Songs Lyrics Video

Playing for Change Episode 42 - 46

2011-05-17T22:19:00.000-07:00

Apache - The Shadows (instrumental)

2010-10-18T09:59:00.000-07:00

LIFE DOESN'T GET ANY SWEETER THAN THIS - LOBO ( KENT LAVOIE)

2010-10-18T07:14:00.001-07:00

OVERNIGHT RIDER - LOBO ( KENT LAVOIE)

2010-10-18T07:12:00.001-07:00

ROCK AND ROLL DAYS - LOBO (KENT LAVOIE)

2010-10-18T07:05:00.001-07:00

The End Of The World - Lobo

2010-10-18T07:03:00.001-07:00

"AM I GOING CRAZY" (KENT LAVOIE) - Lobo

2010-10-18T07:02:00.000-07:00

Don't Expect Me To Be Your Friend - Lobo

2010-10-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

Yellow River - Lobo

2010-10-18T06:57:00.003-07:00

Whispers in the wind - Loco

2010-10-18T06:55:00.001-07:00

Faithful - Lobo

2010-10-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

Reason To Believe - Lobo

2010-10-18T06:52:00.001-07:00

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow - Lobo

2010-10-18T06:51:00.000-07:00

I'd Love You To Want Me - LOBO

2010-10-18T06:43:00.000-07:00

Me And You And A Dog Name BOO

2010-10-18T06:41:00.000-07:00

Lobo (Roland Kent LaVoie)

2010-10-18T06:14:00.000-07:00

Lobo (musician)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2008)

Birth name: Roland Kent LaVoie
Born: July 31, 1943 (age 67)
Origin: Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.
Genres: Pop, country, folk
Occupations: Singer-songwriter
Instruments: Vocals, guitarist
Years active: 1961–present
Labels: Laurie, Big Tree, MCA, Lobo Records, Curb, Ponycanyon Records
Associated acts: The Rumours (Gram Parsons, Jim Stafford)
Website: Fans of Lobo

Roland Kent Lavoie, better known by the stage name Lobo (born July 31, 1943), is an American singer-songwriter who was successful in the early 1970s, scoring several U.S. Top 10 hits, including "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo", "I'd Love You to Want Me" and "Don't Expect Me to Be Your Friend"

1 Biography
1.1 Early career: 1960s
1.2 Early 1970s
1.3 Mid-1970s–1980s
1.4 1990s–2000s
2 Discography (partial)
2.1 Albums
2.2 Compilations
2.3 Charted Singles
3 References
4 External links

Biography

Early career: 1960s
Born in Tallahassee, Florida, Lavoie was raised by his mother in Winter Haven, Florida with his six siblings. He began his musical career in 1961 as a member of a local band, The Rumours. The band included Gram Parsons and Jim Stafford, as well as drummer Jon Corneal, who later joined Parsons' International Submarine Band.

In 1964, while attending the University of South Florida, Lavoie joined a band called the Sugar Beats and met producer Phil Gernhard. He recorded a regional hit for the band, a cover of Johnny Rivers' song, "What Am I Doing Here".

During the 1960s, Lavoie performed with many other bands, including US Male, The Uglies, and Me and the Other Guys. It was in the latter band that he met musician Billy Aerts, who became a member of Lobo's touring band in the early 1970s and produced Lobo's comeback album in 1989.
Again working with Gernhard, his first solo record was released in 1969 on Laurie Records. It included the original tracks "Happy Days In New York City" backed with "My Friend Is Here".

Early 1970s
By 1971, Lavoie had started calling himself Lobo (Spanish for wolf). Gernhard was an executive for Big Tree Records, and the company released his first single, "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo". The first major hit for the label, it reached number 5 in the US and launched a successful series of singles. The song also reached number 4 in the UK. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc in September 1971.[1]
His debut album, Introducing Lobo, followed that May. In June 1971 his second single, "She Didn't Do Magic", was released. In September of the same year, "California Kid And Reemo" was released, followed by The Albatross. When Big Tree Records merged with Bell Records, Lobo's second project album Close Up was never released.

Under the Lobo alias, he released Of a Simple Man in 1972, which included back-to-back U.S. Top 10 hits, including "Don't Expect Me To Be Your Friend", which reached number 8 in the US charts in the winter of 1973, and "I'd Love You to Want Me". The latter became Lobo's biggest hit, climbing to number 2 on the Billboard charts in 1972, and internationally reaching number 1 in Germany, and in the United Kingdom it peaked at No. 5 in July 1974. Another million seller it was granted gold disc status in November 1972.[1]

With the release of Calumet in 1973, Lobo had three more Top 40 hits: "It Sure Took a Long, Long Time," "How Can I Tell Her" and "Standing at the End of the Line." He made an appearance on American Bandstand that year. There were two further minor hit singles from the album, "There Ain't No Way" and in 1975 "Standing At The End Of The Line".

Mid-1970s–1980s
In June 1974 Lobo's fourth album, Just A Singer, was released. It was the first album by Lobo to contain tracks not written by Lobo. The only single from the album was "Rings". "Don't Tell Me Goodnight" in 1975 became his last Top 30 single for Big Tree. Lobo also released the album, A Cowboy Afraid Of Horses with "Would I Still Have You" released as a single. The label followed it up with a compilation album that year entitled "The Best of Lobo".

In 1976, Lobo broke away from Big Tree, releasing the album Come With Me in Europe on the Philips label. "At First Sight" was the single. Neither were released in US.

1977 Lobo signed with Curb Records in 1977 releasing from the album the single "Afterglow", co-produced by Lobo and Gernhard and in 1978 "You Are All I Ever Need".

In 1979, Lobo was signed to MCA Records, where he worked with producer Bob Montgomery releasing the single "Where Were You When I Was Falling In Love", which reached #23. He also released his first US album in four years, Lobo. Other singles for Curb were "Holding On For Dear Love", "With A Love Like Ours" and "Fight Fire With Fire".

Reportedly dissatisfied with the production of his records, Lobo sought a release from his Curb contract. He moved to Nashville and in 1981 he started his own label, Lobo Records, and released several singles including "I Don't Want To Want You", written by his brother, Roger Lavoie, "Come Looking For Me" and "Living My Life Without You" charting in the country charts.

Lobo Records became Evergreen Records in 1985. The label released two of his singles, "Am I Going Crazy" and "Paint The Town Blue", the latter a duet with Robin Lee.

1990s–2000s
Although far less followed in the United States, Lobo's popularity grew in Asia, fanned by the release of his greatest hits compilations in 1987 and 1988. This encouraged him to release in 1989, his first new album in 10 years, entitled Am I Going Crazy. It was recorded in Taiwan on UFO/WEA records and was produced by Billy Aerts. He signed a multi-album deal with PonyCanyon Records in Singapore, and in 1994 released Asian Moon, repackaging some of the tracks from Am I Going Crazy along with newly recorded marterials. His follow up album Classic Hits in 1995 were re-recordings of Lobo hits and some cover versions. in 1995. In 1996 he released the album Sometimes containing all new original songs.

On another Asian label, Springroll Entertainment, he released You Must Remember This in 1997, an album of pop standards that was released in two formats, one with vocals and the other with instrumental tracks.

In 2000, Lobo signed with a German record company, Gmbh Entertainment, and recorded a few tracks for various Hits CDs. He also co-wrote two Christmas songs with Billy Aerts, "A Big Kid's Christmas" and "Late Christmas Eve", which have been released on various Christmas compilations from 2000 to present. Singles recorded during this period include "Let It Be Me", "Who'll Stop The Rain" and "Different Drum".

In 2006 based on his Asian popularity, he toured in Southeast Asia.
In 2008 Lobo released Out of Time which featured old favorites and some new songs. A tribute album to the original era of the early Lobo recordings, was made available from the website Fansoflobo.com.

Discography (partial)

Albums
1971 Introducing Lobo (Big Tree)
1972 Of a Simple Man (Big Tree)
1973 Calumet (Big Tree)
1974 Just a Singer (Big Tree)
1975 A Cowboy Afraid of Horses (Big Tree)
1976 Come With Me (Philips)
1979 Lobo (MCA)
1989 Am I Going Crazy? (WEA/UFO)
1994 Asian Moon (Ponycanyon)
1995 Classic Hits (Ponycanyon)
1996 Sometimes (Ponycanyon)
1997 You Must Remember This (Springroll)
2006 Am I Going Crazy (CD reissue - Lobo Records)
2006 Come With Me (CD reissue - Lobo Records)
2008 Out Of Time (Lobo Records)

Compilations
1975 The Best Of Lobo (Big Tree)
1990 Greatest Hits (Curb)
1993 The Best of Lobo (Rhino)
1996 The Best of Lobo (Curb)
1996 I'd Love You to Want Me (Rhino)
1997 Me & You & A Dog Named Boo & Other Hits (Rhino)
2004 The Very Best of Lobo (WEA International)
2005 Introducing Lobo/Of a Simple Man (Wounded Bird)
2005 Platinum Collection
2006 Ultimate Collection (EMI) Malaysia
2006 Me & You & A Dog Named Boo & Other Hits (Collectables)
2007 Greatest Hits (Lobo Records)

Charted Singles
Year Single Chart positions
US US
AC US Country UK
1971 "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo" 5 1 — 4
"She Didn't Do Magic" 46 flip — —
"I'm the Only One" flip 14 — —
"California Kid and Reemo" 72 19 — —
1972 "A Simple Man" 56 17 — —
"I'd Love You to Want Me" 2 1 — 5
"Don't Expect Me to Be Your Friend" 8 1 — —
1973 "It Sure Took a Long, Long Time" 27 3 — —
"How Can I Tell Her" 22 4 — —
"There Ain't No Way" 68 29 — —
"Love Me For What I Am" 86 — — —
1974 "Standing At the End of the Line" 37 25 — —
"Rings" 43 8 — —
1975 "Don't Tell Me Goodnight" 27 2 — —
"Would I Still Have You" — 44 — —
1979 "Where Were You When I Was Falling In Love" 23 1 — —
"Holdin' On For Dear Love" 75 13 — —
1981 "I Don't Want to Want You" — — 40 —
1982 "Come Looking for Me" — — 63 —
"Living My Life Without You" — — 88 —
1985 "Am I Going Crazy" — — 57 —
"Paint the Town Blue"(with Robin Lee) — — 49 —

References

^ a b Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 297. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.

Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard - Simon & Garfunkel

2010-10-17T19:46:00.000-07:00

Kodachrome/Maybellene -Simon & Garfunkel

2010-10-17T19:44:00.000-07:00

Slip Slidin' Away Simon & Garfunkel

2010-10-17T19:39:00.000-07:00

Michael Jackson - Just can't stop loving you

2009-06-25T16:48:00.000-07:00

Video of Michael Jackson singing hit song "Just can't stop loving you"

Michael Jackson - Billie Jean

2009-06-25T16:27:00.000-07:00

Video of Michael Jackson singing hit song "Billie Jean"

Great Britain National Anthem - God save the Queen

2009-06-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

Video for Great Britain National anthem "God save the Queen

Lyrics for Great Britain National Anthem "God save the Queen"

God save our gracious Queen
Long live our noble Queen
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious
Happy and glorious
Long to reign over us
God save the Queen!

One realm of races four
Blest more and ever more
God save our land!
Home of the brave and free
Set in the silver sea
True nurse of chivalry
God save our land!

Of many a race and birth
From utmost ends of earth
God save us all!
Bid strife and hatred cease
Bid hope and joy increase
Spread universal peace
God save us all!

USA Natioanl Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner

2009-06-24T06:47:00.000-07:00

Video for USA National Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner with lyrics

Version by Mariah Carey:

Lyrics for USA National Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner

O! say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave![10]

Lionel Ritchie - Say you, say me

2009-05-30T07:03:00.000-07:00

Video of Lionel Ritchie singing "Say you, say me"

Lyrics for the song "Say you, say me"

Say you, say me
Say it for always
That's the way it should be

Say you, say me
Say it together
Naturally

I had a dream,
I had an awesome dream
People in the park
Playing games in the dark
And what they played,
Was a masquerade,
From behind the walls of doubt
A voice was crying out

Say you, say me
Say it for always
That's the way it should be

Say you, say me
Say it together
Naturally

As we go down lifes lonesome highway,
Seems the hardest thing to do
is to find a friend or two
Is to find the
That helping hand,
Someone who understands
when you feel you lost your way
You've got someone there to say:
I'll show you

Say you, say me
Say it for always
That's the way it should be

Say you, say me
Say it together
Naturally

So you think you know the answers,
Oh, no
Well, the whole worlds got you dancing, thats right, Im telling you.
Its time to start believe,
oh yes,
Believe in who you are, you are a shining star.

Say you, say me
Say it for always
That's the way it should be

Say you, say me
Say it together
Naturally

Say it together
Naturally

Lionel Ritchie - Endless love

2009-05-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

Video of Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross singing "Endless love"

Lyrics for the song "Endless love"

My love, there's only you in my life,
The only thing that's right.
My first love, you're every breath that I take,
You're every step I make.
And I, I want to share, all my love with you,
No one else will do.
And your eyes, they tell me how much you care.
Oh yes, you will always be, my endless love.

Two hearts, two hearts that beat as one.
Our lives have just begun.
Forever, I'll hold you close in my arms,
I can't resist your charm.
My love, I'll be a fool, for you I'm sure,
You know I don't mind.
Cause you, you mean the world to me.
Oh, I know I've found in you, my endless love.

And love, I'll be that fool, for you, I'm sure.
You know I don't mind.
And yes, you'll be the only one.
Cause no one can deny,
This love I have its fine.
I'll give it all to you,
My love, my love, my endless love.

Lionel Ritchie - Three times a lady

2009-05-30T06:49:00.001-07:00

Video of Lionel Ritchie singing "Three times a lady"

Lyrics for the song "Three times a lady"

Thanks for the times
That you've given me
The memories are all in my mind
And now that we've come
To the end of our rainbow
There's something I must say out loud
You're once, twice, Three times a lady
Yes youre once, twice, Three times a lady

And I love you
When we are together
The moments I cherish
With every beat of my heart
To touch you to hold you
To feel you to need you
There's nothing to keep us apart
You're once twice
Three times a lady
And I love you
I love you

Michael Bolton - When a man loves a woman

2009-05-30T06:45:00.000-07:00

Video of Michael Bolton singing "When a man loves a woman" with lyrics

Archies - You are my candy girl

2009-05-20T06:27:00.001-07:00

Sugar,
Oh, Honey Honey.
You are my candy girl,
and you got me wanting you.
Honey,
Oh, Sugar, Sugar.
You are my candy girl
and you got me wanting you.

I just can't believe the loveliness of loving you.
(I just can't believe it's true).
I just can't believe the wonder of this feeling too.
(I just can't believe it's true).

Sugar,
Oh, Honey Honey.
You are my candy girl,
and you got me wanting you.
Honey,
Oh, Sugar, Sugar.
You are my candy girl
and you got me wanting you.

When I kissed you girl,
I knew how sweet a kiss could be.
(I know how sweet a kiss can be)
Like the summer sunshine
pour your sweetness over me.
(Pour your sweetness over me).

Oh pour little sugar on me honey (sugar)
Pour little sugar on me baby (honey honey)
When you make love so sweet (Yeah Yeah Yeah.)
Pour little sugar on me (oh yeah)
Pour little sugar on me honey
Pour little sugar on me baby
I'm gonna make love so sweet (hey hey hey)
Pour little sugar on me honey.

Ah sugar.
Oh honey, honey.
You are my candy, girl,
and you got me wanting you.

Oh honey (honey, honey, sugar, sugar)
Sugar, sugar
You are my candy girl.

Bob Marley - Get up, stand up

2009-05-11T04:25:00.000-07:00

Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: don't give up the fight!

Preacherman, don't tell me,
Heaven is under the earth.
I know you don't know
What life is really worth.
It's not all that glitters is gold;
'Alf the story has never been told:
So now you see the light, eh!
Stand up for your rights. Come on!

Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: don't give up the fight!
Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: don't give up the fight!

Most people think,
Great God will come from the skies,
Take away everything
And make everybody feel high.
But if you know what life is worth,
You will look for yours on earth:
And now you see the light,
You stand up for your rights. Jah!

Get up, stand up! (Jah, Jah!)
Stand up for your rights! (Oh-hoo!)
Get up, stand up! (Get up, stand up!)
Don't give up the fight! (Life is your right!)
Get up, stand up! (So we can't give up the fight!)
Stand up for your rights! (Lord, Lord!)
Get up, stand up! (Keep on struggling on!)
Don't give up the fight! (Yeah!)

We sick an' tired of-a your ism-skism game -
Dyin' 'n' goin' to heaven in-a Jesus' name, Lord.
We know when we understand:
Almighty God is a living man.
You can fool some people sometimes,
But you can't fool all the people all the time.
So now we see the light (What you gonna do?),
We gonna stand up for our rights! (Yeah, yeah, yeah!)

So you better:
Get up, stand up! (In the morning! Git it up!)
Stand up for your rights! (Stand up for our rights!)
Get up, stand up!
Don't give up the fight! (Don't give it up, don't give it up!)
Get up, stand up! (Get up, stand up!)
Stand up for your rights! (Get up, stand up!)
Get up, stand up! ( ... )
Don't give up the fight! (Get up, stand up!)
Get up, stand up! ( ... )
Stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up!
Don't give up the fight!

Bob Dylan - The time they are a-changin'

2009-05-01T07:31:00.000-07:00

Video of Bob Dylan singing "The time they are a-changin'"

Lyrics for the song "The time they are a-changin" by Bob Dylan

Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’. Read the lyrics and how aptly the describe the situation in Perak today:

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one
If you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin’
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’.

Sam Cooke - Wonderful World

2009-04-29T06:27:00.000-07:00

Video of Sam Cooke singing the song "Wonderful World"

Lyrics for the song "Wonderful World" by Sam Cooke

Don't know much about history
Don't know much about biology
Don't know much about science book
Don't know much about the French I took
But I do know that I love you
And I know that if you love me too
What a wonderful world this would be

Don't know much about geography
Don't know much about trigonometry
Don't know much about algebra
Don't know what a slide rule is for
But I do know one and one is two
And if this one could be with you
What a wonderful world this would be

Now I don't claim to be an A student
What I'm trying to be
For maybe by being an A student baby
I can win your love for me

Don't know much about history
Don't know much about biology
Don't know much about science book
Don't know much about the French I took
But I do know that I love you
And I know that if you love me too
What a wonderful world this would be

Don't know much about geography
Don't know much about trigonometry
Don't know much about algebra
Don't know what a slide rule is for
But I do know one and one is two
And if this one could be with you
What a wonderful world this would be

Herman's Hermit - No milk today

2009-04-29T06:04:00.000-07:00

Video of Herman's Hermit singing "No milk today"

"No Milk Today" is a song that was written by Graham Gouldman and originally recorded by British pop band Herman's Hermits. It was first released as a single by the Mancunian group in the UK in October 1966 and, with the B-side "My Reservation's Been Confirmed", enjoyed chart success, peaking at #7. Although not released as a single in the US ("Dandy" was released in its place with the same B-side), it was popular enough to become a moderate hit when it was released there as the B-side to "There's a Kind of Hush", reaching #35 in 1967 (the A-side reaching #4).
The song, which is dominated by its downcast reflective verses and neatly complemented by its interjecting upbeat chorus, was the second major song Gouldman wrote for Herman's Hermits (the previous being "Listen People", a US #3).
The single is significant due to the fact that it was the first track for which the band employed an orchestra.

Later the song was recorded by Gouldman himself as the sole single (released with "The Impossible Years") from his 1968 debut album The Graham Gouldman Thing and, in 2006, it was included on the compilation album Greatest Hits... And More, released by Gouldman's own band 10cc.

Source: No Milk today (Wikipedia)

Patridge Family - I think I love you

2009-04-29T05:56:00.000-07:00

Video of The Patridge Family singing "I think I love you"

"I Think I Love You" is a 1970 single by The Partridge Family, featuring David Cassidy. The song was released at the same time as the debut of the network television sitcom The Partridge Family. During the show's first season the song was featured on the show twice as it was climbing the actual Billboard charts. The song hit number one on the U.S. Billboard Pop Singles chart in November of that year. The only cast members of the television show to participate in the recording of the song were David Cassidy and Shirley Jones.
The actual music on the song was played by veteran studio musicians such as Hal Blaine, Larry Knechtel, Joe Osborne, Louie Shelton, Tommy Tedesco and others.

Cover versions

On November 25, 1970, the song was recorded by Perry Como, with Nick Perito's orchestra, at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. The song was released by RCA Victor Records on an album, It's Impossible, catalog number LSP-4473, in December 1970, which was reissued in 1975 as catalog number AYL1-3804. RCA also released the recording on an EP in Mexico, as catalog number MKE-1352, in 1971.

In 1983, Ism's hardcore punk rendition of "I Think I Love You" topped the New Music charts at number six (compiled from a composite of radio, club and retail reports by CMJ New Music Report, June 6, 1983) however, the controversial artwork on the cover led to major record retailers banning the single for sale. Their 1983 debut album A Diet for the Worms also included the song and entered the number 65 slot on Progressive Radio's Top 100 (CMJ, New Music Report, January 16, 1984).

In 1991, alternative rock band Voice of the Beehive covered the song on their album Honey Lingers. Released as a single in the UK, their version hit number 25 on the UK Singles Chart.

In 1992, the group "Nice and Smooth" sampled the intro from the Partridge Family's "I Think I Love You" in their rap hit "Hip Hop Junkies".

Florida-based band Less Than Jake has also covered this song. In 1998 their version was included on the soundtrack to the film Scream 2.

Clam Abuse covered the song as the first proper song for their debut album "Stop Thinking" in 1999. A Recent re-issue also contains a remix of the cover.

American pop singer Kaci did a cover Released as a single in the UK, her version hit number 10 on the UK Singles Chart in 2002.

The version in spanish "Creo que te amo" by venezonald bandboys "Uff"
Paul Westerberg covered it in 2004, and in 2005, as did Constantine Maroulis and Katie Cassidy (David's daughter).

David Cassidy himself did a soul remake of the song in 2003 for the album Touch of Blue.

Declan Galbraith covered it in 2007 on his album, You and Me.

Source: I think I love you (Wikipedia)

The Supremes - Where did our love go

2009-04-29T05:28:00.000-07:00

Video of The Supremes singing "Where did our love go"

"Where Did Our Love Go" is a 1964 hit song recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, "Where Did Our Love Go" was the first single by the Supremes to go to the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, a position it held for two weeks, from August 16 to August 29, 1964. It was also the first of five Supremes songs in a row to reach number one (the others are "Baby Love", "Come See About Me", "Stop! In the Name of Love", and "Back in My Arms Again").
This version was ranked #472 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time

History

Overview

Holland–Dozier–Holland had originally composed the song and prepared the instrumental track for The Marvelettes to record it. The Marvelettes rejected the song, thinking it childish, and H–D–H offered it to the Supremes, who by early 1964 had only one top-forty hit, When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes, and eight failed singles. Although the Supremes were apprehensive at first about the song, they decided that they really didn't have a choice in the matter.

Upon learning the Supremes had chosen to record "Where Did Our Love Go", the Marvelettes warned the girls to stand up for themselves and not just take anything H–D–H would give them. As a result, when the song was recorded on April 8, 1964, there was a bit of animosity on the part of the Supremes towards singing the song. Lamont Dozier was forced at one point to redo the arrangement of the background vocals, replacing the original, more complex backing with simple repetitions of the word "baby".

One of the most famous aspects of "Where Did Our Love Go" was its rhythm section, comprised primarily of footstomps. The sound effect was performed by an Italian-American teenager named Mike Valvano, who stomped down upon two wooden boards suspended by strings, to create the aural illusion of a group of foot-stompers. Handclaps were overdubbed for the 45 RPM single mix of the song.

Since the lead vocal was originally written to be sung by the Marvelettes' lead singer Gladys Horton, it was arranged in a register lower than the Supremes' lead singer Diana Ross' natural register. The resulting vocal track had a sensual appeal not present in Ross' earlier songs, and she elatedly rushed to Motown chief Berry Gordy's office, and dragged him to the basement studio at Hitsville U.S.A. to hear it. Upon hearing the finished song, Gordy remarked that the song had potential, possibly enough to make it to the top ten.

