My Top Music Reviews And Biographies

The Corrs Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:29:00 +0000

I was hooked on The Corrs from the first time I heard them on MTV. I like Irish folk music and The Corrs made it a bit funkier. I went to watch them play at the MEN Arena in Manchester and it was an excellent gig and it is one of my favourites of all the live gigs i've seen over the years and will go see them again if they tour and I can make it. Another one of the reasons I like The Corrs is Caroline Corr, because she is one of the few female drummers which excels at their job, and she is amazingly beautiful and I have always liked the drums and can play myself slightly.

The Corrs are a family band and consist of Andrea, Sharon, Caroline and Jim Corr and formed in 1990. They originate from Dundalk, Ireland and have done many performances for charity, including Live 8, and The Princes Trust and have received honorary MBE's for their work. The Corrs started out their careers with parts in the movie The Commitments. They are currently on hiatus while Jim, Sharon and Caroline raise their families and Andrea pursues her solo career.

The Corrs debut album, Forgiven, Not Forgotten was released in 1995 to instant success due to the prior release of the hit single Runaway which was a huge hit, reaching #1 in Ireland, UK and Australia and was a massive success in the US. The Australian copy of the album contained a bonus disc which was later released as The Corrs Live. The album turned Gold in the US, Platinum in the UK and 9x Platinum in Australia.

Talk On Corners was a highly anticipated release in 1997 and didn't disappoint. The album was more successful than their debut and is their most successful to date, turning 9x Platinum in the UK, 4x Platinum in Australia and another Gold in the US. Some of the hit singles from the album are I Never Loved You Anyway, Only When I Sleep, So Young, the Fleetwood Mac cover of Dreams (which was not on the original release but was added to the re-release in 1998) and the cover of Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing which is my favourite song from the album (I'm a BIG Jimi Hendrix fan).

Next to be released in 2000 was the album In Blue, which again topped the charts in several countries like UK, Ireland, Switzerland and Germany. The release of this album also helped to gain them more popularity in the US than the previous albums with the single Breathless which was on the MTV Unplugged album. Many songs from the In Blue album have been used in TV programmes and movies, such as At Your Side which was used for the trailer to the movie The Holiday and One Night was used in the film Mad About Mambo.

The 2004 release of the album Borrowed Heaven displays a sound similar to their early Celtic Folk songs rather than the more Pop style of the In Blue album. A remixed version of the single Goodbye was made available by download only and was a huge hit on the download chart. Another of the bands I like (Ladysmith Black Mambazo) sang the backing vocals on the single Borrowed Heaven. The album went to #1 in Ireland and was in the top 10 in UK, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, Austria, France and Germany.

Their latest studio album is called Home and was released in 2005 and again was a great success and a return to their early style. The album has sold over 4 million copies worldwide and the album was written from the songbook of their late mother Jean Corr who died while waiting for a lung transplant in 1999. The album also celebrates the 15th Anniversary of the band and contains two songs which are sung in Irish.

My Top 10 The Corrs Songs are:

01. Never Loved You Anyway
02. Little Wing
03. Runaway
04. Dreams
05. So Young
06. Love to Love You
07. Irresistible
08. No More Cry
09. Give Me a Reason
10. Breathless

Coldplay Biography and Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 01:52:00 +0000

I have liked Coldplay since the release of their first single Shiver. I think it was the guitar play and Chris Martin's voice which made me stop and listen initially and I was kinda a fan of Travis at the time who have a similar style. When Parachutes was released I was 100% won over, the album was one of my favourite and most played albums for a good few months until one of my mates threw it out of my car window on the M60 motorway because she said I played it too much. I did buy a new copy, but kept it at home where I could keep an eye on it.

Coldplay are an English band and formed in London in 1997. They consist of Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Will Champion and Johnny Buckland. They were originally called Starfish until Tim Rice-Oxley (Keane) allowed them to use the name Coldplay which he used for his own band before being with Keane. Between 2000 and 2005 they have been nominated three times for the Murcury Prize and have won several Grammy Awards and BRIT Awards. Coldplay are also well known for the work they do for charities, like performing at Live 8, Band Aid 20 and working with Oxfam, Amnesty International and the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Parachutes, the debut album was released in 2000 and was an instant success, which is partly due to the singles Shiver, Trouble and Yellow. Estimated sales of the album were 40,000 but by the end of the year the actual sales were over 1.6 million in the UK alone and over 2 million in the US. The album went to #1 in the UK with positions of #2 in Australia and #4 in New Zealand and has won the BRIT Award and Q Magazine Award for Best British Album and the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.

When A Rush Of Blood To The Head was released in 2002 its expectations were high, but actually far exceeded what was thought. The album went to #1 in the UK, Denmark, Norway, Argentina, Switzerland and Australia and was in the top 10 in Finland, Netherlands, France, New Zealand, Portugal, US and Sweden. The album has also earned them many awards, 3x Grammy Awards, a BRIT Award and another Q Magazine Award. Some of the hit singles from the album were In My Place, Clocks, God Put A Smile Upon Your Face and The Scientist.

X&Y was released in 2005 and showed that Coldplay just keep on improving all the time when the album went to #1 in over 10 countries (UK, US, Finland, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, France, Denmark, Portugal, Netherlands, Austria, Germany, New Zealand, Canada and Australia). Before the end of 2005 the album had already sold over 8.3 million copies and was the worldwide best selling album of that year. The final track on the album which is a hidden bonus track, Til Kingdom Come was supposed to be recorded by Johnny Cash but unfortunately he died before this could come to fruition.

Coldplay have been influenced by many bands throughout the years, including the likes of, George Harrison, Echo And The Bunnymen, Johnny Cash, Kraftwerk, Travis, Radiohead and The Verve. They have refused several companies the rights to use their songs in TV adverts such as Gatorade, Gap and Diet coke. They also have a new album, titled Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends which is set to be released in June 2008 and is produced by Brian Eno. The name for the album is derived from a painting by the Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo.

My Top 10 Coldplay Songs are:

01. A Rush Of Blood To The Head
02. The Scientist
03. Amsterdam
04. Sparks
05. Brothers And Sisters
06. One I Love
07. Such A Rush
08. Yellow
09. Everything's Not Lost
10. A Whisper

Jamiroquai Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 03:04:00 +0000

I stated listening to Jamiroquai pretty soon after the release of their first album because one of my mates had it and she bought it when it had just come out. She used to play the album over and over and it just kinda grew on me. We used to skip college and get drunk, listen to music while she sang to me and had some good times listening to the album.

Jamiroquai are an English Acid Jazz/Electronica group and the name is a mix of Jam (Jam sessions) and iroquai (named after the Native American tribe Iroquois). The lineup has changed a lot over the years but the founder was Jason "Jay" Kay and he decided to form his own group after he failed the audition for singer with the Brand New Heavies. Jay Kay is also well known for his scuffles with paparazzi and also his flamboyant hats.

Emergency On Planet Earth, their debut album was released in 1993 and was a massive UK and Us hit. The success of the album is partly due to the singles Blow Your Mind and Too Young To Die. The album smashed the chart and went to #1. The album is based around self consciousness and world issues.

When The Return Of The Space Cowboy was released in 1994 it was another massive hit in the charts, attaining a position of #2 in the UK. The single Space Cowboy is also believed to be a praise song to cannabis with the lyrics, At The Speed Of Cheeba...You And I Go Deeper...Maybe I'm Gonna Gave To Get High Just To Get By...(Cheeba meaning cannabis) and the term Space Cowboy is also a name for someone who smokes cannabis.

Their first major success in the US came with their third studio album, Travelling Without Moving which was released in 1996 and reached #24 and #2 in the UK. The album is reported to have sold over 11.5 million copies worldwide. Virtual Insanity was the most popular single from the album and has been used in many TV adverts. Jay Kay is also famous for his love of sports cars and this is reflected in the Ferrari style logo on the album cover.

Synkronized was released in 1999 and again was a huge success in the UK, reaching #1 and also reached #24 in the US. The single Canned Heat is a classic song and was also a #1 hit. The lyrics on the song King For A Day are about Stuart Zender, Jamiroquai's bass player on their earlier albums but who left the band during the making of the album. The bonus track Deeper Underground was also used on the remake of the classic movie Godzilla.

In 2001 A Funk Odyssey was released and the songs are a combination of funk, disco and electronica. The album reached #1 in the UK and also in the US and is the first of their albums not to feature the Buffalo Man logo. Their popularity peaked at this point and a massive world tour followed to support the album.

Dynamite, released in 2005 is the latest offering from Jamiroquai and reached #3 in the UK and went one place higher a #2 in the US. The album features a wide range of styles, from electronic to disco, house and acoustic. The video fro the single (Don't) Give Hate A Chance features an animated Buffalo Man, wearing sunglasses, horned hat and a tracksuit.

Jamiroquai's music has been used on many TV adverts, movies and computer games. They also played at the Khodynka Arena in Moscow, Russia at the launch of the new Audi A4 car in February 2008 and they are currently recording a new album which is yet to have a release date.

My Top 10 Jamiroquai Songs are:

01. Stillness In Time
02. Space Cowboy
03. Music Of The Mind
04. Light Years
05. High Times
06. Little L
07. Blow Your Mind
08. Do You Know Where You're Coming From
09. Cosmic Girl
10. Destitute Illusions

Placebo Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:31:00 +0000

I started listening to Placebo not long after I left school because I was working as a PC repair technician and traveled about the country a lot. When I was at the London office for a week once, while we upgraded computers at a university I went out with one of the guys and we went into a club and Placebo were playing live. Since then I have liked and followed their music.

