|
Less Than Zero (Elvis Costello Song)
"Less than Zero" is the debut single by Elvis Costello, released in 1977 on Stiff Records. It is the eighth track on Costello's debut album, '' My Aim Is True''. Written about British fascist Oswald Mosley, the song features what ''AllMusic'' described as a "slow, slinky ndsinister" melody. Background The song expressed Costello's anger after seeing former British Union of Fascists leader Oswald Mosley interviewed on television, attempting to deny his racist past. In the liner notes to the Rhino edition of the album, Costello writes: On his first visit to the United States, Costello found that American audiences did not understand the song, writing in his 2015 autobiography, '' Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink'': "I'm not sure if anyone in Cleveland had ever heard of Oswald Mosley or gave a damn about him when we played 'Less Than Zero' that night. It was just some rock and roll music with a fashionable-sounding title". Later, he substantially rewrote the lyrics to refe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Elvis Costello
Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical traditions of Bob Dylan and Van Morrison with the raw energy and sass that were principal ethics of punk", noting the "construction of his songs, which set densely layered wordplay in an ever-expanding repertoire of styles". His first album, '' My Aim Is True'' (1977), spawned no hit singles, but contains some of Costello's best-known songs, including the ballad " Alison". Costello's next two albums, '' This Year's Model'' (1978) and ''Armed Forces'' (1979), recorded with his backing band the Attractions, helped define the new wave genre. From late 1977 until early 1980, each of the eight singles he released reached the UK Top 30. His biggest hit single, " Oliver's Army" (1979), sold more than 500,000 copies in Britain. He has had more ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Armed Forces (album)
''Armed Forces'' is the third studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released on 5January 1979 in the United Kingdom through Radar Records. It was his second album with the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas (no relation)—and the first to officially credit them on the cover. The album was recorded in six weeks from August to September 1978 in London under the working title ''Emotional Fascism''. Produced by Nick Lowe and engineered by Roger Béchirian, the sessions saw Costello exert more control over production compared to ''This Year's Model'', while Nieve contributed more to song arrangements. For ''Armed Forces'', Costello sought a more commercial sound than the punk rock style employed on his two previous records, resulting in a more pop-oriented production reflecting the new wave era. The overtly political lyrics concern the effect of politics on human relationships. The UK release featured an e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
The Ed Sullivan Show
''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CBS Sunday Movie, CBS Sunday Night Movie''. In 2002, ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' was ranked No. 15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, ''TV Guide''s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. In 2013, the series finished No. 31 in ''TV Guide'' Magazine's 60 Best Series of All Time. History From 1948 until its cancellation in 1971, the show ran on CBS every Sunday night from 8–9 p.m. Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Time, and it is one of the few entertainment shows to have run in the same weekly time slot on the same network for more than two decades (during its first season, it ran from 9 to 10 p.m. ET). Virtually every type of entertainment appeared on the show; classical musicians, opera singers, popular recording artists, songwriters ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band in Western popular music and were integral to the development of Counterculture of the 1960s, 1960s counterculture and the recognition of popular music as an art form. Rooted in skiffle, beat music, beat and 1950s rock and roll, rock 'n' roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways. The band also explored music styles ranging from Folk music, folk and Music of India, Indian music to Psychedelic music, psychedelia and hard rock. As Recording practices of the Beatles, pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation, the Beatles revolutionised many aspects of the music industry and were often publicised as leaders of the Baby boomers, era's youth and soc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Radio Radio
"Radio Radio" is a song written by Elvis Costello and performed by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. The song originated as a Bruce Springsteen-inspired song called "Radio Soul" that Costello had written in 1974. In 1977, Costello reworked the song to feature a more aggressive arrangement and more direct, sarcastic lyrics that criticised the commercialism of British radio. Costello and the Attractions recorded the song around the time of his second album, ''This Year's Model''. "Radio Radio" was released as a standalone single in the United Kingdom in October 1978, reaching number 29. The track was appended onto the US version of their second album, ''This Year's Model,'' released earlier that year. The song has since seen critical acclaim, being marked as one of Costello's best by many writers and appearing on several compilation albums. Costello and the Attractions famously performed the song live on the American television show ''Saturday Night Live'' in 1977. Originally ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The show's premiere was hosted by George Carlin on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title ''NBC's Saturday Night''. The show's comedy sketches, which often parody popular culture and politics, are performed by a Saturday Night Live cast members, large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, with featured performances by a musical guest. An episode normally begins with a cold open sketch that is usually based on current events and ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!, Live from New York, it's ''Saturday Night''!", properly beginning the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
