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Fiction Records
Fiction Records is a British record label founded by Chris Parry in 1978, owned by Universal Music Group and based in the United Kingdom. It is best known for being the home of the Cure for over 20 years. It was originally a part of Polydor, but in January 2014, Universal restructured Fiction as a standalone label, removing it from Polydor's corporate affiliation. Fiction repertoire is now released internationally through Virgin (ex-North America). History Fiction Records was founded in the late 1970s by Polydor A&R man and longtime the Cure manager Chris Parry, alongside music publisher Fiction Songs Ltd, who went on to found Radio X (then XFM). Both were subsidiaries of Polydor Records, and based in London at 97 Charlotte Street and eventually maintained a satellite office in New York City at 850 7th Ave. Fiction was also home to UK dance label Desire, re-launched in 1988 as Fiction's house subdivision, and Non Fiction Records, Fiction's specialty label for special editions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands, and its operational headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California. The biggest music company in the world, it is one of the "Record label#Major labels, Big Three" record labels, along with Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group. Tencent acquired ten percent of Universal Music Group in March 2020 for €3 billion and acquired an additional ten percent stake in January 2021. Pershing Square Holdings later acquired ten percent of UMG prior to its Initial public offering, IPO on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. The French Vincent Bolloré, Bolloré family still owns 28 percent of UMG (18 percent directly, and ten percent through Vive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lead Single
A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut single", is the first single released by a new artist. Release strategies Artists often choose songs that are more up-tempo, yet representative of the album's sound, as lead singles. Such songs are often catchier and attract the attention of listeners. The subsequent single might then be slower in tempo, in order to demonstrate the range of the album. Female vocalists like Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera often maintain a formula of an up-tempo first lead single with a slow ballad follow-up. For example, two singles were released by Miley Cyrus before her album '' Bangerz'' – an up-tempo track, " We Can't Stop", was released as the first, and a slow-ballad song, "Wrecking Ball", as the second. This was a successful practice of 1980 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bertelsmann Music Group
Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music company was formed as RCA/Ariola International in 1985 as a joint venture to combine the music label activities of RCA's RCA Records division and Bertelsmann's Ariola Records and its associated labels which include Arista Records. It consisted of the BMG Music Publishing company, the world's third largest music publisher and the world's largest independent music publisher and (since August 2004) the 50% share of the joint venture with Sony Music, which established the German American Sony BMG from 2004 to 2008. History In 1994, BMG acquired Italian publisher Casa Ricordi, which had been founded in 1808. In March 1998, BMG sold its video game publisher BMG Interactive to Take-Two Interactive, with Bertelsmann taking a 16 percent stak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Passions (UK Band)
Passion, the Passion or the Passions may refer to: Emotion * Passion (emotion), a very strong feeling about a person or thing * Passions (philosophy), emotional states as used in philosophical discussions * Stoic passions, various forms of emotional suffering in Stoicism Suffering of Jesus * Passion of Jesus, the suffering of Jesus leading up to and during the crucifixion ** Passion (music), musical setting of the texts describing these events ** Passion Play, dramatic representation of these events ** Passion Sunday, the second Sunday before Easter * Passion Conferences, Christian organization People * Pasion, ancient Greek slave and banker * Passion Richardson (born 1975), American former sprint athlete Books * "The Passion" (Milton), 17th-century poem by John Milton * ''The Passions'' an 18th-century poem by William Collins * ''Passion'', (in Italian, '' Fosca''), 1869 novel by Iginio Ugo Tarchetti * ''Passion Play'' (play) or ''Passion'', 1981 play by Peter Nichols * '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I'm A Cult Hero
"I'm a Cult Hero" is a single released by an extended lineup of the Cure under the name Cult Hero. History The single was conceived by Robert Smith (singer/guitarist of the Cure) and Simon Gallup (then bassist of the Magspies) as a way to test their musical compatibility. Smith was considering Gallup as a prospective replacement for Michael Dempsey (the Cure's bassist at the time), "whose personality and ambitions for the band were seriously at odds" with those of Smith.'' Seventeen Seconds Deluxe Edition'' liner notes. The songs were written for, and feature on vocals, local Horley postman Frank Bell, who is also depicted on the single's artwork. They also feature Malice/ Easy Cure guitarist Porl Thompson and Magspies keyboardist Matthieu Hartley amongst an extended lineup of friends and family, including Robert's sisters Janet and Margaret and local band the Obtainers. After Cult Hero Following the recording of the single in 1979, Gallup left the Magspies and joined the C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Purple Hearts (UK Band)
Purple Hearts are an English mod revival band, formed in 1977 in Romford, eastern Greater London. They were often considered one of the best English mod revival groups, the ''NME'' calling them "one of the few mod bands to actually cut it on rock 'n' roll terms". Career Purple Hearts started in 1977, when teenagers Jeff Shadbolt, Simon Stebbing, Bob Manton, and Nick Lake formed the band in Romford as The Sockets, before they even knew how to play their instruments. They formed for the purpose of getting a support slot at a Buzzcocks gig at the East London Polytechnic, to debut their tongue-in-cheek rock opera, ''Reg''. In 1978, their drummer Nick Lake broke his leg. He was replaced by Gary Sparks from Romford punk outfit, 1348. The band switched their name to Purple Hearts, after an amphetamine-barbiturate mixture popular with the mods of the 1960s. Accordingly, they changed their sound from the rough-edged punk rock, to a more mod-influenced sound, which, thanks largely to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Mackenzie
