Hollaback Girl – Gwen Stefani

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Kneeknee

Hollaback Girl – Gwen Stefani

Hollaback Girl - Gwen Stefani

Stefani’s family was instrumental to her music career, with her parents introducing her to music and brother Eric forming the band No Doubt, which would later make her famous. Stefani’s parents were folk-music fans and she was taken to Emmylou Harris concerts and introduced to the music of Bob Dylan as a child. Musicals such as ‘The Sound of Music’, ‘Annie’ and ‘Evita’ were also influences, with Stefani’s first foray into public performance being a rendition of the song ‘I Have Confidence’ from ‘The Sound of Music’ at her high school talent show.At Loara High School, Stefani was on the swimming team while working part-time jobs at Dairy Queen and on the make-up counter of a department store. After graduating, she attended California State University in Fullerton.

Older brother Eric introduced Stefani to two-tone Ska music while she was still at high school through bands such as Madness and The Selecter. When he formed his own Ska band in 1986 with friend John Spence, he asked his sister to join as co-lead singer. She became the sole lead singer of the fledgling band after Spence committed suicide in 1987, with the other band members later crediting her as the glue that held the band together through the difficult time.

In 1987, Stefani also began a relationship with bass-player Kanal. She had had a crush on him since he joined the band, but he initially rejected her to promote band-harmony. Stefani persisted and the pair’s relationship eventually lasted for seven years. Stefani admitted to interviewers that her role in the band was passive to begin with. “My brother did everything. I was like, ‘I’m just the sister.’ And then after that I was ‘Tony’s girlfriend.’ And that was good enough for me. I never really had any ambitions or goals or dreams.”
The band had limited success to start with and remained little more than a garage band until the early 1990s.

Grunge was growing in popularity at the time and No Doubt’s ska-pop sound did not fit in with the movement. Stefani opted for sexiness instead of the aggressive grunge female lead typified by singers like Hole’s Courtney Love. The band continued playing though, touring with ska punk band Reel Big Fish and gathering a loyal following in Southern California, and in 1990 it was signed to Interscope Record.

Bio and picture source…..www.lifetimetv.co.uk

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Wasted – Angus and Julia Stone

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Kneeknee

Wasted – Angus and Julia Stone

Wasted - Angus and Julia Stone

We argue about a lot of things, but never about music, says Julia about the relationship she has with her brother Angus. We don’t get on a lot of the time but when it comes to making music it’s always pretty simple for us.

It’s this language of music that forms the basis of Angus & Julia’s debut album A Book Like This a collection of thirteen heartfelt and organic songs that share their experiences and observations with listeners. Together, and with respective singer/songwriter talents, Angus & Julia Stone form two halves of a musical act whose words and music reveal a pure and genuine love of music, and a talent for telling beautiful and beguiling stories.

Raised in the northern beaches of Sydney, Australia, Angus & Julia’s love of music was inextricably intertwined with their experiences of growing up in their musical family. Music was an integral aspect of family life, with music as the bloodline through both their mother and father’s families. A long line of musicians made for an environment that encouraged the duo to express themselves using their voice and any of the many instruments lying around the house.

Mum listened to Janis Ian a lot, but a big part of our childhood was listening to dad’s covers band it was music from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, says Julia of their early influences. It was everything from Van Morrison to The Eagles and The Beatles. We didn’t know any of those bands, we just knew the songs as dad had sung them. It was only a couple of years ago that we listened to The White Album, and thought to ourselves, oh right, these guys are a band – dad didn’t write these songs! ‘

Music continued to play a role in their lives throughout their teenage years. Living at their dad’s place and being unemployed’ish ‘ a state that saw Angus working at odd-jobs as a labourer, and Julia teaching-trumpet the two musicians treated their music as a personal discovery and outlet for their thoughts and observations. When Julia returned home after a year of travelling she encouraged Angus to play his music at some local open-mic nights, and not long after, having helped him out with some backing harmonies, she joined him on stage to play some of her own compositions. That was a mere three years ago. Eventually it worked out that we were doing a split-set, says Julia. It seemed very normal for us and there was no reason not to record together also. It was just easy. Natural, I suppose.
Read more…..take40.com

Picture source…..hangout.altsounds.com

Bobby McFerrin – Don’t Worry Be Happy

Posted on August 13, 2014 by Kneeknee

Bobby McFerrin – Don’t Worry Be Happy

Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry Be Happy
Picture Source

On the 11th of March, 1950, Bobby McFerrin was born. His parents were classical singers and he began to study music theory early on in his life. His family then moved to Los Angeles. During high school and then in College, UCSC, he focused on the piano. Once he finished college, Bobby McFerrin toured with numerous bands including the Ice Follies.

