Bringing B@ck The Good Times

ஞ SAVAGE GARDEN, Truly Madly Deeply|To The Moon and Back|I Knew I Loved You|Crash and Burn|I Want You||Affirmation

2010-06-09T21:21:00.014+08:00

Savage Garden was an Australian pop duo that enjoyed major international success between 1997 and 2000. The band was composed of Darren Hayes (vocals) and Daniel Jones (keyboards, sequencing, and guitar). They had a string of hits in the late nineties, and are best remembered today for their ballad "Truly Madly Deeply", which is considered their signature song, and the songs "To the Moon and Back", "I Knew I Loved You", "Crash and Burn", "I Want You" and "Affirmation".

ஃ STEVIE WONDER

2010-05-18T12:13:00.003+08:00

Stevie Wonder (born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. A prominent figure in popular music during the latter half of the 20th century, Blind from birth, he has recorded more than thirty U.S. Top ten hits, won twenty-two Grammy Awards the most ever won by a solo artist in history, and the lifetime achievement. He has also won an Academy Award for Best Song, and been inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Songwriters halls of fame. He has also been awarded the Polar Music Prize.

Released in the fall of 1972, Talking Book featured the number-one hit "Superstition", which is one of the most distinctive and famous examples of the sound of the Hohner clavinet keyboard. On an episode of the children's television show Sesame Street that aired in April 1973, Wonder and his band performed "Superstition".

Talking Book also featured "You Are the Sunshine of My Life", which also peaked at number-one. It has been argued that Wonder touring with The Rolling Stones on their 1972 American Tour, was a major factor behind the success of both "Superstition" and "You Are the Sunshine of My Life". Between them, the two songs won three Grammy Awards.

The album Fulfillingness' First Finale appeared in July 1974 and set two hits high on the pop charts: the #1 "You Haven't Done Nothin'" (a political protest song aimed at Richard Nixon) and the Top Ten "Boogie On Reggae Woman". The Album of the Year was again one of three Grammys won

Stevie Wonder at the Grammy Awards, 1990

ß SCOTT McKENZIE

2010-04-18T22:41:00.002+08:00

Scott McKenzie (born Philip Blondheim on January 10, 1939, Jacksonville, Florida) is an American singer, needless to introduce him for his best known for his 1967 hit single and generational anthem, "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)".

McKenzie grew up in North Carolina and Virginia and in mid 1950s sang briefly with Tim Rose in a high school group called The Singing Strings, and later with Phillips, Mike Boran and Bill Cleary formed a doo wop band, The Abstracts. In 1961 Phillips and McKenzie met Dick Weissman and formed The Journeymen, which recorded three albums for Capitol Records. After disbanding The Journeymen in 1964, they discussed forming a group called The Mamas & the Papas. McKenzie wanted to perform on his own, so Phillips formed the group with Denny Doherty, Cass Elliot and Michelle Phillips, his second wife. Two years later, McKenzie followed from New York and signed with Lou Adler's Ode Records. Phillips wrote and produced "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)", which was released in 1967, for McKenzie. It became a Top 10 hit in the United States and a number one in many other countries. [wikipedia]

ß Letter from FoongPC

2010-04-10T08:45:00.002+08:00

Got a letter from FoongPC for being one of the lucky winner of Versus Tag.

Congratulations to Donna & Cynthia.

FoongPC thank you very much..:) Cool!

Ð TAG 'EM IN MUZIK

2010-03-09T23:17:00.012+08:00

Seems like so much fun reading all the different styles and answers from bloggers might as well Tag along and have a go on my first try. Foongpc my humble apology for my indirect answers beating round the bush using music & songs to blend with it and not meant to drive you and readers to go nuts or bananas but all for the fun of it.

1.Najib vs Mahathir ~ WHO? See Me Feel Me.

2. Facebook vs Twitter ~ Facebook.

3. Lady Gaga vs Beyonce ~ Beyonce, Single Ladies dancing in pampers.

4. PJ vs KL ~ ‘Meet Me Halfway’ Black Eyed PEAS JAY.

5. iPhone vs Nexus One ~ Nexus One.

6. Blackberry vs HTC ~ Blackberry.

7. Firefox vs Google Chrome ~ Google Chrome.

8. Nikon vs Canon DSLR ~ Nikon.

9. sex vs sleep ~ I Don’t Like To SLEEP Alone, Paul Anka.

10. eating vs sex ~ sex.

11. call vs sms ~ sms.

12. sunny vs rainy ~ Sunny Beautiful Sunday.

13. werewolves vs vampires ~ werewolves, watch out for full Bad Moon Rising, hoooowlll...Creedence Clearwater Revival.

14. healthy & poor vs sick & rich ~ for better or for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to BLOG and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.

15. cakes vs doughnuts ~ cake.

16. school days vs working days ~ school days. Sunday, Monday, Happy Days. Tuesday, Wednesday, Happy Days. Thursday, Friday, Happy Days. The Weekend comes, my cycle hums, ready to race to you.

17. dog vs cat ~ snoop dogg with xtra g.

18. single vs married ~ Single Ladies, Put a ring on it Chipmunks.

19. Malaysia vs Singapore ~ Malaysia.

20. China vs USA ~ American Pie, Don Mclean.

21. Paula Abdul vs Kara DioGuardi ~ Paula Abdul - Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow.

22. OldTown vs Papparich ~ The Old homeTown looks the same as I step down from the train and there’s to meet me is Mama & PAPPARICH. Its good to touch the Green Green Grass of Home, Tom Jones.

23. Fitness First vs Celebrity Fitness ~ After all the scrubbing, laundry, washing, mopping, ironing, cooking, babysitting you wanna Physical? Olivia Newton John.

24. driver vs passenger ~ passenger.

25. beautiful & dumb vs brainy & fat ~ beautiful & dumb.

26. handsome & egoistic vs ugly & rich ~ If I Were A RICH Man, yubby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dum can’t be that ugly got all the $$$ for plastic surgery.

27. insurance agent vs direct selling agent ~insurance agent.

28. horror movies vs comedies ~ comedies.

29. working for yourself vs working for others ~ be your own boss.

30. Avatar vs Lord Of The Rings ~ “I See You”

31. bus vs taxi ~ BUS-stop, Hollies.

32. Haagen Dazs vs Baskin Robbins ~ Haagen Dazs.

33. flu vs diarrhea ~ One FLU over the cuckoo’s nest

34. blue vs pink ~ Love is BLUE , In memory of Paul Mauriat (1925~2006) #1 hit in USA for 5 weeks in 1968.

35. chicken vs duck ~ chicken little.

36. dawn vs dusk ~ Knock Three Times with Tony Orlando until DAWN.

37. Tiger Woods vs Nicole David ~ Nicole David.

38. Gmail vs Yahoo email ~ Gmail.

39. book smarts vs street smarts ~ street smarts.

40. foongpc's travel posts vs ghost story posts ~ foongpc’s travel posts.

41. Flute vs Saxophone ~ don’t flirt only a Sax-maniac

Now if you are interested to win a prize from foongpc, here's how. Follow the instructions carefully.

1. Copy the whole list from 1 - 41 and paste it on your blog.

2. State your preference/answer for each one of them.
eg. 41. Flute vs Saxophone ~ Sax-maniac

3. Mention this is a tag from CheaHS@n and link it to my blog.

4. Add one more topic (Topic no.42) to the list of 41 and your answer.

5. After you have put up your post in your blog, return here and leave a comment with the URL of your post.

Foongpc will enter all who participate into a lucky draw. There will be 3 winners!! But hurry! Contest ends 15th March 2010. Good luck!!

*This contest is open to Malaysians and Singaporeans only. International bloggers are welcomed to join provided they are Entrecard members.

൯ ROD STEWART, Maggie Mae|Reason To Believe|Sailing|First Cut Is The Deepest|You're In My Heart|I Don't Want To Talk About It|Do You Think I'm Sexy|Baby Jane|Have I Told You Lately|I Was Only Joking|

2010-02-24T21:42:00.011+08:00

Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer-songwriter born and raised in London, England and currently residing in Epping. From busker to superstar with his distinctive raspy singing voice made himself a big name in the late 1960s and early '70s with The Jeff Beck Group and then Faces.

Lyrics | Rod Stewart lyrics - Maggie May lyrics

Stewart's 1971 solo album Every Picture Tells a Story made him a household name when the B-side of his minor hit "Reason to Believe", "Maggie May", started receiving radio play. The album and the single hit number one in both the US and the UK simultaneously, a chart first, in September. "Maggie May" was also named in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, which is one of three songs by him to appear on that list.

Rod Stewart live at Royal Albert Hall

The first single, a cover of the Sutherland Brothers song "Sailing", was a number one hit in the UK, but it only reached the Top 60 of the US charts. The single returned to the UK Top 10 a year later when used as the theme music for a BBC documentary series about HMS Ark Royal, and having been a hit twice over became, and remains, Stewart's biggest-selling single in the UK.

"The First Cut Is the Deepest", a cover of a Cat Stevens song, went Top 30 in the US in 1977 and number one in the UK. Rod Stewart at Royal Albert hall.

"You're In My Heart" was the hit single, reaching number four in the US.

Whoa.. Amy Belle she is simply gorgeous. Stewart was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. On 31 December on the same year he played in front on 3.5 million people on Copacabana beach in Rio.

The legendary rock star Stewart with his career in its sixth decade, has achieved numerous solo hit singles worldwide, most notably in the UK, where he has garnered six consecutive number one albums and his tally of 62 hit singles include 31 that reached the top 10, six of which gained the number one position. He has had 16 top ten singles in the USA, with four of these reaching number one. He has sold over 130 million records worldwide,and is one of the best selling british singers of all time. He was voted at #33 in Q Magazine's list of the top 100 Greatest Singers of all time. [wikipedia]

He has got a nickname called "Rod the Mod" Stewart, from his dandyish style of grooming and dress.

Live in Lisboa on june 1st 2008

൯ RITCHIE VALENS, La Bamba|Tribute|La Bamba the Movie|

2010-02-03T00:00:00.001+08:00

Ritchie Valens (Richard Steven Valenzuela; May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement. He scored several hits, most notably "La Bamba", an original Mexican folk song that Valens transformed with a rock rhythm and beat that became a hit in 1958, making Valens a pioneer of the Spanish-speaking rock and roll movement. However his 'Bambastic' success was short lived with only a period of eight months recording. On February 3, 1959, on what has become known as The Day the Music Died, Valens perished in an ill fated small-plane crash in Iowa at the age of 18. The air crash also claimed the lives of fellow musicians Buddy Holly and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson.

La Bamba (1987) is an American biographical film written and directed by Luis Valdez. The picture features Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, among others. The drama is based on the real life events that affected the lives of rock star Ritchie Valens, his half-brother Bob Morales, his girlfriend Donna Ludwig and the rest of their families. [Wikipedia]

ള RICHARD MARX,Right Here Waiting|Endless Summer NIghts|Satisfied|Should've Known Better|Too Late To Say Goodbye|Hold On To The Night|

2010-01-20T21:55:00.004+08:00

Richard Noel Marx (born September 16, 1963 in Chicago, IL) is a pop/rock singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Marx need not much of an introduction with his most popular #1 hit song "Right Here Waiting" who placed himself in the record books by being the first solo artist to have his first seven singles hit the Top 5 on the US charts.

Lyrics | Richard Marx lyrics - Right Here Waiting lyrics

The first two singles, "Satisfied" and the platinum-selling "Right Here Waiting," both reached #1, completing a string of three consecutive No. 1 singles.

Marx's self-titled debut album, released in June 1987, yielded four hit singles and sold nearly four million copies in the US. The debut single, "Don't Mean Nothing", had been released the previous month and climbed to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as #1 on Billboard's Album Rock charts. The next two singles, "Should’ve Known Better" and "Endless Summer Nights" reached #3 and #2, respectively. The fourth single release, "Hold on to the Nights", earned Marx his first #1 single.

In 1988, Marx was nominated for a Grammy Award for 'Best Rock Vocal Performance - Male' for "Don’t Mean Nothing". [wikipedia]

Manglish this song is specially dedicated to you..for your 'wonderitis'.

ള STEVIE B, Because I Love U|Party Your Body|Spring Love|

2010-01-10T23:24:00.002+08:00

Stevie B (real name Steven Bernard Hill) who was born in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, is an African-American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Nicknamed "The King of Freestyle", well known for his 1990 number-one hit "Because I Love You (The Postman Song)". Guess this is the only signature song we could have heard about it by far the most.

Stevie B worked his brains out from car washing to fast food--before gaining recognition for his 1987 national club smash "Party Your Body". It was also the title track of his 1988 debut LP, which eventually went gold due to the huge success of "Spring Love". With his 1990 album,Love & Emotion, he broke all records with his success of "Because I Love You" enjoying four weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in December of 1990.

In 2007 Stevie B and Rapper Pitbull did a remake of his hit song "Spring Love" titled "Spring Love 2007". His latest collaboration is with newcomer The Chili Guy. The Chili Guy is perhaps best known from his appearances on the popular morning drive radio program "Toucher and Rich".

