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France's King of Rock - Johnny Hallyday

2010-11-23T12:45:00.000-08:00

by: Bicycle Gourmet

It happened the very first time I toured France. And it's happened, more than once, every tour since. The moment my froggie friends find out I'm from the land of fiscal irresponsibility and Elvis. The inevitable anticipatory question : "So, you know Johnny in America?" The Logical response would be, of course, "which Johnny?" But as I was soon to discover(and never forget!) - to French people of "a certain age" - "Johnny" is, and will always be - Johnny Hallyday. France's answer to Elvis, Buddy Holly and every other 60's swivel hipped, guitar slingin'sensation.

Photo: Frédéric Loridant, wiki commons

His detractors uncharitably label Johnny as "an aging rock star." Literally true. But the implication that he's a legend in his own mind,is totally false. True, Johnny does'nt constantly burn up the charts. But whenever he does pop out a new disc, it routinely sells a million plus. And radio play has virtually nothing to do with it. Unlike today's rock stars, Johnny does'nt need radio. Or the teen-age ipod crowd. Johnny has something much better. Like Formula One drivers. Like Movie Stars. Like bloggers with 90,000 monthly readers(Curse you Yaro Starak!) - Johnny has fans! Obsessively loyal, dyed in the jeans, "Johnny Rules" fans. In the Millions. Hanging on his every word. Devouring the daily tabloids chronicling the joys, sorrows, and breakfast cereal choices in "Johnny World." Buying the sunglasses the king endorses from every other billboard.

But wait - There's more! Lest you think(shame, shame)Johnny is just a big fish in a small pond -when the Rolling Stones(aging rockers anyone?) were last in Paris, they only managed to sell out one and a half shows in the ginormous "Stade du Paris." Johnny(routinely) sells out BOTH shows(or however many he may offer) in half an hour. Not an hour. Not 45 minutes. 30 minutes. 20,000 seats filled. At 100 euro plus a ticket. Aging Rock Star? Yup.Celebrity money machine? You betcha!

It's a curious fact of French celebrity-dom that more than a few of it's iconic Stars - the ones we folks from "over there" regard as the quintessence of French Culture, are not French. Yves Montand. Italian. Jacques Brel. Belgian. Johnny Halladay, though born in Paris, was the child of a Belgian Father and a French Mother. Johnny rose to fame basically by singing French versions of Ameican and English Music. As evidenced by his 1962 album(you remember "albums, don't you?) -"Johnny Halladay sings America's rockin hits." Several of the musicians who were later to become stars in their own right - Jimmy Page and Peter Frampton - to name two, played on Johnny's discs.

Johnny's personal life, like most artists, has been as rough as his career has been smooth. His 1965 marriage to Bulgarian-French(now there's a combo) singer Sylvie Vartan, lasted until 1980, producing a son, David. Now an "emerging musical artist." During that marriage, Johnny and Sylvie were the "golden couple." Darlings of the tabloids(of course), and role models for the musical wanabees of both sexes. Johnny is now on Marriage number four. A bout with colon cancer and an artifically induced coma to faciliate recovery from surgery, obviously have taken their toll. As they would on any 67 year old veteran of the "rock n roll lifestyle."

In a career spanning 50 years, "Johnny" has done 100 tours, sold 110 milion discs and scored Platinum 18 times. So - Where's the money? Where all the smart money is. In Switzerland. Johnny wanted to relocate to his Father's native Belgium, but his lack of permanent residency there proved the deal breaker. So, not wanting to give the majority of his income to the French tax man - Switzerland's fixed rate(on assets there - NOT your income) and more relaxed residency requirements, got Johnny to the mountains.

It was'nt until I saw my first "Johnny video" that I understood why his fans think he's big in the land of "67 channels and nuthin' on." See- Leatherclad Johnny, shades glinting, cruising Sunset Bouldevard. Thrill to -Johnny at the beach. Palm trees. Beach volleyball with girls who've never seen their feet. Sing-along with Johnny in the California recording studio. That folks, is show biz.

