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The Circus (Erasure Album)
''The Circus'' is the second studio album by the English synth-pop duo Erasure, released on 30 March 1987 by Mute Records in Germany and the United Kingdom and on 7 July 1987 by Sire Records in the United States. It was Erasure's second consecutive album to be produced by Flood. ''The Circus'' became the duo's breakthrough in the UK, spawning four successful singles and reaching number six. It was an immediate success thanks to the number two UK placing of the first single " Sometimes", six months earlier. The album remains Erasure's longest-running on the UK charts. Although mainstream success in the US did not occur with this album, it did generate two hits (including a number-one) on ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. It also became their first record to enter the ''Billboard'' 200. '' The Two Ring Circus'', also released in 1987, is a double 12-inch remix album that served as a companion piece to ''The Circus''. It includes remixes and re-recordings along with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erasure (duo)
Erasure ( ) are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell (singer), Andy Bell and songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and a member of synth-pop duo Yazoo (band), Yazoo. From their fourth single, "Sometimes (Erasure song), Sometimes" (1986), Erasure established themselves on the UK Singles Chart, becoming one of the most successful acts of the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. From 1986 to 2007, the pair achieved 24 consecutive top-40 entries in the UK singles chart. By 2009, 34 of their 37 chart-eligible singles and EPs had made the UK top 40, including 17 climbing into the top 10. At the 9th Brit Awards, 1989 Brit Awards, Erasure won the Brit Awards, Brit Award for Brit Award for British Group, Best British Group. Erasure made their debut with the studio album ''Wonderland (Erasure album), Wonderland'' in 1986, although it did not perform well chart-wise. With ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sire Records
Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases, in 1968, were distributed in the US by London Records. From the beginning, Sire introduced underground, progressive British bands to the American market. Early releases included the Climax Blues Band, Barclay James Harvest, Tomorrow, Matthews Southern Comfort and proto-punks The Deviants. When distribution by London ended after two years, US distribution was handled by various companies: Polydor Records in 1970 and 1971, during which time Sire's famous logo was introduced; by Famous Music from 1972 to 1974, during which time the progressive rock band Focus charted with their 1972 hit " Hocus Pocus"; and by ABC Records, which inherited Sire's distri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA. He is also the co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and ''Mamma Mia! (musical), Mamma Mia!'' He co-produced the films ''Mamma Mia! (film), Mamma Mia!'' and ''Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again'' with fellow ABBA member and close friend Benny Andersson. He is the oldest member of the group. Early life Björn Kristian Ulvaeus was born in Gothenburg on 25 April 1945. At age 6, he moved with his family to Västervik, Kalmar County. His parents were Aina Eliza Viktoria (née Bengtsson; 1909–2005) and Erik Gunnar Ulvaeus (1912–1999). Ulvaeus has one sister, Eva Margareta (born 1948). Ulvaeus did Swedish Armed Forces, military service. Career Pre-ABBA Before gaining international recognition with ABBA, Ulvaeus was a member of the Swedish folk-schlager band Hootenanny Singers, known e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benny Andersson
Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, composer and producer best known as a member of the pop group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and ''Mamma Mia! (musical), Mamma Mia!'' For the Mamma Mia! (film), 2008 film version of ''Mamma Mia!'' and its 2018 sequel, ''Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again'', he worked also as an executive producer. Since 2001, he has been active with his own band Benny Anderssons orkester. Early life Göran Bror Benny Andersson was born 16 December 1946 in the Vasastan, Stockholm, Vasastan district of Stockholm to civil engineer Gösta Andersson (1912–1973) and his wife Laila (1920–1971). His sister Eva-Lis Andersson followed in 1948. Andersson's musical interest was spurred by his father and grandfather (Efraim), who played the accordion. At the age of six, they bought him one, too, and introduced him to Swedish folk music, traditional music, and schlager. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" is a song by Swedish recording group ABBA. A disco song, it was first recorded in August 1979 to promote the group's North American and European concert legs of ABBA: The Tour. It was released on 12 October 1979 as the sole single taken from their second greatest hits album '' Greatest Hits Vol. 2'' (1979). Agnetha Fältskog sang the lead vocals to the song. Although it was not recorded for it, "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" was included in reissues of the group's sixth studio album '' Voulez-Vous'' (1979). The track went on to become one of ABBA's signature hits, topping the charts in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, and Japan's international chart, and reached the top ten in multiple countries across Europe and Australia as well. Its release in the United States and Canada was cancelled by Atlantic Records even though promotional copies were already pressed, presumably due to the unpopularity of disco as a whole ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Betty Boop