However, it was only in 1977 that Bobby McFerrin decide to become a singer. At one point he met Bill Cosby who arranged for him take part in the 1980 Playboy Jazz Festival. It was only two years later where he released his firm album called “Bobby McFerrin” in 1982. It was in 1983, that Bobby McFerrin started converting without a band. This eventually led him to make a solo tour in Germany. It was in Germany that he recorded his album “The Voice”. From that point on, he continued to make solo tours in the most prestigious locations. It is also important to realize that Bobby McFerrin worked with several important people like Garrison Keillor, Jack Nicholson, and Joe Zawinul. On “Another Night in Tunisia”, Bobby McFerrin won two Grammies.

McFerrin was also featured in TV commercials for Levi’s and Ocean Spray and also ended up singing the theme song for the Cosby Show and the movie Round Midnight by Bertrand Tavernier which got hum another Grammy. By now, Bobby McFerrin had achieved a great deal of success as a vocal and had released his platinum album Simple Pleasures which included the hit “Don’t Worry be Happy”.

As an Orchestrator, Bobby McFerrin demonstrated his skills in 1990 when he released Medicine Music. He appeared on Arsenio Hall, Today and Evening at Pops. Beyond that, he recorded Hush with Yo-Yo Ma in 1992. The Hush album stayed on the Billboard Classical Crossover Chart for two years until he went gold in 1996. In 1992, Bobby McFerrin also released a new Jazz album called Play which earned him his 10th Grammy award. He is without a doubt one of the greatest Jazz Artists of all time.

McFerrin also worked with classical music. In fact, his first classical album named Paper Music was recorded with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. His symphonic conducting included the convert-length version of Porgy and Bess. This very album remains on the Billboard chart of classical bestsellers. Read More…

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Katy Perry – Last Friday Night

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Kneeknee

Katy Perry – Last Friday Night

Katy Perry - Last Friday Night

Edgy and non-typically including herself in the good girl image, Katy Perry may be one great example of the future musician. Born on October 25, 1984 in a strict Christian family, Perry was later known for her song “Ur So Gay”. Her parents are two devoted pastors who directed their daughter into singing in churches or local restaurants. Perry said that her mother used to ban her from listening to what they call “secular music.” Thus, young Perry was apt in gospel music until one day during a slumber party she heard the voice of Freddie Mercury.

Inspired by the Queen front man’s style of singing, she was metaphorically ‘opened’ to another possible side of music, although it was not until much later that this side of her would come out as her main music style. At the age of 15 she moved from birth town Santa Barbara, Calif. to Nashville to work closely with songwriters. Steve Thomas and Jennifer Knapp of Red Hill Records signed her to the label to release her debut album which was self-titled while she used her name Katy Hudson. The album that contained Christian songs was released in 2001.

At 17, she met Glen Ballard …

who is responsible for the extreme success of Alanis Morissette in the album “Jagged Little Pill“. Citing Morissette as one of her influences, Perry found comfort in working with Ballard who then gave her necessary mentor. In 2004 she became the vocalist of The Matrix production team and recorded some songs with Ballard that made her dubbed “The Next Big Thing” by Blender magazine. Through her sessions with Ballard, Perry was heard by Capitol Music executive, Jason Flom who then agreed to sign her in Spring 2007.

By being in the club, Perry was introduced to a number of renowned musicians such as Greg Wells, Butch Walker, Dr. Luke and Max Martin. In November 2007 she offered free download of the song “Ur So Gay” on her MySpace account. It was an instant hit, but it was the second single “I Kissed a Girl” that propelled her to chart success. The latter song was used in an episode of teen drama series “Gossip Girl“, thus prompting it to climb up the Billboard Hot 100 chart at #2.

