Steve Adey

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Steve Adey
Origin Birmingham, England Alternative, slowcore, folk, baroque Genres pop Years active 2006present Labels Grand Harmonium Website steveadey.com Notable instruments Piano, harmonium Steve Adey (born in Birmingham, England) is a musician and singer-songwriter.[1] His music is characterised by slow tempos, minimalist arrangements, underpinned by a rich baritone vocal and chordal piano playing. To date, Adey has released just one album, as well as various EPs and singles.

Biography
Adey released his debut album All Things Real in 2006 through independent record label Grand Harmonium Records. Music journalists often categorise his piano, vocal led songs as folk and singer-songwriter, but also acknowledge a harder, less generic, left of mainstream approach; No Ripcord's Simon Briercliffe writes "His voice is rich and carries on long after it's comfortable, at times far louder and more in your ear than is comfortable, leaving you hanging on every word." [2] All Things Real was critically well received. Writers generally warmed to the album's introspective songs and well chosen covers. US journal for improvised and progressive music 'Signal to Noise' heralded the album as "haunting folk into straight-up epic territory." [3] Many reviews picked up on the integration of hi-fidelity crossed with a lo fi, home made approach. Sunday Times critic Mark Edwards: "The secret lies in the gap between Adeys main influences: on the one hand, the mournful, home-made alt-country of Oldham and Smog; on the other, the pristine atmospheres of the Blue Nile and Talk Talk." [4] Critic Leon McDdermott (Glasgow Herald) writes "Adey channels the spirit of Smog, minus Bill Callahan's caustic take on dysfunctional relationships; elsewhere, there are hints of the late Jeff Buckley's mournful tenderness." [5] Grand Harmonium released lead single "Find the Way" (31.06.06), containing two new acoustic recordings of "Find the Way" and "Mississippi". Mississippi: Remixed, a download only EP, featuring Kramer, A Marble Calm, Black Sheep and Sweet Billy Pilgrim was released (14.05.07). The Marble Calm remix was also released on 12" vinyl via Tonefloat Records.[6][7] A limited 7" single and download, "Burning Fields" b/w "Everything in its Right Place" followed in September 2007.[8] Steve Adey (with full band) played several festivals around Europe in 2007, and in August 2007 headlined his debut UK tour.[9] In 2010, a new Steve Adey track (excerpt) was featured in an advert for Mercedes-Benz.[10]

A new album will be released later in 2011, preceded by a five song EP entitled These Resurrections, which was released on May 9 via Grand Harmonium Records.

Debut album: All Things Real

All Things Real was recorded between September 2003 and April 2005, at Longformacus Parish Church, and a rented cottage in Longformacus, Scottish Borders, UK.[11] The recording was "fixed" and mastered by Calum Malcolm.[12] The album consists of both original compositions and cover versions of Bob Dylan's Shelter from the Storm and Will Oldham's I See a Darkness. Sunday Times journalist Mark Edwards on Shelter from the Storm: "Youd have to be a fool to cover one of Dylans best-loved songs. Either that, or a singer with the presence and presence of mind to slow it right down, exposing the beauty of every syllable." [13] Ian Mathers from Stylus Magazine: "Never has Dylans creature void of form sounded so wracked, so stricken." [14] The album includes the song 'Mary Margaret O'Hara', a tribute to the Canadian singer / actress Mary Margaret O'Hara.[15] An initial album recording, featuring choral singers and members of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra was abandoned, due to the wrong feel and a less personal sound.[16]

Influences
Writers consistently reference Smog, the Blue Nile and Talk Talk as influences. In various interviews, Adey has said that the Bonnie Prince Billy, a.k.a Will Oldham album Master and Everyone is a very important and influential record.[17] Also, Oldham's 'I See a Darkness' was covered on All Things Real. Uncut magazine cited that "Adey is clearly in thrall to the folk fatalism of Will "Bonnie Prince Billy" Oldham along with Dylan and the knotty American pre-war minstrels that inspired him." [18] Talk Talk lead man Mark Hollis is a major influence. Hollis released his only solo, eponymous album in 1997. Adey commented the album was "Uncompromising and in a different league." [19]

Recording
Adey has previously engineered and mastered recordings for classical labels, recorded various types of music from heavy rock to folk, both in the US where he lived for several years, and his current home city of Edinburgh. He recorded (engineered) and produced both All Things Real and the forthcoming album.[1][20]

Discography

All Things Real (LP - 2006) Find The Way (CD single - 2006) Mississippi: Remixed (EP - 2007)

Burning Fields / Everything In Its Right Place (7" single - 2007) These Resurrections (EP - 2011) Just Wait Till I Get You Home (Download only single - 2011)

Other songs
A (kitchen) demo of "Laughing" was made available for free download at steveadey.com in March, 2006. The song was played live during the autumn tour of 2007 and will probably be included on the forthcoming studio album.[21]

Aeone
Birth name Aeone Victoria Watson

Also known as Origin Occupations Instruments Years active Labels Website

Aeone England Musician, songwriter Piano 1985present Rincon, Angleterre [1]

Aeone Victoria Watson (born Liss, Hampshire), best known as her mononym Aeone (pronounced ay-own) is a British artiste and composer, who now lives in Los Angeles, California. Her music has been classified as new age, folk or world music. She has released four albums, one of which was an internet only release. She now works extensively in film and tv and has over 60 movie trailers to her credit. Early in her career, as Vikki, she represented the United Kingdom in the 1985 Eurovision Song Contest.

Discography
Albums
Year Album 1991 Window To A World 1999 Aeone Label Rincon Recordings MP3.com

1999 The Celtic Tales MP3.com 1999 The Woman's Touch 2002 Point Of Faith 2007 The Blessing Angleterre Records Angleterre Records Angleterre Records

Lily Allen
Lily Allen

Background information Birth name Lily Rose Beatrice Allen 2 May 1985 (age 26) Born Hammersmith, London, England Genres Pop Occupations Musician, songwriter, presenter Instruments Guitar[1] Years active 1988present Labels London, Regal, Capitol Website lilyallenmusic.com Lily Rose Beatrice Cooper,[2] better known as Lily Allen (born 2 May 1985), is an English recording artist and fashion designer. She is the daughter of actor and musician Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. In her teenage years, her musical tastes evolved from glam rock to alternative. Allen abandoned school and concentrated on improving her performing and compositional skills. Afterwards, she created several demo songs and, near the end of 2005, she created a profile on MySpace where she made some of her recordings public. A contract was signed with the label Regal Recordings, as the views on MySpace rose to tens of thousands. In 2006, she began to work on completing what would be her first studio album and its first mainstream single "Smile" reached the top position on the UK Singles Chart in July 2006.[3] Her debut record, Alright, Still, was well received on the international market, selling over 2.6 million copies and brought Allen a nomination at the Grammy Awards, BRIT Awards and MTV Video Music Awards. She then began hosting her own talk-show, Lily Allen and Friends, on BBC Three. Her second major album release, It's Not Me, It's You, saw a genre shift for her, having more of an electropop feel, rather than the ska and reggae influences of the first one. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and the Australian ARIA Charts and was appreciated by the critics, noting the singer's musical evolution and maturity. It spawned the hit singles "The Fear" and "Fuck You", popular mostly in Europe. Allen and Amy Winehouse have been credited with starting a process that led to the media-proclaimed "year of the

women" in 2009 that has seen five female artists making music of "experimentalism and fearlessness" long nominated for the Mercury Prize.[4] During the autumn of 2010, Allen opened a fashion rental shop "Lucy in Disguise" with her sister Sarah, [5][6] followed by the 2011 launching of her own record label.[7]