Release and reaction

"Where Did Our Love Go" was released as a single on June 17, 1964, and entered the Hot 100 at number seventy-seven. Six weeks later, while the Supremes were on tour as part of Dick Clark's "American Bandstand Caravan of Stars", the song made it to number one for two weeks. The girls began the tour at the bottom of the bill; by the conclusion of the tour, they were at the top.

The song became the focal point and title track of the group's second album, Where Did Our Love Go, released later that year. A German language version of the song was recorded by the Supremes for German-speaking markets overseas.

While not exactly a true cover, the melodic and chordal progressions of labelmates the Four Tops' "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" are very similar to those of "Where Did Our Love Go". "I Can't Help Myself" reached number one in 1965.

Credits

Lead vocals by Diana Ross
Background vocals by Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson
All instruments by the Funk Brothers
Footstomps by Mike Valvano

Source: Where did our love go (Wikipedia)

The Supremes - Stop in the name of love

2009-04-29T05:21:00.000-07:00

Video of The Supremes singing "Stop in the name of love"

"Stop! In the Name of Love" clip (help·info) is a 1965 number-one single recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland-Dozier-Holland, "Stop! In the Name of Love" held the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart from March 21, 1965 to April 3, 1965, and reached the number two position on the soul chart. The fourth of five Supremes songs in a row to go number one (the others are "Where Did Our Love Go", "Baby Love", "Come See About Me", and "Back in My Arms Again"), it is remembered as one of the most popular and well-known songs of the late 20th century.

Overview

The song had its origin in an argument Lamont Dozier had with his girlfriend; when she began to walk out the door, he yelled out "stop... in the name of love!" Both Dozier and his girlfriend began laughing and reconciled; and Dozier had the seed for the next song he would write for the Supremes.

The Supremes' choreography for this song, with one hand on the hip and the other outstretched in a "stop" gesture, is equally legendary. Paul Williams and Melvin Franklin of The Temptations taught the girls the routine backstage in London, before the Supremes' performance on the BBC television special The Sound of Motown, hosted by Dusty Springfield.

"Stop! In the Name of Love!" was recorded in January 1965. and released as a single on February 8. The song was included on the Supremes' sixth album, More Hits by the Supremes, and was nominated for the 1966 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Rock & Roll Group Vocal Performance, losing to "Flowers on the Wall" by the Statler Brothers. The song was also honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's permanent collection of 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
[edit]Cover versions and other uses

A cover version was later recorded by Gene Pitney, Nicki French, Globe, Claude François (as "Stop au nom de l'amour") and The Hollies (who saw UK chart success with the song in 1983).

Yukihiro Takahashi recorded a cover version on his 1980 album Murdered By The Music.
Rapper Lil Wayne sampled "Stop! In the Name of Love" for his 2007 single "Gossip".
The Disney Channel featured the song as a DTV music video set to clips from the cartoon shorts The Big Bad Wolf, Mickey's Delayed Date, and Lend a Paw.

A FoxTrot strip published in August 1993 has Paige singing the song, but mistakenly singing "Shop!" in place of "Stop!" Peter seemingly corrects her by continually repeating "Stop!" to her, but in actuality, he is demanding she stop singing entirely.

In the Fairly OddParents episode "Love Struck!", Timmy comes between the groups of males and females about to wage war on each other, yelling out the song's title.
On an episode of Good Times, "The Rent Party", which was the last episode with John Amos (James Evans), Willona, Thelma and Florida dressed up as The Supremes and performed the song during a rent party for a tenant.

A scene from an episode of The Steve Harvey Show featured Regina, Lovita, and Cedric's date Nikki singing the song at a karaoke bar.
A German version, titled "Was hab' ich Dir getan?" was recorded by the Jacob Sisters in 1966.

In 2003, on their Something Wrong album, the IcelandicTrip-Hop band Bang Gang recorded a version of the original song.

Source: Stop in the name of love (Wikipedia)

Boney M - Bahama Mama

2009-04-29T05:04:00.000-07:00

Video of Boney M singing "Bahama Mama"

"I'm Born Again" / "Bahama Mama" is a double A-side single by German band Boney M. It was the second single off their fourth album Oceans of Fantasy (1979), not withcounting a promotional-only single release of "Let It All Be Music" and the album title track. Not as successful as previous singles, the ballad "I'm Born Again" peaked at #7 in Germany. In the UK, it stalled at No. 35 after 9 consecutive Top 20 singles. Boney M. would use the double A-side format over the next years, typically with the A1 being the song intended for radio and A2 being more squarely aimed at discos. The sides would usually be switched on the accompanying 12" single.
Contents

I'm Born Again

"I'm Born Again" was based on an Irish folksong 'Buachaill Ón Éirne', the lyrics reflecting lead singer Liz Mitchell's growing religious belief. The single featured a different and slightly longer mix than the album version.

Bahama Mama

This disco track was also featured in a slightly longer mix than the album pressings. The snarling, spoken passage in the middle (the voice of "Bahama Mama") was done by Linda Blake who had also done the voice of Ma Baker.

Source: Bahama Mama (Wikipedia)

Boney M - Belfast

2009-04-29T04:51:00.000-07:00

"Belfast" is the second single off disco band Boney M.'s 1977 album Love for Sale. "Belfast" was the first Boney M. single to feature lead vocals by Marcia Barrett and became their 4th consecutive German chart-topper although it wasn't as successful in the UK as previous singles (it peaked at #8). It remained a popular track in the group's live shows over the years and was re-recorded by Marcia Barrett as a solo track on her album Come Into My Life (2005).

The Song

Penned by Drafi Deutscher and originally entitled "Londonderry", "Belfast" had been written for Marcia Barrett from her time as a solo artist in the early 1970s. Due to shortage of own material when Boney M. did their first live gigs, Marcia Barrett performed the song which had been a popular live track for her and thereby gave Farian the idea to record it. Due to its rockier feel and political lyrics ("when the hate you have for one another's past"), Farian however wasn't intending to use it for Boney M. in the first place, and instead had his other artist Gilla record a version of it in German which was released on her album Zieh mich aus, December 1976. A German test pressing of Love for Sale excludes the track and indicates that it was only added to the album in the last hour due to Marcia Barrett's insistence. In the US and Canada, the song was never released and was replaced by "Daddy Cool" on the album.

Boney M - Brown Girl in the Ring

2009-04-29T04:45:00.000-07:00

Video of Boney M singing "Brown girl in the ring"

Lyrics for the song "Brown girl in the ring" by Boney M

Brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la
There's a brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la la
Brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la
She looks like a sugar in a plum
Plum plum

Show me your motion
Tra la la la la
Come on show me your motion
Tra la la la la la
Show me your motion
Tra la la la la
She looks like a sugar in a plum
Plum plum

All had water run dry
Got nowhere to wash my cloths
All had water run dry
Got nowhere to wash my cloths

I remember one Saturday night
We had fried fish and Johnny-cakes
I remember one Saturday night
We had fried fish and Johnny-cakes

Beng-a-deng
Beng-a-deng

Brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la
There's a brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la la
Brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la
She looks like a sugar in a plum
Plum plum

Show me your motion
Tra la la la la
Come on show me your motion
Tra la la la la la
Show me your motion
Tra la la la la
She looks like a sugar in a plum
Plum plum

All had water run dry
Got nowhere to wash my cloths
All had water run dry
Got nowhere to wash my cloths

I remember one Saturday night
We had fried fish and Johnny-cakes
I remember one Saturday night
We had fried fish and Johnny-cakes

Beng-a-deng
Beng-a-deng

Brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la
See, brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la la
Brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la
She looks like a sugar in a plum
Plum plum

All had water run dry
Got nowhere to wash my cloths
All had water run dry
Got nowhere to wash my cloths

Brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la
Look that brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la la
Brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la
She looks like a sugar in a plum
Plum plum

Playing for change - War/No more trouble

2009-04-28T06:59:00.000-07:00

This is the fourth musical video from "Playing for change" (Song around the world) titled War/No more trouble:

The above video is a collaboration among these singers and musicians around the world:

David Broza, Tel Aviv, Isreal
Jason Tamba Matondo, Congo
Jimi Indi Phiri and Louis Mhlanga, Johannesburg, South Africa
Biziko, Congo
Tshotsho Fikisi, Congo
Rocky Dawuni, Ghana
Mermans Kenkosenki, Congo
Bono, Dublin, Ireland
Kevin Moore II, Venice Beach, California
Punya Srinivas, Chennai, India
The Oneness Choir, Varadayapalem, India
The Omagh Community Youth Choir, Omagh, Northern Ireland
Radwin Nizar, Arab/Jewish Orchestra
Cathy Jordan, Sligo, Ireland
Abonwabisi Choir, Cape Town, South Africa
Saroja, Chennai, India
Venkat, Varadayapalem, India
Ramzi Bishara, Nazareth, Isreal

Lyrics for the song "War/No more trouble" by Playing for change

These lyrics are from best efforts. Please leave corrections in the comments:

Until the philosophy which hold one race is superior than another
Inferior, yes finally, and permanent, discredited, and abandoned
Or everywhere is war
Say war
Congo sees war
.....
Until there are no more first class,
second class citizens
of any nations
Until the color of man skin
is of no more significance than the color of his eyes
Everywhere is war
War
Everywhere is war
Gimme the brother
war
Destroy the country
War
Or nothing
......
We don't need no more war
Some winning, some losing, some dying, some crying, some sick
We don't need no more trouble
We don't need no more
We don't need no more trouble
We don't need no more trouble

we don't need no more trouble
We don't need no more trouble
What we need is love
To guide us and protect us all
If you hope to come from above
......
Do you get to stop the war
Hmm hemmm

We don't need no more trouble
We don't need no more trouble

Johnny Cash according to Wikipedia

2009-04-27T21:38:00.001-07:00

Johnny Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932–September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Primarily 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.

Cash was known for his deep, distinctive bass-baritone voice, the "chicka-boom" freight train sound of his Tennessee Three backing band, his demeanor, and his dark clothing, which earned him the nickname "The Man in Black". He traditionally started his concerts with the introduction "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash".

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", "Hurt" and "Man in Black". He also recorded humorous songs, such as "One Piece at a Time" and "A Boy Named Sue", a duet with June Carter called "Jackson", as well as railroad songs such as "Hey Porter" and "Rock Island Line."

Heritage

Johnny Cash was of Scottish royal descent but he learned this only upon researching his ancestry.[1] After a chance meeting with former Falkland laird, Major Michael Crichton-Stuart, he traced the Cash family tree to 11th century Fife, Scotland.[2][3][4] Scotland's Cash Loch bears the name of his family.[2]
He had believed in his younger days that he was mainly Irish and partially Native American (he had been told he was one-quarter Cherokee). Even after learning he had no Native American ancestry, Cash's empathy and compassion for Native Americans was unabated. These feelings were expressed in several of his songs, including "Apache Tears" and "The Ballad of Ira Hayes", and on his album, Bitter Tears.

Early life

Johnny Cash was born J. R. Cash in Kingsland, Arkansas to Ray and Carrie (née Rivers) Cash, and raised in Dyess, Arkansas.

Cash was reportedly given the name "J.R." because his parents could not agree on a name, only on initials[citation needed]. When he enlisted in the United States Air Force, the military would not accept initials as his name, so he adopted John R. Cash as his legal name. In 1955, when signing with Sun Records, he took Johnny Cash as his stage name. His friends and in-laws generally called him John, while his blood relatives usually continued to call him J.R.

Cash was one of seven children: Jack, Joanne Cash Yates, Louise Garrett, Reba Hancock, Roy, and Tommy[5][6]. His younger brother, Tommy Cash, also became a successful country artist.

By the age of five, J.R. was working in the cotton fields, singing along with his family as they worked. The family farm was flooded on at least one occasion, which later inspired him to write the song "Five Feet High and Rising".[7] His family's economic and personal struggles during the Depression inspired many of his songs, especially those about other people facing similar difficulties.

Cash was very close to his brother Jack, who was two years older. In 1944, Jack was pulled into a whirling table saw in the mill where he worked, and cut almost in two. He suffered for over a week before he died.[7] Cash often spoke of the horrible guilt he felt over this incident. According to Cash: The Autobiography, his father was away that morning, but he and his mother, and Jack himself, all had premonitions or a sense of foreboding about that day, causing his mother to urge Jack to skip work and go fishing with his brother. Jack insisted on working, as the family needed the money. On his deathbed, Jack said he had visions of heaven and angels. Decades later, Cash spoke of looking forward to meeting his brother in heaven. He wrote that he had seen his brother many times in his dreams, and that Jack always looked two years older than whatever age Cash himself was at that moment.

Cash's early memories were dominated by gospel music and radio. Taught by his mother and a childhood friend, Johnny began playing guitar and writing songs as a young boy. In high school he sang on a local radio station; decades later he released an album of traditional gospel songs, called My Mother's Hymn Book. He was also significantly influenced by traditional Irish music that he heard performed weekly by Dennis Day on the Jack Benny radio program.

Cash enlisted in the United States Air Force. After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base and technical training at Brooks Air Force Base, both in San Antonio, Texas, Cash was assigned to a U.S. Air Force Security Service unit, assigned as a morse code decoder on Russian Army transmissions, at Landsberg, Germany. On July 3, 1954, he was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant. Then, he returned to Texas.

Vivian Liberto

On July 18, 1951, while in Air Force training, Cash met 17 year-old Vivian Liberto (born April 23, 1934, San Antonio, Texas – died May 24, 2005, Ventura, California) at a roller skating rink in her native San Antonio, Texas. They dated for three weeks, until Cash was deployed to Germany for a three year tour. During that time, the couple exchanged hundreds of pages of love letters.

On August 7, 1954, one month after his discharge, they were married at St. Anne's Catholic church in San Antonio. They had four daughters: Rosanne (born May 24, 1955), Kathy (born April 16, 1956), Cindy (born July 29, 1958), and Tara (born August 24, 1961). But Cash's drug and alcohol abuse, constant touring, and affairs with other women (including future wife June Carter) led Liberto to file for divorce in 1966.

June Carter

In 1968, 12 years after they had first met backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, Cash proposed to June Carter, an established country singer, during a live performance in London, Ontario,[9] marrying on March 1, 1968 in Franklin, Kentucky. He had proposed numerous times, but she had always refused. They had only one child together, John Carter Cash (born March 3, 1970). They continued to work together, and tour, for thirty-five years, until June Carter died in 2003. Cash died less than four months after. Carter co-wrote one of his biggest hits, 'Ring of Fire', and they together won two Grammy awards for their duets. Vivian Liberto claims a different version of the origins of 'Ring of Fire' in Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny, stating that Cash gave Carter the credit for monetary reasons.

Career

Early career

In 1954, Johnny and Vivian moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he sold appliances while studying to be a radio announcer. At night he played with guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant. Perkins and Grant were known as the Tennessee Two. Cash worked up the courage to visit the Sun Records studio, hoping to get a recording contract. After auditioning for Sam Phillips, singing mostly gospel songs, Phillips told him to "go home and sin, then come back with a song I can sell." Cash eventually won over Phillips with new songs delivered in his early frenetic style. His first recordings at Sun, "Hey Porter" and "Cry Cry Cry", were released in 1955 and met with reasonable success on the country hit parade.

Cash's next record, "Folsom Prison Blues", made the country Top 5, and "I Walk the Line" became No. 1 on the country charts and entered the pop charts Top 20. Following "I Walk the Line" was "Home of the Blues", recorded in July 1957. That same year Cash became the first Sun artist to release a long-playing album. Although he was Sun's most consistently best-selling and prolific artist at that time, Cash felt constrained by his contract with the small label. Elvis Presley had already left Sun, and Phillips was focusing most of his attention and promotion on Jerry Lee Lewis. The following year Cash left the label to sign a lucrative offer with Columbia Records, where his single "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" became one of his biggest hits.
In the early 1960s, Cash toured with the Carter Family, which by this time regularly included Mother Maybelle's daughters, Anita, June and Helen. June, whom Cash would eventually marry, later recalled admiring Johnny from afar during these tours.

Outlaw image

As his career was taking off in the early 1960s, Cash started drinking heavily and became addicted to amphetamines and barbiturates. For a brief time, he shared an apartment in Nashville with Waylon Jennings, who was heavily addicted to amphetamines. Cash used the uppers to stay awake during tours. Friends joked about his "nervousness" and erratic behavior, many ignoring the warning signs of his worsening drug addiction. In a behind the scenes look at The Johnny Cash Show, Cash claims to have "tried every drug there was to try."

Although in many ways spiraling out of control, Cash's frenetic creativity was still delivering hits. His rendition of "Ring of Fire" was a crossover hit, reaching No. 1 on the country charts and entering the Top 20 on the pop charts. The song was written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore. The song was originally performed by Carter's sister, but the signature mariachi-style horn arrangement was provided by Cash, who said that it had come to him in a dream.

In June 1965, his truck caught fire due to an overheated wheel bearing, triggering a forest fire that burnt several hundred acres in Los Padres National Forest in California. When the judge asked Cash why he did it, Cash said, "I didn't do it, my truck did, and it's dead, so you can't question it."[7] The fire destroyed 508 acres (2.06 km2), burning the foliage off three mountains and killing 49 of the refuge's 53 endangered condors. Cash was unrepentant: "I don't care about your damn yellow buzzards." The federal government sued him and was awarded $125,172. Johnny eventually settled the case and paid $82,001. Cash said he was the only person ever sued by the government for starting a forest fire.

Although Cash carefully cultivated a romantic outlaw image, he never served a prison sentence. Despite landing in jail seven times for misdemeanors, each stay lasted only a single night. His most infamous run-in with the law occurred while on tour in 1965, when he was arrested by a narcotics squad in El Paso, Texas. The officers suspected that he was smuggling heroin from Mexico, but it was prescription narcotics and amphetamines that the singer had hidden inside his guitar case. Because they were prescription drugs rather than illegal narcotics, he received a suspended sentence.

Johnny Cash and his second wife, June

Cash was also arrested on May 11, 1965, in Starkville, Mississippi, for trespassing late at night onto private property to pick flowers. (This incident gave the spark for the song "Starkville City Jail", which he spoke about on his live At San Quentin prison album.)

In the mid 1960s, Cash released a number of concept albums, including Ballads Of the True West (1965), an experimental double record mixing authentic frontier songs with Cash's spoken narration, and Bitter Tears (1964), with songs highlighting the plight of the Native Americans. His drug addiction was at its worst at this point, and his destructive behavior led to a divorce from his first wife and canceled performances.
In 1967, Cash's duet with Carter, "Jackson", won a Grammy Award.

Cash quit using drugs in 1968, after a spiritual epiphany in the Nickajack Cave, when he attempted to commit suicide while under the heavy influence of drugs. He descended deeper into the cave, trying to lose himself and "just die", when he passed out on the floor. He reported to be exhausted and feeling at the end of his rope when he felt God's presence in his heart and managed to struggle out of the cave (despite the exhaustion) by following a faint light and slight breeze. To him, it was his own rebirth. June, Maybelle, and Ezra Carter moved into Cash's mansion for a month to help him defeat his addiction. Cash proposed onstage to June at a concert at the London Gardens in London, Ontario on February 22, 1968; the couple married a week later (on March 1) in Franklin, Kentucky. June had agreed to marry Cash after he had 'cleaned up'.[11] Rediscovering his Christian faith, taking an "altar call" in Evangel Temple, a small church in the Nashville area, Cash chose this church over many larger celebrity churches in the Nashville area because he said that there he was treated like just another parishioner and not a celebrity.

Folsom Prison Blues

Cash felt great compassion for prisoners. He began performing concerts at various prisons starting in the late 1960s.[7] These performances led to a pair of highly successful live albums, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (1968) and Johnny Cash at San Quentin (1969).

The Folsom Prison record was introduced by a rendition of his classic "Folsom Prison Blues", while the San Quentin record included the crossover hit single "A Boy Named Sue", a Shel Silverstein-penned novelty song that reached No. 1 on the country charts and No. 2 on the U.S. Top Ten pop charts. The AM versions of the latter contained a couple of profanities which were edited out. The modern CD versions are unedited and uncensored and thus also longer than the original vinyl albums, though they still retain the audience reaction overdubs of the originals.

In addition to his performances at U.S. prisons, Cash also performed at the Österåker Prison in Sweden in 1972. The live album På Österåker ("At Österåker") was released in 1973. Between the songs, Cash can be heard speaking Swedish, which was greatly appreciated by the inmates.

"The Man in Black"

Cash advocated prison reform at his July 1972 meeting with United States President Richard Nixon.

From 1969 to 1971, Cash starred in his own television show, The Johnny Cash Show, on the ABC network. The Statler Brothers opened up for him in every episode; the Carter Family and rockabilly legend Carl Perkins were also part of the regular show entourage. However, Cash also enjoyed booking more contemporary performers as guests; such notables included Neil Young, Louis Armstrong, Kenny Rogers and The First Edition (who appeared a record four times on his show), James Taylor, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton (then leading Derek and the Dominos), and Bob Dylan.

Cash had met with Dylan in the mid 1960s and became closer friends when they were neighbors in the late 1960s in Woodstock, New York. Cash was enthusiastic about reintroducing the reclusive Dylan to his audience. Cash sang a duet with Dylan on Dylan's country album Nashville Skyline and also wrote the album's Grammy-winning liner notes.

Another artist who received a major career boost from The Johnny Cash Show was songwriter Kris Kristofferson, who was beginning to make a name for himself as a singer/songwriter. During a live performance of Kristofferson's "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", Cash refused to change the lyrics to suit network executives, singing the song with its references to marijuana intact: "On a Sunday morning sidewalk / I'm wishin', Lord, that I was stoned."

By the early 1970s, he had crystallized his public image as "The Man in Black". He regularly performed dressed all in black, wearing a long black knee-length coat. This outfit stood in contrast to the costumes worn by most of the major country acts in his day: rhinestone suit and cowboy boots. In 1971, Cash wrote the song "Man in Black", to help explain his dress code: "We're doing mighty fine I do suppose/In our streak of lightning cars and fancy clothes/But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back/Up front there ought to be a man in black."

He and his band had initially worn black shirts because that was the only matching color they had among their various outfits.[7] He wore other colors on stage early in his career, but he claimed to like wearing black both on and off stage. He stated that, political reasons aside, he simply liked black as his on-stage color.[7] To this day, the United States Navy's winter blue service uniform is referred to by sailors as "Johnny Cashes," as the uniform's shirt, tie, and trousers are solid black.

In the mid 1970s, Cash's popularity and number of hit songs began to decline, but his autobiography (the first of two), titled Man in Black, was published in 1975 and sold 1.3 million copies. A second, Cash: The Autobiography, appeared in 1997. His friendship with Billy Graham led to the production of a movie about the life of Jesus, The Gospel Road, which Cash co-wrote and narrated. The decade saw his religious conviction deepening, and he made many evangelical appearances.
He also continued to appear on television, hosting an annual Christmas special on CBS throughout the 1970s. Later television appearances included a role in an episode of Columbo. He also appeared with his wife on an episode of Little House on the Prairie entitled "The Collection" and gave a performance as John Brown in the 1985 Civil War television mini-series North and South.

He was friendly with every United States President starting with Richard Nixon. He was closest with Jimmy Carter, who became a very close friend.[7] He stated that he found all of them personally charming, noting that this was probably essential to getting oneself elected.

When invited to perform at the White House for the first time in 1972, President Richard Nixon's office requested that he play "Okie from Muskogee" (a satirical Merle Haggard song about people who despised youthful drug users and war protesters) and "Welfare Cadillac" (a Guy Drake song that derides the integrity of welfare recipients). Cash declined to play either song and instead played a series of more left-leaning, politically charged songs, including "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" (about a brave Native-American World War II veteran who was mistreated upon his return to Arizona), and his own compositions, "What is Truth?" and "Man in Black". Cash claimed that the reasons for denying Nixon's song choices were not knowing them and having fairly short notice to rehearse them, rather than any political reason.