Placebo are an alternative rock band formed in 1994 in London and consisted of Stefan Olsdal, Brian Molko and Robert Schultzberg. Steve Hewitt swapped places with Robert Schultzberg frequently until he replaced him permanently in 1996. They were originally named Ashtray Heart but soon changed their name to Placebo soon after and because a lot of the bands names at the time referenced drugs in some fashion, they settled on Placebo which is a drug with no effects. They also received some press because of the sexual orientation of the group, Olsdal is homosexual, Hewitt is heterosexual and Molko is bisexual.

The self titled debut album Placebo was released in 1997 and soon after Q magazine voted it 87th Greatest Album Of All Time. The album was a massive hit in the UK (#5 in the album chart) and also in France where it reached #50. The most successful single on the album was Nancy Boy and went to #4 in the UK.

Without You I'm Nothing was released in 1998 and was another huge success in the UK but was even more successful in France and the rest of Europe. The album reached #7 in both the UK and France. The single Pure Morning was originally recorded as a B-Side but they liked it so much it was put on the album and has appeared on many TV adverts since.

In 2000 Black Market Music was released and was dedicated to the memory of their publicist Scott Piering who unfortunately died of cancer and also the song from the album Commercial For Levi is in honor of sound technician Levi Tecofski who saved Brian's life when he stopped him from being in a traffic accident while he was crossing the road drunk.

Sleeping With Ghosts was released in 2003 and reached #1 in France and #11 in the UK and was also in the top 10 in Poland, Italy, Portugal, Austria, Switzerland and Germany and in the top 20 in Australia, Finland, Denmark, Sweden and the US. The album is based around the emotions of carrying around ghosts of previous relationships and memories. While on a supporting tour for the album, Placebo dedicated the song Centrefolds to Johnny Cash who had died the same day.

The latest album, Meds was released in 2006 and was actually leaked onto the internet a couple of months before the actual release and still there is no idea how this happened. The album went to #1 in France, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Greece, Mexico and Chile and #7 in the UK.

In 2007 Steve Hewitt left Placebo due to personal and musical reasons and there is news of a new album to be released in 2008/2009.

My Top 10 Placebo Songs are:

01. Without You I'm Nothing
02. English Summer Rain
03. Special Needs
04. Haemoglobin
05. One Of A Kind
06. Teenage Angst
07. Space Monkey
08. Nancy Boy
09. Special K
10. Pure Morning

Natalie Imbruglia Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:10:00 +0000

I know it is very sad but I used to watch Neighbours (Australian Soap Opera) when I was younger, mainly because it was on at home after I got home from school but also because there were some nice looking girls on there. It was on Neighbours that I first learned of Natalie Imbruglia because she played the character of Beth Brennan. I am completely over all that now, (I've not even really watched TV for about five years) which is nothing to do with the fact that she left the show around 1994. Neighbours is also responsible for the likes of Jason Donovan, Kylie Minogue, Kimberley Davies and Craig McLachlan.

Natalie Imbruglia started her music career in 1997 and behind Kylie Minogue is one of Australia's most successful musical exports. The release of her first single Torn rocketed her into the limelight and was a massive hit, selling over 1 million copies in the UK alone where it reached #2 in the chart.

Her debut album release was called Left Of The Middle and hit the shelves in 1997 and went to #1 in Australia and into the top 10 in both the UK and the US.also. The album has sold way over 1 million copies and turned Platinum within four weeks of it's release and turned 2x Platinum in 1998.

White Lilies Island was the next installment and was released in 2001 and is my favourite of her albums. The name is derived from the island where her home in England is. The album was slightly less successful commercially but lyrically and musically it was a huge hit. The original UK copies had a security program hidden on them which prevented people ripping the tracks to their PC's and also contained hidden copies of the tracks which were of lower quality which would only play when in a PC. Despite the problems the album has still managed to sell over 1.5 million copies.

2005 saw the release of Counting Down The Days and went straight into the UK chart at #1 and sold over 400,000 copies in the first week. The album was actually ready for release in 2003 but her record label wouldn't release it as they believed it to be too Rock oriented and not very radio-friendly, so eventually she pared ways with them and signed to a new record label in 2004.

Glorious: The Singles 1997-2007 was obviously released in 2007 and and is a compilation album but also contains five new songs and sold 33,000 copies in its first week and to date has sold way over 500,000 copies. There is a limited edition which also contains a DVD of her video's.

Also in 2003 Natalie Imbruglia starred alongside Rowan Atkinson in the movie Johnny English where she played the part of Lorna Campbell and in 2007 she was filming for the lead part in an Australian film called Elise which has yet to have a release date announced. She has also had a great modeling career with L'Oreal where she modeled mascara and other cosmetics products.

My Top 10 Natalie Imbruglia Songs are:

01. Wrong Impression
02. Shiver
03. Torn
04. Never Tear Us Apart
05. Don't You Think
06. Hurricane
07. Butterflies
08. One More Addiction
09. Wishing I Was There
10. Sanctuary

Everything But The Girl Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:13:00 +0000

Everything But The Girl are another band I have to thank my sister P for getting me into, although I did like them before I listened to her CD's but listening to more than the stuff I heard out and about and on radio fully converted me. I know there were singles released before but I think the one that alerted me to EBTG was the single When All's Well because I liked the beat and Tracey's voice.

EBTG formed in Hull, England in 1982 and consist of Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt who are also a married couple and have several children. It was not known for a long time that they were even a couple. They met at Hull University and had both signed to the same record label as solo artists. The name Everything But The Girl is a slogan taken from a furniture shop in Hull.

Eden, the debut album was released in 1984 and reached #14 in the UK album chart and was a huge hit, mainly due to the single Each And Every One which was their first hit single and reached #28 in the charts. The album is considered part of the sophisti-pop genre which includes other UK bands such as The Style Council and Sade. The US version of the album was self titled Everything But The Girl and contained a slightly different track listing.

In 1985, when Love Not Money was released it contained many songs with deeper meanings such as the songs Angel which is about child poverty, Ugly Little Dreams is about men's attitudes to intelligent women and Sean is about the troubles in Northern Ireland. The album was a huge success and reached #10 in the UK album chart.

Their third album, Baby The Stars Shine Bright was released in 1986 and was not quite as successful as the previous album, only reaching #22 in the UK. The album was completely self produced by EBTG and contains pop songs recorded with an accompanying orchestra. It is believed the inspiration behind the album came from artists such as Patsy Cline, Burt Bacharach and Jimmy Webb.

Idlewild, released in 1988 contains the massive hit single I Don't Want To Talk About It which helped it to reach #13 in the UK charts. The same song was also a hit previously for Rod Stewart and the original writer Danny Whitten. The song was originally missing from the album but was included later due to its success.

1990 saw the release of The Language Of Life and was their first international hit album, reaching #77 in the US and #10 at home in the UK. The single Driving was the biggest hit on the album and reached #30 in the US chart. Worldwide was released in 1991 with the hit single Old Friends. This album reached #29 in the UK chart.

Acoustic was released in 1992 and contains some of their previous hits and also some cover versions of Cyndi Lauper's song Time After Time, Tom Waits's Downtown Train, Elvis Costello's Alison and Bruce Springsteen's Tougher Than The Rest. The acoustic album was a US only release. Another compilation album was released in 1993 titled Home Movies.

Their next studio album was released in 1994 called Amplified Heart and was another return to fame for EBTG, reaching #20 in the UK and #46 in the US. The album contains probably their best known song, Missing which peaked at #3 in the UK chart and #1 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart. The rise in success continued with the release of Walking Wounded which was released in 1996 and is the highest charting of their albums to date, reaching #4 in the UK and #37 in the US.

Also in 1996 was the release of The Best Of Everything But The Girl which itself was another huge hit and peaked at #23 in the UK. Their latest studio album released in 1999 called Temperamental reached #16 in the UK. Since then there have been two more compilation albums, Like the Deserts Miss the Rain released in 2003 and Adapt Or Die: Ten Years of Remixes which was released in 2006.

Ben and Tracy continue to work on their solo careers.

My Top 10 Everything But The Girl Songs are:

01. Apron Strings
02. I Always Was Your Girl
03. Driving
04. Another Bridge
05. Good Cop Bad Cop
06. Missing
07. Meet Me In The Morning
08. I Don't Want to Talk About It
09. Old Friends
10. Trouble And Strife

Catatonia Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:31:00 +0000

I only really got into Catatonia after the release of International Velvet and hadn't really heard much of them before that. Since that release I went out and bought their previous albums and have bought their subsequent albums too. I think what really attracted me to them initially was Cerys Matthews voice and looks. I don't know of that many Welsh, female singers but I liked the sound of her voice the first time I heard it, and looks wise she is very beautiful. I got into a slight bit of trouble at the time because I went out and got a poster of Cerys which I put on my bedroom wall.

Catatonia formed in Cardiff, Wales in 1992 and consist of Cerys Matthews, Paul Jones, Mark Roberts, Owen Powell and Aled Richards. Other members have been Kris Jenkins, Dafydd Ieuan and Clancy Pegg. They were originally called Sweet Catatonia after believing the term to mean a sense of extreme pleasure and sleep and then dropped the Sweet when they realised Catatonia is a symptom of mental disorders.

Their debut album titled The Sublime Magic of Catatonia was released in 1995 and is a compilation album of some of their early songs before being signed to any label and is similar to the album Way Beyond Blue which is considered more their debut album and contains most of their early singles and hits such as Bleed, For Tinkerbell, Whale and You've Got A Lot To Answer For.

When International Velvet was released in 1998 it was nominated for a Mercury Award and was their first #1 album in the UK and turned 3x Platinum in the US. The album boasts some of their most famous songs like Road Rage, I Am The Mob based on the movie The Godfather and Mulder And Scully which is named after the main characters of the hit TV show The X-Files.

Catatonia continued to rise in popularity due to the 1999 release of Equally Cursed And Blessed which also was #1 in the UK charts and turned Platinum in the US. The songs Dead From The Waist Down, Karaoke Queen and Dazed Beautiful And Bruised being massive hits in the UK.

