Philip Bailey (born May 8, 1951) is an American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter, percussionist and actor, best known as one of the longtime members of the band Earth, Wind & Fire. Noted for his four-octave vocal range and distinctive falsetto register, Bailey has won seven Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as a member of Earth, Wind & Fire. Bailey was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame for his work with the band.
Bailey has released several solo albums. Chinese Wall from 1985, which received a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male, included the global hit, "Easy Lover", a duet with Phil Collins. "Easy Lover" won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Overall Performance in a Video in 1985 and was Grammy nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals.
Chris Frantz (born Charlton Christopher Frantz, May 8, 1951) is an American musician and record producer. He was the drummer for both Talking Heads and the Tom Tom Club.
1970s at the Rhode Island School of Design. They formed a band called the Artistics, which evolved over time into Talking Heads. Frantz also convinced his girlfriend Tina Weymouth to join the band as bass guitarist. They were married in 1977.
Members of the Compass Point All Stars family, Frantz and Weymouth formed the Tom Tom Club in 1980, which kept them busy during a fairly long hiatus in Talking Heads activity. Weymouth, Frantz, and Jerry Harrison reunited as The Heads for a one-off album called No Talking, Just Head in 1996, featuring a rotating cast of vocalists, including Debbie Harry.
He and Weymouth produced the Happy Mondays' 1992 album, Yes Please! and the Scottish group Angelfish's self-titled album. Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth recently contributed backing vocals and percussion for Damon Albarn's alternative rock virtual band, Gorillaz.
He is ranked number 12 in Stylus Magazine's list of the 50 greatest rock drummers.
He currently has a radio program on 89.5 WPKN out of Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Marty Willson-Piper (Born: May 7, 1958) is a guitarist and was a long-time member of Australian independent rock band The Church. While he was not a founding member of the band (he joined in 1980 after seeing an early gig where they were performing as a three-piece), he was regarded as an integral member for many years.
Willson-Piper travelled around the world as a street performer, before he arrived in Australia in his early twenties.
Following his arrival in Australia, Willson-Piper soon joined The Church on guitar, vocals and bass guitar—alongside Steve Kilbey, Peter Koppes and Nick Ward—in 1980. Willson-Piper's sound was influenced by guitarists such as Tom Verlaine and Bill Nelson.
Willson-Piper contributed to most of the Church's studio releases and was a member almost continuously, from 1980 to 2013. One exception is the 1997 album Pharmakoi: Distance Crunching Honchos with Echo Units, which only featured Kilbey, Koppes and drummer Tim Powles. Willson-Piper's last recording with the Church is the 2010 EP Deadman's Hand, released after the band's 2009 album Untitled #23.
Kilbey announced on the band's Facebook page that former Powderfinger guitarist Ian Haug replaced Willson-Piper, who Kilbey explained is "not available" for the recording of a new album, and subsequent touring, in 2014. Entitled Further/Deeper, the Church's 25th album was released on 17 October 2014.
Ian Stephen McCulloch (born 5 May 1959) is an English musician and singer-songwriter, born in Liverpool and best known as the frontman for the rock group Echo & the Bunnymen.
In October 1978 McCulloch founded Echo & the Bunnymen with Will Sergeant (guitar), Les Pattinson (bass), and a drum machine (allegedly named Echo), making their live début at Eric's in November that year. In October 1979 the Bunnymen exchanged the drum machine for Pete de Freitas on drums. With their line up solidified, the Bunnymen played in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating with the release of Ocean Rain in 1984. Shortly before the album was released, McCulloch described "Ocean Rain" as "the greatest album ever made". McCulloch later said: "When I sing 'The Killing Moon' I know there isn't a band in the world who's got a song anywhere near that."
In 1988, McCulloch left the group to pursue a solo career under the impression the Bunnymen would be laid to rest, if only temporarily. When the remaining Bunnymen continued using the name with new singer Noel Burke, the split became permanent with McCulloch referring to the band as "Echo & the Bogusmen".
In 1997, Echo & the Bunnymen reformed and released the album Evergreen to positive reviews and chart success. Evergreen made the Top 10 of the UK Albums Chart and the single Nothing Lasts Forever reached No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart. The reformed Bunnymen have since released four further albums, the most recent being The Fountain which was released in late 2009.
Marco Francesco Andrea Pirroni (born 27 April 1959, London, England) is an English guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He has worked with Adam Ant, Sinéad O'Connor, Siouxsie and the Banshees and many others from the late 1970s to the present day.
Born in Archway, he lived with his Italian parents in Camden Town until 15 years old, when they moved to Harrow. He attended art school briefly but truanted to hang out at Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren's famous boutique SEX in the King's Road.
A lynchpin of the UK punk scene, Pirroni's first appearance on stage was with Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was their début gig and at 1976's 100 Club Punk Festival, with Pirroni on guitar and Sid Vicious on drums.
Pirroni then formed The Models (who recorded the single, "Freeze", in 1977) and then Rema-Rema, whose "Wheel in the Roses" EP appeared on the 4AD record label the following year. In those days he formed part of Cowboys International but it was for a short time. He then teamed up with then cult punk outfit – Adam and the Ants – in 1980 and within a year the band was on the brink of worldwide acclaim.
An integral part of the band, Pirroni acted as lead guitarist and co-songwriter, penning two UK number one singles and a further four Top Ten hits, with Ant. The two albums he co-wrote for Adam and the Ants – Kings of the Wild Frontier and Prince Charming – both made the Top 10 in the UK Albums Chart ("Kings" #1; "Prince Charming" #2) .
When Adam and the Ants disbanded in 1982, Pirroni was retained as Adam Ant's co-writer and they produced another number one single ("Goody Two Shoes") and the album (Friend or Foe), followed by nine more Top 20 hits. Adam and Pirroni won two shared Ivor Novello Awards for "Stand and Deliver".
Adam Ant, working with Pirroni, left an indelible commercial and creative stamp across the 1980s and pop music in general. Adam Ant sold more than eighteen million records worldwide, scoring number ones in Australia, Germany, Greece, Sweden, Israel, Japan as well as in the UK. Their partnership's success was not just confined to the 1980s, with Ant's solo hits going Top 10 in the US and Top 20 in the UK in 1990, plus a further Top 40 hits in the UK and the US in 1995.
In early 1987, Marco Pirroni featured on Sinéad O'Connor's début album The Lion and the Cobra. Then in 1990 he worked with her again, on her second album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. In 1994 he worked with her to record her fourth album, Universal Mother. He co-wrote and played guitar on a number of tracks on her latest album, How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?, released in March 2012.
