UB40 are a British reggae/pop band formed in 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has placed more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. The band has been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album four times, and in 1984, they were nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Group. One of the world’s best-selling music artists, UB40 have sold over 70 million records. Their hit singles include their debut “Food for Thought” and two U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number ones with “Red Red Wine” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love”. Both of these also topped the UK Singles Chart, as did the band’s version of “I Got You Babe”.
The story of UB40, and how this group of young friends from Birmingham transcended their working-class origins to become the world’s most successful reggae band is not the stuff of fairytales as might be imagined. The group’s led a charmed life in many respects it’s true, but it’s been a long haul since the days they’d meet up in the bars and clubs around Moseley, and some of them had to scrape by on less than £8 a week unemployment benefit. The choice was simple if you’d left school early. You could either work in one of the local factories, like Robin Campbell did, or scuffle along aimlessly whilst waiting for something else to happen.
By the summer of 1978, something else did happen, and the nucleus of UB40 began rehearsing in a local basement. Robin’s younger brother Ali, Earl Falconer, Brian Travers and James Brown all knew each other from Moseley School of Art, whilst Norman Hassan had been a friend of Ali’s since school. Initially, they thought of themselves as a “jazz-dub-reggae” band, but by the time Robin was persuaded to join and they’d recruited Michael Virtue and Astro – who’d learnt his craft with Birmingham sound-system Duke Alloy – the group had already aligned themselves to left-wing political ideals and forged their own identity, separate from the many punk and Two Tone outfits around at that time. The group had nailed their colours to the mast by naming themselves after an unemployment benefit form. Their political convictions hadn’t been gleaned secondhand either, but cemented in place whilst attending marches protesting against the National Front, or rallies organised by Rock Against Racism.
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A musical parodist in the broad, juvenile yet clever tradition of Mad magazine, “Weird Al” Yankovic is known for adding his own gently satirical lyrics to current hit songs. His shaggy, hangdog appearance, affection for slapstick, and amiable willingness to do seemingly anything for a laugh made him a natural for videos. His burlesques of the form and its artistes — especially of Michael Jackson in “Eat It” (from “Beat It”) (#12, 1983) and “Fat” (from “Bad”) (#99, 1988) — became MTV staples. His medleys of rock tunes given the polka treatment inspired rumors —untrue — that Yankovic was a member of the singing Yankovic family, who made polka and Western swing records in the 1940s. Regardless of his heritage, Yankovic is undoubtedly the most successful comedy recording artist, with more than 11 million albums sold.
Yankovic, a high school valedictorian and architecture student, got his start I 1979, when he sent his “My Bologna” — a parody of the Knack’s “My Sharona” — to Dr. Demento, a syndicated radio host specializing in novelty songs and curiosities. Recorded in a bathroom across the hall from his college radio station with only his accordion and vocal, the song was popular enough with Demento’s audience for Capitol (the Knack’s label) to release it as a single. His next parody, “Another One Rides the Bus” (based on Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust”), became the most requested song in the first decade of the Dr. Demento show.
Yankovic signed with Rock ‘n’ Roll Records (a CBS subsidiary), which not only gave him access to better recording facilities and the production expertise of Rick Derringer but the financial backing for the video of “Ricky” (#63, 1983). A combination parody of Toni Basil’s hit single and video “Mickey” and homage to TV’s I Love Lucy, “Ricky” was the first of a string of videos that skewered the music, its creators, and its audience, not to mention pop culture in general. While often hilariously hamfisted, Yankovic’s takeoffs — such as “I Lost on Jeopardy” (#81, 1984) from “Weird Al” Yankovic in 3-D (#81, 1984), which rewrote Greg Kihn’s “Jeopardy”; “Like a Surgeon” (#47, 1985), which tackled Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” from Dare to Be Stupid (#50, 1985) — made their creator and star as much a rock celebrity as his targets. In fact, the longevity of Yankovic’s career has surpassed several of the artists’ whose songs he has parodied. Nearly half the songs on any of his albums were comedic originals, although only his biggest fans seemed to be aware of “Weird Al” the songwriter. But his lyric rewriting earned him eight Grammy nominations, including two wins.
In 1985 Yankovic released a video collection of his parodies, The Compleat Al. That same year MTV produced an occasional series starring Yankovic as the host of Al TV, wherein he spoofed current videos. In 1989 he wrote and starred in the movie UHF; costarring a pre-Seinfeld Michael Richards, UHF did poorly in the theater but later found new life as a cultish video hit.