Life and career

Childhood and youth
Allen was born in Hammersmith, west London, daughter of Welsh-born comedian and actor Keith Allen and English, Portsmouth-born, film producer Alison Owen.[8] She has an older sister, Sarah; a younger brother, Alfie Owen-Allen (who was the subject of her song "Alfie"); and a younger sister Rebecca.[citation needed] She has a number of half-siblings. At the age of three, Allen appeared on The Comic Strip Presents... episode "The Yob",[9] which her father had co-written.[10] When Allen was four years old, her father left the family.[11] Allen grew up with her mother living on a council estate during her early childhood.[12][13] Her family settled in the North London borough of Islington. Allen lived for a while with comedian Harry Enfield while her mother dated him. She is the god-daughter of Wild Colonials vocalist Angela McCluskey.[14] The late Clash singer and guitarist Joe Strummer was close to Allen. Allen has fond memories of the week and a half they would spend together at Glastonbury Festival as part of a regular collective centred on Strummer and her father. Strummer's musical past would not come into focus for Allen until after his death.[15] She attended some of the UK's most expensive fee-paying public schools; Allen attended 13 schools in all, including Prince Charles's junior alma mater, Hill House School, Millfield, Bedales School[11] and was expelled from several of them for drinking and smoking.[13][16] When Allen was 11, former University of Victoria music student Rachel Santesso overheard Allen singing Wonderwall by Oasis in the school's playground; impressed, Santesso, who later became an award-winning soprano and composer, called Allen into her office the next day and started giving her lunchtime singing lessons. This would lead to Allen singing Baby Mine from Disney's Dumbo at a school concert.[17] Allen would tell Loveline that the audience was "brought to tears at the sight of a troubled young girl doing something good". At that point Allen said she knew that music was something she needed to do either as a lifelong vocation or to get it out of her system. Allen played piano to grade 5 standard and achieved Grade 8 in singing. She also played violin, guitar and trumpet as well as being a member of a chamber choir. Her first solo was "In the Bleak Midwinter."[15] Allen made an appearance as a lady-in-waiting in the 1998 film Elizabeth, which was co-produced by her mother.[18] She dropped out of school at age fifteen, not wanting to "spend a third of her life preparing to work for the next third of her life, to set herself up with a pension for the next third of her life."[19]

2002-2005: Career beginnings

When her family went to Ibiza on holiday, Allen told her mother that she was staying with friends but remained in Sant Antoni de Portmany instead. She earned money by working at a Plastic Fantastic record store and dealing ecstasy.[19] Allen met her first manager, George

Lamb in Ibiza.[19][20] She was rejected by several labels, which she attributed to her drinking and being the daughter of Keith Allen.[20] However, she eventually used her father's connections to get signed to London Records in 2002.[21] When the executive who had signed her left, the label lost interest and she left without releasing the folk songs[which?] many of which were written by her father.[15][21][22] She then studied horticulture to become a florist, but changed her mind and returned to music. Allen began writing songs, while her manager introduced her to production duo Future Cut in 2004. They worked in a small studio in the basement of an office building.[22] In 2005, Allen was signed to Regal Recordings; they gave her 25,000 to produce an album, though they were unable to provide much support for it due to their preoccupation with other releases such as X&Y (Coldplay) and Demon Days (Gorillaz).[23] Allen then created an account on MySpace and began posting demos that she recorded in November 2005.[23] The demos attracted thousands of listeners, and 500 limited edition 7" vinyl singles of "LDN" were rush-released, reselling for as much as 40.[19][23] Allen also produced two mixtapes My First Mixtape and My Second Mixtape to promote her work. As she accumulated tens of thousands of MySpace friends, The Observer Music Monthly (OMM), a magazine published in The Observer, took interest in March 2006.[19] Few people outside of her label's A&R department knew who she was, so the label was slow in responding to publications wanting to report about her.[23] She received her first major mainstream coverage, appearing in the magazine's cover story two months later.

200608: Alright, Still and television

The success convinced her label to allow her more creative control over the album and to use some of the songs that she had written instead of forcing her to work with mainstream producers. Allen decided to work with producers Greg Kurstin and Mark Ronson, finishing the rest of the album in two weeks.[23] Allen's debut album, Alright, Still, was released in July 2006. Most of the tracks had been previewed on her MySpace page,[24] including the singles "Smile", "LDN", "Knock 'Em Out", and "Alfie". In September 2006, "Smile" was made available on the United States version of iTunes Store. By December 2006, her music video for Smile had been played on various music channels as well as the song getting a little airplay. Entertainment Weekly named Alright, Still as one of the top 10 albums of 2006 despite the fact that it had not yet been released in the U.S. Allen also did several promotional ads for MTV as their Discover and Download artist of the month for January 2007. The album was released in the United States on 30 January 2007, landing at 20 on the Billboard Album Charts.[25] By January 2009, the album had sold 960,000 copies in the United Kingdom and 520,000 copies in the United States.[26]

Performing at "Solidays" on 7 July 2007

In 2007, she played the newly launched Park Stage at the Glastonbury Festival, replacing M.I.A. who had cancelled.[27] During the festival she reunited two members of The Specials an act that guitarist Lynval Golding claimed played a "massive part" in the group's 2009 reunion.[28] She also sang the vocals on the top ten single, "Oh My God", a cover of the Kaiser Chiefs song by Mark Ronson. The single, "Littlest Things" from Allen's album produced by Ronson, helped earn him a "Producer of the Year Non Classical" 2008 Grammy Award.[29] She also provided background vocals to a couple of songs on the Kaiser Chief's third album in 2008. Allen won a 2008 BMI songwriting award for "Smile".[30] Allen began dating musician Ed Simons of the Chemical Brothers in September 2007, and in December, Allen announced that she and Simons were expecting a child.[31] Allen later suffered a miscarriage.
[32]

Due to her outspokenness, Allen was the subject of many controversies early in her career. Disparaging remarks about musicians Luke Pritchard of The Kooks, Bob Geldof,[33] Amy Winehouse,[34] Kylie Minogue,[35] and Katy Perry[36] have all garnered minor press attention. She later said that making fun of other pop stars was a result of a lack of confidence, saying "I felt like 'Oh God, I'm short, fat, ugly and I hate all these people who flaunt their beauty.'"[37] On 28 June 2007, Allen was arrested in London for allegedly assaulting photographer Kevin Rush while she was leaving a nightclub in London's West End. Prior to this, she had expressed discomfort with attention from the paparazzi on her MySpace blog.[38] By February 2009 she had stopped addressing controversies about herself on her blog because she found it "boring when people just pick stuff up and write about it. People get hurt, people get upset."[39] In September 2009, she shut down her MySpace account and stopped social networking completely in December due to the abuse she was taking.[40] Allen signed a one series contract to present her own BBC Three TV show entitled Lily Allen and Friends based on the social networking phenomenon that helped to launch her music career.[41][42][43] Guests included Mark Ronson, Joanna Page, James Corden, Lauren Laverne, Roisin Murphy, Louis Walsh, and Danny Dyer.[44][45] The show received a 2% share of the total multi-channel audience share despite a high-profile nationwide marketing campaign.[46] Allen was quoted in a British tabloid as rating the show "probably five out of 10" and said "I made a lot of money out of it".[47] Citing Allen's rapid development as a TV host and her popularity among its target audience BBC Three announced it was renewing Lily Allen and Friends for a second season.[48] BBC Three controller Danny Cohen later said that the show will not air in the Spring of 2009 as originally scheduled because of music commitments.[49] Allen performed at a benefit concert for War Child, an international child protection agency that works with children affected by war. Backed by Keane, Allen sang "Smile" and "Everybodys Changing".[50] Although the singer is a staunch supporter of the Labour Party, [51] she has been credited with helping inspire a parliamentary rebellion against Prime Minister Gordon Brown when she wrote to all Members of Parliament asking them to back an amendment to an energy bill.[52] She has since confirmed her support for the UK Labour Party and for Prime Minister Gordon Brown in particular.[53]

200809: It's Not Me, It's You

After the release of her first album, her parent record company, EMI, was taken over by Terra Firma.[54] She also changed her management company from Empire Artist Management to Twenty-First Artists, although her core team remained in place. At the urging of her record company, Allen tried unsuccessfully to create the album with several writers and producers.