Now, offically"retired", and with a second home in California, Johnny's anonimity allows him to ride his motorcycle through the desert to his heart's content. Knowing that when he stops for the night at "motel nowhere-ville," he is unlikely to hear : " Uh...... Mr. Hallyday....could I have your autograph?"

Bottom Line : Whether his music lights your fire, or puts it out - for 50 years Johnny Hallyday has been doing what he loves,making people happy,and making money. Sounds like a success story to me. N'est ce pas?

About The Author

Christopher Strong (the "Bicycle Gourmet") is the Creator/Director/Host of the Multi-Media Lifestyle Adventure series - "Bicycle Gourmet's Treasures of France", and the Author of "Gliding to the Bonheur." His behind the scenes story of that filming.

The author invites you to visit:
http://bicyclegourmet.com

Article from http://www.articlecity.com/
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Knowmusic.se is your gateway to popular music. We give you a short insight to artists for basic knowledge and if you like, links to pages that will help you explore more. It is rock history, pop history, punk history, classical music history, swedish music history, at least a bit of it! You can also say: If you like to fake your knowledge about popular music, this is the place! But, if you really become interested in an artist, we give you the opportunity to become a nerd too! /The knowmusic.se team

Jonas Brothers BIO

2010-11-23T12:22:00.000-08:00

by: Graham Boyle

Paul Kevin Jonas II (Kevin Jonas), Joseph Adam Jonas (Joe Jonas), and Nicholas Jerry Jonas

Birthdays: Kevin: November 5, 1987, Joe: August 15, 1989, Nicholas: September 16, 1992

Age : Kevin: 22, Joe: 20, Nicholas: 17

Sign : Kevin: Scorpio, Joe: Leo, Nicholas: Virgo

Birthplace : Kevin: Teaneck, New Jersey, Joe: Casa Grande, Arizona, Nicholas: Wyckoff, New Jersey

Hometown : Newark, New Jersey

Big Break: Disney Channel Children's Television Network

Could the Jonas Brothers be going their separate ways soon? There are rumors that the brothers are considering splitting up, but they're actually just taking a little break from each other to work on solo projects.

Their mother Denise confirmed that her son Nick Jonas is going to be branching off for a little bit so he can work on a solo album.

She says, "Nick is working on a solo act. It's called Nick Jonas and The Administration."

While Nick is busy working on a solo act, his brother Kevin Jonas will reportedly take some time off to get married and enjoy life with his soon to be bride, Danielle.

But before you Jonas fans get too upset about the news, the band confirmed that they're not officially splitting up. “We plan to make music together for as long as we can,” the brothers said in a letter to fans that they shared with People.

“We’ve said from the beginning of our career as the Jonas Brothers that anything we do outside of the group is a side project because you can’t break up brothers,” Nick writes of Nick Jonas & the Administration, which is releasing an album next year.

“My brothers are my biggest supporters, and were on the phone with me everyday while I was in the studio asking how it was going, and telling me they couldn’t wait to hear the record.”

In a joint message, Joe and Kevin Jonas write, “We are so proud of our brother Nick. We know that we will be doing music together for the rest of our lives. But we are thrilled for you to hear these songs that were on his heart.”

If it was any other group, we'd be a little worried but it’s hard for brothers to break up. They're family first, then musicians, so we wouldn't be too worried Jonas fans. Think of it as a little break instead of a breakup.

Diana Madison, Nora Gasparian, and Ani Esmailian, three Los Angeles natives, have combined several years of entertainment experience to bring Hollyscoop to life.

About The Author

Hollyscoop, a division of DNA Group Inc., was once thought of as a "side project" of three best friends awakened by the response they could only dream about. Hollyscoop is an online entertainment magazine focusing on Jonas Brother and Hollywood media, celebrities, fashion, and "Hotspots".

The author invites you to visit:
http://www.hollyscoop.com

Article from: http://www.articlecity.com

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Knowmusic.se thanks Graham Boyle for the article.