Perry constantly added her live experience by scoring the opening act slots for big singers like Mika and The Starting Line. Her full-length …

Picture and Bio source…..www.aceshowbiz.com

Marilyn Monroe – Pharrell Williams

Posted on July 31, 2014 by Kneeknee

Marilyn Monroe – Pharrell Williams

Marilyn Monroe - Pharrell Williams

Pharrell Williams was born on April 5th, 1973 and is an American music producer, singer-songwriter and rapper. He is one half of the production duo The Neptunes, with Chad Hugo, and he has produced music for a range of well known Pop, Hip-Hop and R&B artists.
As well as his production talents, Pharrell is also the lead singer and drummer of the funk-rock band, N*E*R*D.
Although Pharrell had produced for different artists, it wasn’t until 2001 when he attained world wide recognition. Britney Spears’ single, “I’m a Slave 4 U” became a world-wide #1 hit and catapulted the group and their production skills into the lime light.

In 2002, N*E*R*D released their first album- In Search Of… to critical acclaim.

In 2003, as The Neptunes, Pharrell went onto release The Neptunes Present…Clones, featuring songs and remixes from various artists. This album topped the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart.

In 2004, he would release a second album as N*E*R*D called Fly or Die.

In 2007, he wrote and produced “Why Should I Be Sad” on Britney Spears’ latest album Blackout. He also produced two songs for The Hives latest record, The Black and White Album.

In April of 2008, Madonna released her album, Hard Candy, which features production by The Neptunes on seven of the twelve tracks.

In June 2008, Seeing Sounds would be released as the third studio album from N*E*R*D.

Read more…..contactmusic.com

Picture source…..mjworld.net

Shake Your Groove Thing – Peaches and Herb

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Kneeknee

Shake Your Groove Thing – Peaches and Herb

Shake Your Groove Thing - Peaches and Herb

Though “Peaches and Herb” was billed as a duo, their member rotation is more similar to a group’s. Herb has remained the only constant with, at last count, six “Peaches” stepping up to the microphone.
The original “Peaches,” Francine Hurd Barker, (died 8-13-2005), a Washington, D.C., native, earned the childhood nickname “Peaches” because of her genteel manner.
She sang in neighborhood groups and in her teens became the lead singer for a group named The Keynotes. Starting her own group, The Darlettes, they auditioned for and
were signed to D.C. area label Date Records, where their name was changed to The Sweet Things.

Herb Fame, born Herbert Feemster on October 1st, 1942, in Washington, D.C., began singing in church at seven and continued singing through the years in neighborhood groups. After high school graduation, Herb began working at a record store. His friend, Howard University student Freddie Perren, worked at another record store, Sabin’s right around the corner. One day in January 1965, producer Van McCoy came into the store Herb worked in to ask about doing in-store promotion for a group he was working with called The Sweet Things. Herb convinced McCoy to grant him an audition, and a week later the young record store employee was signed to a contract with Date Records.

McCoy took Herb and The Sweet Things to New York for their first recording sessions, but while they were there, decided to use some extra studio time to record a duet with Herb and the lead singer of The Sweet Things, Francine Barker. Impressed with the results McCoy convinced Date Records to release a single of “We’re In This Thing Together.” The original A-side failed to generate much interest. Then a disc jockey at St. Louis, Missouri, radio station KATZ flipped the single over and began playing the B-side, “Let’s Fall In Love.” It was soon moving up the Hot 100, peaking at #-21 in March of 1967. Before the year was over, Peaches and Herb had three more hits: “Close Your Eyes” (#-8 in May), “For Your Love” (#-20 in August) and “Love Is Strange” (#-11 in November). The duo released two hit albums in 1967 “Let’s Fall In Love” and”For Your Love.” By the years end the duo had earned the nickname The Sweethearts Of Soul.

This same year, Francine Barker tired of the rigors of touring and bowed out, she was replaced with Marlene Mack. And the hits continued: “Two Little Kids” (#-31 in January 1968), “When He Touches Me (Nothing Else Matters)” (#-10 R&B in 1969) and “It’s Just A Game, Love” (from the Jim Brown movie “The Split”), (which stalled at #-50 R&B in 1970). It was Peaches and Herb’s last charting single on Date Records. Despondent over
the act’s failing chart success, Herb abruptly quit Peaches and Herb and got a job with the Washington, D.C. Police Department in July 1970.