Stevie B continues to tour extensively and in July 2008 has released "Get The Party Started", a medium-tempo track that casts the artist in a contemporary light some 20 years after hitting the charts for the first time. "Get The Party Started" is stylistically comparable with the sound associated with artists Usher and Akon among others. [wikipedia]

ള RAY STEVENS

2010-01-02T22:39:00.004+08:00

Ray Stevens (born Harold Ray Ragsdale, January 24, 1939) is an American country music and pop singer-songwriter known for his novelty songs as well as more serious works. He was born in Clarkdale, Georgia, a small town west of Atlanta.

Lyrics | Ray Stevens lyrics - Everything Is Beautiful lyrics

Starting in the 1970s, Stevens became a producer and well-known studio musician on the Nashville scene. He recorded hits for Barnaby Records and Warner Brothers during 1970–1979. Stevens' biggest hit in the US was his gospel-inflected single "Everything Is Beautiful" (1970), a plea for love and tolerance. The single won a Grammy, was the theme song for his summer 1970 TV show, and marked his first time in the Top 40 on the country charts, peaking at #39. [wikipedia]

௫ RAY T. PETERSON, The Wonder Of You|Tell Laura I Love Her| Corrina Corrina|

2009-12-27T21:36:00.001+08:00

Ray T. Peterson was born in Denton, Texas. Blessed with a four octave singing voice, was a pop music singer who moved to Los Angeles, California in 1958 where he was attached to RCA Victor Records. After recording a few minor hits he made it into the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart on June 15, 1959 with "The Wonder Of You". Elvis Presley did a cover version of this song and became Peterson's buddy.

Lyrics | Ray Peterson lyrics - Tell Laura I Love Her lyrics

In 1960, Peterson scored a Top 10 hit with the teenage tragedy song, "Tell Laura I Love Her", and followed that success with "Corrina, Corrina" Peterson's dramatic ballad, "I Could Have Loved You So Well", written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and produced by Spector, only reached #57 on the U.S. chart.

Peterson was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Peterson died of cancer in 2005, in Smyrna, Tennessee, aged 65 who was survived by his wife, four sons and three daughters. [wikipedia]

௫ RAY ERSKINE PARKER, Jr |The Other Woman|Ghosbusters|I Still Can't Get Over Loving You|Jamie|

2009-12-20T20:56:00.003+08:00

Ray Erskine Parker, Jr. (born May 1, 1954) is an American guitarist, songwriter, producer and recording artist who is well known for the theme song Ghostbusters. Parker gained his reputation during the late 1960s as a member of the house band at the 20 Grand Club. In the mid-1970s he created Raydio.

Raydio broke up in 1981, while Parker continued with his solo career, scoring six Top 40 hits, including the hit single "The Other Woman" (Pop # 4) in 1982 and "Ghostbusters" in 1984. Other hits from this period included "I Still Can't Get Over Loving You" (Pop # 12) and "Jamie" (Pop # 14).

"Ghostbusters" was the title track of the Gold-selling soundtrack of the hit movie Ghostbusters, starring Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Harold Ramis, and Dan Aykroyd. The single was at #1 for three weeks on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, and at #1 for two weeks on its Black Singles chart. The song was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1984 but lost to Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" from The Woman in Red. [wikipedia]

௫ QUEEN, We Will Rock You|We Are The Champion|I Want To Break Free|Radio Ga Ga|Another One Bites The Dust|

2009-12-12T19:15:00.012+08:00

Queen were an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by guitarist Brian May, lead vocalist Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor, with bassist John Deacon completing the lineup the following year. Started off as 'Smile' in 1968 during their college days and subsequently changed their name to "Queen" two years later.

'News of The World' was released in 1977 which contained "We Will Rock You" and the rock ballad "We Are the Champions", both of which reached number four in the United States and became enduring international sports anthems.

In 1984, Queen released the album The Works, which included the successful singles "Radio Ga Ga" and "I Want to Break Free". Despite these hit singles, the album failed to do well in the United States. "Radio Ga Ga" was the band's last original American Top Forty hit until 1989's "I Want It All".

Queen began the 1980s with The Game. It featured the singles "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Another One Bites the Dust", both of which reached number one in the United States. The album stayed number one for four weeks in the United States, and sold over four million copies. It was also the only album to ever top the Billboard rock, dance, and R&B charts simultaneously.

On 23 November 1991, Mercury died of bronchial pneumonia, which was brought on by AIDS. A year later The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert was held at London's Wembley Stadium. It was a successful concert that was televised to over 1 billion viewers worldwide. The concert is listed in The Guinness Book of Records as "The largest rock star benefit concert". It raised over £20,000,000 for AIDS charities.

As of 2005, according to The Guinness Book of World Records, Queen albums have spent a total of 1,322 weeks or twenty-seven years on the United Kingdom album charts; more time than any other musical act. Also in 2005, with the release of their live album with Paul Rodgers, Queen moved into third place on the list of acts with the most aggregate time spent on the British record charts. [wikipedia]

௫ PROCOL HARUM, A Whiter Shade Of Pale|Homburg|A Salty Dog|Pandora's Box|

2009-12-04T22:52:00.015+08:00

Procol Harum are a British rock band, formed in the 1960s, who contributed to the development of progressive rock, and by extension, symphonic rock. Their best-known recording is their 1967 single "A Whiter Shade of Pale." Although noted for itsclassical influence, Procol Harum's music also embraces the blues and pop.

Started off as The Paramounts, led by Gary Brooker and Robin Trower and including Chris Copping, the group disbanded in 1966. In April 1967, Brooker began working as a singer/songwriter and formed Procol Harum with non-Paramounts Keith Reid (poet), Hammond organist Matthew Fisher, guitarist Ray Royer and bassist David Knights. Guy Stevens, their original manager, named the band after a friend's Burmese cat.

Lyrics | Procol Harum lyrics - A Whiter Shade Of Pale lyrics

With a structure reminiscent of Baroque music, a counter melody based on J.S. Bach's cantata no.140 assigned to Fisher's Hammond organ, Brooker's soulful vocals and Reid's mysterious lyrics, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" reached #1 on the British charts and did almost as well in the United States, reaching #5.

The group's follow-up single, "Homburg", with a lineup change of former Paramounts B.J. Wilson on drums and Robin Trower on guitar, was almost as successful in the UK as it reached #6, but the LP Procol Harum, was less successful (it was recorded soon between the two hit singles, but was held back until early 1968 and in mono and phony stereo, which was unusual by that time).

A Salty Dog (1969; see 1969 in music) was popular among fans, and was their first album to sell well in the UK; it is still regarded as one of their finest albums. The title track in particular gained a good deal of US FM radio airplay, with Reid's ominous lyrics in the forefront. However, Fisher, who produced this album, departed the band soon after its release. [wikipedia]

Each time when I hear this song I will sure to have goose pimples all over..whoa love that organ sure rocks. My oh my after so many years they're still great just the same.

௫ H:A:P:P:Y B:I:R:T:H:D:A:Y F:O:O:N:G PC!

2009-12-01T13:33:00.007+08:00

FoongPC, a special dedication to you. Wishing you all the very best, blue skies and everything nice.

Let the NightCatz play your birthday song to you in three version. "Kung choke nei ~ nin nin yau kum yet, shuei shuei yau kum chew" - Canto. Many Happy Returns of the Day.

മ THE POLICE, Every Breath You Take|Roxanne|Message In A Bottle|

2009-11-29T23:14:00.002+08:00

The Police were an English rock trio, from London, England, formed originally in 1977. The trio consisted of Gordon Sumner, CBE (born 2 October 1951), widely known by his stage name of Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar, vocals) and Stewart Copeland (drums, vocals, percussion).

The Police have sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, and became the world's highest-earning musicians in 2008, thanks to their reunion tour. Rolling Stone ranked The Police number 70 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

BRIT Awards
1982: Best British Group
1985: Outstanding Contribution To Music

Grammy Awards
1980: Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Reggatta de Blanc"
1981: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Don't Stand So Close to Me"
1981: Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Behind My Camel"
1983: Song of the Year for "Every Breath You Take" (awarded to Sting)
1983: Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Every Breath You Take"
1983: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for Synchronicity

The Police were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 10 March 2003

മ .:H:A:P:P:Y B:I:R:T:H:D:A:Y R:E:A:N:A:C:L:A:I:R:E:.

2009-11-23T22:27:00.007+08:00

Hi Reanaclaire a special dedication to your 25th birthday every year for now and forever. Age is mind over matter. If you don't mind; it doesn't matter. Wishing you "cheng choon mei lai, sum seong see seng" - canto. Many Happy Returns of The Day. Happy Birthday!

Something different from the usual birthday song, whoa I love the beat of this Japanese/English birthday song. This is specially for you - GAMBATE!!!. Hope you like it..God bless.

മ THE POINTER SISTERS, Yes We Can Can|Wang Dang Doodle|He's So Shy|Slow Hand||Jump|Neutron Dance|Freedom|

2009-11-20T20:34:00.005+08:00

The Pointer Sisters are an American Pop/R&B recording artiste from Oakland, California that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. The trio consisting of Anita, June, and Ruth, after Bonnie left the group.

The first single from this album (as well as the first song on side A), a funk cover of "Yes We Can Can", reached number 11 on the pop charts, and would go on to establish itself as an R&B classic. The album's second single was a cover of Willie Dixon's Blues stomper "Wang Dang Doodle". It reached the R&B top 40 and the group's thrift shop style began to catch on with fans, many of whom would attend their shows in similar attire.

In 1980 the soulful pop single, "He's So Shy", reached number three on the charts, and the following year a slow, sultry ballad, "Slow Hand", reached number two.

Lyrics | Pointer Sisters lyrics - He's So Shy lyrics

Lyrics | Pointer Sisters lyrics - Slow Hand lyrics

In 1983, the Pointer Sisters released what became their biggest-selling album ever with Break Out. In 1983 Ruth had also become a grandmother for the first time. With the advent of MTV the sisters were able to exploit their visual style and extend their audience. In 1984 they achieved four Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles in a row. "Automatic" reached #5; "Jump (for My Love)" reached #3; a remix of "I'm So Excited" was added to the album almost a year into its shelf life and reached #9; and another single from the album, "Neutron Dance", also featured on the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack, reached #6. [Wikipedia]

മ The PRETENDERS, Stop Your Sobbing|Kid|Brass in Pocket|Back On The Chain Gang|I'll Stand By You|

2009-11-17T21:15:00.005+08:00

The Pretenders are a British rock band. The original band consisted of group founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar,backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Martin Chambers(drums, backing vocals, percussion).

The Pretenders quickly rose to critical attention with the January 1979 single, "Stop Your Sobbing", written in 1964 by Ray Davies. It was followed in quick succession that year by the popular singles "Kid" in June and "Brass in Pocket" in November, which cracked the American market for the band (reaching #14 on the Billboard Hot 100), and reached no.1 in the UK.

"Back on the Chain Gang," This song was released in October and marked a new level of musical sophistication for the band while becoming their biggest hit in the U.S., staying at #5 for three consecutive weeks.

Lyrics | Pretenders lyrics - I'll Stand By You lyrics

In March 2005, the Pretenders were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Only Hynde and Chambers attended the ceremony. In her acceptance speech, Hynde named and thanked all the replacement members of the group. [wikipedia]

മ THE PLATTERS, My Prayers|Twilight Time|Smoke Gets In Your Eyes|Great Pretender|Only You|

2009-11-10T23:38:00.000+08:00

The Platters were a successful vocal group of the early rock and roll era. The Platters formed in Los Angeles in 1953 and were initially managed by Ralph Bass. The original group members were Alex Hodge, Cornell Gunther, David Lynch, Joe Jefferson, Gaynel Hodge and Herb Reed.

The Platters' unique vocal style had touched a nerve in the music-buying public, and a string of hit singles followed, including two more Top 100 number one hits, one Hot 100 number one hit, and more modest hits such as "I'm Sorry" (#11) and "He's Mine" (#23) in 1957, "Enchanted" (#12) in 1959, and "The Magic Touch" (#4) in 1956. The Platters soon hit upon the successful formula of updating older standards, such as "My Prayer", "Twilight Time", "Harbor Lights", "To Each His Own", "If I Didn't Care" and Jerome Kern's "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes". This latter release caused a small controversy after Kern's widow expressed concern that her late husband's composition would be turned into a "rock and roll" record. It topped both the American and British charts in a tasteful Platters-style arrangement.

The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in its inaugural year of 1998. The Platters were the first rock and roll group to have a Top Ten album in America. They were also the only act to have three songs included on the American Graffiti soundtrack that sparked an oldies revival in the early to mid-1970s: "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "The Great Pretender" and "Only You (and You Alone)". [Wikipedia]

മ PLAYER, Baby Come Back|This Time I'm In It For Love|

2009-11-03T00:15:00.001+08:00

Player is an American rock band during the late 1970s. Their #1 hit, "Baby Come Back" was written by Peter Beckett and J.C. Crowley. Player first came together in Los Angeles, California. The original members included Peter Beckett (lead vocals, guitar), John Charles "J.C." Crowley (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Ronn Moss (bass, vocals) and John Friesen (drums).

Their biggest hit, "Baby Come Back", rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978 and was a chart success in other countries. Their follow up single "This Time I'm In It For Love" also peaked at No. 10 the same year. Among several notable accolades, Player was named Billboard's Best New Singles Artist of 1978. Eric Clapton became so impressed with Player that he invited them to open for him during his 1978 North American tour. This further fueled their popularity.

