouse is a tourist attraction at St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin, Ireland. Since opening in 2000, it has received over 20 million visitors. Guinness's flavour derives from malted barley and roasted unmalted barley; the unmalted barley is a relatively modern addition that became part of the grist in the mid-20th century. For many years, a portion of aged brew was blended with freshly brewed beer to give a sharp lactic acid flavour. Although Guinness's palate still feat ...
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Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publication) ''New Musical Express''. 1920s–1940s It was founded in 1926 by Leicester-born composer and publisher Lawrence Wright as the house magazine for his music publishing business, often promoting his own songs. Two months later it had become a full scale magazine, more generally aimed at dance band musicians, under the title ''The Melody Maker and British Metronome''. It was published monthly from the basement of 19 Denmark Street in LondonPeter Watts. ''Denmark Street: London's Street of Sound'' (2023), pp. 30-31 (soon relocating to 93 Long Acre), and the first editor was the drummer and dance-band leader Edgar Jackson (1895-1967). Jackson instigated a jazz column, which gained in credibility once it was taken over by Spike Hughes in ...
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Allisons
The Allisons were an English pop duo consisting of Bob Day (born Bernard Colin Day; 2 February 1941 – 25 November 2013) and John Alford (born Brian Henry John Alford, 31 December 1939 – 13 November 2023). They were marketed as being brothers, using the surname of Allison. Career The Allisons represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961 with the song " Are You Sure?". They came second with 24 points. The song was released as a single on the Fontana label, and climbed to number 1 on the UK ''NME'' pop chart, while in the chart compiled by the Official Charts Company the song spent six weeks at number 2 and a further three weeks in the top 4. "Are You Sure" sold over one million records, earning a gold disc. In Germany the single reached number 11. Despite a couple of minor follow-up hits, the duo disbanded in 1963. Alford initially tried songwriting, but he and Day teamed up for short tours to keep the 'Allisons' name alive. Additionally, in the 197 ...
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Are You Sure? (The Allisons Song)
"Are You Sure?" is a song by pop duo The Allisons, that represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 1961, performed in English. The song was performed 15th on the night of the contest, held on 18 March 1961, following 's Jean-Claude Pascal with "Nous les amoureux", and preceding 's Betty Curtis Roberta Corti (21 March 1936 – 15 June 2006), better known by her stage name Betty Curtis, was an Italian singer active from 1957 to 2004. Curtis grew up in the Zone 8 of Milan's borough Cagnola. She started singing in night clubs at an early a ... with " Al di là". The song received 24 points, placing 2nd in a field of 16, the third consecutive second place Eurovision finish for the UK for whom two subsequent Eurovision entrants would also be second-place finishers before " Puppet on a String" by Sandie Shaw would give the UK its first Eurovision victory in . "Are You Sure?" was also the first UK Eurovision entrant to become a Top Ten hit reaching #2 UK, the be ...
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Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an original song representing its country to be performed and broadcast live to all of them via the Eurovision (network), Eurovision and Euroradio networks, and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine a winner. The contest was inspired by and based on the Italian Sanremo Music Festival, held in the Italian Riviera since 1951. Eurovision has been held annually since 1956 (except for due to the COVID-19 pandemic), making it the longest-running international music competition on television and one of the world's longest-running television programmes. Active members of the EBU and invited associate members are eligible to compete; broadcasters from List of countries in the Eurovision Song Contest, 52 countries hav ...
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Acker Bilk
Bernard Stanley "Acker" Bilk, (28 January 1929 – 2 November 2014) was an English clarinetist and vocalist known for his breathy, vibrato-rich, lower-register style, and distinctive appearance – of goatee, bowler hat and striped waistcoat. Bilk's 1961 instrumental tune " Stranger on the Shore" became the UK's biggest selling single of 1962, spending 55 weeks on the charts and reaching Number 1. It was the first single to top the UK and US charts simultaneously, and the second No. 1 single in the United States by a British artist. In Canada it was number 4 for 4 weeks before peaking at number 3. Early life Bilk was born in Pensford, Somerset, in 1929. He earned the nickname "Acker" from the Somerset slang for "friend" or "mate". His parents tried to teach him the piano but, as a boy, Bilk found it restricted his love of outdoor activities, including football. He lost two front teeth in a school fight and half a finger in a sledging accident, both of which he said affect ...
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Stranger On The Shore
"Stranger on the Shore" is a piece for clarinet written by Acker Bilk for his young daughter and originally named "Jenny" after her. The tune was written on a single scrap of paper by Bilk and handed over to arranger Leon Young who crafted the string arrangement, including the characteristic harmonic shifts at the very end. The recording was subsequently used as the theme tune of a BBC TV drama serial for young people, '' Stranger on the Shore''. It was first released in 1961 in the UK, and then in the US, and reached number 1 on both the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. In May 1969, the crew of Apollo 10 took "Stranger on the Shore" on their mission to the moon. Gene Cernan, a member of the crew, included the tune on a cassette tape used in the command module of the Apollo spacecraft. Chart and sales performance The track, performed by Acker Bilk (as "Mr. Acker Bilk") with backing by the Leon Young String Chorale, was recorded at the Lansdowne Studios an ...
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The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pioneered the gritty, rhythmically driven sound that came to define hard rock. Their first stable line-up consisted of vocalist Mick Jagger, guitarist Keith Richards, multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones, bassist Bill Wyman, and drummer Charlie Watts. During their early years, Jones was the primary leader. Andrew Loog Oldham became their manager in 1963 and encouraged them to write their own songs. The Jagger–Richards, Jagger–Richards partnership soon became the band's primary songwriting and creative force. Rooted in blues and early rock and roll, the Rolling Stones started out playing Cover version, covers and were at the forefront of the British Invasion in 1964, becoming identified with the youthful counterculture of the 1960s. They then f ...
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