Paper Scissors Stone named after the game Rock, Paper, Scissors was released in 2001 and was to be their final studio album. The single Stone By Stone was the only single released from the album and in the video for the song, the ending shows the band abandoning their instruments and walking away. Soon after, this turned out to be reality as they split later in the year. The album was dedicated to a friend Barrie Cawley who was unfortunately killed during a road accident the previous year (2000).

Since the split Cerys Matthews has pursued her own solo career, releasing her solo album Cockahoop in 2003. She also released her new album titled Aeroplane in 2007.

My Top 10 Catatonia Songs are:

01. Gyda Gwen
02. Dazed Beautiful And Bruised
03. Beautiful Loser
04. She's a Millionaire
05. I am the Mob
06. Way Beyond Blue
07. My Selfish Gene
08. Is Everybody Here On Drugs?
09. You've Got A Lot To Answer For
10. Storm the Palace

The Cranberries Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:33:00 +0000

I have liked The Cranberries ever since the release of the single Linger 1993. Dolores O'Riordan's voice is amazing and is what initially attracted me to the song. Since then I have got every album which has been released and they are all great. I have seen The Cranberries live and it was a really good gig and I would recommend anyone going if they decide to tour again in the future.

The Cranberries formed in 1990 and consisted originally of Noel and Mike Hogan, Fergal Lawler and Niall Quinn and were named The Cranberry Saw Us which was a pun on cranberry sauce. When Niall left the band they auditioned for a new vocalist and Dolores O'Riordan won and wrote the lyrics for Linger in only one day after being given a demo.

Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? the debut album was released in 1993 and was a massive success and rocketed The Cranberries into stardom. The success was somewhat due to the bands tour and the playing of the video's of Linger and Dreams on MTV. When the album was re-released in 2002 it went to #1 in the UK charts and is one of only five albums to have ever dropped out of the charts to come back and reach #1.

No Need To Argue was released in 1994 and is their biggest hit album selling over 16.5 million copies worldwide. The album contains the single Zombie which is their most successful single. The album turned 3x Platinum within a year of it's release. During the following tour rumours started that Delores was planning to quit to pursue her solo career but the band denied these.

The rumours were still floating about until the release of To The Faithful Departed in 1996. The album was made in memory of a friend of the band called Danny Cordell and Delores's grandad who both tragically died the same year. The album entered the UK chart at #2 and #4 in the US and turned 2x Platinum. In Autumn 1996 The Cranberries canceled a couple of their planned tours which sparked the rumours of a split yet again.

The release of Bury The Hatchet in 1999 stopped those rumours and it reached #7 in the UK chart and #13 in the US where it turned Gold. The tour to support the album was their most successful and started in April 1999 and ended in July 2000. The album has sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide.

Wake Up And Smell The Coffee was released in 2001 and helped to raise the popularity of The Cranberries once more. Though not as successful as albums like No Need To Argue and To The Faithful Departed the album was still a massive hit. Stars - The Best Of 1992-2002 a compilation album released in 2002 also helped in the rise. They also won an award in Taiwan for best international band.

Since 2003 The Cranberries have been on a hiatus to pursue their own solo careers but a new EP is reported to be released sometime in 2008.

My Top 10 The Cranberries Songs are:

01. I Can't Be With You
02. Just My Imagination
03. Hollywood
04. Linger
05. In The Ghetto
06. Ode To My Family
07. Zombie
08. Ridiculous Thoughts
09. Dreams
10. You And Me

Carter USM Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 03:11:00 +0000

I started listening to Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine for reasons that are a bit sketchy. One day when I was younger I somehow ended up in a stolen car driving down the M62 Motorway in Manchester being chased by the police and whoever's car it was must have liked Carter USM because they had the cassette in their stereo playing and the song Sheriff Fatman came on and because of the current situation me and my friends thought it was funny. When we ditched the car I took the tape with me as a souvenir and listened to it when I got home.

Carter USM are an English band formed in London in 1987 and consist of singer Jim "Jim Bob" Morrison and guitarist Les "Fruitbat" Carter. The name is apparently derived form Fruitbat's stamina. Carter USM were originally called Jamie Wednesday but changed their name one day when they realised they had a gig booked but no other bands to play there.

The Debut album 101 Damnations was released in 1989 and is roughly about London life and is packed with humour, cynicism and puns. The album went straight to the top of the indie charts. The single Sheriff Fatman helped them to gain in popularity and is apparently based on a South London landlord.

Their next album was released in 1991 and titled 30 Something. The album was reportedly recorded in only 20 days at a cost of £4,000. It peaked the UK chart at #8 and when it was re-released in 1992 it reached #21. The song Bloodsport For All was released at the beginning of the Gulf War and was an attack on racism and bullying in the Army and was banned by the BBC.

1992 - The Love Album was strangely enough released in 1992 and was Carter USM's first #1 album in the UK and saw them rise into pop stardom. Carter USM also performed at the Glastonbury Festival which ended badly when Fruitbat insulted Michael Eavis (Festival Organiser) because of the shortening of their set due to other bands overrunning theirs and was banned from the Festival for life.

Carter USM released Post Historic Monsters in 1993 which reached #5 in the UK charts and contains the hits: Mid Day Crisis and Under The Thumb And Over The Moon. In 1994 they released a B-Side compilation called Starry Eyed And Bollock Naked which reached #22 in the UK.

Worry Bomb which was released in 1995 reached #9 in the UK chart and also contained a limited edition CD of the live show at Doma Sportova...Live At Zagreb which was recorded in 1994. Also released in 1995 was the compilation album Straw Donkey... The Singles which reached #37 and contains some previously unreleased material.

A World Without Dave was released in 1997 which was an EP and soon after Carter USM embarked on their longest UK tour and then on to tour the US and Canada. Soon after I Blame The Government was released for their 10th Anniversary in 1998 they decided to split. Two live albums, Sessions and Live! were released in 1998 after the break up.

2005 saw the release of a new compilation of B Sides called The Good, The Bad, The Average And Unique. Another compilation album (You Fat Bastard) was released in 2007 following a reunion for some farewell gigs to celebrate the 20th Anniversary. In February 2008 Carter USM emailed their mailing list informing them that there will be two new gigs later in the year (Brixton Academy, 21st and 22nd November 2008).

My Top 10 Carter USM Songs are:

01. Sheriff Fatman
02. Look Mum, No Hands!
03. Commercial Fucking Suicide
04. The Undertaker And The Hippy Protest Singer
05. Good Grief Charlie Brown
06. Johnny Cash
07. After The Watershed (Early Learning The Hard Way)
08. My Second To Last Will And Testament
09. The Only Living Boy In New Cross
10. The Final Comedown

Cypress Hill Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:53:00 +0000

I have always liked Cypress Hill since the release of their first album. I remember hearing the single How I Could Just Kill A Man and thought B-Real had an amazing rapping voice, the sound and beat was good, and I was already into Rap at the time. Since then they have become one of my favourite bands to chill to and I listen to them quite a bit. I find most people know a few of their songs or have at least heard of them, which is good because I talk to a lot of people about some of the stuff I listen to and they have no idea what I'm talking about.

Cypress Hill are a mainly Latin American Hip-Hop group and formed in California. They have gained much popularity over the years because they rap a lot about the legalisation of cannabis. Cypress Hill were the first Latin Rap group to have Platinum albums. The group consist of B-Real, Sen Dog, DJ Muggs and Eric Bobo. Mellow Man Ace also used to be a member (they were called DVX at that time) but left in 1988 then they changed to Cypress Hill.

The self titled debut Cypress Hill was released in 1991 and was an instant success and has become 2x Platinum, selling over 2million copies in the US alone. Soon after the release of the album, Cypress Hill performed at Lollapalooza in 1992 which helped to raise their public image and popularity. When Black Sunday was released in 1993 it went straight into the US album chart at #1 and the Cypress Hill album was still in the charts which made them the first Rap group to have two albums in the charts at the same time. The single Insane In The Brain's popularity helped the album to turn 3x Platinum.

Cypress Hill III: Temples of Boom was released in 1995 and saw a collaboration with Wu-Tang rappers Rza and U-God for the song Killa Hill Niggas. The album turned Platinum, selling over 1.5 million copies and also caused a feud between Ice Cube's band Westside Connection who claimed material was stolen from them. The feud was settled on a TV talk show and B Real and Ice Cube have worked together since then.

In 1996 Cypress Hill released the album Unreleased And Revamped which is kinda what it says on the tin. IV was released in 1998 and saw the group collaborate on the PC game Kingpin: Life Of Crime and 3 songs are included in the game and B Real provided voice samples for some of the games characters. When Skull & Bones was released in 2000 the Skull disc contained Rap songs and the Bones disc contained Rock songs. The album peaked the charts at #5. Live At The Filmore was also released in 2000.

Stoned Raiders was released in 2001 and is one of my Top 50 albums. The music from the song Lowrider has been used on many TV shows and movies since then. The album also contains collaborations with Method Man (Wu-Tang) and Redman and the song Here Is Something You Can't Understand is a sequel to their original song How I Could Just Kill a Man. The EP Stash was released in 2002 and is another remix album.

Till Death Do Us Part, released in 2004 shows a different side to Cypress Hill and is contains a more Reggae sound and features Damian Marley (Bob Marley's son). Greatest Hits From The Bong is another compilation album and was released in 2005. In 2007 Cypress Hill went on the Rock The Bells Tour alongside Wu-Tang, Public Enemy, Rage Against The Machine, Erykah Badu, Nas and others.

Cypress Hill are currently working on new material.

