Showing 1 - 25 of 73
Artist: Georgie Porgie
Chicago-based singer/songwriter, independent dance music remixer/producer, and founder of Music Plant and Vinyl Soul, Georgie Porgie (aka George Andros) debuted with the release of "Baby Come Back to Me." Soon, the former local DJ started climbing charts with "Let the Music Pump You Up," followed by the hit singles "Everybody Must Party," "I'm... [+] Read More
Artist: The Twangbangers
Following in the mold of their successful Monsters of Folk and Roadhouse Revival package tours, Hightone Records unleashed the best of its extensive country/rockabilly roster on America in the fall of 2001 as the Twanbangers. Guitarist Redd Volkaert, Dallas Wayne, Bill Kirchen, and pedal steeler Joe Goldmark backed each other up on solo material... [+] Read More
Artist: Mickey 3D
French pop group Mickey 3D's lead singer Mickey grew up loving rock & roll. Meeting drummer Jojo in the mid-'90s, the two formed Mickey 3D and started playing bars around southern France before issuing a demo in 1996. 1999 saw their debut album Mistigri Tordure hit the streets, with La Trêve following two years later. Their quirky and... [+] Read More
Artist: Bill Maher
Actor, author, and standup comedian Bill Maher is no stranger to controversy. He started his career on the standup comedy circuit and taking small roles in various comedy movies in the '80s and '90s. Luck later turned his way with the wildly successful television show Politically Incorrect, which featured a wide array of newsmakers and... [+] Read More
Artist: Remedy
Remedy is a white rapper who is part of the Wu-Tang Clan crew (but not a member of the actual rap group). Born in 1972 as Ross Filler in Staten Island, NY, he began writing songs and poems at the age of seven, and by high school, was performing as a rapper at local shows. Filler (around this time known as Remedy) began recording demos at... [+] Read More
Artist: Mercurine
Fans of the dark side of pop might recognize the name Mera Roberts from her work as a cellist for Black Tape for a Blue Girl, Faith & the Muse, or the Cassandra Complex. When Roberts moved to Los Angeles in 2000, she decided it was time to form the band she had always wanted to hear, one that combined the energy of New Order and the... [+] Read More
Artist: Suzzy & Maggie Roche
Two-thirds of the fabulous folk combo the Roches, these two sisters grew up in Park Ridge, NJ. Over the course of 20 years, Suzzy and Maggie, along with sister Terre Roche, performed around the world, releasing ten albums over the course of a 20-year period. In 2001, the duo became involved in a Cambridge, MA, program called the Institute on the... [+] Read More
Artist: Karmablind
This group formed when vocalist Mark Sly, drummer Mike Hickey and bass player Wayne Curtis Charleston met while at university and also performing around the club circuit.Sly attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston while at the same time holding down a full-time job in Manhattan. In 2000, after rehearsing and honing their pop rock sound,... [+] Read More
Artist: Fine Arts Militia
Building a funky, intelligent hybrid of spoken word, hip-hop, and rock, the members of the Fine Arts Militia aren't new to the music scene. The five-man group was founded when Public Enemy main man Chuck D connected with ex-Bootsy Collins bass player/producer Hardgroove for a creative outlet outside of rap music. The two had already worked... [+] Read More
Artist: Mina Agossi
Born in 1972, the half-French, half-Beninese Mina Agossi spent much of her youth studying in and traveling to places like Niger, Morocco, and Ivory Coast. While in school for theater in France, a local saxophonist gave her 500 francs to sing on-stage with him, and although Agossi had had no formal experience in music, she immediately fell in... [+] Read More
Artist: Marty Kizer
Born in Chicago and raised in nearby Gary, Indiana, Marty was introduced to jazz music by his father. He began singing late in life after hanging up his mic after a extended venture as a rapper. Living in Norfolk, Virginia while in the navy he also spent some time as a producer in the late eighties and early nineties working with various rap... [+] Read More
Artist: Bill Gillum
One of the pre-eminent Chicago harpists of the pre-war era, Bill "Jazz" Gillum was born September 11, 1904 in Indianola, Mississippi. He picked up the harmonica at the age of six, and five years later ran away from home to live with relatives in nearby Charleston; after spending his formative years playing street corners and house parties for... [+] Read More
Artist: Rob Swift
Turntablist Rob Swift was born Robert Aguilar in Jackson Heights, a neighborhood of Queens. Growing up, he was heavily influenced by cutting-edge jazz artist Herbie Hancock as well as the more typical DJ heroes like Grandmaster Flash, Grand Wizard Theodore, and DJ Premier. After graduating from Baruch College with a degree in psychology, Swift... [+] Read More
