(Rap group, 1982–2002) Pioneers of hip hop, Run was born Joseph Simmons; DMC was Darryl McDaniel; with Jam Master Jay (b. Jason Mizell) on the decks. Their big, simple beats were heard on the eponymous debut (1983) and King Of Rock (1985), and as part of the first and best rock-rap crossover ‘Walk This Way’ with Aerosmith. Run ...
Lita Rossana Ford (b. 1958) was born in London. After her family settled in Los Angeles in the 1960s, she took up guitar at the age of 11, inspired by Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore. When she was 16, she met novelty-music producer Kim Fowley, who helped recruit her, along with Joan Jett, Sandy West, ...
Perhaps no other artist has forged so eclectic a career as guitarist-singer-songwriter-producer-technologist-experimenter Todd Rundgren (b. 1948). In his 40 years on the rock scene, Rundgren has pursued interests ranging from pop songcraft to experimental composition with his band Utopia, and from innovative record production to nostalgic reinvention tours with Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band and The New Cars. Rundgren’s guitar ...
Alternative guitarist Bob Mould (b. 1960) was born in Malone, New York. Mould was 16 when, inspired by The Ramones, he took up the guitar. While attending college in Minnesota in 1979, he founded Hüsker Dü, originally a hardcore punk/thrash band, with drummer Grant Hart and bassist Greg Norton. The band’s third album, Zen Arcade ...
Grunge guitarist Kim Thayil (b. 1960) was born in Seattle, Washington. He was inspired to play guitar by Kiss, subsequently backtracking to the music which inspired them – The New York Dolls, MC5, The Stooges and The Velvet Underground. He bought his first guitar, a Guild S-100, which he would use throughout his career, ...
With lyrics written minutes before they were recorded and the most ramshackle production imagineable, Nirvana’s 1989 debut album Bleach didn’t sound like the work of a group capable of toppling MTV’s fixation with hairspray rock; nor did its initial sales of around 15,000 copies. But that’s exactly what the trio from Aberdeen, Washington, went on to achieve. ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1930–35) This group, created by the Berea, Kentucky, entrepreneur John Lair in 1930 for the WLS National Barn Dance, genially exploited popular perceptions of mountain folk through music and costume, and was an ancestor of shows like The Beverly Hillbillies and Hee Haw. The group lasted only five years, but its members ...
(Fiddle, bandleader, 1915–2000) Cliff Bruner was one of the most influential western-swing fiddlers and bandleaders of the late 1930s–40s era. Born in Texas City, Texas, the self-taught Bruner was playing professionally by his mid-teens and joined the music’s pioneering ensemble, Milton Brown’s Musical Brownies, in 1935. His stint with Brown made him a name, ...
‘The Abduction from the Seraglio’ Premiered on 16 July 1782, Die Entführung aus dem Serail quickly became his most popular work and sealed the composer’s operatic reputation in German-speaking lands. The Viennese expected plenty of laughs from a Singspiel. Mozart obliged with his first great comic creation: the ‘foolish, coarse and spiteful’ (Mozart’s words) harem overseer Osmin, a larger-than-life ...
Prologue Erda’s daughters, the Norns, sit on a rock spinning the rope of destiny. They recall recent events but are unable to see the future, since the rope has frayed. The rope beaks and they return under the earth. Siegfried prepares to set off. He gives Brünnhilde the ring and she gives him her horse, Grane. Act ...
1876–1962 German conductor After conducting at the Vienna Court Opera, Walter was music director at the Munich Opera 1913–22, and at the Städtische Oper, Berlin 1925–29. He worked at the Vienna Opera in the 1930s, but left Austria after the Anschlüss and settled in the US. He conducted regularly at Covent Garden 1924–31, and at the ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1975–79) A proto-punk all-girl outfit put together by LA producer/svengali Kim Fowley, The Runaways were influenced by heavy metal and the glam rock of The Sweet and Suzi Quatro. Initially comprising Cherie Curie (vocals), Joan Jett (guitar), Lita Ford (guitar), Jackie Fox (bass) and Sandy West (drums), the band made five albums and went through several line-up ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1978–86) The brainchild of Kevin Rowland, Dexy’s bagged a UK No. 1 with the punky, singalong soul of ‘Geno’ (1980). The manifesto album Searching For The Young Soul Rebels (1980) backed it up. After internal disruptions, a Celtic element was added, and the stomping anthem ‘Come On Eileen’ from the 1982 album Too-Rye-Ay became ...
The inauspicious backdrop of Acton County Grammar School provided the foundation for one of the world’s most exciting, articulate, explosive and entertaining rock’n’roll bands – The Who. Roger Daltrey (b. 1944), John Entwistle (1944–2002) and Pete Townshend (b. 1945) showed a proclivity towards music at an early age and came together when Entwistle and Townshend joined Daltrey’s band, ...
Origins Of The Band Acton County Grammar School in West London would not, on the face of it, seem a likely melting pot of teenage angst. But it was here that Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend and John Entwistle – having served their apprenticeships with various bands – came together as The Detours in 1962. Although they enjoyed some ...
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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.