My Top 10 Cypress Hill Songs are:

01. Hits From The Bong
02. I Ain't Goin' Out Like That
03. I Wanna Get High
04. Lowrider
05. A To The K
06. How I Could Just Kill A Man
07. Rap Superstar
08. Ultraviolet Dreams
09. What Go Around Come Around Kid
10. Stoned Is The Way Of The Walk

The Waterboys Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:22:00 +0000

One of my old work colleagues (Graig M) got me into The Waterboys because we used to travel around the UK repairing PC's and spent a lot of time driving and The Waterboys was one of his favourite CD's to play and then because I liked it we used to listen to it more often. When I got paid one month I went out to HMV and bought four The Waterboys CD's (I often spend most of my wages on CD's and music) and listen to them a lot. Craig is also responsible for some of the other music I am into.

The Waterboys were formed by Mike Scott in 1983 and Mike is the only member to have remained from then til now. There have been many members over the years, some being: Anthony Thistlethwaite, Roddy Lorimer, Martyn Swain, Kevin Wilkinson, Eddi Reader, Karl Wallinger and Chris Whitten. Their musical style is a mix of Celtic, Folk and Rock N' Roll. Some people have dubbed The Waterboys sound "The Big Music" which is named after a song off the A Pagan Place album. The same term has been used to describe some other bands such as World Party, The Alarm, Simple Minds, The Hothouse Flyers and Big Country, and a lot of their songs are centered around spirituality. The name The Waterboys is taken from Lou Reed's song The Kids.

The self titled debut album The Waterboys was released in 1983 and has one of their most famous songs on it, A Girl Called Johnny. The song is a tribute to Patti Smith who was a great inspiration to Mike Scott alongside the likes of Bob Dylan and David Bowie. The original track listing only had eight songs but the album was re-released in 2002 and has an additional seven songs on it.

When A Pagan Place was released in 1984 it is known that the recording for it started even before The Waterboys album was released. The recording was done in two separate sessions, one in 1982 and the second in 1983 with new band members joining for the second session. This album too was re-released in 2002 with additional songs from the first recording session. Following the release The Waterboys toured the UK, with them also supporting U2 and The Pretenders at Glastonbury Festival.

1985 saw the release of This Is The Sea and was much more successful than the previous two albums and boasts their biggest hit The Whole Of The Moon which reached #26 in the UK. The song could have had more promotion, but Mike Scott refused to perform on Top Of The Pops due to them insisting they must lip sync.

The second phase of The Waterboys style started just before the release of Fisherman's Blues in 1988 and saw them move from The Big Music into the Raggle Taggle Band style which was influenced by Mike Scott moving to Ireland and the folk music there. The album is their most successful album to date containing songs like Strange Boat, And A Bang On The Ear and Fisherman's Blues.

Room To Roam was released in 1990 and followed in the folk style of the previous album. The album is apparently named after a passage in a George MacDonald book, Phantastes. Some of the hits from the album are A Man Is In Love, The Raggle Taggle Gypsy, Further Up - Further In and Something That Is Gone.

My favourite of The Waterboys albums, Dream Harder was released in 1993 and is a return to the more Rock style of their earlier albums. The song The Return of Pan is about the Greek God also the song The Return Of Jimi Hendrix is one of my favourite tracks on the album. Some of the other hits from the album are Corn Circles, Glastonbury Song and Preparing to Fly.

A Rock In The Weary Land was released in 2000 and was the first for seven years due to Mike Scott pursuing his solo career. The album saw another shift in style inspired by Radiohead and Beck, and Mike Scott described the style as "Sonic Rock", another change happened in 2003 when they released Universal Hall which is mostly an acoustic album and a return to some of their earlier Celtic music.

In 2007 The Waterboys released a new album Book Of Lightning and contains some new hits like Love Will Shoot You Down, You In The Sky and The Man With The Wind At His Heels. The Waterboys played at the Return To Peace And Love Festival in Sweden on March 11th 2008.

My Top 10 The Waterboys Songs are:

01. Glastonbury Song
02. The Return Of Jimi Hendrix
03. The Whole Of The Moon
04. A Pagan Place
05. All The Things She Gave Me
06. We Are Jonah
07. Strange Boat
08. The Big Music
09. Winter Winter
10. Spiritual City

Bjork Biography and top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:00:00 +0000

Bjork is another of those singers that I like but none of my friends do. I first started listening to Bjork when my sister P had the album Debut and I listened to it one day and was hooked. Most of my friends think she is a bit weird, but I kinda like that and I also think she has an amazing voice and is pretty cute. Some of her songs have "weird" lyrics which people find depressing, but because I'm a bit weird myself I can sort of relate, and some of my poem's are a bit on the weird side too.

Bjork was born in Reykjavik, Iceland on November 21st 1965. She started her musical career at the age of eleven when she studied classical piano in school. Her teacher sent in a copy of her singing to the radio station RUV which, at the time was the only radio station in Iceland. Soon after the performance, she was signed up to Falkinn Records and released the album Bjork in 1977.

In her early days Bjork worked with several Icelandic bands, the most successful being The Sugarcubes. They released the album Life's Too Good in 1988 and it was a huge hit in the UK and the US which was unheard of for an Icelandic Rock band. Bjork also had brief association with the Manchester band 808 State on their album Ex:el which was released in 1991. The Sugarcubes split up in 1992 and Bjork left Iceland to move to London where she started working on her solo career.

Debut was released in 1993 and was a huge success, partly due to the prior release of the single Human Behaviour. The album was named album of the year by NME and also went Platinum in the US. Even though Bjork had already released a solo album when she was eleven she decided to name the album Debut as it was a turning point in her career and a start of something new. Due to the albums sucess Bjork won the awards for Best International Female and Best International Newcomer at the BRITS in 1994.

In 1995 the release of her new album Post saw Bjork rise in popularity within the UK and the US where the album turned Platinum. The success was partly due to the release of the single It's Oh So Quiet and this officially made Bjork Iceland's largest musical export. The singles Hyperballad, Possibly Maybe and Army Of Me were also massive hits.

The album Homogenic was released in 1997 and saw a dramatic move from her previous style into a more emotional and personal style. The album has sold over 1.7 million copies worldwide and peaked at #4 on the UK album chart. In an interview Bjork said this about the album, "I wanted to make it an honest record. Me, here, myself, at home. I asked myself if there is such a thing as Icelandic techno, and how it could sound. Well, in Iceland, everything revolves around nature, 24 hours a day. Earthquakes, snowstorms, rain, ice, volcanic eruptions, geysers... Very elementary and uncontrollable. But at the other hand, Iceland is incredibly modern; everything is hi-tech. The number of people owning a computer is as high as nowhere else in the world. That contradiction is also on Homogenic. The electronic beats are the rhythm, the heartbeat. The violins create the old-fashioned atmosphere, the colouring. Homogenic is Iceland, my native country, my home."

Vespertine, released in 2001 saw another turn in her musical style and also caused some controversy when the video to the single Pagan Poetry was released which shows extreme piercings and Bjork's exposed nipples, as well as images of sexual acts, which included vaginal penetration and fellatio. The video for Cocoon also showed a seemingly naked Bjork with her nipples emitting a red thread that eventually enveloped her in a cocoon. Vespertine was also selected as one of the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, which is a book by Robert Dimery (released in 2006).

Medulla was her next release in 2004 and many of the songs contain vocals which are electronically distorted, a new twist in the Bjork style. The album also contains beatboxing (which I can do to some extent) and throat singing. Medulla peaked the UK chart at #9 and at #14 in the US. This album is also listed in the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die book and Bjork was nominated for two Grammy Awards (Female Pop Vocal Performance, and Alternative Music Album).

Bjork's latest album is Volta and was released in 2007 and debuted at #9 on the billboard 200 chart and is her first top 10 album in the US and reached #7 in the UK chart. Bjork is currently on a world tour and there are reports of some new releases in 2008. Bjork has also been in the movies, playing parts in The Juniper Tree, a tale of witchcraft based on the Brothers Grimm story. She also produced the musical score for the movie Dancer In The Dark and released the music as Selmasongs in 2000.

My Top 10 Bjork Songs are:

01. Venus As A Boy
02. Possibly Maybe
03. Pagan Poetry
04. Joga
05. Big Time Sensuality
06. Violently Happy
07. Enjoy
08. I Miss You
09. Bachelorette
10. Crying

M People Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:58:00 +0000

Another one of those Manchester bands that I support are M People and I first heard of M People when the song How Can I Love You More? was released in 1991. The first time I heard the song I fell in love with Heather Small's voice and couldn't wait for the album to be released. I went to watch M People live a few years later and it was an amazing gig/experience and I would recommend anyone if they get the chance to go see them.

M People are a House band and formed in Manchester in 1990. The name came from the founding members initials, Mike Pickering and the rest of the band are Heather Small, Shovell and Paul Heard. I like to think of the name as representing Manchester People but thats just my loyalty to Manchester showing itself.

The debut album Northern Soul was released in 1992 and contains some of my favourite M People songs (Colour My Life, Excited and Someday). The album wasn't as commercially successful as hoped and it seems most of their fans were Manchester clubbers, as it only reached #53 in the UK album chart.

Things changed for M People in 1994 when they released their new album Elegant Slumming which saw them rise in popularity, mainly due to the singles One Night in Heaven, Don't Look Any Further and, Moving On Up which were all massive hits and all in the top 10 singles chart. The album went to #2 in the UK album chart and #12 in the US.

They further smashed the charts in 1995 with the release of their third album Bizzare Fruit which got positions of #4 in the UK and #17 in the US. The songs from the album Sight For Sore Eyes and Search For A Hero and were massive hits and Search For A Hero has been used on many movies and TV adverts.

Northern Soul was re-released in 1995 with a modified track listing and was more successful than the original release and topped the charts at #26. Continuing their success in 1995 they also released Bizzare Fruit Vol. 2 which is an expanded version of the original album and released as a limited edition which featured a live CD. The album also includes the cover of the Small Faces song Itchycoo Park (which is my favourite song off the CD) and peaked at #3 in the UK.