Highwaymen

From left to right Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, who formed the country music supergroup, The Highwaymen
In 1980, Cash became the Country Music Hall of Fame's youngest living inductee at age forty-eight, but during the 1980s his records failed to make a major impact on the country charts, although he continued to tour successfully. In the mid 1980s, he recorded and toured with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson as The Highwaymen, making two hit albums.

During this period, Cash appeared as an actor in a number of television films. In 1981, he starred in The Pride of Jesse Hallam. Cash won fine reviews for his work in this film that called attention to adult illiteracy. Also in 1981, Cash appeared as the 'very special guest star' in an episode of the Muppet Show. In 1983, Cash appeared as a heroic sheriff in Murder In Coweta County, which co-starred Andy Griffith as his nemesis. This film was based on a real-life Georgia murder case. Cash had tried for years to make the film, for which he won acclaim.

Cash relapsed into addiction after being administered painkillers for a serious abdominal injury in 1983 caused by an unusual incident in which he was kicked and wounded by an ostrich he kept on his farm.

At a hospital visit in 1988, this time to watch over Waylon Jennings (who was recovering from a heart attack), Jennings suggested that Cash have himself checked into the hospital for his own heart condition. Doctors recommended preventive heart surgery, and Cash underwent double bypass surgery in the same hospital. Both recovered, although Cash refused to use any prescription painkillers, fearing a relapse into dependency. Cash later claimed that during his operation, he had what is called a "near death experience". He said he had visions of Heaven that were so beautiful that he was angry when he woke up alive.

Cash's recording career and his general relationship with the Nashville establishment were at an all-time low in the 1980s. He realized that his record label of nearly 30 years, Columbia, was growing indifferent to him and wasn't properly marketing him (he was "invisible" during that time, as he said in his autobiography). Cash recorded an intentionally awful song to protest, a self-parody. "Chicken in Black" was about Johnny's brain being transplanted into a chicken. Ironically, the song turned out to be a larger commercial success than any of his other recent material. Nevertheless, he was hoping to kill the relationship with the label before they did, and it was not long after "Chicken in Black" that Columbia and Cash parted ways.

In 1986, Cash returned to Sun Studios in Memphis to team up with Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins to create the album Class of '55. This was not the first time he had teamed up with Lewis and Perkins at Sun Studios. On December 4, 1956, Elvis Presley dropped in on Phillips to pay a social visit while Perkins was in the studio cutting new tracks, with Lewis backing him on piano. Cash was also in the studio and the four started an impromptu jam session. Phillips left the tapes running and the recordings, almost half of which were gospel songs, survived and have been released on CD under the title Million Dollar Quartet. Tracks also include Chuck Berry's "Brown Eyed Handsome Man", Pat Boone's "Don't Forbid Me", and Elvis doing an impersonation of Jackie Wilson (who was then with Billy Ward and the Dominoes) singing "Don't Be Cruel".

In 1986, Cash published his only novel, Man in White, a book about Saul and his conversion to become the Apostle Paul. He also recorded Johnny Cash Reads The Complete New Testament in 1990.

American Recordings

Johnny Cash sings a duet with a Navy lieutenant c.1987.
After Columbia Records dropped Cash from his recording contract, he had a short and unsuccessful stint with Mercury Records from 1987 to 1991 (see Johnny Cash discography).

In 1991, Cash sang lead vocals on a cover version of "Man in Black" for the Christian punk band One Bad Pig's album I Scream Sunday.

His career was rejuvenated in the 1990s, leading to popularity among a younger audience not traditionally interested in country music. In 1993, he sang the vocal on U2's "The Wanderer" for their album Zooropa. Although he was no longer sought after by major labels, Cash was approached by producer Rick Rubin and offered a contract with Rubin's American Recordings label, better known for rap and hard rock.

Under Rubin's supervision, he recorded the album American Recordings (1994) in his living room, accompanied only by his guitar. That guitar was a Martin dreadnought guitar - one of many Cash played throughout his career.[15] The album featured several covers of contemporary artists selected by Rubin and had much critical and commercial success, winning a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Cash wrote that his reception at the 1994 Glastonbury Festival was one of the highlights of his career. This was the beginning of a decade of music industry accolades and surprising commercial success.

Cash and his wife appeared on a number of episodes of the popular television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman starring Jane Seymour. The actress thought so highly of Cash that she later named one of her twin sons after him. He lent his voice for a cartoon cameo in an episode of The Simpsons, with his voice as that of a coyote that guides Homer on a spiritual quest. In 1996, Cash released a sequel to American Recordings, Unchained, and enlisted the accompaniment of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, which won a Grammy for Best Country Album. Cash, believing he did not explain enough of himself in his 1975 autobiography Man in Black, wrote another autobiography in 1997 entitled Cash: The Autobiography.

Last years and death

In 1997, Cash was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease Shy-Drager syndrome. The diagnosis was later altered to autonomic neuropathy associated with diabetes. This illness forced Cash to curtail his touring. He was hospitalized in 1998 with severe pneumonia, which damaged his lungs. The albums American III: Solitary Man (2000) and American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002) contained Cash's response to his illness in the form of songs of a slightly more somber tone than the first two American albums. The video that was released for "Hurt", a cover of the song by Nine Inch Nails, fit Cash's view of his past and feelings of regret. The video for the song, from American IV, is now generally recognized as "his epitaph,"[16] and received particular critical and popular acclaim.

June Carter Cash died on May 15, 2003, at the age of seventy-three. June had told Cash to keep working, so he continued to record and even performed a couple of surprise shows at the Carter Family Fold outside Bristol, Virginia. At the July 5th, 2003 concert (his last public performance), before singing "Ring of Fire", Cash read a statement about his late wife that he had written shortly before taking the stage:
“ The spirit of June Carter overshadows me tonight with the love she had for me and the love I have for her. We connect somewhere between here and heaven. She came down for a short visit, I guess, from heaven to visit with me tonight to give me courage and inspiration like she always has.”

Despite his poor health, he spoke of looking forward to the day when he could walk again and toss his wheelchair into the river near his home.

Johnny Cash died less than four months after his wife, on September 12, 2003, while hospitalized at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. He was buried next to his wife in Hendersonville Memory Gardens near his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
On May 24, 2005, Vivian Liberto, Cash's first wife and the mother of Rosanne Cash, and three other daughters, died from surgery to remove lung cancer. It was Rosanne Cash's fiftieth birthday.

His stepdaughter, Rosie (Nix) Adams and another passenger were found dead on a bus in Montgomery County, Tennessee, on October 24, 2003. It was speculated that the deaths may have been caused by carbon monoxide from the lanterns in the bus. Adams was 45 when she died. She was buried in the Hendersonville Memorial Gardens, Hendersonville, Tennessee, near her mother and stepfather.

In June 2005, his lakeside home on Caudill Drive in Hendersonville, Tennessee, went up for sale by the Cash estate. In January 2006, the house was sold to Bee Gees vocalist Barry Gibb and wife Linda Gibb and titled in their Florida limited liability company for $2.3 million. The listing agent was Cash's younger brother, Tommy Cash. The home was destroyed by fire on April 10, 2007.

One of Johnny Cash's final collaborations with producer Rick Rubin, entitled American V: A Hundred Highways, was released posthumously on July 4, 2006. The album debuted in the #1 position on Billboard Magazines Top 200 album chart for the week ending July 22, 2006. Enough of Cash's music was left to put together a posthumous album which he had helped plan.[citation needed] The album, American VI, is supposedly planned for release sometime in 2009.

Legacy

From his early days as a pioneer of rockabilly and rock and roll in the 1950s, to his decades as an international representative of country music, to his resurgence to fame in the 1990s as a living legend and an alternative country icon, Cash influenced countless artists and left a large body of work. Upon his death, Cash was revered by the greatest popular musicians of his time.

Among Johnny Cash's children, his daughter Rosanne Cash (by first wife Vivian Liberto) and his son John Carter Cash (by June Carter Cash) are notable country-music musicians in their own right.

Cash nurtured and defended artists on the fringes of what was acceptable in country music even while serving as the country music establishment's most visible symbol. At an all-star TNT concert in 1999, a diverse group of artists paid him tribute, including Bob Dylan, Chris Isaak, Wyclef Jean, Norah Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and U2. Cash himself appeared at the end and performed for the first time in more than a year. Two tribute albums were released shortly before his death; Kindred Spirits contains works from established artists, while Dressed in Black contains works from many lesser-known artists.

In total, he wrote over a thousand songs and released dozens of albums. A box set titled Unearthed was issued posthumously. It included four CDs of unreleased material recorded with Rubin as well as a Best of Cash on American retrospective CD.
In recognition of his lifelong support of SOS Children's Villages, his family invited friends and fans to donate to that charity in his memory. He had a personal link with the SOS village in Diessen, at the Ammersee-Lake in Southern Germany, near where he was stationed as a GI, and also with the SOS village in Barrett Town, by Montego Bay, near his holiday home in Jamaica.[20] The Johnny Cash Memorial Fund was founded.[21]
In 1999, Cash received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Johnny Cash[22] #31 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

In a tribute to Cash after his death, country music singer Gary Allan included the song "Nickajack Cave (Johnny Cash's Redemption)" on his 2005 album entitled Tough All Over. The song chronicles Cash hitting rock bottom and subsequently resurrecting his life and career.

The main street in Hendersonville, Tennessee, Highway 31E, is known as "Johnny Cash Parkway".

The Johnny Cash Museum is located in Woodmere, NY on Felter Avenue. The owner of the museum is currently attempting to get the street renamed in honor of Johnny Cash.
On November 2–4, 2007 the Johnny Cash Flower Pickin' Festival was held in Starkville, Mississippi. Starkville, where Cash was arrested over 40 years earlier and held overnight at the city jail on May 11, 1965, inspired Cash to write the song "Starkville City Jail". The festival, where he was offered a symbolic posthumous pardon, honored Cash's life and music, and was expected to become an annual event.

Source: Johnny Cash (Wikipedia)

Johnny Cash - A boy named Sue

2009-04-27T21:25:00.001-07:00

"A Boy Named Sue" is a country song, written by Shel Silverstein and popularly sung by Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash was at the height of his popularity when he recorded this song live at San Quentin State Prison in California. The concert was recorded for broadcast by Granada Television on February 24, 1969 and for the Johnny Cash At San Quentin album. The song became Cash's biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, spending three weeks at #2 in 1969; it also topped the country music and adult contemporary charts that same year.

Plot and reaction

It tells the preposterous yet moving tale of a young man's quest for revenge on an absent father whose only contribution to his entire life was naming him Sue, commonly a feminine name. The name was the cause of endless ridicule as the young man was growing up. As the years went on, Sue grew big, strong and fearsome from all the fights he got into with bullies.

At the climax of the song, Sue finds and confronts his father, and the two get into a vicious brawl. After the two have beaten each other almost senseless, Sue's father admits that the name was given to him as an act of love: because he knew he would not be there for his son, Sue's father gave him that name to make sure that he grew up strong. Learning this, Sue forgives his father and they have an emotional reconciliation.

With his lesson learned, Sue closes the song with an announcement: "And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him . . . Bill or George, any damn thing but Sue! I still hate that name!"

The song has an unusual A-A-C B-B-C rhyme scheme, broken only to mark the dramatic midpoint and comic ending, and is full of vivid images such as "he kicked like a mule and bit like a crocodile". The song is mostly recitation rather than conventional singing.

Years later Silverstein wrote a follow-up named "The Father of a Boy Named Sue" in which he tells the old man's point of view of the story.

Censored

Late 1960s public decorum being what it was, the line "I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you Sue!" was censored in the radio version, and the final line was edited to take out the "damn". Both the edited and unedited versions are available on various CDs.

Inspiration

The core story of the song was inspired by humorist Jean Shepherd, a close friend of Shel Silverstein who was often taunted as a child because of his feminine-sounding name.

The title might have been inspired by the male attorney Sue K. Hicks of Madisonville, Tennessee, a friend of John Scopes who agreed to be a prosecutor in the Scopes Trial. Sue was named after his mother who died after giving birth to him.[4] However, while this may have inspired Silverstein to write the poem, there may have been another reason why Johnny Cash recorded it. Johnny Cash was a fan of popular western novelist, Zane Grey, whose first name at birth was "Pearl".

In his autobiography [5] Cash wrote that he had just received the song and only read over it a couple of times. It was included in that concert to try it out; he didn't know the words. (He can be seen on the video regularly referring to a piece of paper.) He was surprised at how well the song went over with the audience – which is why this rough, spontaneous performance with sparse accompaniment was included in the Johnny Cash At San Quentin album, ultimately becoming one of Cash's biggest hits.

Akon (Aliaune Thiam) according to Wikipedia

2009-04-27T04:56:00.000-07:00

Aliaune Thiam (born April 30, 1973),[1] better known by his stage name Akon (pronounced /ˈeɪkɒn/)[2], is a American R&B singer-songwriter, and record producer, of Senegalese origin. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of "Locked Up” the first single from his debut album Trouble. His second album, Konvicted, earned him a Grammy Award nomination for the single "Smack That." He has since founded two record labels, Konvict Muzik and Kon Live Distribution.

Akon often sings hooks for other artists and is currently accredited with over 155 guest appearances and 23 Billboard Hot 100 songs. He is the first solo artist to accomplish the feat of holding both the number one and two spots simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100 charts twice.

Background

Akon’s full name is, Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam.[4] However he is often credited as Aliaune Thiam.[5][6] His name is sometimes shortened as Aliaune Badara Thiam or Alioune Badara Thiam.[7] About.com claims that this middle name has never been independently verified.[8] In addition, some media institutions have incorrectly reported that he was born in 1981. Sources such as the AP have indicated he was born in 1973. Legal documents released by The Smoking Gun list his name as Aliaune Damala Thiam and date of birth as 1973-04-30[9] or 1973-04-16.[10] According to the Smoking Gun article, "By all indications, he was born April 16, 1973."[11] When asked his age during an interview with VIBE, Akon reportedly responded, "The only thing I hide is my age... before I lie to you, I'd rather say nothing."

Early life

As the son of famed Senegalese percussionist Mor Thiam, Akon was raised in a musical setting and taught to play several instruments. At the age of 7, he spent time between America and Senegal until he was 15, then he moved permanently to Jersey City, New Jersey.[12] He recorded his first song, "Operations of Nature", at the age of fifteen.

During Akon’s alleged time in jail for 12 years, he began to understand his music abilities and developed an appreciation for his musical background. Akon's unique blend of West African-style, skills and moves eventually caught the ears of executives at Universal. Akon began writing and recording tracks in his home studio. The tapes found their way to SRC/Universal, which released Akon's debut LP Trouble in June 2004. The album is a hybrid of Akon's silky, West African-styled vocals mixed with East Coast and Southern beats. Most of Akon's songs begin with the sound of the clank of a jail cell's door with him uttering the word "Konvict".

Personal life

Akon is a Muslim,[14] as he explains he has never drunk alcohol or smoked due to his faith. He has also been rumored to have three wives, however the actual figure is unknown. He claims to have five children with three different women in an interview with Blender.[15] He states that his religion made him a better person, and provides guidance to how he acts among others in life.

He also has his own charity for underprivileged children in Africa called Konfidence Foundation.[17] Akon owns a diamond mine in South Africa and denies the existence of conflict diamonds (Otherwise casually referred to as 'blood diamonds'), saying, "I don't even believe in conflict diamonds. That's just a movie. Think about it. Ain't nobody thought about nothing about no conflict diamonds until the movie came out."[18] He also allegedly had a previous occupation as a drug dealer but has stated in interviews that he's never used drugs, though some of his lyrics would suggest otherwise. Despite his alleged criminal history, he proclaims that he has turned his life around.

Career

2004–05: Debut: Trouble

Akon's solo debut album, Trouble was released on June 29, 2004. It spawned the singles "Locked Up" and "Lonely", "Belly Dancer (Bananza)", "Pot Of Gold", and "Ghetto." The album was the first release of his new record label Konvict Music. The inspiration for his debut single allegedly came from his three-year sting in prison for ‘grand theft auto’.[5] "Locked Up" reached the top 10 in the U.S. and the top five in the UK. "Ghetto" became a radio hit when it was remixed by Green Lantern to include verses from rappers 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G.

In 2005, he released the single "Lonely" (which samples Bobby Vinton's "Mr. Lonely"). The song reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100, and topped the charts in Australia, the UK and Germany. His album also climbed to number one in the UK in April, 2005. When music channel The Box had a top ten weekly chart, which was calculated by the amount of video requests, Akon's "Lonely" became the longest running single on the top of the chart, spanning over fifteen weeks. Akon then released another single featuring with a New Zealand rapper, Savage with the single Moonshine, which had become a success in both New Zealand and Australia, becoming number one in the New Zealand charts. In 2005, He made his first critically acclaimed guest appearance on Young Jeezy's debut album, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101, with the song "Soul Survivor." In December the same year his manager, Robert Montanez was killed in a shooting after a dispute in New Jersey.

2006–08: Konvicted

Akon performing with Gwen Stefani on The Sweet Escape Tour.

Akon's second album, Konvicted was released on November 14, 2006. It included collaborations with Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Styles P. The first single "Smack That" featuring Eminem was released in August 2006 and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks. "I Wanna Love You," (featuring Snoop Dogg) was the second single released in September, it would go on to earn Akon his first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, and Snoop's second. "I Wanna Love You" topped the U.S. charts for two consecutive weeks. In January 2007, a third single "Don't Matter" which earned him his first solo number one and second consecutive Hot 100 chart topper was released. "Mama Africa" was released as a European single in July 2007, making it the fourth overall single from the album reaching just 47 in the UK.

To coincide with the release of the Platinum (deluxe) edition of the album "Sorry, Blame It on Me" was the album's fifth single, debuted in August 2007 on the Hot 100 at number seven. The deluxe version was fully released on August 28, 2007. The final single was confirmed by Akon to be "Never Took the Time."[19] Konvicted debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 286,000 copies in its first week. After only six weeks, Konvicted sold more than one million records in the U.S. and more than 1.3 million worldwide. The album was certified platinum after seven weeks, and after sixteen weeks it was certified double platinum. It stayed in the top twenty of the Billboard 200 for 28 consecutive weeks and peaked at number two on four different occasions. On November 20, 2007, the RIAA certified the album ‘triple platinum’ with 3 million units sold in the US. It has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide.
On October 5, 2006, Akon broke a record on the Hot 100, as he achieved the largest climb in the chart's 48-year-history with "Smack That" jumping from number 95 to 7. The leap was fueled by its number six debut on Hot Digital Songs with 67,000 downloads. The record has since been broken several times. In December 2006, Akon's "Smack That" was nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, but lost to Justin Timberlake and T.I.'s "My Love".
Projects with other artists

In 2006, Akon started his new record label Kon Live Distribution under Interscope Records. His first signed artist was Ray Lavender.
He was featured on Gwen Stefani's latest album, The Sweet Escape. He made an appearance on the title track and second single, "The Sweet Escape." Akon produced the song. On December 10, 2006, Akon and Stefani appeared as musical guests on Saturday Night Live, however they did not perform the song as Stefani had not yet learned the lyrics. He performed the song live, however, on American Idol on March 28, 2007 due to Gwen Stefani's appearance as a coach the night before. "The Sweet Escape" has reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Akon collaborated with Chamillionaire on his mixtape, Mixtape Messiah 2, featuring on the track “Ridin' Overseas” which he also produced. The mixtape was available for download on Chamillionaire's website from December 24, 2006.

In 2006, after their 2005 Akon-produced single, "Soul Survivor," the duo said that there is a lot more to expect from them in the future. The pair announced there are currently plans for a collaborative album.

Akon also appeared on Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's album Strength and Loyalty and Three 6 Mafia's eighth studio album, Last 2 Walk, We The Best by DJ Khaled, Fabolous's album, From Nothin' to Somethin', with 50 Cent on some tracks for Curtis,[22] T.I.'s 5th album, T.I. vs. T.I.P.,[23] Mario's third solo album Go!,[24] and produced for Daddy Yankee's El Cartel: The Big Boss which was released on June 5, 2007.

On July 7, 2007 Akon performed at the American leg of Live Earth.
In November 2007, Akon recorded a remix of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" with Michael Jackson. In February 2008, the remix was released on the Thriller 25 of Michael Jackson's Thriller. The remix was released as a single and charted in the top 10 in most countries. Akon is said to be working with Jackson on his comeback and new studio album due sometime in 2009[citation needed]/

Run-ins with the law

In April 2007, Akon drew criticism for having on-stage simulated sex with Danah (Deena) Alleyne, a preacher's [at the time] fifteen-year-old daughter, at a club in Trinidad and Tobago, as part of a fake contest, despite the club's claim to have a 21 years and over age limit.[26][27] The incident was filmed by Akon's crew and later uploaded to the Internet. On April 20, 2007 local media, channel TV6, aired the video clip publicly. Amid criticism on the radio, television, and from the blogosphere, Verizon Wireless removed ringtones featuring Akon's songs. Verizon also decided not to sponsor The Sweet Escape Tour where Akon was to be the opening act for Gwen Stefani.[28] However, Universal Music Group did not take action against Akon, but rather simply ordered the video clip be removed from video-sharing site YouTube due to copyright infringement. Conservative commentator and Parents Television Council founder Brent Bozell called this "corporate irresponsibility."[29]
Political commentators Michelle Malkin, Laura Ingraham, and Bill O'Reilly criticized Akon for "degrading women."[30][31] Malkin uploaded commentary about Akon to YouTube, using footage from music videos and the Trinidad concert, and Universal Music Group then forced its removal by issuing a DMCA takedown notice.[32] The Electronic Frontier Foundation joined Malkin in contesting the removal as a misuse of copyright law, citing fair use.[33] In May 2007, UMG rescinded its claim to the video, and the video returned to YouTube.

On June 3, 2007, at WSPK's KFEST concert at the Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill, New York, a concert attendee threw an object towards Akon on stage. Akon asked the crowd to identify who threw the object and that he be brought on stage. Security staff grabbed the young man and took him up to the stage. Akon then pulled him up from the crowd and hoisted him across his shoulders. The singer then tossed the attendee back into the crowd from his shoulders. Video of the incident was reviewed by Fishkill police.[34] Akon has claimed that the incident was staged and that he in fact used the act to set up for the next record.[35] Charges of endangering the welfare of a minor, a misdemeanor, and second-degree harassment, a violation, were filed, according to police Chief Donald F. Williams, and Akon was arraigned the two charges on December 3, 2007 in the town of Fishkill Court.

2008-present: Freedom

Akon released his new album Freedom on December 2, which spawned three singles: "Right Now (Na Na Na)", "I'm So Paid" (featuring Lil Wayne and Young Jeezy) and "Beautiful" (featuring Kardinal Offishall and Colby O'Donis). The album has reached gold status by selling over 600,000 albums.

Projects with other artists

Akon produced the track entitled "Echo" on Latin Boy band Menudo's latest album, released in the spring of 2008.

‘Konvict Music’ would be responsible for the re-release of Kat Deluna’s debut album 9 Lives (album) which would feature Akon on the single "Am I Dreaming."

In July 2008 a song called "Hold My Hand" was circulating the internet. The song is an R&B duet/collaboration between Michael Jackson and Akon, composed by Claude Kelly. There also exists another version featuring only Akon. There is also no official mention of the recording on either artists' websites although Akon has spoken about the track on various other websites. It was not included in the track list for Freedom as Akon previously stated. During an interview with Tavis Smiley, Akon said that Jackson had planned on a high-profile release until the track had leaked.

Akon was also the executive producer of Kardinal Offishall's fourth solo album Not 4 Sale, released September 9, 2008. The promo single "Graveyard Shift" features Akon as does the first official single "Dangerous", which peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and won the award for Single of the Year at the 2009 Juno Awards.

Akon co-wrote and recorded "Put It on My Tab" with New Kids on the Block for their 2008 reunion album The Block.

Akon co-wrote and produced Leona Lewis' hit record Forgive Me, off her debut album Spirit.

Akon co-produced Konvict Muzik artist Lady Gaga's first studio album The Fame and co-wrote & produced the worldwide smash-hit "Just Dance", which also featured Colby O'Donis and earned a Grammy nomination at the 51st Grammy Awards. This was earned the both young Konvict Muzik artists their first Grammy Nominations and has reached #1 in more than 14 countries, including Australia, UK & the U.S.