The band's No. 1 signature song, "Baby Come Back", was used in the 2007 film Transformers in a scene where Bumblebee purposely stalls in a romantic location so that the protagonist, Sam Witwicky (played by Shia LaBeouf), can have some alone time with the object of his romantic desires, Mikaela Banes (played by Megan Fox). When Mikaela is about to leave, Bumblebee eventually restarts and plays the song. [wikipedia]

ø PETER, PAUL & MARY, 500 Miles|Where Have All The Flowers Gone|Puff The Magic Dragon|If I Have A Hammer|Blowing In The Wind|Leaving On A Jet Plane|

2009-10-30T23:47:00.014+08:00

Peter, Paul and Mary, composed of trio Peter Yarrow, Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers. They were one of the most successful folk-singing musical groups in the United States of the 60s.

They recorded their first album, Peter, Paul and Mary, the following year. It included "500 Miles", "Lemon Tree", and the Pete Seeger hit tunes "If I Had a Hammer" and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?". The album was listed in the Billboard Magazine Top Ten for 10 months, including seven weeks in the #1 position. It remained a main catalog seller for decades to come, eventually selling over two million copies, earning Double Platinum certification from the RIAA in the United States alone.

In 1963 the group also released "Puff the Magic Dragon", with music by Yarrow and words based on a poem that had been written by a fellow student at Cornell student Leonard Lipton.

Lyrics | Peter, Paul & Mary lyrics - Puff, The Magic Dragon lyrics

The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.

"Leaving On A Jet Plane" became their only #1 hit (as well as their final Top 40 Pop hit) in December 1969, and was written by the group's friend John Denver. It was the group's only million-selling Gold single. The track first appeared on their million-selling Platinum certified Album 1700 in 1967 (which also contained their #9 hit I Dig Rock and Roll Music). "Day Is Done", a #21 hit in June 1969, was the last Hot 100 hit that the trio recorded.

Lyrics | Peter, Paul & Mary lyrics - Leaving On A Jet Plane lyricsPeter, Paul and Mary received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award from Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006. The Peter, Paul and Mary trio came to an end on September 16, 2009, when Mary Travers died at age 72 of complications from chemotherapy, following treatment for leukemia. RIP Mary [wikipedia]

ø PINK FLOYD, The Wall|Marooned|Shine On Your Crazy Diamond|Time|Wish You Were Here|Learning To Fly|

2009-10-26T22:39:00.010+08:00

Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965 who initially earned recognition for their psychedelic and space rock music, which later evolved to progressive rock music. Pink Floyd are known for philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album cover art, and elaborate live shows as what Wikipedia described them. The group have sold over 200 million albums worldwide including 74.5 million albums in the United States.

Despite never hitting #1 in the UK (it reached #3), The Wall spent 15 weeks atop the U.S. Charts in 1980. It has been certified 23x platinum by the RIAA, for sales of 11.5 million copies of the double album in the U.S. Alone.

In 1995, the band received their first and only Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Marooned".

On January 17, 1996 after over three decades of being one of the pioneer bands in Rock Music, Pink Floyd was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins inducted Pink Floyd, the archetype mystical performance rock band, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, describing them as the "ultimate rock and roll anomaly".

Lyrics | Pink lyrics - Wish You Were Here lyrics

On 16 November 2005 Pink Floyd were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame by Pete Townshend.

ø PHIL COLLINS, You Can't Hurry Love|Against All Odd|One More Night|Sussudio|Easy Lover|Groovy Kind Of Love|Another Day In Paradise|You'll Be In My Heart|

2009-10-24T23:04:00.012+08:00

Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins LVO (born 30 January 1951 in Chiswick, London) is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, keyboardist and actor. Collins spent most of his early entertainment life as a young actor and model. His interest in music and drumming began at school, where he drummed with a stage school band "The Real Thing. Collins was only 19 when he was successfully auditioned for Genesis IN 1970 as drummer/backup vocalist for Genesis, taking over vocals from Peter Gabriel when he left the band in 1975.

He had US number one singles with "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (1984), "One More Night" (1985), "Sussudio" (1985), "Separate Lives" (1985), "A Groovy Kind of Love" (1988), "Two Hearts" (1989) and "Another Day in Paradise" (1989).

"Against All Odds" won the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1985, and it was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Winner of the 1989 Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist.

Winner of the British Phonographic Industry Award for British Male Solo Artist in 1986.

"Another Day in Paradise" went to Number 1 on the Billboard Charts at the end of 1989 and won Collins a Grammy for Record of the Year (1990). In the process, it became the last #1 U.S. Pop hit of the 1980s. Winner of the 1990 Brit Awards for British Male Solo Artist and British Single for "Another Day in Paradise".

Lyrics | Phil Collins lyrics - Another Day In Paradise lyrics

Collins' next single, "You'll Be in My Heart", from the Disney movie Tarzan, spent 19 weeks at #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart - the longest time ever up to that point - and Collins obtained an Oscar. It was his third nomination in the songwriters category, having been previously nominated in 1985 and 1989.

ø PETULA CLARK, Downtown|My Love|A Sign Of The Times|This Is My Song|Don't Sleep In The Subway|

2009-10-22T21:22:00.001+08:00

Petula Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) christened as Petula Sally Olwen Clark is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has been in the entertainment industry over a span of seven decades, started her professional career as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II.

According to Wikipedia "Downtown" went to #1 on the American charts in January 1965, and three million copies were sold in America. It was the first of fifteen consecutive Top 40 hits Clark achieved in the United States, including "I Know a Place", "My Love", "A Sign of the Times", "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love", "This Is My Song" (from the Charles Chaplin film A Countess from Hong Kong), and "Don't Sleep in the Subway." The American recording industry honored her with Grammy Awards for "Best Rock & Roll Record" for "Downtown" in 1964 and for "Best Contemporary Female Vocal Performance" for "I Know a Place" in 1965. In 2003, her recording of "Downtown" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

ø PETER AND GORDON, A World Without Love|Nobody I Know|I Don't Want To See U Again|WomanIGo To Pieces|Lady Godiva|

2009-10-21T22:27:00.004+08:00

Peter and Gordon, formed by duo Peter Asher and Gordon Waller, began their music career in 1964, rocketed to fame with "A World Without Love" and amassed nine Top 20 records (three of them gold) during their career.

A WORLD WITHOUT LOVE

Please lock me away

And don't allow the day

Here inside where I hide

With my loneliness

I don't care what they say I won't stay

In a world without love

Birds sing out of tune

And rain clouds hide the moon

I'm OK, here I'll stay

With my loneliness

I don't care what they say I won't stay

In a world without love

*So I wait and in a while

I will see my true love's smile

She may come, I know not when

When she does I lose

So baby until then

Lock me away

And don't allow the day

Here inside where I hide

With my loneliness

I don't care what they say I won't stay

In a world without love

The Beatles' Paul McCartney was involved in some of the composition as Peter's sister actress Jane Asher was dating Paul , hits included "A World Without Love" (U.S. #1), "Nobody I Know," "I Don't Want To See You Again," and "Woman."

Other hits for the group included "I Go to Pieces" (U.S. #7), which was written by Del Shannon and given to the duo after the two acts toured together. Peter and Gordon had their last hits in 1967 with "Lady Godiva" (U.S. #6), "Knight In Rusty Armour" and "Sunday for Tea."

In August 2005, Peter and Gordon reunited onstage for the first time in over 30 years, as part of two tribute concerts for Mike Smith of the Dave Clark Five in New York City. Gordon died on 17 July 2009 at the age of 64.

ø PAULA ABDUL, Opposites Attract|Forever Your Girl|Rush Rush|My Love Is For Real|Dance Like There's No Tomorrow|

2009-10-20T22:56:00.001+08:00

Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) in San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, need not much of an introduction; is an American pop singer, record producer, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality and one of the three judges of American Idol.

Her six number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 tie her for fifth among the female solo performers who have reached #1 there. She won a Grammy for "Best Music Video - Short Form" for "Opposites Attract" and twice won the "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography."

She was selected from a pool of 700 candidates for the cheerleading squad of the Los Angeles Lakers NBA basketball team—the famed Laker Girls. Within three months, she became head choreographer. Six months later, she left the university to focus on her choreography and dancing career.

In 1988, Abdul released her pop debut album, Forever Your Girl. The album took 62 weeks to hit #1 on the Billboard 200 album sales chart—the longest an album has been on the market before hitting #1—and spent 10 weeks there. The album eventually became multi-platinum in the spring and summer of 1989, and it spawned five American Top Three singles, four of them #1s (three in 1989 and one in 1990): "Straight Up", "Forever Your Girl", "Cold Hearted", "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me", and "Opposites Attract". A remix album, Shut Up and Dance, was also released and reached #7 on Billboard's album chart, becoming one of the most successful remix albums to date. The Grammy award-winning video for "Opposites Attract" featured an animated cat named MC Skat Kat. Abdul also went on a Club MTV tour where she performed songs from her album. Several other acts were also on the tour.

Abdul's follow-up album, 1991's Spellbound, contained another string of hits, and sold 13 million copies worldwide. The first single from Spellbound was the ballad, "Rush, Rush", which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks. "Promise of a New Day," the second release from the album, also hit No. 1, and it was followed by the Top 10 hit "Blowing Kisses in the Wind" and two Top 20 hits: "Vibeology" and "Will You Marry Me?."

The first single off the album, "My Love Is for Real" featured a fusion of R&B and traditional Middle Eastern instruments, and was performed with Yemeni-Israeli singer Ofra Haza. It was a hit in the clubs (peaking at #1 on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart), but the single stalled at #28 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. Despite the lack of mainstream chart success, the single was nominated for several MTV Video Music Awards.

In January 2008, Paula returned to the music charts for the first time in nearly 13 years with the single "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow", which is the first track on the album Randy Jackson's Music Club Vol 1. The song debuted on On Air with Ryan Seacrest. The song was a modest comeback hit for Paula, peaking at #62 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. [wikipedia]

ø PAUL YOUNG, Wherever I Lay My Hat| Every Time You Go Away|Oh Girl|Come Back And Stay|Everything Must Change|

2009-10-16T23:59:00.004+08:00

Paul Antony Young was born in Jan 17 1956 in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. Became lead singer in a group called Kat Kool & The Kool Kats. Later in 1970 joined Streetband and after almost a decade the band broke up and Young started Q-Tips. Young went solo after Q-Tips go separate ways and after a few attempts on few flopped singles, "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)" reached No. 1 in the UK singles chart for three weeks in the summer of 1983.

Young's biggest worldwide hit followed in 1985 with a version of Daryl Hall's "Everytime You Go Away." The song reached #1 on the U.S. pop charts, and he performed it during the London segment of the Live Aid concert. In 1990, he released a cover of The Chi-Lites' song "Oh Girl," which peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

EVERY TIME YOU GO AWAY

Hey! If we can solve any problem

Then why do we lose so many tears

Oh, and so you go again

When the leading man appears

Always the same thing

Can't you see, we've got everything goin' on and on and on

Every time you go away you take a piece of me with you

Go on and go free, yeah

Maybe you're too close to see

I can feel your body move

It doesn't mean that much to me

I can't go on sayin' the same thing

Just can't you see, we've got everything do you even know we

know

Every time you go away you take a piece of me with you, oh

Every time you go away you take a piece of me with you

I can't go on sayin' the same thing

'Cause baby, cancha see, we've got everything goin' on and

on and on

Every time you go away you take a piece of me with you

ø PAUL REVERE & THE RAIDERS, Indian Reservation|Kicks|Hungry|Let Me|Just Like Me|

2009-10-13T22:07:00.006+08:00

Paul Revere and the Raiders is an American rock band led by organist Paul Revere (born Paul Revere Dick on Jan 07 1938) The band was initially located in Boise, Idaho called The Downbeats and in 1960 changed to Paul Revere & The Raiders.

Whoa remember this Raiders' song very well as in many cowboys & indians movies, the Cherokees were often "raided" by the cavalry forces and that strike up a connection..

INDIAN RESERVATION

They took the whole Cherokee nation

Put us on this reservation

Took away our ways of life

The tomahawk and the bow and knife

Took away our native tongue

And taught their English to our young

And all the beads we made by hand

Are nowadays made in Japan

Cherokee people, Cherokee tribe

So proud to live, so proud to die

They took the whole Indian nation

Locked us on this reservation

Though I wear a shirt and tie

I'm still part redman deep inside

Cherokee people, Cherokee tribe

So proud to live, so proud to die

But maybe someday when they learn

Cherokee nation will return, will return, will return, will return, will return

They are best-known for U.S. hits like "Indian Reservation" (1971), "Steppin' Out" and "Just Like Me" (1965), "Kicks" (ranked number 400 on Rolling Stonemagazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time) and "Hungry" (1966). and "Let Me" (1969).

Their second major national hit, "Just Like Me" (1965 - #11) was one of the first rock records to feature a distinctive, double-tracked guitar solo (by guitarist Drake Levin).

