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Bill Sharpe (musician)
Bill Sharpe (born William Jeffrey Revell Sharpe; 19 November 1952) is a British musician, who has worked as a member of Shakatak, as a solo artist, and with others, such as Gary Numan and Don Grusin. Life and career Sharpe was educated at Bishop's Stortford College. From there he studied music at Birmingham University where he gained an honours degree. Sharpe had classical tuition on piano from an early age. As a teenager, his main interest was piano music from the romantic era, but eventually he found an interest in jazz and rock music. He joined several jazz rock bands as a keyboard player around his native Bishop's Stortford, one of the most successful ones featuring Trevor Horn on bass guitar. He worked for the BBC as a tape op and sound engineer at the Maida Vale Studios for six years, engineering sessions for the John Peel and Kid Jensen shows. During this time, in the early 1980s, he was a founding member of the group Shakatak. After Shakatak had achieved a handful of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shakatak
Shakatak are an English jazz-funk band founded in 1980 by Bill Sharpe, Nigel Wright, Roger Odell and Keith Winter. An initial white label record, white label release, "Steppin", caught attention by Passion records label owner Les McCutcheon and Northern Soul DJ Kev Roberts. The band's name was created by them and derived from the name of a record store in Soho, London called "Record Shack". Shakatak scored a number of record chart, chart entries, including two Top 40, Top 10 hit single, hits in the UK Singles Chart, "Night Birds (album), Night Birds" (1982) and "Down on the Street" (1984), plus a further 12 entries in the ''Guinness Book of British Hit Singles''. The group is still active and popular throughout the world, particularly in Japan and the Far East, and generally produce a new album every two years on JVC Records. From their first release in August 1980 (the Bill Sharpe (musician), Bill Sharpe composition "Steppin'" on the Polydor Records, Polydor record label), a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maida Vale Studios
Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC sound studios, of which five are in regular use, in Delaware Road, Maida Vale, west London. It has been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions for BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 6 Music from 1946 to the present. On 30 October 2009, BBC Radio 1 celebrated ''75 Years of Maida Vale'' by exclusively playing 75 tracks recorded at the studios over the years. Snow Patrol played a live set from the studio with Fearne Cotton to celebrate 75 years of live music from the venue. In June 2018, the BBC announced the closure of the studios. In May 2020, Historic England designated it as a Grade II Listed Building. The BBC plans to vacate the premises by 2025, moving into a new development which is part of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Olympic Park, offering high-tech facilities and two spaces for public concerts. In August 2023, the studios were sold to a partnership betw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strange Charm
''Strange Charm'' is the eighth solo studio album by the English musician Gary Numan, originally released in October 1986, it was Numan's third release on his self-owned Numa Records label. The album was not released in the United States until 1999 when it was issued in a digitally remastered form with five bonus tracks by Cleopatra Records. In the same year it was also reissued with bonus tracks in the United Kingdom by Eagle Records. Background, production and recording ''Strange Charm'' was Numan's third studio album release on his Numa Records label. It was recorded at Numan's own Rock City studio in Shepperton. It was conceived differently than his previous albums, writing the songs in the studio and working with several collaborators, such as the production team The Wave Team (Mike Smith and Ian Herron). The PPG Wave synthesizer and the use of sampling were prominent on the album, but there is also a lot of guitar, saxophone by Dick Morrissey, bass guitar played by Martin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Thing From London Town
"New Thing from London Town" is a song by the English synth-pop duo Sharpe & Numan, released as a single in October 1986 by Numa Records. Composed by Bill Sharpe with lyrics by Roger Odell and featuring lead vocals by Gary Numan, it spent three weeks on the UK singles chart, peaking at number 52. Musically similar to the duo's previous hit single " Change Your Mind", Sharpe and Numan recorded the song at Rock City Studios, Shepperton with synthesizers and drum programming by Sharpe and vocals by Numan. The track was completed to its finished form in five days. A version of the song with new lyrics by Numan was included on his eighth solo studio album ''Strange Charm'' (1986), released shortly after the single. Critical reception Upon its release, "New Thing from London Town" was "Single of the Forthnight" in ''Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appeari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Discogs
Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''The New York Times'' as "Wikipedia-like". While the site was originally created with the goal of becoming the largest online database of electronic music, it now includes releases in all genres and on all formats. By 2015, it had a new goal: that of "cataloging every single piece of physical music ever created." As of 2025, its database contains over 18 million user-submitted album listings. History Discogs was started in 2000 by Kevin Lewandowski who worked as a programmer at Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo .... It wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tessa Niles