Polka Party! (#177, 1986), which relied more on music than on videos, stiffed. Even Worse (#27, 1988) marked Al’s return to rock video, and Michael Jackson. For “Fat,” a grossly, literally overinflated Yankovic donned a leather outfit that copied Jackson’s on the cover and video of Bad down to the last buckle. Jackson not only gave his approval for Yankovic’s versions, he lent the subway set used in “Bad” for the “Fat” video.
In 1988 Yankovic collaborated with avant-garde synthesizer artist Wendy Carlos on recorded versions of the classical pieces Peter and the Wolf and Carnival of the Animals Part II. In 1992 Yankovic turned his eye to another musical trend, grunge, specifically Nirvana. “Smells Like Nirvana” (#35, 1992) took on the Seattle band’s image and garbled lyrics, with the accompanying video again using the original set, this time adding cows and Dick Van Patten, wile the cover of Off the Deep End (#17, 1992) had Yankovic replacing the swimming baby picture on Nevermind, his gaze focused not on a dollar bill but a donut. He also mocked the traveling summer tour Lollapalooza with his 1993 album, Alapalooza (#46), which featured “Bedrock Anthem,” a combination takeoff of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge” and “Give it Away” as well as the classical cartoon series The Flintstones. In 1996 he wrote the theme song for the movie satire Spy Hard, as well as designed the opening credits and appeared as himself in the film.
The same year, Yankovic released Bad Hair Day, which rose to #14 thanks to the success of its first single and video, “Amish Paradise,” a takeoff on rapper Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise” (itself a rewrite of Stevie Wonder’s “Pastime Paradise”). The album cover even mimicked the rapper’s hairstyle. While Yankovic always prided himself on getting permission to parody, this time there was a miscommunication between the artists’ record companies’ Yankovic was told Coolio was fine with the idea, but when the album was released, Coolio claimed he never consented. Yankovic sent a letter of apology and vowed not to accept agreement from anyone but the artists themselves.
After being the subject of the Disney Channel mockumentary special “Weird Al” Yankovic: There’s No Going Home in 1996, the entertainer hosted the Pee-wee’s Playhouse-esque Weird Al Show on CBS’ Saturday-morning lineup in 1997 and 1998. He was frustrated by the network’s lack of support for his tongue-in-cheek humor, and the show was canceled after one season. Yankovic seemingly disappeared for a time in 1998; when he re-emerged without his trademark mustache and glasses — besides shaving, he’d gotten laser eye surgery — he was unrecognizable. His 1999 release, Running with Scissors, peaked at #16, due to the well-timed single “The Saga Begins,” a rundown of the current Star Wars movie The Phantom Menace sung to the tune of Don McLean’s “American Pie.” Even the official Star Wars Web site plugged Yankovic’s album, whose release was also timed to the premiere of his Behind the Music episode on VH1. In 2000 Yankovic contributed the original “Polkamon” to the soundtrack of the kids’ flick Pokémon 2000: The Movie.
While Yankovic and his band (bassist Steve Jay, drummer Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz, guitarist Jim West, and keyboardist Ruben Valtierra) are often not taken seriously, they are able to play the original songs they parody note-for-note, both in the studio and on tour, making them a great cover band, Yankovic has also tried his hand at directing music videos, both his own and for other artists, including country comedian Jeff Foxworthy, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Hanson, and the Black Crowes.
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Dave Dobbyn is one of the New Zealand pop scene’s most popular and respected figures, enjoying success which spanned several decades. He first surfaced in mid-1976 as a founding member of Th’ Dudes, one of the country’s biggest bands of the era; Dobbyn was widely tapped as their breakout star, earning notoriety for writing and singing their biggest hit, “Be Mine Tonight.” Critical backlash, combined with drug and alcohol problems, ensured that Th’ Dudes’ success was short-lived, and following the group’s 1980 demise, Dobbyn went into seclusion, writing and recording solo material in relative anonymity. A tour playing guitar in Sharon O’Neill’s supporting band followed, and in early 1981 his debut solo single “Lipstick Power” appeared on CBS; it failed to chart, however, as did the follow-up, “Bull by the Horns.”