Flo Rida’s new album R.O.O.T.S. features Akon on the track “Available”.
Akon has recorded a song with E-40 titled "Wake It Up" for E-40's album, The Ball Street Journal. Akon experiments with the auto-tune effect in the song.
Rap singer Nelly confirmed that Akon, Pharrell, and T-Pain have talked about forming a rap supergroup in 2009.

Akon and Konvict Muzik are also producing hip hop/rock group Flipsyde's 2009 release, State of Survival, which will be released via Kon Live Distribution and Cherrytree Records.

Akon is said to be working with Whitney Houston for her anticipated 2009 comeback to the music industry. Previously he spoke about a duet the two had recorded called "Like I Never Left" but commented that it was a rough edit and had yet to be mixed so its inclusion on her album was uncertain.

Allegations

"The Smoking Gun" reported in April 2008 that much of Akon's purported criminal and incarceration history has been dramatically embellished.[40][41][42] In particular, Akon's claims to be part of an auto-theft ring and his claim to have spent three years in prison were challenged with court records and interviews with detectives involved in Akon's case. According to "The Smoking Gun's" article, Akon was not convicted of any crime and did not serve any time in prison from 1999 to 2002 as previously claimed. He stated that "The Smoking Gun's" attempt to “discredit” him “makes no sense as it is something he is trying to forget.”

Akon has also come under fire from the media who claims that the diamond mine he owns in South Africa is a source of conflict diamonds. Speaking on the matter, he told the Independent Newspaper that that the concept-stated by the film Blood Diamond. He strongly denies the claims saying that the movie itself was responsible for creating conflict over diamonds and over-exaggerating the problem.

Television & Film

Akon has confirmed that a reality television show is in the works. It will be called "My Brother's Keeper" and the point is that Akon's two nearly identical brothers will go around in Atlanta posing as him fooling people into thinking that it is in fact Akon. They will try to get VIP treatment, girls and free things. Akon has claimed that people have mistaken his brothers for him many times in Atlanta which is what the show is based on.

Akon is planning to work on a full-length movie titled Illegal Alien. The film is based on some of the events of his life and actor Mekhi Phifer is set to play him. Besides Akon confirmed in August 2007, in the interview with Polish website INTERIA.PL, that he works on a movie "Cocaine Cowboys," which tells the story of Jon Roberts, the main pilot of Medellin Cartel (Colombian drug traffickers).[45] He was also featured on a Verizon Wireless commercial and singing Snitch along with Obie Trice on a CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode named "Poppin' Tags."

On November 30, 2007, Akon entered the Big Brother house in Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Edition 2 as a guest so the housemates can meet him for only 100 seconds.
He also appeared on November 17, 2008 edition of WWE Raw, with Santino Marella citing him in his speech.

On April 27, 2008, Akon appeared with Colby O'Donis in Dance on Sunset.
Fashion

In February 2007, Akon launched his clothing line, Konvict Clothing. It features urban streetwear including denim jeans, hoodies, t-shirts and hats. Aliaune is the upscale version, or high-end line, for males and females, which includes blazers, denim jeans and other items. Timothy Hodge appeared on MTV's Direct Effect along side Akon while promotioning the Konvict clothing line.

Source: Akon (Wikipedia)

ABBA according to Wikipedia

2009-04-27T04:31:00.001-07:00

ABBA were a Swedish pop music group. The band consisted of Agnetha Fältskog, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (of Norwegian-German origin). They topped the charts worldwide from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. The name "ABBA" is an acronym formed from the first letters of each of the group members' given names (Agnetha, Benny, Björn, Anni-Frid).

ABBA gained immense international popularity employing catchy song hooks, simple lyrics, and a Wall of Sound achieved by overdubbing the female singers' voices in multiple harmonies. As their popularity grew, they were sought after to tour Europe, Australia, and North America, drawing crowds of near-hysterical fans, notably in Australia. Touring became a contentious issue, being particularly unpopular with Agnetha, but they continued to release studio albums to great commercial success. At the height of their popularity, however, both marriages of the band members (Benny with Frida, and Björn with Agnetha) failed, and the relationship changes were reflected in their music, as they produced more thoughtful lyrics with different compositions.

They remain a fixture of radio playlists and are one of the world's best selling bands, having sold over 370 million records world wide; they still sell two to four million records a year.[4] ABBA was also the first pop group from mainland Europe to enjoy consistent success in the charts of English-speaking countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Ireland, South Africa, Rhodesia, Australia and New Zealand. Their enormous popularity subsequently opened the doors for other Continental European acts.

The music of ABBA has been re-arranged into the successful musical Mamma Mia! that has toured worldwide and had a movie version released in July 2008. All four of the former members of ABBA were present at the Stockholm premieres of both the musical (2005) and the film (2008). The film première took place at the Benny Andersson-owned Rival Theatre at Mariatorget, Stockholm on 4 July 2008. A new museum devoted entirely to the pop supergroup was scheduled to open in Stockholm in 2009, but the project was postponed as of September 2008.

Before ABBA (1960s)

Benny Andersson (born on 16 December 1946 in Stockholm, Sweden) was a member of a popular Swedish pop-rock group, The Hep Stars, that performed covers of international hits, from the age of 18. The Hep Stars were known as "The Swedish Beatles"; they even set up Hep House, their equivalent of the Apple Corps. Benny Andersson played keyboards and eventually started writing original compositions for his band, many of which became major hits including "No Response" that hit #3 in 1965, "Sunny Girl", "Wedding", "Consolation", all of which hit #1 in 1966.[7] Andersson also had a fruitful songwriting collaboration with Lasse Berghagen, with whom he composed his first Svensktoppen entry "Sagan om lilla Sofi" ("The Story of Little Sophie") in 1968.

Björn Ulvaeus (born on 25 April 1945 in Gothenburg, Sweden) also began his musical career at 18 (as a singer and guitarist), when he fronted The Hootenanny Singers, a popular Swedish folk-skiffle group. Ulvaeus started writing English language songs for his group, and even had a brief solo career alongside. The Hootenanny Singers and The Hep Stars sometimes crossed paths while touring, and on one occasion in June 1966 Ulvaeus and Andersson decided to write a song together. Their first attempt was "Isn't It Easy to Say", a song later recorded by The Hep Stars. Stig Anderson was the manager of The Hootenanny Singers and founder of the Polar Music label. He saw potential in the collaboration, and encouraged them to compose more. Both also began playing occasionally with the other's bands on stage and on record, although not until 1969 did the pair write and produce some of their first real hits together: "Ljuva sextiotal" ('Merry Sixties'), recorded by Brita Borg and The Hep Stars' 1969 hit "Speleman" ("Fiddler"). On July 6, 1971, Björn and Agnetha Fältskog got married.
Andersson wrote and submitted the song "Hej, Clown" for the 1969 Melodifestivalen, the Swedish Eurovision Song Contest finals. The song tied for first, but re-voting relegated Andersson's song to second place.[8] On this occasion, Andersson briefly met his future spouse, singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad, who also participated in the contest. A month later, the two had become a couple. As the two bands began to break up, Andersson and Ulvaeus teamed up and eventually recorded their first album together in 1970, called Lycka ("Happiness"), that included original compositions sung by both men. Ulvaeus still occasionally recorded and performed with The Hootenanny Singers until the summer of 1974, and Andersson took part in producing their records.

Agnetha Fältskog (born on 5 April 1950 in Jönköping, Sweden) had a #1 record in Sweden when she was only 17, and was soon noted by the critics and songwriters as a talented singer/songwriter of schlager style songs. Fältskog's main inspiration in her early years were singers like Connie Francis. Along with her own compositions, she recorded covers of foreign hits and performed them on tours in Swedish folkparks. She submitted an original song for Melodifestivalen at 17 years old, titled "Försonade" ("Redeemed"), but it was rejected. She briefly met Anni-Frid Lyngstad for the first time during a TV show in January 1968, and Björn Ulvaeus at a concert venue a few months later.

During filming of a Swedish TV special in May 1969, Fältskog met Ulvaeus again, and they were married in 1971. Fältskog and Ulvaeus eventually got involved in each other's recording sessions,[9] and soon even Andersson and Lyngstad added backing vocals to her 1970 album "Som jag är" ("As I Am"). In 1973, Fältskog starred as Mary Magdalene in the original Swedish production of Jesus Christ Superstar and attracted favourable reviews. Between 1967 and 1975, Fältskog released five studio albums.[10]
Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad (born on 15 November 1945 in Bjørkåsen in Ballangen, Norway) sang from the age of thirteen with various dance bands, and worked mainly in a jazz-oriented cabaret style. She also formed her own band named Anni-Frid Four. In the summer of 1967, she won a national talent competition with the song "En ledig dag" ("A Day Off"), included in the EMI compilation Frida 1967-1972. The first prize was a recording contract with EMI Sweden and to perform live on the most popular TV show in Sweden. This first TV performance, amongst many others, is included in the 3 1/2 hour documentary Frida - The DVD. Lyngstad released several singles on EMI and had many hits in the Swedish charts. When Benny Andersson started to produce her recordings in 1971, she got her first #1 single, "Min egen stad" ("My Own Town"), for which all four future ABBA members sang the backup vocals. Lyngstad toured and performed regularly in the folkpark circuit and made appearances on radio and TV. She met Björn Ulvaeus briefly in 1963 during a talent contest, and Agnetha Fältskog during a TV show in early 1968.

Lyngstad finally linked up with her future bandmates in 1969. On 1 March 1969, she participated in the Melodifestivalen, where she met Andersson for the first time. A few weeks later they met again during a concert tour in southern Sweden and they soon became a couple. Andersson produced her single "Peter Pan" in September 1969 – the first collaboration between her and Benny & Björn, as they had written the song. Later Andersson produced Lyngstad's debut album, Frida, which was released in March 1971 and praised by critics. Lyngstad also played in several revues and cabaret shows in Stockholm between 1969 and 1973. After ABBA formed, she recorded another successful album in 1975, Frida Ensam, which included the original Swedish rendition of "Fernando", which became a huge hit in Scandinavia before the English version was recorded.

First live performance and the start of "Festfolk"

An attempt at combining their talents occurred in April 1970 when the two couples went on holiday together to the island of Cyprus. What started as singing for fun on the beach ended up as an improvised live performance in front of the United Nations soldiers stationed on the island. Andersson and Ulvaeus were at this time recording their first album together, "Lycka", which was to be released in September 1970. Fältskog and Lyngstad added backing vocals on several tracks during June, and the idea of them all working together saw them launch their own stage act, "Festfolk", which translates from Swedish to mean both "Party People" and "Engaged Couples", on 1 November 1970 in Gothenburg. The cabaret show attracted positive reviews. The foursome performed the Andersson and Ulvaeus hit "Hej, gamle man" ("Hi, Old Man"); the first recording credited to all four – and solo numbers from respective albums, but the foursome did not feel like working together, and soon concentrated on individual projects again.
[edit]First record together "Hej, gamle man"

"Hej, gamle man" ("Hello, Old Man"), a song about an old Salvation Army soldier, became the foursome's first hit. The record was credited to Björn & Benny and reached number 5 on the sales charts and number 1 on Svensktoppen, staying there for 15 weeks. In the first half of 1971, the four artists worked more together, adding vocals to the others' recordings. Fältskog, Andersson and Ulvaeus went on a tour together in May, while Lyngstad toured on her own. Frequent recording sessions brought the foursome tighter together during the summer.

Forming the group (1970–1973)

After the 1970 release of Andersson and Ulvaeus' album "Lycka", two more singles credited to 'Björn & Benny' were released in Sweden, "Det kan ingen doktor hjälpa" ("No doctor can help with that") and "Tänk om jorden vore ung" ("Imagine if the Earth were young"), but clearly with more prominent vocals by Fältskog and Lyngstad -and with moderate chart success. Fältskog released her fourth album in 1971 and married Ulvaeus on 6 July 1971. Andersson, Ulvaeus, and Fältskog started performing together on a regular basis during the summer of 1971.
Stig Anderson, founder and owner of Polar, was determined to break into the mainstream international market with music by Andersson and Ulvaeus. "One day the pair of you will write a song that becomes a worldwide hit", he predicted.[13] Stig encouraged Ulvaeus and Andersson to write a song for Melodifestivalen, and after two rejected entries in 1971,[14] Andersson and Ulvaeus submitted their new song "Säg det med en sång" ("Say It With A Song") for the 1972 contest, and they chose newcomer Lena Anderson to perform. The song won third place, encouraging Stig, and became a huge hit in Sweden.[15] The first signs of foreign success came as a surprise, as the Andersson and Ulvaeus single "She's My Kind of Girl" was released by chance by Epic in Japan in March 1972, giving the duo a Top 10 hit. Thus, two more singles were released in Japan, "En Carousel"[16] (earlier version of "Merry-Go-Round") and "Love Has Its Ways" (a song they wrote with Koichi Morita).

First hit as 'Björn, Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid'

Ulvaeus and Andersson persevered with their songwriting and experimented with new sounds and vocal arrangements. "People Need Love" was released in June 1972, featuring guest vocals by the women, who were now given much greater prominence. Stig Anderson released it as a single, credited to Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid. The song reached #17 in the Swedish combined single and album charts, enough to convince them they were on to something. The single also became the first record to chart for the quartet in the United States, where it peaked at #114 on the Cashbox singles chart and #117 on Record World's singles chart. Billed as Björn & Benny (with Svenska Flicka), it was released there on Playboy Records. However, according to Stig Anderson, "People Need Love" could have been a much bigger American hit, but a small label like Playboy Records did not have the distribution resources to meet the demand for the single from retailers and radio programmers. The foursome decided to record their first album together in the autumn of 1972, and sessions began on 26 September 1972. The two women shared lead vocal on "Nina, Pretty Ballerina", on this day, and the two women's voices combined in harmonies for the first time gave the foursome an idea of the qualities of their combined talents.

"Ring Ring"

For 1973, the band and their manager Stig Anderson decided to have another try at the Melodifestivalen, this time with the song "Ring Ring." The studio sessions were handled by Michael B. Tretow, who experimented with a "wall of sound" production technique that became the wholly new ABBA sound. Anderson arranged an English translation of the lyrics by Neil Sedaka and Phil Cody and they thought this would be a surefire winner, but in the Melodifestivalen, on 10 February 1973, it placed third, and thus never reached the international contest. Nevertheless the proto-group put out their first album, called Ring Ring. The album did well and the "Ring Ring" single was a hit in many parts of Europe, but Stig Anderson felt the true breakthrough could only come with a UK or US hit.

Official naming

In early 1973, Stig Anderson, tired of unwieldy names, started to refer to the group privately and publicly as ABBA. At first, this was a play on words, as Abba was also the name of a well-known fish-canning company in Sweden. However, since the fish canners were unknown outside Sweden, Anderson came to believe the name would work in international markets. A competition to find a suitable name for the group was held in a Gothenburg newspaper. The group was impressed with the names "Alibaba," "FABB," and "Baba", but in the end all the entries were ignored and it was announced in the summer that the name "ABBA" was official. Later the group negotiated with the canners for the right to the name.[21] "ABBA" is an acronym formed from the first letters of each group member's name: Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid (Frida).[1] The first 'B' in the logo version of the name was "mirror-image" reversed on the band's promotional material from 1976 onwards and became the group's registered trademark. The first time the name is found written on paper is on a recording session sheet from the Metronome Studio in Stockholm, dated 16 October 1973. It was first written as "Björn, Benny, Agnetha & Frida", but was subsequently crossed out with "ABBA" written in large letters on top.
The official logo, using the bold version of the News Gothic typeface, was designed by Rune Söderqvist, and appeared for the first time on the "Dancing Queen" single in August 1976, and subsequently on all later original albums and singles. But the idea for the official logo was made by the German photographer Wolfgang Heilemann on a "Dancing Queen" shooting for the teenager magazine BRAVO. On the photo, every ABBA-member held a giant initial letter of his/her name. After the pictures were made, Heilemann found out that one of the men held his letter upside down. They discussed it and the members of ABBA liked it. In 1992 Polygram redesigned the logo for the ABBA Gold compilation, having a different font along with a crown emblem. Still, the classic logo is more commonly seen, for instance being used on the official ABBA website.

Breakthrough (1973–1976)

Eurovision

For their first Eurovision, ABBA entered with "Ring Ring" but failed to qualify as the 1973 Swedish entry, it came third in the preliminary round. Stig immediately started planning for the 1974 contest.

Ulvaeus, Andersson, and manager Stig Anderson believed in the possibilities of using the Melodifestivalen and Eurovision TV contests as a way to make the music business aware of the band and Andersson, Ulvaeus and Stig as composers. In late 1973, they were invited by Swedish television to contribute a song for the 1974 contest, and from a number of newly written compositions, the foursome chose the upbeat "Waterloo"; the group was now inspired by the growing glam rock scene in England. "Waterloo" was an unashamedly glam-style pop track produced with Michael B. Tretow's wall-of-sound approach.

ABBA won their national heats on Swedish TV on 9 February 1974, and with this third attempt were far more experienced and better prepared for the international contest. Winning the Eurovision Song Contest gave ABBA the chance to tour Europe and perform on major TV shows; thus the band saw the "Waterloo" single climb the charts in many European countries. "Waterloo" was ABBA's first number one single in big markets such as the UK, Germany and Australia. In the US, it reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, paving the way for their first album and their first trip as a group there. Albeit being a short promotional visit, it included their very first performance on American TV, The Mike Douglas Show. Waterloo only peaked at #145 on the Billboard 200 album chart, but received unanimous high praise from the US critics: Los Angeles Times called it "a compelling and fascinating debut album that captures the spirit of mainstream pop quite effectively...an immensely enjoyable and pleasant project", while Creem characterized it as "a perfect blend of exceptional lovable compositions".

ABBA's follow-up single, "Honey, Honey", reached #27 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and was #2 in Germany. However, in the UK, a cover version of the song by the act Sweet Dreams made #10 because ABBA's British record company, Epic, decided to re-release a remixed version of "Ring Ring" instead. It failed to reach the Top 30, increasing growing speculation that the group were simply Eurovision one-hit wonders.

Post-Eurovision

In November 1974, ABBA embarked on their first European tour, playing dates in Denmark, West Germany, and Austria. It was not as successful as the band had hoped, since most of the venues did not sell out. Due to a lack of demand, they were even forced to cancel a few shows, including a sole concert scheduled in Switzerland. The second leg of the tour, which took them through Scandinavia in January 1975, was entirely different. They played to full houses everywhere and finally got the reception they aimed for. Live performances continued during the summer of 1975 when ABBA embarked on a sixteen open-air date tour of Sweden and Finland, attracting huge crowds. Their Stockholm show at the Gröna Lund amusement park was seen by an estimated audience of 19,200.

In 1974 they released 'So Long' as a single in the UK but it received no airplay from radio 1 and failed to chart. In summer 1975 they released 'I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do', again it received very little airplay on radio 1 but managed to climb the charts reaching dizzy heights of no 38. Later in 1975 the release of their next album ABBA and single "SOS" brought back their chart presence in the UK, where the single hit #6 and the album reached #13. S.O.S. also became ABBA's second number 1 single in both Germany and Australia. Success was further solidified with "Mamma Mia" reaching the #1 spot in UK, Germany and Australia in January 1976. In the US, "SOS" reached #10 on the Record World Top 100 singles chart and #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, picking up the BMI Award along the way as one of the most played songs on American radio in 1975. The success of the group in the United States had been so far limited to single releases. By early 1976, the group already had four Top 30 singles on US charts, but the album market proved to be tough to crack. The eponymous ABBA album generated no fewer than three real American hits, but it only peaked at #165 on the Cashbox album chart and #174 on the Billboard 200 chart. Opinions were voiced, by Creem in particular, that in the US ABBA had endured "a very sloppy promotional campaign". The group, however, enjoyed very warm reviews from American press. Cashbox went as far as saying that "there is a recurrent thread of taste and artistry inherent in Abba's marketing, creativity and presentation that makes it almost embarrassing to critique their efforts", while Creem wrote about their latest album: "SOS is surrounded on this LP by so many good tunes that the mind boggles".
In Australia, the airing of the videos for "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" and "Mamma Mia" on nationwide TV in August 1975 started an immense interest for ABBA, resulting in #1 positions on both the single and album charts for months.

Superstardom (1976–1981)

In March 1976, the band released the compilation Greatest Hits, despite having had only six Top 40 hits in the UK and the US. Nevertheless, it became their first UK #1 album, and also took ABBA into the Top 50 on the US album charts for the first time, eventually selling more than a million copies there. At the same time, Germany released a compilation named "The Very Best of ABBA", also becoming a number 1 album there whereas the "Greatest hits" LP followed few months later to number 2 on the German charts, despite all similarities with "The Very Best" album. Also included on Greatest Hits was a new single, "Fernando". This song had first been written by Ulvaeus and Andersson in Swedish for Lyngstad's #1 1975 solo album Frida ensam (Frida alone). After Lyngstad's major success with the song in Scandinavia, the group decided to record an English version. With "Fernando" hitting #1 in twelve countries worldwide (including the UK and Germany), it occupied the top position in Australia for 14 weeks, tying The Beatles for longest number one for "Hey Jude", making it one of the best-selling singles of all time in that country. That same year, the group received its first international prize, with "Fernando" being chosen as the "Best Studio Recording of 1975". In the US, "Fernando" reached the Top 10 of the Cashbox Top 100 singles chart and #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, ABBA's first American number one single of any kind.

The group's next album, Arrival, a number 1 bestseller all over Europe and Australia, represented a new level of accomplishment in both songwriting and studio work, prompting rave reviews from more rock-orientated UK music weeklies such as Melody Maker and New Musical Express, and mostly appreciative notices from American critics. In fact, hit after hit flowed from Arrival: "Money, Money, Money", another number 1 in Germany and Australia, and "Knowing Me, Knowing You", ABBAs sixth consecutive German number 1 as well as another UK #1. The real sensation of all was "Dancing Queen", not only topping the charts in the loyal markets UK, Germany and Australia, but also reaching number 1 in the United States. In 1977, Arrival was nominated for the inaugural BRIT Award in the category "Best International Album of the Year". By this time ABBA were very popular in the UK, most of Western Europe and Australia. In Frida - The DVD, Lyngstad explains how she and Fältskog developed as singers, as ABBA's recordings got more and more complex over the years.
Their popularity in the US would remain on a comparatively smaller scale, and "Dancing Queen" became the only Billboard Hot 100 #1 single ABBA ever had there (they did, however, get three more singles to the #1 position on other Billboard charts, including Billboard Adult Contemporary and Hot Dance Club Play). Nevertheless, Arrival finally became a true breakthrough release for ABBA on the US album market where it peaked at #20 on the Billboard 200 album chart and was certified gold by RIAA.

European and Australian tour

Anni-Frid Lyngstad at a press conference for ABBA in Australia 1977.

In January 1977, ABBA hit the road. The group's status had changed dramatically and they were clearly regarded as superstars. They opened their much anticipated tour in Oslo, Norway, on 28 January, and mounted a lavishly produced spectacle that included a few scenes from their self-penned mini-operetta "The Girl With The Golden Hair." The concert attracted immense media attention from across Europe and Australia. They continued the tour through Western Europe visiting Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Berlin, Cologne, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Essen, Hanover, Hamburg, and ended it with shows in the UK in Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and two sold-out concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall. Tickets for these two shows were available only by mail application and it was later revealed that the box-office received 3.5 million requests for tickets, enough to fill the venue 580 times. There were, however, complaints about the group's performance lacking the same intriguing qualities on stage as what was presented in the studio, as an article in The Times accused the show of being boring.[24] One of the Royal Albert Hall concerts was filmed as a reference for the filming of the Australian tour for what became ABBA: The Movie, though it is not known exactly how much of the concert was filmed.

