Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, born in Cleveland. Her parents divorced when she was four years of age. She was raised by her mother, who bought her music-loving three-year-old daughter a ukulele despite having little money. Chapman began playing the guitar and writing songs at age eight. She says that she may have been […]
Sade
Helen Folasade Adu, known professionally as Sade Adu or simply Sade, is a British singer, songwriter, and actress, known as the lead singer of her eponymous band. She has been credited as one of the most successful British female artists in history, and is often recognised as an influence on contemporary music. Born in Ibadan, […]
Wish You Were Here
“Wish You Were Here” is a song by Pink Floyd. It was released as the title track of their 1975 album Wish You Were Here. In the original album version, the song segues from “Have a Cigar” as if a radio had been tuned away from one station, through several others (including a radio play […]
Amazing Grace
“Amazing Grace” is a Christian hymn published in 1779, with words written in 1772 by the English poet and Anglican clergyman John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States where it is used for both religious and secular purposes. Newton wrote the words from personal experience. He grew up […]
John Martyn
Iain David McGeachy OBE, known professionally as John Martyn, was a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 23 studio albums, and received frequent critical acclaim. The Times described him as “an electrifying guitarist and singer whose music blurred the boundaries between folk, jazz, rock and blues”. Mentored by Hamish Imlach, Martyn […]
Sandy Denny
Today I am paying tribute to one of the most beautiful voices in English Folk Music. I had the privilege to speak to her briefly in the interval of a Fotheringay Concert at Cheltenham Town Hall. It was a night of amazing music. I have ommitted her classic ‘Who Knows Where The Time Goes’ as […]
Carol King
Carole King , who celebrated her 79 birthday yesterday, is an American singer-songwriter who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at the Brill Building and later as a solo artist. She is the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century in the US, having […]
Steely Dan
Steely Dan are an American rock band founded in 1971 by core members Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagan (keyboards, lead vocals). Blending elements of rock, jazz, latin, R&B and blues and sophisticated studio production with cryptic and ironic lyrics, the band enjoyed critical and commercial success starting from the early 1970s […]
99 LuftBallons
“99 Luftballons” is a song by the German NDW band Nena from their 1983 self-titled a;bum. An English-language version titled “99 Red Balloons“, with lyrics by Kevin McAlea, was also released on the album 99 Luftballons in 1984 after widespread success of the original in Europe and Japan. The English version is not a direct […]
Hetty And The Jazzato Band
Hetty Loxston, a classical and jazz-trained (bi-lingual) singer from London formed Hetty and the Jazzato Band at the end of 2015 with clarinettist, and childhood friend Charlotte Jolly, and three Italian musicians Fabrizio Bonacci, Riccardo Castellani and Alessandro Cimaschi, upon moving back to London after a period of living in Bologna and Rome for five […]