Allen eventually returned to Greg Kurstin who had written three songs for Alright, Still.[15] The album was produced by Kurstin at Eagle Rock Studios in Los Angeles.[55] Before returning to Kus, Allen co-wrote the songs for the album with Kurstin who played piano on it. This is a change from her earlier work in which she wrote lyrics for finished tracks.[56] Allen released a statement saying "We decided to try and make bigger sounding, more ethereal songs, real songs ... I wanted to work with one person from start to finish to make it one body of work. I wanted it to feel like it had some sort of integrity. I think I've grown up a bit as a person and I hope it reflects that."[55] She posted two new song demos on her MySpace page and planned to release a mixtape to give her fans an idea of what the new direction was.[57][58][59][60][61][62] Allen cancelled a scheduled appearance at the 2008 Isle of Wight Festival telling festival promoter John Giddings the reason for the cancellation was that her album was behind schedule. Giddings said that the reason given was not acceptable and possibly a lie. Giddings decided not to sue her.[63] Photos of her drunk and topless in the Cannes Film Festival were also widely covered in the press.[64][65] Her appearance at the 2008 Glamour Awards also generated criticism, as she showed up intoxicated wearing a dress covered in decapitated Bambi figures, and had an on-stage, expletive-laced exchange with Elton John.[66][67][68] On 29 June 2008, Allen performed at the Glastonbury Festival alongside producer Mark Ronson. An emotional Allen dedicated her performance of "Littlest Things" to her grandmother who died the night before.[69] It's Not Me, It's You was first scheduled for an early 2008 release, but her miscarriage and creative issues delayed the release date to the autumn. During autumn 2008, EMI was undergoing restructuring. Due to this environment, a decision was made to move the album's eventual release date.[26][70] An online game, Escape the Fear, was created by Matmi as part of the viral marketing campaign targeted at people unaware of Allen or the album.[71] Since its release, the game has topped the worldwide viral charts three times, including the week of Christmasa highly contested time of the year. By 18 February 2009, the game had been played over two million times.[72] The singer and The Clash guitarist Mick Jones performed The Clashs song "Straight to Hell" on an album for the charity Heroes.[73]

Performing at the INmusic festival in Zagreb, Croatia, 24 June 2009 It's Not Me, It's You was released in February 2009. It debuted at the number 1 position in the UK, Canada, and Australia and the number 5 position in the United States.[74][75][55][76][77] The album has been certified platinum in the United Kingdom.[78] The release of the album was a factor in EMIs more than trebling its earnings.[79] The first single from the album, "The

Fear", was number 1 for the first four weeks in the UK after its release.[80][81] The second single released from the album, "Not Fair", reached the number 9 position.[82] She began her It's Not Me, It's You World Tour in March, touring throughout the next two years until September 2010. Her work on this album with Greg Kurstin earned her the Songwriters of the Year at the 2010 Ivor Novello Awards. In addition, she won with Kurstin Best Song Musically and Lyrically and Most Performed Work for "The Fear". Allen appeared overwhelmed by this recognition from what she considered "real awards".[83] In October 2010, Allen was awarded by the United States music licensing organization Broadcast Music Incorporated for extensive United States radio airplay of her song, "The Fear".[84][85] Allen has been named the face of the National Portrait Gallery as part of the gallery's marketing campaign.[86] The picture was photographed by Nadav Kander emblazoned with the words, "Vocalist, Lyricist, Florist" .[87] Allen and Jamie Hince, guitarist for The Kills, raised 48,350 for the childrens charity The Hoping Foundation. The pair sang "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" at a karaoke auction fundraiser.[88] Karl Lagerfeld, the head designer for Chanel personally hired and photographed Allen for a campaign to promote a luxury line of handbags due to launch in September 2009.[89][90] In May 2009, French football magazine So Foot published a fake interview in which Allen was quoted as making derogatory remarks about David and Victoria Beckham and Ashley and Cheryl Cole. Some of the material was reprinted in the British tabloid The Sun. Both publications later apologized and paid damages to Allen.[91]

2009present: Musical hiatus, marriage and pregnancy

Allen began dating Sam Cooper, the owner of a building company, in the summer of 2009. In September 2009, Allen announced that she was considering a career in acting and that she would not renew her record contract. Allen additionally stated that she has "no plans" to make another record.[92] After the British government's plans to implement a three strikes policy for file sharing copyright infringement, Lily Allen came out in strong support for disconnecting offenders.[93][94] Creating a blog entitled "Its Not Alright" against file sharing, it subsequently came to light that she had copied text directly from the Techdirt website of an interview with 50 Cent.[95] This led to an exchange on the Internet, which culminated in accusations being made that Allen had infringed on other artists' copyrights by creating mix tapes early in her career, that she then made available via her website.[96][97] A group of supporters of filesharing launched a denial of service attack dubbed Operation Payback that shut down Allen's website and targeted other critics.[98] On 1 October 2009, Allen and several other musicians released the world's first digital musical petition aimed at pressuring world leaders attending the December 2009 climate change summit in Copenhagen. The petition included a cover of the song "Beds are Burning" by Midnight Oil.[99] She featured on the UK top five single, "Just Be Good to Green" by Professor Green in June 2010. In August, she began a musical hiatus following a performance at the Big Chill Festival in Herefordshire, England.[100] On 5 August 2010, Allen announced that she was pregnant with her and Cooper's first child,[101] later confirmed to be a boy[102] due early in 2011.[103] Allen and her sister opened their own clothing store entitled "Lucy In Disguise" on 15 September 2010. Allen's pregnancy involved early complications, including "about a week and a half of really heavy bleeding."[104] Six months into her pregnancy, Allen contracted a viral infection which caused her to suffer a pre-term delivery.[105] On 6 November, Allen was rushed to the hospital, where she responded well to treatment for the blood poisoning condition septicaemia.[106][107] Citing invasion of privacy and copyright infringement, in November 2010 Allen took legal

action against Associated Newspapers, the parent company of the Daily Mail after the Daily Mail published photographs of Allen's home.[108] Allen and Cooper became engaged over the Christmas holidays in December 2010 while vacationing in Bali.[109] In January 2011, Allen launched her own record label In the Name Of, financially backed by Sony Music. The first act signed to the label was New York noise pop duo Cults.[7] In February 2011, Allen started penning songs for the musical version of Bridget Jones's Diary which is scheduled to open in London's West End in 2012.[110] Allen and Cooper wed on 11 June 2011 at St. James church in Cranham, Gloucestershire, England. The designer of Allen's wedding dress confirmed she was pregnant.[111]

Musical style
"LDN" The first song released as a single, featuring ska influence and a sample of "Reggae Merengue."
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Allen's early released songs saw her take on a thick Cockney accent while singing against retro productions.[26] Her music was used as part of an exhibition at the British Library tracing the history of Cockney English.[112] Her songs also featured other elements, such as the ska influence on second single, "LDN". She was also noted for her liberal use of crude words in her lyrics.[113] Allen has said she cringes now when listening to tracks from Alright, Still, as it reminds her that she was a "sort of over-excitable teenager who desperately wanted attention" when she wrote it.[15] Wanting to move on from the retro sound that many other artists had since adapted after her debut, on It's Not Me, It's You Allen ventured in a new direction sonically and lyrically, the first single from the album was an electro-pop track denouncing consumerism.[114][115][116] While Allen did not set out to make a revolutionary record, her new music direction and willingness to write lyrics that tackled less common subjects were lauded by critics.[77][117] Recently, Allen's song "Whod've Known" was sampled in T-Pain's single 5 O'clock.[118]

Discography
Main article: Lily Allen discography

Alright, Still (2006) It's Not Me, It's You (2009) Marc Almond (born 9 July 1957)[1] is an English singer-songwriter and musician, who originally found fame as half of the seminal synthpop/New Wave duo Soft Cell. Including his time with Soft Cell, he has sold over 30 million records worldwide.[2]

Childhood and early life

Peter Mark Sinclair Almond was born in 1957 in Southport (then Lancashire, but now part of Merseyside), the son of Sandra Mary Dieson and Peter John Sinclair Almond, a Second Lieutenant in the King's Liverpool Regiment. He was brought up at his grandparents' house in Birkdale with his younger sister, Julia, and as a child

suffered from bronchitis and asthma. When he was four, they left their grandparents' house and moved to Starbeck on the edge of Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Two years later they returned to Southport, and then moved to Horsforth (near Leeds).[citation needed] At age 11 he attended Aireborough Grammar School near Leeds. Almond found solace in music, listening to British radio pioneer John Peel. The first album he purchased was the soundtrack of the stage musical Hair and the first single "Green Manalishi" by Fleetwood Mac. He later became a great fan of Marc Bolan and David Bowie and got a part time job as a stable boy to fund his musical tastes.[citation needed] After his parents' divorce in 1972 he moved with his mother back to his home town of Southport. He gained two O-Levels in Art and English and was accepted onto a General Art and Design course at Southport College, specialising in Performance Art. He applied to Leeds Polytechnic where he was interviewed by Jeff Nuttall, also a performance artist, who accepted him on the strength of his performing skills. During his time at Art College he did a series of performance theatre pieces: "Zazou", "Glamour in Squalor", "Twilights and Lowlifes", as well as Andy Warhol inspired minimovies. The Yorkshire Evening Post labeled one of his performances "depressingly nihilistic". He followed bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees. He left Art College with a 2:1 honours degree. Almond later credited writer and artist Molly Parkin with discovering him. It was at Leeds Polytechnic that Almond met David Ball, a fellow student; they formed Soft Cell in 1979.[citation needed]