Tessa Margaret Niles ( ''née'' Webb; born 27 January 1961) is an English singer, best known as a backing singer for a wide variety of contemporary artists. She began her professional singing career in 1979. Early life and career Niles began her professional singing career, as both a lead and a backing vocalist, in 1979. Throughout her career, Niles has worked with many artists including ABC, Eric Clapton, Kiri Te Kanawa, The Rolling Stones, Annie Lennox, Tears For Fears, Duran Duran, Kylie Minogue, David Bowie, The Police, Take That, Grace Jones, Tina Turner, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Steve Winwood, Morrissey–Mullen, Snowy White, Tom Jones, Marillion, Fish, Pet Shop Boys, Buddy Guy, B*Witched, Victoria Beckham, Nick Carter, Living in a Box, Cliff Richard, Mike + The Mechanics, Zucchero, Status Quo, Robbie Williams, Bill Sharpe, Gary Numan, Wham!, Andrew Ridgeley, Dusty Springfield, The The, Jimmy Nail, Cher, Cabaret Voltaire, Seal, Liza Minnelli, John Denve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guinness World Records Limited
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listing world records both of human achievements and the extremes of the natural world. Sir Hugh Beaver created the concept, and twin brothers Norris and Ross McWhirter co-founded the book in London in August 1955. The first edition topped the bestseller list in the United Kingdom by Christmas 1955. The following year the book was launched internationally, and as of the 2025 edition, it is now in its 70th year of publication, published in 100 countries and 40 languages, and maintains over 53,000 records in its database. The international franchise has extended beyond print to include television series and museums. The popularity of the franchise has resulted in ''Guinness World Records'' becoming the primary international source for catalo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Change Your Mind (Sharpe & Numan Song)
"Change Your Mind" is a song recorded by the English synth-pop duo Sharpe & Numan. Written by Shakatak members Bill Sharpe and Roger Odell and featuring lead vocals by Gary Numan. In 1982 Sharpe was working on the production of Shakatak starting with the "Invitations" album, which was produced at Rock City Studios owned by Numan himself. It was here where Sharpe started production on his first solo album "Famous People". The engineer Nick Smith, who was also working with Numan at the time, suggested that Numan should guest his vocals on the song after it was decided Sharpe would not be appropriate for singing. The fashion that Numan incorporated with his blue hair, white powdered face and blue tie with a white suit is an amalgamation of his 1984 image of Berserker and his 1985 then upcoming album The Fury. It was released as a single in February 1985. It was a top 20 hit on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 17 in March 1985. It was also an international success, spending fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sharpe & Numan
Sharpe & Numan was a British synth-pop duo formed by Shakatak's Bill Sharpe (keyboards, producer) and Gary Numan (vocals). They had success with their first single " Change Your Mind" which was a top 20 hit on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 17 in March 1985. Subsequent singles were less successful and in 1989 they released their only album ''Automatic''. Their music has been characterized as a mix of synthpop and soul typical of the mid-1980s. History The duo teamed up when they happened to be recording in the same studio. Sharpe had written a collection of songs for a solo album and Gary Numan provided vocals for " Change Your Mind".Dan GoldsteiBright New Thingsmu:zines Released as a single on Polydor Records, it reached number 17 on the UK Singles Chart in March 1985. Intended as a one-off collaboration, Sharpe and Numan eventually returned with " New Thing from London Town" in 1986. Released on Numan's label Numa Records, it was only a minor chart hit peaking at n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big In Japan (phrase)
Big in Japan is an expression that can describe Western culture, Western (especially North American or European) musical groups who achieve success in Japan, but not necessarily in other parts of the world. However, the expression is commonly used ironically to mean successful in a limited, potentially comical, oddly specific or possibly unverifiable way. Original usage The phrase began to appear in several major Japanese foreign-rock magazines, especially ''Music Life'' magazine, in the late 1970s, and in most cases, the "big in Japan" artists became popular in Japan due to being featured by ''Music Life''. The concept predated the phrase; Neil Sedaka made it big in Japan with "One Way Ticket (Neil Sedaka song), One Way Ticket" before breaking through in his native United States. Sedaka noted that Elvis Presley, the biggest rock star in America in the late 1950s, never left North America/Hawaii (in part because his agent Colonel Tom Parker lived in the U.S. illegally), and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Night Birds (album)
''Night Birds'', released in 1982 on the Polydor label, is the second album by English jazz-funk band Shakatak. ''Night Birds'' established Shakatak's trademark jazz-funk sound, and contains two of the band's biggest hits, "Easier Said than Done" and "Night Birds", the former reaching the No. 12 spot in 1981, the latter climbing to No. 9 in the following year. Track listing * All tracks written by William "Bill" Sharpe and Roger Odell except where indicated. Side 1: #"Night Birds" – 6:25 #"Streetwalkin'" – 5:30 #"Rio Nights" – 5:18 #"Fly the Wind" – 4:20 Side 2: #"Easier Said Than Done" – 6:10 #"Bitch to the Boys" – 6:28 #"Light on My Life" – 4:48 #"Takin' Off" ( William "Bill" Sharpe) – 5:08 * Produced by Nigel Wright. Charts Personnel * Bill Sharpe – Bösendorfer grand piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano; Oberheim OB-X synthesizer, ARP Odyssey and Prophet-10 synthesisers * Nigel Wright – Fender Rhodes electric piano, Oberheim OB-X & Prophet-10 s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