In mid-1981, Dave Dobbyn’s Divers — a band also consisting of ex-Lip Service guitarist Rob “Revox” Guy, drummer Peter “Rooda” Warren and bassist Lisle Kinney — made their live debut. After a handful of gigs, they rechristened themselves DD Smash and soon issued their first single, “Repetition”; it quickly reached the Top 25, and led to the 1982 release of the LP Cool Bananas, which entered the charts at number one. After an auto accident, Kinney left the band, and with new bassist Ian Morris, DD Smash resurfaced in 1983 with the hit “Outlook for Tuesday.” After a concert LP, Live: Deep in the Heart of Taxes, Dobbyn fired everyone but Warren, recording 1984’s The Optimist with session players.
On December 7, 1984, the new DD Smash played a free concert which ended in rioting; Dobbyn was made the scapegoat of the incident, and was tried for inciting the crowd to violence. The charges were eventually dismissed, but Dobbyn’s reputation was sorely damaged; in the wake of the trial, he kept a low profile, recording the soundtrack to the animated featureFootrot Flats, and in early 1986 resurfaced fronting a new group dubbed Dave Dobbyn and the Stone People. The solo single “Slice of Heaven” followed, reaching the top of the New Zealand charts. Another single, “You Oughta Be in Love,” was also enormously successful, and after extensive touring, Dobbyn finally issued his proper solo debut, Loyal, in 1988. After a handful of singles, he resurfaced in 1993 with Lament for the Numb; Twist followed a year later.
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Terra Rosa is Jace Everett’s most ambitious album to date, a raucous, revelatory song cycle exploring tales and themes from the Old and New Testaments. “The truth is, all of these songs are about me,” he says, “trying to figure out what I believe and don’t believe. It’s me going back to my closet and pulling all the skeletons out, looking at the bones and seeing what’s there.” The Nashville-based singer/songwriter’s deconstructs and re-imagines the Book through his own unique perspective, examining matters of love, death, faith, and contemporary America via these most primal of metaphors. There are allusions to such Biblical greatest hits as Sodom & Gomorrah, Jonah and the Whale, and Peter the Rock, alongside deep cuts like “Sapphira,” a righteous romp through trials, tithing, and divine judgment. Everett’s musical approach is as daring and wide-ranging as his subject demands, a hallucinatory hybrid of blues, country, boogie, gospel, and rock – in short, the span and spectrum of American music in all its glory. Yet despite its epic scope, Terra Rosa is at heart an intensely intimate album, its invention and irreverence all reflecting Everett’s own struggles with sin and spirit.
The old time religion is forever embedded in the very fiber of Everett’s being, as much a part of him as his distinctive baritone and gift for deeply personal song-craft. Born in Evansville, Indiana and raised in Grapevine, Texas, he began life as an Episcopalian but his folks eventually “decided they wanted some peppier music” and found their way to an Evangelical church. “Riddled with sin at 12 years old,” Everett was compelled to come forward for the alter call and was, oh yes, saved. Pious to a fault through most of his teens, he avoided secular culture as best he could until his guard began to fall.
“By the time I was 18, I was trying really hard to not be an atheist,” he says. “By the time I was 19, I was trying even harder to be an atheist. That didn’t pan out either – apparently, I lacked the faith.”
Everett soon made his way to Music City USA and scored his first #1 co-writing Josh Turner’s RIAA platinum certified 2006 country smash, “Your Man.” He officially became an overnight sensation two years later when “Bad Things” – the spooky, sultry highlight of his self-titled 2006 debut album – was featured as theme song to HBO’s blockbuster series, True Blood. “Bad Things” proved a worldwide hit single, as well as a multiple BMI Cable Television Music Award winner, and helped propel the show to its extraordinary long-running success. A series of albums followed, each more adventurous and acclaimed than its predeccessor, including 2010’s Red Revelations and 2011’s Mr. Good Times. Everett further tightened his gritty, groovy sound with frequent international tours, raising up a fervent fan following at every turn.
“I’m a lucky dude, that’s for sure,” he says. “Every time I start to complain about my life i just remember that I was literally a ditch digger at one point and this is better than that. No offense to the ditch diggers out there – I salute their work, ditches need to be dug.”
Widely celebrated in songwriting circles as a master craftsman, Everett was teamed with Stephany Delray in winter 2011 and together they penned the haunting “No Place To Hide.” Co-writing the saga of Cain and Abel lit a spark inside Everett, stirring him to try his hand at another Genesis story, “In The Garden.” Then, just like in the Book itself, the flood came…
“Within a few weeks I had written eight or nine songs,” he says. “I got really into it. It was the first time, in a long time, that I’d been really excited to write songs, because I knew what I was writing them for. To have a real purpose and a goal for what I was doing, that was inspiring for me.”