After the European leg of the tour, in March 1977, ABBA played eleven dates in Australia before a total of 160,000 people. The opening concert in Sydney at the Sydney Showground on 3 March before over 20,000 was marred by torrential rain and Frida slipped on the wet stage during the concert. However, all four members would later recall this concert to be the most memorable of their career. Upon their arrival in Melbourne, a civic reception was held at the Town Hall and ABBA appeared on the balcony to greet an enthusiastic crowd of 6,000 people. In Melbourne, ABBA played three concerts at the Sydney Myer Music Bowl with 14,500 at each including the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and his family. At the first Melbourne concert, an additional 16,000 people gathered outside the fenced-off area to listen to the concert. In Adelaide, the group performed one concert at West Lakes Football Stadium before 20,000 people with another 10,000 listening outside. During the first of five concerts in Perth, there was a bomb scare with everyone having to evacuate the Entertainment Centre. The trip was accompanied by mass hysteria and unprecedented media attention, and is vividly captured on film in ABBA: The Movie, directed by Lasse Hallström.

The Australian tour and its subsequent ABBA: The Movie produced some ABBA lore, as well. Agnetha Fältskog's blonde good looks had long made her the band's 'pin-up girl', a role she disdained. During the Australian tour, she performed in a skin-tight white jumpsuit, causing one Australian newspaper to use the headline "Agnetha's bottom tops dull show". When asked about this at a news conference, she replied: "Don't they have bottoms in Australia?"

In December 1977, ABBA followed up Arrival with the more musically and lyrically ambitious fifth album The Album, which was released to coincide with ABBA: The Movie. Although the album was less well-received by the critics in the UK, it did spawn more worldwide hits: "The Name of the Game" and "Take a Chance on Me", both of which topped the UK charts, and reached #12 and #3, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US. Although "Take a Chance on Me" did not top the American charts, it has actually proved to be ABBA's biggest hit single in the United States, selling more copies than "Dancing Queen".[26] The Album also included the ABBA signature tune, "Thank You for the Music", released as a single in the UK in 1983, and had been the B-side of "Eagle" in countries where the latter had been released.

Polar Music Studio formation

Agnetha Fältskog at a concert in Oslo in 1977.
By 1978, ABBA was a megagroup. They converted a vacant theatre into the Polar Music Studio, a state-of-the-art studio in Stockholm. The studio was used by several other bands; notably, Genesis' Duke and Led Zeppelin's In Through the Out Door were recorded there. During May, the group went to the US for a huge promotional campaign, and performed on Olivia Newton-John's TV show. However, a lot of effort was put into the new recording studio in Stockholm. The recording sessions for "Summer Night City" were an uphill struggle, but upon release the song became another significant hit for the group. The track would also set the stage for ABBA's foray into disco with their upcoming album.

Several years ago, the original Polar Music Studios (by that time renamed Polar Studios) were closed because the landlord of the building had increased the rent required. The site is now a Fitness First gymnasium, and there is a display in its foyer acknowledging its history as Polar (Music) Studios.
On 9 January 1979, the group performed "Chiquitita" at the Music for UNICEF Concert held at the United Nations General Assembly to celebrate UNICEF's Year of the Child. ABBA donated the copyright of this worldwide hit to the UNICEF; see Music for UNICEF Concert. The single was released the following week, and reached #1 in ten countries.

North American and European tours

In mid-January 1979, Ulvaeus and Fältskog announced they were getting divorced. The news caused a massive interest from the media, and led to speculation about the band's future. ABBA assured the press and their fanbase they were continuing their work as a group, and that the divorce would not affect them.[29] Nonetheless, the media continued to confront them with this in interviews.

The group's sixth album, Voulez-Vous, was released in April 1979, the title track of which was recorded at the famous Criteria Studios in Miami, U.S. with the assistance, among others, of recording engineer Tom Dowd. The album topped the charts across Europe and in Japan and Mexico, hit the Top 10 in Canada and Australia and the Top 20 in the US. None of the singles from the album reached #1 on the UK charts, but "Chiquitita", "Does Your Mother Know", "Angeleyes" and "Voulez-Vous" all charted no lower than #4. "I Have a Dream" was the exception, when the single reached #2 in UK and #1 on Eurochart Hot 100 singles. In Canada, "I Have a Dream" became ABBA's second #1 on the RPM Adult Contemporary chart, after "Fernando" hit the top previously. Later that year, the group released their second compilation album, Greatest Hits Vol. 2, which featured a brand new track: "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)", another number 3 hit in both, the UK and Germany. In Russia during the late 1970s, they were paid in oil commodities because of an embargo on the ruble. On 13 September 1979, ABBA began their first (and only) North American Tour at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, Canada, with a full house of 14,000. During the next four weeks, they played a total of seventeen sold-out dates, thirteen in the U.S. and four in Canada. The last scheduled ABBA concert on U.S. soil, in Washington, DC, was canceled due to Agnetha Fältskog's emotional distress suffered during the flight from New York to Boston, when the private plane the group was on was subjected to extreme weather conditions and was unable to land for an extended period, appearing on the Boston Music Hall stage for the performance ninety minutes late. The tour ended with a show in Toronto, Canada at Maple Leaf Gardens before a capacity crowd of 18,000. The shows also generated the same type of complaints that were expressed during the group's 1977 tour: many fans regarded ABBA as more of a studio group than a live band. On 19 October 1979, the tour resumed in Western Europe where the band played 23 sold-out gigs, including an unprecedented six sold-out nights at London's Wembley Arena.

Progression

In March 1980, ABBA traveled to Japan where upon their arrival at Narita International Airport, they were besieged by thousands of fans. The group played eleven concerts to full houses, including six shows at Tokyo's Budokan. This tour was the last "on the road" adventure of their career. The same year saw the release of ABBA's seventh album Super Trouper, which reflected a certain change in ABBA's style with more prominent use of synthesisers and increasingly more personal lyrics. It set a record for the most pre-orders ever received for a UK album after one million copies were ordered before release. Anticipation for the album had been built up by "The Winner Takes It All", the group's eighth UK chart topper (and their first since 1978). In the US, the single reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and became ABBA's second Billboard Adult Contemporary #1. The song was allegedly written about Ulvaeus and Fältskog's marital tribulations. The next single from the album, "Super Trouper", also hit #1 in the UK as well as in Germany, becoming the group's ninth and final UK chart-topper. Another track from Super Trouper, "Lay All Your Love on Me", released in 1981 as a 12-inch single only in selected territories, managed to top the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart and peaked at #7 on the UK singles chart becoming at the time the highest ever charting 12-inch release in UK chart history.

Also in 1980, ABBA recorded a compilation of Spanish-language versions of their hits called Gracias Por La Música. It was released in Spanish-speaking countries as well as Japan and Australia. The album became a major success, and along with the Spanish version of "Chiquitita", this signaled the group's breakthrough in Latin America
A little known fact about ABBA is that at the height of their stardom they became the first and only band ever to be given official political and military protection from the United Nations Security Council.
[edit]Final album and performances (1981–1982)

In January 1981, Ulvaeus married Lena Källersjö, and manager Stig Anderson celebrated his 50th birthday with a huge party. For this occasion, ABBA recorded the track 'Hovas Vittne' (a pun on the Swedish word for Jehovah's Witness) as a tribute to him, and released it only on 200 red vinyl copies, to be distributed to the guests attending the party. This single has become a most sought-after collectible. In mid-February 1981, Andersson and Lyngstad announced they were filing for divorce. Information surfaced that their marriage had been an uphill struggle for years, and Benny had already met another woman, Mona Nörklit, whom he married in November the same year.

Andersson and Ulvaeus had songwriting sessions during the first months of 1981, and recording sessions began in mid-March. At the end of April, the group recorded a TV special, Dick Cavett meets ABBA with the US talk show host Dick Cavett. The Visitors, ABBA's eighth and final studio album, showed a songwriting maturity and depth of feeling distinctly lacking from their earlier recordings but still placing the band squarely in the pop genre, with catchy tunes and harmonies. Although not revealed at the time of its release, the album's title track, according to Ulvaeus, refers to the secret meetings held against the approval of totalitarian governments in Soviet-dominated states, while other tracks address topics like failed relationships, the threat of war, aging, loss of innocence, and a parent watching a child grow up. This change of content lead to the release of the album "The Visitors" including the UK #3 single "One of Us", also the last of ABBA's nine number 1 singles in Germany in December 1981.

Although it topped the album charts across most of Europe, including the UK and Germany, The Visitors was not as commercially successful as its predecessors, showing at a commercial decline in previous loyal markets such as France, Australia or Japan. A track from The Visitors, "When All Is Said and Done", was released as a single in North America, Australia and New Zealand, and fittingly became ABBA's final Top 40 hit in the US, while reaching #4 on the RPM Adult Contemporary chart in Canada. The song's lyrics, as with "The Winner Takes It All" and "One of Us", dealt with the painful experience of splitting up from a long-term partner, though it looked at it more optimistically. With the now publicized story of Andersson and Lyngstad's divorce, speculation increased of tension within the band. Also released in the US was the title track of The Visitors, which hit the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.

Last recording sessions

The cover of The Singles: The First Ten Years.
In the spring of 1982, songwriting sessions had started and the group came together for more recordings. Plans were not completely clear, but a new album was discussed and the prospect of a small tour suggested. The recording sessions in May and June were a struggle, and only three songs were eventually recorded: "You Owe Me One", "I Am the City", and "Just Like That". Andersson and Ulvaeus were not satisfied with the outcome, so the tapes were shelved and the group took a break for the summer.[31]
Back in the studio again in early August, the group had changed plans for the rest of the year: they settled for a Christmas release of a double album compilation of all their past single releases to be named The Singles: The First Ten Years. New songwriting and recording sessions took place,[32] and during October and November, they released the singles "The Day Before You Came"/"Cassandra" and "Under Attack"/"You Owe Me One", the A-sides of which were included on the compilation album. Neither single made the top 20 in the UK, though "The Day Before You Came" became a Top 5 hit in many European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. The album went to #1 in the UK and Belgium, Top 5 in the Netherlands and West Germany and Top 20 in many other countries.

"I Am the City" and "Just Like That" were left unreleased on The Singles: The First Ten Years for possible inclusion on the next projected studio album from ABBA, though this never came to fruition. "I Am the City" was eventually released as a bonus track on the compilation album More ABBA Gold in 1993, while "Just Like That" has been recycled in new songs with other artists produced by Andersson and Ulvaeus. A reworked version of the verses ended up in the musical Chess.[33] The chorus section of "Just Like That" was eventually released on a retrospective boxset in 1994. Despite numerous requests from fans, Ulvaeus and Andersson are still refusing to release ABBA's version of "Just Like That" in its entirety, even though the complete version surfaced on bootlegs.

The group travelled to London to promote The Singles: The First Ten Years in the first week of November 1982, appearing on Saturday Superstore and The Late, Late Breakfast Show, and also to West Germany in the second week, to perform on Show Express. On 19 November 1982, ABBA appeared for the last time in Sweden on the TV programme Nöjesmaskinen, and on 11 December 1982, they made their last performance ever, transmitted to the UK on Noel Edmonds' The Late, Late Breakfast Show, via a live link from a TV studio in Stockholm.

Last performances

Andersson and Ulvaeus began collaborating with Tim Rice in early 1983 on writing songs for the musical project Chess, while Fältskog and Lyngstad both concentrated on international solo careers. While Andersson and Ulvaeus were working on the musical, a further cooperation between three of them came with the musical Abbacadabra that was produced in France for television. It was a children's musical utilising 14 ABBA songs. Alain and Daniel Boublil, who wrote Les Misérables, had been in touch with Stig Anderson about the project, and the TV musical was aired over Christmas 1983 on the British channel ITV.

Lyngstad, who had recently moved to Paris, participated in the French version, and recorded a single, "Belle", a duet with French singer Daniel Balavoine. The song was a cover of ABBA's instrumental 1976 track "Arrival". As the single "Belle" sold well in France, Cameron Mackintosh wanted to stage an English language version of the show in London, with the French lyrics translated by David Wood and Don Black; Andersson and Ulvaeus got involved in the project, and contributed with one new song, "The Seeker". "Abbacadabra" premièred 8 December 1983 at The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in London, to mixed reviews and full houses for eight weeks, closing on 21 January 1984. Lyngstad was involved in this production as well, recording 'Belle' in English as "Time"; a duet with actor and singer B. A. Robertson: the single sold well, this time produced and recorded by Andersson and Ulvaeus.

All four members made their last public appearance, as four friends more than as ABBA, in January 1986, when they recorded a video of themselves performing an acoustic version of "Tivedshambo", which was the first song written by their manager, Stig Anderson, for a Swedish TV show honouring Anderson on his 55th birthday. The four had not seen each other for more than two years. That same year they also performed privately at another friend's 40th birthday: their old tour manager, Claes af Geijerstam. They sang a self-composed song titled "Der Kleine Franz" that later was to surface in Chess. The same year ABBA Live was released, featuring selections of live performances from the group's 1977 and 1979 tours. Their last appearance as a group was filmed privately by Anders Glenmark. They were guests on the 50th birthday of Görel Hanser in 1999. Hanser was a long-time friend of all four, and also former secretary of Stig Anderson. Honouring Görel, ABBA performed a Swedish birthday song "Med En Enkel Tulipan" a cappella.

Benny Andersson has on several occasions performed old ABBA songs. In June 1992, he and Björn Ulvaeus appeared with U2 at a Stockholm concert, singing the chorus of "Dancing Queen", and a few years later during the final performance of the B & B in Concert in Stockholm, Andersson joined the cast for an encore at the piano. Andersson frequently adds an ABBA song to the playlist when he performs with his BAO band. He also played the piano during new recordings of the ABBA songs "Like an Angel Passing Through My Room" with opera singer Anne Sofie von Otter, and "When All Is Said And Done" with Swede Viktoria Tolstoy. Andersson and Ulvaeus both did an a capella rendition of the first verse of "Fernando" as they accepted their Ivor Novello award in London in 2002. Frida Lyngstad performed and recorded an a cappella version of "Dancing Queen" with the Swedish group The Real Group in 1993, and has also re-recorded "I Have a Dream" with Swiss singer Dan Daniell in 2003.

Breaking up

ABBA has never officially announced the end of the group, but the group has long been considered dissolved. Their last public performance together as ABBA was on the British TV programme The Late, Late Breakfast Show (live from Stockholm) December 11, 1982. In January 1983, Agnetha started recording sessions for a solo album, as Frida had released her Something's Going On a year earlier to great success. Björn and Benny started songwriting sessions for the musical Chess—and ABBA was shelved in the meantime. In interviews, Björn and Benny denied the split of ABBA ("Who are we without our ladies? Initials of Brigitte Bardot?" ) and Frida and Agnetha kept claiming in interviews that ABBA would come together for a new album repeatedly during 1983 and 1984. Internal strife between the group and their manager escalated and the group sold their shares in Polar Music during 1983. With this, the foursome did not come together publicly until all four members were reunited at the Swedish premiere of Mamma Mia! on 4 July 2008. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, following the premiere, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson confirmed that there was nothing that could entice them back on stage again. "We will never appear on stage again", Ulvaeus said. "There is simply no motivation to re-group. Money is not a factor and we would like people to remember us as we were. Young, exuberant, full of energy and ambition. I remember Robert Plant saying Led Zeppelin were a cover band now because they cover all their own stuff. I think that hit the nail on the head."

After ABBA

Andersson and Ulvaeus

Main articles: Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson

Björn Ulvaeus at Gothenburg Book Fair 2007.
In October 1984, Ulvaeus and Andersson together with lyricist Tim Rice released the musical concept double album Chess. The singles "One Night in Bangkok" (with vocals by Murray Head) and "I Know Him So Well" (a duet by Barbara Dickson and Elaine Paige and later also recorded by both Barbra Streisand and Whitney Houston) were both huge successes. In May 1986, the musical premièred in the West End of London, and ran for almost three years. On Broadway it opened in April 1988, but closed within two months due to bad reviews. The musical has since been staged regularly on a smaller scale to great success, and even the concert version is popular[citation needed]. In Stockholm, the composers staged "Chess på svenska" ('Chess in Swedish') in 2003, with some new material including the musical numbers "Han är en man, han är ett barn" ("He's a man, he's a child") and "Glöm mig om du kan" ("Forget me if you can").
What is considered to be Andersson and Ulvaeus' masterpiece[citation needed], however, is Kristina från Duvemåla, an epic Swedish musical which the composers premiered in Malmö in southern Sweden in October 1995. It was directed for the stage by Lars Rudolfsson and based on the The Emigrants tetralogy by Swedish novelist Vilhelm Moberg. The musical ran for five years in Stockholm, and an English version has been in development for some considerable time. It has been reported that a Broadway production is in its earliest stages of pre-production.

Benny Andersson during a performance in Minnesota 2006.
Since 1983, besides Chess and Kristina från Duvemåla, Benny Andersson has continued writing songs with Björn Ulvaeus. The pair produced two English language pop albums with Swedish duo Gemini in 1985 and 1987. In 1987, Andersson also released his first solo album on his Mono Music, called "Klinga mina klockor" ("Ring my bells"), all new material inspired by Swedish folk music - -and followed it with his 2nd album titled November 1989. In the 1990s, Andersson wrote music for the popular Swedish cabaret quartet Ainbusk Singers, giving them two hits: "Lassie" and "Älska mig" ("Love me"), and later produced Shapes - an English language album by the group's Josefin Nilsson with all-new material by Andersson and Ulvaeus. Andersson has also regularly written music for films (most notably to Roy Andersson's Songs from the Second Floor). In 2001, Andersson put together his own band, BAO!, which has released three successful albums in 2001, 2004 and 2007. Andersson has the record of staying in the longest ever run in the Swedish Svensktoppen charts as of April 2007 (the song "Du är min man", "You're My Man", sung by Helen Sjöholm is still there, presently in its 249th week as of April 12th, 2009.[37] Andersson has released his third album BAO 3 October 2007 with new material with his band BAO! and vocalists Helen Sjöholm and Tommy Körberg, as well as playing to full houses at two of Sweden's largest concert venues in October and November 2007 with an audience of 14,000.
Björn Ulvaeus has not appeared on stage performing music since ABBA, but had a reunion with his co-members of The Hootenanny Singers on 16 July 2005 at a music festival in his hometown of Västervik, singing their 1966 hit "Marianne".
Andersson and Ulvaeus are highly involved in the worldwide productions of the musical Mamma Mia!, alongside Lyngstad who attends premieres. They were also involved in the production of the successful film version of the musical, which opened in July 2008. Andersson produced the soundtrack utilising many of the musicians ABBA used on their albums and tours. Andersson made a cameo appearance in the movie as a 'fisherman' piano player in the 'Dancing Queen' scene, while Ulvaeus is seen as a Greek god playing harp during the closing credits.
Andersson and Ulvaeus are continuously composing new material; most recently the two wrote a song for Swedish singer Sissela Kyle for her Stockholm stage show "Your Days Are Numbered", titled "Jag vill bli gammal" ("I Wanna Grow Old"); last year they wrote "Han som har vunnit allt" ("He Who's Won It All") for actor/singer Anders Ekborg and "I Walk With You Mama" and "After the Rain" for opera singer Anne Sofie Von Otter for her Andersson tribute album "I Let The Music Speak".
[edit]Fältskog and Lyngstad

Main articles: Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Both female members of ABBA pursued solo careers on the international scene following the break-up of the band. In 1982, Lyngstad chose Genesis drummer and singer Phil Collins to produce the album Something's Going On and unveiled the hit single and video " I Know There's Something Going On" in autumn of that year. The single became a #1 hit in France, where it spent five weeks at the top, Belgium, Switzerland and Costa Rica. The track reached #3 in Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Poland, and was also a Top 10 hit in Germany, Italy, South Africa and Finland. In the United States, the single reached #13. In all, "I Know There's Something Going On" sold 3.5 million copies worldwide and is the biggest selling single any of the four members have had outside ABBA. Lyngstad's album sold 1.5 million copies internationally.[38] Sveriges Television, documented this historical event, by filming the whole recording process. The result became a one-hour TV documentary, including interviews with Frida, Phil, Björn, and Benny as well as all the musicians. This documentary and the promotion videos from the album are included in Frida - The DVD.

Frida's second solo album after ABBA was the experimental Shine, produced by Steve Lillywhite. "Shine" was recorded in Paris and released in 1984. "Shine" reached the Top 10 on the album charts in Sweden, Norway and Belgium and the Top 20 in the Netherlands. The leadsingle was the title track "Shine". This album was Frida's final studio album release for twelve years. The promotion videos and clips for "Shine" are included in Frida - The DVD.

Agnetha Fältskog followed in 1983 with the album Wrap Your Arms Around Me. This included the hit single "The Heat Is On", which was a hit in Europe and Scandinavia. In the US, Fältskog scored a Billboard Top 30 hit with "Can't Shake Loose". In Europe, the single "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" was another successful hit, topping the charts in Belgium and Denmark, reaching the Top 5 in Sweden and the Netherlands and the Top 20 in Germany and France. Her album sold 1.2 million copies worldwide.[39]
Fältskog's second post-ABBA solo album was Eyes of a Woman, released in March 1985, which reached #2 in Sweden and performed reasonably well in Europe. The first single from the album was "I Won't Let You Go". In November 1987, Fältskog released her third post-ABBA solo album, the Peter Cetera-produced I Stand Alone, (which also included the Billboard hit "I Wasn't The One (Who Said Goodbye)". The album sold very well in Sweden, where it spent eight weeks at #1. Later that year, however, Fältskog withdrew from public life and halted her music career for a while. In 1996, she released her autobiography, As I Am, and a compilation album featuring her solo hits alongside some ABBA classics. In 2004, she made a successful comeback, releasing the critically acclaimed album My Colouring Book, which debuted at #1 in Sweden (achieving triple-platinum status), #6 in Germany, and #12 in the UK, winning a silver award, and achieving gold status in Finland. The single "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" became Fältskog's biggest solo hit in the UK, reaching the #11 position. The single saw the #2 spot in Sweden and was a hit throughout Scandinavia and Europe. In January 2007, she sang a live duet on stage with Swedish singer Tommy Körberg at the after party for the final showing of the musical, Mamma Mia!, in Stockholm, at which Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus were also present.
In 1992 Frida was asked and chosen to be the chairperson for the environmental organisation "Artister för miljön" (Artists for the Environment) in Sweden. Frida accepted and became chairwoman for this organisation from 1992 to 1995. To mark her interests for the environment, she recorded the Julian Lennon song Saltwater and performed it live in Stockholm. She arranged and financed summer camps for poor children in Sweden, focusing on environmental and ecological issues. Her environmental work for this organisation led up to the decision to record again. Djupa andetag (Deep Breaths) was released towards the end of 1996 and became a huge success in Sweden, where it reached #1 and Scandinavia. The lyrics for the single from this album, "Även en blomma" (Even a Flower), deal with environmental issues.In 2004, Lyngstad recorded a song called "The Sun Will Shine Again", written especially for her and released with former Deep Purple member Jon Lord. The couple made several TV performances with this song in Germany. Lyngstad lives a low-profile life but occasionally appears at a party or charity function. On 26 August 1992, she married Prince Heinrich Ruzzo Reuss von Plauen, of the German Reuss family. Von Plauen died of lymphoma at the age of 49. In addition to losing her husband, Lyngstad had also lost her daughter in a car crash a year earlier.

On November 15, 2005, due to Anni-Frid Lyngstad's 60th birthday, Universal released the Frida Box Set, consisting of the solo albums she recorded for the Polar Label. Included is also the 3 1/2 hour documentary Frida - The DVD. On this DVD, which covers Lyngstad's entire singing career, the viewer is guided by Frida herself through the years. From her TV debut in Sweden 1967 to the TV performances she made in Germany 2004, singing "The Sun Will Shine Again" together with Jon Lord of rock group Deep Purple. Many rare clips are included in the set and each performance is explained by Lyngstad herself. The interview with Lyngstad was filmed in the Swiss Alps, summer 2005.

Revival

The same year the members of ABBA went their separate ways, the French production of a 'tribute' show; a children's TV musical named Abbacadabra, using 14 of ABBA's songs, spawned new interest in the group's music. The London staging of the musical had stars such as Elaine Paige and Finola Hughes singing new lyrics to the old ABBA hits.