Early musical influences

As a child, Almond listened to his parent's record collection, which included his mother's "Let's Dance" by Chris Montez and "The Twist" by Chubby Checker, also his father's collection of jazz including Dave Brubeck and Eartha Kitt. As an adolescent, Almond listened to Radio Caroline and Radio Luxembourg. He listened at first to Progressive, Blues and Rock Music, Free, Jethro Tull, Van der Graaf Generator, The Who, and The Doors, and bought the first ever issue of Sounds because it contained a free poster of Jimmy Page. He became a great fan of Marc Bolan after hearing him on the John Peel Show, buying the T. Rex single "Ride a White Swan", from then on he "followed everything Marc Bolan did", and it was his obsession with Bolan that prompted Almond to adopt the 'Marc' spelling.[3] He discovered the songs of Jacques Brel through Bowie as well as Alex Harvey and Dusty Springfield. Brel became a major influence.[citation needed]

Career
1980s
Almond initially shot to fame in the early 1980s as one half of the synth duo Soft Cell, whose hits included "Tainted Love" (UK #1), "Bedsitter" (UK #4), "Say Hello,

Wave Goodbye" (UK #3), "Torch" (UK #2), "What!" (UK #3), "Soul Inside" (UK #16), and the club hit "Memorabilia". Soft Cell's first release was an independent record (funded by David Ball's mother) entitled "Mutant Moments" via Red Rhino Records in 1980.[4] It came to the attention of music entrepreneur Stevo Pearce, who at the time was compiling a "futurist" chart for the music paper Sounds which featured young, upcoming and experimental bands of the new wave of electronic sound. He signed the duo to his Some Bizarre label and they enjoyed a string of nine Top 40 hit singles and four Top 20 albums in the UK between 1981-84. They recorded three albums in New York with producer Mike Thorne: Non Stop Erotic Cabaret, Non Stop Ecstatic Dancing and The Art of Falling Apart. He became involved with the New York Underground Art Scene at this time with writer/DJ Anita Sarko, and performed at a number of Art events as well as meeting many New York Art luminaries including Andy Warhol. Soft Cell disbanded in 1984 just before the release of their fourth album, This Last Night In Sodom, though the duo reunited in 2001. "Tainted Love", a cover of a Gloria Jones's Northern Soul classic, was in the Guinness Book of Records for a while as the record that spent the longest time in the Billboard Top 100 chart in the U.S. It also won the best single award of 1981 at the first Brit Awards.[citation needed] His first solo album was Vermin in Ermine, released in 1984. Produced by Mike Hedges It featured musicians from the Mambas outfit, Annie Hogan, Martin McCarrick and Billy McGee. This ensemble, known as The Willing Sinners, worked alongside Almond for the subsequent albums Stories Of Johnny (1985) and Mother Fist and her Five Daughters (1987), also produced by Mike Hedges. McCarrick left The Willing Sinners in 1987 to join Siouxsie and the Banshees, from which point Hogan and McGee became known as La Magia. Almond signed to EMI and released the album The Stars We Are in 1988.[citation needed] This album featured Almond's version of "Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart", which was later re-recorded as a duet with the song's original singer Gene Pitney and released as a single. The track reached No. 1 in the UK. It was also number one in Germany and was a major hit in countries around the world. The album would become his biggest selling solo album in the USA, with his biggest-selling solo single, "Tears Run Rings". His other recordings in the 1980s included an album of Brel songs, called Jacques, and an album of dark French chansons originally performed by Juliette Greco, Serge Lama and Leo Ferre, as well as poems by Rimbaud and Baudelaire set to music.[citation needed]

1990s
Almond's first release in the 1990s was the album Enchanted, which spawned the Top 30 hit "A Lover Spurned". A further single from the album, "Waifs and Strays", was remixed by Dave Ball who was now in the electronic dance band The Grid. Almond left EMI Records. In 1991, Soft Cell returned to the charts with a new remix of "Say Hello Wave Goodbye" followed by a re-release of "Tainted Love" (with a new video). The singles were issued to promote a new Soft Cell/Marc Almond compilation album, Memorabilia - The Singles, which collected some of the biggest hits from Almond's career throughout the previous ten years. The album reached the UK Top 10.[citation
needed]

Almond signed to WEA and released a new solo album, Tenement Symphony. Produced partly by Trevor Horn, the album yielded three Top 40 hits including renditions of the Jacques Brel classic "Jacky" (which made the UK Top 20), and "The Days of Pearly Spencer" which returned Almond to the UK Top 5 in 1992. Later that year, Almond played a lavish one-off show at the Royal Albert Hall in London, which featured an orchestra and dancers as he performed material from his entire career. Theshow was recorded and released as the CD and video 12 Years of Tears.[citation needed] In 1993 Almond toured Russia and Siberia by invitation of the British consul in Moscow. Accompanied only by Martin Watkins on piano, he played small Soviet halls and theatres, often without amplification, and ended at the "mini Bolshoi" in Moscow. Transmitted live on television Almond made a plea for tolerance of gay people. The tour was fraught with troubles, which Almond detailed in his autobiography, but it marked the beginning of his love affair with the genre of Russian folk torch songs known as Romance. He was given master classes by Alla Bayanova.[citation needed] Almond's next album Fantastic Star saw him part with WEA and sign to Mercury Records. Much of Fantastic Star was originally recorded in New York with Mike Thorne, but later after signing to Mercury, was reworked in London. Almond also recorded a session for the album with John Cale, David Johanson, and Chris Spedding; some made the final cut. Other songs were produced by Mike Hedges and Martyn Ware. Adding to the disjointed recording process was the fact that during recording Almond also spent several weeks attending the Promis Treatment Centre in Canterbury, for treatment for addiction to prescription drugs.[5] However on its release Fantastic Star gave Almond a hit single with Adored and Explored, and also stage favorites such as The Idol and Child Star. Fantastic Star was Almond's last album with a major record label, and the period also marked the ending of his managerial relationship with Stevo.[citation needed] Almond re-invented himself and signed to Echo records in 1998 with a more downbeat and atmospheric electronica album, Open All Night. This featured R and B, triphop and voodoo/Santeria influences, as well as torch songs which he had become known for. The album featured a duet (Threat of Love) with longtime friend Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie of the Creatures, as well as one (Almost Diamonds) with Keli Ali (then of the Sneaker Pimps). Open All Night was a successful album both with critics and fans, and introduced a darker, more mature and bluesy vocal sound. Almond left the label and signed to European label Tres Bis Viii where he stayed for the next four years. Tragedy was the single from the album Open All Night.[citation needed]

2000s
Almond relocated in 2000 to Moscow where he rented an apartment. With the encouragement and connections of executive producer Misha Kucherenko, he embarked on the three year recording project of Russian romance and folk songs, called "Heart on Snow". Featuring many Russian Stars old and new it was the first time that such a project had been undertaken by a Western Artist, many of the loved Soviet era songs sung in English for the first time.The album was produced by musician/arranger Andrei Samsonov. Almond performed many times at the famous now demolished Rossiya Concert Hall with Lyudmila Zykina and Alla Bayanova, and

with the Rossiya Folk Orchestra. Another album of Russian songs came later in 2010.
[citation needed]

2001: Soft Cell reunited briefly and released their first new album in 18 years, Cruelty Without Beauty and had a top 40 hit with a cover of the Frankie Valli's "The Night". 2004: Almond was seriously injured in a motorbike accident outside St Paul's Cathedral London. Near death and in a coma for weeks, he also suffered serious head injuries multiple breaks and fractures, collapsed lung and damaged hearing. He began a slow recovery determined to get back on the stage and in the studio. 2006: Almond recorded an album of cover songs, Stardom Road. Specially hand picked to tell a story of his life and career the album featured songs as diverse as I Have Lived by Charles Aznavour, to Stardom Road by Third World War, Strangers in the Night, and Kitch by Paul Ryan. The album featured his first new song since the crash, Beauty Will Redeem the World. The album was produced by Tris Penna and Marius De Vries. The Fashion House Yves St Laurent picked Almonds Strangers in the Night to represent their show at Londons Fashion Rocks. Almond performed it at the Albert Hall. It was to be one of three albums for the Sanctuary label but the label folded soon after.[citation needed] 2007: Almond celebrated his 50th birthday on stage and performed at a tribute show to Marc Bolan his teenage hero. At the concert he dueted with Bolan's wife, Gloria Jones, on an impromptu version of Tainted Love.

