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Spike Jones
Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician, bandleader and conductor specializing in spoof arrangements and satire of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with various sound effects, including gunshots, whistles, cowbells, hiccups, burps, sneezes, animal sounds and outlandish and comedic vocals. Jones and his band recorded for RCA Victor under the title Spike Jones and His City Slickers from the early 1940s to the mid-1950s, and they toured the United States and Canada as "The Musical Depreciation Revue". Early years Lindley Armstrong Jones was born in Long Beach, California, the son of Ada (Armstrong) and Lindley Murray Jones, a Southern Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific railroad agent. Young Lindley Jones was given the nickname 'Spike' for being so thin that he was compared to a rail spike, railroad spike. At the age of 11 he got his first set of Drum kit, drums. As a teen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spike Jonze
Adam Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze (), is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes films, commercials, music videos, skateboard videos and television. Jonze began his career as a teenager photographing BMX riders and skateboarding, skateboarders for ''Freestylin' Magazine'' and ''Transworld Skateboarding'', and co-founding the youth culture magazine ''Dirt (magazine), Dirt''. Moving into filmmaking, he began shooting street skateboarding films, including the influential ''Video Days'' (1991). Jonze co-founded the skateboard company Girl Skateboards in 1993 with riders Rick Howard and Mike Carroll (skateboarder), Mike Carroll. Jonze's filmmaking style made him an in-demand director of music videos for much of the 1990s, resulting in collaborations with R.E.M., Sonic Youth, Beastie Boys, Ween, Fatboy Slim, Daft Punk, Weezer, Björk, Fatlip, Arcade Fire and Kanye West. Jonze began his feature fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pit Orchestra
A pit orchestra is a type of orchestra that accompanies performers in Musical theatre, musicals, operas, ballets, and other shows involving music. The term was also used for orchestras accompanying silent movies when more than a piano was used. In performances of operas and ballets, the pit orchestra is typically similar in size to a symphony orchestra, though it may contain smaller string and brass sections, depending upon the piece. Such orchestras may vary in size from approximately 30 musicians (early Baroque and Classical opera) to as many as 90–100 musicians (Wagnerian opera). However, because of financial, spatial, and volume concerns, current musical theatre pit orchestras are considerably smaller (20–30 musicians at most, including a maximum of around ten string instruments, string players). Description Typically, pit orchestras play in a lowered area in front of the stage called an orchestra pit, rather than being on the stage as for a concert. Inside the pit, the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was published on Saturday 26 March 2016, leaving only the online edition. The daily edition was named National Newspaper of the Year at the 2004 British Press Awards. ''The Independent'' won the Brand of the Year Award in The Drum Awards for Online Media 2023. History 1980s Launched in 1986, the first issue of ''The Independent'' was published on 7 October in broadsheet format.Dennis Griffiths (ed.) ''The Encyclopedia of the British Press, 1422–1992'', London & Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992, p. 330. It was produced by Newspaper Publishing plc and created by Andreas Whittam Smith, Stephen Glover and Matthew Symonds. All three partners were former journalists at ''The Daily Telegraph'' who had left the paper towards the end of Lord Hartwell' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which became an independent company just before the Second World War. The American spin-off became a subsidiary of MCA Inc. in 1962. Known for its technical innovations, the British parent company grew to become the second most successful recording company in Britain and celebrated fifty years of existence in 1979, shortly before being sold to PolyGram. Both Decca and its former subsidiary were subsequently acquired by Universal Music. Decca and its American spin-off both built up strong catalogues of popular music. In their first two decades their artists included Gertrude Lawrence, George Formby, Jack Hylton and Vera Lynn in Britain and Bing Crosby, Al Jolson, the Andrews Sisters and the Mills Brothers in the US. Later performers in their popular ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cindy Walker
Cindy Walker (July 20, 1917 – March 23, 2006) was an American songwriter, country music singer, and dancer. She wrote many popular and enduring songs recorded by many artists. She adopted a craftsman-like approach to her songwriting, often tailoring particular songs to specific artists. She produced a large body of songs that have been described as “direct, honest, and unpretentious”. She had top-10 hits spread over five decades. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1997, and the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame in March 2011. Early life Cindy Walker was born on July 20, 1917, on her grandparents' farm near Mart, Texas (near Mexia, east of Waco), the daughter of a cotton broker. Her maternal grandfather, F.L. Eiland, was a noted composer of hymns and her mother was a fine pianist. From childhood, Cindy Walker was fond of poetry and wrote habitually. Career Beginnings As a teenager, inspired by newspaper accounts of the dust storms on the Am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Christmas (song)
"White Christmas" is a song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. Written by Irving Berlin for the 1942 musical film ''Holiday Inn'', the song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 15th Academy Awards. Originally sung by Bing Crosby, it topped the ''Billboard'' chart for 11 weeks and returned to the number one position again in December 1943 and 1944. His version would return to the top 40 a dozen times in subsequent years. Since its release, "White Christmas" has been covered by many artists. Crosby's version is the world's best-selling single (in terms of sales of physical media), with estimated sales in excess of 50 million physical copies worldwide. When the figures for other versions of the song are added to Crosby's, sales of the song exceed 100 million. History Origin Accounts vary as to when and where Berlin wrote the song. One story is that he wrote it in 1940, in warm La Quinta, California, while staying at the La Quinta Hotel, a fre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The John Scott Trotter Orchestra