Artist: Andy White
Andy White was one of the busier drummers in England from the late '50s through the mid-'70s, playing with bands backing everyone from Billy Fury to Marlene Dietrich. It was a single gig, however, on September 11, 1962, that made White one of the most famous session drummers in rock 'n' roll history. Engaged by EMI's Parlophone Records to stand... [+] Read More
Artist: Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson was unquestionably the biggest pop star of the '80s, and certainly one of the most popular recording artists of all time. In his prime, Jackson was an unstoppable juggernaut, possessed of all the tools to dominate the charts seemingly at will: an instantly identifiable voice, eye-popping dance moves, stunning musical versatility,... [+] Read More
Artist: Kelly Clarkson
The winner of Fox TV's first American Idol: The Search for a Superstar competition during the summer of 2002, Kelly Clarkson went from an anonymous talent to a nationally known singer, performing for an audience of millions of viewers. One of the show's most naturally gifted singers, the 20-year-old Burleson, TX, native's vocal talents were... [+] Read More
Artist: Jeff Hardy
The youngest brother of folk singer/songwriter Jack Hardy, Jeff Hardy played bass and sang background vocals in his brother's band for 11 years. He was a part of the close-knit community of folk musicians in New York's Greenwich Village in the '70s and '80s, a member of the Musician's Co-Op that ran the Speakeasy nightclub and published The Fast... [+] Read More
Artist: Lorne Greene
Actor Lorne Greene enjoyed a brief recording career in the mid-'60s, when he was at the height of his popularity thanks to his role as Ben Cartwright on the long-running Western series Bonanza. Greene was born in 1915 in Ottawa, Ontario, and went to college to study chemical engineering. He wound up discovering theater instead, and opted for a... [+] Read More
Artist: Jump5
Bursting with big choruses, dynamic songs and a family friendly vibe, Jump5 debuted on the pop scene in 2001. The five teenagers weren't even old enough to drive, and their youthful enthusiasm and naive sensibilities made them a parent-friendly alternative to the increasingly sex-driven teen pop scene. The group was not one of the studio-made... [+] Read More
Artist: Pacifier
Pacifier first formed in their native New Zealand as Shihad. At the time, vocalist/guitarist John Toogood, drummer Tom Larkin, guitarist Phil Knight, and bassist Karl Kippenberger were heavily influenced by thrash, and that sound dominated Devolve, their debut EP. The record was a mild hit, and Shihad supported it with frequent tours of both... [+] Read More
Artist: Sage Francis
Born Paul Francis in 1977 in Miami, FL, Sage Francis spent most of his youth in Providence, RI. Interested in the poetic side of rap, Francis has been rhyming since age eight, later winning the Superbowl Battle in Boston in 1999 and the Scribble Jam in Cincinnati in 2000 and 2001 (the last under the name of his "metal" alter ego, Xaul Zan).... [+] Read More
Artist: Jack Fascinato
Thanks to his success as the longtime conductor and arranger for Tennessee Ernie Ford, Jack Fascinato also recorded a handful of albums under his own name, one of which -- Music from a Surplus Store -- is today among the Holy Grails of space-age pop collectors. Born September 11, 1915 in Bevier, MO, he was raised in nearby Hannibal, teaching... [+] Read More
Artist: Baby Face Willette
Highly underrated as a soul-jazz organist due in large part to a scanty discography, Baby Face Willette remains a somewhat mysterious figure, a quiet, reserved man who disappeared from the jazz scene after the first half of the '60s. Born Roosevelt Willette on September 11, 1933 (there is some dispute as to whether he was born in New Orleans or... [+] Read More
Artist: Francis James Child
Francis J. Child's five-volume work, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (1882-1898), is considered by many as the canon of folk music, consisting of his exhaustive research on over 300 traditional folk ballads. Child also investigated and collected songs and stories in other languages that were related to the English and Scottish ballads,... [+] Read More
Artist: Daniel Rodriguez
Daniel Rodriguez, known as "the singing policeman," is a New York City police officer and dedicated musical amateur who is combining his love for music with his avocation as one of New York's finest.
Rodriguez grew up listening to Mario Lanza, and studied voice for a time with some of the same coaches Lanza used. But Rodriguez was forced to... [+] Read More