After receiving little attention during the mid 1980s, ABBA's music experienced a resurgence in the early 1990s due in part to the Australian tribute act Björn Again, and the UK synth-pop duo Erasure who released an EP featuring cover versions of ABBA's songs which topped the charts in the spring of 1992. As U2 arrived in Stockholm for a concert in June of that year, the band paid homage to ABBA by inviting Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson to join them on stage for a rendition of "Dancing Queen", playing guitar and keyboards. September 1992 saw the release of ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits, a new compilation album, which became a massive worldwide seller. The album became the most popular ABBA release ever, selling more than twenty-six million copies to date and setting chart longevity records.

The enormous interest in the Gold compilation saw the release of More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits in 1993. This collection also contained the bonus track "I Am the City", one of the unreleased songs from the 1982 recording sessions.
In 1994 two Australian movies caught the attention of the world's media, both focussing on admiration for ABBA: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Muriel's Wedding. The same year, Thank You for the Music, a four-disc box set comprising all the group's hits and stand-out album tracks, was released with the involvement of all four members. For this release, several demo versions and odd tracks were discovered in the Polar vaults.

ABBA were soon recognised and embraced by other acts: Evan Dando of The Lemonheads recorded a cover version of "Knowing Me, Knowing You",[40] Sinéad O'Connor and Boyzone's Stephen Gately have recorded "Chiquitita", Tanita Tikaram, and Blancmange paid tribute to "The Day Before You Came", Cliff Richard covered "Lay All Your Love On Me", while Dionne Warwick and Peter Cetera recorded their versions of "SOS". U.S. alternative-rock musician Marshall Crenshaw has also been known to play a version of "Knowing Me, Knowing You" in concert appearances, while English Latin pop songwriter Richard Daniel Roman has recognized ABBA as a major influence. Swedish metal guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen covered "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" with slightly altered lyrics. Tribute albums were released both in Sweden and the UK.
In Sweden, the growing recognition of the legacy of Andersson and Ulvaeus resulted in the 1998 B & B Concerts: a tribute concert (with Swedish singers who had worked with the composers through the years) showcasing not only their ABBA years, but even hits from the 1960s and after ABBA. The concert was a huge success, released on CD, and later toured Scandinavia and even went to Beijing in the People's Republic of China for two concerts. In 1999, Sweden saw the birth of ABBA Teens, later re-named A*Teens, recording techno-pop versions of ABBA songs to huge success worldwide: not only the English original versions, but ABBA's Spanish versions also.
In April 1999, the Mamma Mia! musical opened in London, and soon premièred in cities worldwide to huge success.

In 2000, ABBA were reported to have turned down an offer of approximately US$1,000,000,000 (one billion US dollars) to do a reunion tour consisting of 100 concerts.[41] However, this information is widely considered an urban legend, whereas the actual amount was near 1 billion Swedish Kronor (140 million US dollars). Thomas Johansson, director of the concert arranger EMA-Telstar and manager of ABBA explains "That is a kind of urban tale where people has mixed together different pieces of information. But it is true that we have been offered breathtaking sums for a reunited ABBA."

For the 2004 semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, staged in Istanbul thirty years after ABBA had won the contest in Brighton, all four members of ABBA appeared briefly in a special comedy video made for the interval act, entitled "Our Last Video Ever". Each of the four members of the group made a brief cameo role, as did others such as Cher and Rik Mayall. The video was not included in the official DVD release of the Eurovision Contest, but was issued as a separate DVD release, retitled "The Last Video" at the request of the former ABBA members. Although it was billed as the first time the four had worked together since the group split, each member was filmed separately.

In 2005 all four members of ABBA appeared at the Stockholm premiere of the musical Mamma Mia.

With Mamma Mia!'s huge success worldwide, and the 2008 film starring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan, there is a huge interest in ABBA's music. However, in a November 2004 interview with the German magazine Bunte, Ulvaeus said a reunion would not satisfy ABBA's many fans, even though there are legions of them around the world often clamouring for one.

In 2008 all four ABBA members were reunited at the Swedish premiere of the film Mamma Mia! on 4 July. It was only the second time all of them had appeared together in public since 1986.[44] During the appearance, they re-emphasized that they intended never to officially reunite, citing the opinion of Robert Plant that the re-formed Led Zeppelin was more like a cover band of itself than the original band. Ulvaeus stated that he wanted the band to be remembered as they were during the peak years of their success.

Posing together with the actors from the motion picture Mamma Mia! The Movie on July 4, 2008, are the original ABBA members. Far left, Benny Andersson. Fifth from left, Agnetha Fältskog ("Anna"), with her hand on Anni-Frid Lyngstad's ("Frida") shoulder. Second from right, Björn Ulvaeus.

The compilation album ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits, originally released in 1992, returned to number one in the UK album charts for the fifth time on August 3, 2008.[46] On August 14, 2008, the Mamma Mia! The Movie film soundtrack went to number 1 on the USA Billboard Charts. While ABBA were together, the highest album chart position they ever achieved in America was No. 14. The year 2008 was the first time an "ABBA" album went to the top of the American record charts.

In 2008 the Swedish band The Airwaves recorded an ABBA tribute song "Hey You, Ring Me Tonight". The song is written by Clive Jones, who is a member of an English band Black Widow. Most recently all eight studio albums, together with a ninth of rare tracks, have been released as ABBA The Albums. Amazingly, it has hit several charts, peaking at #4 in Sweden and reaching the top 10 in several other European territories. UK release was Monday, November 24.

In 2008, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, in collabaration with Universal Music Group Sweden AB, released SingStar ABBA on both PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 video game systems as part of the SingStar music video games. The game features 20 ABBA songs on PS2 and 25 on PS3, most of them #1 hits. The game was released worldwide and as a stand-alone game.

On January 22, 2009, Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad surprisingly showed up together to receive the Swedish music award "Rockbjörnen" (for "lifetime achievement") and gave an open-hearted interview onstage; the two wanted to express gratitude for the honorary award and to thank their fans. They also commented with concern on the old rumour that the two weren't friends.
[edit]Fashion, videos, advertising campaigns

ABBA were widely noted for the colourful and trend-setting costumes its members wore. The videos that accompanied some of their biggest hits are often cited as being among the earliest examples of the genre. Most of ABBA's videos (and ABBA: The Movie) were directed by Lasse Hallström, who would later direct the films My Life as a Dog, The Cider House Rules and Chocolat.

ABBA made videos because their songs were hits in many different countries and personal appearances were not always possible. This was also done in an effort to minimize traveling, particularly to countries that would have required extremely long flights. Fältskog and Ulvaeus had two young children and Fältskog, who was also afraid of flying, was very reluctant to leave her children for such a long time. ABBA's manager, Stig Anderson, realized the potential of showing a simple video clip on television to publicize a single or album, thereby allowing easier and quicker exposure than a concert tour. Some of these videos became classics because of the 1970s-era costumes and early video effects, such as the grouping of the band members in different combinations of pairs, overlapping one singer's profile with the other's full face, and the contrasting of one member against another. The director somehow managed to produce the videos with acts that seem to be integrated with the music.
In 1976, ABBA participated in a high-profile advertising campaign by the Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., which was designed to promote the brand "National". This campaign was designed initially for Australia, where "National" was still the primary brand used by Matsushita, who had not introduced the "Panasonic" brand to Australia yet despite its widespread use in other parts of the world such as the United States. However, the campaign was also aired in Japan. Five commercials, each approximately one minute long, were produced, each using the "National Song" sung by ABBA, which used the melody and instrumental arrangement of Fernando, adapted with new lyrics promoting National, and working in several slogans used by National in their advertising.

In 2008, United States Senator John McCain wanted to use the group's music in his 2008 presidential campaign but opted against it, citing licensing and other concerns.

Source: ABBA (Wikipedia)

Playing for change - Chanda Mama

2009-04-27T03:08:00.000-07:00

Christian the lion loves John Rendal and Ace Bourke

2009-04-27T01:19:00.000-07:00

Christian the lion

In 1969, John Rendall and Ace Berg (Ace Bourke) saw a lion cub for sale in Harrods. Cramped and lonely in a small cage, they decided to bring it home. A local vicar allowed them to exercise the cub, now name Christian, in the church grounds but he very quickly became too big for their flat. The only thing they could do was to try and reintroduce him to Africa, which they managed to do. A year later, they wanted to visit him but were told that he was now the head of his own pride and as such was completely wild and would not remember them. Undaunted, they went anyway. After many hours of looking for the pride, this is what happened when they finally found the wild lion.

That you got to see yourself in the video. It is almost unbelieveable. They and Christian the lion hugged and kissed. It is almost like the meeting of long lost humans. Who says lions (in particular and animals in general) have no feelings. You can see by watching the video the they (the lion, John Rendall and Ace Bourke) loved each other intimately. Christian the lion even introduced them (Rendall and Ace) to his wife!

Love knows no limits and true friendships last a lifetime. Get back in touch with someone today. You will be glad you did.

Beatles - All my loving

2009-04-26T01:22:00.000-07:00

Video of the Beatles singing "All my loving"

Lyrics for the song "All my loving" by the Beatles

Close your eyes and I'll kiss you,
Tomorrow I'll miss you;
Remember I'll always be true.
And then while I'm away,
I'll write home ev'ry day,
And I'll send all my loving to you.

I'll pretend That I'm kissing
the lips I am missing
And hope that my dreams will come true.
And then while I'm away,
I'll write home ev'ry day,
And I'll send all my loving to you.

All my loving I will send to you.
All my loving, darling I'll be true.

Close your eyes and I'll kiss you,
Tomorrow I'll miss you:
Remember I'll always be true.
And then while I'm away,
I'll write home ev'ry day,
And I'll send all my loving to you

All my loving I will send to you.
All my loving darling I'll be True.
All my loving All my loving ooh
All my loving I will send to you

Beatles - Please Mr. Postman

2009-04-26T01:16:00.000-07:00

Video of the Beatles singing "Please Mr. Postman

Lyrics for the song "Please Mr. Postman" by the Beatles

Wait, oh yes wait a minute mister postman
Wait, wait mister postman

Mister postman look and see
You got a letter in your bag for me
I been waiting such a long time
Since I heard from that girl of mine

There must be some word today
From my girlfriend so far away
Please mister postman look and see
If there's a letter, a letter for me
I been standing here waiting mister postman
So patiently
For just a card or just a letter
Saying she's returning home to me

So many days you passed me by
See the tear standing in my eye
You didn't stop to make me feel better
By leaving me a card or a letter

You gotta wait a minute, wait a minute
You gotta wait a minute, wait a minute
You gotta wait a minute, wait a minute
You gotta check it and see, one more time for me

Wait
Wait
Wait
Deliver the letter, the sooner the better

Beatles - Ticket to ride

2009-04-26T01:12:00.000-07:00

Video of the Beatles singing "Ticket to ride"

Lyrics for the song "Ticket to ride" by the Beatles

I think I'm gonna be sad,
I think it's today, yeah.
The girl that's driving me mad
Is going away.

She's got a ticket to ride,
She's got a ticket to ride,
She's got a ticket to ride,
But she don't care.

She said that living with me
Was bringing her down yeah.
She would never be free
When I was around.

She's got a ticket to ride,
She's got a ticket to ride,
She's got a ticket to ride,
But she don't care.

I don't know why she's ridin' so high,
She ought to think twice,
She ought to do right by me.
Before she gets to saying goodbye,
She ought to think twice,
She ought to do right by me.

I think I'm gonna be sad,
I think it's today yeah.
The girl that's driving me mad
Is going away, yeah.

She's got a ticket to ride,
She's got a ticket to ride,
She's got a ticket to ride,
But she don't care.

I don't know why she's ridin' so high,
She ought to think twice,
She ought to do right by me.
Before she gets to saying goodbye,
She ought to think twice,
She ought to do right by me
.
She heard that living with me,
Was bringing her down, yeah.
She would never be free
When I was around.

Ah, she's got a ticket to ride,
She's got a ticket to ride,
She's got a ticket to ride,
But she don't care.

My baby don't care, my baby don't care.
My baby don't care, my baby don't care.
My baby don't care.

Beatles - I wanna hold your hands

2009-04-26T01:09:00.001-07:00

Video of the Beatles singing "I wanna hold your hands"

Lyrics for the song "I wanna hold your hands" by the Beatles

Oh yeah, I´ll tell you something
I think you´ll understand
When I say that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand

Oh, please, say to me
You´ll let me be your man
and please, say to me

You´ll let me hold your hand
Now let me hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand

And when I touch you i feel happy, inside
It´s such a feeling
That my love
I can't hide
I can't hide
I can't hide

Yeah you, got that something
I think you´ll understand
When I say that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand

And when I touch you I feel happy, inside
It´s such a feeling
That my love
I can't hide
I can't hide
I can't hide

Yeah you, got that something
I think you´ll understand
When I feel that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand.

Beatles - Can't buy me love

2009-04-26T01:03:00.000-07:00

Video of the Beatles singing "Can't buy me love"

Lyrics of "Can't buy me love" by the Beatles

Can't buy me love, love
Can't buy me love

I'll buy you a diamond ring my friend if it makes you feel alright
I'll get you anything my friend if it makes you feel alright
'Cause I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love

I'll give you all I got to give if you say you love me too
I may not have a lot to give but what I got I'll give to you
I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love

Can't buy me love, everybody tells me so
Can't buy me love, no no no, no

Say you don't need no diamond ring and I'll be satisfied
Tell me that you want the kind of thing that money just can't buy
I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love

Beatles - A hard day's night

2009-04-26T00:53:00.000-07:00

Video of the Beatles singing "Hard day's night"

"A Hard Day's Night" is a song by English rock band The Beatles. Written by John Lennon, with help from Paul McCartney,[1] and credited to Lennon/McCartney; it was released on the movie soundtrack of the same name in 1964. It was later released as a single, with "I Should Have Known Better" as its B-side.

The song featured prominently on the soundtrack to The Beatles' first feature film, A Hard Day's Night, and was on their album of the same name. The song topped the charts in both the United Kingdom and United States when it was released as a single. Featuring a prominent and unique opening chord, the song's success demonstrated that The Beatles were not a one-hit wonder in the United States.
The American and British singles of "A Hard Day's Night" as well as both the American and British albums of the same title all held the top position in their respective charts for a couple of weeks in August 1964, the first time any artist had done this.

Title

The song's title originated from something said by Ringo Starr, the Beatles' drummer. Starr described it this way in an interview with disc jockey Dave Hull in 1964: "We went to do a job, and we'd worked all day and we happened to work all night. I came up still thinking it was day I suppose, and I said, 'It's been a hard day... and I looked around and saw it was dark so I said, '...night!' So we came to 'A Hard Day's Night.'

Starr's statement was the inspiration for the title of the movie, which in turn inspired the composition of the song. According to John Lennon in a 1980 interview with Playboy magazine: "I was going home in the car and Dick Lester [director of the movie] suggested the title, 'Hard Day's Night' from something Ringo had said. I had used it in In His Own Write [a book Lennon was writing then], but it was an off-the-cuff remark by Ringo. You know, one of those malapropisms. A Ringo-ism, where he said it not to be funny... just said it. So Dick Lester said, 'We are going to use that title.'"

In a 1994 interview for The Beatles Anthology, however, Paul McCartney disagreed with Lennon's recollections, basically stating that it was the Beatles, and not Lester, who had come up with the idea of using Starr's verbal misstep: "The title was Ringo's. We'd almost finished making the film, and this fun bit arrived that we'd not known about before, which was naming the film. So we were sitting around at Twickenham studios having a little brain-storming session... and we said, 'Well, there was something Ringo said the other day.' Ringo would do these little malapropisms, he would say things slightly wrong, like people do, but his were always wonderful, very lyrical... they were sort of magic even though he was just getting it wrong. And he said after a concert, 'Phew, it's been a hard day's night.'"

In 1996, yet another version of events cropped up; in an Associated Press report, the producer of the film A Hard Day's Night, Walter Shenson, stated that Lennon described to Shenson some of Starr's funnier gaffes, including "a hard day's night," whereupon Shenson immediately decided that that was going to be the title of the movie (the originally planned title was Beatlemania[6]). Shenson then told Lennon that he needed a theme song for the film.

Production

Regardless of who decided on the title, Lennon immediately made up his mind that he would compose the movie's title track.[8] He dashed off the song in one night, and brought it in for comments the following morning (the original manuscript lyrics may be seen in the British Library, scribbled in ballpoint on the back of an old birthday card). As he described in his 1980 Playboy interview, "...the next morning I brought in the song... 'cuz there was a little competition between Paul and I as to who got the A-side — who got the hits. If you notice, in the early days the majority of singles, in the movies and everything, were mine... in the early period I'm dominating the group.... The reason Paul sang on A Hard Day's Night (in the bridge) is because I couldn't reach the notes."[4]
In the Associated Press report, Shenson described his recollection of what happened. At 8:30 in the morning, "There were John and Paul with guitars at the ready and all the lyrics scribbled on matchbook covers. They played it and the next night recorded it." Shenson declared, "It had the right beat and the arrangement was brilliant. These guys were geniuses."

On 16 April 1964, the Beatles gathered at Studio 2 of the Abbey Road Studios and recorded "A Hard Day's Night". It took them less than three hours to polish the song for its final release, eventually selecting the ninth take as the one to be released.

Release and Reception

"A Hard Day's Night" was first released to the United States, coming out on 13 June 1964 on the album A Hard Day's Night, the soundtrack to the film, and released by United Artists. The album was a hit, selling over two million copies.

"A Hard Day's Night" was the first Beatles single released in the UK not to use a pronoun in its title. On all of their previous British singles ("Love Me Do," "Please Please Me," "From Me to You." "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," and "Can't Buy Me Love"), the group had intentionally relied on the use of a pronoun to make a song "very direct and personal," so that, according to McCartney, "people can identify...with it."

The United Kingdom first heard "A Hard Day's Night" when it was released there on 10 July 1964, both on the album A Hard Day's Night, and as a single, backed with "Things We Said Today" on the B-side. Both the album and single were released by Parlophone Records. The album proceeded to sell 1.5 million copies within a fortnight of its release. The single began charting on 18 July 1964, a week later ousting the Rolling Stones' "It's All Over Now" from the top spot on the British charts on 25 July 1964, coincidentally the day when both the American and British albums too hit the peak of their respective charts. The single stayed on top for three weeks, and lasted another nine weeks in the charts afterwards.

America first saw the single of "A Hard Day's Night" on 13 July 1964, featuring "I Should Have Known Better" on the B-side, and released by Capitol Records. Capitol had been in a quandary about cashing in on the success of the movie A Hard Day's Night, as United Artists held the publishing rights for the soundtrack (thus owning the rights to release the album of the same title). However, there was nothing preventing Capitol from releasing the songs in other forms, leading to six out of the seven songs from the movie's soundtrack coming out on singles.

The American single began its 13-week chart run on five days after release, and on 1 August started a two-week long run at the top, setting a new record—nobody before had ever held the number one position on both the album and singles charts in the United Kingdom and the United States at the same time. The Beatles were the first to do so, and continued to be the only ones who had done this until 1970 when Simon and Garfunkel achieved the same feat with their album Bridge Over Troubled Water and its title track. "A Hard Day's Night" went on to sell one million copies in America within just over five weeks.

After the Beatles had performed on The Ed Sullivan Show when they first came to America in early 1964, some American critics had dismissed them as one-hit wonders. "A Hard Day's Night" proved them wrong, as it only strengthened The Beatles' dominance of the world music scene in 1964. They would continue to feature prominently for the next six years until their disbanding in 1970.

In 1965, "A Hard Day's Night" won the Beatles the Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Vocal Group. In 2004, this song was ranked number 153 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Source: Wikipedia

Boney M - Rasputin

2009-04-25T11:08:00.000-07:00

Video of Boney M singing "Rasputin"

Karaoke video for the song "Rasputin" by Boney M with lyrics and clips from the movie

Lyrics for the song "Rasputin" by Boney M

There lived a certain man in Russia long ago
He was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow
Most people looked at him with terror and with fear
But to Moscow chicks he was such a lovely dear

He could preach the Bible like a preacher
Full of ecstacy and fire
But he also was the kind of teacher
Women would desire

Ra Ra Rasputin, Lover of the Russian Queen
There was a cat that really was gone
Ra Ra Rasputin, Russia greatest love machine
It was a shame how he

He ruled the Russian land and never mind the Czar
But the Kasachok he danced really wunderbar
In all affairs of state he was the man to please
But he was real great when he had a girl to squeeze

For the queen he was no wheeler dealer
Though she'd heard the things he'd done
He believed he was a holy healer
Who would heal her son

Ra Ra Rasputin, Lover of the Russian Queen
There was a cat that really was gone
Ra Ra Rasputin, Russia greatest love machine
It was a shame how he

But when his drinking and lusting and his hunger
for power became known to more and more people
The demands to do something about this outrageous
man became louder and louder

"This man's just got to go" declared his enemies
But the ladies begged "Don't you try to do it please"
No doubt this Rasputin had lots of hidden charms
Though he was a brute they just fell into his arms

Then one night some men of higher standing
Set a trap they're not to blame
"Come to visit us" they kept demanding
And he really came

Ra Ra Rasputin, lover of the Russian queen
They put some poison into his wine
Ra Ra Rasputin, Russia's greatest love machine
He drank it all and he said "I feel fine"

Ra Ra Rasputin, Lover of the Russian queen
They didn't quit, they wanted his head
Ra Ra Rasputin, Russia's greatest love machine
And so they shot him till he was dead

Johnny Cash - I walk the line

2009-04-25T08:11:00.000-07:00

Video of Johnny Cash singing the song "I walk the line"

Lyrics for the song "I walk the line" by Johnny Cash

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep my eyes wide open all the time
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
Because you're mine, I walk the line

I find it very, very easy to be true
I find myself alone when each day is through
Yes, I'll admit that I'm a fool for you
Because you're mine, I walk the line

As sure as night is dark and day is light
I keep you on my mind both day and night
And happiness I've known proves that it's right
Because you're mine, I walk the line

You've got a way to keep me on your side
You give me cause for love that I can't hide
For you I know I'd even try to turn the tide
Because you're mine, I walk the line

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep my eyes wide open all the time
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
Because you're mine, I walk the line.

Simon and Garfunkel - April come she will

2009-04-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

Video of Simon and Garfunkel singing "April come she will"

Lyrics for the song "April come she will" by Simon and Garfunkel

April come she will
When streams are ripe and swelled with rain;
May, she will stay,
Resting in my arms again.

June, she'll change her tune,
In restless walks she'll prowl the night;
July, she will fly
And give no warning to her flight.

August, die she must,
The autumn winds blow chilly and cold;
September I'll remember
A love once new has now grown old.