The Bible indeed proved a “fecund swamp of material” for Everett, who began recording the new songs at his own home studio before joining up with longtime producer Brad Jones (Josh Rouse, Hayes Carll, Chuck Prophet) at Nashville’s Alex the Great Recording in June 2012. Everett led his crack band – multi-instrumentalists Dan Cohen and Chris Raspante, bassist James Cook, and drummer Derek Mixon – through a 7-day session in which they tackled and traversed a span of sonic stylings, from Appalachian folk (“Pennsylvania”) to Zappa-esque psychedelia (“Lloyd’s Summer Vacation”).
“I don’t really feel like I have a responsibility to a genre,” he says. “What is really important to me is my responsibility to my writing and my performing, not dependent on some pre-ordained genre that I have to sit in for market reasons or whatever. Country is part of who I am, just like rock ‘n’ roll is, just like pop is, it’s all just part of who I am.”
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A musical parodist in the broad, juvenile yet clever tradition of Mad magazine, “Weird Al” Yankovic is known for adding his own gently satirical lyrics to current hit songs. His shaggy, hangdog appearance, affection for slapstick, and amiable willingness to do seemingly anything for a laugh made him a natural for videos. His burlesques of the form and its artistes — especially of Michael Jackson in “Eat It” (from “Beat It”) (#12, 1983) and “Fat” (from “Bad”) (#99, 1988) — became MTV staples. His medleys of rock tunes given the polka treatment inspired rumors —untrue — that Yankovic was a member of the singing Yankovic family, who made polka and Western swing records in the 1940s. Regardless of his heritage, Yankovic is undoubtedly the most successful comedy recording artist, with more than 11 million albums sold.
Yankovic, a high school valedictorian and architecture student, got his start I 1979, when he sent his “My Bologna” — a parody of the Knack’s “My Sharona” — to Dr. Demento, a syndicated radio host specializing in novelty songs and curiosities. Recorded in a bathroom across the hall from his college radio station with only his accordion and vocal, the song was popular enough with Demento’s audience for Capitol (the Knack’s label) to release it as a single. His next parody, “Another One Rides the Bus” (based on Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust”), became the most requested song in the first decade of the Dr. Demento show.
Yankovic signed with Rock ‘n’ Roll Records (a CBS subsidiary), which not only gave him access to better recording facilities and the production expertise of Rick Derringer but the financial backing for the video of “Ricky” (#63, 1983). A combination parody of Toni Basil’s hit single and video “Mickey” and homage to TV’s I Love Lucy, “Ricky” was the first of a string of videos that skewered the music, its creators, and its audience, not to mention pop culture in general. While often hilariously hamfisted, Yankovic’s takeoffs — such as “I Lost on Jeopardy” (#81, 1984) from “Weird Al” Yankovic in 3-D (#81, 1984), which rewrote Greg Kihn’s “Jeopardy”; “Like a Surgeon” (#47, 1985), which tackled Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” from Dare to Be Stupid (#50, 1985) — made their creator and star as much a rock celebrity as his targets. In fact, the longevity of Yankovic’s career has surpassed several of the artists’ whose songs he has parodied. Nearly half the songs on any of his albums were comedic originals, although only his biggest fans seemed to be aware of “Weird Al” the songwriter. But his lyric rewriting earned him eight Grammy nominations, including two wins.
In 1985 Yankovic released a video collection of his parodies, The Compleat Al. That same year MTV produced an occasional series starring Yankovic as the host of Al TV, wherein he spoofed current videos. In 1989 he wrote and starred in the movie UHF; costarring a pre-Seinfeld Michael Richards, UHF did poorly in the theater but later found new life as a cultish video hit.
Polka Party! (#177, 1986), which relied more on music than on videos, stiffed. Even Worse (#27, 1988) marked Al’s return to rock video, and Michael Jackson. For “Fat,” a grossly, literally overinflated Yankovic donned a leather outfit that copied Jackson’s on the cover and video of Bad down to the last buckle. Jackson not only gave his approval for Yankovic’s versions, he lent the subway set used in “Bad” for the “Fat” video.