John Scott Trotter Jr. (June 14, 1908 – October 29, 1975), also known as "Uncle John", was an American arranger, composer and orchestra leader. Trotter was best known for conducting the John Scott Trotter Orchestra which backed singer and entertainer Bing Crosby on record and on his radio programs from 1937 to 1954. He also worked with Vince Guaraldi on the score for ''Peanuts'' animated television specials and feature films between 1966 and 1975. Early life Trotter was born John Scott Trotter, Jr. on June 14, 1908, in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was born to parents John Scott Trotter and Lelia Trotter (née Bias). Trotter attended local schools in Charlotte. He studied piano under Ida Moore Alexander. In 1925, Trotter entered the University of North Carolina, where he began his career as a professional musician playing piano for a college band led by Hal Kemp. Kemp had entered the university in 1922 and graduated in 1926, but Trotter withdrew near the end of his first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Der Fuehrer's Face (song)
''Der Fuehrer's Face'' (originally titled ''Donald Duck in Nutziland'' or ''A Nightmare in Nutziland'') is an American animated anti-Nazi propaganda short film produced by Walt Disney Productions, created in 1942 and released on January 1, 1943 by RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon, which features Donald Duck in a nightmare setting working at a factory in Nazi Germany, was made in an effort to sell war bonds and is an example of American propaganda during World War II. The film was directed by Jack Kinney and written by Joe Grant and Dick Huemer. Spike Jones released a version of Oliver Wallace's theme for the short before the film was released. ''Der Fuehrer's Face'' won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film at the 15th Academy Awards. It is the only Donald Duck film to receive the honor, although eight other films have also been nominated. In 1994, it was voted Number 22 of "the 50 Greatest Cartoons" of all time by members of the animation field. However, because of the propagan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Del Porter
Del Porter (April 13, 1902, Newberg, Oregon – October 4, 1977, Los Angeles) was an American jazz vocalist, saxophonist, and clarinetist who, in the 1930s, performed on Broadway, toured with Glenn Miller, and recorded with Bing Crosby, Dick Powell, and Red Nichols, and in the 1940s, led his own big band. Porter was a singer with the Foursome, which came to prominence in the 1930 Broadway hit show, ''Girl Crazy.'' Porter, the best known member of the quartet, co-founded City Slickers with Spike Jones, about the time his group The Feather Merchants split up. With the Foursome's arranger and Porter's lifelong friend, Raymond M. Johnson, Porter reorganized the quartet around 1946 as the Sweet Potato Tooters. "Sweet potato" is a nickname for an ocarina. On Broadway The Foursome, with members Del Porter, Ray Johnson, J. Marshall Smith and Dwight Snyder, first appeared on Broadway in the two-act musical "Ripples" that ran for 55 performances. The show opened on February 11, 1930, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic Records. The label has released multiple genres of music, including pop music, pop, classical music, classical, rock music, rock, hip hop, afrobeat, electronic music, electronic, Contemporary R&B, R&B, blues, jazz, and country music, country. The label's name is derived from the initials of its now defunct parent company, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). After the RCA Corporation was purchased by General Electric in 1986, RCA Records was fully acquired by Bertelsmann in 1987, making it a part of Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG); following the merger of BMG and Sony in 2004, RCA Records became a label of Sony BMG Music Entertainment. In 2008, after the dissolution of Sony/BMG and the restructuring of Sony Music, RCA Records became fully ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kraft Music Hall
''The Kraft Music Hall'' was a popular old-time radio variety show, variety program, featuring top show business entertainers, which aired first on NBC radio from 1933 to 1949. Radio ''The Kraft Program'' debuted June 26, 1933, as a musical-variety program featuring orchestra leader Paul Whiteman and served to supplement print advertising and in-store displays promoting Kraft products. During its first year the show went through a series of name changes, including ''Kraft Musical Revue'', until it finally settled on ''Kraft Music Hall'' in 1934. Whiteman remained the host until December 6, 1935. Ford Bond was the announcer. Billed as "The King of Jazz", Whiteman was arguably America's first popular music superstar. Whiteman's foresight regarding the coming of the Jazz Age and his decisions to hire the best jazz musicians was a powerful boost for jazz, swing and blues. Though he was prohibited from hiring Black people, black performers, he hired arrangers and composers. Bing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. Crosby was a leader in record sales, network radio ratings, and motion picture grosses from 1926 to 1977. He was one of the first global cultural icons. Crosby made over 70 feature films and recorded more than 1,600 songs. Crosby's early career coincided with recording innovations that allowed him to develop an intimate singing style that influenced many male singers who followed, such as Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Dean Martin, Dick Haymes, Elvis Presley, and John Lennon. Yank, the Army Weekly, ''Yank'' magazine said that Crosby was "the person who had done the most for the morale of overseas servicemen" during World War II. In 1948, American polls declared him the "most admired man alive", ahead of Jackie Robinson and Pope Pius XII. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
