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Short People
"Short People" is a song by Randy Newman from his 1977 album, '' Little Criminals''. The verses and chorus are lyrically constructed as a prejudiced attack on short people. In contrast, the bridge states that "short people are just the same as you and I." Many listeners thought that the song reflected Newman's sincere beliefs. However, Newman intended the song to be a satire about prejudice more broadly: "The guy in that song is crazy. He was not to be believed." As with many of his songs such as "Rednecks", Newman wrote the song from the point of view of a biased narrator. Production and reception The song follows a basic musical formula with bass and drums centering on Newman's catchy pop piano line in the key of A major. A small brass section and an electric guitar occasionally rise into the mix and conga drums (played by Los Angeles-based session musician Milt Holland) also feature prominently in the song. Although Newman had never charted a single before, and his preced ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his Southern-accented singing style, early Americana-influenced songs (often with mordant or satirical lyrics), and various film scores. His best-known songs as a recording artist are " Short People" (1977), "I Love L.A." (1983), and " You've Got a Friend in Me" (1995) with Lyle Lovett, while other artists have enjoyed more success with cover versions of his " Mama Told Me Not to Come" (1966), " I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (1968) and " You Can Leave Your Hat On" (1972). Born in Los Angeles to an extended family of Hollywood film composers, Newman began his songwriting career at the age of 17, penning hits for acts such as the Fleetwoods, Cilla Black, Gene Pitney, and the Alan Price Set. In 1968, he made his formal debut as a solo artist with the album '' Randy Newman'', produced by Lenny Waronker and Van Dyke Parks. Four of Newman's non-soundtra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milt Holland
Milton Holland (born Milton Olshansky; February 7, 1917 – November 4, 2005) was an American drummer, percussionist, ethnomusicologist, and writer in the Los Angeles music scene. He pioneered the use of African, South American, and Indian percussion styles in jazz, pop and film music, traveling extensively in those regions to collect instruments and learn styles of playing them. Early life Holland was born Milton Olshansky in Chicago, Illinois, where he attended Theodore Roosevelt High School. His first instrument was the violin. He pursued a passion for percussion, playing in clubs and shows and on CBS Radio in Chicago. By the age of twelve, he was playing at speakeasies for the likes of Al Capone. Career In the early 1940s, Holland toured and recorded with The Raymond Scott Orchestra. He studied tabla at University of California, Los Angeles and from 1963 through 1978 with tabla master Chatur Lal, Ramnad Easwaran and others. He traveled through India extensively in the ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,982. The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department of Commerce combines the city of Fredericksburg with neighboring Spotsylvania County for statistical purposes. Fredericksburg is south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond. Located near where the Rappahannock River crosses the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, Fredericksburg was a prominent port in Virginia during the colonial era. During the Civil War, Fredericksburg, located halfway between the capitals of the opposing forces, was the site of the Battle of Fredericksburg and Second Battle of Fredericksburg. These battles are preserved, in part, as the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. More than 10,000 African-Americans in the region left slavery for freedom in 1862 alone, getting behind Union lines. Tourism is a major part of the economy. Approximately ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Free Lance–Star
''The Free Lance–Star'' is the principal daily newspaper distributed throughout Fredericksburg, Virginia, United States, with a circulation area including the city of Fredericksburg and all or parts of the counties of Spotsylvania, Stafford, King George, Caroline, Culpeper, Fauquier, Louisa, Orange, Prince William and Westmoreland. ''The Free Lance'' was first published on January 27, 1885, when Col. John W. Woltz and William E. Bradley founded the paper as a twice-weekly publication to serve the news and advertising needs of the community. A one-year subscription that first year cost $1.50. In 1900, the ''Free Lance'' operation merged with its competitor, ''The Fredericksburg Daily Star''. The two papers continued to be published separately until 1926 when, under the leadership of Josiah P. Rowe Jr. (a World War One fighter pilot with the 147th Aero Squadron November 1917 to November 1918), they were combined into ''The Free Lance–Star'', a single newspaper published ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alvin And The Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks or simply The Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for novelty records in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic chipmunks named Alvin, Simon, and Theodore who are originally managed by their human adoptive father, David "Dave" Seville. Bagdasarian provided the group's voices by producing sped-up recordings of his own, a technique pioneered on the successful " Witch Doctor". Later in 1958 Bagdasarian released the similarly-engineered " The Chipmunk Song" for which he came up with the chipmunk characters and their human father, attributing the track to them. ''David Seville and the Chipmunks'' released several more records over the following decade until Bagdasarian's death in 1972. The franchise was revived in 1979 with the characters' voices provided by his son Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and the latter's wife Janice Karm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Music Recording Sales Certification