When Fresco was released in 1997 it went straight into the charts at #2 and has sold over 1.1 million copies and has gone 2x Platinum and performed a couple of songs on Later With Jools Holland which were Angel St. and Never mind Love. The Best Of M People was released in 1998 and also entered the chart at #2. The album contains 17 songs, of which 10 were top ten hits and three new songs. A limited edition was also released which included an 8 song bonus CD recorded live on Later With Jools Holland.

The album Testify was released in 1999 and was only available in the US and is a sort of compilation album of tracks from previous albums. Ultimate Collection was released in 2005 and is another compilation album but also with a couple of solo songs by Heather Small and a couple of new tracks that didn't appear on the Best Of album.

In 2007 M People went back on tour to support The Forestry Commission's social and environmental programmes which saw them perform in several different forests throughout the UK including: Delamere Forest (Cheshire), Westonbirt Arboretum (Wiltshire), Thetford Forest (Suffolk) and Dalby Forest (North Yorkshire Moors).

My Top 10 M People Songs are:

01. Itchycoo Park
02. How Can I Love You More
03. One Night In Heaven
04. Testify
05. Search For The Hero
06. Just For You
07. Moving On Up
08. Someday
09. Don't Look Any Further
10. Sight For Sore Eyes

Erasure Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 23:21:00 +0000

This time I actually have my sister D to thank for getting me into Erasure. When we were kids she used to listen to them and due to weird circumstances I wont get into her boyfriend was staying at our home and I had to share a room with him and he used to play a tape which had Ship Of Fools on it. Before the days of the internet and lyrics.com I used to play a track over and over and write down the lyrics myself and Ship Of Fools was one of the early ones I remember doing it for.

Erasure are an English synth pop duo who formed in 1985 and consist of Andy Bell and Vince Clarke. They had most of their success during the late 1980's and early 1990's with 24 consecutive #1 singles in the UK chart and have sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Erasure actually formed after Vince Clarke (who co-founded Depeche Mode and Yazoo) advertised for a vocalist and auditioned Andy Bell who was the 43rd to be auditioned.

Erasure's debut album Wonderland was released in 1986 and Vince Clarke had initially planned on having different singers appear on each track but due to "musical chemistry" differences, Andy Bell worked on each track and after this they made the Erasure duo permanent. The album didn't do as well as planned initially but is now appreciated as the beginning stages of synth pop in the UK. Two of the most successful singles from the album were Who Needs Love (Like That) and Oh L'Amour.

When The Circus was released in 1987 it was a huge success which is mainly due to the song Sometimes which went into the charts at #2. The album also had more hits which were: It Doesn't Have To Be, Victim of Love and The Circus. The Innocents was released in 1988 and catapulted Erasure into the public eye with the singles A Little Respect, Ship Of Fools, When I Needed You and River Deep, Mountain High. The album was their first #1 album in the UK and saw them break into the US top 40 where the album turned Platinum.

Wild! (released in 1989) is considered one of their best albums by Erasure's fans and contains some classics like Blue Savannah, Piano Song, Drama! and Star. The album was Erasure's second #1 in the UK and had four #1 singles and was also a massive hit in Germany. Chorus was released in 1991 and was another #1 hit in the UK and also had four #1 hits.

I Say I Say I Say is their sixth studio album and was released in 1994 and their fifth consecutive #1 album in the UK. The single Always was a massive hit in the US along with Run To The Sun which was a huge club hit. The self titled Erasure album released in 1995 didn't perform as well commercially as their previous albums but was still a great album with the singles Rock Me Gently, Fingers And Thumbs, and Angel on it.

The 1997 release of Cowboy saw Erasure return to the UK top 10 and the single In My Arms is a classic song which was a huge hit in UK, Germany and the US where the album was altered slightly to include a cover of the Blondie song Rapture. Loveboat was released in 2000 and contained more use of acoustic guitars than some of their previous albums.

Other People's Songs was released in 2003 and is a purely cover album and contains some classics like Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime (The Korgis), True Love Ways (Buddy Holly), Video Killed the Radio Star (Buggles) and You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' (The Righteous Brothers). The album saw another rise in popularity for Erasure.

Nightbird is Erasure's eleventh studio album which was released in 2005 and the single Breathe entered the UK chart at #4. Many fans and critics saw the album as a return to the older style like the albums Wonderland and Chorus. To promote the album Erasure embarked on a massive tour of the US, UK and most of Europe.

The Union Street album which was released in 2006 is a compilation album of songs from previous albums but recorded in a country and western or acoustic style. Their latest album released in 2007 is Light At The End Of The World and the tour to promote the album started in Tampa, Florida and went through to the UK, Ireland, Germany and ended in Denmark in October.

It is reported that Erasure are working on new material to be released this year and news is that there is going to be some association with nursery rhymes.

My Top 10 Erasure Songs are:

01. Sometimes
02. It Doesn't Have To Be
03. Ship Of Fools
04. Always
05. Victim Of Love
06. Oh L'Amour
07. In My Arms
08. Yahoo!
09. When I Needed You
10. Love Is The Rage

Beastie Boys Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 00:14:00 +0000

One of my first memories of hip-hop and rap was the Beastie Boys song "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)" on the radio while I was still at school. I remember saving all my money just to buy the album Licensed To Ill and I now rate it one of my top 50 albums of all time. At the time I was listening to a lot of chart music and "oldies" but the Beastie Boys helped to change my musical tastes and now hip-hop and rap is probably my favourite genre.

The Beastie Boys originated in New York, USA and consisted of Michael Diamond (Mike D), Adam Yauch (MCA), John Berry and Kate Schellenbach. There have been many contributors since then, the most popular being Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock), Michael Schwartz (Mix Master Mike), and Wendell Fite (DJ Hurricane). The name Beastie was thought to stand for "Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Internal Excellence" but in a report with Mike D he said that this happened after they had come up with the name. In the early days the group were support acts for bands like The Misfits, Reagan Youth, Bad Brains and The Dead Kennedys.

In 1983 John Berry left and was replaced by Ad-Rock, soon after the Beastie Boys signed to Def Jam and released the EP Rock Hard in 1984. Not long after, Kelly left the band and it is said that it was a result of their manager thinking she didn't fit the bands rap image. In 1985 the Beastie Boys opened for Public Image Ltd. (Johnny Rotten from the Sex Pistols new band),they also supported Madonna on her "Virgin" tour and on the Raising Hell tour with Run DMC.

The debut album Licensed To Ill was released in 1986 and is reported as the best selling Rap album of the 1980's and the first Rap album to goto #1 on the Billboard album chart. The album stayed at the top of the chart for five weeks and sold over 5 million copies. Paul's Boutique was released in 1989 after they signed with Capitol Records and is considered a landmark for hip-hop recordings due to its use of multi-layering and sampling techniques. Rolling Stone Magazine described the album as "the Pet Sounds/Dark Side of the Moon of hip hop." and it went on to sell over a million copies.

Check Your Head was released in 1992 after yet another change in label to Grand Royal Records (Beastie Boys own label) and the band played all the instruments themselves. The album went double platinum in the US. It is said in the Oxford English Dictionary that the Beastie Boys created the haircut term called the Mullet in the song Mullet Head in 1994.

When Ill Communication was released in 1994 it went straight into the US chart at #1, soon after, the Beastie Boys headlined at Lollapalooza (an American music festival) alongside The Smashing Pumpkins. They also went on a tour to raise awareness for The Milarepa Fund which deal with Tibetan human rights and Adam Yauch organised the Tibetan Freedom Concert which saw over 100,000 people through the gates of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco in 1996.

Aglio e Olio was released in 1995 and resembled a more punk style than that usually associated with their Rap style. The In Sound From Way Out! was released in 1996 and was an instrumental album consisting of jazz/funk beats.

Hello Nasty saw a new shift in the Beastie Boys music when DJ Hurricane was replaced by Mix Master Mike. The album was released in 1998 and went straight into the US chart at #1 and sold over 690,000 sales in the first week alone. The album also went into the #1 slot in UK, Australia, Germany, The Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden.

When To The 5 Boroughs was released in 2004 it was the first of their albums to be completely produced by themselves and reached #1 in the US chart and the single "Ch-Check It Out" was #2 on the world internet download chart. There was some controversy when the album was released as some people claimed the CD installed spyware when played on a PC but these allegations were settled as it was only copy protection software which only appeared on European copies.

Beastie Boys released The Mix Up in 2007 and prior to its release some tracks were leaked onto the internet and it was thought that the album would be purely instrumental but when the album was actually released it was soon discovered that it was just a myth.

The Beastie Boys are currently producing a new album.

My Top 10 Beastie Boys Songs are:

01. Girls
02. Brass Monkey
03. Pass The Mic
04. Time To Get Ill
05. Three MC's and One DJ
06. Body Movin'
07. (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)
08. Intergalactic
09. Car Thief
10. Skills To Pay The Bills

Scooter Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 02:18:00 +0000

Everybody has some bands or artists that they listen to but all their friends, family, people they talk to hate. Scooter are one of those bands for me and I think I only have one friend who can tolerate them for more than a song or two and that's only because he likes the genre of music.

Scooter are a German Techno/Hardcore band and originate from Hamburg, they formed in 1993 and consisted of Hans-Peter Geerdes (H.P. Baxxter), Soren Buhler (Ferris Bueller) and Hendrik Stedler (Rick J. Jordan). There have been several changes since then and other members are Michael Simon, Axel Broszeit (Axel Coon) and Jurgen Frosch (Jay Frog).

Scooter originally started as a project and their debut single Vallee De Larmes which is French for Valley Of Tears reached #8 in the German Dance Chart. In 1994 they played at the Palladium in Hamburg and H.P. Baxxter started freestyle rapping to an instrumental track which went on to become the single Hyper Hyper and it was at that point that the project got serious and became a band.