2008/2009: he toured with Jools Holland throughout the UK as well at guesting at shows by Current 93, Baby Dee and a tribute show to the late folk singer Sandy Denny at the Festival Hall. 2010: In June 2010, he released Variet, an album of crafted personal songs, his first studio album of self-penned songs in almost a decade. Almond has stated this will possibly be his last fully self-penned album. He also announced a new concert tour in Autumn 2010 to celebrate his 30 years in music. Almond was awarded a Hero Award by the music magazine Mojo. He undertook his most successful tour celebrating thirty years of being a recording artist with a show of mostly Hits and A sides entitled "All A's". 2011: Almond released an album Feasting with Panthers. A collaboration with musician and arranger Michael Cashmore. Poems of Count Eric Stenboc put to music as well as decadent and Homo erotic poems by Jean Genet, Jean Cocteau, Paul Verlaine and Rimbaud. Almond took part in a unique music-theatre work Ten Plagues held at Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre from 1-28 August 2011. Ten Plagues is a song cycle based on Daniel Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year (which dates back to 1665), and was a collaboration between Almond, theatre director and designer Stewart Lain, libretto author Mark Ravenhill and composer Conor Mitchell. The show won the Scotman's Fringe First Award.

Steve Appleton (musician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Steve Appleton
Birth name Steve Appleton 1 May 1989 (age 22) Born Surrey, England Occupations Singer, songwriter, record producer Years active 2008-present Labels Sony Music Steve Appleton (born 1 May 1989, Surrey, England) is a British singer, songwriter and record producer.[1] At the age of fifteen, he began playing piano in a Soho restaurant performing his own material and covers from the likes of Elton John and Billy Joel. He was signed to RCA in mid 2007, after which he went travelling across Europe with friends before finishing his debut album. Since then Appleton has furthered his travels with publicity shoots in Miami and Los Angeles, and a trip to Cape Town where the video for "Dirty Funk" was filmed with director Robert Hales. During 2009 he performed alongside John Legend, The Saturdays and The Pussycat Dolls, along with headlining his own gigs up throughout the UK.

Appleton was the face of a Smart (automobile) campaign during 2009/2010. He appeared in a TV commercial performing his single "Dirty Funk". The advertisement was shown in Germany, The Netherlands, Italy and Japan. He is sponsored by Puma AG, X-Mini and Freshman Guitars. The opening to Appleton's "Dirty Funk" was also used by the British telephone provider BT in their 2010 'Summer Deals' advertising campaign. Appleton's debut single "Dirty Funk", written when Appleton was only 16, was released on 17 April 2009. In Japan it was number 1 on the airplay charts for 6 weeks, making it the biggest radio song in Japan during the summer of 2009.[2] A second single, "City Won't Sleep" was released in August 2009 in both the UK and Japan.[3] His first album, When the Sun Comes Up was written and produced by Appleton, performing every instrument on the album. It was released on 31 July 2009 in Japan, and on 31 August 2009 in the UK. In August 2010, Appleton sang the theme song, Everyone, at the opening of the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore televised to an estimated 1.5 billion people, where he represented Europe alongside South African Jody Williams (Africa), Singaporean Tabitha Nauser (Asia) and Australian Jessica Mauboy (Oceania). American Sean Kingston (Americas) who was due as well did not perform due to a passport mix-up during immigration.[4] The song was written and produced by Ken Lim, a judge on Asian Idol as well as Singapore Idol and charted at #1 in Singapore for 2 weeks.

Contents
[show]

[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles [edit] As a main artist
Title "Dirty Funk" "City Won't Sleep" "Sparks" Year 2009 2011 Peak chart positions
UK JPN GER

Album When the Sun Comes Up Colours

67

2 21

71

[edit] As a featured artist

August 2010 "Everyone" (Singapore Only - number 1 chart position)

[edit] Albums

August 2009 When the Sun Comes Up September 2009 iTunes Live: London Festival -'09 EP

July 2010 The Sunshine EP (Japan Only) August 2011 "Colours"

Tasmin Archer
Birth name Born Origin Genres Years active Labels Website Tasmin Archer 3 August 1963 (age 48) Bradford, Yorkshire, England Pop, Rock 1992present EMI, Quiverdisc TasminArcher.net

Tasmin Archer (born 3 August 1963, Bradford, Yorkshire) is an English pop singer. Her first album, Great Expectations, spawned the hit "Sleeping Satellite" which reached number one in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Biography
Archer first worked as a sewing machine operator and joined a group called 'Dignity' as a backing vocalist. Later, after studying secretarial skills she became a clerk at Leeds Magistrates' Court. She helped out at a recording studio in Bradford called Flexible Response, and subsequently began working with musicians John Hughes and John Beck. Archer signed to EMI in 1990, and released her first single, "Sleeping Satellite" in August 1992, which went to #1 in the UK Singles Chart.[1] The album Great Expectations followed in October, reaching #8 in the UK Albums Chart,[1] and achieved gold disc status by December for sales of more than 100,000 copies. Further singles from the album followed, and although they were Top 40 hits in the UK, they did not achieve the same level of success as her dbut. In 1993, Archer won a BRIT Award for the Best British Breakthrough Act. However, later she joked that she kept her award in the back of her kitchen cupboard, and claimed that she used it for cracking nuts and tenderising steak.[citation needed] After disappearing from the limelight, Archer reappeared in 1996 with her second album Bloom. However, the album (and subsequent single "One More Good Night With The Boys"), failed to make any lasting impact on the charts. In late 1997, disagreements with EMI left Archer somewhat disillusioned and feeling like she had been treated as a commodity. She decided to take a short break from the industry.[2] After two years she felt the time was right to start writing again but was hindered by writer's block. Although this did not prevent her from being initially creative she found it difficult to finish anything musically.[citation needed] However, she did not let this stop her from expressing her creativity in other ways, and she began painting and moulding clay during this time away from the spotlight. It was also during this time that her love of Sunderland A.F.C. blossomed, buying a season-ticket with her Sunderland born musician partner John Hughes in 1999, after falling in love with the team when taken to her first match in the late 1980s. She retains her ticket to this day.[3]

After working through the block and starting in 2002, she and Hughes worked on a new album. Initially this was going to be titled 'Non Linear', but later became ON. Several demo versions of the songs from this album were available for free from the messagetothemagnet website, which was created for the purpose. People were encouraged to send feedback on the material. ON was released on 25 September 2006 on Archer's own label, Quiverdisc. It was preceded on 20 September by a download only single, "Every Time I Want It (Effect is Monotony)", a radio edit of the album track "Effect is Monotony".

Discography
Singles

"Sleeping Satellite" (1992) #1 UK, #1 IRL, #32 US, #12 GER, #14 AUS "In Your Care" (1993) #16 UK "Lords of the New Church" (1993) #26 UK "Arienne" (1993) #30 UK "Shipbuilding" (EP) (1994) #40 UK "Somebody's Daughter" (Germany Only Release) "One More Good Night With The Boys" (1996) #45 UK "Sweet Little Truth" "Every Time I Want It (Effect is Monotony)" (Digital download) (2006) "Sedan" (Promotional video for YouTube) (2006)[1]

[edit] Studio albums

Great Expectations (1992) #8 UK, #115 US, #56 AUS Bloom (1996) ON (2006)[1]

[edit] Compilation albums

Premium Gold Collection (2000) Singer/Songwriter (2004) The Best Of (2009)

Lisa Armstrong
Born Lisa Marie Armstrong 25 October 1976 (age 35) Oxford, Oxfordshire, England

Spouse Ant McPartlin (m. 2006present)

Lisa Marie Armstrong (born 25 October 1976) is a former member of pop band Deuce and now make-up expert for ITV1's programme This Morning.

