Happy Birthday RICK NIELSEN (video)

#ricknielsen #cheaptrick #rockfile

Richard Alan "Rick" Nielsen (born December 22, 1948) is the lead guitarist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Cheap Trick. For the band's first few albums, Nielsen wrote the majority of the material himself. He is well known for having many custom-made guitars from Hamer Guitars, including his famous five-neck guitar.

Nielsen formed Cheap Trick in 1972 with drummer Brad M. Carlson (Bun E. Carlos), a Rockford, Illinois native. Before Cheap Trick, he was in a number of bands, including Nazz (replacing Todd Rundgren on guitar), Grim Reapers, and Fuse. The latter recorded a one-off debut album released on Epic Records which sold poorly. After the record failed to gain any attention, the band moved to Philadelphia and the band changed their name to Sick Man Of Europe.

The group toured Europe unsuccessfully in 1972 and returned to Illinois in late 1972. Upon their return to Rockford, Nielsen and Carlos added bassist Thomas J Petersson and vocalist Randy "Xeno" Hogan. In 1974, Hogan left the band and lead singer Robin Zander joined after his contract with a Wisconsin resort was completed. The band then was renamed Cheap Trick.

Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973. As of 2010, the band currently consists of Robin Zander (vocals, rhythm guitar), Rick Nielsen (lead guitar), Tom Petersson (bass guitar) and Daxx Nielsen (drums), who replaced founding member Bun E. Carlos on drums. Their biggest hits include "Surrender", "I Want You to Want Me", "Dream Police" and "The Flame".

They have often been referred to in the Japanese press as the "American Beatles". In October 2007, the Illinois Senate passed a resolution designating April 1 as Cheap Trick Day in the state. The band was also ranked No. 25 in VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.

On October 17, 2014, Neilsen appeared on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman, playing with the rock band Foo Fighters. Neilsen made a guest appearance on the Foo Fighters' eighth studio album Sonic Highways.

source: wikipedia

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Remembering FRANK ZAPPA on his birthday (video)

#frankzappa #rockfile

Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, activist and filmmaker. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity, and satire of American culture. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and musique concrète works, and produced almost all of the 60-plus albums that he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. Zappa also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. He is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse rock musicians of his era.

As a self-taught composer and performer, Zappa's diverse musical influences led him to create music that was sometimes difficult to categorize. While in his teens, he acquired a taste for 20th-century classical composers such as Edgard Varèse, Igor Stravinsky, and Anton Webern, along with 1950s rhythm and blues and doo-wop music. He began writing classical music in high school, while at the same time playing drums in rhythm and blues bands; later switching to electric guitar. His 1966 debut album with the Mothers of Invention, Freak Out!, combined songs in conventional rock and roll format with collective improvisations and studio-generated sound collages. He continued this eclectic and experimental approach, irrespective of whether the fundamental format was rock, jazz or classical.

Zappa's output is unified by a conceptual continuity he termed "Project/Object", with numerous musical phrases, ideas, and characters reappearing across his albums. His lyrics reflected his iconoclastic views of established social and political processes, structures and movements, often humorously so. He was a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion, and a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech, self-education, political participation and the abolition of censorship. Unlike many other rock musicians of his generation, he personally disapproved of and seldom used drugs, but supported their decriminalization and regulation.

During Zappa's lifetime, he was a highly productive and prolific artist, earning widespread acclaim from critics and fellow musicians. He had some commercial success, particularly in Europe, and worked as an independent artist for most of his career. He remains a major influence on musicians and composers. His honors include an induction into the 1995 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the 1997 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2000, he was ranked number 36 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at number 71 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", and in 2011 at number 22 on its list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

source: wikipedia

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Happy Birthday PETER CRISS (video)

 #petercriss #catman #kiss #rockfile

George Peter John Criscuola (born December 20, 1945), better known as Peter Criss, is an American musician and actor, best known as the co-founder, original drummer, and occasional vocalist of hard rock band Kiss. Criss established the "Catman" character for his Kiss persona.

source: wikipedia

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Happy Birthday LIMAHL (video)

#limahl #kajagoogoo #rockfile
Christopher Hamill (born 19 December 1958), better known by his stage name Limahl (an anagram of Hamill), is an English pop singer. He rose to fame as the lead singer of the 1980s pop group Kajagoogoo, before embarking on a briefly successful solo career, which reached its peak with the 1984 hit "The NeverEnding Story", the theme song for the film of the same name.

With aspirations to be an actor, Chris Hamill toured with the company in a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. In 1980, he was given a small role in an episode of the ITV police series The Gentle Touch. In 1981, he also appeared as an extra in the promotional video for Adam and the Ants' number one UK single "Stand and Deliver".

