Happy Birthday BILL BERRY (video)

#billberry #rockfile

William Thomas "Bill" Berry (born July 31, 1958) is a retired American musician and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. In addition to his drumming duties, Berry played many other instruments including guitar, bass guitar, and piano, both for songwriting and on R.E.M. records. After 17 years with the band, Berry left the music industry to become a farmer, and has since maintained a low profile, making sporadic reunions with R.E.M. and appearing on other artists' records.

R.E.M. was formed in 1980. In addition to his duties as a drummer, Berry contributed occasional guitar, bass, mandolin, vocals, keyboards and piano on studio tracks. In concert, he sometimes performed on bass, and supplied regular backing vocals. Berry also made notable songwriting contributions, particularly for "Everybody Hurts" and "Man on the Moon", both from Automatic for the People. Other Berry songs included "Perfect Circle", "Driver 8", "Cant Get There from Here" and "I Took Your Name". The song "Leave" was also written by Berry for R.E.M.'s 1996 album New Adventures in Hi-Fi, which was his last album with the band.

Berry was also responsible for toning down the lyrics of the song "Welcome to the Occupation." Stipe's original lyric was "Hang your freedom fighters" which, given the Reagan administration's active support for the contra "freedom fighters" in Nicaragua, sounded very violent and militant, although Stipe himself countered that the line could be taken multiple ways ("hang" as in either "lynch" or "frame on a wall"). Berry's objection ultimately led the line to be changed to "hang your freedom higher."

During 1984 Berry also was drummer for the impromptu Hindu Love Gods, which featured his R.E.M. bandmates Mike Mills, Peter Buck, and rocker Warren Zevon, and also Bryan Cook.

In 1995, at the Patinoire Auditorium in Lausanne, Switzerland, Berry collapsed on stage during an R.E.M. show from a ruptured brain aneurysm. He recovered and rejoined the band, but left in October 1997, saying that he no longer had the drive or enjoyment level to be in the band, and that he wanted a career change, he explained on VH-1's Behind The Music:

I didn't wake up one day and decide, 'I just can't stand these guys anymore' or anything. I feel like I'm ready for a life change. I'm still young enough that I can do something else. I've been pounding the tubs since I was nine years old ... I'm ready to do something else.

Acquiescing to Berry's wishes, R.E.M. announced that it would continue as a three-piece outfit. They continued to tour with several accompanying musicians, including long-time sidemen Ken Stringfellow and Scott McCaughey and employed Joey Waronker and Bill Rieflin as live drummers.

Berry left the music business and became a farmer, working on his hay farm in Farmington, Georgia, near Athens.

His musical activities after leaving R.E.M. have been sporadic, but did include recording for the Tourette Syndrome Charity Album Welcome Companions in 2000. He is also an avid golfer.

Prior to the group's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Berry granted his first interview in several years, discussing life after retirement. "It's a great chance to get back together and perform with R.E.M., which I always loved doing," he said. "This opportunity also does not require me to climb onto [a] bus or plane to do it again and again for several consecutive months."

source: wikipedia

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Happy Birthday DANIEL ASH (video)

#danielash #rockfile

Daniel Gaston Ash (born 31 July 1957, in Northampton, England) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as the guitarist for the iconic goth rock band Bauhaus, which spawned two related bands led by Ash: Tones on Tail and Love and Rockets. He has also recorded several solo albums.

source: wikipedia

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Happy Birthday KATE BUSH (video)

#katebush #rockfile

Catherine "Kate" Bush, CBE (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer known for her eclectic musical style and her idiosyncratic soprano vocal performances.

In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single, "Wuthering Heights", becoming the first woman to have a UK number one with a self-written song. She has since released ten albums, three of which topped the UK Albums Chart. She has had 25 UK Top 40 hit singles, including the Top 10 hits "Wuthering Heights", "The Man with the Child in His Eyes", "Babooshka", "Running Up That Hill" (as well as its 2012 remix), "Don't Give Up" (a duet with Peter Gabriel) and "King of the Mountain".

Bush has been nominated 13 times for British Phonographic Industry accolades, and in 1987 she won a Brit Award for Best British Female Artist. During the course of her career, she has also been nominated for three Grammy Awards. In 2002, she was recognised with an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. She is the first British solo female artist to top the UK album charts and the first female artist ever to enter the album chart at Number 1. She is also the first (and to date only) female artist to have Top 5 albums in the UK charts in five successive decades. In August 2014, she became the first female performer to have eight albums in the Official UK Top 40 Albums Chart simultaneously, putting her at number three for simultaneous UK Top 40 albums (behind Elvis Presley with 12 albums in 1977, and The Beatles in 2009 with 11 albums); altogether she had 11 albums in the top 50.