ø PAUL ANKA, Diana|Lonely Boy|You're Having My Baby|I Don't Like To Sleep Alone|Times Of Your Life|

2009-10-13T00:15:00.016+08:00

Paul Albert Anka, OC (born July 30, 1941 in Ottawa, Ontario) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor of Lebanese origin, became a naturalized US citizen in 1990.

Paul Anka has recorded 125 albums to date including over 10 albums in Japanese, German, Spanish, French, and Italian, composing songs culturally tailored to each country. He has sold close to 15 million albums worldwide. Among his Billboard chart stats in the U.S. are three #1 songs, "Diana," "Lonely Boy," and "You're Having My Baby," as well as 22 Top 20 hits.

Paul Anka was elected to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1980. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6840 Hollywood Blvd. Anka has also received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in 2005. In 1991, the Government of France honored him with the title 'Chevalier of the Ordre Des Arts et Des Lettres'. He was appointed an officer of the Order of Canada in 2005. [wikipedia]

Many would agree with me thinking this 'sleeping alone' song was by Lobo not realizing Anka was the original singer or could have long forgotten or even unheard of Paul Anka. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1993.

ø BOYZONE, Picture Of You|A Different Beat|No Matter What|Everyday I Love You|Love You Anyway|Father & Son|

2009-10-12T10:17:00.017+08:00

Boyzone is an Irish boy band formed in 1993 through an advertisement selected only 6 out of 300 singers from the auditions to form a new 'boy band' the 'Irish Take That'. The band was reduced to five members Shane Lynch, Ronan Keating, Stephen Gately, Mikey Graham and Keith Duffy. Boyzone found their success in Ireland, the UK, Australia and New Zealand and released six #1 UK hit singles and four #1 albums, with sales approaching 20 million records as of 2008. However they go separate ways in year 2000 but made a comeback seven years later.

Boyzone lost one of the two lead singers, Stephen Gately (Mar 17 1976-Oct 10 2009) who died in his sleep while on holiday in Majorca, Spain. He was 33 and the cause of his death is yet unknown. We will always carry a 'Picture of You' in our heart..RIP Stephen..

The band's second album - A Different Beat - was released in 1996 and contained its first UK number one single, a cover of the Bee Gees' hit "Words".

"No Matter What" was the group's best ever selling single and was voted Song of the Year, 1998

On 6 October, "Love You Anyway" entered the UK charts at number 5, making it their seventeenth consecutive top five single.

A message from the four members of Boyzone ~ [We are completely devastated by the loss of our friend and brother, Stephen. We have shared such wonderful times together over the years and were all looking forward to sharing many more. Stephen was a beautiful person in both body and spirit. He lit up our lives and those of the many friends he had all over the world. Our love and sympathy go out to Andrew and Stephen's family. We love you and will miss you forever, 'Steo'.' From Ronan, Keith, Mikey & Shane.']

ø PAT BOONE, Ain't That A Shame|I Almost Lost My Mind|Bernadine|Speedy Gonzales|

2009-10-11T18:12:00.008+08:00

Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934 in Jacksonville, Florida) better known as Pat Boone, is an American singer, actor and writer who was a successful veteran pop singer in the United States of the 50s and 60s. Having sold over 45 million albums, he had 38 Top 40 hits and starred in more than 12 Hollywood movies and remarkably famous for his trade mark wearing white buck shoes.

Boone began recording in 1954 for Republic Records. His 1955 version of Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame" was a huge hit. This set the stage for the early part of Boone's career, which focused on covering R&B songs by black artists for a white American market.

Many of Boone's hit singles were R&B covers. These included: "Ain't That a Shame" by Fats Domino; "Tutti Frutti" and "Long Tall Sally" by Little Richard; "At My Front Door (Crazy Little Mama)" by the El Dorados; and the blues ballads "I Almost Lost My Mind" by Ivory Joe Hunter,"I'll be Home" by The Flamingos and "Don't Forbid Me" by Charles Singleton.

Pat Boone is the only one performer rivaled the chart dominance of Elvis Presley. In many ways it's Presley the blue suede shoes versus Boone the white bucks. According to Billboard, Boone was the second biggest charting artist of the late 1950s, behind only Elvis Presley but ahead of Ricky Nelson and The Platters, and was ranked at No. 9 - behind The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney but ahead of artists such as Aretha Franklin, Chicago and The Beach Boys - in its listing of the Top 100 Top 40 Artists 1955-1995. [wikipedia]

Speedy Gonzales is a 1962 hit song and it's about "the fastest mouse in all Mexico." It kept the #6 Billboard position in 1962 for 13 weeks. The female voice ("La-la-la...") on this song was of Robin Ward, the one-hit-wonder lady for her 1963 million-selling smash "Wonderful Summer".

SPOKEN: "It was a moonlit night in old Mexico. I walked alone between some old

adobe haciendas. Suddenly, I heard the plaintive cry of a young Mexican girl".

(female voice singing a series of "La-la-la's)

You better come home, Speedy Gonzales

Away from tannery row

Stop alla your a-drinkin'

With that floozie named Flo

Come on home to your adobe

And slap some mud on the wall

The roof is leakin' like a strainer

There's loadsa roaches in the hall

Speedy Gonzales, why dontcha come home?

Speedy Gonzales, how come ya leave me all alone?

SPOKEN in a male Mexican accent: "Hey, Rosita-I hafta go shopping downtown

for my mudder-she needs some tortillas and chili peppers."

(female voice singing a series of "La-la-la's)

Your doggy's gonna have a puppy

And we're runnin' outta coke

No enchiladas in the icebox

And the television's broke

I saw some lipstick on your sweatshirt

I smelled some perfume in your ear

Well if you're gonna keep on messin'

Don't bring your business back a-here

Mmm, Speedy Gonzales, why dontcha come home?

Speedy Gonzales, how come ya leave me all alone?

SPOKEN in a male Mexican accent: "Hey, Rosita-come queek-down at the cantina

they giving green stamps with tequila!!"

(female voice singing a series of "La-la-la's)

ø PAPER LACE, Billy Don't Be A Hero|The Night Chicago Died|The Black-Eyed Boys|

2009-10-09T16:53:00.003+08:00

Paper Lace was a Nottingham based pop group, formed in 1969. Americans called them 'a one-hit wonder' ; in the UK they were a "classic two and a half hit wonder". Used to be called Music Box, but changed their name to Paper Lace in association to the high quality lace product manufactured in their hometown, Nottingham.

The smash hit "Billy Don't Be a Hero" spent three weeks at Number one on the UK Singles Chart in March 1974. It was followed by an equally catchy story song, which reached the Number 3 called "The Night Chicago Died". Another release, "The Black-Eyed Boys", took Paper Lace to Number 11 in late 1974.

ø FLASH MOB FEVER, IMO MJ

2009-10-07T23:04:00.014+08:00

Swedish dancers troup BOUNCE started the mob rolling and there is no looking back as Flash Mob Fever is spreading like wild fire.. Wonder our very own Pete 'MJ' Lim would start one in KLCC, Dataran Merdeka & followed by Bintang Walk at night time as the dance must be in three strategic places?

STOCKHOLM..

MONTREAL..

SEATTLE..

PARIS..

Behind the scene there are about 200 non-professional volunteers who spent hours learning the dance steps, then group together in three consecutive locations across Paris, and at designated time the music would play Michael Jackson's "Beat It" from nowhere, and one 'leader' would start dancing, soon to be followed by a few hundred more members of the crowd. When the dance finishes, the dancers quickly go separate ways as though they don't know each other.

ø THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY, I Think I Love You|I'll Meet You Halfway|Does'nt Somebody Want To Be Wanted|I Woke Up In Love This Morning|Point Me In The Direction|

2009-10-05T22:53:00.010+08:00

The Partridge Family was another fictional musical group with 'Ron Hicklin Singers and Wrecking Crew' as studio musicians behind the scene. David Cassidy was originally to lip sync with the rest of the cast, but somehow managed to convince the producer to be lead singer, a golden opportunity to be teen idol. The TV shows was a great success and as a band the actual hit songs gained instant popularity. The cast of Partridge Family with Shirley Jones as the mom, eldest son Keith played by David Cassidy (also Jones' real-life stepson), Susan Dey as Laurie, Danny Bonaduce as Danny, Jeremy Gelbwaks as Chris and Suzanne Crough as Tracy. Dave Madden played Reuben Kincaid, who was their manager and family friend.

Whoa! My most favourite song 'I Think I Love You', The Partridge Family's biggest hit in 1970 which began climbing in September and peaked at Number 1 on the Billboard charts in December of that year. A companion LP, The Partridge Family Album, reached Number 4. Other Partridge singles, "I'll Meet You Halfway", "Doesn't Somebody Want To Be Wanted", and "I Woke Up in Love This Morning" would also chart high on Billboard. The theme songs "When We're Singing" and its successor "C'Mon, Get Happy", as well as album cuts "I Can Feel Your Heartbeat" and "Point Me In The Direction Of Albuquerque", also became popular favorites. Despite the "Bubblegum pop" label and prefabricated nature of the "band", the Partridge Family's records sold very well. [wikipedia]

ങ THE OSMONDS, One Bad Apple|Double Lovin|Yo Yo|Crazy Horses|Down By The Lazy River|Love Me For A Reason|

2009-09-29T23:38:00.010+08:00

The Osmonds are an American devout Mormons family music group rising from barbershop singing style to Disneyland and to international pop stars. The original barbershop quartet consisted of brothers Alan Osmond, Wayne Osmond, Merrill Osmond, and Jay Osmond . Up and coming superstars younger siblings Donny Osmond, Marie Osmond, and Jimmy Osmond joined the group later.

One bad apple is not that bad after all as The Osmonds exploded onto the pop-music scene, hitting #1 on the Billboard pop chart with "One Bad Apple" in 1971. The Osmonds soon had hits with other light, R&B-style pop numbers like "Double Lovin'" (Billboard #14) and "Yo-Yo" (#3).

The Osmonds began to demonstrate their musical talent by writing their own music, and their sound moved toward rock and roll with hits like "Hold Her Tight" (Billboard #14), "Crazy Horses" (#14) and "Down by the Lazy River" (#4). Alan plays the rhythm guitar, Wayne on lead guitar, Merrill on bass and lead vocals, drums by Jay, and Donny on keyboards. Jay and Donny sometimes singing lead and with all brothers on back-up.

Beginning of 1973 Osmondmania were breaking sound barriers and voted 'Best Musical Variety Act of 1974' and in 1975 won the 'People's Choice Award' as America's 'Favorite Music Group'. In 1974, "Love Me for a Reason" reached #10 on the U.S. pop charts and went to #1 in the U.K.

The Osmonds made a world tour to celebrate their 50th anniversary of singing in show business. They may have aged with grey hair, double chin and more waistline but they sure rock.

The Osmonds all nine of them together with sister Marie being the only rose among the thorns with elder brothers George Virl Osmond, Jr. and Tom Osmond who were born deaf did not originally perform although later made their presence occasionally.

ങ OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN, If Not For You|Let Me Be There|I Honestly Love U|Please Mr Please|You're The One That I Want|Magic|Physical|Heart Attack|

2009-09-26T15:27:00.013+08:00

Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE (born 26 September 1948 [just turned 61 today, happy birthday] in Cambridge, United Kingdom) is a British-born, Australian singer and actor. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 albums. The RIAA has certified gold 11 of her singles (including two platinum) and 14 of her albums (including two platinum and four double platinum). She co-starred with John Travolta in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical, Grease, which became the highest grossing movie musical in Hollywood history. She is an avid activist for both environmental issues and breast cancer awareness. Born to a Welsh-born father, Brinley ("Bryn") Newton-John, and a German-born mother, Irene Born (who was the eldest child of the Nobel prize winning atomic physicist Max Born). Newton-John's family emigrated in 1954 to Melbourne, Australia, where her father worked as a Professor of German and became the Master of Ormond College at theUniversity of Melbourne.

Newton-John released her first solo album, 'If Not For You', in 1971. The title track, written by Bob Dylan, was her first international hit (No. 25 Pop, No. 1 Adult Contemporary [hereafter AC]). (If Not For You was originally recorded by Beatle George Harrison on his triple album All Things Must Pass 1970.) Her follow-up, "Banks of the Ohio," was a Top 10 hit in England and Australia, but faltered in the U.S. (No. 94 Pop, No. 34 AC). She was voted Best British Female Vocalist two years in a row by the magazine Record Mirror. In the United States, Newton-John's career foundered after If Not For You until the release of "Let Me Be There" in 1973. The song reached the American Top 10 on the Pop (No. 6), Country (No. 7), and AC (No. 3) charts and earned her a Grammy for Best Country Female and an Academy of Country Music award for Most Promising Female Vocalist. The song also propelled the album 'Let Me Be There' to No. 1 on the Country Albums chart for two weeks.

The next single, "I Honestly Love You," became Newton-John's signature song. Written by Jeff Barry and Peter Allen , the ballad became her first No. 1 Pop (two weeks) and second No. 1 AC (three weeks) hit (also No. 6 Country) and earned Newton-John two more Grammys for Record of the Year and Best Pop Female. The success of both singles helped the album reach No. 1 on both the Pop (one week) and Country (eight weeks) Albums charts.

