(Guitar, vocals, b. 1944) Multi-talented Welshman Edmunds’ first exposure was as lead guitarist on Love Sculpture’s 1968 hit ‘Sabre Dance’, followed by the UK No. 1 and US Top 5 single ‘I Hear You Knocking’. After building Rockfield, a state-of-the-art studio, in south Wales his recording career took a backseat as he became an in-demand producer, working with, amongst others, Shakin’ Stevens. Edmunds subsequently formed Rockpile with Nick Lowe but the ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1977–95) Led by guitarist Mark Knopfler with brother David (guitar), John Illsley (bass) and Pick Withers (drums), Dire Straits went from playing the London pub circuit to a US hit album. Knopfler’s inventive, plectrum-free guitar playing, street-poet lyrics and fine pop rock tunesmithery combined to launch their huge career. Their debut single, ‘Sultans Of Swing’, was a punchy, likeable helping of Dylanesque roots rock. Communique (1979) and Love Over ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1971–present) A London rhythm & blues band that emerged from the pub rock scene in 1974, Dr. Feelgood’s back-to-basics approach foreshadowed punk. Comprising Lee Brilleaux (Lee Collinson, vocals), Wilko Johnson (John Wilkinson, guitar), John B. Sparks (bass) and John ‘The Big Figure’ Martin (drums), their live album Stupidity was a 1976 chart topper. Brilleaux remained as the only original member until his death in 1994 when the band continued, ...
(Guitar, singer-songwriter, b. 1954) One of new wave’s most celebrated songwriters, Costello (born Declan Patrick MacManus) initially portrayed himself as an angry, revenge-obsessed young man before steadily maturing into a genre-straddling elder statesman. His cheeky appropriation of the name ‘Elvis’ was in tune with the iconoclastic mood of 1977, when his debut album My Aim Is True was released. Temporary backing band Clover were superseded by The Attractions – Bruce Thomas ...
A British phenomenon, pub rock was a reaction to the self-indulgence of the progressive rockers and the vain preening of the glam rockers. The pub rock bands drew from a variety of roots-music styles, such as blues, folk and country, with the folk influence dating back to the UK folk-rockers of the late-1960s such as Fairport Convention. The beginning of pub rock is largely credited to a little-known American band, Eggs ...
After the seismic shifts of the previous decade, the 1970s reflected faster-moving, less permanent crazes, beginning with glam rock and ending with the new wave. Glam rock saw the likes of Alice Cooper and Kiss taking make-up to extremes, while the comparatively anonymous Eagles and Bruce Springsteen respectively updated the blueprints established the previous decade by country rocker Gram Parsons and singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. As Motown moved from Detroit to the West ...
AUTHORITATIVE
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...
CURATED
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.