He had a keen interest in music, forming a short-lived punk band called Vox Deus. Next he joined and left a band called Crossword. Later he answered an advert in the music press to join a band to be called Brooks with Mike Nolan. He adopted his stage name (an anagram of his surname) at the time he was recruited by the existing members of Kajagoogoo, who were then performing under the name Art Nouveau.

The four members of Art Nouveau, the band who were yet to become Kajagoogoo, had placed an advertisement in the music magazine Melody Maker, asking for a 'front man who could sing and look good'. Hamill attended the audition and subsequently joined the band which was then, after some deliberation, renamed Kajagoogoo. Soon after he had joined, Limahl met Nick Rhodes, keyboardist of the group Duran Duran, while Limahl was working as a waiter at the Embassy Club in London. Rhodes agreed to co-produce the band's first single, "Too Shy".

Limahl later said: "I met Nick Rhodes and it changed my life." Kajagoogoo signed a deal with EMI, due in part to Rhodes' involvement with the band, and the single "Too Shy" was released in January 1983. It went to number 1 in the UK Singles Chart and made the top 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

The group had further hits with "Ooh to Be Ah" (UK No. 7) and "Hang on Now" (UK No. 11), with their debut album White Feathers reaching UK No. 5. Their first major UK tour was attended by 60,000 people, and the final show at the Hammersmith Odeon in London was recorded and released on home video/Laserdisc (the 16-track White Feathers Tour).

source: wikipedia

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Remembering JIMMY BAIN on his birthday (video)

#jimmybain #rainbow #dio #rockfile

James Stewart 'Jimmy' Bain (born 19 December 1947 - 23 January 2016) is a Scottish bassist most famous for playing in the bands Rainbow and Dio with Ronnie James Dio. He has worked with Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott, co-writing on his solo albums.

Bain was born in Newtonmore, Highland, in Scotland. Jimmy Bain played in several provincial amateur bands as a young teen. Bain's parents and younger brothers relocated to Vancouver, Canada. By this point Bain was playing professionally in Street Noise. However he did join his family for a brief stay in Canada. Before returning to Scotland getting his band Harlot and then hitting the London music scene, Bain joined Harlot in early 1974, after turning down a job with The Babys.

Bain was asked to join Rainbow after Ritchie Blackmore had watched him performing at The Marquee in London. Jimmy would record the studio album Rising and play on the following world tour. While on this world tour, he played on Rainbow's first live album, On Stage. In January 1977, Bain was sacked from the band.

Jimmy then toured Europe with John Cale.

In 1983 Jimmy linked up again with ex-Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio for the band Dio. A central figure within Dio the band, Jimmy co-wrote some of the most successful heavy metal songs of the eighties, such as "Rainbow in the Dark", and "Holy Diver". These two were on their first album Holy Diver (1983). Jimmy co-wrote several other songs for the following albums, The Last in Line (1984), Sacred Heart (1985), Intermission (1986), Dream Evil (1987) and Killing the Dragon (2002).

In the mid-1980s, when the entertainment community became active in drawing attention to world charities, Jimmy Bain founded Hear 'n Aid, a foundation in which he could involve the Rock community to help eliminate world hunger. He also co-wrote the song, "Stars," with Vivian Campbell and Ronnie James Dio, which became the Heavy Rock world's answer to, "We Are The World". "Stars", provided a major contribution to the famine relief charity appeal. Bain donates all of his shares of the proceeds to one of his favourite charities, Children of the Night.

In autumn 1989. Jimmy formed a band with vocalist Mandy Lion called World War III. After their 1990 eponymous debut album, the band floundered. Jimmy's solo project The Key utilised a far more melodic and commercial approach. Guitarist on the project was Tracy G, borrowed from Dio's then band who was also the guitarist for World War III.

Ronnie James Dio's concept project Magica (2000) saw the return of Jimmy Bain to the Dio story. Bain played on the albums Magica and Killing the Dragon.

In 2005, Bain again joined forces with former Black Sabbath and Dio drummer, Vinny Appice, for two projects, The Hollywood All Starz and 3 Legged Dogg. While the Hollywood All Starz performed live concerts featuring greatest hits sets of the individual members, (Carlos Cavazo of Quiet Riot was another notable member of the band), 3 Legged Dogg produced a well received album of original material. In an interview with journalist, David Lee Wilson, Bain lamented Appice's ultimate choice to leave both these groups so that he could tour with Ronnie James Dio in the Black Sabbath offshoot, Heaven and Hell.

On January 23, 2016, Jimmy Bain died while in his cabin on Def Leppard's "Hysteria on the High Seas" cruise. He was due to perform on the cruise with his group Last In Line the following day. The performance did not go ahead, and band members informed fans on the cruise that he had been battling pneumonia for some time. The cause of death was determined to be lung cancer. Bain had not been diagnosed with cancer and was only aware of his pneumonia.

source: wikipedia

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