Beth Rowley was born in Peru to British parents who moved back to Bristol when Rowley was two years old. She was influenced by her family’s love for many different musical styles, and Latin American music. She attended St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School in Bristol. Incidently, a school at which David spent a year. […]
Amazing Blondel
John Gladwin (guitar and vocals) and Terrance (Terry) Wincott (guitar and vocals) formed a band called The Dimples along with Stuart Smith (drums) and Johnny Jackson (bass guitar). Signed to the Decca label they recorded a single, the “A” side “Love of a Lifetime” and the “B” side written by John Gladwin titled “My Heart […]
Cindi Lauper
Lauper was born in Brooklyn to a Catholic family. Her father, Fred, was of German and Swiss descent. Her mother, Catrine, is of Italian descent. Lauper’s siblings are younger brother Fred and older sister, Ellen. Lauper’s parents divorced when she was five. Her mother remarried and divorced again. Lauper grew up in the Ozone Park […]
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history. His music forms a great part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Russia, Berlin arrived in the United States at the age of five. He published his first song, “Marie from Sunny Italy”, in 1907, receiving […]
Róisín Murphy
Róisín Marie Murphy is an Irish singer-songwriter and record producer. She first became known in the 1990s as one-half of the UK-Irish trip hop duo Moloko with her partner Mark Brydon. Murphy met Brydon in 1994 at a party, using the chat-up line “Do you like my tight sweater? See how it fits my body.” […]
The Staple Singers
It’s Sunday, time for a little gentle gospel music from those 1970’s doyens of of the genre – The Staple Singers. They were an American singing group. Roebuck ‘Pops’ Staples, the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha, Pervis, and Mavis. Yvonne replaced her brother when he was drafted into the […]
Robert Miles
Roberto Concina, known professionally as Robert Miles, was a Swiss-born Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ. Miles became proficient at playing the piano during his youth in Friuli, Italy, in the small town of Fagagna, where his family moved when he was young, and had been in the music scene since 1984. He worked […]
Summertime
As promised, I am following yesterday’s post on George Gershwin with one of my occasional ‘Which version do you like best?’ entries. Summertime from Porgy and Bess has become a jazz standard and has been covered by many artists since it’s composition in 1934. The song is sung several times throughout Porgy and Bess. Its […]
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned both popular and classical genres. George lived a boyhood not unusual in New York tenements, which included running around with his friends, roller-skating and misbehaving in the streets. Until 1908, he cared nothing about music. Then as a ten-year-old, he was intrigued upon hearing […]
Remembrance Day
As promised today we shall be thinking about Remembrance Day. I wish to honour those who gave their lives in conflict throughout history for what they believed to be a just cause. That being said I also want to remember that in many wars, particularly WW1 these brave souls were ‘Lions Led By Donkeys’ and […]