John “Jake” Thackray was an English singer-songwriter, poet and journalist. He was born in Leeds, and was educated at the Jesuit St. Michael’s College, and a Jesuit boarding school in Dolgellau, north-west Wales, and considered joining the priesthood, but instead chose to study Modern Languages at Durham University. After graduation he spent four years teaching […]
Rebecca Clarke
Rebecca Clarke was a British-American classical composer and violinist. Internationally renowned as a viola virtuoso, she also became one of the first female professional orchestral players. Her father was interested in music, and Clarke started on violin after sitting in on lessons that were being given to her brother, Hans who was 15 months her […]
L.E.J.
L.E.J, short for Lucie, Élisa and Juliette, sometimes Elijay, is a French band composed of three women from Saint Denis, a city in Paris’ suburbs. All three members were born in 1993: They are childhood friends and have known each other since they were toddlers. Their passion has always been music: Juliette studied cello at […]
Benny Goodman
Goodman was the ninth of twelve children born to poor Jewish emigrants from the Russian Empire. His father, David Goodman, came to the United States in 1892 from Warsaw in partitioned Poland and became a tailor. His mother, Dora Grisinsky, came from Kovno. They met in Baltimore, Maryland, and moved to Chicago before Goodman’s birth. […]
Randy Crawford
Yesterday, my post on ‘I’ll Fly Away’ put me in mind of Randy Crawford and so today the post is devoted to her songs. Veronica “Randy” Crawford, Macon, Georgia) is an American jazz and R&B singer. She has been more successful in Europe than in the United States, where she has not entered the Billboard […]
I’ll Fly Away
“I’ll Fly Away” is a hymn written in 1929 by Albert E. Brumley and published in 1932 by the Hartford Music company in a collection titled Wonderful Message. Brumley’s writing was influenced by the 1924 secular ballad ‘The Prisioners Song’. “I’ll Fly Away” has been called the most recorded gospel song and it is frequently […]
Miss A
Miss A was a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. Originally, the group consisted of five trainees in 2010. They first appeared in Chinese variety shows performing dance routines and songs as the “Chinese Wonder Girls,” with Woo Hyerim as a member, who was placed in Wonder Girls soon before Miss A’s debut […]
The Jeeves & Wooster Theme
Jeeves and Wooster is a British comedy drama television series adapted by CliveExton from P.G.Wodehouse’s “Jeeves” stories. The series was a collaboration between Brian Eastman and Granada Television. It aired on the ITV network from 22 April 1990 to 20 June 1993, with the last series nominated for a BAFTA for Best Drama Series. Set […]
The Waterboys
The Waterboys are a British-Irish folk rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott. The band’s membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained as the only constant member throughout the band’s career. The Waterboys takes their name from […]
Altered Images
Altered Images were an early 1980s Scottish new wave/post punk band. Former schoolmates with a shared interest in the UK post punk scene, Clare Grogan (vocals), Gerard “Caesar” McNulty (guitar), Michael “Tich” Anderson (drums), Tony McDaid (guitar), and Johnny McElhone (bass guitar), were all members of the Siouxsie and the Banshees official fan club. When […]