Betty Boop is a cartoon character designed by Grim Natwick at the request of Max Fleischer. She originally appeared in the '' Talkartoon'' and ''Betty Boop'' film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She was featured in 90 theatrical cartoons between 1930 and 1939. She has also been featured in comic strips and prolific mass merchandising throughout the decades, and two television specials in the 1980s. In 2025, '' Boop! The Musical'' debuted on Broadway. A caricature of a Jazz Age flapper, Betty Boop was described in a 1934 court case as "combin ngin appearance the childish with the sophisticated—a large round baby face with big eyes and a nose like a button, framed in a somewhat careful coiffure, with a very small body of which perhaps the leading characteristic is the most self-confident little bust imaginable". She was toned down in the mid-1930s as a result of the Hays Code to appear more modest, and has become one o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of Music of Norway, Norwegian folk music in his own compositions brought the music of Norway to fame, as well as helping to develop a Norwegian romantic nationalism, national identity, much as Jean Sibelius did in Finland and Bedřich Smetana in Bohemia. Grieg is the most celebrated person from the city of Bergen, with numerous statues that depict his image and many cultural entities named after him: the city's largest concert building (Grieg Hall), its most advanced music school (Grieg Academy) and its professional choir (Edvard Grieg Kor). The Edvard Grieg Museum at Grieg's former home, Troldhaugen, is dedicated to his legacy. Background Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in Bergen, Norway. His parents were Alexander Grieg (1806 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
In The Hall Of The Mountain King
"In the Hall of the Mountain King" () is a piece of orchestral music composed by Edvard Grieg in 1875 as incidental music for the sixth scene of act 2 in Henrik Ibsen's 1867 play ''Peer Gynt''. It was originally part of Opus 23 but was later extracted as the final piece of ''Peer Gynt'', Suite No. 1, Op. 46. Its easily recognizable theme has helped it attain iconic status in popular culture, where it has been arranged by many artists (see Grieg's music in popular culture). The English translation of the name is not literal. Dovre is a mountainous region in Norway, and "gubbe" translates into (old) man or husband. "Gubbe" is used along with its female counterpart "kjerring" to differentiate male and female trolls, "trollgubbe" and "trollkjerring". In the play, Dovregubben is a troll king that Peer Gynt invents in a fantasy. Setting The piece is played as the title character Peer Gynt, in a dream-like fantasy, enters "Dovregubbens (the troll Mountain King's) hall". The scen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andy Bell (singer)
Andrew Ivan Bell (born 25 April 1964) is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the synth-pop duo Erasure. The band achieved mainstream success (receiving a Brit Award for Best British Group) and are popular within the LGBT community, for whom he has become an icon. His solo career includes the studio albums '' Electric Blue'' (2005), '' Non-Stop'' (2010), ''iPop'' (2014), and ''Ten Crowns'' (2025). Early life Bell grew up in the Dogsthorpe area of Peterborough. His family still resides in the city and surrounding areas such as Market Deeping. Bell was educated at the King's School in the city. Career In 1985, during a period in which he worked selling women's shoes and was performing in a band called the Void, he responded to a newspaper advertisement for a singer. Vince Clarke had been Bell's "hero"; Bell was successful in his audition and together they formed the group Erasure. Bell sang the role of Montresor in the opera '' The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PIAS Recordings
PIAS Recordings (formerly Play It Again Sam) is a Belgian record label founded in 1982 by Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot, In September 2024, the company was acquired by Universal Music Group. Play It Again Sam expanded along with other European independent labels in the early 1980s. Play It Again Sam's prominent early artists were electronic-rock acts like Front 242, Meat Beat Manifesto and The Young Gods. They later added artists such as The Sound (band), The Sound, Soulwax/2ManyDJ's, Sigur Rós and Mogwai. History The first release on the label in 1984 was the mini album ''Faces in the Fire'' by the cult experimental psychedelic band The Legendary Pink Dots. This was immediately followed by the 'Four Your Ears Only' EP, featuring Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Red Guitars, Party Day and Luddites. This laid the ground for releases from many other artists with very diverse musical backgrounds and geographical origins, including the Butthole Surfers, Parade Ground, The Neon Judgement, The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Light At The End Of The World
''Light at the End of the World'' is the thirteenth studio album by English synth-pop duo Erasure, released on 14 May 2007 by Mute Records. The album's release was announced on the band's website on 26 January 2007 in a video message from members Vince Clarke and Andy Bell. It reached the UK top 30 upon its release. Background The album was first released in Japan on 14 May 2007, released by Mute Records in the United Kingdom on 21 May 2007 and in North America on the following day, 22 May. The Japanese release included bonus tracks and a music video. The album's first single, " I Could Fall in Love with You", was released in the UK on 2 April 2007, and in North America the following day. " Sunday Girl" is the second single, released in the UK on 11 June 2007 and in North America on 18 July. "Storm in a Teacup" and "Sucker for Love" were slightly remixed and released as promo singles. "When a Lover Leaves You" was originally intended to be the album's third (and final) singl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BMG Rights Management
BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was formed in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its stake in Sony BMG to Sony. From 2009 to 2013, the investment firm KKR held 51% of the company, which became one of the world's largest music publishers during that time. BMG is 100% owned by Bertelsmann and one of the group's eight business divisions. History Music at Bertelsmann In the 1950s, Bertelsmann entered the music business when it added music to its book club. Ariola, a record label, was launched and Sonopress, a pressing plant, was established. In 1975, Ariola opened an office in the United States. Bertelsmann acquired Arista Records in 1979 and half ownership of RCA Records in 1985, thereby becoming one of the world's largest music companies. After the full acquisition of RCA Records in 1987, Bertelsmann's various subsidiari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