Then in 1976, Herb decided to re-enter the music business. Linda Greene was home in Washington D.C. that year after working as a model. “I bumped into Van and told him I was at home now and wished I could get into the music business. I thought I was ready to handle something like that” she told the Associated Press. Van mentioned Linda’s name to Herb’s manager and the two met and hit it off. Van, who was currently under contract to MCA Records, brought the “new” Peaches & Herb over to the label and produced their 1977 self-titled release. The duo charted in June with “We’re Still Together” but the albums sales were dismal and it sank without a trace.

Read more…..www.discomuseum.net

Young Hearts Run Free – Candi Stanton

Posted on July 12, 2014 by Kneeknee

Young Hearts Run Free – Candi Stanton

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Among American listeners, Candi Staton is remembered for a group of classic 1970s recordings in the disco genre. Staton is one of the powerful female vocalists who defined the term “disco diva” and established the contrast between virtuoso vocals and impersonal electronics as a central principle of dance music. For Europeans, who have a track record of spotting the most significant trends in black American music several years before Americans do, she is even more well-known. “Candi Staton has a voice that has tracked the times, that has followed us from Sixties soul to acid house and out again the other side,” observed the British web site Slice.
She was born Canzata Maria Staton in rural Hanceville, Alabama, in the early 1940s, and grew up picking cotton and helping raise farm animals. Staton’s father was an alcoholic who abused her mother, and Staton herself would struggle through abusive relationships at several points in her own life. She began singing in church at the age of four, and a year later had already been selected to participate in a quartet with three other girls. Early on, Staton learned the power her singing could have over an audience. “The crowds would get very emotional,” she was quoted as saying on the Divastation website. “At the time, I didn’t even know why they were crying. Once, I remember, the audience got so emotional, throwing their pocket books at my feet and so on, that I got really scared and ran off to my mother.”
Staton’s parents eventually divorced, and at the age of eleven or twelve she was sent, along with her sister, Maggie, to the Jewel Christian Academy in Nashville, Tennessee. Again her vocal abilities quickly set her apart from the crowd; the school’s pastor teamed the two sisters with a third girl to form the Jewel Gospel Trio. For Staton, the result was a fabulous musical education. The trio toured with such gospel legends as the Soul Stirrers, the Staple Singers, and the young Aretha Franklin. They recorded several singles on their own for the legendary gospel labels Nashboro and Savoy.

After six years in Nashville and on the road, Staton grew restless in her late teens and left the Jewel trio. She fell into a brief relationship with singer Lou Rawls, and after that ended, she married Joe Williams, by whom she had four children. That marriage, like the marriage of Staton’s mother, turned abusive and ended in divorce, leaving Staton with four mouths to feed and a tough job in a nursing home. Aware of the success other gospel performers had found after turning to pop, Staton, who had been out of the music business for seven years, began appearing in nightclubs.

She recorded a few singles for obscure southern labels, but went nowhere until she entered a talent contest, on a dare from her brother, at a Birmingham, Alabama club in 1968. Her rendition of Aretha Franklin’s “Do Right Woman” impressed soul star Clarence Carter, who put Staton in touch with his producer, Rick Hall. Hall was the owner of the Fame record label and studios in nearby Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and was a dominant force in southern soul at the time, rivaled only by Memphis’s Stax operation. Carter and Staton married and Staton was signed to Fame. Her career took off in 1969 with a humorous Carter-penned number entitled “I’d Rather Be an Old Man’s Sweetheart (Than a Young Man’s Fool).” Read more…..www.answers.com

Picture source…..www.meridianfm.com

Why don’t you do right – Jessica Rabbit

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Kneeknee

Why don’t you do right – Jessica Rabbit

Jessica Rabbit - Why don't you do right

Jessica Rabbit is Roger Rabbit‘s human Toon wife and the tritagonist in Touchstone’s 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In the book, she was an amoral, up-and-coming star and former comic character, over whom her estranged husband, comic strip star Roger Rabbit, obsessed. She is re-imagined in the film as a sultry, but moral cartoon singer at a Los Angeles supper club called the “Ink and Paint Club”. Here, she is one of several suspects in the framing of her husband, who is a famous cartoon star. She is voiced byKathleen Turner. Amy Irving was cast to sing Peggy Lee’s “Why Don’t You Do Right” for Jessica’s first scene in the movie.

Several attractive Toon females (specifically Betty Boop) apparently consider Jessica to be incredibly lucky to be married to Roger.