The single Hyper Hyper was only expected to make small news but actually turned platinum and sold over 700,000 copies. The album ...And The Beat Goes On! which was released in 1995 had more singles which have had similar success like Endless Summer, Move Your Ass! and Friends.

They released Our Happy Hardcore in 1996 and contains the hit singles Rebel Yell (a cover of the Billy Idol song), Back In The UK and Let Me Be Your Valentine. Wicked was released in 1996 with two massive hits I'm Raving (which features samples of Walking In Memphis and Scotland The Brave) and Break It Up.

In the decade between 1997-2007 Scooter have had massive success in the club scene and released the following albums: Age Of Love (1997), No Time to Chill (1998), Back To The Heavyweight Jam (1999), Sheffield (2000), We Bring the Noise! (2001), The Stadium Techno Experience (2003), Mind The Gap (2004), Who's Got the Last Laugh Now? (2005), The Ultimate Aural Orgasm (2007) and also Jumping All Over the World (2007).

Scooter are currently touring the UK. Go and see them!

My Top 10 Scooter Songs are:

01. We Are The Greatest
02. Friends
03. Ramp! (The Logical Song)
04. Back In U.K.
05. Fuck The Millennium
06. Move Your Ass
07. I Was Made For Lovin' You
08. Rhapsody In E
09. How Much Is The Fish
10. Jigga Jigga

Squeeze Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 01:45:00 +0000

I started listening to Squeeze when I was about 7 or 8 because I remember buying Take Me I'm Yours at a flea market (I used to go to look for old original records) for about 25p on cassette single, and I remember buying it just because I liked the cover art. At another flea market pretty soon after I got the Squeeze album for about 75p and ever since then have loved their music.

Squeeze are an English New Wave band which formed in London in 1974 and originally consisted of Glen Tilbrook, Chris Difford, Jools Holland, Harry Kakoulie and Paul Gunn but there have been many changes to the lineup since then. In the early days they performed under several different names (Captain Trundlow's Sky Company and Skyco) before settling on Squeeze, which is a tribute to The Velvet Underground's album of the same name. Most people, if you ask them if they watch "Later, With Jools Holland" will know what you're talking about but few people know he was a member of Squeeze.

The debut album Squeeze was released in 1978 and in Canada and the US it was named UK Squeeze because of legal issues with an American band called Tight Squeeze and also in Australia because of a band also called Squeeze. The album contains the hits Take Me I'm Yours, First Thing Wrong and Bang Bang.

Cool For Cats, the second album was released in 1979 and contains more of their hits than any other of their albums. The most notable hits were Cool For Cats, Up The Junction, Goodbye Girl and Slap And Tickle.

In 1980 Squeeze released their new album Argybargy which saw a whole different approach to the way the band played musically, and some of the songs from the album were Pulling Mussels (From The Shell), Wrong Side Of The Moon and Another Nail In My Heart.

Tempted the single which was from the East Side Story album released in 1980 is probably their most commercially successful song and was their first US hit. The album was produced in part by Elvis Costello and it is reported he had to fight to have recorded as the band felt the song was too "Country" for their image at the time.

Sweets From A Stranger was released in 1982 and was not as successful as the previous albums and also due to stresses from touring Squeeze split up later in the year. The band re-formed in 1985 for a charity gig and it went so well they decided to start recording again and released the album Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti late in 1985.

Between 1986 and 1990 they released two more albums Babylon And On in 1987 and Frank in 1989. In 1990 Jools Holland left Squeeze again to pursue other interests, mainly his solo career and then the TV show Later With Jools Holland.

Since Jools' departure Squeeze have released four more albums Play in 1991, Some Fantastic Place in 1993, Ridiculous in 1995 and Domino in 1998.

My Top 10 Squeeze Songs are:

01. Annie Get Your Gun
02. Labelled With Love
03. King George Street
04. Tempted
05. Goodbye Girl
06. Up The Junction
07. Last Time Forever
08. Is That Love
09. Cool For Cats
10. Another Nail In My Heart

Fleetwood Mac Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:56:00 +0000

I probably started listening to Fleetwood Mac when I was about 10, 11 or something like that because I remember getting their Greatest Hits album and it had only just been released and at the time I didn't really know who they were but because I always listen to all sorts of music people just used to buy me music instead of toys. When I listened to it I knew most of the tracks and I now think of it as one of my top 20 albums of all time.

Fleetwood Mac are an English/American cross breed who formed in 1967 in London. The group have gone through far too many changes in members to list them all but the most notable members of Fleetwood Mac are, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.

Fleetwood Mac are probably one of the most hard working bands of all time and have released many albums (sometimes three or four in a year). 1968 saw the releases of Carousel Ballroom, Mr Wonderful and Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. In 1969 there were four albums, English Rose, Live In Amsterdam, The Pious Bird Of Good Omen and Then Play On.

Only one album was released in 1970 which was Kiln House, one in 1971, Future Games and one in 1972, Bare Tree. Mystery To Me and Penguin were released in 1973. Heroes Are Hard To Find in 1974 and another two released in 1975, Fleetwood Mac which contained the hits Rhiannon, Say You Love Me and Landslide and In Chicago which again was a great album and a compilation. In 1977 they released the collaboration album Fleetwood Mac And Christine Perfect - Albatross which contained the massive hit Albatross and they also released another of their most successful albums the same year which was Rumours and is another of my favourite albums of all time and contains the songs Go Your Own Way and You Make Loving Fun.

In 1979 Fleetwood Mac released Tusk and the song of the same name became another huge success along with the songs Sara and Think About Me and the album has sold over 4 million copies and they went on a tour of Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Belgium, Germany (where they toured with Bob Marley), Netherlands, and the UK. During the tour they recorded the music for the Live album which was released in 1980.

Mirage was released in 1982 and contained the hits Wish You Were Here, Gypsy and Oh Diane. After this release they went on tour again and released the Boston Live album. 1987 was the release of Tango In The Night which went to #1 in the UK charts three times in one year and after this album Lindsey Buckingham left Fleetwood Mac. In the following Decade they released several more albums (Greatest Hits, The Blues Collection, Behind The Mask, 25 Years - The Chain, Oh Well Live, The Blues Years, Time, Live At The BBC and The Dance (which saw the reunion of the old Fleetwood Mac).

In 1998 Fleetwood Mac were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and it is reported that they will be collaborating with Sheryl Crow in 2009 and there are plans for a new album and a supporting tour.

My Top 10 Fleetwood Mac Songs are:

01. Everywhere
02. Black Magic Woman
03. Rhiannon
04. Gypsy
05. Landslide
06. Go Your Own Way
07. Little lies
08. Albatross
09. Seven Wonders
10. Buddy's Song

Blur Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:27:00 +0000

I have liked Blur since before they became popular after the release of their Parklife album which most people think was their first. Back in the day there was a big band battle between Blur and Oasis and most people chose one or the other but I chose both. Both bands have different styles and I think Blur made some good music.

Blur were an English rock band and formed in Colchester in 1989 and consisted of Damon Albarn, Alex James, Dave Rowntree and Graham Coxon. Blur were originally called Seymour but their manager at the time didn't like the name and drew up a list and Blur was the name they finally chose.

The single There's No Other Way was Blur's first commercial success and the release of their debut album Leisure in 1991 rose in the charts and Blur embarked on a tour of the US to promote the album. During their time in America, Blur had many arguments because of the lack of appreciation by American listeners and were writing an album which was aimed at American culture called England vs America but in the end decided against it and their second album was released in 1993 and was titled Modern Life Is Rubbish and some reports claim this was the first ever Britpop album.

In 1994 Blur released the album Parklife which was a huge success and entered the UK chart straight at #1 and contains some of their most popular songs including Parklife, Girls And Boys, End Of A Century and To The End. The song Girls And Boys entered the UK charts at #5 and also spent 15 weeks on the US Billboard 200.

When Blur released the single Country House it was at the same time that Oasis released Roll With It and this is what caused the whole Battle Of Britpop scene. September 1995 saw both Blur and Oasis release new albums which also fueled the battle. Blur released The Great Escape and Oasis released (What's The Story) Morning Glory? The battle saw more press during the 1996 Brit awards when Oasis sang the chorus of Parklife while accepting one of their awards.

Their next album, the self titled Blur was released in 1997 and contained more hits: Beetlebum, Song 2 and M.O.R. This album saw a drastic change in the style of Blur's music and Damon Albarn was reported as saying "We already left Britpop behind with our last album". The song Beetlebum went straight into the US chart at #1 and Song 2 reached #6. The album turned gold ($1million in sales) only a few months after it's release.

When 13 was released in 1999 the single Tender was a massive hit not only in the UK but also in the US and the single Coffee And TV gained them cult status in the US. The 13 album also saw another turn in the style of Blur's music which now included electronically produced music and gospel style music.

Think Tank was released in 2003 and was Blur's last studio album. The album was another #1 hit in the UK and was also nominated for an award in the 2004 Brit Awards. Blur split in 2003 and Damon Albarn had started work with his new band Gorillaz.

Some of Blur's most famous songs are: Girls And Boys, There's No Other Way, Country House, For Tomorrow, Parklife and The Universal.

My Top 10 Blur Songs are:

01. Tender
02. There's No Other Way
03. On Your Own
04. I'm Just a Killer For Your Love
05. For Tomorrow
06. Charmless Man
07. End Of A Century
08. London Loves
09. She's So High
10. No Distance Left To Run

Pet Shop Boys Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:57:00 +0000

When I was a kid I had heard the Pet Shop Boys on the radio whenever new singles had been released but it wasn't until I was about 14 or 15 when I started to take more of an interest in their music. This was because I had never taken the time to listen to more than one song at a time. I used to chill with a group of dudes at my friend chicken's house and he had the Pet Shop Boys Discography album and used to play it and the more times I heard it the better it became. I have most Pet Shop Boys albums now and listen to them on a regular basis.