[edit] Personal life

Armstrong was born and brought up in Blackbird Leys, Oxford, England, living with her parents and one older brother Stephen. She attended Peers School, Oxford, but at the age of 14 won a place at BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology in Croydon, South London. On 22 July 2006, she married long-term boyfriend, Anthony McPartlin in Taplow, Buckinghamshire.[1] Ant is one half of the English acting and television presenting duo Ant & Dec alongside Declan Donnelly, who stood as best man at the wedding. The couple met when they were both performing at a pop concert at Newcastle City Hall in 1994. McPartlin was there as part of PJ & Duncan AKA, whilst Armstrong was in Deuce.[2] Ant proposed to her whilst on holiday in Dubai on 26 April 2005. Armstrong chose to keep her maiden name for her work, hoping to use her own skills rather than her husband's more famous name to further her career.[citation needed]

[edit] Career

Armstrong started her career as a dancer from an early age but when her friend, Kelly O'Keefe had work experience with a music management company and was asked to put together a band, she joined Deuce alongside O'Keefe, Craig Young and Paul Holmes. Their debut single, "Call It Love" was released in January 1994 and entered the UK charts at number 21 and worked its way up to peak at number 11. The band went on to release two more singles and an album before O'Keefe decided to leave the band in November 1995 and the band were dropped from their label. The band decided to continue on a new label and O'Keefe was replaced by Amanda Perkins for one single before they disbanded. She then chose to train as a make-up artist, writing a column for Cosmopolitan magazine before becoming the make-up artist for many British TV shows such as The X Factor, Britain's Got More Talent and many of Ant & Dec's shows. Armstrong is also the make-up expert on This Morning, giving makeovers and short make-up tutorials. She is now head of make-up and hair for BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing.

Rick Astley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rick Astley

Astley performing in Santiago de Chile, in 2009. Background information Birth name Richard Paul Astley 6 February 1966 (age 45) Born Newton-le-Willows, (then Lancashire, now Merseyside), England Genres Pop, dance-pop, blue-eyed soul Occupations Singer-songwriter, musician Instruments Vocals, guitar, drums, keyboards Years active 19851993

Labels Associated acts Website

2000present RCA, Polydor, Cruz FBI Stock Aitken Waterman rickastley.co.uk

Richard Paul "Rick" Astley ( /rk stli/; born 6 February 1966) is an English singersongwriter, musician, and radio personality. He is known for his 1987 song, "Never Gonna Give You Up", which was a #1 hit single in 25 countries.[1] Astley holds the record for being the only male solo artist to have his first 8 singles reach the Top 10 in the UK[2] and by retirement in 1993 had sold approximately 40 million records worldwide.[3][4][5] After retiring from the music industry in 1993, Astley made a comeback in 2007 when he became an Internet phenomenon, as his video for "Never Gonna Give You Up" became part of a popular Internet meme known as "Rickrolling".[6] Astley was voted "Best Act Ever" by Internet users at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008.[7]

Contents
[show]

Early life
Richard Paul Astley was born on 6 February 1966 in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, England, becoming the fourth child of his family. His parents divorced when he was five, and Astley was brought up by his father.[8] His musical career started when he was ten, singing in the local church choir.[9] During his schooldays, Astley formed and played the drums in a number of local bands, where he met guitarist David Morris.[2][10] After leaving school at sixteen, Astley was employed during the day as a driver in his father's market-gardening business and played drums on the Northern club circuit at night in bands such as Give Way - specialising in covering Beatles and Shadows songs - and FBI, which won several local talent competitions.[9]

Signing to Stock Aitken Waterman

In 1985, Astley was performing as a drummer with a soul band named FBI, with Morris on guitar. They were a well known local band writing and performing their own music, gigging in pubs and clubs. When FBI's lead singer left the band, and Morris left to concentrate on his career in hairdressing,[10] Astley offered to be the lead vocalist. This was when he was noticed by the record producer Pete Waterman, who persuaded him to come to London to work at the PWL recording studio,[2] with RCA Records publishing his records. Under the tutelage of the production team of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman, known as Stock Aitken Waterman, Astley was taught about the recording process and groomed for his future career, supposedly starting off as the recording studio 'tea boy'.[11] The reason for Astley to be hired initially as a 'tape op', was to overcome his shyness.[12] SAW also hired most of FBI, including Morris as a guitarist/songwriter.[10]

The group FBI, from left to right, Kevin Needham, Rick Astley, Will Hopper, Peter Dale, & Greg Smee, in 1984

Success
His first single was the little-known "When You Gonna", released as a collaboration with Lisa Carter, with little promotion. It did not chart. His first solo offering was "Never Gonna Give You Up", recorded on New Year's Day 1987, and released eight months later, in August. Astley's distinctive rich, deep voice combined with dance pop, made the song an immediate success,[13] spending five weeks at the top of the British charts and becoming the year's highest-selling single. The song was also a worldwide number one hit, topping the charts in 24 other countries, including the U.S., Australia, and Germany. It would become the first of 13 (worldwide) top 30 hit singles for him. "Never Gonna Give You Up" won Best British single at the 1988 BPI awards (now called the BRIT Awards),[14] and he performed the hit in front of a global audience of 100 million.[2][15] His next single was "Whenever You Need Somebody", which was released in October. The single was a recycled Stock, Aitken, Waterman song, originally recorded by O'Chi Brown in 1985. It became a successful European hit, reaching #1 in seven countries, including Germany and Sweden, following up the success of his debut single. It also reached #3 in the UK. It was not released in North America.[16] In November 1987, the album Whenever You Need Somebody, containing four Astley written tracks, also reached number one in the UK and Australia, and #10 in the U.S. It was certified 4x Platinum in the UK and Canada, and 2x Platinum in the US. Overall Whenever You Need Somebody sold 15.2 million copies worldwide, making him the top selling British act of the year.[2] In the run up to Christmas 1987, Astley released a cover version of the Nat King Cole classic "When I Fall in Love". This single is mainly remembered for a closely fought contest for UK Christmas Number 1. Rivals EMI hoping to see their act, the Pet Shop Boys, reach #1, rereleased the version by Nat King Cole.[17][18] This led to a slow down of purchases of Astley's version, allowing the Pet Shop Boys to reach the coveted top spot. Despite selling over 200,000 copies and gaining a Silver certification from the BPI,[19] it peaked in the UK at #2 for two weeks. The re-release of Nat King Cole's version reached #4. The B side was a dance number "My Arms Keep Missing You", which was successful in Mainland Europe. Astley's fourth single release would be "Together Forever" in 1988, reaching #2 in the UK. It was denied the top spot by Neighbours sensation Kylie Minogue's debut "I Should Be So Lucky".[20] "Together Forever" was more successful state-side, topping the U.S charts,

making it his second U.S chart topper, which meant Astley was one of the few British acts to crack the American market. In 1989 he was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist, but lost to Tracy Chapman. His fifth and final release from his debut album was "It Would Take a Strong Strong Man". It was a more soulful song, when compared to his other releases, and was mainly intended for the North American market. Thus, it was not released in Britain. It was another hit for Astley, reaching #10 on the U.S Billboard Hot 100, and #1 in Canada. During the period between his debut release and his fifth single, Astley outsold every other artist in the world.[21] In the UK, he was in the Top 40 every week for the first 6 months of his career.[2] A fire in the PWL studios destroyed much of Astley's new material,[2] causing a delay in the release of his second album. Hold Me In Your Arms was eventually released in January 1989, containing five singles, and reached #8 in the UK and #19 in the US, being certified Platinum in the UK and Gold in the US.

Rick Astley was presented by Stock Aitken Waterman as a boy next door type act. After leaving PWL, Astley changed his image to a more mature and moody musician. Astley's relationship with British media, deteriorated significantly after the release of Whenever You Need Somebody, with the media calling him a 'puppet' of Stock Aitken Waterman.[14] This was despite Astley writing five of his new album's tracks. The negative press inevitably affected the sales of his singles.[22] The first single from the album to be released was "She Wants To Dance With Me", a number penned by Astley himself. It was another successful single reaching #6 in both the UK and US charts. "Take Me to Your Heart" was the next single to be released from the album. It reached #8 in the UK and was not released in the US. The Astley written ballad "Hold Me in Your Arms" reached #10 in the UK and was also not released in North America. The next two singles released from the album were intended for the North American market. "Giving Up On Love" and a cover of The Temptations song "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" charted #38 and #89 in the US respectively. In December 1989, Astley set off on his first world tour, touring 15 countries including the UK, US, Australia, and Japan.[2] By the end of the tour, Astley was tiring of the negative

press, and wanted to explore alternate paths as a musician. Thus, he left his producers Stock Aitken Waterman, with RCA records buying out his contract with PWL.

