You To Me Are Everything – The Real Thing
1 You To Me Are Everything – The Real Thing
Reply
Tag Archives: Are
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.
Picture source…..www.thestarfish.com.au
Got a request?
Want a song dedicated to you?
Please Contact Us with the song and artist you like, the name you want published and we will do our best to find it.
Nicknames are fine but nothing rude, please.
Michael Jackson – You Are Not Alone
Michael Jackson – You Are Not Alone
First taking to the stage at the age of just 11 as part of his family’s gig The Jackson 5, Michael Jackson grew quickly into the superstardom which would both reward and plague his life. An apparently unstoppable creative and financial force through the highs of his career, ‘The King of Pop’ struggled with a confused and turbulent private life that was often made appalling public. In the wake of his shock death though, it is for his artistry – and not his controversies – that he will be remembered and sadly missed.
Jackson was born 29 August 1958, in Gary, Indiana, to an African-American working-class family. His father, Joseph Jackson, had been a guitarist but had put aside his musical aspirations to provide for his family as a crane operator. Believing his sons had talent, he molded them into a musical group in the early 1960s. At first, the Jackson Family performers consisted of Michael’s older brothers Tito, Jermaine, and Jackie. Michael joined his siblings when he was five, and emerged as the group’s lead vocalist. He showed remarkable range and depth for such a young performer, impressing audiences with his ability to convey complex emotions. Older brother Marlonalso became a member of the group, which evolved into the The Jackson 5.
Behind the scenes, Joseph Jackson pushed his sons to succeed. He was also reportedly known to become violent with them. Michael and his brothers spent endless hours rehearsing and polishing up their act. At first, the Jackson 5 played local gigs and built a strong following. They recorded one single on their own, ‘Big Boy’ with the b-side ‘You’ve Changed’, but it failed to generate much interest.
The Jackson 5 moved on to working an opening act for such R&B artists as Gladys Knight and the Pips, James Brown, and Sam and Dave. Many of these performers were signed to the legendary Motown record label, and it has been reported that Gladys Knight may have been the one to tell Motown founder Berry Gordy about the Jackson 5. Impressed by the group, Gordy signed them to his label in 1968.
Relocating to Los Angeles, Michael and his brothers started work on their music and dancing with their father as their manager. They lived with Gordy and also with Supremes singer Diana Ross when they first arrived there. In August 1969, the Jackson 5 was introduced to the music industry at a special event, and later served as the opening act for the Supremes. Their first album, ‘Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5’, hit the charts in December of that year. It’s first single, ‘I Want You Back’, hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1970. Read more…..www.thebiographychannel.co.uk
Picture source…..www.michaeljackson-7.com
Got a request?
Want a song dedicated to you?
Please Contact Us with the song and artist you like, the name you want published and we will do our best to find it.
Nicknames are fine but nothing rude, please.
Nancy Sinatra – These Boots Are Made for Walking
Nancy Sinatra – These Boots Are Made for Walking
Growing up as the child of one of the greatest icons in American music can’t be easy, but Nancy Sinatra managed to create a sound and style for herself fully separate from that of her (very) famous father, and her sexy but strong-willed persona has endured with nearly the same strength as the image of the Chairman of the Board.
Nancy Sinatra was born in the Summer of 1940, while her father, Frank Sinatra, was singing with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra; as the daughter of show business royalty, Nancy grew up in the spotlight, and made her first appearance on television with her father in 1957. It wasn’t long before Nancy developed aspirations of her own as a performer — she had studied music, dancing, and voice through much of her youth — and in 1960 she made her debut as a professional performer on a television special hosted by her father and featuring guest star Elvis Presley, then fresh out of the Army. After appearing in a number of movies and guest starring on episodic television, Nancy was eager to break into music, and she signed a deal with her father’s record label, Reprise. However, her first hit single, 1966’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’,” made it clear she had the talent and moxie to make it without her father’s help. Sounding both sexy and defiant, and belting out a definitive tough-chick lyric over a brassy arrangement by Bill Strange (and with the cream of L.A.’s session players behind her), “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'” was an immediate and unstoppable hit, and took the “tuff girl” posturing of the Shangri-Las and the Ronettes to a whole new level.