Pet Shop Boys consist of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe and are a synthpop/electronic music duo. They have sold over 100 million records worldwide since their founding in 1981 when they met in a music shop in Chelsea, London. Originally they were called West End because of the area in London that they came from but eventually settled on Pet Shop Boys because a couple of their friends worked in a pet shop.

In 1985 the Pet Shop Boys signed to Parlophone, recorded and released the album Please in 1986 which contains some of their most famous hits like West End Girls, Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money), Suburbia and Love Comes Quickly. West End Girls was their first UK #1 and it went on to be #1 in Canada, USA, Finland, Ireland, Hong Kong, Israel, Lebanon, Norway and New Zealand. Disco which is a remix album of Please was also released in 1986.

1987 was a busy year for the Pet Shop Boys. The Single West End Girls earned them a BRIT award and also an Ivor Novello Award. The album Actually was released and they had some recording sessions with Dusty Springfield for the single What Have I Done To Deserve This. Another couple of massive hits off the album were It's A Sin and Rent. The Pet Shop Boys also played on a special TV concert for the 10th anniversary of Elvis's death where they played Always On My Mind.

Introspective was the album released in 1988 which also contained some of their most popular songs: Left To My Own Devices, I'm Not Scared, Domino Dancing and the single Always On My Mind. The Pet Shop Boys went on a huge tour of Hong Kong, Japan and the UK and it wasn't until 1990 when they released their fourth album Behaviour which had a different style to their more usual upbeat albums.

Since the release of Discography in 1991 which contained most of their hits the Pet Shop Boys have released several more studio albums and remix albums and have written and collaborated with many other musicians. The Pet Shop Boys have also changed their style several times, from the old style of Adidas Tracksuits to the new futuristic looks like in the single Go West.

Some of the artists who have worked with the Pet Shop Boys on music and video's are: Liza Minelli, Dusty Springfield, Patsy Kensit, Mark Farrow, Barbra Windsor, Ian McKellen, Bernard Sumner, Johnny Marr, Boy George, Blur and David Bowie to name a few.

Some of their most notable albums are Please, Actually, Introspective, Behaviour, Very, Bilingual, Nightlife, Release, Fundamental, Disco 1-4 and Pop-Art and some of their most famous songs over the years have been: West End Girls, What Have I Done to Deserve This, Left To My Own Devices, It's A Sin, Go West, Absolutely Fabulous, Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend, Se a Vida E (That's The Way Life Is), I'm With Stupid and Numb.

My Top 10 Pet Shop Boys Songs are:

01. Suburbia
02. What Have I Done to Deserve This
03. Left To My Own Devices
04. Jealousy
05. One Thing Leads to Another
06. One In a Million
07. Radiophonic
08. It Couldn't Happen Here
09. Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)
10. A Red Letter Day

Bob Marley Biography And Top 10 songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:48:00 +0000

Bob Marley has been one of my favourite artists for a long time. I probably own more Bob Marley CD's than any other band or artist with the exception of Wu-Tang. My friends mum D, is partly responsible for my listening to Bob Marley over the years because when I was little I used to like the song Jammin' and used to play the 45 single I had of it all the time and I had got the single off her. I would say I have a Bob Marley CD in my stereo 90% of the time (it can have 3 in at a time). Bob Marley not only made good music but also the messages that the lyrics were about were of peace and freedom.

Robert "Bob" Nesta Marley was born in Jamaica on February 6th 1945 and is the most successful of any Reggae artist ever. The album Legend has sold over 12 million copies worldwide. When Bob Marley was a child he lived in the slums of Kingston's Trenchtown and had a reputation for "self-defense" which earned him the title "Tuff Gong" which he and the Wailers used to create their own record label in 1970.

Bob Marley and some of his friends (Bunny Livingston, Junior Braithwaite, Peter McIntosh, Beverley Kelso and Cherry Smith formed the Wailers in 1963 but by 1966 there was only Bob Marley, Bunny and Peter left. The Wailers released their first album (Catch A Fire) in 1973 to massive success after their signing to JAD Records in London, England. Concrete Jungle being the most successful song from the album. Soon to follow was the release of Burnin' which had some of the Wailers most popular songs I Shot The Sheriff, Get Up, Stand Up and Small Axe. Eric Clapton also had huge success with a cover of I Shot the Sheriff which helped to elevate Bob Marley into the public eye.

In 1974 the Wailers broke up, each to pursue their own solo careers but Bob Marley still continued to record as "Bob Marley & The Wailers" with his new backing band which consisted of Carlton and Aston Barrett, Junior Marvin, Tyrone Downie, Al Anderson and Earl Lindo. Backing vocalists were Rita Marley (Bob Marley's wife), Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt.

The new line-up had their first international hit with No Woman, No Cry which was on the Natty Dread album released in 1975 alongside other hits, Lively Up Yourself and Rebel Music. The album Rastaman Vibration was released in 1976 in the US and was at the top of the Billboard charts for 4 weeks.

Two days before Bob Marley was going to embark on his Smile Jamaica tour Bob Marley, Rita and their manager were injured during a shootout inside Bob Marley's home. The attack was reported as being politically motivated as many people felt the tour was a support rally. Even though all concerned received serious injuries they all made full recoveries and the tour went on as planned with an injured Bob Marley performing on stage.

By the end of 1976 Bob Marley left Jamaica and moved to London, England where he recorded two albums (Exodus, which had the hits: Exodus, Three Little Birds, Jammin', One Love and Waiting In Vain, and Kaya which boasted: Easy Skanking, Kaya, Is This Love, Satisfy My Soul and Sun Is Shining among its singles). While in London Bob Marley was arrested for possession of cannabis.

In 1978 Bob Marley returned to home for the One Love Peace Concert to help with the peace effort and to help calm the warring parties in Jamaica. At Bob Marley's request both political leaders (Manley and Seaga) joined him on stage and shook hands. Babylon By Bus was released also in 1978 which was a live double album, the song Jammin' captures the crowds wild and frenzied intensity to Bob's performance.

Survival which was released in 1979 was a political statement about the suffering of the African population. The album contained some controversial songs such as Africa Unite, Wake Up And Live and Zimbabwe. Bob Marley was also invited to perform at Zimbabwe's Independence Day on April 17th.

Uprising which was released in 1980 was to be Bob Marley's final studio album and is one of his most religious albums. The album contained Could You Be Loved, Forever Loving Jah and Redemption Song (his famous lyrics being: Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds...).

Bob Marley died on May 11th 1981 from cancer which had started in his toe (due to a soccer accident) in 1977. Bob Marley refused to have his foot amputated because of his Rastafarian beliefs which say that the body must remain whole. Over time the cancer had metastasized into Bob Marley's stomach, liver, lungs and brain.

Confrontation was released after Bob Marley's death and contained the unreleased song Buffalo Soldier and songs previously only available in Jamaica (Jump Nyabinghi and Rastaman Live Up).

My Top 10 Bob Marley Songs are:

01. Lively Up Yourself
02. Small Axe
03. Trench Town Rock
04. Duppy Conqueror
05. Could You Be Loved
06. Jammin'
07. One Love
08. Redemption Song
09. Waiting In Vain
10. Buffalo Soldier

Iron Maiden Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:13:00 +0000

The song Charlotte the Harlot probably started me listening to Iron Maiden more than just hearing them on the radio because (and I know this is mean) when I was at school back in the day there was a girl I knew called Charlotte and I used to call her Charlotte the Harlot because of knowing the song. This was really when I was a little kid of about 8 and I actually ended up having her as a girlfriend when I was about 14, so it all worked out ok in the end.

Iron Maiden are an English, Heavy Metal group formed in London in 1975 by Steve Harris and have had many band members over the years (too many to list). The more noted members being Dave Murray, Bruce Dickinson, Adrian Smith, Janick Gers, Nicko McBrain, Dennis Stratton and the current lineup is: Bruce Dickinson (lead vocals), Dave Murray (guitar), Adrian Smith (guitar, backing vocals), Janick Gers (guitar), Steve Harris (bass, backing vocals) and Nicko McBrain (drums). This lineup has stayed consistent since 1999.

Iron Maiden are one of the most successful of all heavy metal bands and have sold over 100 million albums worldwide. The name Iron Maiden was taken from an old torture device of the same name and the band actually formed on Christmas Day 1975. The group went through many band changes over their first few years of gigging and it wasn't until they signed to EMI in December 1979 that they started to record their work seriously. The self titled debut album Iron Maiden was released in 1980 and rose to #4 in it's first week in the charts. The same year Iron Maiden went on tour of the UK and opened for Kiss and Judas Priest which helped to give them public notice.

Bruce Dickinson joined the band shortly after the second album release (Killers) and went straight out on another tour of the UK. The Number Of The Beast was released in 1982 and was Iron Maiden's first #1 album in the UK and then they went on a massive global tour including Canada, US, Australia, Japan, Germany and UK. There was controversy in the US when a group of Christian activists held a record burning of Iron Maiden and Ozzy Osbourne albums as they claimed them to be Satanic. Shortly after the tour saw the release of the third album Piece Of Mind which was a massive success.

Iron Maiden then went on another huge tour called the World Slavery Tour and it consisted of 193 shows over 13 months and this is recorded as one of the biggest tours in musical history. The next few years saw Iron Maiden change the ways they made their music and the inspiration behind it. In 1986 Somewhere In Time was released and was based around the ideals of time travel and it was the first album to contain synthesized bass and guitar sounds which were used to add layers and textures to their sound. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son was released in 1988 and was about a mythical child with magical abilities and also was the first album to contain keyboards and made it to #1 in the UK chart.

