The Laughing Gnome
"The Laughing Gnome" is a song by the English singer David Bowie, released as a single on 14 April 1967. A pastiche of songs by one of Bowie's early influences, Anthony Newley, it was originally released as a Novelty song, novelty single on Deram Records in 1967. The track consists of Bowie meeting and conversing with a gnome, whose sped-up voice (created by Bowie and studio engineer Gus Dudgeon) delivers several puns on the word "gnome". At the time, "The Laughing Gnome" failed to provide Bowie with a chart placing, but on its re-release in 1973 it reached number six on the British charts and number three in New Zealand. Release and reception The single was not a commercial success upon initial release in April 1967, despite a positive review in the ''NME'', which declared it "A novelty number chock full of appeal. This boy sounds remarkably like Anthony Newley, Tony Newley, and he wrote this song himself. An amusing lyric, with David Bowie interchanging lines with a chipmunk-li ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gus Dudgeon
Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon (30 September 1942 – 21 July 2002) was an English record producer, who oversaw many of Elton John's most acclaimed recordings, including his commercial breakthrough, " Your Song". Their collaboration led to seven US No. 1 albums, and established John as one of the most successful singles artists of the 1970s. Dudgeon also produced Chris Rea's first hit, the US chart topping " Fool (If You Think It's Over)", and David Bowie's " Space Oddity", and steered many other artists to chart success, including Joan Armatrading and Elkie Brooks. The ''Guinness Book of Records'' cites Dudgeon as being the first person to use sampling in music production. He was a founding member of the Music Producers Guild. Early life and career Angus Boyd Dudgeon was born on 30 September 1942 in Woking, Surrey, England. After being expelled from Harrow School, he attended A. S. Neill's experimental and democratic Summerhill School. Throughout his life, Dudgeon regularl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, and his music and stagecraft have had a great impact on popular music. Bowie studied art, music and design before embarking on a professional career as a musician in 1963. He released a string of unsuccessful singles with local bands and David Bowie (1967 album), a self-titled solo album (1967) before achieving his first top-five entry on the UK singles chart with "Space Oddity" (1969). After a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with the alter ego Ziggy Stardust (character), Ziggy Stardust. The success of the single "Starman (song), Starman" and its album ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Star ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nicholas Pegg
Nicholas Pegg is a British actor, director and writer. Education Educated at Nottingham High School and graduating with a Master of Arts in English Literature from the University of Exeter, Pegg subsequently trained at the Guildford School of Acting. Acting Pegg's acting work in the theatre includes productions for Nottingham Playhouse, Scottish Opera, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Theatre Royal, Plymouth. His television roles include appearances in ''EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...'', ''Doc Martin'' and ''It's a Sin (TV series), It's a Sin'', and he has appeared as a Dalek operator in numerous episodes of ''Doctor Who''. In his capacity as a Dalek operator he has also appeared in person on ''Blue Peter'' and in many editions of the docume ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Virgin Books
Virgin Books is a British book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Group, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company. History Virgin established its book publishing arm in the late 1970s; in the latter part of the 1980s Virgin purchased several existing companies, including WH Allen, well known among '' Doctor Who'' fans for their Target Books imprint; Virgin Books was incorporated into WH Allen in 1989, but in 1991 WH Allen was renamed Virgin Publishing Ltd. Virgin Publishing's early success came with the ''Doctor Who'' New Adventures novels, officially licensed full-length novels carrying on the story of the popular science-fiction television series following its cancellation in 1989. Virgin published this series from 1991 to 1997, as well as a range of ''Doctor Who'' reference books from 1992 to 1998 under the Doctor Who Books imprint. In recent times the company is best known for its commercia ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Record Producer
A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensuring artists deliver acceptable and quality performances, supervising the technical engineering of the recording, and coordinating the production team and process. The producer's involvement in a musical project can vary in depth and scope. Sometimes in popular genres the producer may create the recording's entire sound and structure. However, in classical music recording, for example, the producer serves as more of a liaison between the conductor and the engineering team. The role is often likened to that of a film director, though there are important differences. It is distinct from the role of an executive producer, who is mostly involved in the recording project on an administrative level, and from the audio engineer who operates the re ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Organ (music)