A number of hits followed, including “How Does That Grab You,” “Sugar Town,” and the theme song to the James Bond picture You Only Live Twice. Nancy also teamed up with her father for the single “Somethin’ Stupid,” which raced to the top of the charts in 1967. Most of Nancy’s hits were produced by Lee Hazlewood, who went on to become a cult hero on his own and recorded a number of memorable duets with her, including “Sand,” “Summer Wine,” and the one-of-a-kind epic “Some Velvet Morning.” Nancy reinforced her “bad girl” persona in 1966 with co-starring role opposite Peter Fonda in The Wild Angels, the Roger Corman film that helped kick off the biker flick cycle of the 1960s and early ’70s; she also teamed up with Elvis Presley in the 1968 movie Speedway.
Nancy continued to record into the early ’70s, but in 1970 she married dancer Hugh Lambert (a brief marriage to British singer and actor Tommy Sands ended in 1965), and she devoted most of her time to her new life as a wife and mother, as well as working with a number of charitable causes. In 1985, she published the book Frank Sinatra: My Father, and became increasingly active in looking after her family’s affairs; she published a second book on Frank Sinatra in 1998 and currently oversees the Sinatra Family website. In 1995, Nancy returned to the recording studio with a country-flavored album called One More Time, and she helped publicize it by posing for a photo spread in Playboy magazine. Nancy launched a concert tour in support of the album, and in 2003 teamed up with Hazlewood to record a new album together, Nancy & Lee 3, which sadly was not released in the United States. However, Nancy soon returned to the recording studio at the urging of longtime fan Morrissey, and in the fall of 2004 she released a new disc simply entitled Nancy Sinatra, an ambitious set which included contributions from members of U2, Pulp, Calexico, Sonic Youth, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and other contemporary rock performers.
The album’s release was followed by more live work from Nancy, including a memorable appearance at Little Steven’s International Underground Garage Rock Festival 2004, in which she performed songs from her new album as well as “These Boots Are Made for Walkin” backed by an all-star band (including a horn section) and flanked by dozens of frugging go-go dancers.
Picture source…..userserve-ak.last.fm
Got a request?
Want a song dedicated to you?
Please Contact Us with the song and artist you like, the name you want published and we will do our best to find it.
Nicknames are fine but nothing rude, please
Oh You Are A Mucky Kid – Danny Doyle
Oh You Are A Mucky Kid – Danny Doyle
Leaving school at fourteen years of age, he started doing odd jobs, including general factotum in Dublin’s Pike Theatre, where he began to pick up, from the travelling players, songs from the Irish countryside.
During the 1960s and 1970s, he was one of the top Irish singers, regularly featuring in the Irish charts and scoring three No.1 singles (notably displacing ABBA’s “Take a Chance on Me” after just one week at the top). He has recorded 25 albums, including Emigrant Eyes, a collaboration with his sister Geraldine, a comedienne popular in Australia. He is probably best known for his 1967 Number One hit “Whiskey on a Sunday”.
He has appeared in concert throughout the world, including Carnegie Hall, New York and the Albert Hall, London.
Although retired from performing, he joined numerous musicians on stage at the end of the 2010 Milwaukee Irish Fest, in what is known as the Scattering.
Biography Source…..en.wikipedia.org
Picture source…..www.allmusic.com
Got a request?
Want a song dedicated to you?
Please Contact Us with the song and artist you like, the name you want published and we will do our best to find it.
Nicknames are fine but nothing rude, please.
You To Me Are Everything – The Real Thing
You To Me Are Everything – The Real Thing
The Real Thing, a Liverpool based vocal group, had its origins in the Merseybeat boom of the 1960s. Lead Singer Eddie Amoo was a former band member of The Chants, whose beat singles gathered considerable critical acclaim, although they failed to chart. After continuing to record for various record labels, the band name was eventually dropped.
