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Francis Monkman
Francis Monkman (born 9 June 1949, in Hampstead, North London, England) is an English rock, classical and film score composer, and a founding member of both the progressive rock band Curved Air and the classical/rock fusion band Sky. He is the son of Kenneth Monkman, an authority on the writer Laurence Sterne, and of Vita née Duncombe Mann. Career Monkman was a pupil at Westminster School where he studied organ and harpsichord, later studying at the Royal Academy of Music, winning the Raymond Russell prize for virtuosity on the harpsichord and becoming a member of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Wanting to experiment with more spontaneous music forms, Monkman learned how to play guitar and began to associate himself with rock music. In the late 1960s he founded the rock band Sisyphus, which evolved into the pioneering band Curved Air. Monkman played on their first three albums, doubling on keyboards and guitar and exploring his interest in jamming, overtones, nat ...
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Hampstead
Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough of Camden, a borough in Inner London which for the purposes of the London Plan is designated as part of Central London. Hampstead is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical, and literary associations. It has some of the most expensive housing in the London area. Hampstead has more millionaires within its boundaries than any other area of the United Kingdom.Wade, David"Whatever happened to Hampstead Man?" ''The Daily Telegraph'', 8 May 2004 (retrieved 3 March 2016). History Toponymy The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon words ''ham'' and ''stede'', which means, and is a cognate of, the Modern English "homestead". To 1900 Early records of Hampstead can be found in a grant by King Ethelred the Unready to the monastery of St ...
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Phantasmagoria (Curved Air Album)
''Phantasmagoria'' is the third studio album by Curved Air. Released in 1972, it reached No. 20 in the UK Charts and is notable for its early use of the EMS Synthi 100 synthesizer to process lead singer Sonja Kristina's voice on the second side. Unavailable for many years, the album was reissued on CD in April 2007. Reception Allmusic called ''Phantasmagoria'' "the culmination of all that Curved Air promised over the course of its predecessors" and "the band's grandest hour by far". Their review praised the vast majority of the individual tracks, especially complimenting the blending of musical styles and absence of pretentiousness. Track listing Side One #"Marie Antoinette" (Darryl Way, Sonja Kristina Linwood) – 6:20 #"Melinda (More or Less)" (Linwood) – 3:25 #"Not Quite the Same" (Way, Linwood) – 3:44 #"Cheetah" (Way) – 3:33 #"Ultra-Vivaldi" (Way, Francis Monkman) – 1:22 Side Two #"Phantasmagoria" (Monkman) – 3:15 #"Whose Shoulder Are You Looking Over Anyway? ...
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Kevin Peek
Kevin Peek (21 December 1946 – 11 February 2013) was an Australian guitarist, playing both rock and classical music, best known for his work with the progressive rock band Sky. He was born in Adelaide, South Australia, and initially played classical percussion in the Adelaide Conservatorium of Music, before teaching himself the guitar. In 1967 Peek formed a Psychedelic pop, progressive rock group, James Taylor Move but left by May 1968, moving to London. He returned to Adelaide, Australia, to join a newly formed rock band Quartet which, despite a contract from England's Decca Records, proved artistically unsuccessful. An Australian single "Now"/"Will My Lady Come" ecca Y-8977was released in 1969. The A-side is credited to Terry Britten; the B-side to Trevor Spencer, Alan Tarney and Peek. For a time, following their move to London, he and his fellow Adelaide-born bandmates—guitarist Terry Britten, bassist Alan Tarney, and drummer Trevor Spencer—made their living ...
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John Williams (guitarist)
John Christopher Williams (born 24 April 1941) is an Australian virtuosic classical guitarist renowned for his ensemble playing as well as his interpretation and promotion of the modern classical guitar repertoire. In 1973, he shared a Grammy Award in the Best Chamber Music Performance category with fellow guitarist Julian Bream for ''Together'' (released in the US as ''Julian and John (Works by Lawes, Carulli, Albéniz, Granados)''). Guitar historian Graham Wade has said that "John is perhaps the most technically accomplished guitarist the world has seen." Early life John Williams is an only child who was born on 24 April 1941 in Melbourne to an English father, Len Williams, who bought John, at age 4, his first guitar with a modified neck. Len would later found the Spanish Guitar Centre in London. His mother Melaan (''née'' Ah Ket) was the daughter of William Ah Ket, the first Australian barrister of Chinese heritage. In 1952, the family moved to England where he attended ...
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Brian Bennett (musician)
Brian Laurence Bennett, (born 9 February 1940) is an English drummer, pianist, composer and producer of popular music. He is best known as the drummer of the UK rock and roll group the Shadows. He is the father of musician and Shadows band member Warren Bennett. Biography Bennett was born in Palmers Green, North London, England. Educated at Hazlewood Lane School, Palmers Green, London and Winchmore Council School, he finished school at the age of sixteen to play drums in a Ramsgate skiffle group performing for holiday makers. After returning to London he became the in-house drummer at The 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho and was a regular performer on Jack Good's TV show '' Oh Boy!'' He then became a member of Marty Wilde's Wildcats in 1959. After a successful period with the Wildcats, during which he appeared on their instrumental record without Wilde (recorded as the Krew Kats), "Trambone", he backed Tommy Steele for some of his London stage performances, and then in Octo ...