Simon and Garfunkel - I am a rock

2009-04-25T06:18:00.000-07:00

Video of Simon and Garfunkel singing "I am a rock" with lyrics

Lyrics for the song "I am a rock" by Simon and Garfunkel

A winter's day
In a deep and dark December
I am alone
Gazing from my windows
to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow
I am a rock
I am an island

I've built walls
A fortress, deep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need for friendship
Friendship causes pain
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain
I am a rock
I am an island

Don't talk of love
But I've heard the word before
It's sleeping in my memory
I won't disturb the slumber
of feelings that have died
If I never loved, I never would have cried
I am a rock
I am an island

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb
I touch no one, and no one touches me
I am a rock
I am an island

And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries

Spice Girls - If you wanna be my lover (Wannabe)

2009-04-25T06:13:00.000-07:00

Video of the Spice Girls singing "If you wanna be my lover

Lyrics for the song "If you wanna be my lover (Wannabe)" by the Spice Girls

Yo, I'll tell you what I want,what I really really want,
So tell me what you want, what you really really want,
I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want,
So tell mewhat you want, what you really really want,
I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really
really really wanna zigazig ah
If you want my future forget my past,
If you wanna get with me better make it fast,
Now don't go wasting my precious time,
Get your act together we could be just fine

I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want,
So tell me what you want, what you really really want,
Iwanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really
really really wanna zigazig ah

If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends,
Make it last forever friendship never ends,
If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give,
Taking is too easy, but that's the way it is

What do you think about that now you know how I feel,
Say you can handle my love are you for real,
I won't be hasty, I'll give you a try
If youreally bug me then I'll say goodbye

Yo I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want,
So tell me what you want, what you really really want,
I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really
really really wanna zigazig ah

If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends,
Make it last forever friendship never ends,
If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give,
Taking is too easy, but that's the way itis

So here's a story from A to Z, you wanna get with me
you gotta listen carefully,
We got Em in the place who likes it in your face,
we got G like MC who likes it on an
Easy V doesn't come for free, she's a real lady,
and as for me you'll see,
Slam your body down and wind it all around
Slam your body down and wind it all around

If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends,
Make it last forever friendship never ends,
If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give,
Taking is too easy, but that's the way it is

If you wanna be my lover, you gotta, you gotta, you gotta,
you gotta, you gotta, slam, slam,slam, slam
Slam your body down and wind it all around
Slam your bodydown and wind it all around
Slam your body down and wind it all around
Slam your body down zigazig ah
If you wanna be my lover

Spice Girls - Viva forever

2009-04-25T06:10:00.000-07:00

Video of the Spice Girls singing "Viva forever"

Lyrics for the song "Viva forever" by the Spice Girls

Do you still remember how we used to be
Feeling together believe in whatever
My love has said to me
Both of us were dreamers Young love in the sun
Felt like my saviour My spirit I gave you
We'd only just begun
Hasta Manana Always be mine
Viva Forever I'll be waiting
Everlasting Like the sun
Live Forever for the moment
Ever searching for the world
Yes I still remember every whispered word
The touch of your skin, giving life from within
Like a love song that I've heard
Slipping through our fingers, like the sands of time
Promises made, every memory saved
Has reflections in my mind
Hasta Manana, always be mine
Viva Forever, I'll be waiting
Everlasting, Like the sun
Live Forever, For the moment
Ever searching, for the world
But we're all alone, was it just a dream
Feelings untold, They will never be sold
And the secrets safe with me
Hasta Manana, always be mine
Viva Forever, I'll be waiting
Everlasting, Like the sun
Live Forever, for the moment
Ever searching, for the world

Akon - Right Now (Na Na Na) with lyrics

2009-04-25T05:48:00.001-07:00

Video of Akon singing "Right now (na na na)"

Lyrics for the song "Right now (na na na)"

It's been so long
that I haven't seen your face
I'm Tryna be strong
But the strength I have is washing away
it wont be long before i get you by my side
And just hold you, tease you, squeeze you
Tell you what's been on my mind

I wanna make up right now na na
I wanna make up right now na na
Wish we never broke up right now na na
we need to link up right now na na

I wanna make up right now na na
I wanna make up right now na na
Wish we never broke up right now na na
we need to link up right now na na

Girl I know mistakes were made between us two
And we show our selfs that night even said somethings weren't true
why'd you go and haven't seen my girl since then
why can't it be the way it was
cause you were my homie lover and friend

I wanna make up right now na na
I wanna make up right now na na
Wish we never broke up right now na na
we need to link up right now na na

I wanna make up right now na na
I wanna make love right now na na
Wish we never broke up right now na na
we need to link up right now na na

I can't lie
I miss you much
Watching everyday that goes by
I miss you much
Till i get you back I'm gonna Cry
Yes I miss you much
You are the apple of my eye
Girl I miss you much
I miss you much

I can't lie
I miss you much
Watching everyday that goes by
I miss you much
Tell I get you back I'm gonna Cry
Yes I miss you much
Yes you are the apple of my eye
Girl I miss you much
I miss you much

I wanna make up right now na na
I wanna make up right now na na
Wish we never broke up right now na na
we need to link up right now na na

I wanna make up right now na na
I wanna make up right now na na
Wish we never broke up right now na na
we need to link up right now na na

I want you to fly with me
want you to fly
I miss how you lie with me
miss how you lie
Just wish you could dine with me
wish you could dine
One that would grind with me
One that would grind

I want you to fly with me
want you to fly
I miss how you lie with me
Ohh miss how you lie
Just wish you could dine with me
wish you could dine
One that would grind with me
Ohh One that would grind

I wanna make up right now na na
I wanna make up right now na na
Wish we never broke up right now na na
we need to link up right now na na

I wanna make up right now na na
I wanna make up right now na na
Wish we never broke up right now na na
we need to link up right now na na

Akon - Right Now (Na Na Na) with lyrics

Akon Right now nanana
Akon Right now nanana
Akon Right now nanana
Akon Right now nanana
Akon Right now nanana
Akon Right now nanana

ABBA - Lay all your love on me

2009-04-25T05:41:00.001-07:00

Video of ABBA singing "Lay all your love on me"

Lyrics for the song "Lay all your love on me" by ABBA

I wasnt jealous before we met
Now every woman I see is a potential threat
And Im possessive, it isnt nice
Youve heard me saying that smoking was my only vice
But now it isnt true
Now everything is new
And all Ive learned has overturned
I beg of you......

Dont go wasting your emotion
Lay all your love on me

It was like shooting a sitting duck
A little smalltalk, a smile and baby I was stuck
I still dont know what youve done with me
A grown-up woman should never fall so easily
I feel a kind of fear
When I dont have you near
Unsatisfied, I skip my pride
I beg you dear......

Dont go wasting your emotion
Lay all your love on me
Dont go sharing your devotion
Lay all your love on me

Ive had a few little love affairs
They didnt last very long and theyve been pretty scarce
I used to think that was sensible
It makes the truth even more incomprehensible
cause everything is new
And everything is you
And all Ive learned has overturned
What can I do......

Dont go wasting your emotion
Lay all your love on me
Dont go sharing your devotion
Lay all your love on me

Spice Girls - Stop

2009-04-25T05:35:00.000-07:00

Video of the Spice Girls singing "Stop"

Lyrics for the song "Stop" by the Spice Girls

You just walk in I make you smile
It's cool but you don't even know me
You take an inch I run a mile
Can't win you're always right behind me.

And we know that you could go and find some other
Take or leave it or just don't even bother.
Caught in a craze it's just a phase
or will this be around forever.

Don't you know it's going to fast
Racing so hard you know it won't last.
Don't you know what can't you see,
Slow it sown, read the sign so you know just where you're going.

Stop right now, thank you very much,
I need somebody with the human touch,
Hey you always on the run,
Gotta slow if down baby, gotta have some fun,
Do do ... always be together,
Ba da ... stay that way forever.

And we know that you could go and find some other, Take or leave it 'cause we've always got each other.
You know who you are and yes, you're gonna breakdown,
You're crossed the line so you're gonna have to turn around.

Don't you know it's going to fast,
racing so hard you know it won't last,
Don't you know, what can't you see,
Slow it sown, read the sign so you know just where you're going.

Stop right now, thank you very much,
I need somebody with the human touch,
Hey you always on the run,
Gotta slow it down baby, gotta have some fun.

Gotta keep it down honey, lay your back on the line
'Cause I don't care about the money,
Don't be wasting my time,
You need less speed, get off my case,
You gotta slow it down baby, just get out of my face.

Stop right now, thank you very much,
I need somebody with the human touch,
Hey you always on the run,
Gotta slow it down baby, gotta have some fun.

Stop right now, thank you very much,
I need somebody with the human touch,
Hey you always on the run,
Gotta slow it down baby, gotta have some fun.

Stop right now, (Stop right now) thank you very much,(We wanna thank
you)
I need somebody with (wanna thank you) the human touch, (Stop right
now)
Hey you always on the run,
Gotta (Thank you very much) slow it down baby, gotta have some fun
(thank you very much).

ABBA - Andante, Andante

2009-04-25T05:10:00.000-07:00

Video of ABBA singing "Andante Andante"

Lyrics of the song "Andante, Andante" by ABBA

Take it easy with me, please
Touch me gently like a summer evening breeze
Take your time, make it slow
Andante, Andante
Just let the feeling grow

Make your fingers soft and light
Let your body be the velvet of the night
Touch my soul, you know how
Andante, Andante
Go slowly with me now

I'm your music
(I am your music and I am your song)
I'm your song
(I am your music and I am your song)
Play me time and time again and make me strong
(Play me again 'cause you're making me strong)
Make me sing, make me sound
(You make me sing and you make me...)
Andante, Andante
Tread lightly on my ground
Andante, Andante
Oh please don't let me down

There's a shimmer in your eyes
Like the feeling of a thousand butterflies
Please don't talk, go on, play
Andante, Andante
And let me float away

I'm your music
(I am your music and I am your song)
I'm your song
(I am your music and I am your song)
Play me time and time again and make me strong
(Play me again 'cause you're making me strong)
Make me sing, make me sound
(You make me sing and you make me...)
Andante, Andante
Tread lightly on my ground
Andante, Andante
Oh please don't let me down

Make me sing, make me sound
(You make me sing and you make me...)
Andante, Andante
Tread lightly on my ground
Andante, Andante
Oh please don't let me down
Andante, Andante
Oh please don't let me down...

Boney M - Ma Baker

2009-04-25T04:05:00.000-07:00

Video of Boney M singing "Ma Baker

Lyrics for the song "Ma Baker" by Boney M

This is the story of Ma Baker
the the meanest cat
In old chicago town.

She was the meanest cat
In old chicago town
She was the meanest cat
She really moved them down
She had no heart at all
No no no heart at all

She was the meanest cat
Oh she was really tough
She left her husband flat
He wasn't tough enough
She took her boys along
cos they were mean and strong

Ma ma ma ma - ma baker - she taught her four sons
Ma ma ma ma - ma baker - to handle their guns
Ma ma ma ma - ma baker - she never could cry
Ma ma ma ma - ma baker - but she knew how to die

They left a trail of crime
Across the u.s.a.
And when one boy was killed
She really made them pay
She had no heart at all
No no no heart at all

Ma ma ma ma - ma baker - she taught her four sons
Ma ma ma ma - ma baker - to handle their guns
Ma ma ma ma - ma baker - she never could cry
Ma ma ma ma - ma baker - but she knew how to die

Spice Girls - Oxygen

2009-04-25T04:02:00.000-07:00

Video of the Spice Girls singing "Oxygen"

Lyrics for the song "Oxygen" by the Spice Girls

There will come a time
I know I'm gonna need
Someone I can trust, someone who'll fight for me
That's the way I love

This is my time to work things out
What I want from this life
There will be someone out there for me
That's the way I love

It doesn't really matter whoever you are
Don't matter where you go
Just make sure you're there to answer when love comes around
Don't be surprised when love knocks at your door
You're the breath that I take
You're the smile on my face
Every time I breath in
Brings me warmth from within
When you touch me I start believing
Loving is like oxygen
Even when we're so far apart
I still feel you in my heart
Cos you've given me the greatest gift of all
That's the way I love
The way I love is easy, but could it ever be for me?
This situation seems so insane
It's all about feeling without insecurities
That's the way I love
It doesn't really matter who ever you are
Don't matter where you go
Just make sure you're there to answer when love comes around
Don't be surprised when love knocks at your door
You're the breath that I take
You're the smile on my face
Every time I breath in
Brings me warmth from within
When you touch me I start believing
Loving is like oxygen
(You're in every breath I take)
Imagine a life without love
I'd be so afraid (so afraid)
Cos the love that we share
Would be hard to replace
Baby hold me and never leave me
This love is my oxygen
This love is my oxygen
Open your heart
Take a deep breath
Stop searching and start believing
Make sure you're there to answer when love comes around
Don't be surprised when true love knocks at your door
You're the breath that I take
You're the smile on my face
Every time I breath in
Brings me warmth from within
When you touch me I start believing
Loving is like oxygen
(You're in every breath I take)
Imagine a life without love
I'd be so afraid
Cos the love that we share
Would be hard to replace
Baby hold me and never leave me
This love is my oxygen
This love is my oxygen

Boney M - Sunny

2009-04-25T03:59:00.000-07:00

Video of Boney M singing "Sunny"

Lyrics for the song "Sunny" by Boney M

Sunny
Yesterday my life was filled with rain
Sunny
You smiled at me and really eased the pain

The dark days are gone, and the bright days are here
My sunny one shines so sincere

Sunny one so true
I love you

Sunny
(Yeah )
Thank you for the sunshine bouquet
(That sweet bouquet)
Sunny
Thank you for the love you brought my way

You gave to me your all and all
Now I feel ten feet tall

Sunny one so true
I love you

Sunny
Thank you for the truth you let me see
Sunny
Thank you for the facts from A to Z

My life was torn like a windblown sand
And the rock was formed when you held my hand

Sunny one so true
I love you
Sunny

Ooh ooh
(Yeah)

Sunny
Thank you for the smile upon your face
Sunny
And thank you for the gleam that shows this grace

You're my part of nature's fire
You're my sweet complete desire

Sunny one so true
I love you
(Yeah eh eh)

I love you
(Yeah, baby)
I love you
(Sunny)
(Eh hey hey)
(Sunny)
I love you
(Eh eh eh ah eh)
I love you

Spice Girls - If you wanna have some fun

2009-04-25T03:58:00.000-07:00

Video of the Spice Girls singing "If you wanna have some fun"

Lyrics for the song "If you Wanna Have some fun" by the Spice Girls

At the party after the show
I see your face I wanna get to know
WInk wink
Nudge nudge
tell me do you like the rude stuff
Show me how ya gonna make your move
Boy you know you got a lot to prove
Wink wink
nudge nudge
Are you mad enough

Why don't you tell me how you are wrong
And if you open I'll blow your mind
I'll take you places you never been
Before...........
Ooh sugar ha

[CHORUS]
If you wanna have some fun
Track me down and get my number
You could be the one
Something on in my mind
If you wanna have some fun
Track me down and get my number
You could be the one
Something on in my mind

Now you standing real close to me
I fell your heat you wanna get with me
wink wink
nudge nudge
Tell me do you like the rude stuff
Love the feeling wanna make it rise
Babe I'm gonna keep it up all night
wink wink
nudge nudge
Are you mad enough
Why don't you tell me how you are wrong
And if you open I'll blow your mind
I'll take you places you've never been
Before..........

[CHORUS]

wink wink
nudge nudge
tell me do you like the rude stuff

wink wink
nudge nudge
Are you mad enough

Why don't you tell me how you are wrong
And if you open I'll blow your mind yeah
I'll take you places you've never been
Before...........
If you
want to
have some fun
Something on in my mind
If you want to have some fun
Something on in my mind (Have some fun)

BONEY M. - Mary´s Boychild - Merry christmas to all

2009-04-25T01:04:00.000-07:00

Video of Boney M singing "Mary's Boychild"

Lyrics for the song "Mary's Boychild" by Boney M

Mary's boy child Jesus Christ, was born on Christmas Day.
And man will live for evermore, because of Christmas Day.

Long time ago in Bethlehem, so the Holy Bible said,
Mary's boy child Jesus Christ, was born on Christmas Day.

Hark, now hear the angels sing, a king was born today,
And man will live for evermore, because of Christmas Day.
Mary's boy child Jesus Christ, was born on Christmas Day.

While shepherds watch their flocks by night,
they see a bright new shining star,
they hear a choir sing a song, the music seemed to come from afar.

Hark, now hear the angels sing, a king was born today,
And man will live for evermore, because of Christmas Day.

For a moment the world was aglow, all the bells rang out
there were tears of joy and laughter, people shouted
"let everyone know, there is hope for all to find peace".

Now Joseph and his wife, Mary, came to Bethlehem that night,
they found no place to bear her child, not a single room was in sight.

And then they found a little nook in a stable all forlorn,
and in a manger cold and dark, Mary's little boy was born.

Hark, now hear the angels sing, a king was born today,
And man will live for evermore, because of Christmas Day.
Mary's boy child Jesus Christ, was born on Christmas Day.

Oh a moment still worth was a glow, all the bells rang out
there were tears of joy and laughter, people shouted
"let everyone know, there is hope for all to find peace".

Boney M - Daddy cool

2009-04-25T01:01:00.000-07:00

Karaoke Video of Boney M singing "Daddy cool" with lyrics

Lyrics for the song "Daddy cool" by Boney M

She's crazy like a fool
What about daddy cool
She's crazy like a fool
What about daddy cool

I'm crazy like a fool
What about it daddy cool
Daddy daddy cool
Daddy daddy cool

She's crazy like a fool
What about daddy cool
I'm crazy like a fool
What about daddy cool

Daddy daddy cool
Daddy daddy cool
Daddy daddy cool
Daddy daddy cool

She's crazy about her daddy
Oh she believes in him
She loves her daddy
.......

She's crazy like a fool
What about daddy cool
I'm crazy like a fool
What about daddy cool

Daddy daddy cool
Daddy daddy cool
Daddy daddy cool
Daddy daddy cool

Boney M - Rivers of Babylon

2009-04-25T00:48:00.000-07:00

Video of Boney M singing the song "By the Rivers of Babylon"

Lyrics for the song "By the rivers of Babylon" by Boney M

By the rivers of babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered zion.
By the rivers of babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered zion.

When the wicked
Carried us away in captivity
Required from us a song
Now how shall we sing the lords song in a strange land

When the wicked
Carried us away in captivity
Requiering of us a song
Now how shall we sing the lords song in a strange land

Let the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart
Be acceptable in thy sight here tonight
Let the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts
Be acceptable in thy sight here tonight

By the rivers of babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered zion.
By the rivers of babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered zion.

By the rivers of babylon (dark tears of babylon)
There we sat down (you got to sing a song)
Ye-eah we wept, (sing a song of love)
When we remember zion. (yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah)

By the rivers of babylon (rough bits of babylon)
There we sat down (you hear the people cry)
Ye-eah we wept, (they need their God)
When we remember zion. (ooh, have the power)

Boney M - One way ticket

2009-04-25T00:40:00.000-07:00

Video of Boney M singing "One way ticket"

Lyrics for the song "One way ticket" by Boney M

One way ticket, one way ticket
One way ticket, one way ticket
One way ticket, one way ticket to the blues.

Choo choo train
Tuckin' down the track
Gotta travel on it
Never comin' back
Ooh, ooh got a one way ticket to the blues.

Bye my love, my babe is leavin' me
Now, only tear drops are all that I could see.

Ooh, ooh
Got a one way ticket to the blues

Gotta take a trip to lonesome town
Gonna stay at heartbreak hotel.
A fool such as I such as I
Will never, I cry my tears away.

One way ticket, one way ticket
One way ticket, one way ticket
One way ticket, one way ticket to the blues.

Choo choo train
Tuckin' down the track
Gotta travel on it
Never comin' back
Ooh, ooh got a one way ticket to the blues.

Gotta go on, gotta truck on
Got a one way ticket to the blues.

I gotta take a trip to lonesome town
Gonna stay at heartbreak hotel
Ooh, a fool such as I, such as I
Will never I cry my tears away.

One way ticket, one way ticket
One way ticket, one way ticket
One way ticket, one way ticket to the blues.

Choo choo train
Tuckin' down the track
Gotta travel on it
Never comin' back
Ooh, ooh got a one way ticket to the blues.
Ooh, ooh got a one way ticket to the blues.

Got my ticket...
One way, one way, one way ticke

Ricky Nelson - Someday You'll Want Me To Want You

2009-04-25T00:30:00.001-07:00

Video of Ricky Nelson singing "Someday You'll Want Me To Want You"

Ricky Nelson: Poor Little Fool

2009-04-25T00:22:00.000-07:00

Video of Ricky Nelson singing "Poor Little Fool"

"Poor Little Fool" is a pop/rock song written by Sharon Sheeley. It was based on her disappointment following a short-lived relationship with a member of a popular singing duo. The best-known version of the song was recorded by Ricky Nelson on April 17, 1958, and released on Imperial 5528. It holds the distinction of being the first song to hit number one on Billboard magazine's then newly-created Hot 100 chart, replacing the magazine's Top 100 and Best Sellers chart. The record also reached the Billboard top ten in Country and Rhythm and Blues.

"Poor Little Fool" became a radio hit when it was released as part of a four-song Extended Play 45 rpm disc, which was excerpted from the artist's second LP, Ricky Nelson. Responding to the buzz, Lew Chudd of Imperial Records rushed out a single version (on both 45 and 78 rpm). Nelson objected, however, believing that the move would hurt sales of the EP. Under his contract with Imperial, the singer had approval rights for all picture-sleeve art, and, to express his displeasure with Chudd's decision, he chose not to select a photograph for the "Poor Little Fool" single. As a result, "Poor Little Fool" was the only Imperial Ricky Nelson single to be issued in the United States without a photo in a plain label-cut-out sleeve.

Source: Poor little fool (Wikipedia)

Ricky Nelson - I Will Follow You

2009-04-25T00:16:00.000-07:00

Video of Ricky Nelson singing the song "I will follow you"

Lyrics for the song "I will follow you" by Ricky Nelson

I will follow you
Follow you wherever you may go
There isn't an ocean too deep
A mountain so high it can keep me away

I must follow you
Ever since you touched my hand I know
That near you I always must be
And nothing can keep you from me
You are my destiny

I love you, I love you, I love you
And where you go I'll follow, I'll follow, I'll follow
You'll always be my true love, my true love, my true love
From now until forever, forever, forever

I will follow you
Follow you wherever you may go
There isn't an ocean too deep
A mountain so high it can keep
Keep me away, away from my love

I love you, I love you, I love you
And where you go I'll follow, I'll follow, I'll follow
You'll always be my true love, my true love, my true love
From now until forever, forever, forever

I will follow you
Follow you wherever you may go
There isn't an ocean too deep
A mountain so high it can keep
Keep me away, away from my love

And where you go I'll follow

Teresa Teng - Kitagunino Haru　北国の春-2

2009-04-25T00:13:00.000-07:00

Video of Teresa Teng singing the Japanese song "Kitagunino Haru　北国の春-2"

Teresa Teng - Hoshikageno Waltz　星影のワルツ

2009-04-25T00:09:00.001-07:00

Video of Teresa Teng singing the Japanese song "Hoshikageno Waltz　星影のワルツ

Teresa Teng - Pusan Kouni Kaere　プサン港に帰れ

2009-04-25T00:05:00.000-07:00

Video of Teresa Teng singing the Japanese song "Pusan Kouni Kaere　プサン港に帰れ"

Teresa Teng - Hisame　氷雨

2009-04-25T00:02:00.000-07:00

Video of Teresa Teng singing the Japanese song - Hisame　氷雨

Teresa Teng - Ai No Hizashi

2009-04-24T23:56:00.001-07:00

Teresa Teng singing the Japanese song "Ai No Hizashi - 愛の陽差し～アモーレ･ミオ" (Amore Mio)

Teresa Teng - Tsugunai つぐない Love Compensation

2009-04-24T23:52:00.000-07:00

Video of Teresa Teng singing the Japanese song "Tsugunai - つぐない - Love Compensation" (abbreviated version)

Ricky Nelson - Travelin' Man

2009-04-24T22:22:00.000-07:00

Video of Ricky Nelson singing "Travelin' Man"

Lyrics for the song "Travelin' Man"

I'm a travelin' man
and I've made a lotta stops
all over the world
And in every port
I own the heart of at least one lovely girl

I've a pretty senorita
waitin' for me down in old Mexico
And if you're ever in Alaska
stop and see my cute little Eskimo

Oh my sweet fräulien
down in Berlin town
makes my heart start to yearn
And my China doll
down in old Hong Kong
waits for my return
Pretty Polynesian baby over the sea
I remember the night
When we walked in the sands of Waikiki
and I held you oh so tight

Oh, I'm a travelin' man
Yes, I'm a travelin' man
Yes, I'm a travelin' man
Woe, I'm a travelin' man

Ricky Nelson - Mary Lou

2009-04-24T22:18:00.000-07:00

Video of Ricky Nelson singing "Hello Mary Lou"

"Hello Mary Lou" is a song written by U.S. singer Gene Pitney and Cayet Mangiaracina and performed by Ricky Nelson in 1961. It reached #9 on the Billboard music charts on May 28, 1961, although the other side of the single, "Travelin' Man", hit #1. In the United Kingdom, where it was the unrivalled A-side, it hit #2, and it was a hit in much of Europe. The song features an influential guitar solo by James Burton, often cited by modern guitarists such as Brian May.

