Tag Archives: Old

Dragon – Are You Old Enough

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Dragon – Are You Old Enough

Dragon - Are You Old Enough

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.

Bio source…..www.last.fm

Picture source…..www.thestarfish.com.au

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Hold On We’re Going Home – Drake

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Hold On We’re Going Home – Drake

Hold On We're Going Home - Drake

Famed hip-hop artist Drake was born to a mixed-race couple in Canada in 1986, and raised Jewish. He came to fame playing wheelchair-bound Jimmy Brooks in seven seasons of the popular teen soap Degrassi: The Next Generation. In 2006, Drake began circulating mixtapes of his raps, and signed a record deal in 2009. His hit songs include “Every Girl,” “Best I Ever Had,” “Money to Blow” and “Take Care.”

Drake, the world’s only black Jewish-Canadian rap star, was born Aubrey Drake Graham on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Canada. Drake grew up with music in his blood. His father, Dennis Graham, was a drummer for legendary rock star Jerry Lee Lewis, and Drake says that his mother, Sandi Graham, also hails from a “very musical” family. Drake comes from an eclectic and unique racial and religious background. His father is an African-American Catholic and his mother is a white Canadian Jew. Speaking about his personal identity, Drake says, “At the end of the day, I consider myself a black man because I’m more immersed in black culture than any other. Being Jewish is kind of a cool twist. It makes me unique.”

Drake’s parents divorced when he was 5 years old, and he was raised by his mother in Forest Hill, an affluent and predominantly Jewish Toronto neighborhood. He had a Bar Mitzvah at age 13 and observed the Jewish High Holy Days with his mother. “My mom has always made Hanukkah fun,” Drake recalls. “When I was younger, she gave cool gifts and she’d make latkes.” Despite his Jewish upbringing, Drake says he felt isolated at Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, his virtually all-white high school. Drake remembers, “Nobody understood what it was like to be black and Jewish.” However, he also adds, “being different from everyone else just made me a lot stronger.”

It was one of Drake’s classmates at Forest Hill who gave him his start in the entertainment industry. “There was a kid in my class whose father was an agent,” Drake would later explain, adding, “His dad would say, ‘If there’s anyone in the class that makes you laugh, have them audition for me.’ After the audition he became my agent.”

Shortly afterward, in 2001, Drake landed a role on the Canadian teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation. The show follows the dramatic lives of a group of teenagers at Degrassi High School, and Drake played the part of Jimmy Brooks, sometimes dubbed “Wheelchair Jimmy,” a basketball star who becomes permanently wheelchair bound when he is shot by a classmate.

Drake starred on Degrassi for seven years (2001-09), earning a 2002 Young Artist Award for best ensemble in a TV series, among other honors. The show quickly developed a devoted cult following—”There are very few subtle Degrassi fans,” Drake has said—propelling Drake to celebrity status in Canada, even while he remained relatively anonymous in the United States.

Bio and picture source…..biography.com

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How to Grow Early Crops Using an Age-Old Technique

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How to Grow Early Crops Using an Age-Old Technique
Hot Beds

By Jack First

How to Grow Early Crops Using an Age-Old Technique

Hot beds are nothing new—they were used by the Victorians and even by the Romans. By reviving and modernizing this ancient vegetable-growing method, Jack First produces healthy plants that crop at least two months earlier than conventionally grown vegetables, even in his native Yorkshire, England.

This practical, illustrated guide has everything you need to understand about how to utilize this highly productive, low-cost, year-round, eco-friendly gardening technique. Straightforward explanations, diagrams, and examples show how the natural process of decay can be harnessed to enable out-of-season growing without using energy from fossil fuels or elaborate equipment.

With some stable manure (there are also alternative options), an easy-to-construct frame, and a small space to build your bed, you can revolutionize your vegetable growing and be harvesting salads in March and potatoes early in April.

Jack First is an experienced horticulturalist who has pioneered, developed and fully tested the hot-bed methods covered in this book. He works with volunteers on a large plot in Keighley and is the sole supplier to his local wholefood shop of out-of-season greens, new potatoes and salads.

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