(Vocal/instrumental group, 1980–95) Roddy Frame was 19 when his band’s debut High Land Hard Rain appeared in 1983. His quirky brand of tuneful pop, spiced with clever lyrics, was a breath of fresh air at the time. Two fellow Scots, Craig Gannon (bass) and Malcolm Ross (guitar), joined him for 1984’s Knife. The superb soul pop of ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1981–present) Formed in New York with Dan Spitz (guitar), Scott Ian (guitar), Dan Lilker (bass) and Charlie Benante (drums). After adding Joey Belladonna (vocals) they hit paydirt, recording Spreading The Disease for Island in 1986. They gained an awesome live reputation, while issuing blistering records (State Of Euphoria, 1988 and Sound Of White Noise, ...
Indie guitarist and producer Bernard Butler (b. 1970) was born in Tottenham, London. After learning violin as a child, he took up guitar at the age of 14, inspired by Johnny Marr, learning Smiths’ guitar parts by watching the band play live. He was also influenced by Bernard Sumner and Aztec Camera’s Roddy Frame. After replying to ...
Classical ideals began to emerge and take shape in musical treatises in the late fifteenth century. One of the most famous exponents of this was Johannes Tinctoris (1430–after 1511), who, in his writings, claimed that music had been reborn in the works of John Dunstaple (c. 1390–1453) and his followers around 1440. Also central to Renaissance thinking about music ...
(A-lel’-san’-dro Stra-del’-la) 1644–82 Italian composer By the age of 20 Stradella was composing for the exiled Queen Christina of Sweden, who appointed him servitore di camera (servant of the chamber). He enjoyed the patronage of several leading families, but was forced to leave Rome briefly in 1669 after attempting to embezzle money from the church. An ill-judged affair with one ...
(Ärk-an’-jel-o Ko-rel’-le) 1653–1713 Italian composer and violinist Corelli studied in Bologna, but by the mid-1670s was living in Rome, where he acquired a reputation as one of the city’s foremost violinists. His first patron in Rome was the exiled Queen Christina of Sweden, to whom he dedicated his earliest printed collection, 12 trio sonatas op. 1 (1681). Next ...
One of the founding fathers of rock’n’roll, Charles Edward (Chuck) Berry was born in 1926 in St Louis, Missouri, to a middle-class family. His interest in the blues began in high school, where he gave his first public performance. In 1944, he was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to three years in an Intermediate Reformatory ...
1774–1851, Italian Gaspare Spontini’s early career was blighted by insecurity after the French, under Napoleon Bonaparte, invaded Italy in 1796. Spontini, it seems, decided that his future lay in France, but after arriving in Paris in 1800 he found his musical style was unsuited to the prevailing genre, opéra comique. Spontini turned instead to ...
January The Bookmobile And European Tour ‘It was a travelling library that was found in Phoenix, Arizona, and converted into an RV [recreation vehicle],’ Billie Joe told a TV interviewer in 1994 when discussing the Bookmobile inside the vehicle. ‘A lot of people come up to us and say, “Do you have books for sale in there ?”. ...
January Rolling Stone Slates Led Zeppelin Despite great radio airplay, the US print media were lukewarm towards Led Zeppelin’s self-titled debut. In an advance review, Rolling Stone magazine regarded Led Zeppelin as little more than ‘an excellent guitarist … a competent rhythm section and a pretty soul belter who can do a good spade imitation’. Perhaps most galling for ...
(Pe-a’-tro An-ton’-yo Lo-ka-tel’-le) 1695–1764 Italian composer and violinist Locatelli studied at Bergamo and Rome, where he played for Cardinal Ottoboni. After a short appointment as virtuoso da camera (court virtuoso) at the Mantuan court (1725–27), Locatelli travelled throughout Austria and Germany appearing as a virtuoso – on one occasion with Leclair. He settled in Amsterdam in 1729 where he taught, ...
January–February Early Recording Sessions Working for the London arm of Elektra Records, Joe Boyd had already produced artists like The Incredible String Band. Peter Jenner and Andrew King had given him a rough Pink Floyd demo with a view to securing a deal. Although Elektra boss Jac Holzman did not go for the Floyd, Boyd, as musical director ...
February Barrett Resurfaces With Stars Like the banquet ghost at Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Syd Barrett continued to manifest himself at unlikely times, even appearing one day at Abbey Road Studios in 1971 when Ron Geesin was working on sections of ‘Atom Heart Mother’. In 1972, he was encouraged by former Tomorrow drummer ‘Twink’ to form a three-piece band including ...
January George Marries Pattie Boyd George Harrison married model Pattie Boyd at Epsom registry office on 21 January. They had been going out together since meeting on the set of A Hard Day’s Night nearly two years earlier. Paul McCartney was the best man. John Lennon and Ringo Starr were both on holiday with their wives, planned as a decoy ...
The ancestors of the indigenous peoples of North and South America migrated from Asia across the frozen Bering Strait over 20,000 years ago. Even after millennia, some characteristics are shared between Oriental and Amerindian music: monophonic forms, large intervals, a tense vocal style, rattles and frame drums, and the importance of music in healing rituals. ...
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An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...
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Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.
David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
his life, music, art and movies, with a
sweep of incredible photographs.