In 1988 Yankovic collaborated with avant-garde synthesizer artist Wendy Carlos on recorded versions of the classical pieces Peter and the Wolf and Carnival of the Animals Part II. In 1992 Yankovic turned his eye to another musical trend, grunge, specifically Nirvana. “Smells Like Nirvana” (#35, 1992) took on the Seattle band’s image and garbled lyrics, with the accompanying video again using the original set, this time adding cows and Dick Van Patten, wile the cover of Off the Deep End (#17, 1992) had Yankovic replacing the swimming baby picture on Nevermind, his gaze focused not on a dollar bill but a donut. He also mocked the traveling summer tour Lollapalooza with his 1993 album, Alapalooza (#46), which featured “Bedrock Anthem,” a combination takeoff of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge” and “Give it Away” as well as the classical cartoon series The Flintstones. In 1996 he wrote the theme song for the movie satire Spy Hard, as well as designed the opening credits and appeared as himself in the film.
The same year, Yankovic released Bad Hair Day, which rose to #14 thanks to the success of its first single and video, “Amish Paradise,” a takeoff on rapper Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise” (itself a rewrite of Stevie Wonder’s “Pastime Paradise”). The album cover even mimicked the rapper’s hairstyle. While Yankovic always prided himself on getting permission to parody, this time there was a miscommunication between the artists’ record companies’ Yankovic was told Coolio was fine with the idea, but when the album was released, Coolio claimed he never consented. Yankovic sent a letter of apology and vowed not to accept agreement from anyone but the artists themselves.
After being the subject of the Disney Channel mockumentary special “Weird Al” Yankovic: There’s No Going Home in 1996, the entertainer hosted the Pee-wee’s Playhouse-esque Weird Al Show on CBS’ Saturday-morning lineup in 1997 and 1998. He was frustrated by the network’s lack of support for his tongue-in-cheek humor, and the show was canceled after one season. Yankovic seemingly disappeared for a time in 1998; when he re-emerged without his trademark mustache and glasses — besides shaving, he’d gotten laser eye surgery — he was unrecognizable. His 1999 release, Running with Scissors, peaked at #16, due to the well-timed single “The Saga Begins,” a rundown of the current Star Wars movie The Phantom Menace sung to the tune of Don McLean’s “American Pie.” Even the official Star Wars Web site plugged Yankovic’s album, whose release was also timed to the premiere of his Behind the Music episode on VH1. In 2000 Yankovic contributed the original “Polkamon” to the soundtrack of the kids’ flick Pokémon 2000: The Movie.
While Yankovic and his band (bassist Steve Jay, drummer Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz, guitarist Jim West, and keyboardist Ruben Valtierra) are often not taken seriously, they are able to play the original songs they parody note-for-note, both in the studio and on tour, making them a great cover band, Yankovic has also tried his hand at directing music videos, both his own and for other artists, including country comedian Jeff Foxworthy, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Hanson, and the Black Crowes.
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UB40 are a British reggae/pop band formed in 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has placed more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. The band has been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album four times, and in 1984, they were nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Group. One of the world’s best-selling music artists, UB40 have sold over 70 million records. Their hit singles include their debut “Food for Thought” and two U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number ones with “Red Red Wine” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love”. Both of these also topped the UK Singles Chart, as did the band’s version of “I Got You Babe”.
The story of UB40, and how this group of young friends from Birmingham transcended their working-class origins to become the world’s most successful reggae band is not the stuff of fairytales as might be imagined. The group’s led a charmed life in many respects it’s true, but it’s been a long haul since the days they’d meet up in the bars and clubs around Moseley, and some of them had to scrape by on less than £8 a week unemployment benefit. The choice was simple if you’d left school early. You could either work in one of the local factories, like Robin Campbell did, or scuffle along aimlessly whilst waiting for something else to happen.
By the summer of 1978, something else did happen, and the nucleus of UB40 began rehearsing in a local basement. Robin’s younger brother Ali, Earl Falconer, Brian Travers and James Brown all knew each other from Moseley School of Art, whilst Norman Hassan had been a friend of Ali’s since school. Initially, they thought of themselves as a “jazz-dub-reggae” band, but by the time Robin was persuaded to join and they’d recruited Michael Virtue and Astro – who’d learnt his craft with Birmingham sound-system Duke Alloy – the group had already aligned themselves to left-wing political ideals and forged their own identity, separate from the many punk and Two Tone outfits around at that time. The group had nailed their colours to the mast by naming themselves after an unemployment benefit form. Their political convictions hadn’t been gleaned secondhand either, but cemented in place whilst attending marches protesting against the National Front, or rallies organised by Rock Against Racism.
