Showing 1 - 25 of 67
Artist: Cheb Khaled
Khaled is the poster boy for the modern form of Algerian desert blues known as Raï. Certainly he's been its most successful modern exponent, the first to find success on the international stage. Born Khalidu Hajji Brahim in Oran, the traditional center of Raï, he was attracted to music from an early age, especially to Raï, which was seen at... [+] Read More
Artist: Robert Davis
While the state of Ohio had to wait for Jesse Helms to attack an exhibit by Robert Mapplethorpe for a real government attempt to censor photography, singer Leah Landis came darn close with her satirical 1985 release entitled She Doesn't Like It From Behind. The photographer credited as both Bob Davis and Robert Davis took shots for this and... [+] Read More
Artist: Mohamad Al-Amin
Mohamad al-Amin is one the most respected oud (lute) players in Sudan. Through a long and tempestuous career, he has managed to create music that thrills Sudan's citizens even while it infuriates the powers that be. In 1971 he was thrown in jail after censors detected oblique social criticism in his song "Wahayat Ibtissamtak" (I Swear by your... [+] Read More
Artist: Joyce Heath
The name of singer Joyce Heath sounds like a large landmark in honor of the great writer, a lusty sort who would undoubtedly have approved of songs such as "Shake Your Can." That's more than can be said for censors when the song was released in the late '50s. Altogether, Heath recorded a dozen ditties in the company of both producers and... [+] Read More
Artist: Blissi Tabil
Ivory Coast-born vocalist Blissi Tabil has been one of his homeland's most outspoken artists. His songs have celebrated the indigenous traditions while speaking out against political oppression. He attracted international attention in 2000 when his hunger strike, protesting one of his songs being censored, was noted in the annals of the United... [+] Read More
Artist: Audio Adrenaline
With their fusion of rock, rap and funk, Audio Adrenaline emerged as one of the most popular CCM acts of the 1990s. The group was formed on the campus of Kentucky Christian College by lead vocalist Mark Stuart, guitarist Barry Blair, bassist Will McGinnis, keyboardist Bob Herdman and drummer Brian Hayes; originally named A-180, they recorded an... [+] Read More
Artist: Orgasmo
Chilean punk rock act Orgasmo was inspired by the Clash, the Sex Pistols, and the Ramones. The band was formed in 1983 by bassist Gustavo Gurrieri, drummer Miguel Serrano, singer VÃctor Trabucco, and guitarist Sean Bratt. Orgasmo started playing while its members were regular students at Santiago de Chile's Nido de Aguilas School. Due to its... [+] Read More
Artist: Ahmed Adawia
Adaweyah has been shocking and delighting Egyptians for more than two decades with his always-acceptable-yet-bordeline-risqué songs. Adaweyah started his career track as a cafe waiter, but in 1971 he began performing songs forged in the crucible of the Cairo streets: full of working class slang and double entendres. Like many shaabi (working... [+] Read More
Artist: Miss Derringer
Performing a dark, lean blend of blues and country sounds fortified with a punk attitude, Miss Derringer is an L.A.-based rock band let by a pair of musicians-turned-artists, Liz McGrath (a painter and sculptor who previously sang with the band Tongue and edited the 'zine Censor This) and Morgan Slade (a photographer who plays guitar and writes... [+] Read More
Artist: Julia Gardner
In act of sheer bravado, Julia Gardner entered Variety Studios on West 46th Street in New York City and recorded the 13 titles featured on an LP that became infamous, for a time: Instant Sex. The year was 1968 and various branches of the United States justice system were involved in intense attacks against any kind of entertainment that involved... [+] Read More
Artist: Nicola Vaccai
This Italian operatic composer and teacher was trained by Paisiello in Naples and later came to be the "censore" at the Milan Conservatory from 1838 until 1844. His major contribution was his book "Metodo pratico di canto italiano per camera" which was a practical and methodological approach to singing. It is also an invaluable source for... [+] Read More
Artist: Chico Buarque
Of the early stars of MPB (musica popular brasileira), Chico Buarque was one of the first to become a certifiable pop star. With his warm, nasally croon, elegant phrasing, and considerable skill at lyric writing, Buarque (who is handsome to boot) became extremely popular with women, who loved his understated sensuality. However, Buarque was... [+] Read More
Artist: João Bosco