Switching to soul and AC

By 1990, Astley had parted company with Stock, Aitken, and Waterman. He also decided to leave his dance-pop days behind him, moving towards his passion, soul. This shift in musical genre lead him to change his image too, ditching the boy next door look, presenting himself as a mature and passionate musician. His third album, Free, was released in 1991 containing collaborations with Elton John.[14] The album contained three singles, and reached #9 in the UK and #31 in the US. He achieved one more major success with the 1991 ballad "Cry for Help", which reached #7 in both the UK and the US. This would place Astley in The Guinness Book of Records, as he became the first male solo to have his first eight singles to all chart in the UK Top 10. This record still stands to this day.[2] The other two singles from Free were not as successful. "Move Right Out" reached #58 in the UK and #81 in the US; and "Never Knew Love" reached #70 in the UK and did not chart in the US. Free would mark the end of Astley's successful period, and "Cry For Help" would be the last Astley single to make the Top 10 in either the UK or US (as of May 2010). His next album, Body and Soul, was released in 1993, and was largely an Adult Contemporary album. By the time the album was released, Astley decided to retire from the music industry. As a result, the album did not get a lot of promotion,[2] not charting in the UK but managing to make the Billboard 200, peaking at #182. The two singles, "The Ones You Love" and "Hopelessly", performed very well on the US adult contemporary chart, peaking at #19 and #4 respectively. "The Ones You Love" peaked at #48 in the UK but did not chart in the US. "Hopelessly" also crossed over and peaked at #28 on the US Billboard 100, staying in the US top 40 for five weeks, and #33 in the UK. It was named as one of the most performed songs at the 1994 BMI Awards,[23] and is one of the few songs to achieve BMI 'Million-Air' status.[24]

Retirement
After 1993, Astley decided to retire from the music industry at the young age of 27 deciding that family life was more important. During Astley's time out of the music business, he raised his daughter Emilie, born in 1992. Thus, for much of the 1990s and early 2000s, Astley remained largely out of the spotlight. One notable musical appearance by Astley during retirement was as a backing singer on The Lion King soundtrack in 1994.[11]

Return to singing
Almost 10 years after Body and Soul, Astley finally returned to the music world signing a copublishing deal with Polydor and released Keep It Turned On in 2002. The album featured the single "Sleeping", which became a minor club hit, thanks to a set of remixes from U.S. house producer Todd Terry. Keep It Turned On was only released in Continental Europe.[2]

Astley's first compilation album, Greatest Hits, was released in 2002, and reached 16 on the UK Albums Chart. With no promotion from Astley, it sold over 100,000 copies and was certified Gold by the BPI.[2] After retirement in 1993, Astley continued to song write for various acts and in 2003 he managed to chart at #10 in the UK as a songwriter with "Shakespeare's (Way With) Words" performed by short lived boyband One True Voice. In 2004, Astley toured for the first time in 14 years, which lead him to a record contract with Sony BMG.[2] In March 2005, Astley released the album Portrait in which he covered many classic standards such as "Vincent",[25] "Nature Boy" and "Close to You". Both Astley and Sony BMG were unhappy with the end result so the album was poorly promoted,[2] yet managed to reach 26 on the UK Albums Chart.

Astley performing in Denmark '09 In April 2008, the album "The Ultimate Collection: Rick Astley" was released by Sony BMG and by early May it had reached #17 on the UK Top 40 Albums Chart,[26] again with no promotion from Astley. In September 2008, Rick was nominated for the 'Best Act Ever' award at the MTV Europe Music Awards[7] The push to make Astley the winner of the award continued after the announcement, as well as efforts to encourage MTV to personally invite Astley to the awards ceremony.[27] On 7 November, following a massive internet campaign by fans, Rick won the award in Liverpool, but was not there in person to receive it. Perez Hilton collected the prize on his behalf.[28] On the back of this, "Never Gonna Give You Up" returned to the UK charts, over 21 years after it was released, peaking at #73 during the Christmas period. During the late 2000s, Astley continued touring across the globe, touring with various other 80s acts, such as Boy George and Belinda Carlisle in the Here and Now Tour.[2] In April 2009, he wrote an article for Time about moot.[29]

Astley today
Astley was a special guest throughout Peter Kay's new tour, The Tour That Doesn't Tour Tour...Now On Tour, from 27 April to 22 May 2010. To mark the occasion, Rick Astley released a new single "Lights Out" on his own label. It was released on 7 June 2010.[30] This was Astley's first release in the UK Singles Chart in 17 years. It was well received by radio peaking #15 on the UK Airplay Charts, but failed to become a commercial hit, reaching only #97 on the UK Singles Chart. During the summer 2010, Astley became a radio DJ for London's Magic FM, presenting a Sunday show.[31][32] Initially the contract was 8 weeks but he proved popular with listeners and his contract was extended till the end of the year.[33] In December 2010, Astley co-hosted with

Peter Kay the Chris Evans Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2,[34] and in March 2011 appeared in Comic Relief's Red Nose Day telethon on the BBC.[35][36]

Personal life
Rick Astley is married to Lene Bausager, and the couple have one daughter, Emilie, who was born in 1992. Astley met Lene when she was working as a promoter with RCA in 1988.[8] Lene is a film producer, and was nominated for the 2006 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for the Sean Ellis film Cashback, where she was the main producer.[37][38] The family lives in the London suburb of Richmond.[39]

Discography
Main article: Rick Astley discography Canada Top data: for singles and albums from The Record magazine. US Top data: for singles from The Billboard Hot 100, for albums from The Billboard 200; UK Top data for singles and albums is from UK Singles Chart. Based on various music charts in the UK, US and Canada, Astley has charted a grand total of 14 different hit singles and 6 different hit albums, as of April 2010.

Studio albums

Whenever You Need Somebody (1987) Hold Me in Your Arms (1989) Free (1991) Body & Soul (1993) Keep It Turned On (2001) Portrait (2005)

Rickroll internet phenomenon

Astley rickrolling the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, 2008 Main articles: Rickrolling and Never Gonna Give You Up In 2007,[40] Rick Astley became the subject of a viral Internet meme known as Rickrolling. This is where internet users are tricked into watching Rick Astley's video "Never Gonna Give

You Up" by following a link that claims to be something else.[41] Views of this video on various websites are now in their millions. The phenomenon became so popular that on 1 April 2008, YouTube pranked its users by making every single featured video on its front page a Rickroll.[42] On November 27, 2008, Astley himself participated in a live Rickroll during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while the Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends characters were singing "Best Friend", the theme from the 1970s TV series The Courtship of Eddie's Father. Midway through the song, Astley emerged from the float and began to lip sync his signature hit. At the end of Astley's performance, Cheese (a character from Foster's) shouted out "I like Rickrolling!".[43][44] Despite the video garnering millions of hits on YouTube, Astley has earned almost no money from the meme, receiving only US$12 in royalties from YouTube for his performance share.
[45]

Jay Aston
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jay Hilda Aston

Jay Aston in 2009 Background information Birth name Born Genres Occupations Instruments Years active Labels Website Jay Hilda Aston[1] 4 May 1961 (age 50) Purley, Surrey, England pop music Singer, Dancer Vocals 1981present RCA, Angel Air www.jay-aston.co.uk/

Jay Hilda Aston (born 4 May 1961, Purley, Surrey) is a singer, dancer, and occasional songwriter who was formerly with the British pop group, Bucks Fizz. She was the youngest member of the group's original line-up, being just 19 at the Eurovision Song Contest.[2]

Contents
[show]

[edit] Background
Aston came from a theatrical family. Her father was a comedian, her mother a former dancer before she became her husband's straight man. They also performed as acrobats. Her brother, Lance, had performed at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1980 with the band Prima Donna.[2] Aston herself trained as a dancer, singer and actress at the Italia Conti School of Speech and Drama and performed on stage many times in her teens mainly as a dancer.[3]

[edit] Bucks Fizz

Aston was one of the four original members of Bucks Fizz when they were formed in 1981 to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest that year. They won with Making Your Mind Up and the song went to Number 1 in many countries, including the United Kingdom. The group went on to become one of the top selling groups of the 1980s and scored many hit single and albums over the next few years, including two more British Number 1s: The Land Of Make Believe and My Camera Never Lies. Aston's interest in fashion and design came into good use while with the group as she designed many of the group's stage outfits and created many memorable images.[4][5][6] In 1983 she performed the lead vocal to the song When We Were Young, which went on to become one of the group's biggest hits.[7] Aston became known for her love of physical exercise and released a keep-fit album in early 1984 called Shape Up and Dance.[8] This activity however also led to her becoming the victim of an attack while out jogging. She fought off the attacker and recovered well from the incident, which became the subject of newspaper coverage.[9] In December 1984, while on tour, Bucks Fizz were involved in a road accident in which Aston, along with the other members of the group were injured.[10] By this time, tensions within the group had risen to the point that Aston was eager to leave, but was still under contract. However, the following year, she left the group in acrimonious circumstances.[10] Aston became the subject of many newspaper headlines on her sudden departure where it emerged that she had been having an affair with the group's producer, Andy Hill, who was also the husband of Bucks Fizz creator, Nichola Martin. The group's management company took Aston to court and successfully sued her under the terms of her contract. The case took two years to settle and left Aston on the brink of financial ruin and unable to pursue a solo career.

