Happy
Mondays are an English alternative rock band from Salford, Greater Manchester.
Formed in 1980, the band's original line-up was Shaun Ryder on lead vocals, his
brother Paul Ryder on bass, lead guitarist Mark Day, keyboardist Paul Davis,
and drummer Gary Whelan. Mark "Bez" Berry later joined the band
onstage during a live performance after befriending Shaun Ryder and served as a
dancer/percussionist. Rowetta Satchell joined the band to provide backing
vocals in the early 1990s.
Origin:
Little Hulton, Greater Manchester, England
Genres:
Alternative rock, Madchester, acid house, hip house
Years
active: 1980–1993; 1999-2000; 2004-2010; 2012-present
Labels:
Factory, Elektra
Associated
acts: Black Grape, Buffalo 66, Amateur Night In The Big Top, Big Arm, The Hippy
Mafia.
Ray
Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004), known by his shortened
stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre
of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues
styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records. He also helped racially
integrate country and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on
ABC Records, most notably with his Modern Sounds albums. While with ABC,
Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to be given artistic
control by a mainstream record company. Frank Sinatra called Charles “the only
true genius in show business.”
The
influences upon his music were mainly jazz, blues, rhythm and blues and country
artists of the day such as Art Tatum, Nat King Cole, Louis Jordan, Charles
Brown, Louis Armstrong. His playing reflected influences from country blues and
barrelhouse, and stride piano styles.
Rolling
Stone ranked Charles number ten on their list of "100 Greatest Artists of
All Time" in 2004, and number two on their November 2008 list of "100
Greatest Singers of All Time". In honoring Charles, Billy Joel noted:
"This may sound like sacrilege, but I think Ray Charles was more important
than Elvis Presley. I don't know if Ray was the architect of rock & roll,
but he was certainly the first guy to do a lot of things . . . Who the hell
ever put so many styles together and made it work?"
Birth
name: Ray Charles Robinson
Born:
September 23, 1930. Albany, Georgia, United States
Origin:
Greenville, Florida, United States
Died:
June 10, 2004 (aged 73), Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Genres:
Rhythm and blues, soul, blues, soul blues, rock and roll, jazz, vocal jazz,
country, pop, gospel
John
R. "Johnny" Cash (February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003), was an
American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the
most influential musicians of the 20th century. Although he is primarily
remembered as a country music artist, his songs and sound spanned many other
genres including rockabilly and rock and roll—especially early in his career—as
well as blues, folk, and gospel. This crossover appeal led to Cash being
inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and
Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Late in his career, Cash covered songs by several
rock artists.
Cash
was known for his deep, distinctive bass-baritone voice; for the
"boom-chicka-boom" sound of his Tennessee Three backing band; for his
rebelliousness, coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor; for
providing free concerts inside prison walls; and for his dark performance
clothing, which earned him the nickname "The Man in Black". He
traditionally started his concerts by saying, "Hello, I'm Johnny
Cash." and usually following it up with his standard "Folsom Prison
Blues."
Much
of Cash's music, especially that of his later career, echoed themes of sorrow,
moral tribulation and redemption. His signature songs include "I Walk the
Line", "Folsom Prison Blues", "Ring of Fire",
"Get Rhythm" and "Man in Black". He also recorded humorous
numbers, including "One Piece at a Time" and "A Boy Named
Sue"; a duet with his future wife, June Carter, called
"Jackson"; as well as railroad songs including "Hey,
Porter" and "Rock Island Line".
Cash,
a troubled but devout Christian, has been characterized as a "lens through
which to view American contradictions and challenges." A Biblical scholar,
he penned a Christian novel titled Man in White, and he made a spoken word
recording of the entire New King James Version of the New Testament. Even so,
Cash declared that he was "the biggest sinner of them all", and
viewed himself overall as a complicated and contradictory man. Accordingly,
Cash is said to have "contained multitudes", and has been deemed
"the philosopher-prince of American country music".
Birth
name:John R. Cash
Born:February
26, 1932. Kingsland, Arkansas, United States
Origin: Kingsland, Arkansas, United States
Died: September 12, 2003 (aged 71), Nashville,
Tennessee, United States
Genres: Country, rock and roll, folk,
americana, gospel, blues, rockabilly
Occupations:
Singer-songwriter, musician, actor
Instruments:
Vocals, guitar, harmonica, mandolin
Years
active: 1955–2003
Labels:
Sun, Columbia, Mercury, American, House of Cash, Legacy Recordings
Associated
acts: The Tennessee Three, The Highwaymen, June Carter Cash, The Statler
Brothers, The Carter Family, The Oak Ridge Boys, Area Code 615, Roy Orbison,
Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
