Happy Birthday STAN RIDGWAY (video)

#stanridgway #wallofvoodoo #rockfile

Stanard "Stan" Ridgway (born April 5, 1954) is an American multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter and film and television composer known for his distinctive voice, dramatic lyrical narratives, and eclectic solo albums. He was the original lead singer of the band Wall of Voodoo.

The band was named Wall of Voodoo by Ridgway before their first gig, in reference to a comment made by a friend of Ridgway's while recording and overdubbing a Kalamazoo Rhythm Ace drum machine. While listening to some of the music that created in the studio, Ridgway jokingly compared the multiple-drum-machine- and Farfisa-organ-laden recordings to Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, whereupon the friend commented it sounded more like a "wall of voodoo" and the name stuck.

Ridgway's WoV music could fairly be described as a cross between early synthesizer pop and Ennio Morricone's soundtracks for Italian director Sergio Leone's epic western films of the 1960s. Adding to the music's distinctiveness was percussive and textural experimentation, i.e. mixing drum machines with unconventional instruments such as pots, pans and various kitchen utensils, raw electronics with interlocking melodic figures as well as twangy spaghetti-western guitar. On top of the mix was Ridgway's unusual vocal style and highly stylized, cinematic narratives heavily influenced by science fiction and film noir, sung from the perspective of ordinary folks and characters wrestling with ironies inside the American Dream.

Ridgway embarked on a solo career in 1983, shortly after Wall of Voodoo's appearance and break up at the US Festival that same year. After collaborating on the song, "Don't Box Me In" with Stewart Copeland from The Police for the soundtrack to Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish starring Mickey Rourke, Matt Dillon and Dennis Hopper, he released his first proper solo album, The Big Heat (1986), which included the top 5 European (and UK) hit "Camouflage". This was followed by numerous other solo recordings: Mosquitos (1989), Partyball (1991), Black Diamond (1995), and Anatomy (1999), The Way I Feel Today (1998), a collection of big band standards, and Holiday in Dirt (2002), a compilation of outtakes and previously unreleased songs. Ridgway's album Snakebite: Blacktop Ballads and Fugitive Songs (2005), features the narrative song, "Talkin' Wall Of Voodoo Blues Pt. 1", a history of his former band in song.

Since the early days of Wall of Voodoo, Ridgway has been interested in making music for the cinema. Ridgway's album Holiday in Dirt was a quasi-cinematic project, with the release of the album accompanied by a showing of 14 short films by various independent filmmakers, each film a visual interpretation of one of the songs on the album. A compilation DVD of the films was released in February 2005.

source: wikipedia

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Happy Birthday CHRIS HUGHES (video)

 #chrishughes #merrick #rockfile

Christopher Merrick Hughes (born 3 March 1954, London, England), also known as Merrick, is a British music producer and former drummer, acoustic guitarist and keyboards player for Adam and the Ants. Best known as producer of Tears for Fears' Songs from the Big Chair, and as the co-writer of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", Hughes has a joint background as a musician, songwriter and producer. His career began with Adam and The Ants as drummer and producer of Kings of the Wild Frontier. Yielding three hit singles, the album earned Hughes Music Week 's 'Producer of the Year Award'.

Hughes has worked with many artists including: Adam and the Ants, Tears For Fears, Robert Plant, Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel, Wang Chung, Tom McRae, Electric Soft Parade, Propaganda, Howard Jones, Lloyd Cole, Jon Bon Jovi, Tori Amos and The Tearjerkers.

source: wikipedia

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Happy Birthday RANDY BLYTHE (video)

#randyblythe #lambofgod #rockfile

David Randall "Randy" Blythe (born February 21, 1971) is the vocalist and lyricist of American groove metal band Lamb of God and side-project band Halo of Locusts. He also performed guest vocals for Cannabis Corpse, Overkill and Gojira. He is known as D. Randall Blythe on Lamb of God's albums. As a teenager, he looked up to the Sex Pistols, Megadeth, Bad Brains, Slayer, and Motörhead.

In June 2012, Blythe was arrested in the Czech Republic and was indicted on manslaughter charges related to the 2010 death of Daniel Nosek, a 19-year-old fan, after a Lamb of God concert. Despite finding that Blythe had pushed the fan off the stage, Czech courts held that the liability for Nosek's death lay with promoters and security members and acquitted Blythe of the charges.

source: wikipedia

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Happy Birthday SEAL (video)

#seal #rockfile

Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel (born 19 February 1963), known by his mononym Seal, is a British R&B and soul singer-songwriter. Seal has won numerous music awards throughout his career, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male in 1992, four Grammy Awards, and an MTV Video Music Award. Seal is known for his numerous international hits, including "Kiss from a Rose", which appeared on the soundtrack to the 1995 film Batman Forever. He has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. He is a coach on The Voice Australia.

source: wikipedia

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Happy Birthday HENRY ROLLINS (video)

#henryrollins #blackflag #rockfile

A big Happy Birthday to one of my favorite people on the planet. 

Although I am not a huge fan of his music, I do respect what he has to say.

BIO:

Henry Rollins (born February 13, 1961) is an American spoken word artist, musician, writer, journalist, comedian, publisher, actor, radio DJ, and activist.

After performing for the short-lived Washington D.C.-based band State of Alert in 1980, Rollins fronted the California hardcore punk band Black Flag from August 1981 until mid-1986. Following the band's breakup, Rollins established the record label and publishing company 2.13.61 to release his spoken word albums, as well as forming the Rollins Band, which toured with a number of lineups from 1987 until 2003, and during 2006.

 

Since Black Flag disbanded, Rollins has hosted numerous radio shows, such as Harmony in My Head on Indie 103, and television shows such as The Henry Rollins Show, MTV's 120 Minutes, and Jackass. He had a recurring dramatic role in the second season of Sons of Anarchy and has also had roles in several films. Rollins has also campaigned for various political causes in the United States, including promoting LGBT rights, World Hunger Relief, and an end to war in particular, and tours overseas with the United Service Organizations to entertain American troops.

source: wikipedia

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