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Dragon formed in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1972, with a line-up that featured Todd Hunter, guitarist Ray Goodwin, drummer Neil Reynolds and singer Graeme Collins; by 1974 several personnel changes had occurred including the introduction of Todd’s brother Marc Hunter on vocals and Neil Storey on drums.
The band recorded two progressive rock albums in New Zealand, Universal Radio and Scented Gardens for the Blind, the second with an added guitar element from Robert Taylor. Paul Hewson also joined the band on keyboards and from this point Dragon’s music took on a pop-flavoured AOR feel.
Dragon eventually landed a contract in Australia with CBS Records and relocated to Sydney in 1975.
Always a lightning rod for controversy, the band was rocked by the heroin overdose death of drummer Neil Storey only weeks after arriving in Australia and their original manager was also deported back to New Zealand on drugs charges. By then, founding member Ray Goodwin had left the group.
Storey was replaced by Kerry Jacobson and, between 1975 and 1979, Dragon scored a string of major hits on the Australasian pop charts with songs including “April Sun in Cuba,” “Are You Old Enough” and “Still in Love With You” and with the albums Sunshine and O Zambezi, making them one of the region’s most popular rock acts.
Marc Hunter left Dragon in 1979 due to health problems which were, by then, seriously affecting his performances. New singer Richard Lee was recruited and the group recorded the Powerplay LP before breaking up in 1979.
Dragon was forced to reform in 1982 to pay off outstanding debts, but they stayed together and decided to have another shot at success. The band’s second comeback single “Rain” proved to be a massive hit, but Kerry Jacobson left the band for health reasons and was replaced by British drummer Terry Chambers, formerly from the band XTC. American keyboard player and producer Alan Mansfield also joined the band at this point.
The group’s 1984 album Body and the Beat became one of the biggest-selling albums in Australia and New Zealand and the band was restored to something close to its late 70s glory. Their public profile was further raised at this time by the Marc Hunter solo album Communication. Its title track became a moderate hit in Australia.
Paul Hewson left Dragon and tragically died of a drug overdose in New Zealand in January 1985, with Terry Chambers and Robert Taylor leaving Dragon some time after. American drummer Doanne Perry replaced Chambers, and Taylor was eventually succeeded by local Sydney guitar ace Tommy Emmanuel.
This line-up recorded the Todd Rundgren-produced Dreams of Ordinary Men album and toured Europe under the name Hunter in 1987, where they were somewhat misrepresented as a heavy metal band in some markets.
Dragon again split up in 1988 although a year later Todd and Marc Hunter and Alan Mansfield reconvened once again with guitarist Randall Waller and drummer Barton Price (ex-Models and The Choirboys) for the 1989 Bondi Road album, which actually featured Tommy Emmanuel’s guitar playing.
Dragon continued to record and tour with varying line-ups centered around the Hunter brothers and Mansfield until 1997, although Todd Hunter had largely retired from the band to do soundtrack work.
In 1998, Marc Hunter was diagnosed with severe throat cancer and died later that year. The compilation CD Forever Young, released on Raven Records, captures many of the highlight tracks of his tumultuous career.
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Mike Myers is best known as the mad and crude Austin Powers who managed to seduce Liz Hurley despite with his unusual appearance!
Michael John Myers was born on 25 May 1963 in Scarborough, Canada, the son of British-born parents insurance salesman and WWII veteran Eric and his wife Alice. He has two older brothers and holds three citizenships, American, Canadian and British.
He began his acting career as a child, in TV adverts in Canada, and a move to the UK led him to some performances at the Edinburgh Festival.
During his time with a theatre troupe in Chicago, he was spotted by ‘Saturday Night Live‘ producer, Lorne Michaels.
In 1989, he joined the SNL team as a writer and recurring cast member, and he eventually became a regular.
Four years later, Mike debuted as an actor and co-writer in ‘Wayne’s World‘ (1992), based on characters created for ‘Saturday Night Live‘. He then starred in ‘Wayne’s World 2‘ and ‘So I Married An Axe Murderer‘ in 1993. Myers married his first wife Robin Ruzan in May of that year.
They started dating in the late 1980s after meeting at a hockey game in Chicago at which Myers caught a puck and used this as an ice-breaker. Following his marriage, he took a four-year hiatus from television and film.