No Prayer For The Dying was released in 1990 and had huge success and the song Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter rose to give Iron Maiden their first #1 single in the UK. The song was recorded for the movie A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child. In 1992 Fear Of The Dark was released and was the first album to be recorded specifically for CD and was much longer than previous LP releases.

Bruce Dickinson left Iron Maiden in 1993 to pursue his own solo career but still performed a farewell tour and recorded two live albums (A Real Dead One which contained songs from 1975-1984 and A Real Live One which contained songs from 1986-1992).

The next album to come was The X Factor and was released in 1995 but didn't receive as much success as their previous albums. Best Of The Beast was released in 1996 and was the first compilation album and only contained one new song (Virus). Virtual XI was released in 1998 and was even less successful than The X Factor.

In 1999 Bruce Dickinson returned to Iron Maiden and in 2000 they released the album Brave New World and rocketed Iron Maiden back into the charts and the minds of the UK public. Iron Maiden went on another massive world tour (over 100 dates) and ended at the Rock In Rio festival in Brazil in 2001. The band played to around 250,000 fans and the show was recorded and released as a live album (Rock In Rio).

Iron Maiden have released several albums since (Dance Of Death, Death On The Road and A Matter Of Life And Death) and still continue to tour. Iron Maiden have influenced many bands and won the Ivor Novello Award for international achievement in 2002 and were also inducted into the Hollywood Rock Walk in 2005.

My Top 10 Iron Maiden Songs are:

01. Run To The Hills
02. The Number Of The Beast
03. Charlotte the Harlot
04. Can I Play with Madness
05. Holy Smoke
06. Fear Of The Dark
07. Hooks In You
08. Running Free
09. The Evil That Men Do
10. Sanctuary

Blondie Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 22:34:00 +0000

There were two main reasons I started listening to Blondie and they were: first I thought Debbie Harry was amazingly beautiful and second the style of music they made. At the time I got into Blondie I was listening to a lot of punk and new wave stuff like Sex Pistols, The Clash, Sham 69, The Exploited, Ramones, Ian Dury, The Stranglers, etc... and it also helped me to annoy my parents. I actually used to like putting posters on my wall when I was a kid at school and one of my posters was a full size poster of Debbie Harry.

Blondie are an American punk/new wave cross and were formed in 1975 and consisted originally of Chris Stein, Debbie Harry, Jimmy Destri, Clem Burke and Gary Valentino. They were originally named "Angel And The Snake" but changed their name to Blondie in 1975 because Debbie Harry was repeatedly referred to as Blondie.

The self titled Blondie debut album was released in 1976 and then re-released a year later when they signed to a new record company. The band first received commercial success through an Australian TV show cock-up, the show was supposed to play the video to X Offender but actually played the video to In The Flesh. This event saw the album reach #5 in the chart. In 1977 Gary Valentine had left and the album Plastic Letters was released and saw Blondie achieve success in the UK when the album went in to the top ten.

The hole that was made when Gary left the band was filled in 1978 by the inclusion of Frank Infante and then a new member (Nigel Harrison) was also added and Blondie embarked on a massive UK tour which included a gig at The Roadhouse where The Boomtown Rats Opened. This tour made Blondie one of the first American New Wave bands to attain success in the UK.

Blondie started to see even more success after the release of their third album Parallel Lines in 1978 which contained the song Heart Of Glass which was their first US #1 hit and actually went on to sell over 1 million copies. Blondie seemed to be more popular in the UK and this was somewhat due to the singles Sunday Girl (which went to #1) and also One Way Or Another. Their fourth album Eat To The Beat also had many singles which were popular in the UK (Dreaming, Atomic and Union City Blue).

1980 saw Blondie rise again in the US chart with the Release of the album Autoamerican which contained the hit singles The Tide Is High, Rapture and Call Me (which was recorded for the movie American Gigolo). Rapture is the only Blondie single to get a higher chart position in the US (#1) than the UK (#5) and was revolutionary because of the combination of rap/hip-hop with their usual sound.

The Hunter was released in 1982 and didn't do as well as some of their previous albums and both Debbie Harry and Jimmy Destri had both released solo albums in 1981. After the decline in popularity of the band and the rising media attention of Debbie she decided to leave and Blondie broke up in August 1982. In 1997 they reformed and in 1999 the release of No Exit saw them return to the top of the charts once again and the single Maria reached #1 in the UK exactly 20 years after their first which was Heart Of Glass.

Blondie released the album The Curse of Blondie in 2003 and March 2006 saw Blondie inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and also onto the Rock Walk Of Fame at Guitar Center on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

My Top 10 Blondie Songs are:

01. Island of Lost Souls
02. Dreaming
03. One Way or Another
04. X Offender
05. Kung Fu Girls
06. (I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence Dear
07. Union City Blue
08. For Your Eyes Only
09. Maria
10. Good Boys

The Smiths Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:36:00 +0000

The Smiths are another of my favourite Manchester bands and as I have said before, you have to support your own. I think I initially started listening to The Smiths when What Difference Does It Make came out in 1983 and I thought Morrissey had one of the most interesting voices and lyrical styles which were not the usual sort popular at the time. Some people think that The Smiths were a depressing band with very boring lyrics but I think I connected with them because of that. I like to be unique and different which I think is reflected by some of the music I listen to. I do think some of the songs contain very emotional lyrics but I wouldn't say they were too depressing or boring and actually quite funny.

I also tend to sway more towards the bands who actually play instruments and are not all computer generated, but not always as I do listen to a very varied music library. I would have liked to have seen The Smiths live, but like when I was sneaked into the Hacienda to watch The Stone Roses I never got the opportunity to do this with The Smiths.

The Smiths were formed in 1992 in Manchester, England by Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Mike Joyce and Dave Hibbert. Dave was replaced after only a couple of gigs by one of Johnny's friends Andy Rourke. Craig Gannon also was one of the bands early guitarists. They named themselves The Smiths in a kind of retaliation to what other bands of the time were naming themselves and in an interview Morrissey said "I decided to call ourselves The Smiths because it was the most ordinary name, and I think it's time that the ordinary folk of the world showed their faces."

The self titled debut album "The Smiths" was released in 1984 and rose to #2 in the UK album chart. There were a couple of controversial songs on the album which met with some bad press like Reel Around The Fountain which some people believe is about pedophilia and the song Suffer Little Children which was related to the Moors Murders of the 1960's.

Meat Is Murder which was released in the early part of 1985 contained some more political and philosophical songs such as the song Meat Is Murder which obviously is about pro-vegetarianism, The Headmaster Ritual which was about anti-corporal punishment and also Barbarism Begins At Home. Meat Is Murder is the only studio album to reach #1 on the album chart.

There were 2 other studio albums released which were The Queen Is Dead which contained the hits Bigmouth Strikes Again, The Boy With The Thorn In His Side and Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others and also Strangeways, Here We Come which contained the controversial song Shoplifters Of The World Unite. Many parents objected to the song as they believed it was encouraging children to steal.

The Smiths have influenced many of todays groups including Radiohead, Bloc Party, The Cranberries, The Stone Roses, The Killers, Blur, Oasis, Doves, Belle And Sebastian and The Verve. Morrissey has also had his own very lucrative solo career.

My Top 10 The Smiths Songs are:

01. Panic
02. Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
03. Still Ill
04. Shoplifters Of The World Unite
05. Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
06. This Charming Man
07. Bigmouth Strikes Again
08. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
09. How Soon Is Now
10. Reel Around The Fountain

Texas Biography And Top 10 Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Wisdom_Mcr) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:05:00 +0000

I have liked Texas ever since they released their first single (I Don't Want A Lover) while I was still at school. At the time I was still listening to "pop" music and the charts on the radio regularly (which I don't do much anymore) and I thought Sharleen had one of the best female singing voices I have ever heard. Usually when out at a party or at the pub and a DJ is on you are restricted by the music they carry but you can bet on the fact they will have at least one Texas song on a CD somewhere, so I generally ask them to play it because mostly they don't have some of my other favourite music (The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Wu-Tang, etc...) which I would probably request otherwise.

Texas formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1986 and originally consisted of Johnny McElhone, Alistair McErlaine and Sharleen Spiteri. There have been several group shifts over the years and some other members of Texas have been Tony McGovern, Eddie Campbell, Neil Payne, Michael Bannister, Richard Hynd, Steve Washington and Mikey Wilson. Most of the changes in the band have been drummers.

When Texas released their first album (Southside) it topped the album charts and had several top 20 singles. Their next 2 albums didn't do quite as well as the debut but still had some very good singles. The single "So Called Friend" actually went on to be the theme song for Ellen DeGeneres's TV Sitcom Ellen which Sharleen and Ally flew out to the US to re-record for the show.

The release of the single "Say What You Want" in 1997 saw Texas make a huge comeback and the album "White On Blonde" entered the album chart straight at #1. There were a few singles off the album which themselves hit the charts big. Method Man (Wu-Tang) and Texas have also done a remix of "Say What You Want" which features Mef rapping to the tune in the background and Sharleen singing the chorus and was produced by RZA (Wu-Tang).

Some movies have featured Texas singles in them such as Notting Hill (In Our Lifetime), Bend It Like Beckham (Inner Smile) and Titan A.E. (Like Lovers). Also in the TV comedy "The Office" Ricky Gervais character David Brent claims that Texas used to open for his own band before he retired to office life.

Some of Texas's more popular songs are: I Don't Want A Lover, Say What You Want, Black Eyed Boy, Halo, Put Your Arms Around Me, and Inner Smile.

My Top 10 Texas Songs are:

01. Guitar Song
02. When We Are Together
03. Prayer for You
04. Put Your Arms Around Me
05. Everyday Now
06. Say What You Want
07. Halo
08. Summer Son
09. So In Love With You
10. Big Sleep