Re-labelled as The Real Thing, and with brother Chris Amoo, Ray Lake and Dave Smith on board, they got their big break following an appearance on the “Opportunity Knocks” ITV talent show. Spotted by an ex-Radio Luxembourg DJ, Tony Hall, he played a significant part in their early career development. Even so, success was not immediate, and contracts they signed with a couple of major record labels came to nothing, before signing to Pye Records in 1975. A spell acting as backing singers on tour with David Essex, also helped to increase their profile.
With a song written and produced by Ken Gold and Mick Denne, The Real Thing finally emerged in 1976 when “You To Me Are Everything” sailed up to the Number One slot in the UK singles chart.
It led off a list of nine hits on Pye over a three year period, which included “Can’t Get By Without You”, and “Can You Feel The Force”, both of which were top five success stories.
Their brand of commercial sweet soul music, mixed with disco influences, established their popularity with the British audience. They were the UK’s best selling black group of the late 1970s, but a switch to the Calibre record label in 1980 slowed the momentum. Subsequent material fared less well, although remixes of their first two hits charted some 10 years after their original release.
The group, with three of the founder members still on board, continue to perform and record to this day
Chris Amoo is also a regular on the Dog Show circuit, the highlight coming in 1987, when his Afghan Hound, Champion Viscount Grant, was crowned Supreme Champion at Crufts.
Eddie Amoo’s early career, in the chants, was supported by a backing band called ‘Vince & the Volcanoes’, led by Vinnie Tow/Ismail, who was managed and promoted by Mr George Roberts at Liverpool 8, Stanley House, before the chants were, temporarily, backed by the Beatles at the Original Cavern Club.
Biography source…..www.last.fm
Picture source…..userserve-ak.last.fm
Got a request?
Want a song dedicated to you?
Please Contact Us with the song and artist you like, the name you want published and we will do our best to find it.
Nicknames are fine but nothing rude, please.
Dean Martin – Memories Are Made Of This
Dean Martin – Memories Are Made Of This
This legendary singer was christened Dino Paul Crocetti, and was the younger son of two Italian immigrants; his older brother was called Bill. Being born into an Italian immigrant family, Dino only spoke Italian at home and was teased a great deal at school on account of his poor English and strong Italian accent.
Young Dino wasn’t hugely gifted academically and dropped out of school at the age of 16, when he went to work in the local steel mills. As a teenager, he tried his hand at boxing, and fought several amateur bouts under the sporting name of “Kid Crochet”. He also turned his hand to several part-time jobs that weren’t totally legal. This was also the era of Prohibition, and young Dino supplemented his income by delivering bootleg liquor! Eventually, he found work as a croupier in a local nightclub and began to make connections with the network of club owners throughout the Midwest.
Martin began his singing career at the age of 17, singing in local nightclubs near his home town in Ohio. He dreamed of making the big time as a stage singer, just like his showbiz idol, Bing Crosby. Whilst he was singing with a local group called the Ernie McKay band, a bandleader called Sammy Watkins noticed him, and hired him to be his own band’s lead vocalist. Martin began touring with Watkins in 1938, changing his name to Dean Martin in 1940. By 1943, he’d moved to New York and had been given an exclusive contract singing at the Riobamba Room. Before long, he’d also secured his own fifteen-minute programme broadcasting from Radio City, entitled ‘Songs By Dean Martin’. New Yorkers warmed to Martin’s relaxed, mellow singing style and laid-back charm, and by 1946, he‘d recorded four songs with Diamond Records.
Despite his good looks and undoubted singing ability, major success and the “big time” still lay beyond Martin’s reach. His early years as an entertainer were arduous and tough. In 1946, he succeeded in releasing his first single, ‘Which Way Did My Heart Go?’, and he also met up with another young wannabe showbiz star, a comedian called Jerry Lewis. The two performers soon became friends.
Read More: http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/dean-martin.html
Picture Source: http://www.soundcheckmusicblog.com/monday-blues-dean-martin-christmas-blues/