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Too Low For Zero
''Too Low for Zero'' (stylised as ''2 ▼ 4 0'') is the seventeenth studio album by English musician Elton John, released in 1983. The album marked a comeback for John, whose previous four albums had failed to yield many enduring international hit singles, and had disappointing sales compared to his string of hit records released during the first half of the 1970s. It is his second-best-selling album of the 1980s (after ''Sleeping with the Past''), earning Platinum certification by both the RIAA and the BPI. It produced several hit songs, each accompanied by successful MTV music videos, and it spent over a year on the ''Billboard'' album chart. Background For the first time since ''Blue Moves'' in 1976, all lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin. John also reunited with the core of his backing band of the early 1970s: Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnstone as well as Ray Cooper, Kiki Dee and Skaila Kanga (who played harp on John's self-titled album and '' Tumbleweed Connec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin is one of the most successful in history. John was the 19th EGOT winner in history. He has sold over 300 million records worldwide, making him one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time. John learned to play piano at an early age, winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. In the 1960s, he formed the blues band Bluesology, wrote songs for other artists alongside Taupin, and worked as a session musician, before releasing his debut album, ''Empty Sky'' (1969). Throughout the next six decades, John cemented his status as a cultural icon with Elton John albums discography, 32 studio albums, including ''Honky Château'' (1972), ''Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'' (1973), ''Roc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billboard (magazine)
''Billboard'' (stylized in letter case, lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to the music industry. Its Billboard charts, music charts include the Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100, the Billboard 200, 200, and the Billboard Global 200, Global 200, tracking the most popular albums and songs in various music genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm and operates several television shows. ''Billboard'' was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson acquired Hennegan's interest in 1900 for $500. In the early years of the 20th century, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs and burlesque shows, and also created a mail service for travelling entertainers. ''Billboard'' began focusing more on the music industry as the jukebox ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montserrat
Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with roughly of coastline. It is nicknamed "The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean" both for its resemblance to coastal Ireland and for the Irish diaspora, Irish ancestry of many of its inhabitants. Montserrat is the only non-fully sovereign full member of the Caribbean Community and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, though it is far from being the only dependency in the Caribbean overall. On 18 July 1995, the previously dormant Soufrière Hills volcano in the southern end of the island became active, and its eruptions destroyed Plymouth, Montserrat, Plymouth, Montserrat's Georgian era capital city situated on the west coast. Between 1995 and 2000, two-thirds of the island's population was forced to flee, mostly to the United Kingdom, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Newton Howard
James Newton Howard (born June 9, 1951) is an American film composer, orchestrator and music producer. He has scored over 100 films and is the recipient of a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, and nine nominations for Academy Awards. His film scores include ''Pretty Woman'' (1990), '' The Prince of Tides'' (1991), '' The Fugitive'' (1993), ''Dinosaur'' (2000), '' The Village'' (2004), ''King Kong'' (2005), ''Batman Begins'' (2005) and its sequel ''The Dark Knight'' (2008) (both composed with Hans Zimmer), '' Michael Clayton'' (2007) and the ''Fantastic Beasts'' trilogy (2016–2022). He has collaborated extensively with directors M. Night Shyamalan and Francis Lawrence, having scored eight of Shyamalan's films since ''The Sixth Sense'' (1999) and all of Lawrence's films since '' I Am Legend'' (2007). He has also worked with other directors such as Edward Zwick, Michael Hoffman, P. J. Hogan, Andrew Davis, Lawrence Kasdan, Joe Johnston, Taylor Hackford, Ivan Reitman, Joel Schumacher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Single Man (album)
''A Single Man'' is the twelfth studio album by English musician Elton John. Released in 1978, it is the first album for which Gary Osborne replaced Bernie Taupin as lyricist. It is also the first of two (the second being '' Victim of Love'') John albums that, on the original cut, have no tracks co-written by Taupin. Production ''A Single Man'' is the first of Elton John's albums to not include work by lyricist Bernie Taupin, and the first since his debut '' Empty Sky'' without producer Gus Dudgeon. The returning members of the Elton John Band are percussionist Ray Cooper and guitarist Davey Johnstone; the latter played on only one song on the album. Paul Buckmaster would not appear on another Elton John album until '' Made in England''. Unlike previous compositions in which lyrics came first, John started writing melodies at a piano, and an album unintentionally came about from this. This is also John's first album on which he sings in a lower register. " Song for G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tumbleweed Connection
''Tumbleweed Connection'' is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter Elton John. It was recorded at Trident Studios, London, in March 1970, and released in October 1970 in the UK and January 1971 in the US. It is a concept album based on country and western and Americana themes. All songs are written by John and Bernie Taupin, with the exception of "Love Song" by Lesley Duncan. In 2012, ''Tumbleweed Connection'' was ranked number 458 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The album peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart and number five on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart. In the US, it was certified gold in March 1971 and platinum in August 1998 by the RIAA. Background Co-writer Bernie Taupin said of the album, "Everybody thinks that I was influenced by Americana and by seeing America first hand, but we wrote and recorded the album before we'd even been to the States. It was totally influenced by The Band's album ''Music Fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elton John (album)
