Showing 226 - 250 of 1450
Artist: Solomon Burke
While Solomon Burke never made a major impact upon the pop audience -- he never, in fact, had a Top 20 hit -- he was an important early soul pioneer. On his '60s singles for Atlantic, he brought a country influence into R&B with emotional phrasing and intricately constructed, melodic ballads and mid-tempo songs. At the same time, he was... [+] Read More
Artist: Patrick Adams
Producer/arranger/songwriter Patrick Adams' career spans more than 30 years. His plentiful resume includes work with Sister Sledge (their 1974 debut LP on Atco/Atlantic Circle of Love), Loleatta Holloway, Coolio, Herbie Mann ("Superman," number 26 pop, early 1979, from the 1978 Atlantic LP Super Mann), Bumblebee Unlimited (the 1979 RCA LP Sting... [+] Read More
Artist: Dream Street
Joining the massively successful circus of teen pop comes the pre-pubescent boy band called Dream Street. These New York natives are show business veterans, handpicked by producers Louis Baldonieri and Brian Lukow with hopes of scoring big on the never-ending teen pop phenomenon. They formed in 1999, and Dream Street -- Greg Raposo, Christopher... [+] Read More
Artist: Nappy Roots
Country and proud of it, Nappy Roots formed in 1995 around a sextet of students attending Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. Four members of the group were Kentucky natives (Skinny DeVille, B. Stille, Ron Clutch, and Big V), bolstered by a pair of Oakland-born transplants (R Prophet and Milledgeville). Nappy Roots began making music... [+] Read More
Artist: Pedro Luis Ferrer
Active in Cuban music since 1965, singer/guitarist/tres player/composer Pedro Luis Ferrer combines the influences of both classical and Cuban popular music in his guaracha-style songs, which usually address the everyday lives and struggles of the common people. Ferrer was born in the small Cuban town of Yanguaji and moved to Havana in 1965,... [+] Read More
Artist: Randy Jackson
Randy Jackson is the leader of prog metal masters Zebra. Jackson grew up in New Orleans listening to the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. As a teen, he joined a local band called Shepherd's Bush. Jackson soon took frontman Felix Hanneman and formed another group with Californian drummer Guy Gelso. A year later, in 1975, the trio saw a Vogue cover with... [+] Read More
Artist: Taproot
Ann Arbor, MI's own Taproot sent their demo to Limp Bizkit frontman/business entrepreneur Fred Durst in 1998, not even thinking Durst would call them back personally. To their surprise, he promised the alterna-punk metal four-piece the world. But Durst obviously took too long to deliver the goods, for Taproot -- frontman Stephen Richards,... [+] Read More
Artist: Duncan Sheik
Alternative singer/songwriter Duncan Sheik premiered in mid-1996 when Atlantic released his self-titled debut album. With an appearance on the soundtrack to the TV hit ER, Sheik became somewhat well known in alternative circles. Born in 1970, Duncan Sheik grew up in South Carolina but spent many of his early years living with his grandparents in... [+] Read More
Artist: Willie Nelson
As a songwriter and a performer, Willie Nelson played a vital role in post-rock & roll country music. Although he didn't become a star until the mid-'70s, Nelson spent the '60s writing songs that became hits for stars like Ray Price ("Night Life"), Patsy Cline ("Crazy"), Faron Young ("Hello Walls"), and Billy Walker ("Funny How Time Slips Away")... [+] Read More
Artist: The Corrs
Comprising three sisters and one brother of the Corr family -- vocalist Andrea, drummer Caroline, violinist Sharon and guitarist/keyboard player Jim -- the Corrs blend the music of their Irish background with contemporary pop/rock and occasional use of synthesizers. The quartet formed in 1991, and was confined to regional popularity in Ireland... [+] Read More
Artist: Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke was the most important soul singer in history -- he was also the inventor of soul music, and its most popular and beloved performer in both the black and white communities. Equally important, he was among the first modern black performers and composers to attend to the business side of the music business, and founded both a record... [+] Read More
Artist: The Firm
Hard rock supergroup the Firm united former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page with onetime Free and Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers; bassist Tony Franklin and ex-Uriah Heep drummer Chris Slade completed the lineup, founded in 1984. Their self-titled debut album appeared on Atlantic a year later, cracking the Top 20 on the strength of the hit... [+] Read More
Artist: Ce Ce Peniston