More info:

Jonas Brothers video "SOS"

Jonas Brothers interview

Jonas Brothers official site

Knowmusic.se is your gateway to popular music. We give you a short insight to artists for basic knowledge and if you like, links to pages that will help you explore more. It is rock history, pop history, punk history, classical music history, swedish music history, at least a bit of it! You can also say: If you like to fake your knowledge about popular music, this is the place! But, if you really become interested in an artist, we give you the opportunity to become a nerd too! /The knowmusic.se team

Blue Note Records: A Foundation Of Jazz

2010-11-23T12:07:00.000-08:00

by: James Watts

In the annals of music history, certain names rise above the rest. In the 1940s, jazz exploded into American pop culture backed by the vision of two men, who believed in its complex rhythms, soaring melodies and mathematical chord progressions. Putting out nearly numerous undying jazz vinyl, Blue Note Records would soon take its rightful place as one of the primary forces in pushing both jazz's popularity and development.

Founded in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, Blue Note instantly grew into a force in the world of jazz. A 1939 session with pianists Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis in a rented studio was the pair's first venture into recording and jazz vinyl. Conventional "hot" jazz and boogie-woogie were the label's first releases. Blue Note's first hit - the infectious performance of "Summertime" by saxophonist Sidney Bechet, which Bechet had been unable to record for the recognized companies - proved to be a breakthrough in the early days of jazz vinyl.

In Blue Note's earliest days, musicians were frequently supplied with alcohol as they recorded late into the night after their evening's work in the clubs and bars. The label quickly became famous for treating musicians unusually well, arranging sessions sometimes that were convenient to working musicians and giving them freedom and input as to the record's production.

While World War II proved to be a disruption to Blue Note's development, by late 1943, the label was back in business recording musicians and supplying jazz vinyl to the armed forces. Willing to record artists and styles that majority of other labels easily passed over, Blue Note brought some of the best musicians the U.S. has ever made to the forefront of the national music scene.

Through the 1940s and 50s, Blue Note found themselves at the forefront of the bebop and hard bop sounds, delivering them around the world on now-legendary jazz vinyl LPs. During the same era, iconic names like Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Hank Mobley, Lou Donaldson and Sonny Rollins all cut sides for the label or sat in as session players. Those recordings, still considered to be the best jazz ever recorded, stand as a witness to Blue Note's reach and influence.

The commercial feasibility of jazz came into questions also while America changed in the coming decades. Blue Note records lay dormant by 1979. But, EMI purchased the company that still owned Blue Note and launched an assertive reissue strategy in 1985. These days, the renaissance's remains in full swing as many of the class jazz vinyl reissues have become mainstays in vinyl albums' resurrection.

About The Author

James Watts is a freelance writer living in Philadelphia. He is passionate about Vinyl Albums music and has devoted much of his professional life to helping young artists gain the exposure they need. When not writing or attending shows, Watts can often be found cheering on his beloved Phillies or cooking up one of his signature culinary creations.

The author invites you to visit:
http://www.soundstagedirect.com

Article from http://www.articlecity.com

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Knowmusic thanks James Watts for his article. For more info:

Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderly:

Blue notes official page

Knowmusic.se is your gateway to popular music. We give you a short insight to artists for basic knowledge and if you like, links to pages that will help you explore more. It is rock history, pop history, punk history, classical music history, swedish music history, at least a bit of it! You can also say: If you like to fake your knowledge about popular music, this is the place! But, if you really become interested in an artist, we give you the opportunity to become a nerd too! /The knowmusic.se team

Rock And Roll Guitar; Was It A Mixture of Blues, And Country Music?

2010-11-23T11:55:00.000-08:00

By: Wolfgang Bloomfield

It’s difficult to really define what Rock and Roll music is, or where it really started, but Rock and Roll is definitely when guitar playing as we now know it started.

Elvis Presley must be given some of the credit for it, with his hips swinging and the raunchiness of the songs, although he did not really play guitar well at the time.

He did however start the craze of screaming girls at his shows, it was all about sex really, and in fact that is how it got the name Rock & Roll.

The roots of Rock & Roll go back to the late 40´s, and were influenced by blues and gospel music later the big band swing, and rhythm and blues; it was also influenced by country guitar music.