In 1997, Mike made a successful return as writer and star of ‘Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery‘, a spoof of 1960s spy films. He went on to write and star in ‘Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me‘ in 1999 and ‘Austin Powers in Goldmember‘ in 2002. A fourth Austin Powers has been announced but no further details have been released.
In the year 2000 Mike announced that he planned to star in a film based on his SNL character Dieter, the Germanic host of a programme called Sprockets, but he left the project after expressing displeasure with the final script.
Mike was then sued by Universal for breach of contract. Mike counter-sued and the matter was eventually settled out of court.
As the animated monster in ‘Shrek‘ in 2001, Mike excelled and the film won the Best Animated Film Oscar. This became his second successful movie franchise as he went on to write and voice the lead in ‘Shrek 2‘ (2004), DVD extra ‘Far Far Away Idol‘ (2004), ‘Shrek The Third‘ in 2007, Christmas special ‘Shrek The Halls‘ (2007) and ‘Shrek Forever After‘ in 2010.
More recently Mike has reprised the role of Austin Powers for the third time, and has played the title role in Dr. Seuss’ ‘The Cat in the Hat‘ (2003). Myers has also acted in the main role of ‘The Love Guru‘ (2008) and in a small part in ‘Inglorious Basterds‘ (2009). He continued to appear on ‘Saturday Night Live’ until 2011.
During this period, Myers divorced his wife Robin in 2005 and met café owner Kelly Tisdale, who confirmed they were dating in 2006. They married in New York in 2010 and have a son called Spike, who was born in 2011.
Created by puppet pioneer Jim Henson and hosted by a showbiz-savvy frog named Kermit, The Muppet Show debuted on TV in September 1976 and was an instant hit with kids, college students, even grumpy old men. The weekly comedy-variety show featured Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, and their fellow Muppets rubbing elbows with special guests, including the biggest pop stars of the day.
At its peak, each episode of The Muppet Show went out to 235 million people in over 200 countries. The last of the original 120 shows aired in 1981, but by then The Muppets were already big-time movie stars, thanks to The Muppet Movie. Henson and company followed up with big-screen adventures like The Great Muppet Caper (1981), Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), Muppet Beach Party (1993), Muppet Treasure Island (1996), and Muppets From Space (1999) — each with an accompanying soundtrack album. The Muppets’ most recent album, Kermit Unpigged, featured Kermie and friends riding the unplugged wave and singing duets with the likes of Ozzy Osbourneand Linda Ronstadt.
An engrossing amalgamation of such disparate musical styles as swing, jive, blues and hip-hop, Royal Crown Revue were one of the original instigators of the new swing revival of the mid-90s. Royal Crown Revue had come to prominence at ‘swing-dancing’ engagements in their native Los Angeles, California, USA, including a two-year weekly run at The Derby club, centre point of the whole scene. Their popularity eventually caught the attention of industry executives, with Warner Brothers Records winning the race to sign them.
Royal Crown Revue was formed in 1989 by Eddie Nichols (vocals), Mando Dorame (tenor saxophone), James Achor (guitar), Veikko Lepisto (bass), Daniel Glass (drums), Bill Ungerman (baritone saxophone) and Scott Steen (trumpet). They debuted in 1991 with Kings Of Gangster Bop, which sold strongly on the strength of their passionate, swinging and sharp-suited live performances. Their residency at The Derby, which began in 1993, attracted one particularly important admirer. The director Chuck Russell asked the band to recreate their stage show for his 1994 hit movie The Mask. Their performance of ‘Hey Pachuco!’ endeared them to a whole new audience, and the song was also reprised in front of millions of Americans when figure skater Kurt Browning used it as the musical accompaniment to his programme in 1996. Royal Crown Revue’s performance also served as an inspiration for the movie Swingers, helping popularise the new swing revival.
Their major label debut Mugzy’s Move, a Ted Templeman production, showcased the band’s intricate musicianship and seemingly limitless depth of energy. The set included revisions of Bobby Darin’s ‘Beyond The Sea’ and Willie Dixon’s ‘Honey Child’. Further evidence of the band’s potential for crossover appeal came later that year with the announcement of support dates for bills headed by Jerry Lee Lewis and Porno For Pyros. A compelling independent live recording preceded their second major label release, The Contender, considered by many critics to be the apogee of the new swing movement. Following the album’s release Royal Crown Revue left Warners to sign a new recording contract with punk imprint Side One Dummy. They debuted for the label with 1999’s Walk On Fire.
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