Disco diva Ce Ce Peniston seemed poised to become that genre's reigning crossover attraction. She was born in Dayton, OH, but her family moved to Phoenix when she was nine. Peniston was crowned Miss Black Arizona in 1989 and signed with A&M in the early '90s. Her debut, Finally, was a gold album; it peaked at number 36 on the pop charts and even... [+] Read More
Artist: Eddie Higgins
A solid bop-based pianist, Eddie Higgins has never become a major name, but he has been well-respected by his fellow musicians for decades. After growing up in New England, he moved to Chicago, where he played in all types of situations before settling in to a long stint as the leader of the house trio at the London House (1957-1969). Higgins... [+] Read More
Artist: Bad Religion
Out of all of the Southern Californian hardcore punk bands of the early '80s, Bad Religion stayed around the longest. For over a decade, they retained their underground credibility without turning out a series of indistinguishable records that all sound the same. Instead, the band refined their attack, adding inflections of psychedelia, heavy... [+] Read More
Artist: Hootie & the Blowfish
Hootie & the Blowfish's mainstream pop variation of blues-rock brought the band to the top of the charts in 1995. Formed at the University of South Carolina, the group features lead vocalist/guitarist Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim "Soni" Sonefeld; the name refers to two friends of the band, not Rucker and the group itself.... [+] Read More
Artist: Young Leek
When he met LL Cool J, rapper Young Leek stated clearly and strongly "You are my idol," but that didn't mean the young upstart wasn't about to challenge the hip-hop legend for the club single of the year, 2006. After moving to Baltimore from Atlantic City, Young Leek and his father -- also his manager -- hooked up with Stay Gettin' Entertainment... [+] Read More
Artist: Karen Tobin
Karen Tobin was a Los Angeles-based country & western performer who worked throughout the 1980s and '90s with the combo Crazy Hearts. She secured a solo deal with Atlantic in 1991 and issued the trad country Carolina Smokey Moon in 1991. A brief stint with Arista followed; Tobin also toured Europe as a vocalist with Poco. By 1997 she had formed... [+] Read More
Artist: C. Gibbs
Former Modern English guitarist C. Gibbs left that group in 1991, moving on to the Morning Glories and leading that group throughout the 90's. Gibbs supported avant garde industrial rocker Foetus in the late 90's as the Morning Glories broke up, but his secret desire was really to begin his solo career. He wrote and recorded 29 Over Me as the... [+] Read More
Artist: Erasure
Following the disbandment of the short-lived synth pop group Yazoo, former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke formed Erasure in 1985 with singer Andy Bell. Like Yaz and Depeche Mode, Erasure were a synth-based group, but they had stronger dance inclinations, as well as a sharper, more accessible sense of pop songcraft, than either of Clarke's... [+] Read More
Artist: Coheed & Cambria
Coheed & Cambria officially began in 2001, although the band originally formed as a trio called Shabutie in 1995. After performing a poppy metal/indie rock sound for many years, they decided to shift gears and in the process, changed their name. Their first album, 2002's The Second Stage Turbine Blade, was picked up by Equal Vision Records and... [+] Read More
Artist: Craig Morgan
Singer/songwriter Craig Morgan was an army brat before he opted for a career in music. Born and raised in Nashville, Morgan was already a country music fan with dreams of playing guitar and making it big. But before his musical dreams could become reality, Morgan spent time serving in the U.S. Army where he had a very respectable career and... [+] Read More
Artist: R.B. Greaves
R.B. Greaves has an interesting family background and history, one that's actually more significant than his R&B track record. Greaves was born on an Air Force base in what was then British Guyana and grew up on a Seminole reservation. The nephew of Sam Cooke, Greaves moved to England in 1963, and was lead singer of Sonny Childe & The TNT's. He... [+] Read More
Artist: Kenny Garrett
Kenny Garrett was one of the last significant graduates of Miles Davis' groups and is one of the potential greats in jazz. He started early on playing in Detroit with Marcus Belgrave and toured with the Mercer Ellington Orchestra before moving to New York in 1980. He made his debut recording for Criss Cross (1984) and was part of the group Out... [+] Read More
Artist: The Washington D.C.'s
A relatively faceless British Invasion band who never came close to a hit on either side of the Atlantic, the Washington D.C.'s' height of exposure occurred when their material was used to fill out an exploitative reissue of pre-"Glad All Over" Dave Clark Five singles. One of the countless British bands slogging around on support bills and... [+] Read More