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Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop and electronica. A self-described "non-musician", Eno has helped introduce unconventional concepts and approaches to contemporary music. He has been described as one of popular music's most influential and innovative figures. Born in Suffolk, Eno studied painting and experimental music at the art school of Ipswich Civic College in the mid 1960s, and then at Winchester School of Art. He joined glam rock group Roxy Music as its synthesiser player in 1971, recording two albums with the group before departing in 1973. Eno then released a number of solo pop albums beginning with '' Here Come the Warm Jets'' (1974) and, also in the mid-1970s, began exploring a minimalist direction on influential recordings such as '' Discreet Music'' (1975) ...
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Phil Manzanera
Phillip Geoffrey Targett-Adams (born 31 January 1951), known professionally as Phil Manzanera, is an English guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music, and was the lead guitarist with 801, and Quiet Sun. In 2006, Manzanera co-produced David Gilmour's album '' On an Island'', and played in Gilmour's band for tours in Europe and North America. He wrote and presented a series of 14 one-hour radio programmes for station Planet Rock entitled ''The A-Z of Great Guitarists''. Early life Manzanera was born on 31 January 1951 in London, England, to a Colombian mother (nee Manzanera) and an English father, who worked for British Overseas Airways Corporation, and spent most of his childhood in different parts of the Americas, including Hawaii, Venezuela, Colombia, and Cuba. It was in Havana, Cuba, living opposite Batista that the young Manzanera, aged six, encountered his first guitar, a Spanish guitar owned by his mother. His earliest music ...
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The Shadows
The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard from 1958 to 1968, and have joined him for several reunion tours. The Shadows have had 69 UK chart singles from the 1950s to the 2000s, 35 credited to the Shadows and 34 to Cliff Richard and the Shadows. The group, who were in the forefront of the UK beat-group boom, were the first backing band to emerge as stars. As pioneers of the four-member instrumental format, the band consisted of lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar and drums. Their range covers pop, rock, surf rock and ballads with a jazz influence. The core members from 1958 to present are guitarists Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch and drummer Brian Bennett (who has been with the group since 1961) with various bassists and occasionally keyboardists through the years. Along ...
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Surprise (Lynsey De Paul Album)
''Surprise'' is the first album released by Lynsey de Paul on the MAM record label in 1973. In Australia, the album name was changed to ''Sugar Me'', after de Paul's first hit single. All of the songs on the album were written or co-written by de Paul (half the tracks were re-recordings of her songwriting demos), who was accompanied by some of the UK's leading session musicians including Terry Cox, Ralph McTell, Ray Cooper, Jeff Daly, John Gustafson, Chris Rae, Danny Thompson, Gary Boyle, Barry de Souza, Dick Katz, Robert Kirby, Francis Monkman, John Richardson (who would later become the drummer in The Rubettes) and violinist Johnny Van Derrick. The album front cover is a portrait photo of de Paul photographed by Clive Arrowsmith, and a gatefold sleeve with illustrations provided by de Paul, a nod to her previous career of designing album sleeves and song lyrics. It received favourable reviews from the mainstream music press with adverts proclaiming "the first album from t ...
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Past, Present And Future (Al Stewart Album)
''Past, Present and Future'' is Al Stewart's fifth studio album, released in October 1973 in the UK and in May 1974 in the US. This album is considered Stewart's first "major album" and it reached #133 on the ''Billboard'' Rock Album chart in 1974. He had taken on a different approach from his previous, folkier work, an approach that would stay with him for most of his career. All songs on this record have historical themes, each song representing a decade of the 20th century. The final song, "Nostradamus," is about the famous supposed prophet and his prophecies. In the programme for the UK concert tour that promoted the album, Stewart is quoted as saying "My first four albums have been, for me, an apprenticeship. The new album.....is my thesis". It states that the album "is set for release on CBS in early October. ''Terminal Eyes'' is released as a single on September 28th." The album was performed in its entirety live at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England on 16 May 201 ...
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Al Stewart
Alastair Ian Stewart (born 5 September 1945) is a Scottish born singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician who rose to prominence as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s. He developed a unique style of combining folk-rock songs with delicately woven tales of characters and events from history. Stewart is best known for his 1976 hit single "Year of the Cat", from the platinum album of the same name. Though ''Year of the Cat'' and its 1978 platinum follow-up '' Time Passages'' brought Stewart his biggest worldwide commercial successes, earlier albums such as '' Past, Present and Future'' from 1973 are often seen as better examples of his intimate brand of historical folk-rock, a style to which he returned in later albums. Stewart is a key figure in British music and he appears throughout the musical folklore of the revivalist era. He played at the first-ever Glastonbury Festival in 1970, knew Yoko Ono before she met John Lennon, and shared a London flat with ...
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