''Elton John'' is the eponymous second studio album by English singer-songwriter Elton John. It was released on 10 April 1970 through DJM Records. Including John's breakthrough single "Your Song", the album helped establish his career during the rise of the singer-songwriter era of popular music. In the US, ''Elton John'' was certified gold in February 1971 by the Recording Industry Association of America, RIAA. In the same year, it was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the 13th Annual Grammy Awards. In 2003, the album was ranked number 468 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, the 500 greatest albums of all time. On 27 November 2012, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as an album cited as exhibiting "qualitative or historical significance". Production This was the first of a string of John albums produced by Gus Dudgeon. As Dudgeon recalled in a ''Mix (magazine), Mix'' magazine interview, the al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skaila Kanga
Skaila Kanga (born in India) is a harpist and Professor Emerita of Harp at the Royal Academy of Music in London. After winning a Junior Exhibition to the Royal Academy of Music for piano, she switched to harp studies at age 17. She studied with Tina Bonifacio, Sir Thomas Beecham's harpist in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Early career Skaila began with the BBC Concert Orchestra, after which she went on to freelance with many London orchestras under such conductors as André Previn, Sir Georg Solti, Otto Klemperer, Evgeny Svetlanov, Simon Rattle, Sir Adrian Boult, Rudolf Kempe, Carlo Maria Giulini, Pierre Monteux, Bernard Haitink, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Pierre Boulez and Daniel Barenboim. Solo career Skaila's solo career has included many performances of concertos and broadcasts in the realms of records, films and television. She has worked for musical artists such as John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Michel Legrand, James Horner, Pat Metheny, Michael Nyman, Frank Sinatra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kiki Dee
Pauline Matthews (born 6 March 1947), better known by her stage name Kiki Dee, is an English pop singer. Known for her blue-eyed soul vocals, she was the first female singer from the UK to sign with Motown's Tamla Records. Dee is best known for the hit singles "Amoureuse" (1973), "I've Got the Music in Me" (1974) and "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", her 1976 duet with Elton John, which reached Chart-topper, number 1 on the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 record chart, chart. Her 1981 single "Star" became the theme song for the talent show ''Opportunity Knocks (British TV series), Opportunity Knocks'' when it was revived by the BBC in 1987. In 1993, she performed another duet with John for his ''Duets (Elton John album), Duets'' album, a cover version of Cole Porter's "True Love (Cole Porter song), True Love", which reached number 2 in the UK. During her career, she has released 40 singles, three EPs and 12 albums. Early life Dee was born in Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Cooper
Raymond Cooper (born 19 September 1947) is an English musician who has worked as a session and road-tour percussionist. During his career, Cooper has worked and toured with numerous musically diverse bands and artists including Elton John (as a duo and as a member of his band), Harry Nilsson, Billy Joel, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, David Gilmour, Roger Waters and Art Garfunkel. Cooper absorbed the influence of rock drummers from the 1960s and 1970s such as Ginger Baker, Carmine Appice and John Bonham. Incorporation of unusual instruments for rock drummers of the time such as cowbells, glockenspiel and tubular bells, along with several standard kit elements, helped create a highly varied setup. Continually modified to this day, Cooper's percussion set offers a large array of percussion instruments for sonic diversity such as the tambourine, congas, crash cymbals, cowbells, rototoms, tubu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Davey Johnstone
David William Logan Johnstone (born 6 May 1951) is a Scottish rock guitarist and vocalist, best known for his long-time collaboration with Elton John as a member of the Elton John Band. Career Johnstone was born in Edinburgh. At the age of seven, at primary school, he volunteered to learn the violin. But by the time he was 10 he was playing it "sideways like a guitar". One of his sisters then bought him a guitar for Christmas and by the age of 12 he was organising bands at his secondary school, Forrester High School. He had already decided he wanted to be a musician when he grew up. Johnstone's first work was with Noel Murphy in 1968, where he received his first album credit on the album ''Another Round''. By 1969, Johnstone had secured regular work as a session musician, where he began to branch out and explore differing genres of music, and experiment with a variety of instruments. In 1970, when Lyell Tranter (one of the two guitarists in the acoustic British folk group ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nigel Olsson
Nigel Olsson (born 10 February 1949) is an English drummer, best known for being a lifelong member of the Elton John Band. He has had an equally long career as a session musician and composed, recorded and produced albums as a solo artist. Career Early years Olsson was born to John and Elsa Olsson in Wallasey, Cheshire, England, the second of five boys. His family were originally from Gothenburg and he spent his early life living in Sunderland, where he worked on the pilot boats on the River Wear. He began his musical career playing the guitar in small bands, including the Sunderland based Fireflies; and took up the drums at a gig where the drummer did not show up at the last minute. His first appearance on a record album was in the band Plastic Penny, which released ''Two Sides of a Penny'' on Page One Records in 1968. Olsson was spotlighted on one song on that album, "I Want You," performing both lead vocals and a drum solo. In 1969 he played drums on the "flower power" po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
