(Vocals, b. 1940) Discovered by Burt Bacharach in 1962 singing backing vocals in a New York studio, Warwick became the muse of the Bacharach-David writing team that made the reputations of both parties. Her first hit that year was their ‘Don’t Make Me Over’, and from then until 1972 when the writers fell out she charted 30 times with ...
(Saxophone, vocals, 1942–95) Rough bluesy sax player (born Autry DeWalt in Arkansas in 1942) who, with his band The All Stars, signed to Motown in 1964. He first charted the following year with ‘Shotgun’, having stepped up to perform the vocals when the booked singer did not show. More hits followed, notably 1966’s ‘How Sweet It ...
(Vocals, b. 1963) Houston has good genes; her mother is soul singer Cissy Houston and her cousin, Dionne Warwick. After working as a model and actress she plunged into her destined career. Her debut album, Whitney rose to No. 1 in 1985, with the ballad ‘Saving All My Love For You’, the first of many chart-topping singles. ...
The story of soul’s Golden Age is linked with the story of two American record labels: Berry Gordy’s Motown and Jim Stewart & Estelle Axton’s Stax. They discovered artists, wrote songs and developed recording and marketing methods that would irrevocably change popular music, and have a profound effect on the perception of race all over world. Motown’s base in ...
Following on from the lush bombast of the swing era, and established by a colourful group of American artists in the 1950s and 1960s, lounge was easy listening’s quirky kid brother. It was more playful than its more populist relative and, when viewed retrospectively, had a high camp factor. Although ostensibly laid-back and mellow, lounge ...
‘A Masked Ball’ In 1857, Verdi was virtually asking for censorship trouble when he chose Gustavuse III, ou Le bal masqué (‘Gustavus III, or The Masked Ball’) for his next work. In 1792 King Gustavusus III of Sweden had been shot dead at a masked ball in Stockholm. Regicide was a taboo subject and the Neapolitan censors immediately ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1964–74, 1977–present) Though ‘Go Now’ was a worldwide smash in 1965, later singles were much less successful for Denny Laine (vocals, guitar), Mike Pinder (keyboards), Ray Thomas, (woodwinds, percussion), Clint Warwick (bass) and Graeme Edge (drums), veterans of several beat groups from the British Midlands. With the departures of the late Warwick and ...
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An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...
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Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.
David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
his life, music, art and movies, with a
sweep of incredible photographs.