Some of the artist´s of the time such as Elvis Presley with “That´s Alright Mama” and Bill Hayley´s “Rock Around The Clock”, at the time the piano was the main instrument in the band, until Chuck Berry turned up with songs like “Johnny Be Good” with that famous Guitar Riff, which we still hear today.

I had the pleasure of seeing Chuck Berry playing live in Leicester, England; he was 64 years old then, but still Rocking, a great show.

England’s answer to Elvis Presley was Cliff Richards and the Shadows, (which were basically an electric guitar band) with “Living Doll”, unfortunately Cliff didn´t make it big in America, but he is still going strong in England at the ripe age of 80 and has just released his latest album.

In the early 60´s we saw the start of what was to be called “The Swinging 60´s” or sometimes “The Golden Age of Rock and Roll”, the biggest Band was The Beatles who when they played could not even hear themselves because of the screaming girls, and poor P.A. systems.

The Beatles were the first British artist´s to make it big in the U.S.A.; they were unique then as they wrote most of the song´s that they performed, and in fact they changed music, and the rules of the music we hear today.

They also wrote “I Wanna Be Your Man” which became the first hit record for the Rolling Stones, who also made it in the United States, and they still perform sellout concerts to this day, even at their age, so there’s hope for us all yet.

In the late 60´s-early 70´s we had the Glam Rock and the psychedelic era, and saw bands such as Jefferson Airplane, T Rex, Mud, and Wizard as well as Jimmy Hendrix and David Bowie, the style of guitar playing became more aggressive with a rise into Hard Rock and Heavy metal, we saw AC/DC, Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin.

It is my belief that Rock and Roll music will be with us in some form or another for a long time yet, and people will still be influenced by it, and will continue to buy records and learn to play guitar, whichever style of music they choose to play, it is all related anyway.

I hope that you can see now how Rock and Roll Guitar was a mixture of Blues, Country Guitar music, as well as Swing and Rhythm and blues.

I hope that you have found this article of interest, it has been written out of my love of this type of music, and in particular my love of good guitar playing.

Please feel free to comment on it, and to share it with others.

Keep on playing

“Wolfie”

About The Author
"Wolfie" is passionate about his guitar playing, and has a website for people that would like learn how to play guitar, and share in his passion.

Why not pick up the FREE! lessons on his site
The author invites you to visit:
http://www.countryguitar-lesson.com

Article from http://www.articlecity.com
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Knowmusic thanks Wolfie for the article and if you want more info:

Chuck Berry:

The Beatles

Jimi Hendrix

Knowmusic.se is your gateway to popular music. We give you a short insight to artists for basic knowledge and if you like, links to pages that will help you explore more. It is rock history, pop history, punk history, classical music history, swedish music history, at least a bit of it! You can also say: If you like to fake your knowledge about popular music, this is the place! But, if you really become interested in an artist, we give you the opportunity to become a nerd too! /The knowmusic.se team

The Beatles - not only on vinyl and cd!

2010-11-21T04:31:00.000-08:00

There are litterally tons og information about the Beatles. I have myself one of the books that goes through every song they recorded with comments about how they recorded it, where, who played and arranged what and so on.

The Beatles are the greatest group of all time. Other groups has sold more, have recorded more albums, but ni music group has ever got the earth to stop turning because of an album release. It was more or less like that when Sgt Peppers Lonely hearts club band-record was released in 1967. And they did not even tour after the release for promotion. Thay did not have to.

That is why they are the greatest rock/pop group ever. It is not all about sales.

When they released Sgt Pepper, they had stopped touring, as they said in an interview, they did not hear what they were playing anyway, the audience (mostly the girls) were screaming so loud that the equipment of the 60's couldn't deliver more volume.

They had become proffessional music composers and studio musicians playing on their own albums.

It was paul McCartney on bass guitar, Ringo Starr on drums, George Harrison on lead guitar and John Lennon on Guitar. All of them sang.

The video: From The animated movie "Yellow submarine"

Drugs came into their lifes as musicians, already while the were unknown and played for hours and hours in Hamburg, Germany, but escalated influenced by the Hippie culture and sometimes when you read between the lines in interviews with Paul McCartney, it seems that it was a hard time recording the Pepper album because of Lennons drug use. Anyway, Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts club band, become an album that o lot of music critics consider one of the worlds greatest of all time.