Encouraged by expatriate Australian singer Helen Reddy, Newton-John left England and moved to the United States. Newton-John topped the Pop (one week) and Country (six weeks) Albums charts with her next album, 'Have You Never Been Mellow'. The album generated two singles – the title track (No. 1 Pop, No. 3 Country, No. 1 AC) and "Please Mr. Please" (No. 3 Pop, No. 5 Country, No. 1 AC). Newton-John's pop career cooled with the release of her next album, Clearly Love. Her streak of five consecutive gold Top 10 singles ended when the album's first single, "Something Better To Do," stopped at No. 13 (also No. 19 Country and No. 1 AC). Although her albums still achieved gold status, she did not return to the Top 10 on the Hot 100 or Pop Albums charts again until 1978.

The release of the film was preceded one month by the telecast of Newton-John's second television special, Olivia. Grease became the biggest box-office hit of 1978 and remained popular enough that it was re-released in theaters on its 20th anniversary in 1998. The soundtrack spent 12 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 and yielded three Top 5 singles for Newton-John: the No. 1 "You're The One That I Want" (with John Travolta), the No. 3 "Hopelessly Devoted To You," and the No. 5 "Summer Nights" (with John Travolta and the film's cast). The former two songs were written by Newton-John's long-time producer, John Farrar, specifically for the film. Newton-John became the second female (after Linda Ronstadt in 1977) to have two singles – "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Summer Nights" – in the Billboard Top 5 simultaneously. Newton-John's performance earned her a People's Choice award for Favorite Motion Picture Actress. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actress in a Musical and performed the Oscar-nominated "Hopelessly Devoted To You" at the 1979 Academy Awards. To this day, the soundtrack still sells several thousand copies per week and often appears on Billboard's Soundtracks chart.

"Magic" was Newton-John's biggest Pop hit to that point (four weeks at No. 1) and still ranks as the biggest AC hit of her career (five weeks at No. 1). The film has since become a cult classic and the basis for a well-reviewed, Tony-nominated Broadway show that ran for more than 500 performances in 2007–2008.

In 1981, Newton-John released her most successful studio album, the double platinum 'Physical'. The title track, written by Steve Kipner and Terry Shaddick, spent ten weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, matching the record of most weeks at No. 1 held by Debby Boone's 'You Light Up My Life'. The single was certified platinum and it ultimately ranked as the biggest song of the decade. (In 2008, Billboard ranked the song No. 6 among all songs that charted in the 50-year history of the Hot 100.) The song even earned Newton-John her only placement ever on the R&B Singles (No. 28) and Albums (No. 32) chart. The Physical album spawned two more singles, Make a Move on Me (No. 5 Pop, No. 6 AC) and Landslide (No. 52 Pop).

Newton-John became a pioneer in the nascent music video industry by recording a video album for 'Physical' featuring videos of all the album's tracks and three of her older hits. The video album earned her a fourth Grammy and was aired as an ABC prime time special, 'Let's Get Physical', becoming a Top 10 Nielsen hit. The success of Physical led to an international tour and the release of her second hits collection, the double platinum Olivia's 'Greatest Hits Vol. 2' (No. 16 Pop), which yielded two more Top 40 singles: "Heart Attack" (No. 3 Pop) and "Tied Up" (No. 38 Pop). The tour was filmed for her Olivia In Concert television special which premiered on HBO in January 1983. The special was subsequently released to video earning Newton-John another Grammy nomination. [wikipedia]

ങ NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK (NKOTB), Call It What U Want|Games|Please Don't Go Girl|Hangin' Tough|Step By Step|

2009-09-22T21:17:00.008+08:00

New Kids on the Block (also known as NKOTB) is an American pop group that enjoyed success in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a boy band which went on to sell 80 million albums worldwide. Managed by Dick Scott and Kim Glover. Assembled in Boston in 1984 by producer Maurice Starr the members consist of brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight Joey McIntyre Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood. They won two American Music Awards in 1990 for Favorite Pop/Rock BandDuoor Group and Favorite Pop/Rock Album. After having disbanded in 1994 several attempts were made to get the group back together all of them unsuccessful. Upon secretly reuniting in 2007 they took on a new style released a new album and embarked on a concert tour in 2008. The album entitled The Block was released on September 2 2008.

New Kids on the Block's official fan club had a membership of over 200,000 members and was one of the largest fan clubs in the world. Approximately one hundred thousand calls per week were dialed to 1-900-909-5KIDs, the Official NKOTB Hotline, as well. In 1991, the group topped Forbes list of highest paid entertainers, beating out the likes of Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, and Bill Cosby. Further capitalizing on the fame, at year's end, Columbia Records released No More Games/The Remix Album—a compilation of the group's biggest hits remixed, the album also brought along two more released songs in "Call It What You Want" (UK *12) and "Games" (UK *14) in which videos were also released.

After the failure of the first album Starr had the group back in the studio for most of 1987 and 1988 recording their second album. Dissatisfied with the excessively bubblegum sound of their first album the group wanted to have more input on their lookdirection and song material. As a result Donnie Danny and Jordan received associate producer credit on the final product. The album's first single was "Please Don't Go Girl" a ballad released in the spring of 1988. Failure seemed destined a second time when the song became another that went unnoticed by the listening public and Columbia Records made plans to drop the New Kids from the label. At the eleventh hour however a radio station in Florida began playing the song. Scoring listener approval it soon became the most requested song on their play list. When Columbia caught wind of the positive responsethey decided to keep the group on its roster and put more effort into promoting the single. National attention soon followed and it eventually climbed to #10 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Chart—becoming the group's first hit.

The following May they followed up Hangin' Tough with Step by Step which featured slightly more than half of the songs co-written and produced by the members themselves. The first single the title track raced to number one on the Hot 100 Singles Chart and became their biggest selling single. It was followed up with the top ten "Tonight" which extended the consecutive top ten singles chart run to nine records.

On August 12 2008 they released their second single "Single" featuring R&B singer/songwriter Ne-Yo followed by the release of the group's first studio album in fourteen years The Block. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums Chart and #2 on the Billboard 200 in September 2008. It was certified Gold in October 2008 in Canada.

The group's reunion tour New Kids on the Block: Live began at Toronto's Air Canada Centre on September 18 2008. They are touring the US with Natasha Bedingfield and Lady GaGa as supporting acts. There are seven concerts scheduled for Canada and forty-one in the US ten in the UK one in France and One in Amsterdam in The Netherlands and two in Germany. A NKOTB sponsored "theme" concert cruise (for their fans) is scheduled to depart MiamiFL and go to the Bahamas and return to Miami FL from May 15-18 2009. The group also announced the Full Service Tour for 2009. [wikipedia]

ങ NEIL YOUNG, Heart of Gold|My My Hey Hey|Rockin' In The Free World|Journey Thru The Past|Philadelphia|

2009-09-18T22:53:00.012+08:00

Neil Percival Young, OM (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician and film director. Young's work is characterized by deeply personal lyrics, distinctive guitar work, and signature falsetto tenor singing voice. Although he accompanies himself on several different instruments—including piano and harmonica, his clawhammer acoustic guitar style and often idiosyncratic electric guitar soloing are the linchpins of a sometimes ragged, sometimes polished sound. Although Young has experimented widely with differing music styles, including swing, jazz,rockabilly, blues, and electronic music throughout a varied career, his best known work usually falls into either of two distinct styles: folk-esque acousticrock ("Heart of Gold", "Harvest Moon" and "Old Man") and electric-charged hard rock (like "Cinnamon Girl", "Rockin' in the Free World" and "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)"). In recent years, Young has adopted elements from newer styles like industrial, alternative country and grunge. Young's profound influence on the latter caused some to dub him "the Godfather of Grunge".

Young was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1982. He has been inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: first in 1995 for his solo work, with an induction speech given by Eddie Vedder, and again in 1997 as a member of Buffalo Springfield.

Young's 1989 single "Rockin' in the Free World", which hit #2 on the U.S. charts, and accompanying album, Freedom, rocketed him back into the popular consciousness after a decade of sometimes-difficult genre experiments. The album's lyrics were often overtly political; "Rockin' in the Free World" deals with homelessness, terrorism, and environmental degradation, implicitly criticizing Bush-era government policies.

With CSNY splitting up and Crazy Horse having signed their own record deal, Young began the year 1971 with a solo tour entitled "Journey Through the Past." Later, he recruited a new group of country-music session musicians, whom he christened The Stray Gators, to record much of the new material that had been premiered on tour for the album Harvest (1972). Harvest was a massive hit and "Heart of Gold" became a US number one single; incidentally, to this day it remains the only No. 1 hit in his long career.

Young was nominated for an Oscar in 1994 for his song "Philadelphia" from the film Philadelphia (Bruce Springsteen won the award for his song "Streets of Philadelphia" from the same film). In his acceptance speech, Springsteen said that "the award really deserved to be shared by the other nominee's song." That same night, Tom Hanks accepted the Oscar for Best Actor and gave credit for his inspiration to the song "Philadelphia". [wikipedia]

ങ NEIL DIAMOND, Solitary Man|Cherry Cherry|Cracklin Rosie|Sweet Caroline|Holly Holy|Song Sung Blue|I Am I Said|Forever In Blue Jeans|America|

2009-09-11T22:00:00.003+08:00

Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941 in the New York City borough of Brooklyn ) is an American singer-songwriter. Diamond is one of pop music's most enduring and successful singer-songwriters. As a successful pop music performer, Diamond scored a number of hits worldwide in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. As of 2001 Diamond has 115 million records sales worldwide,including 48 million records in the U.S. In terms of Billboard chart success, he is the third most successful Adult Contemporary artist ever, ranking behind only Barbra Streisand andElton John. He is known as "the Jewish Elvis." Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984, and in 2000 received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award.

His first release on that label, "Solitary Man," was his first hit. Prior to the release of "Solitary Man," Neil had considered using a stage name; he came up with two possible stage names, "Noah Kaminsky" and "Eice Chary." But when asked by Bang Records which name he was going to use, Noah, Eice, or Neil, he thought of his grandmother, who died prior to the release of Solitary Man. Thus he told Bang Records, "...go with Neil Diamond and I'll figure it out later." Diamond followed it with "Cherry, Cherry," "Kentucky Woman," "Thank the Lord for the Night Time," "Do It," and others.

His sound mellowed, with such songs as "'Cracklin' Rosie," "Sweet Caroline," "Holly Holy," and the country-and-western tinged "Song Sung Blue," which reached #1 on the Hot 100. "Sweet Caroline" was Diamond's first major hit after his slump. Diamond recently admitted in 2007 that he had written "Sweet Caroline" for Caroline Kennedy after seeing her on the cover of Life Magazine in an equestrian riding outfit. It took him just one hour, in a Memphis hotel, to write and compose it. The 1971 "I Am...I Said" was a top five hit in both the U.S. and UK, and was his most intensely personal effort to date, taking upwards of four months to complete.

In February 1979, "Forever in Blue Jeans," an up-tempo selection by Diamond, which he wrote and composed in collaboration with his guitarist, Richard Bennett, was released as a single by Columbia. It was taken from You Don't Bring Me Flowers, Diamond's album from the previous year.

According to Cotton Incorporated, "Neil Diamond might have been right when he named his 1979 #1 hit 'Forever in Blue Jeans:' 81% of women are planning their next jeans purchase to be some shade of blue." The song has been used to promote the sale of blue jeans, most notably via Will Ferrell, impersonating Neil Diamond singing, for The Gap. Ironically, Diamond himself had performed in radio ads for H.I.S. brand jeans in the 1960s, more than a decade before he and Bennett jointly wrote and composed, and he originated, the selection.

In January 1987, Diamond sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl. His song "America" was the theme song for the Michael Dukakis 1988 Presidential campaign. In 2007, Diamond was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. [wikipedia]

ങ H:A:P:P:Y B:I:R:T:H:D:A:Y TO A:L:L 09.09.09

2009-09-09T21:09:00.004+08:00

ങ NEIL SEDAKA, The Diary|Oh Carol|U Mean Everything 2Me|Calendar Girl|Stairway To Heaven|Run Samson Run|Little Devil|Happy Birthday Sweet 16|Breakin Up Is Hard To Do|Laugther In The Rain|Bad Blood|

2009-09-07T20:49:00.012+08:00

Neil Sedaka (born March 13, 1939 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American pop singer, pianist, and songwriter often associated with the Brill Building. He teamed up with Howard Greenfield to write hits for himself and others. His father, Mac Sedaka, a taxi driver, was the son of Turkish-Jewish immigrants; his mother, Eleanor (Appel) Sedaka, was of Polish-Russian Jewish descent.

He demonstrated musical aptitude in his second-grade choral class, and when his teacher sent a note home suggesting he take piano lessons, his mother took a part-time job in an Abraham & Straus department store for six months to pay for a second-hand upright. He took to the instrument immediately. In 1947, he auditioned successfully for a piano scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music's Preparatory Division for Children, which he attended on Saturdays.

Oh Carol, I am but a fool

Darling, I love you though you treat me cruel

You hurt me and you make me cry

But if you leave me I will surely die

Darling there will never be another

Cause I love you so,

Don't ever leave me,

Say you'll never go

I will always want you for my sweetheart

No matter what you do

Oh! Carol, I'm so in love with you.