William MacArthur MacKenzie (27 March 1957 – 22 January 1997) was a Scottish singer and songwriter, known for his distinctive high tenor voice. He was the co-founder and lead vocalist of post-punk and new wave band the Associates. He also had a brief solo career releasing his debut studio album, ''Outernational'', in 1992, his only solo album released during his lifetime. Biography William MacArthur MacKenzie was born on 27 March 1957 in Dundee, Scotland. As a youngster, he lived on Park Avenue in the Stobswell area of the city. He attended St Mary's Forebank Primary School and St Michael's Secondary School. He led a peripatetic lifestyle, decamping to New Zealand at the age of 16, and travelling across America aged 17. Here he married Chloe Dummar, the sister-in-law of his Aunt Veronica. While MacKenzie was quoted as saying the marriage was made to stave off deportation so that he could sing with the New Orleans Gospel Choir – calling his wife a 'Dolly Parton type' � ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wax Trax! Records
Wax Trax! Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago. It began as a record shop in Denver, Colorado, opened by life partners Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, who sold the store in 1978 and moved to Chicago. In November of that year, they opened a store under the same name in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. During the 1980s and 1990s, the accompanying record label became a strong presence on the industrial music scene as well as the punk rock scene in Chicago, and an outlet for European bands. The label was purchased by TVT Records in 1992 and was discontinued in 2001. In 2014, it was re-established by Julia Nash, daughter of co-founder Jim Nash. On February 6, 2025 the Commission on Chicago Landmarks unanimously voted to declare the old Chicago storefront a landmark. Richard Giraldi of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' wrote, "As important as Chess Records was to blues and soul music, Chicago's Wax Trax imprint was just as significant to the punk rock, new wave and ind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Die Warzau
Die Warzau (originally Die Warzau Synfony) was an American industrial music band formed in 1987 by Jim Marcus and Van Christie. History In the late 80s, Jim Marcus and Van Christie were working individually as performance artists. Christie had also been playing music with a band but found that he wanted to work with another musician that was into performance art, which led to collaboration with Marcus. The duo originally took the name "Die Warzau Synfony" as a reference to an orchestra composed of dissidents and Jews that played in Warsaw, Poland early in World War Two until, as the band put it, they were "censored to death." After releasing their first 12", "I've Got to Make Sense", the band dropped "Synfony" to become simply Die Warzau. Originally signed to Chris Parry's Fiction Records, the pair released their first album '' Disco Rigido'' in 1989. Singles from the album made the Billboard dance charts, with "Welcome to America" spending six weeks on the charts and peaking ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scenes From The Second Storey
''Scenes from the Second Storey'' is the debut album by American rock band the God Machine, released in 1993 by Fiction Records and Polydor. It peaked at number 55 on the UK Albums Chart. The album opens with a sample from the film adaptation of ''The Sheltering Sky'' (the same sample also opens Neurosis' ''Enemy of the Sun'', an album released in the same year as ''Scenes from the Second Storey''), while the single "Home" contains an intro consisting of the beginning of the track "Pilentze Pee" by the Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir from the album '' Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares''. "Home" peaked at number 65 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1993. Critical reception In 2005, ''Scenes from the Second Storey'' was ranked number 312 in '' Rock Hard'' magazine's book ''The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time''. Legacy In 2010, as a homage to ''Scenes from the Second Storey'', Morrigan Books published an anthology of horror short stories by Australian au ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The God Machine (band)
The God Machine was an alternative rock band, active in the first half of the 1990s. Its members were all from San Diego, California, but they all lived and performed mainly in the United Kingdom and across Europe. The band consisted of three members, Robin Proper-Sheppard (guitar/vocals), Jimmy Fernandez (bass) and Ronald Austin aka Austin Lynn Austin (drums), and they first performed officially under the name The God Machine in 1991. They released an EP, ''Purity'' with the Eve record label, and were later given a recording contract with Fiction Records. They released two albums in their career, both with their trademark dark and industrial-sounding alternative rock, before Fernandez suddenly died from brain hemorrhage. Their single release of "Home", peaked at No. 65 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1993. Proper-Sheppard went on to form The Flower Shop Recordings label, and bands Sophia and The May Queens. In 2020, after nearly three decades, Austin formed and launch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sell Me A God
''Sell Me a God'' is the 1989 debut album by the British alternative rock band Eat. Prior to the album's release, the band members had all been homeless, with a few of them squatting at London King's Cross railway station. Production The music on ''Sell Me a God'' encompasses a variety of styles, including blues, hip-hop, and funk Release and reception The album reached No. 10 on the UK Indie Chart. The album failed to gain much popularity outside of the UK. David Toop, writing for ''The Times'' described it as an "impressive" debut. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' praised "the altered-state guitars and the biting irony lurking in the lyrics." Doug Brod, writing for ''Trouser Press'', described the album as a "most impressive debut", writing that the diverse influences on the album "created an instantly familiar record that ultimately sounds like no one else". According to Ira Robbins, also from ''Trouser Press'', it was "grossly underappreciated". ''Sell Me a God'' was released on C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