The album is also known for how it is recorded and arranged, together with George Martin (called the fifth beatle because of the graet influence he had through all their carreer as their producer) on two four track recorders, which was extremly high tech at that time, but is in no way today.

John Lennong was shot 8 december 1980. The guitarist George Harrison died 29 november 2001 in cancer.

In november 2010, The music of the Beatles was released in iTunes. Why it is worth mentioning is because it took so long time. Some say it is because of Paul, who want to squeeze ecery penny out of a release, himself say it is because of the record company. Anyway, the Beatles music is now on iTunes!

Official page

Wiki page
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Knowmusic.se is your gateway to popular music. We give you a short insight to artists for basic knowledge and if you like, links to pages that will help you explore more. It is rock history, pop history, punk history, classical music history, swedish music history, at least a bit of it! You can also say: If you like to fake your knowledge about popular music, this is the place! But, if you really become interested in an artist, we give you the opportunity to become a nerd too! /The knowmusic.se team

Beyoncé Knowles - on knowmusic.se

2010-11-13T07:01:00.000-08:00

Photo: Noemi Nuñez, Wiki Commons

Beyoncé Knowles sold over 50 million albums when she was a member of the US girl group Destiny's Child. They started out in the late 90's and and were active till the mid 00's. The three last members are still friends and a future comeback is not in any way impossible, but will probably not happen close in the future.

Beyoncés first soloalbum Dangerously in love was released 2003, and the same year she did a performance with the rapper Jay-Z' in Crazy in love and a love story started. The song became a huge hit and they become lovers and sooner they got married. Two great artists, if not the greatest in their own genres and they are still sticking together.

She has also started acting and has grown from only a singer to become an all over entertainer, making music as well as movies, but allways with much integrity.

About Beyoncé Knowles movies
Official web page

Knowmusic.se is your gateway to popular music. We give you a short insight to artists for basic knowledge and if you like, links to pages that will help you explore more. You can also say: If you like to fake your knowledge about popular music, this is the place! But, if you really become interested in an artist, we give you the opportunity to become a nerd too! /The knowmusic.se team

Broder Daniel with Henrik Berggren

2010-11-11T14:07:00.000-08:00

Foto: Oskar Karlin, wiki commons.

Broder Daniel is probably the most highest ranked domestic indie group of modern Sweden. The group was formed with initiative by its bandleader Henrik Berggren in 1989 at a posh secondary school, Samskolan, in Gothenburg, Sweden. Sharing the same rehearsal room, one guy in the band Little Wing, started to play the drums. His name was Håkan Hellström and is today one of Swedens most popular artists.

1995 was the year of their first single release, the song Cadillac was recorded in the studio straight as it was played live. They were too young to know anything about adding more tracks later.

The recording sessions was complicated in the way that a lot of alcohol was involved, it was the same during the tour that followed their release of the full album and they got a bad reputation amongst bookers at the clubs and different scenes/stages in Sweden. At the same time, the record didn´t sell very good, it was hard to book gigs and a promotion tour in England didn't come out well either.

They left their record company and the band wnt on a break.

They got back together, small changes amongst the band members but Henrik Berggren was still the undoubtable frontman. Still struggling with gigs, bad reputation they got a new record deal, but neither did they sell very well this time as well. Suddenly a new swedish film director, Lucas Moodysson used three of Broder Daniels songs in his movie Show me Love, and they got their big break in Sweden and they could tour the rest of the 90´s with a big crowd following them.

After this Håkan Hellström left the band even if he did some minor come backs later.

30 november 2001 in a swedish tv-show, they performed their song Shoreline and it became the most wished song in the swedish public radio the forthcoming month. It is said to be the most spread bootleg ever in Sweden.

The perfomance:

Now they become a living cult band, reaching out to youth thanks to their direct music and lyrics. They have never sounded good in the way of instruments and song performed with perfection, but they always delivered pure teen anxiety with great feeling reaching out to their audience hearts.