(¯`*•.¸¸PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION ¸¸.•*´¯)

Neil Sedaka fans believe it's high time for Neil to get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.

http://www.sedaka.be/neil_sedaka_peti...

PLEASE, CLICK HERE to sign the petition, started by Neil Sedaka fans!

The best-known Billboard Hot 100 hits of his early career are "The Diary" (#14, 1958), a song that he offered to Little Anthony and the Imperials; "Oh! Carol" (#9, 1959); "You Mean Everything to Me" (#17, 1960); "Calendar Girl" (#4, 1960); "Stairway to Heaven" (#9, 1960); "Run Samson Run" (top 30, 1960); "Little Devil" (#11, 1961); "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" (#6, 1961); "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (#1, 1962); and "Next Door To An Angel" (#5, 1962). "Oh! Carol" refers to Sedaka's Brill Building compatriot and former girlfriend Carole King. King responded with her answer song, "Oh, Neil", which used Sedaka's full name. A Scopitone exists for "Calendar Girl". Sedaka wrote another hit, "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen".

On April 7, 2006, during a concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Sedaka was presented with an award from the Guinness World Records: British Hit Singles and Albums as writer of the best-selling single of the 21st century so far, "Amarillo".

He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in October 2006.

In 1975, Sedaka recorded a new version of "Breaking Up is Hard to Do." The 1962 original was fast-tempo and bouncy teen pop, but the remake was slower and in the style of a jazz/torch piano arrangement. Lenny Welch had recorded the song in this style in 1970. It reached #8 on the pop charts in early 1976, making him the second artist to hit the US Top Ten twice with separate versions of the song, and the only artist to return to the Top Ten with a remake of their own #1 hit. Sedaka's second version of "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" topped Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.

He worked with Elton John, who signed him to his Rocket Records label. Sedaka returned with a flourish, topping the charts twice with "Laughter in the Rain" and "Bad Blood" (both 1975). John provided backing vocals for the latter song. The flipside of "Laughter in the Rain" was "The Immigrant" (US pop #22, US AC #1), a wistful, nostalgic piece dedicated to John Lennon, which recalled the by-gone era when America was welcoming of immigrants, in contrast to the U.S. government's then-refusal to grant Lennon permanent resident status.

Sedaka attended Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, graduating in 1956. He has been married to his wife, Leba (Strassberg), since 1962. They have two children: a daughter, Dara, a recording artist and vocalist for television and radio commercials, and a son, Marc, a screenwriter who lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife Samantha and three children. True to label to his song "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do". [wikipedia]

ങ NSYNC, No Strings Attached|I Want U Back|Tearing Up My..|God Must Have Spent..|I Drive Myself Crazy|Music Of My Heart|Bye Bye Bye|It's Gonna Be..|

2009-09-06T20:21:00.011+08:00

'N Sync' (often stylized *NSYNC) was an American pop group. The group's launch to fame was financed by the boy band mogul Lou Pearlman. Since 1995, 'N Sync has sold over 56 million records worldwide. Formed in Orlando, Florida in 1995 and launched in Germany in 1996 by BMG Ariola Munich, the group consisted of Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick. The name is derived from the last letter of the members names: Justi-N, Chri-S, Joe-Y, Lanste-N (though originally the 'N' came from an original member named Jason before he was replaced by Lance), J-C.

After heavily publicized legal battles with their former manager Lou Pearlman and former record label Sony BMG, the group's 3rd album No Strings Attached sold 1.1 million copies in one day and 2.4 millon copies in one week, giving it the highest first week album sales ever in US and #5 worldwide. In addition to a host of Grammy nominations, 'N Sync has performed at the Academy Awards, the World Series, the Super Bowl and the Olympics, and sang or recorded duets with the likes of Aerosmith, Mary J Blige, Britney Spears, Nelly, Michael Jackson, The Jackson Five, Stevie Wonder, Celine Dion, and Gloria Estefan. The group also appeared as themselves on The Simpsons, in an episode entitled "New Kids on the Blecch", which aired on February 25, 2001.

After being signed to BMG Ariola Munich, the group was sent to Germany to begin working on their debut album with the help of producers, including Denniz Pop and Max Martin. The album's official lead single, "I Want You Back", was released in Germany on October 7, 1996 and became a top 10 hit in Germany. With a record deal finally secured, the boys began touring first in German speaking countries and later in other European territories. Their self-titled debut album was initially released by BMG Ariola Munich on March 26, 1997 in Germany, peaking at number one in its first week of release, and the group soon became an overnight success throughout much of Europe. The album also charted successfully both in Switzerland and Austria.

The group released their second and third single, "Tearin' Up My Heart" and "Here We Go", both reaching the top ten in Europe. The group captured the attention of Vincent DeGiorgio, an A&R rep for RCA Records. After seeing the group perform in Budapest, they were eventually signed to RCA in 1998. The label had the group record some new tracks to adjust their album for the U.S. market.

'N Sync's 1998 hit, 'Tearin' Up My Heart' was also featured as #30 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of The 90's" in 2007, nine years later. On November 10, 1998, the group released a holiday album, Home for Christmas. The album peaked at #7 and sold over 2 million copies. With this, 'N Sync achieved the rare feat of having two albums in the Billboard Top 10 at the same time. The group scored their first top 10 on the Hot 100 with their third single, "God Must Have Spent A Little More Time on You", which peaked at #8 in February 1999. Country group Alabama later re-recorded the song and released it as a single that featured vocals from 'N Sync.

The fourth and final single from the album, "I Drive Myself Crazy", was a modest chart hit, but a mainstay on TRL. In September 1999 the group collaborated with Gloria Estefan on a song for the soundtrack for her movie, Music of the Heart. The track, "Music of My Heart", reached #2 on Billboard's Top-100 single chart and served as a stopgap between album releases.

With their legal woes behind them, 'N Sync refocused and worked on tracks for their second album. In January 2000, the group released "Bye Bye Bye", an upbeat dance track, which shot into the top 5 of the Hot 100 and would spend 5 weeks atop the Hot 100 Airplay chart. The song is often considered the group's signature song. They performed at the Latin Grammy show in 2001 singing the Spanish version of their song, This I Promise You, "Yo Te Voy A Amar."

The accompanying album, No Strings Attached, was released on March 21, 2000. It sold a record 2.4 million in its first week of release. An estimated 1.1 million of those sales were attributed to the first day of release, another record. By the end of 2000, it had sold over 9.9 million copies, a record for most albums ever sold in a single year. No Strings Attached is currently the eighth best selling album of the SoundScan era which received a Diamond Certification from RIAA for sales of over 11,099,000. The album also broke the Amazon sales records. Their second single, "It's Gonna Be Me", became the group's first #1 single in US.

The third and final single, "This I Promise You" reached the Top-5 on Billboard's Top-100 single chart. The group also embarked on a World No Strings Attached Tour that year. The group's third album, Celebrity, released on July 24, 2001, holds the record for the second-highest first full week of sales. The album produced three singles: "Pop" (#19 US), "Gone" (#11 US) and "Girlfriend" (#5 US). While 'N Sync announced a "temporary hiatus" in spring 2002, the band has not recorded new material since. The group's official website shut down in summer of 2006, and in 2007, Lance Bass confirmed that the group has "definitely broken up." [wikipedia]

ങ MURRAY HEAD, Jesus Christ Superstar|Say It Ain't So Joe|One Night In Bangkok|Une Femme Un Homme|

2009-09-04T20:16:00.011+08:00

Murray Head (born Murray Seafield Saint-George Head, 5 March 1946, London ) is an English actor and singer, most recognized for his hit song, "One Night in Bangkok". Head was born to Seafield Head, a documentary-maker, and Helen Shingler, an actress. Head was educated at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in South Kensington, London and Hampton School in Hampton, London.

Head began acting and writing songs as a child, and by the mid 1960s he had a London based recording contract. He had limited success until asked by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber to play Judas Iscariot on the original concept album version of Jesus Christ Superstar (singing the hit "Superstar").

Head won a leading role in the Oscar nominated film, Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), alongside Peter Finch and Glenda Jackson. Despite these successes, he received little public attention in the next ten years (except for his single release, "Say It Ain't So Joe" in 1975).

Head reappeared in the spotlight in 1984, as the American on the concept album for the musical, Chess. The song "One Night in Bangkok", from Chess, featured Head on lead vocal, and became the last significant Broadway/West End number to be a hit on American and German radio up until "No Matter What" by Boyzone in 1996. "One Night in Bangkok" was a major pop hit on both sides of the Atlantic.

After "One Night in Bangkok", Head had little recording success in the UK or The United States. This fact would later be underscored in a radio segment featured on The Kevin and BeanShow on Los Angeles's KROQ FM, in which the hosts would phone Head in the morning to find out "What's up with Murray Head?" But, fluent in French, he has released a number ofalbums in that language and is more popular in France and Canada. Noticeably, the song "Une femme un homme", a duet with Marie Carmen released in 1993 became a radio hit in French-speaking Canada. [wikipedia]

ങ MC HAMMER, Let's Get It Started|Pump It Up|Turn This Mutha Out|They Put Me In The Mix|Have You Seen Her|Pray|2 Legit 2 Quit|

2009-09-02T20:45:00.010+08:00

Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), best known by his stage names MC Hammer, Hammer and Hammertime, is a rapper, entertainer and dancer most popular during the late 1980s until the mid-1990s. Remembered for a rapid rise to fame before losing a majority of his fortune, he is also known for his successful hit records, flamboyant dance techniques and trademark Hammer pants.

As a legendary icon in pop culture, Hammer was considered a forefather and innovator of pop rap, but due to his mainstream appeal since the late 1980s, Hammer would later be considered a sell-out rapper by many due in part to over-exposure and as a result of him changing to a grittier image as the landscape of rap changed. Nonetheless, BET ranked Hammer as the #7 "Best Dancer Of All Time". While his talent may be denied, disputed and debated, "Vibe Presents The Best Rapper Ever Tournament" declared Hammer the 17th most favorite of all-time during the first round.

Prior to his mainstream career and "rags-to-riches-to-rags-and-back saga", Hammer formed a Christian rap music group known as Holy Ghost Boy(s), producing songs called "Word", "B-Boy Chill" and later releasing "This Wall" (it was within the lyrics of this song that Kirk Burrell - or "K.B." - first identified himself as M.C. Hammer) with CCM's Jon Gibson (or "J.G."). This rap hit appeared on Gibson's album Change of Heart, and "Son of the King" showed up on Hammer's debut album Feel My Power (1987), as well as the updated version Let's Get It Started (1988).

Once signed to Capitol Records, Hammer re-issued his first record with additional tracks added. "Pump It Up", "Turn This Mutha Out", "Let's Get It Started" and "They Put Me in the Mix" were the most popular singles from this album which all charted. But not quite satisfied with this first multi-platinum success, Hammer's music underwent a metamorphosis, shifting from the standard rap format in his upcoming album. The fact that the record has reached this level indicates the genre is growing."

Notorious for dissing rappers in his previous recordings, Hammer appropriately titled his third album (and second major-label release) Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em, which was released January 1, 1990. It was produced, recorded, and mixed by Felton Pilate and James Earley on a modified tour bus (while on tour) in 1989. Interestingly, despite heavy airplay and a #27 chart debut, "U Can't Touch This" stopped at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart due to the fact that it was released only as a twelve-inch single. However, the album was a #1 success for 21 weeks, due primarily to this single, the first time ever for a rap recording on the pop charts.

Follow-up successes included "Have You Seen Her" (a cover of the Chi-Lites) and "Pray" (a beat sampled from Prince's "When Doves Cry" and Faith No More's "We Care a Lot"), which was his biggest hit in the US, peaking at #2. "Pray" was also a major UK success, peaking at #8. The album went on to become the first hip-hop album to earn diamond status, selling more than 18 million units to date. During 1990, Hammer toured extensively in Europe which included a sold-out concert at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. With the sponsorship of PepsiCo, PepsiCo International CEO Christopher A. Sinclair went on tour with him during 1991.

A video for the title song was also produced, featuring many celebrity appearances. "2 Legit 2 Quit" has been ranked as one of the most expensive videos ever made. The song proved to be successful in the U.S., peaking at the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, at #6. The hand motions used within the song and video also became very popular.

Known for his thrilling stage shows, amazing dance talent, catchy pop hits, spectacular choreography performances, flamboyant wardrobe, community outreach commitment and energetic personal style, MC Hammer was not only nominated for his dancing and choreography skills, but is the winner of a multitude of awards including three Grammy Awards, eight American Music Awards, a People's Choice Award, an NAACP Image Awards and the prestigious Billboard Diamond Award. He has sold more than 50 million records, breaking down numerous doors for rap music and demonstrating that hip-hop had the potential for blockbuster success. The International Album of the Year validated Hammer's talent as a world-class entertainer. Additionally, Hammer was also honored with a Soul Train Music Award (Sammy Davis, Jr. Award for Entertainer of the Year) in 1991. [wikipedia]

൯ MARIAH CAREY, Vision of Love|Emotions|I'll Be There|Without You|Dreamlover|Fantasy|When You Believe|Heartbreaker|Against All Odds|

2009-08-29T17:10:00.018+08:00

Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1970 in Huntington, Long Island, New York) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut in 1990 under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, and became the first recording artist to have her first five singles top the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Following her marriage to Mottola in 1993, a series of hit records established her position as Columbia's highest-selling act. According to Billboard magazine, she was the most successful artist of the 1990s in the United States.