Source: Wikipedia

Patti Page - The Tennessee Waltz

2009-04-24T22:07:00.000-07:00

Video of Patti Page singing "The Tennessee Waltz"

Lyrics for the song "The Tennessee Waltz" by Patti Page

I was waltzing with my darlin' to the Tennesse waltz
when an old friend I happened to see.
I introduced him to my loved one,
and while they were waltzing
my friend stole my sweet-heart from me.

I remember the night and the Tennessee waltz.
Now I know just how much I have lost.
Yes I lost my little darlin' the night
they were playing the beautiful Tennessee waltz.

I was waltzing with my darlin' to the Tennesse waltz
when an old friend I happened to see.
I introduced him to my loved one,
and while they were waltzing
my friend stole my sweet-heart from me.

I remember the night and the Tennessee waltz.
Now I know just how much I have lost.
Yes I lost my little darlin' the night
they were playing the beautiful Tennessee waltz.

Teresa Teng - 舞伴涙影 (Changing Partners)

2009-04-24T21:59:00.000-07:00

Video of Teresa Teng (鄧麗君 Deng Li-Jun) singing 舞伴涙影, the Chinese version of Changing Partners with Mandarin lyrics in the video

Teresa Teng - "Toki No Nagare Ni Mi Wo Makase"

2009-04-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

Teresa Teng singing "Toki No Nagare Ni Mi Wo Makase" (I Only Care About You), the Japanese version of 我只在乎你.

Teresa Teng - Aijin (Lover) Japanese

2009-04-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

Teresa Teng (traditional Chinese: 鄧麗君; simplified Chinese: 邓丽君; pinyin: Dèng Lìjūn, , Japanese: テレサ・テン) sings in many languages including Indonesian and Japanese. She is very popular in Japan and one of the most popular is Aijin or Lover.

Boney M - Hooray Hooray (It's A Holi-holiday)

2009-04-24T16:34:00.000-07:00

Video of Boney M singing Hooray Hooray

Lyrics for the song "Hooray Hooray (It's A Holi-holiday)

Diggy di di doo diggy diggy di doo (hi dee hi dee ho)
Diggy di di doo diggy diggy di di (hi dee hi dee ho)
Diggy di di doo diggy diggy di di (hi dee hi dee ho)
Diggy di di doo diggy diggy di doo (hi dee hi dee ho)

Theres place I know where we should go (hi dee hi dee ho)
Wont you take me there, your lady fair (hi dee hi dee ho)
Theres a brook nearby, the grass grows high (hi dee hi dee ho)
Where we both can hide side by side (hi dee hi dee ho)

Hooray, hooray, its a holi-holiday
What a world of fun for everyone, holi-holiday
Hooray, hooray, its a holi-holiday
Sing a summer song, skip along, holi-holiday
Its a holi-holiday

Theres a country fair not far from there (hi dee hi dee ho)
On a carousels the ding-dong bell (hi dee hi dee ho)
On the loop-di-loop well swing and swoop (hi dee hi dee ho)
And what else well do is up to you (hi dee hi dee ho)

Hooray, hooray, its a holi-holiday
What a world of fun for everyone, holi-holiday
Hooray, hooray, its a holi-holiday
Sing a summer song, skip along, holi-holiday

Its a holi-holiday
Well, Im game, fun is the thing Im after
Now lets all live it up today, get set for love and laughter
Well, lets go, time isnt here for wasting
Life is so full of sweet sweet things, Id like to do some tasting

Hooray, hooray, its a holi-holiday
What a world of fun for everyone, holi-holiday
Hooray, hooray, its a holi-holiday
Sing a summer song, skip along, holi-holiday
Its a holi-holiday

On the country side well take a ride (hi dee hi dee ho)
Where the stars all shine and lots of time (hi dee hi dee ho)
Back of your old car we might get far (hi dee hi dee ho)
In the summer breeze we feel at ease (hi dee hi dee ho)
Hooray, hooray, its a holi-holiday

What a world of fun for everyone, holi-holiday
Hooray, hooray, its a holi-holiday
Sing a summer song, skip along, holi-holiday
Its a holi-holiday, its a holi-holiday

Boney M - Gotta Go Home

2009-04-24T16:30:00.000-07:00

Video of Boney M singing "Gotta go home"

Lyrics for the song "Gotta go home" by Boney M

Headin' for the islands
We're ready man and packed to go
When we hit those islands
There's gonna be a big hello
Diggin' all the sunshine
It's easy not to say goodbye
Bye Bye Bye

Headin' for the islands
Heyeah, We're really flyin' high
Gotta go home, home, home
Gotta go home, home, home
Gotta go home, home, home
Gotta go home, home, home
Gotta go home

Walkin' down the beaches
Tomorrow mornin' we'll be there
Golden sandy beaches
Say, I can smell the breezy air
One more celebration
And then we're ready for goodbye
Bye, Bye,Bye

Walkin' down the beaches
Heyeah, We're really flyin' high
Gotta go home, home, home
Gotta go home, home, home
Gotta go home, home, home
Gotta go home, home, home
Gotta go home
...
Going back home
Going back home
Going back home
Going back home
...
Gotta go home, home, home
Gotta go home, home, home
Gotta go home, home, home
Gotta go home, home, home
Gotta go home

Boney M - Malaika

2009-04-24T16:22:00.000-07:00

Video of Boney M singing the Swahili song "Malaika"

Lyrics of the Swahili song "Malaika" by Boney M

Malaika nakupenda malaika
malaika nakupenda malaika
na mimi nifanyeje ee
kijana mwenzio oo
nashindwa na mali sina ee
ningekuoa malaika
nashindwa na mali sina ee
ningekuo malaika
malaika nakupenda malaika
malaika nakupenda malaika
na mimi nifanye je
kijana mwenzio oo
nashindwa na mali sina wee
ningekuoa malaika
nashindwa na mali sina wee
ningekuoa malaika

Kidege nakuwaza kidege
kidege nakuwaza kidege
ningekuoa aa mama
ningekuoa dada
nashindwa mali sina wee
ningekuoa malaika
nashindwa na mali sina wee
ningekuoa malaika

Malaika nakupenda malaika
malaika nakupenda malaika
nami nifanyeje ee
kijana mwenzio oo
nashindwa na mali sina wee
ningekuoa malaika
nashindwa na mali sina wee
ningekuoa malaika

Pesa zasumbua roho yangu
pesa zasumbua roho yangu
ningekuoa aa dada
ningekuoa aa mama
nashindwa na mali sina wee
ningekuoa malaika
nashindwa na mali sina wee
ningekuoa malaika

Malaika nakupenda malaika
malaika nakupenda malaika

Patti Page - Mockin' Bird Hill

2009-04-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

"Mockin' Bird Hill" is a popular song. It was written by Vaughn Horton. The song was published in 1951. The song was popularized by Patti Page and by Les Paul and Mary Ford in 1951, and for both of them following on to their big hit of "The Tennessee Waltz" the previous year.

The Page recording, made on January 17, 1951, was issued by Mercury Records as catalog number 5595, and first reached the Billboard pop music chart on February 24, 1951, lasting 22 weeks and peaking at #2.

The Les Paul/Mary Ford recording was issued by Capitol Records as catalog number 1373, and also reached the Billboard top 10.

On the Cash Box best-selling record charts, where all recordings were combined, the song first entered the chart on March 3, 1951, reached #1 on April 21, 1951, and remained #1 through the May 12, 1951 chart. It came back to the #1 position on May 26.

Mockingbird Hill is also mentioned in The Clash song, Spanish Bombs.
The Migil Five sang a bluebeat tempo version of the song - a UK hit in 1964.
Donna Fargo took a country version to #9 on the Billboard Country Chart in 1977.
The Swedish comedian Povel Ramel wrote a Swedish-language version of the song called Småfoglarne (The little birds), which contained a large number of puns on birds' names. It was performed and recorded by Ramel and Martin Ljung.

Shakin' Stevens - Marie Marie

2009-04-21T06:47:00.000-07:00

Video of Shakin' Stevens singing "Marie Marie"

Lyrics for the song "Marie Marie" by Shakin' Stevens

Marie Marie,
Playing guitar on the back porch
I sit in my car,
While she sings so sad
Marie Marie

Marie Marie,
Its so lonely in these farmlands
Please come with me,
To the bright lights downtown
Marie Marie

I said, Hey, pretty girl,
Don't you understand
I just want to be your lovin man

Marie Marie,
The sun is down in the corn fields,
The evening is dark,
And you sing so sad
Marie Marie

(Instrumental)

Marie Marie,
Its so lonely in these farmlands
Please come with me,
To the bright lights downtown
Marie Marie

Marie Marie,
I got two weeks in back pay,
Theres gas in my car,
And your folks say I must go
Marie Marie

I said, Hey, pretty girl,
Dont you understand,
I just want to be your lovin man

Marie Marie
Playing guitar on the back porch,
I leave in my car,
While you sing so sad
Marie Marie

Shakin' Stevens - Because I love you

2009-04-21T06:42:00.000-07:00

Video of Shakin Stevens singing "Because I love you"

Lyrics for the song "Because I love you" by Shakin Stevens

If I got down on my knees and I pleaded with you,
If I crossed a million oceans just to be with you,
Would you ever let me down?
If I climbed the highest mountain just to hold you tight,
If I said that I would love you every single night,
Would you ever let me down?
Well, I'm sorry if it sounds kinds sad,
It's just that I'm worried,
So worried that you'll let me down.
Because I love you, love you, love you, so don't let me down.
If I swam the longest river just to call your name,
If I said the way I feel for you would never change,
Would you ever fool around?
Well, I'm sorry if it sounds kinds bad, it's just that I'm worried,
I'm so worried that you'll let me down.
Because I(love you, love you), love you, love you.
Well I'm sorry if it sounds kinds bad, it's just that I'm worried,
Yes, I'm so worried that you'll let me down.
Because I love you, love you,
Oooh, I love you, love you, love you.

Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine - Conga

2009-04-21T06:19:00.000-07:00

Video of Gloria Estefan singing the song "Conga"

Lyrics for the song "Conga" by Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine

Gloria Estefan - Conga (Lyrics)

Come on , shake your body baby, do the conga
I know you can't control yourself any longer
Come on , shake your body baby, do the conga
I know you can't control yourself any longer

Come on , shake your body baby, do the conga
I know you can't control yourself any longer
Feel the rhythm of the music getting stronger
Don't you fight it 'til you tried it, do that conga beat

Everbody gather 'round now
Let your body feel the heat
Don't you worry if you can't dance;
Let the music move your feet

It's the rhythm of the island, and like the sugar cane so sweet
If you want to do the conga, you've got to listen to the beat

Come on , shake your body baby, do the conga
I know you can't control yourself any longer
Feel the rhythm of the music getting stronger
Don't you fight it 'til you tried it, do that conga beat

Feel the fire of desire, as you dance the night away
'Cause tonight were gonna party, 'til we see the break of day

Better get yourself together, and hold on to what you've got
Once the music hits your system, there's no way your gonna stop

(repeat 2x's) Come on , shake your body baby, do the conga
I know you can't control yourself any longer
Feel the rhythm of the music getting stronger
Don't you fight it 'til you tried it, do that conga beat

Come on , shake your body baby, do the conga

Conga by Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine

"Conga" is the first single released by the American band Miami Sound Machine led by Gloria Estefan on their second English language album, and ninth overall, Primitive Love.

Song history

The single was released worldwide in 1985 (see 1985 in music) and became a smash success around the world, providing the band worldwide mainstream popularity, reaching #10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and winning the Grand Prize at the 15th annual "Tokyo Music Festival" in Japan.
The single was certified Gold by the RIAA in the U.S. for sales of 500,000 copies.[1].
"Conga" was re-recorded and mashed-up with "Dr. Beat" in a new re-mix in 2001, which was released on Estefan's third compilation album. This new song was released as a promo single in Spain and titled "Y-Tu-Conga"

Source: Wikipedia

Louis Armstrong - Hello Dolly

2009-04-21T03:25:00.000-07:00

Video of Louis Armstrong singing Hello Dolly

"Hello, Dolly!" is the title song of the popular 1964 musical of the same name. Louis Armstrong's version was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001.
The music and lyrics were written by Jerry Herman, who also wrote the scores for many other popular musicals including Mame and La Cage aux Folles.
Contents

History

"Hello, Dolly!" was first sung by Carol Channing, who starred as Dolly Gallagher Levi in the original 1964 Broadway cast. In December 1963, at the behest of his manager, Louis Armstrong made a demonstration recording of "Hello, Dolly!" for the song's publisher to use to promote the show.[1] Hello, Dolly! opened on January 16, 1964 at the St. James Theatre in New York City, and it quickly became a major success. The same month, Kapp Records released Armstrong's publishing demo as a commercial single.

The best-known recording is by Louis Armstrong, in 1964, which reached number-one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, ending The Beatles' streak of three number-one hits in a row (they also held the top three spots) and becoming the biggest hit of Armstrong's career, followed by a gold-selling album of the same name.[2] For the song Armstrong received a Grammy Award for "Best Vocal Performance, Male" in 1964. In 1965, it received a Grammy Award for "Best Song" (Jerry Herman (songwriter), performed by Louis Armstrong). The song also spent nine weeks atop the adult contemporary chart shortly after the opening the musical. Louis Armstrong also performed the song (together with Barbra Streisand) in the popular 1969 film Hello, Dolly!.

DBSK - "The way U" are video and lyrics

2009-04-18T21:38:00.000-07:00

Video of DBSK "The way U are" in 3 parts

The way U are Part 1

The way U are Part 2

The way U are Part 3

Lyrics of DBSK "The way U are" romanized version and English translation

romanized

JJ: chi shi wo bu xian xing yi jien zhong ching
zhi dao na yi ke wo men xiang yu

CM: yuan lai chu gai bien xian fa zhe yian jien dan
wo zheng jing sha sha ren shou gu dan

JS: ran wu fa si shien de shi ching guo chu
ran huei yi nen man man tuei chu

JJ: wo zhi nen han zhe yien lei
zan zhai wu jing huan shiang zhong chi dai
cang zhai ni xing le de ai
yi ding huei yuan yi biao da zhu lai (oh oh)

ALL: [chorus]
duei ni de ai hao ni de xian fa
er duo sheng dai de er huan he ti zhong dou yao zhi dao (no no)
ni de fang xiang yi ju yi dong
yi chie wo dou xiang zhi dao jou shi zhe yang
it’s about the way you are

YC: gu dan shi hou ren men dou suo ji muo
huei ren si nien de ri zhi liou guo

YH: dao shien zhai bu chu guan shing shi fou hai nen
jian ni zong ji yi zhi zhong muo chu

JS: zhi nen yien han zhe lei shuei
zan zhai we jing huan shiang zhong chi dai

CM: ni xing li zhe feng ai ching
hai si fou yuan yi biao da zhu lai (oh oh oh)

ALL: [chorus]
ALL: ni bie shuo ni bu shi huang
gei ni de gan jue yi ban
ni yi wu fan zhai duo shan
it’s about the way you are (repeat)

ALL: (oh) it’s about the…
(oh) it’s about the way you are

ALL: [chorus]
(repeat)

translation

JJ: Actually, I didn’t believe in love at first sight
Until that time when we met.

CM: I didn’t know it would be so easy to change my way of thinking;
I had been foolishly enduring loneliness.

JS: Let that impossible-to-forget incident pass,
Let the memory be able to slowly fade away.

JJ: I can only hold back the tears,
Standing in a hopeful state, wishing
That the hidden love in your heart
Will surely be willingly expressed.

ALL: [chorus]
That’s right, your favorites, your thoughts,
The earrings on your ears, and your weight, I want to know them all.
Where you’re going, every body movement,
I want to know everything; it’s just this way,
It’s about the way you are.

YC: When you’re lonely, people say that talking about it
Will let these times pass more quickly.

YH: Even now, if I don’t care about it, it’ll still be okay,
Letting you disappear from my memory.

JS: I can only keep my tears from falling,
Standing in a hopeful state, wishing.

CM: In your heart, this love,
Is there any way you’ll be willing to express it?

ALL: [chorus]
ALL: Don’t say that you don’t like it,
That the feeling I give you is nothing special,
Now you have no way to run nor hide,
It’s about the way you are. (repeat)

ALL: It’s about the…
It’s about the way you are.

ALL: [chorus]
(repeat)

Susan Boyle - I dreamed a dream

2009-04-15T18:16:00.000-07:00

Another of the American Idol typed of reality show, Britains' got Talent 2009 hit the headlines when Susan Boyle, a dowdy looking middle aged Scot took the stage to sing the song "I dreamed a dream". She may not be good looking but she has a beautiful voice and sure knows how to sing.

Video of Susan Boyle singing "I dreamed a dream" at "BritainS' got Talent 2009

All the videos of Susan Boyle singing "I dreamed a dream" at "BritainS' got Talent has been disabled. Watch her at Youtube

Lyrics for the song I dreamed a dream from Les Miserables sung by Susan Boyle

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.

Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used
And wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung
No wine untasted.

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
As they turn your dream to shame.

And still
I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms
We cannot weather...

I had a dream my life would be
So different form this hell I'm living
so different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed
The dream I dreamed.

Everly Brothers - Walk right back

2009-04-13T05:22:00.001-07:00

Video of the Everly Brothers singing the single hit song "Walk right back"

Walk Right Back is a song by Sonny Curtis that was recorded by The Everly Brothers, and went to #7 in the U.S. Billboard charts, and #1 in the UK charts. Originally it was the B-side, then it was changed to the a-side.
In 1978, the song was a country hit for Anne Murray.

Source: Walk right back (Wikipedia)

Tom Jones - It's not unusual

2009-04-13T05:16:00.000-07:00

Video of Tom Jones singing the song "It's not unusual"

"It's Not Unusual" is a song recorded by Tom Jones and written by Les Reed and Gordon Mills. It was the second Decca-single Jones released, and reached number one in the UK charts in 1965. It was also the first hit for Jones in the US, peaking at #10 in May of that year. The single was released in the US on the Parrot label and also reached #3 on Billboard's easy listening chart.
Backing musicians were The Ivy League with Clem Cattini on drums. Arranger was Les Reed. Guitar was provided by Joe Moretti

References in popular culture

The song was famously featured on the 1990s United States television sitcom series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as dancing music for Carlton Banks as he performed his so-called signature Carlton Dance. The song's recurring role on the program not only made many associate the song to the dance, but it also helped to introduce a new generation of people to the song and Tom Jones. Jones himself appeared in an episode of the series during a dream sequence as Carlton's guardian angel. Jones counsels Carlton on some of his neuroses and the two subsequently perform a duet version of the song that incorporates (and addresses) Carlton's concerns.

The song was also featured in an episode of The Simpsons entitled "Marge Gets A Job". Tom Jones is revealed to be Marge Simpson's favourite singer. Near the end of the episode, Jones is performing "It's Not Unusual" for Marge and Homer Simpson while chained to a bandshell by his foot.

It appears in two of film director Tim Burton's movies, first in Edward Scissorhands and then again in Mars Attacks!, in which Tom Jones has a cameo role.
The song was also played in one of the episodes of Will & Grace, "The HoneyMoon's Over", and in Part I of the Friends Vegas episode.
The song appears in the music video game Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol.
Jones performed the song on a British Television Show for ITV named Here Come The Boys, as the opening act.

Source: It's not unusual (Wikipedia)

Everly Brothers - Wake up little Suzie

2009-04-13T03:11:00.000-07:00

Video of the Everly Brothers singing the single hit song "Wake up little Susie"

"Wake Up Little Susie" is a popular song written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant and published in 1957.
The song is best known in a recording by The Everly Brothers, issued by Cadence Records as catalog number 1337. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Pop and Country charts and the Cash Box Best Selling Record charts, despite having been banned from Boston radio stations for lyrics that—at the time—were considered suggestive. [1] It got to #2 on the United Kingdom song charts. The song is ranked #311 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Among notable musical groups performing covers of the song are Simon and Garfunkel and the Grateful Dead. During Simon and Garfunkel's "Old Friends" tour in 2003-2004, they performed this song and others in a segment with the Everly Brothers, who toured in support. Simon and Garfunkel have cited the Everly Brothers as strong influences on their own music. The musical duo Evan and Jaron also recorded a version of the song on their album, "52 Sundays."

In an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show during the 2000 U.S. presidential election, Governor George W. Bush named "Wake Up Little Susie" as his favorite song, erroneously claiming it was by Buddy Holly. Holly never recorded the song.
In 2008 a part of the song was sung in the bluegrass version of The Raconteurs' Old Enough, featuring Ricky Skaggs and Ashley Monroe.

Song Premise

The song is written from the point of view of a high school boy to his girlfriend, Susie. In the song, the two go out on a date to a drive-in movie theater, only to fall asleep during the movie. They do not wake up until 4 o'clock in the morning, well after the 10 o'clock curfew. They then contemplate the reactions of her parents and their friends.
Although banned in such places as Boston, the song does not state that Susie and her boyfriend had sexual relations. Indeed, it strongly implies that they did not: the couple simply fell asleep because they were bored by the film.

Source: Wake up little Susie (Wikipedia)

Everly Brothers - Bye bye love

2009-04-13T03:08:00.000-07:00

Video of the Everly Brothers singing the single hit song "Bye bye love"

"Bye Bye Love" is a popular song written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant and published in 1957. It is best known in a debut recording by The Everly Brothers, issued by Cadence Records as catalog number 1315. The song reached #2 on the US Billboard Pop charts and #1 on the Cash Box Best Selling Record charts. Ray Charles included his version of the song on his 1962 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. The song is ranked #207 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Rory Blackwell and his Blackjacks recorded it the UK in 1957 issued by Parlophone/EMI
The Everly Brothers' version also enjoyed major success as a country song, reaching No. 1 in the spring of 1957. Its country success was concurrent with another country version recorded by Webb Pierce, at the time one of country music's top entertainers. Pierce's version reached No. 7 that summer.
The duo Simon & Garfunkel recorded it live for their 1970 Bridge Over Troubled Water album. A "goof" may be heard in the sixth line of the third refrain, where one or both singers begin singing "happiness" as in the second line of the refrain but correct themselves to sing "sweet caress." The listener hears something akin to "Bye bye ha-sweet caress."
George Harrison recorded this song for his 1974 album Dark Horse with slightly changed lyrics.
The song was featured in the film All That Jazz, sung by Ben Vereen and Roy Scheider, with some lyrics rewritten to fit that story. A cover of the song by the Scottish band The Proclaimers is heard in the film Bye Bye Love.
"Bye Bye Love" was also included in the Ditty Bops album "Moon Over The Freeway," published in 2006.
Trini Lopez included his version of the song on his On The Move album for Reprise Records.
A Swedish version with lyrics by Keith Almgren, also called "Bye Bye Love," was recorded by Sten & Stanley on the 1991 album Musik, Dans & Party 6

Source: Bye bye love (Wikipedia)

Everly Brothers - Unchained Melody

2009-04-13T03:03:00.000-07:00

Video of the Everly Brothers singing the single hit "Unchained Melody"

Lyrics for the song Unchained Melody by the Everly Brothers

Oh, my love
my darling
I've hungered for your touch
a long lonely time
and time goes by so slowly
and time can do so much
are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
Godspeed your love to me

Lonely rivers flow to the sea,
to the sea
to the open arms of the sea
lonely rivers sigh 'wait for me, wait for me'
I'll be coming home wait for me

Oh, my love
my darling
I've hungered for your touch
a long lonely time
and time goes by so slowly
and time can do so much
are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
Godspeed your love to me

Everly Brothers - Let it be me

2009-04-13T02:53:00.000-07:00

Video of the Everly Brothers singing the single hit "Let it be me"

"Let It Be Me" is the name of a song written by Gilbert Bécaud, Mann Curtis, and Pierre Delanoë. Originally a French song, a version with English lyrics was introduced by Jill Corey when she performed it on the TV series Climax! In 1957, Corey released her version, with orchestration by Jimmy Carroll, as a single and met with modest success.
Many other versions of the song have since been recorded:
In 1960, The Everly Brothers released their remake as a single. This version was extremely popular and became a top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number seven. The harmony arrangement of this version was often emulated in subsequent remakes.

Source: Let it be me (Wikipedia)