Jessica Rabbit is beautiful, passionate, sexy and glamourous. She is slender and fair-skinned. She has blue eyes, red pouty lips, purple eyelids, long red hair that covers her right eye, aqua earrings, long purple opera gloves, and shiny red pumps. She claims to Eddie Valiant, “I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way.” She adores her husband Roger, and claims she married him because he “makes her laugh.”

Jessica is first seen from behind the stage curtains at the Ink & Paint Club, singing “Why Don’t You Do Right?” After her show, followed by Eddie Valiant, the Toon-hating detective, Marvin Acme, both ruler of Toontown and founder of the Acme Corporation, enters Jessica Rabbit’s dressing room and informs her that she sure absolutely, truly, and honestly murdered the audience one night, and he really means it. Then, he says that she was superb while Eddie tries to peer through the keyhole to see what’s going on, but he was thrown outside into a pile of trash by Bongo the tuxedoed gorrila. When he hears Jessica and Marvin talking through one of the nearby windows, he pulls up a box and peers through a gap in the curtains. Marvin insists Jessica to play pattycake with him on her bed, but Jessica replies that she has a headache. However, Marvin says that she promised, then convinces her to do it, and she agrees, but she tells him to take off his handbuzzer. While they play pattycake together, Eddie pulls out a camera and takes several pictures by order of R.K. Maroon, owner of Maroon Cartoons. Later, after Roger Rabbit, Jessica’s husband, crashes through the studio office window, leaving a rabbit-shaped hole in the glass and the blinds, and walks across the road at the Acme factory, crying his eyes out, he pulls out his wallet and looks at his photos of him and Jessica on their wedding day, their honeymoon on a beach, and hugging each other in a bar.
Read More…..disney.wikia.com

Horse and Cart – Angus & Julia Stone

Posted on July 10, 2014 by Kneeknee

Horse and Cart – Angus & Julia Stone

Horse and Cart - Angus & Julia Stone

Picture source…..hangout.altsounds.com

Stay with me – Sam Smith

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Kneeknee

Stay with me – Sam Smith

Stay with me - Sam Smith

Sam Smith, a 21-year-old singer from London with milk-white skin and a tightly swirled pompadour, has made a name for himself as the soulful guest vocalist for dance music’s new wave, including breakout electronic group Disclosure, producer Naughty Boy and disco veteran Nile Rodgers. Now, with a debut solo album and tour on the way, he’s attempting to go it alone.

The transition from guest star to solo act can be difficult, but plenty of people are betting on his success. In December, he won the 2014 Brits Critic’s Choice Award and earlier this month, he won the BBC’s “Sound of 2014” music critics poll, which often predicts commercial success. (Past winners include Adele, 50 Cent and Ellie Goulding.)

He’s also demonstrated strong ticket sales. Most of his European tour dates have sold out well in advance. All of his U.S. performances sold out last year—including two nights at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, the first of which sold out in less than 24 hours. He recently announced a 10-city North American tour to promote his forthcoming album, “In the Lonely Hour,” due out in the U.S. on June 3. The San Francisco date sold out in a day.

Critics praise the fluid quality of Mr. Smith’s voice as well as his emotional lyrics and almost bashful stage presence.
Over the next six months, Capitol Records will shift from coordinating buzzy collaborations to launching Mr. Smith’s solo career, culminating in the release of his album. “We’ve had the big collaborative feature songs, but now we’re moving into Sam’s own music,” said Greg Thompson, executive vice president of Capitol Music Group.

Before the album makes its debut, the label plans to release an EP in February in the U.S., and then have Mr. Smith begin touring while his songs are promoted on college radio. “You need that time to drum up people’s appetite,” Mr. Thompson said.

Growing up in a small town 25 miles north of London, Mr. Smith began training as a jazz singer when he was 8 and had his first manager by age 12. He listened exclusively to female “power singers” until about a year ago, he said, such as Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan and Amy Winehouse, thus the soul and gospel undertones in his music. At 18, he moved to London to tend bar while playing gigs around the city. He met Disclosure in the fall of 2012 through common managers who suggested he sing over the duo’s new track “Latch.” The song became the first single from Disclosure’s debut album “Settle,” which received a 2013 Grammy nomination for Best Dance Album. Read more…..online.wsj.com

Photo source…..buzzworthy.mtv.com

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Hollaback Girl – Gwen Stefani