Since no others leap to mind, I would have to say that Joao Bosco is the greatest civil engineer turned singer/songwriter in the history of Brazilian popular music. He graduated with his degree in 1972 but since then has been concentrating on becoming one of Brazil's most formidable songwriters. For most of his early career he supplied Elis... [+] Read More
Artist: Max Miller
The British comedian Max Miller, strongly associated with the Cheeky Chappie character he created, was a top star in the land of tea and crumpets from the '30s through the '50s. Nonetheless, one of the best ways to focus attention his way is to mention that he is one of the people pictured on the front cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club... [+] Read More
Artist: Leno
The smart Leno, in the dawn of the Jovem Guarda, when the Beatles' sound was the craze amongst Brazilian youngsters, would import the albums of the English group and make Brazilian Portuguese versions for them even before the original records arrived in Brazil, like the "Help" version for the Youngsters. Leno's first individual album after the... [+] Read More
Artist: Replicantes
The punk rock band Replicantes, formed in 1983 in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul by Wander Wildner (vocals/guitar), Cláudio Heinz (vocals/guitar), Herón Heinz (bass) and Carlos Gerbase (drums), had its first break in the next year, when the Rádio Ipanema FM (from Porto Alegre) aired "Nicotina" and "PrincÃpio do Nada". With the popularity... [+] Read More
Artist: Leo Euller
This artist was part of a pool of vocalists working under the leadership of Joseph "Rocky" Washington in a '50s doo wop group known as the Sparrows. While the name of Leo Euller and Eugene Merriday show up on recording logs involving this group, they do not always sing on the actual sessions: just part of the complications and confusion... [+] Read More
Artist: Gary "Chicken" Hirsh
Gary "Chicken" Hirsh -- usually referred to as "Chicken" Hirsh -- became well-known in San Francisco music circles as the second drummer in Country Joe & the Fish. He replaced John Francis Gunning in 1966, and can be heard on Electric Music for the Mind and Body, I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die, and Together. His beat on the first album, in... [+] Read More
Artist: Ady Semel
Pop music manager Ady Semel briefly crossed over from the business to the musical side of things when he collaborated with one of his clients, Scott Walker, on some of the songs on Walker's 1970 album 'Til the Band Comes In. The Israeli Semel had become successful in England with singers Esther and Abi Ofarim, who had a #1 hit in the UK in 1968... [+] Read More
Artist: Zipps
Dutch freakbeat band the Zipps formed in Dordrecht, the Netherlands in the fall of 1965. Lead guitarist Peter Nuyten and drummer John Noce Santoro previously teamed in the Moving Strings, who issued a pair of singles on the Delta label before dissolving, while singer/guitarist Philip Elzerman and vocalist Jan Bek came to the Zipps lineup from... [+] Read More
Artist: Jorge Ben
While many of the performers during the heyday of tropicalia and the rise of MPB (musica popular Brasileira) opted for a more radical stance in their challenge to Brazil's political and cultural authorities, artists like Jorge Ben took a more understated approach. Rather than use overly theatrical performance to shock the audience or write songs... [+] Read More
Artist: Premeditando o Breque
The work of the Premeditando o Breque defies rigid classifications. It is undeniably a referential, intellectualized humor group in the vein of the Argentinean Les Luthiers, or, drawing from cinema, Monty Python. Musically the Premê (as the group became popularly known) characterizes its work on the basis of instrumental virtuosity (having the... [+] Read More
Artist: Judy Andraws
Her name is either too good to be true or a typo, and the former is the case with this 60's "party" recording artist who was actually Thelma Oliver, a Broadway singer who seems to have been somewhat attracted to censorship scandals. Judy Andraws was the vocalist credited on Smarty Party Songs, a 1965 release on New York producer and songwriter... [+] Read More
Artist: Barrelhouse Pete
At first glance, the life and times of Barrelhouse Pete seems to be the stuff of exciting, even scandalous music legend. His father was a Texas Ranger! He recorded a piano solo entitled "Pussy" which may have set the scene for an era of repressive musical censorship! There was no real Barrelhouse Pete, however. The famous pianist Art Gillham... [+] Read More
