(Vocal/instrumental group, 1977–present) The band appropriately formed in Sheffield, erstwhile home of the British steel industry. Their fresh brand of poppy heavy metal, led by Joe Elliott (vocals) and Pete Willis (lead guitar), soon won them fans. An early B-side ‘Hello America’ hinted at their ambitions. Debut album On Through The Night (1980) just missed the US Top ...
Fingerstyle master Adrian Legg (b. 1948) defies categorization. But though his music combines British folk, Celtic, rock, classical, blues, jazz and country sounds, Legg’s warm, soulful playing is the thread that unites the styles. Born in Hackney, London, England, Legg took the first steps of his musical journey playing the oboe ...
(Vocals, harmonica, guitar, 1899–1982) DeFord Bailey was a member of the original Grand Ole Opry and was its first big star, until he was dismissed from the troupe in 1941 because allegedly he either could not or would not learn new material. His ‘Pan American Blues’, a harmonica train imitation, was one of the early Opry’s ...
(Clarinet, b. 1923) Buddy DeFranco (Boniface Ferdinand Leonardo) became the leading clarinet player of the post-swing era. His liquid sonority and flowing improvisations drew on elements from both swing and bebop, but without settling fully in either camp. He served a big-band apprenticeship with Gene Krupa, Charlie Barnet and Tommy Dorsey in the mid-1940s, but is best ...
(Organ, b. 1971) The son of jazz organist Papa John DeFrancesco, Joey’s keyboard skill and enthusiasm were well-recognized even before 1987, when he was a finalist in the annual Thelonious Monk Competition. Indebted in style to Jimmy Smith, DeFrancesco played with Miles Davis and recorded on Columbia Records prior to his graduation from high school. His prodigious ...
Orianthi Panagaris (b. 1985) was born in Adelaide, South Australia, to Greek and Australian parents. She began playing piano at age three, switched to acoustic guitar at six, and to electric at 11. After listening to a lot of Whitesnake, Van Halen and Def Leppard, she was wowed by Carlos Santana at a concert in ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1978–86) This controversial bunch of San Franciscans were one of the truly great punk bands. Debut 1979 single ‘California Uber Alles’ set the template, with Jello Biafra (Eric Boucher) trashing the American dream, voice quavering with menace; East Bay Ray Glasser’s guitar, Klaus Flouride (Geoffrey Lyall)’s bass and Bruce Slesinger’s drums in thunderous support. Debut ...
A largely British movement, glam rock and glitter were highly popular in the early 1970s – so popular that one artist, Marc Bolan, was given his own TV series. Inspired by early rock’n’roll and bubblegum pop, glam rock was fun, catchy and melodic, played with crunchy, distorted guitars, with the musicians dressing up ...
The term ‘heavy metal’ came from the controversial US Beat Movement novel, Naked Lunch, in which the author, William Burroughs, talked about ‘heavy metal thunder’. This phrase was used in Steppenwolf’s 1968 single ‘Born To Be Wild’, and helped christen an emerging sub-genre of hard rock. The origins of heavy metal are heard in the hard rock ...
During the 1970s, tuneful hard rock loomed over the US charts like a fluffy, pink colossus. The arrival of baby-faced guitarist Tommy Shaw led Chicago rockers Styx to become the first American group to achieve four consecutive triple-platinum albums, and when Journey appointed singer Steve Perry, it made them one of the biggest bands in the world. ...
This was a decade when the impact of dance culture on rock and vice versa sometimes led to exciting results: it opened with ‘Thriller’ and closed with the Madchester scene of Happy Mondays. Punk had subsided to become the less threatening new wave movement, which, along with the new romantics, dominated the early days of the decade. As ...
European culture lay in ruins after the end of World War II. There were many who, in company with the philosopher Theodor Adorno, felt that Nazi atrocities such as Auschwitz rendered art impossible, at least temporarily. Others, though, felt that humanity could only establish itself anew by rediscovering the potency of art, including opera. On ...
(Vocals, b. 1969) James Todd Smith was one of the first and most astute signings Rick Rubin made for his Def Jam Label. Early singles mixed the beat power of Run-DMC with his pioneering and infectious bad-boy rap style. Canny enough to have a pop edge to his music as well as work in TV and film Mama Said Knock ...
International fame seemed far away when, in 1983, upstaged by strippers the Red Hot Chili Peppers resorted to playing a cover version of Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Fire’ naked with socks covering their genitalia. This routine was to become a trademark. Anthony Kiedis (born 1 November 1962, vocals), Michael ‘Flea’ Balzary (born 16 October 1962, bass), Jack Irons (born ...
Once hip hop had expanded beyond apparently using the hook lines from Chic’s ‘Good Times’ as the basis for just about everything, it quickly became as diverse as any other black music genre. Its evolution in recording studios took it way beyond the scope of conventional instruments. Can’t play piano like Herbie Hancock or bass like Bootsy ? So what ...
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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.