A Bunch Of Stiff Records
''A Bunch of Stiff Records'', also known as ''A Bunch of Stiffs'', is a various artists album to promote some of the first acts to be signed by Stiff Records. It is subtitled ''Undertakers to the Industry – If They're Dead - We'll Sign 'Em''. One of the tracks, Elvis Costello's " Less Than Zero", had been issued as single only a week prior to this album being released, although this is an unusual and otherwise-unavailable mix of the song, which has keyboards overdubbed over the intro. Motörhead's "White Line Fever" had been scheduled for release in December 1976, but the issue was cancelled. Wreckless Eric's " (I'd Go The) Whole Wide World" was issued as a single in August 1977. The album did not enter the UK charts. Graham Parker's track (No. 6, the final track on side 1 of the LP) was not listed on the original release, probably due to his contract with Phonogram, for whose Vertigo label he and the Rumour had already released two LPs. The album was designed by Barney B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Hits Greatest Stiffs
''Hits Greatest Stiffs'' is a various artists compilation album, drawn from ten of the first eleven Stiff Records singles, BUY 1 to BUY 11. The tracks follow the numerical order of the singles, but feature mostly the B-sides, although several singles were originally issued as double A-sides. The other sides of the Motörhead and Elvis Costello tracks had appeared on the previous compilation album, ''A Bunch of Stiff Records''. The missing single from the sequence (BUY 10) was "Neat Neat Neat"/"Stab Your Back"/"Singalongascabies" by the DamnedStiff Records Catalogue Retrieved 31 March 2009 whereas both sides of the Tyla Gang's single were included on this album. The inner sleeve included pictures of numerous a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
A-side And B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company intends to be the initial focus of promotional efforts and radio airplay, with the aim of it becoming a hit record. The B-side (or "flip-side") is a secondary recording that typically receives less attention, although some B-sides have been as successful as, or more so than, their A-sides. Use of this language has largely declined in the 21st century as the music industry has transitioned away from analog recordings towards digital formats without physical sides, such as downloads and streaming. Nevertheless, some artists and labels continue to employ the terms ''A-side'' and ''B-side'' metaphorically to describe the type of content a particular release features, with ''B-side'' sometimes representing a "bonus" track or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Syncopation
In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat (music), off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "placement of rhythmic stresses or accents where they wouldn't normally occur". It is the correlation of at least two sets of time intervals. Syncopation is used in many musical styles, such as electronic dance music. According to music producer Rick Snoman, “All dance music makes use of syncopation, and it’s often a vital element that helps tie the whole track together”. Syncopation can also occur when a strong harmony is simultaneous with a weak Beat (music), beat, for instance, when a 7th chord, 7th-chord is played on the second beat of a measure or a dominant chord is played at the fourth beat of a measure. The latter occurs frequently in tonal cadences for 18th- and early-19th-century music and is the usual conclu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Rhythm
Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time can apply to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or frequency of anything from microseconds to several seconds (as with the riff in a rock music song); to several minutes or hours, or, at the most extreme, even over many years. The Oxford English Dictionary defines rhythm as ''"The measured flow of words or phrases in verse, forming various patterns of sound as determined by the relation of long and short or stressed and unstressed syllables in a metrical foot or line; an instance of this"''. Rhythm is related to and distinguished from pulse, meter, and beats: In the performance arts, rhythm is the timing of events on a human scale; of musical sounds and silences that occur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first popular song to use the word ''reggae'', effectively naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience. Reggae is rooted in traditional Jamaican Kumina, Pukkumina, Revival Zion, Nyabinghi, and burru drumming. Jamaican reggae music evolved out of the earlier genres mento, ska and rocksteady. Reggae usually relates news, social gossip, and political commentary. It is recognizable from the counterpoint between the bass and drum downbeat and the offbeat rhythm section. The immediate origins of reggae were in ska and rocksteady; from the latter, reggae took over the use of the bass as a percussion instrument. Stylistically, reggae incorporates some of the musical elements of rhythm and blues, jazz, mento (a celebratory, rural folk form ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