In 2008 Broder Daniels guitarplayer, Anders Göthberg died by suicide and later the same year, Broder Daniel had their final consert ever in Gothenburg at the Way out West festival. It is a classic concert, the audience was crying, touched by the band hounering Anders Göthberg.

Henrik ended the concert with the words: "Farewell my children".

More info:
Memorial page to Anders Göthberg
Broder Daniel on MySpace

Knowmusic.se is your gateway to popular music. We give you a short insight to artists for basic knowledge and if you like, links to pages that will help you explore more. You can also say: If you like to fake your knowledge about popular music, this is the place! But, if you really become interested in an artist, we give you the opportunity to become a nerd too! /The knowmusic.se team

Lily Allen

2010-11-10T13:31:00.000-08:00

3:rd July 2006 was the date that changes Lily Allens life. Born 1985 in Hammersmith, London, this was the day when her first single "smile" was released. She more or less got her break through thanks to her MySpace-page where she was and still are (2010) very active on by blogging and other kinds of posting.

Smile is about breaking up with a boyfriend and presented a fresh point of view of that subject. Check out the lyrics of Lily Allens Smile here.

Lily is very liberal towards sex and drugs which has made her a very interesting subject for the press that follows her everyday life a lot and writes more or less true things about her. Sometimes she has shown what pain in the aXX that can be, but she is also good at using it as a marketing tool. Again, her MySpace-page is very interesting as well as she has sometimes used it for her breaking news first, before the press knew.

Her music is very brittish because it is inspired by so many different styles. Live, she sounds more Caribbean than she does on records, and she is not afraid of using explicit language, which is very european and brittish to do in rock and pop music. Compare to American radio where they never plays the original explicit versions unless it is satellite radio.

Check out her official page.

Håkan Hellström - at knowmusic.se

2010-10-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

Håkan Hellström is one of the most popular musicians/artists in Sweden. Born in 1974 in Frölunda, Gothenburg in Sweden he got in some trouble during his time in secondary school, trouble that he always is avoiding to talk about in interviews.

Anyway, his mother put him in a private school and he got out of trouble. At the same time he met the lead singer, Henrik Berggren, in the future band Broder Daniel, and Håkan started to play drums in the band. He quit the band 1995 and two weeks later they got a record deal with EMI.

The year 2000 became Hellströms year, he released his first album "Känn ingen sorg för mig Göteborg" Don't be sorrow for me Gothenburg", and it was a great success!

Music critics literally went on stage and kissed him because of his performance and music, and ten years after, he still gets great reviews and sell records like noone else in Sweden.

Info page.
Wiki
MySpace

Knowmusic.se is your gateway to popular music. We give you a short insight to artists for basic knowledge and if you like, links to pages that will help you explore more. You can also say: If you like to fake your knowledge about popular music, this is the place! But, if you really become interested in an artist, we give you the opportunity to become a nerd too! /The knowmusic.se team

Welcome to Knowmusic.se!

2010-10-16T13:41:00.000-07:00

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Michael Jackson at knowmusic.se

2010-09-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

Michael Jackson is the ever best selling record artist in the world. His album "Thriller" has sold over 104 million copies all over the world, a record that probably never, atleast not in a close future, will be beaten because of noone is really selling any records or cd´s today.

He was born 29th aug 1958 in Gary, Indiana and at an age of eight, he started to perform with his brothers in the group "Jackson five", controlled by their father Joe in a way that many people say is, at least, unhealthy. The were drilled 24/7 and Michael has several times later, said that he never had experienced a childhood.

However, he developed to an extraordinary artist with his peak in the eighties and his albums "Thriller" 1982 and "Bad" 1987 only Madonna comparable to his fame.

He continued making music till his death 25 june 2009, accused in the 90´s for child abuse, he left the world as legend and as an ispiration for artists like Usher and Justin Timberlake.

Knowmusic.se is your gateway to popular music. We give you a short insight to artists for basic knowledge and if you like, links to pages that will help you explore more.

You can also say: If you like to fake your knowledge about popular music, this is the place! But, if you really become interested in an artist, we give you the opportunity to become a nerd too!

/The knowmusic.se team