[edit] After Bucks Fizz

Close to bankruptcy, Aston rebuilt her life living in a small bedsit in Streatham. Her brother had married Shakespear's Sister star Marcella Detroit who encouraged her to begin a solo career. In 1993 Aston released a single Naked Phoenix and recorded an album of songs. Not long after this, she met and began dating guitarist Dave Colquhoun, whom she married in 1999 in Greenwich, London. They have a daughter, Josie Alexandra (born 2003, Bromley, Kent).[11] In 2001 she set up a performing arts school in her name, The Jay Aston Theatre Arts School, teaching children aged 217.[12] The school still runs today. During the latter part of the 1990s and early 2000s, Aston toured with her band Aston, performing rock and pop tracks, many of which she wrote herself. In 2002, she was involved in a cover band called Monster Boogie,[2] and she also appeared in an episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks as one of the mystery guests in the Identity Parade round.[2] In 2003 Aston released an album, Alive And Well with 13 tracks all of which she co-wrote with her husband.
[13]

During 2005, the glory years of Bucks Fizz, mainly focusing on Aston, were portrayed in a drag lip-synch show, Night of a Thousand Jay Astons at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe after its dbut in London. Aston was played by one female and three male performers.[14] The life of Aston was told through an outrageous parody, and was described in review as "hilariously over the top".[10][15] The show has also been staged at other venues including the Comedy Theatre in Dublin in May 2006[16] and the Soho Theatre in London in summer 2007.[17][18] Another solo album, Lamb or Lizard was released in July 2006 through her website, which featured recordings from before and after her work with Bucks Fizz.[19] In March 2007, she appeared in the Comic Relief video I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) a comic cover version of The Proclaimers song, dancing with the fellow original members of Bucks Fizz.[20] This was the first time that Aston had met the group since 1985. As she said, relations between them had improved, but not the extent that could work together as a group again. "Im kind of on good terms with all of them individually. But as a band, it just doesnt work, and its a shame, but it doesnt. Theres always been two camps Cheryls camp and Bobbys camp, and I was the one in Bobbys camp, and Mike was always in Cheryls camp."
[21]

A new Bucks Fizz CD with a bonus DVD, The Very Best of Bucks Fizz was released in May 2007. Aston appeared alone on the National Lottery to promote the album. In August 2008, Aston once again joined up with Bucks Fizz members Mike Nolan and Cheryl Baker when she appeared on a television show celebrating 1980s acts - with one episode devoted to the reuniting of Bucks Fizz. This programme was shown on Living TV in March 2009.

[edit] The Original Bucks Fizz

In 2004, Bucks Fizz members Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and Shelley Preston reunited to form The Original Bucks Fizz and performed in concert throughout the UK. In April 2009, Preston announced that she was leaving the group due to other commitments. Soon after, it was announced that Aston would be joining Baker and Nolan in the group for live shows the first time she has been a part of Bucks Fizz since 1985.[22]

[edit] Acting
Before Bucks Fizz, Aston had ambitions to become an actress, but her career in this field encompassed only minor roles in To the Manor Born and Citizen Smith. In 2008, Aston was cast as Claudia Brite in the film The Last Days of Edgar Harding which was shot in August 2008 and screened in 2010.[23][24]

Peter Cox (musician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Peter Cox

Peter Cox performing with Go West, 2008 Photo: Andrew D. Hurley Background information 17 November 1955 (age 55) Born
Kingston, Surrey, England

Genres Occupations Instruments Years active Labels Associated acts Website

Pop, Blue-eyed soul Musician, Songwriter Voice, Drums, Guitar, Keyboards 1973 - present Chrysalis Records Go West, Tony Hadley, Bernie Nolan, Manfred Mann's Earth Band Peter Cox.org

Peter John Cox (born 17 November 1955, Kingston, Surrey, England) is an English singersongwriter, currently the lead singer in Manfred Mann's Earth Band, but is best known as one half of the 1980s blue-eyed soul duo Go West.

[edit] Early career and Go West

As a child, Cox was a member of his school choir,[1] and at eighteen, he joined a soul band. It was whilst playing in clubs that he met Richard Drummie, with whom he signed a publishing deal. For the next few years, Cox and Drummie tried to land a recording contract, but failed. It was when their manager, John Glover, suggested they recorded a few tracks with the help of a new record producer that Go West began to succeed. After signing a deal with Chrysalis Records, their first single, "We Close Our Eyes", was a Top 5 hit in the UK Singles Chart. Other singles included "Call Me" and "Don't Look Down." The following year, Go West were named 'Best Newcomers' at the 1986 BRIT Awards.

In 1990 the group successfully cracked the other side of the Atlantic when they released the single, "The King of Wishful Thinking", a song which featured on the soundtrack of the film Pretty Woman. Subsequent releases from the band received several awards based on airplay in America.

[edit] Solo career

Cox moved to Los Angeles in 1993 to pursue a solo career.[1] His self-titled album Peter Cox was released in 1997 to critical acclaim. Songs on the album included "Ain't Gonna Cry Again", "What a Fool Believes" and "If You Walk Away". Other solo albums were Flame Still Burns (2001), Nine Miles High (2002), Desert Blooms (2002), Game For Fools (2005) and Motor City Music (2006). Cox also teamed up with Tony Hadley on the album Tony Hadley vs Peter Cox & Go West, released in 2004. Another artist he collaborated with was Bernie Nolan. In 2003, Cox replaced Then Jerico's Mark Shaw on the UK TV reality show Reborn in the USA after Shaw stormed off the series in the show's first few days. (Even though Cox had achieved previous success across the Atlantic as part of Go West, he was able to go on the show as none of his solo singles had found success in the United States.) Cox was a favourite to win, but was voted off in New York after he forgot the lyrics to the Norah Jones hit he was performing. Following his departure from the show, Cox reunited with old bandmate Drummie, and the eventual winner Tony Hadley, for a three month UK tour. In 2007 Cox, Drummie, and a new line-up of their band, appeared on Jim'll Fix It:Strikes again to recreate a famous 'fix it' from 1986.[2] A year later, they released the album, Futurenow, and toured the UK. On 16 October 2009, he was announced as the new lead singer with Manfred Mann's Earth Band following the departure of Noel McCalla. His first public appearance with them was on 19 October 2009 at The Brook in Southampton, UK In April 2010, his latest album, The S1 Sessions was released. It was a collection of eleven songs which included cover versions of Lonestar's song "Amazed", and the Leon Russell song, "This Masquerade".

[edit] Discography
[edit] Solo albums

1997: Peter Cox - Chrysalis Records UK #64 2001: Flame Still Burns (EP) - Blueprint Records 2002: Nine Miles High (EP) - Blueprint Records 2004: Desert Blooms - Blueprint Records 2004: Tony Hadley vs Peter Cox & Go West - Blueprint Records 2005: Game For Fools (EP) - Blueprint Recording Corporation Ltd 2006: Motor City Music - Curb Records 2010: The S1 Sessions - Blueprint Recording Corporation Ltd

[edit] Solo singles

"Ain't Gonna Cry Again" (1997) - UK #37 "If You Walk Away" (1997) - UK #24 "What a Fool Believes" (1998) - UK #39[3]