(Vocal group, 1987–97, 2004–present) Although Wyclef Jean and cousin Prakazrel ‘Pras’ Michel had Haitian backgrounds, The Fugees came together in New York, with Lauryn Hill completing this multi-instrumental compositional singing and production trio. Blunted On Reality (1994), released as Fugees Tranzlator Crew, contained most of the components of their sound blending in acoustic guitars and reggae ...
window to his addictive sound. Subsequent Fatboy albums – who else would sample Jim Morrison ? – also deserve attention. Styles & Forms | Nineties | Rock Personalities | The Fugees | Nineties | Rock ...
You’ (1992) from the soundtrack to The Bodyguard. I’m Your Baby Tonight (1990) was her last album until 1998’s My Love Is Your Love, featuring Lauryn Hill from The Fugees and rapper Missy Elliott. One of R&B’s great voices, she returned to music in 2009 with US chart-topping album I Look To You after her marriage to singer Bobby ...
Although contemporary R&B prefers to align itself with its ruder and more street-credible cousins in hip hop, the roots of its mainstream practitioners lie firmly in manufactured pop. In a throwback to the Motown era, R&B has become a global phenomenon by combining producer-led factory formula with a high level of musical innovation and adventure. This balance of pop ...
some of its practitioners seemed intent on destroying each other: Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. were among the stars to lose their lives in violent fashion. The Fugees were the first hip hop supergroup, spawning Lauryn Hill, Pras Michel and Wyclef Jean as solo performers. Boys And Girls Solo acts Alanis Morissette, Robbie Williams, ...
(Jan Kär’-lo Me-nôt’-te) 1911–2007 Italian-American composer The best of Menotti’s stage works combine something of the melodic appeal of Puccini and his successors with a dramatic punch that is Menotti’s own, but owes something to the American musical. His macabre The Medium (1946) and the chilling The Consul (1950), about refugees attempting to escape an unnamed country, have both ...
(Joo’-sep-pa Ver’-de) 1813–1901 Italian composer Verdi composed 28 operas over a period of 54 years. In his native Italy he became immensely popular early in his career, and by the time he died he was idolized as the greatest Italian composer of the nineteenth century. In other musical centres of Europe it took a little longer for Verdi’s genius to be ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1979–present) Huey Lewis (b. Hugh Cregg III, vocals, guitar) and Sean Hopper (vocals, guitar) were refugees from country rock band Clover. They found global success with the pop-inflected blue-collar rock of their next incarnation. Their third album Sports (1983) became an American No. 1, and bore three Top 10 US tracks including ‘Heart And ...
The relationship between politics and folk music has always been fuel for lively debate. Some argue that the two should not mix, and that aligning traditional song with politics demeans it. Front-line singers such as Dick Gaughan and Roy Bailey, however, argue that folk songs are inextricably linked with politics, and perform plenty of strident material to ...
After the devastation wrought in Europe by World War II, the urgent task of rebuilding the continent’s war-torn urban fabric demanded radical solutions. These were found in the centralized urban planning advocated before the war by architects such as Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Writing in 1953, the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007) created an explicit analogy ...
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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.