Carey co-wrote the tracks on her 1990 debut album Mariah Carey, and she has co-written most of her material since. During the recording, she expressed dissatisfaction with the contributions of producers such as Ric Wake and Rhett Lawrence, whom the executives at Columbia had enlisted to help make the album more commercially viable. Backed by a substantial promotional budget, the album reached number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, where it remained for several weeks. It yielded four number-one singles and made Carey a star in the United States, but it was less successful in other countries. Critics rated the album highly, and Carey won Grammys for Best New Artist, and—for her debut single, "Vision of Love"—Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Carey conceived Emotions, her second album, as an homage to Motown soul music (seeMotown Sound), and she worked with Walter Afanasieff and Clivillés & Cole (from the dancegroup C&C Music Factory) on the record. It was released soon after her debut album—in late 1991—but was neither critically nor commercially as successful; Rolling Stone described it as "more of the same, with less interesting material. The title track "Emotions" made Carey the only recording act whose first five singles have reached number one on the U.S. Hot 100 chart, although the album's follow-up singles failed to match this feat. Carey had been lobbying to produce her own songs, and beginning with Emotions, she has co-produced most of her material. "I didn't want [Emotions] to be somebody else's vision of me," she said. "There's more of me on this album."

Although Carey performed live occasionally, stage fright prevented her from embarking on a major tour. Her first widely seen appearance was featured on the television show MTV Unplugged in 1992, and she remarked that she felt her performance that night proved her vocal abilities were not, as some had previously speculated, simulated with studio equipment. Alongside acoustic versions of some of her earlier songs, Carey premiered a cover of The Jackson 5's "I'll Be There" with her back-up singer Trey Lorenz. The duet was released as a single, reached number one in the U.S., and led to a record deal for Lorenz, whose debut album Carey later co-produced.

Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds consulted on the album Music Box, which was released later that year and became Carey's most successful worldwide. The album maintained a presence on theBillboard 200 for a staggering 128 weeks. It yielded her first UK Singles Chart number-one, a cover of Badfinger's "Without You", and the U.S. number-ones "Dreamlover" and "Hero".

Carey was named the best-selling female pop artist of the millennium at the 2000 World Music Awards. She has the most number-one singles for a solo artist in the United States (eighteen; second artist overall behind The Beatles), where, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, she is one of the best-selling female artists and sixteenth overall recording artist. In addition to her commercial accomplishments, Carey has earned five Grammy Awards, and is well-known for her vocal range, power, melismatic style, and use of the whistle register. She is ranked as the best-selling female artist of the U.S. Nielsen SoundScan era (third best-selling artist overall),with sales of over 62.5 million albums in the U.S. and has sold over 200 million albums worldwide.

In 1995, Columbia released Carey's fifth album, Daydream, which combined the pop sensibilities of Music Box with downbeat R&B and hip hop influences. A remix of "Fantasy," its first single, featured rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard. Carey said that Columbia reacted negatively to her intentions for the album: "Everybody was like 'What, are you crazy?'. They're very nervous about breaking the formula." It became her biggest-selling album in the U.S., and its singles achieved similar success—"Fantasy" became the second single to debut at number one in the U.S. and topped the Canadian Singles Chart for twelve weeks; "One Sweet Day" (a duet with Boyz II Men) spent a record-holding sixteen weeks at number one in the U.S.; and "Always Be My Baby" (co-produced by Jermaine Dupri) was the most successful record on U.S. radio in 1996, according to Billboard magazine.

In 1998 Columbia released the album #1's, a collection of Carey's U.S. number-one singles alongside new material, which she said was a way of rewarding her fans. The song "When You Believe," a duet with Whitney Houston, was recorded for the soundtrack of The Prince of Egypt (1998) and won an Academy Award and #1's sold above expectation.

"Heartbreaker" and "Thank God I Found You" (the former featuring Jay-Z, the latter featuring Joe and boy band 98 Degrees) reached number one in the U.S. and the success of the former made Carey the only act to have a number-one single in each year of the 1990s. A cover of Phil Collins's "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" went to number one in the UK after Carey re-recorded it with boy band Westlife.

Carey's tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi (2005), contained contributions from producers such as The Neptunes, Kanye West and Carey's longtime collaborator, Jermaine Dupri. The Emancipation of Mimi became 2005's best-selling album in the U.S., and The Guardian reviewer defined it as "cool, focused and urban [... some of] the first Mariah Carey tunes in years I wouldn't have to be paid to listen to again".

The album earned Carey a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album, and the single "We Belong Together" won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song. "We Belong Together" held the Hot 100's number-one position for fourteen weeks, her longest run at the top as a solo lead artist. Subsequently, the single "Shake It Off" reached number two for a week, making Carey the first female lead vocalist to have simultaneously held the Hot 100's top two positions.

"Obsessed" debuted at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. [sorry no YouTube, embedding disabled by request]. This marked Carey's fortieth entry on the Hot 100, making her just the eighth woman in the chart's history to make 40 or more appearances. It is also her highest Hot 100 debut since 1998. The second official single will be "I Want to Know What Love Is". On July 7th, 2009, Carey, alongside Trey Lorenz, performed at the memorial for Michael Jackson, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. She performed what was described as an emotional performance of the Jackson 5 song "I'll Be There", a song which she had previously covered as a single with Lorenz in 1992. [wikipedia]

൯ MUNGO JERRY, In The Summertime|Baby Jump|Lady Rose|Open Up|Alright Alright Alright|Long Legged Woman|Hello Nadine|It's A Secret|Push Bike Song

2009-08-23T17:53:00.018+08:00

Mungo Jerry are an English folk/classic rock group whose greatest success was in the early 1970s, though they have continued throughout the years with an ever-changing line-up, always fronted by Ray Dorset. They are remembered above all for their hit "In the Summertime". It remains the most successful and most instantly recognisable summer song. Their name was inspired by the poem Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer, from T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. According to Joseph Murrell's The Book of Golden Discs (1978), 'Mungomania' was possibly the most startling and unpredicted pop phenomenon to hit Britain since The Beatles.

Dorset and Earl had previously been members of The Good Earth. Soon after recruiting King and Cole they made their national debut at the Hollywood Festival at Newcastle-under-Lyme Staffordshire in May 1970 the week their first single "In the Summertime" was released. They stole the show and the record topped the UK Singles Chart for seven weeks made number one in 26 countries around the world and to date has sold around 30 million copies. Mungo Jerry made their first trip to the United States in September 1970. After John Godfrey replaced Cole their second single "Baby Jump" also topped the UK chart in March 1971. A third hit "Lady Rose" (also in 1971) gave the group the image as a band for producing summertime based hits.

Mungo Jerry was awarded from Melody Maker the 'best new band' title in 1970and as one of the five best live bands in the world in 1971. Dorset was granted three Ivor Novello Awards as a composer.

Mungo Jerry's hits continued through to 1976 with "Open Up" (Top Twenty in Europe "Alright Alright Alright" (a rewrite of an old French hit for Jacques Dutroncand again a major hit worldwide reaching the Top 3 in the UK) "Wild Love", "Long Legged Woman Dressed in Black", "Hello Nadine" (European hit and Top Five in Canada) and "It's a Secret" (European hit). [wikipedia]

Just fancy that - No chart hit has had more than 13 words in the title so "You Don't Have To Be In The Army To Fight In The War" gave Mungo Jerry one more little souvenir of their hit-making days.

PUSH BIKE SONG Lyric

Sh, sh, ahh, Sh, sh, ahh,

Ridin’ along on my pushbike, honey

When I nowhere near you

Round down town, in a hurry honey,

Now, I’ve got my sights on you

You look so pretty, she was ridin’ along,

You look so pretty, She was singing this song,….

Ahh,

Sh, sh, ahh, Sh, sh, ahh,

Puttin’ on speed, as I tried catchin’ up but you

Were pedaling harder, too

Riding along like a hurricane, honey

Speeding afta you,

You look so pretty, she was ridin’ along,

You look so pretty, She was singing this song,….

*Brrr, Sing this song,

Round, round wheels go round and round

Down, up pedals, down, up, down

Well, gotta get across to the other side of town

B’fore the sun goes down,

hey, hey, hey

Shh, shh, ahh, Shh, shh, ahh,

Shh, sh, ahh, Sh, sh, ahh,

Well, we’re ridin’ along

on a bicylce, honey

That’s a bicycle built for two

Lookin’ at my honey

In the rearview mirror

Now I got a better of view

You look so pretty, she was ridin’ along,

You look so pretty, She was singing this song,….

൯ MOODY BLUES, Your Wildest Dreams|Go Now|Nights In White Satin|Tuesday Afternoon|Melanchony Man|Legend Of A Mind|Ride My See Saw|

2009-08-22T23:08:00.009+08:00

The Moody Blues are an English band originally from Erdington in the city of Birmingham. Founding members Michael Pinder and Ray Thomas performed an initially rhythm and blues-based sound in Birmingham in 1964 along with Graeme Edge and others, and were later joined by John Lodge and Justin Hayward as they inspired and evolved the progressive rock style. Among their innovations was a fusion withclassical music, most notably in their seminal 1967 album Days of Future Passed.

The band has had numerous hit albums in the UK, U.S., and worldwide. They remain active as of 2009. The Moody Blues have sold in excess of 50 million albums worldwide and have been awarded 14 platinum and gold discs.

They released a single, "Steal Your Heart Away" that year which made it onto the charts. But it was their second single, "Go Now" (released later that year), which really launched their career, being promoted on TV with one of the first purpose-made promotional films in the pop era, produced and directed by Wharton. The single became a hit in the United Kingdom (where it remains their only Number 1 single to date) and in the United States where it reached #10.

The album plus two singles, "Nights in White Satin" and "Tuesday Afternoon" (as a medley with "Forever Afternoon," listed as "Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)" on the album), became massively popular, as was the 1968 follow-up LP, In Search of the Lost Chord. In late 1972, a re-issue of the five-year-old "Nights in White Satin" became the Moody Blues' biggest U.S. hit, soaring to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming a certified million-seller; the song had "bubbled under" the Hot 100 charts on its original release. The song also returned to the UK charts, reaching #9, ten places higher than its original release in 1967.

The group continues to tour; they toured the U.S., Canada and the UK in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and are currently touring North America in the summer of 2009. In addition, Hayward took part in the UK tour of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds in April 2006, and a second tour in November 2007, also with dates in 2009. The Moody Blues also toured Australia in 2006. [wikipedia]

൯ MONKEES, Last Train To Clarksville|I'm A Believer|Daydream Believer|Pleasant Valley Sunday|

2009-08-19T21:07:00.010+08:00

The Monkees were a pop rock quartet assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968. The members were Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Englishman Davy Jones, who were supervised and popularized by Don Kirshner.

The Monkees' first single, "Last Train to Clarksville" was released in August 1966, just weeks prior to the broadcast and, in conjunction with the first broadcast of the television show on September 12, 1966, on the NBC television network, NBC and Columbia had a major hit on their hands. The first long-playing album, The Monkees, was released in October and shot to the top of the charts.

The Monkees had several international hits which are still heard on pop and oldies stations. These include "I'm a Believer," "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone," "Daydream Believer," "Last Train to Clarksville" and "Pleasant Valley Sunday." Despite their seemingly permanent reputation as a made-for-TV act, their hits and many lesser recordings present an enduring quality that has earned respect over the years. [wikipedia]

DAYDREAM BELIEVER

Oh, I could hide neath the wings

Of the bluebird as she sings.

The six oclock alarm would never ring.

Whoops its ringing and I rise,

Wipe the sleep out of my eyes.

My shavin razors cold and it stings.

*Cheer up, sleepy jean.

Oh, what can it mean.

To a daydream believer

And a homecoming queen.

You once thought of me

As a white knight on a steed.

Now you know how happy I can be.

Oh, and our good times starts and end

Without dollar one to spend.

But how much, baby, do we really need.

൯ MEN AT WORK, Down Under|Who Can It Be Now|Overkill|It's A Mistake|Dr Heckyll & Mr Jive|Everything I Need|

2009-08-18T22:25:00.009+08:00

Men at Work were an Australian reggae-influenced rock band which achieved international success in the 1980s. They are the only Australian artists to have a #1 album and single simultaneously in the United States (with Business as Usual and "Down Under" respectively). At the same time, they also had a simultaneous #1 single and album in the United Kingdom. The group won the 1983 Grammy Award for Best New Artist. The band's sound is distinguished by its use of woodwind and brass.

Colin Hay emigrated to Australia in 1967 from Scotland with his family. In 1978, he formed a duo with Ron Strykert, which expanded with the addition of drummer Jerry Speiser and Australian progressive rock keyboard player Greg Sneddon. They formed an unnamed four-piece group that would later morph into Men at Work. The band's first experience in the recording studio was recording the music to "Riff Raff," a low-budget stage musical Sneddon had worked on. Sneddon soon left, to be replaced in late 1979 by saxophonist/flautist/keyboardist Greg Ham.

