(Vocal group, 1990–96, 2006–present) Formed in Manchester around vocalist and songwriter Gary Barlow with Jason Orange, Howard Donald, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams providing totty appeal. Debut single ‘Do What U Like’ was released on their own label in 1991 leading to a deal with RCA. From that point Take That dominated the charts and teen magazines ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1990–96, 2006–present) After considerable success in the early Nineties, British boy band Take That reunited without fifth member Robbie Williams. A tour in 2006 encouraged them to record their first studio LP in a decade and Beautiful World went eight times platinum in the UK. The band took a more mature approach, while lead singer ...
(To-roo Ta-ke-mit-soo) 1930–96 Japanese composer Born in Tokyo, Takemitsu encountered the music of Debussy and Messiaen shortly after World War II. His Requiem for Strings (1957), bearing the latter’s stylistic imprint, was praised by Stravinsky. In 1964 he met Cage, who not only stimulated his experiments with graphic scores but also encouraged him to reassess his stance towards ...
Across the centuries and around the globe, many different forms of music have enjoyed mass appeal for a limited period of time. None, however, have been able to match the widespread influence of the popular music that erupted in America during the mid-1950s and, by the second half of the decade, was exerting its grip over ...
(Vocal group, 1993–2000) This Irish answer to Take That racked up seven Top 10 singles and spawned an equally successful solo star in Ronan Keating. Mikey Graham, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch, Stephen Gately (1976–2009) and Keating were mustered by future X-Factor svengali Louis Walsh in 1993. Their first UK hit was a cover version of The Osmonds’ ...
(Vocal group, 1992–97, 2006–present) Named after their Walthamstow postal district, Tony Mortimer, Brian Harvey, John Hendy and Terry Coldwell were a ‘bad’ boy vocal band who took style and attitude from America. Musically they racked up an impressive number of Top 40 hits between 1992 and 1997 – mostly penned by Mortimer – ranging from dance ...
(Vocals, b. 1974) Typically, the first single issued in 1996 by this former Take That member was a cover version of George Michael’s ‘Freedom’. Although ‘Old Before I Die’ was another hit in 1997, there was a perception that things might be slipping away due to Williams’ passion for late nights, drugs and alcohol. In fact co-writing ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1993–present) This Oxford group – Gary ‘Gaz’ Coombes (vocals, guitar), Mickey Quinn (bass) and Danny Goffey (drums) – delivered some of the finest and most chirpy pop to come out of the UK in the 1990s. Although ‘Caught By The Fuzz’ dealt with being busted for carrying cannabis, ‘Alright’, ‘Going Out’, ‘Richard III’, ‘Pumping On Your ...
(Vocals, b. 1985) T-Pain, real name Faheem Rasheed Najm is a US R&B and hip hop artist who came to prominence with his debut LP Rappa Ternt Sanga and its smash hit ‘I’m N Luv (Wit A Stripper)’ in 2005. Aged just 23, the Tallahassee, Florida, native scored a No. 1 album in 2007 with Epiphany ...
(Vocal group, 1998–present) Fourteen UK No. 1s and albums sales of over 45 million perhaps say more about the obsessive (and young) nature of Westlife’s fan base than their actual music. A clean-cut Irish boy band – Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan and (originally) Brian McFadden – formed in the image of Boyzone and ...
Groups of fresh-faced young men singing catchy tunes have been one of the mainstays of commercial pop since The Beatles. In the last two decades, manufactured boy bands such as New Kids On The Block and Take That have ruled the roost. Although their musical legacy bears no comparison to that of The Fab Four’s, the devotion they inspired ...
If you ask a young music consumer what kind of acts represent pop music, they will undoubtedly reel off a list of teen-orientated, manufactured bands. Pop has come to represent a narrowly focused genre, as far away from the initial, revolutionary rock-meets-pop appeal of Elvis Presley and The Beatles as can be. Since the 1950s, pop ...
Although boy bands and girl bands held sway over anglo-American pop for much of the 1990s, the end of the decade witnessed the return of the individual artist. While the likes of *NSYNC, Blue and Sugababes continued to fly the flag for groups, artists such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Pink emerged as arena-filling soloists. The ...
Adele was just three years old when she attended her first live gig with her mother: a Cure concert in London’s Finsbury Park. It was the same year her father, a Welsh plumber, left her mother, practically severing all ties with his daughter in the process. After that first gig, the tot took to the music straight ...
West-coast city Seattle was the unanticipated epicentre of 1990s music as grunge, the biggest ‘back to basics’ movement since punk, shook traditional American rock – Nirvana was to enjoy iconic status for a spell until Kurt Cobain’s death. In the UK, the dance-rock of The Stone Roses, a holdover from the late 1980s, put Manchester briefly ...
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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.