Bush was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to music. She received the award from Queen Elizabeth II on 10 April 2013 at Windsor Castle.

source: wikipedia

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Happy Birthday ROBBIE ROBERTSON (video)

#robbierobertson #rockfile

Robbie Robertson, OC (born Jaime Royal Robertson; July 5, 1943) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist best known for his work as lead guitarist and primary songwriter within The Band. As a songwriter, Robertson is credited for such songs as "The Weight", "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", "Up On Cripple Creek", "Broken Arrow" and "Somewhere Down the Crazy River". He has been inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and was ranked 59th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

source: wikipedia

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Happy Birthday DEBORAH HARRY (video)

#deborahharry #rockfile

Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry (born July 1, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known as the lead singer of the new wave and punk rock band Blondie. She recorded several number one singles with Blondie and is sometimes considered the first rapper to chart at number one in the United States as well, due to her work on "Rapture". She has also had success as a solo artist, and in the mid-1990s she recorded and performed with The Jazz Passengers. Her acting career spans over thirty film roles and numerous television appearances.

Harry was born in Miami, Florida, and adopted by Catherine (Peters) and Richard Smith Harry, gift shop proprietors in Hawthorne, New Jersey. She attended Hawthorne High School, where she graduated in 1963. She graduated from Centenary College in Hackettstown, New Jersey, with an Associate of Arts degree in 1965. Before starting her singing career she moved to New York City in the late 1960s and worked as a secretary at BBC Radio's office there for one year. Later, she was a waitress at Max's Kansas City, a go-go dancer in a Union City, New Jersey, discothèque, and a Playboy Bunny.

In the late 1960s, Deborah Harry began her musical career as a backing singer for the folk rock group, The Wind in the Willows, which released one self-titled album in 1968 on Capitol Records. The group also recorded a second album, which was never released and the studio tapes remain lost.

In 1974, Harry joined The Stilettoes with Elda Gentile and Amanda Jones. Her eventual boyfriend and Blondie guitarist, Chris Stein, joined the band shortly after

After leaving The Stilettoes, Harry and Stein formed Angel and the Snake with Tish and Snooky Bellomo. Shortly thereafter, Harry and Stein formed Blondie, naming it after the term of address men often called her when she bleached her hair blonde. Blondie quickly became regulars at Max's Kansas City and CBGB in New York City. After a debut album in 1976, commercial success followed in the late 1970s to the early 1980s, first in Australia and Europe, then in the United States.

source: wikipedia

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Happy Birthday JOHN FARNHAM (video)

#johnfarnham #rockfile

John Peter Farnham AO (born 1 July 1949), (formerly billed as Johnny Farnham from his professional debut 1967 until 1980), is an English-born Australian pop singer. Farnham was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he temporarily replaced Glenn Shorrock as lead singer of Little River Band during 1982–1985. In September 1986 his solo single, "You're the Voice" peaked at No. 1 on the Australian singles charts. The associated album, Whispering Jack, held the No. 1 position for a total of 25 weeks, and is the highest-selling album in Australian history. Both the single and the album had Top Ten success internationally including No. 1 in Sweden.

Domestically he has remained one of Australia's best-known performers with a career spanning over 45 years, and he is the only Australian artist to have a number one record in five consecutive decades (echoing that of Cliff Richard in the UK) with singles: "Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)" in 1967, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" in 1969/1970, and "Age of Reason" in 1988; and albums: Age of Reason, Chain Reaction in 1990, Then Again... in 1993, Anthology 1: Greatest Hits 1986–1997 in 1997, 33⅓ in 2000 and The Last Time in 2002.

Farnham has been recognized by honors and awards including 1987 Australian of the Year, 1996 Officer of the Order of Australia, and 19 ARIA Awards including his 2003 induction into the Hall of Fame. From 1969 he was voted by TV Week readers as the 'King of Pop' for five consecutive years. Aside from his recording career, Farnham performed on stage with lead roles in Australian productions of Charlie Girl, Pippin and 1992's Jesus Christ Superstar. He starred in his own TV series and specials including It's Magic (With Colleen Hewett) and Bobby Dazzler and as a guest on numerous other popular shows such as Countdown and Hey Hey It's Saturday. Australian rock historian, Ian McFarlane described him as "the most successful solo artist in the history of Australian rock and pop ... Farnham has retained an affable sense of humor and a simple, unpretentious 'everyman' charm which also makes him one of the most respected celebrities in Australian entertainment history."

source: wikipedia

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Happy Birthday FRED SCHNEIDER (video)

#fredschneider #rockfile

Frederick William "Fred" Schneider III (born July 1, 1951) is an American vocalist, best known as the frontman of the rock band the B-52's, of which he is a founding member. Schneider is well known for his sprechgesang, which he developed from reciting poetry over guitars.

Aside from duties as the frontman of the B-52's, Fred Schneider has released two solo albums. He is currently working on a side project called the Superions. The group released a self-titled EP and the album Destination... Christmas! in 2010 and in February 2011 began working on a proper full-length album.

Fred Schneider & the Shake Society (1984 and 1991)

Just Fred (1996), which was produced by Steve Albini.

The Superions (2010)

Destination... Christmas! (2010)

Batbaby (2011)

"Konnichiwa" (2014)

source: wikipedia

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