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see List of music recording certifications). Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories, which are named after precious materials (gold, platinum and diamond). The threshold required for these awards depends upon the population of the territory where the recording is released. Typically, they are awarded only to international releases and are awarded individually for each country where the album is sold. Different sales levels, some perhaps 10 times greater than others, may exist for different music media (for example: videos versus albums, singles, or music download). History The original gold and silver record awards were presented to artists by their own record companies to publicize their sales ach ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stayin' Alive
"Stayin' Alive" is a song written and performed by the Bee Gees from the ''Saturday Night Fever'' motion picture soundtrack. The song was released in 1977 as the second single from the '' Saturday Night Fever'' soundtrack. The band co-produced the song with Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson. It is one of the Bee Gees' signature songs. In 2004, "Stayin' Alive" was placed at No. 189 on the list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The 2021 updated Rolling Stone list of 500 Greatest Songs placed "Stayin' Alive" at No. 99. In 2004, it ranked No. 9 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. In a UK television poll on ITV in December 2011 it was voted fifth in "'' The Nation's Favourite Bee Gees Song''". On its release, "Stayin' Alive" climbed the charts to hit the number one spot on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 the week of 4 February 1978, remaining there for four consecutive weeks. Consequently, it became one of the band's most recognis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in the mid-to-late 1970s. The group sang recognisable three-part tight harmonies; Robin's clear vibrato lead vocals were a hallmark of their earlier hits, while Barry's R&B falsetto became their signature sound during the mid-to-late 1970s and 1980s. The group wrote all of their own original material, as well as writing and producing several major hits for other artists and have been regarded as one of the most important and influential acts in pop music history. They have been referred to in the media as The Disco Kings, Britain's First Family of Harmony, and The Kings of Dance Music. Born on the Isle of Man to English parents, the Gibb brothers lived in Chorlton, Manchester, England, until the late 1950s. There, in 1955, they formed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baby Come Back (Player Song)
"Baby Come Back" is a song by the British-American rock band Player. It was released in late 1977 as the lead single from their 1977 self-titled debut album, and was the breakthrough single for the band, gaining them mainstream success, hitting #1 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #10 on the R&B charts in 1978. Their biggest hit single, the song was written and performed by Peter Beckett and J.C. Crowley, the founders of Player. As reported on the ''American Top 40'' replay broadcast of November 5, 1977, "Baby Come Back" was written after two of the band members had broken up with their girlfriends. Personnel * Peter Beckett – lead vocals and backing vocals, electric guitar *J.C. Crowley – acoustic piano, electric piano and backing vocals *Ronn Moss – bass and backing vocals *John Friesen – drums, maracas and congas ;additional personnel: *Wayne Cook – synthesizers, clavinet and electric piano Cover versions Lisa Stansfield, in 1997, released the song as a bonus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Player (band)
Player is an American rock band that was formed in the late 1970s. The group scored several US Hot 100 hits, three of which went into the top 40; two of those single releases went top 10, including the No. 1 hit " Baby Come Back", written by group members Peter Beckett and J.C. Crowley. Career Player first came together in Los Angeles, California. The original members included Peter Beckett (vocals, guitar), John Charles "J.C." Crowley (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Ronn Moss (vocals, bass), and John Friesen (drums). Beckett, a transplanted Englishman from Liverpool, had been in a progressive rock group called Paladin, then Skyband in 1974 with Australian Steve Kipner (who had also played with the Australian band Tin Tin, of which Beckett had also briefly been a member). At that time, Beckett, Kipner and Skyband were based in Los Angeles. After Skyband broke up in 1975, Beckett was still living there and met Crowley at a party. He and Crowley teamed up in a new band ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming in the United States. The weekly tracking period for sales was initially Monday to Sunday when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991, but was changed to Friday to Thursday in July 2015. This tracking period also applies to compiling online streaming data. Radio airplay, which, unlike sales figures and streaming, is readily available on a real-time basis, is also tracked on a Friday to Thursday cycle effective with the chart dated July 17, 2021 (previously Monday to Sunday and before July 2015, Wednesday to Tuesday). A new chart is compiled and officially released to the public by ''Billboard'' on Tuesdays but post-dated to the following Saturday. The first number-one song of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 was "Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Novelty Song
A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and with musical parody, especially when the novel gimmick is another popular song. Novelty songs achieved great popularity during the 1920s and 1930s. They had a resurgence of interest in the 1950s and 1960s. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music; the other two divisions were ballads and dance music. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. Novelty songs are often a parody or humor song, and may apply to a current event such as a holiday or a fad such as a dance or TV programme. Many use unusual lyrics, subjects, sounds, or instrumentation, and may not even be musical. For example, the 1966 novelty song " They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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