Carol Williams performing at the West_Point_Cadet_Chapel.html" ;"title="United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel">United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel. In music, the organ is a keyboard instrument of one or more Pipe organ, pipe divisions or other means (generally woodwind or electronic musical instrument, electric) for producing tones. The organs have usually two or three, sometimes up to five or more, manuals for playing with the hands and a pedalboard for playing with the feet. With the use of registers, several groups of pipes can be connected to one manual. The organ has been used in various musical settings, particularly in classical music. Music written specifically for the organ is common from the Renaissance to the present day. Pipe organs, the most traditional type, operate by forcing air through pipes of varying sizes and materials, each producing a different pitch and tone. These instruments are commonly found in churches and co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Record Collector
''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine focussing on rare and collectable records, and the bands who recorded them. It was founded in September 1979 and distributes worldwide. It is promoted as "the world’s leading authority on rare and collectable records" and claims to be currently "the UK’s longest-running music magazine". History Music journalist and publisher Sean O'Mahony, under the pen name Johnny Dean, had published an official Beatles magazine, '' The Beatles Book'' (also known as ''Beatles Monthly''), from 1963 to 1969. In May 1976 O'Mahony started reprinting it, enclosing it in eight pages of new information about the Beatles along with small ads, in a magazine he named ''The Beatles Book Appreciation Society Magazine''. The interest shown in the small ads of ''The Beatles Book Appreciation Society Magazine'' for records and memorabilia of bands other than the Beatles led O'Mahony to launch ''Record Collector'' in Sept 1979, along with a copy of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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David Bowie (1967 Album)
''David Bowie'' is the debut studio album by the English musician David Bowie, originally released in the United Kingdom on 1 June 1967 through Decca Records, Decca subsidiary Deram Records. Produced by Mike Vernon (record producer), Mike Vernon and recorded from November 1966 to March 1967 in London, the album followed a string of Single (music), singles Bowie released for Pye Records that failed to chart. Vernon hired numerous studio musicians for the album's sessions; Bowie and his former Buzz bandmate Derek Fearnley composed music charts themselves using a musical guidebook. The album displays a baroque pop and music hall sound influenced by Anthony Newley and the Edwardian era, Edwardian styles of contemporary British rock bands. The songs are primarily led by orchestral brass and woodwind instruments rather than traditional instruments in pop music at the time, although some tracks feature guitar. The lyrical content varies from lighthearted childhood innocence to R ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, which owned it until Universal Music Group (UMG) took control of part of it in 2013. It is ultimately owned by UMG subsidiary Virgin Records Limited. The studio's most notable client was the Beatles, who used the studio – particularly its Studio Two room – as the venue for many of the Recording practices of the Beatles, innovative recording techniques that they adopted throughout the 1960s. In 1976, the studio was renamed from ''EMI'' to ''Abbey Road''. In 2009, Abbey Road came under threat of sale to property developers. In response, the British Government protected the site, granting it English Heritage Listed building, Grade II listed status in 2010, thereby preserving the building from any major alterati ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Comic Relief
Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make the public laugh, while raising money to help people around the world and in the United Kingdom. A new CEO, Samir Patel, was announced in January 2021. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, an annual (previously biennial) telethon held in March. The first live fundraising evening, held on 4 April 1986, featured comedians and pop stars, including Rowan Atkinson, Billy Connolly, Stephen Fry, Kate Bush and co-founder Lenny Henry. A prominent annual event on British television, Comic Relief is one of two high-profile telethon events held in the UK, the other being Children in Need, held annually in November. At the end of the Red Nose Day telethon on 14 March 2015, it was announced that in the 30-year history of Comic Reli ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionist Moe Tucker. Though their integration of rock and the avant-garde earned them little commercial success during their initial nine-year run, they are now widely regarded as one of the most influential bands in rock music, as well as underground, experimental, and alternative music. Their provocative subject matter and experimentation were instrumental in the development of punk rock, new wave and other genres. The group performed under several names before settling on the Velvet Underground in 1965, taken from the title of a 1963 book on atypical sexual behavior. In 1966, the experimental pop artist Andy Warhol became their official manager. They served as the house band at Warhol's studio, The Factory, and performed with his traveling multimed ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publication) ''New Musical Express''. 1920s–1940s It was founded in 1926 by Leicester-born composer and publisher Lawrence Wright as the house magazine for his music publishing business, often promoting his own songs. Two months later it had become a full scale magazine, more generally aimed at dance band musicians, under the title ''The Melody Maker and British Metronome''. It was published monthly from the basement of 19 Denmark Street in LondonPeter Watts. ''Denmark Street: London's Street of Sound'' (2023), pp. 30-31 (soon relocating to 93 Long Acre), and the first editor was the drummer and dance-band leader Edgar Jackson (1895-1967). Jackson instigated a jazz column, which gained in credibility once it was taken over by Spike Hughes in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |