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Blue Mink
Blue Mink were a British six-piece pop group that existed from 1969 to 1977. Over that period they had six Top 20 hit singles in the UK Singles Chart, and released five studio based albums. According to AllMusic: "they have been immortalised on a string of compilation albums, each recounting the string of effervescent hits that established them among Britain's best-loved pop groups of the early 1970s." Career Roger Coulam (keyboards) formed the band in the autumn of 1969, with American-born Madeline Bell (vocalist), Roger Cook (vocalist), Alan Parker (guitarist), Herbie Flowers (bassist), and Barry Morgan (drummer). Most of the songs were written by Cook and Roger Greenaway. Flowers, Morgan and Parker all worked with Coulam at London's Morgan Studios. The four of them recorded several backing tracks, with which Coulam approached Bell and Greenaway, (who had been half of David and Jonathan), as vocalists. Greenaway declined, but put forward Cook (the other half of David and Jon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philips Records
Philips Records is a record label founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips. It was founded as Philips Phonographische Industrie in 1950. In 1946, Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Decca's Dutch outlet in Amsterdam. History The record label originated as "Philips Phonographische Industrie" (PPI) in June 1950 when it began issuing classical music recordings. Recordings were also made of popular artists of multiple nationalities and of classical artists from Germany, France and the Netherlands. Launched under the slogan "Records of the Century" (referring to Philips Industries' UK Head Office at Century House, W1), the first releases in Britain appeared in January 1953 on 10" 78 rpm discs, with LPs appearing in July 1954. Philips also distributed recordings made by the United States Columbia Records (which at the time was a unit of CBS) in the UK and on the European continent. After the separation of the English Columbia label (owned by EM ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "contemporary hit radio" is also a radio format. Frequent variants of the Top 40 are the Top 10, Top 20, Top 30, Top 50, Top 75, Top 100 and Top 200. History According to producer Richard Fatherley, Todd Storz was the inventor of the format, at his radio station KOWH in Omaha, Nebraska. Storz invented the format in the early 1950s, using the number of times a record was played on jukeboxes to compose a weekly list for broadcast. The format was commercially successful, and Storz and his father Robert, under the name of the Storz Broadcasting Company, subsequently acquired other stations to use the new Top 40 format. In 1989, Todd Storz was inducted into the Nebraska Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame. The term "Top 40", describing a radi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elton John (album)
''Elton John'' is the second studio album by English singer-songwriter Elton John. It was released on 10 April 1970 by DJM Records and by Uni Records in United States. The album was the first release by John in the United States because ''Empty Sky'' was not released in that country until 1975. The album includes John's breakthrough single "Your Song", which reached number 7 in the UK charts and helped to establish his career during what was considered the "singer-songwriter" era of popular music. In the US, it was certified gold in February 1971 by the RIAA. In the same year, it was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. In 2003, the album was ranked number 468 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. On 27 November 2012, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as an album cited as exhibiting "qualitative or historical significance". Production This was the first of a string of John albums produced by Gus Dudgeon. As ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s, having released 31 albums since 1969. Collaborating with lyricist Bernie Taupin since 1967, John is acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his work during the 1970s, and his lasting impact on the music industry. John's music and showmanship have had a significant impact on popular music. His songwriting partnership with Taupin is one of the most successful in history. John was raised in the Pinner suburb of London and learned to play piano at an early age, forming the blues band Bluesology in 1962. After leaving Bluesology in 1967 to embark on a solo career, John met Taupin after they both answered an advert for songwriters. For two years, they wrote songs for other artists, and John worked ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Session Musician
Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a tour. Session musicians are usually not permanent or official members of a musical ensemble or band. They work behind the scenes and rarely achieve individual fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders. However, top session musicians are well known within the music industry, and some have become publicly recognized, such as the Wrecking Crew, the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and The Funk Brothers who worked with Motown Records. Many session musicians specialize in playing common rhythm section instruments such as guitar, piano, bass, or drums. Others are specialists, and play brass, woodwinds, and strings. Many session musicians play multiple instruments, which lets them play in a wider range of musical situations, g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gramophone Record
A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near the periphery and ends near the center of the disc. At first, the discs were commonly made from shellac, with earlier records having a fine abrasive filler mixed in. Starting in the 1940s polyvinyl chloride became common, hence the name vinyl. The phonograph record was the primary medium used for music reproduction throughout the 20th century. It had co-existed with the phonograph cylinder from the late 1880s and had effectively superseded it by around 1912. Records retained the largest market share even when new formats such as the compact cassette were mass-marketed. By the 1980s, digital media, in the form of the compact disc, had gained a larger market share, and the record left the mainstream in 1991. Since the 1990s, records ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Good Morning Freedom
"Good Morning Freedom" is a song by British pop group Blue Mink, released as a single in March 1970. It was released as a non-album single, but was included on the US album ''Real Mink''. It peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart. Track listing 7" # "Good Morning Freedom" – 2:49 # "Mary Jane" – 3:14 Personnel * Madeline Bell – vocals * Roger Cook – vocals * Roger Coulam – keyboards * Alan Parker – guitar * Herbie Flowers – bass guitar * Barry Morgan – drums Charts Popular culture and covers * In May 1970, American band Daybreak released a cover of the song as their only single and it peaked at number 94 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. *In 1971, Australian guitarist John Williams covered the song on his album ''Changes''. * In 1973, British duo Peters and Lee covered the song on their debut album '' We Can Make It''. * In 1994, a cover by Elton John, recorded in 1970, was released on the compilation album '' Chartbusters Go Pop''. * In 2000, Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cover Version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song released around the same time as the original in order to compete with it. Now, it refers to any subsequent version performed after the original. History The term "cover" goes back decades when cover version originally described a rival version of a tune recorded to compete with the recently released (original) version. Examples of records covered include Paul Williams' 1949 hit tune "The Hucklebuck" and Hank Williams' 1952 song " Jambalaya". Both crossed over to the popular hit parade and had numerous hit versions. Before the mid-20th century, the notion of an original version of a popular tune would have seemed slightly odd – the production of musical entertainment was seen as a live event, even if it was reproduced at home via a c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A-side And B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company intends to be the initial focus of promotional efforts and radio airplay and hopefully become a hit record. The B-side (or "flip-side") is a secondary recording that typically receives less attention, although some B-sides have been as successful as, or more so than, their A-sides. Use of this language has largely declined in the 21st century as the music industry has transitioned away from analog recordings towards digital formats without physical sides, such as CDs, downloads and streaming. Nevertheless, some artists and labels continue to employ the terms ''A-side'' and ''B-side'' metaphorically to describe the type of content a particular release features, with ''B-side'' sometimes representing a "bonus" track or other material. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melting Pot (song)
"Melting Pot" is the 1969 debut single from UK pop group Blue Mink. The song was written by Blue Mink's lead singer Roger Cook and long-time songwriter partner Roger Greenaway. The song peaked at number three in the UK Singles chart in the first week of 1970, number 10 in Australia, and also reached number 11 in Ireland. "Melting Pot" did best in New Zealand, where it spent three weeks at number 2. It became the opening track on the group's 1969 debut album, also titled ''Melting Pot''. While the song has assimilationist undertones, it is generally considered a plea for racial harmony. The song featured on episode 3 of ''I'm Alan Partridge'' series 1, entitled "Watership Alan", in which Alan sings the song whilst exercising in his hotel room alongside Michael, the caretaker, who is clearing out an air vent. Alan asks Michael whether the song is racist, but Michael says no on the basis that Chinese is both a race of people and a food. Formats and track listings 7" (1969) # "Me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morgan Studios
Morgan Studios (founded as Morgan Sound Studios) was an independent recording studio in Willesden in northwest London. Founded in 1967, the studio was the location for recordings by such notable artists as Jethro Tull, the Kinks, Paul McCartney, Yes, Black Sabbath, Donovan, Joan Armatrading, Cat Stevens, Rod Stewart, UFO and many more. Morgan sold its studios in the early 1980s, with some of its studios succeeded by Battery Studios. History Morgan Sound Studios was founded in 1967 by Barry Morgan, Monty Babson, Jerry Allen, and Leon Clavert, who were operating a jazz record label at Lansdowne Studios and wanting dedicated office space for their label. Upon securing a location at 169–171 High Road, in the Willesden area of northwest London, the musicians decided to also build a recording studio. They hired ex-Olympic Studios engineer Terry Brown to manage the studio, who appointed another Olympic Studios alumni, Andy Johns as chief engineer. Roy Thomas Baker, who would lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger Greenaway
Roger John Reginald Greenaway, (born 23 August 1938) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer, best known for his collaborations with Roger Cook. His compositions have included "You've Got Your Troubles" and the transatlantic million selling songs "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (in Perfect Harmony)" and " Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress". They were the first UK songwriting partnership to be granted an Ivor Novello Award as 'Songwriters of the Year' in two successive years. In 2009, Greenaway was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Life and career Roger Greenaway was born in Fishponds, Bristol, England. Both Greenaway and Roger Cook were members of the close harmony group the Kestrels. While on tour they decided to begin writing songs together. Their first was "You've Got Your Troubles", a No. 2 UK hit single for the Fortunes (1965), which also made No. 7 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It was the first of several successes they enjoyed during ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