The group played a regular residency at Melbourne's Cricketers Arms Hotel and built a strong local following. According to the liner notes in Contraband: the Best of Men at Work, the group did not have a name until, driving the group van one night and desperate for something to put on the chalk board outside the pub, Greg Ham spied a "Men at Work" construction sign, and decided to use that for the group's name. In 1980, they financed a single ("Keypunch Operator") backed by an early version of "Down Under".

In 1981, Columbia Records signed Men at Work. Their first single, "Who Can It Be Now?", reached #1 on the Australian chart in August 1981. A subsequent single (a re-worked version of "Down Under") and their first album (Business as Usual) also went to #1. The album also debuted at #1 in New Zealand.In October 1982, "Who Can It Be Now?" hit #1 in the USA. Then, in November of that year, Business As Usual began a 12 week run at #1 on the US album chart. While "Who Can It Be Now?" was still in the top ten, the second single, "Down Under" was released. It entered the charts at #79; ten weeks later, it was #1. By January 1983, Men at Work had the top album and single in both the USA and the UK - a feat never achieved previously by an Australian act.

The band soon released their second album Cargo. It had been finished in the summer of 1982, but held for release due to the phenomenal success of the band's debut. The new album went to #1. The international market, where Business As Usual was still riding high, kept the album at #3 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The album produced three chart singles in the USA: "Overkill" [#3], "It's a Mistake" [#6], and "Dr. Heckyll and Mr. Jive" [#28]. The band toured the world extensively in 1983.

Men at Work won a Grammy Award, winning Best New Artist for 1983 ahead of Asia, Jennifer Holliday, The Human League and Stray Cats. This was the first for an Australian recording act. That same year, Canada awarded them a Juno Award for "International LP of the Year." [wikipedia]

൯ MICHAEL LEARNS TO ROCK, The Actor|Sleeping Child|25 Minutes|Out Of The Blue|That's Why|Paint My Love|Nothing To Lose|Take Me To Your Heart|Strange.

2009-08-16T19:16:00.016+08:00

Michael Learns To Rock (also known as MLTR) is a Danish soft rock band that performs songs in English. It was formed in 1988 and has sold over 9 million records, mainly in Asia. It has produced six studio albums as well as live and "greatest hits" albums. In 1987, the singer-keyboardist Jascha Richter and drummer Kåre Wanscher were high school students in Aarhus, Denmark, when they saw guitarist Mikkel Lentz with his group the Rocking Studs and asked him to form a band. A year later Søren Madsen joined, playing bass.

A member of the contest jury, J.P. Anderson, became the band's manager. MLTR played live but did not release its eponymous debut album, "Michael Learns to Rock," until September 1991. A single from the album, "The Actor," topped the Danish chart and also did well in Norway, Sweden, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.

The group debuted in Aarhus in May 1988 and later entered the city's annual talent show. The band won and hurriedly had to come up with a name. In an interview Richter admitted that it was named after Michael Jackson: "Yeah, it was like Johnny Hates Jazz and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Sure, I've regretted calling ourselves this many times since, but we were successful so quickly we had to stick with it and over time I got used to it." (Taipei Times, 06 07 2007).

In 1993, MLTR released Colours which sold over 1 million records. The album included the singles "Sleeping Child," "25 Minutes" and "Out of the Blue." It also toured Asia for the first time. Two years later MLTR's third album, Played On Pepper came out, selling 1.2 million units, and the group played 25 shows in 10 countries. Hits from this album included "That's Why (You Go Away)" and "Someday."

The album "Paint My Love" was released in 1996 and sold 3.4 million copies. The band was also chosen as the headliner for the "Celebrate Hong Kong" concert on July 6, 1997, marking the transfer of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China. Its fourth studio album, "Nothing To Lose," was released in September 1997.

Soon after, MLTR's members took a break to spend time with their families and develop projects on their own or in collaboration with other artists. Even so, Richter wrote some new songs and the band's anthem "Strange Foreign Beauty" was added to a 1998 greatest hits album. [wikipedia]

In 2000, Søren Madsen decided to leave the group to embark on a solo career, and the three remaining members carried on and produced the album "Blue Night," which went platinum in Denmark. The band attributed its success in Asia to a clean-living image and singing in English as a second language, and the fact that their lyrics are relatively easy to learn and sing (Taipei Times, 06 07 2007).

൯ MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep|Tweedle Dee|Soley Soley|Samson&Delilah|Yellow Boomerang|

2009-08-13T21:19:00.007+08:00

Middle Of The Road was a Scottish pop group who enjoyed great success across Europe and Latin America in the early 1970s. Three of their singles sold over one million copies each, and received a gold disc. The tracks were "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" (which went on to sell over 10 million), "Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum" and "Soley Soley". By early 1972 alone the group had sold over five million records.

The band had its first and biggest hit with debut UK single, "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" to win UK #1 in June 1971 and keep it for four more weeks. In all, Middle Of The Road had five hit singles in the UK Singles Chart during 1971-1972. The band had enduring success only in Germany, where they achieved eleven Top 40 hits in 1971-1974.

Lead singer Sally Carr (born Sarah Cecilia Carr, 28 March 1945, in Muirhead, Lanarkshire, Scotland), drummer Ken Andrew (born Kenneth Ballentyne Andrew, 28 August 1942, inBearsden, Glasgow, Strathclyde), guitarist Ian McCredie (b. Ian C McCredie, 15 July 1947, in Partick, Glasgow, Strathclyde), and bassist his brother Eric McCredie (born 17 July 1945, inPartick, Glasgow, Strathclyde died 6 October 2007) from Glasgow founded the band on April, 1st ("All Fools Day") in 1970. They already played together under the name Part Four since 1967 and later in Latin American style under the name Los Caracas.

In 1974, very early Bay City Rollers member, Neil Henderson (b. 11 February 1953, Glasgow) joined the band on guitar. He wrote/co-wrote enough songs for Middle Of The Road (including singles "Rockin' Soul" and "Everybody Loves A Winner" and 1974 albums, You Pays Yer Money And You Takes Yer Chance and Postcard, all released in Germany via Ariola like their fist German LP, Music Music), but their commercial success could not keep pace with the earlier songs. [wikipedia]

Totally forgotten about this band when I saw its name and I was saying to myself 'where the world is this place called middle of the road'. Oops..

൯ MARMALADE, Lovin' Things|ObLaDi ObLaDa|Baby Make It Soon|Reflections Of My Life|Rainbow|

2009-08-07T23:17:00.016+08:00

Marmalade were a successful Scottish pop/rockgroup, from Glasgow in Scotland, originally known as Dean Ford and The Gaylords between 1961 and 1966. They changed the group name to "The Marmalade" in 1966. The most successful period for the band, in terms of record success, was between 1968-1972. A later version of the band (from 1974 with various further personnel changes), exists to this day, with only Graham Knight remaining from the original members.

Unusually, Marmalade had two bass players, Graham Knight on 4 string, and Pat Fairley on 6 string, and were originally called Dean Ford and The Gaylords; who in 1964, were signed to EMI Columbia by Norrie Paramor and recorded four singles, including "Twenty Miles" which was a big seller locally, but failed to chart nationally.The group were well regarded in Scotland, and despite being crowned, 'Scotland's Top Group' decided to try to make it nationally.

Marmalade's label CBS were concerned at their lack of commercial success and threatened to drop them if they did not have a hit, and after the failure of another self-penned single later that year, "Man in a Shop", insisted they record more chart-oriented material. They rejected "Everlasting Love", which became a Number One for Love Affair, but later gave in to pressure and recorded , "Lovin' Things", arranged by Keith Mansfield, which reached No. 6 in the UK Singles Chart in the summer of 1968, (this was later covered by The Grass Roots in the USA in 1969, using virtually the same arrangement).

After a lesser hit with the follow-up "Wait For Me Mary-Anne" ( written by Alan Blaikley/Ken Howard), which only made No. 30, they enjoyed their most remembered UK success with their cover of The Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", which topped the UK chart in January 1969. As the first Scottish group to ever top the UK chart, the week it went to the top spot, they celebrated by appearing on BBC One's music programme Top Of The Pops, dressed in kilts. This was followed by further success with "Baby Make It Soon", (written by Tony Macaulay), which reached no 9, in the summer of 1969.

Baby Make It Soon

If you're coming home, like your letters say

And the place you're staying now, ain't too far away

Can you write tonight, just to let me know

Cos since you've been away girl, I've missed you so

You won't let me down, cos I'm sure you're homeward bound

And you'll be back safe and sound, cos I just know

*Baby make it soon, make it soon

(I can't wait another day)

Baby make it soon, make it soon

(Lord I know I need you, come on)

Baby make it soon, make it soon

(I need you right away)

Baby make it soon, make it soon

(Lord I've gotta see you)

Right back here, here in my arms

If you're coming home like you promised to

Will you write tonight and tell me what you're gonna do

For I'm lonley now and I'm gonna stay that way

Till I hold you so tightly in my arms again

You won't let me down, cos I'm sure you're homeward bound

And you'll be back safe and sound, cos I just know

After a change of record label to Decca Records, under a deal allowing them to write andproduce their own songs, they recorded what would become their biggest worldwide hit, topping the charts in Europe, (a Top 10 in United States, and No. 1 in most of South America), the melancholy "Reflections of My Life", written by Junior Campbell and Dean Ford, with its distinctive backwards guitar break by Campbell.

"Reflections of My Life" has recorded over 2 million sales and the writers were awarded a Special Citation of Achievement in 1998 by BMI in attaining radio broadcast performances in excess of 1 million in the US alone. Other UK hits included the mainly acoustic "Rainbow" (UK No.3), coupled with "The Ballad of Cherry Flavor", and "My Little One" (UK No. 15). [wikipedia]

Reflections of My Life

The changing of sunlight to moonlight.. Reflections of my life

Oh, how they fill my eyes

The greetings of people in trouble..Reflections of my life

Oh, how they fill my eyes

All my sorrow sad tomorrow, Take me back to my old home

All my crying (All my crying)

Feel I'm dying, dying, Take me back to my old home

I'm changing, arranging

I'm changing, I'm changing everything

Oh, ev'rything around me, yeah,

The world is a bad place

A terrible place to live, Oh, but I don't wanna die

All my sorrow sad tomorrow, Take me back to my old home

All my crying (All my crying) Feel I'm dying, dying

Take me back to my old home, All my sorrow sad tomorrow

Take me back to my old home, All my crying (All my crying)

Love The Marmalade very much, one of my top ten 10 list of fave bands truly dig their hits Baby Make It Soon & Reflections of My Life.

൯ MANHATTANS, Kiss n' Say Goodbye|Shinning Star|Hurt|I Kinda Miss You|

2009-08-05T21:30:00.008+08:00

The Manhattans are a popular R&B vocal group with a string of hit records over three decades, but best known for their million-selling songs "Kiss and Say Goodbye" and "Shining Star" in 1976 and 1980, respectively. The Manhattans, originally from Jersey City, New Jersey, formed in 1962 with members George "Smitty" Smith, Edward "Sonny" Bivins (born 15 January 1942, in Macon, Georgia), Winfred "Blue" Lovett (born 16 November 1943), Kenny "Wally" Kelley (born Kenneth Kelley, 9 January 1943 in New Jersey), and Richard "Ricky" Taylor. Bivins, Lovett, and Kelley were graduating from Lincoln High School, whilst Taylor and Smith were graduating from Snyder High School. All five enlisted in the armed forces, and came together as a group following their discharges from their respective branches.

The group's first single was "For The First Time", released in 1964 by Carnival Records. In 1968, the group received the award "Most Promising Group" by NATRA. The group continued recording through the 1970s with Alston on lead. They hit it big in 1976 with "Kiss and Say Goodbye", written by Blue Lovett and arranged/co-produced with the group by top Philadelphia-based musician/producer Bobby Martin, a former member of the MFSB band of session musicians. The song, with an impassioned vocal by Alston and a memorable opening rap by Lovett, quickly became a #1 chart-topper on both the Billboard Pop and R&B charts. It also became only the second single ever to go platinum.

Taylor left in 1976 to concentrate on his conversion to Islam, (but died in 1987 after a long illness). The group continued as a quartet and hit it big again in March of 1980, with the release of "Shining Star", which reached #5 on the Billboard pop charts and #4 on the R & B chart. Produced and co-written by established Chicago producer, Leo Graham, it received a Grammy award the following year.

The group's largest shake-up occurred in 1990, when Blue Lovett left due to health problems, and Kenny Kelley returned to college, for his PhD. Bivins, now the only original member left, took over management of the group. He recruited new members Alvin Pazant, Harsey Hemphill, and Charles Hardy. This brought the group back to a quintet. Harris proved to be only a short-term lead, however, as he left in 1991, and was replaced by new lead Wade Taylor. Taylor also only remained for a short time, leaving just a few months later. Bivins then recruited Lee Williams, the person who they had originally wanted to replace George Smith.

For what would be their 30th reunion, former member Blue Lovett decided to return to the music scene with his own Manhattans in 1995, bringing back Gerald Alston to be lead in his group. They are currently a quartet with Troy May and David Tyson, brother of The Temptations' Ron Tyson. In the past, the group also featured Eban Brown, now the lead of The Stylistics. This group has also released some CDs, including Even Now. This group was featured in two PBS specials. [wikipedia]