Fats DAntoine Dominique “Fats” Domino Jr. (born February 26, 1928) is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language.
Domino first attracted national attention with “The Fat Man” in 1949 on Imperial Records. This song is an early rock and roll record, featuring a rolling piano and Domino doing “wah-wah” vocalizing over a strong back beat. It sold over a million copies and is widely regarded as the first rock and roll record to do so.
Fats Domino released a series of hit songs with producer and co-writer Dave Bartholomew, saxophonists Herbert Hardesty and Alvin “Red” Tyler and drummer Earl Palmer. Other notable and long-standing musicians in Domino’s band were saxophonists Reggie Houston, Lee Allen, and Fred Kemp, Domino’s trusted bandleader. Domino finally crossed into the pop mainstream with “Ain’t That a Shame” (1955), which hit the Top Ten, though characteristically hit #1 with a milder cover of the song[1] that received wider radio airplay in a racially-segregated era. Domino eventually had 37 Top 40 singles.
In September 2007, Domino was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. He has also been inducted into the Delta Music Museum Hall of Fame in Ferriday. In December 2007, Fats Domino was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.
In May 2009, Domino made an unexpected appearance for The Domino Effect, a namesake concert aimed at raising funds to help rebuild schools and playgrounds damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
He was an important influence on the music of the 1960s and 1970s and acknowledged as such by some of the top artists of that era. Paul McCartney reportedly wrote the Beatles song “Lady Madonna” in an emulation of Domino’s style, combining it with a nod to Humphrey Lyttelton‘s 1956 hit “Bad Penny Blues,” a record Joe Meek engineered.[citation needed] Domino did manage to return to the “Hot 100″ charts one final time in 1968—with his own recording of “Lady Madonna.” That recording, as well as covers of two other Beatles songs, appeared on his Reprise LP Fats Is Back, produced by Richard Perry and recorded by a band that included New Orleans piano player James Booker; Domino played piano only on one track, “I’m Ready.” Also was the influence behind the naming of Jamaican ska band Justin Hinds and the Dominoes in the 1960s; Justin’s favorite singer being Fats Domino. Both John Lennon and Paul McCartney later recorded Fats Domino songs. Domino’s rhythm, accentuating the offbeat as in the song “Be My Guest,” was an influence on ska music. And Now…… FATS DOMINO…….
************ ##### **************
Singer and actress. Born on March 12, 1946, in Los Angeles, California. While her first appearances were with her superstar mother, Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli has been able to step out of her mother’s shadow to establish a substantial career as a performer. In addition to Garland, Liza’s father Vincente Minnelli was also well known in Hollywood for his work as a director.
Minnelli made her film debut as a toddler in the musical comedy In the Good Old Summertime (1949), which starred her mother and Van Johnson. While she made other appearances in her mother’s concert productions, Minnelli’s career in entertainment did not start in earnest until later.
In September 2006, she made a guest appearance on the long-running NBC drama Law & Order: Criminal Intent, in Masquerade, a Halloween-themed episode, broadcast on Tuesday, October 31, 2006. She also completed guest vocals on My Chemical Romance‘s 2006 concept album The Black Parade, portraying “Mother War”, a dark conception of the main character’s mother, in the song Mama.
For years, Minnelli had wanted to record a collection of songs that her godmother Kay Thompson had performed in her nightclub act.[citation needed] In 2007, Minnelli added some of Thompson’s songs to her latest tour to introduce them to audiences.
Minnelli returned to Broadway in a new solo concert at the Palace Theatre called Liza’s at The Palace…! which ran from December 3, 2008, through January 4, 2009. In her second act she performed a series of numbers created by Kay Thompson. The reviews noted that while her voice was ragged at times, and her movements no longer elastic, the old magic was still very much present—from first to last, Minnelli had audiences cheering and applauding and begging for more. The show was subsequently staged at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on September 30 and October 1, 2009, at which time it was filmed for broadcast on public television and a February 2010 DVD and Blu-ray release.
On January 10, 2009, Minnelli made a rare live TV appearance in a surprise cameo on NBC’s Saturday Night Live, playing the best friend of “Penelope” (Kristin Wiig). On January 26, 2009, she made an appearance onThe View, singing I Would Never Leave You from her new CD Liza’s at The Palace…!. She was also interviewed by the cast of The View.
She was a character in the Australian musical The Boy from Oz starring Hugh Jackman. In the show’s Broadway production, she was portrayed by Stephanie J. Block.
In October 2009, Minnelli toured Australia, and appeared on Australian Idol as a mentor and guest judge.
In February 2010, Minnelli appeared in a Snickers commercial along with Aretha Franklin.
Minnelli made a cameo appearance in the May 2010 release of Sex and the City 2.
She also made a starring appearance in December 2010 in NBC’s The Apprentice. AND NOW …… LIZA MINELLI…..
******************** ##### *******************
PAT BOONE…. (born Charles Eugene Boone on June 1, 1934) is an American singer, actor and writer who was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists’ songs (when part of the country was segregated) and sold more copies than his black counterparts. He sold over 45 million albums, had 38 Top 40 hits and appeared in more than 12 Hollywood movies. Boone’s talent as a singer and actor, combined with his old-fashioned values, contributed to his popularity in the early rock and roll era. He continues to perform, and speak as a motivational speaker, a television personality, a conservative political commentator and a preacher.
According to Billboard, Boone was the second biggest charting artist of the late 1950s, behind only Elvis Presley but ahead of Ricky Nelson and , and was ranked at No. 9—behind The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney but ahead of artists such as Aretha Franklin and The Beach Boys—in its listing of the Top 100 Top 40 Artists 1955-1995. Boone still holds the Billboard record for spending 220 consecutive weeks on the charts with more than one song.
Boone and his wife, Shirley, live in Los Angeles. His one-time neighbor was Ozzy Osbourne and his family. A sound-alike of Boone’s cover of Osbourne’s song “Crazy Train” became the theme song for The Osbournes (Though the original Boone version appears on The Osbournes soundtrack). Osbourne once said that Boone “was the nicest bloke you could ever have as a neighbour and never complained once” about living next door to their less-than-traditional family.[citation needed]
On December 30, 2010, Glenn W. Milligan of Liquid Metal Holdings said the Family Theater would open in May 2011 in the former NASCAR Cafe at Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. With 600 seats, the Boone Theater will be smaller than many of the resort’s attractions, but Milligan says this may be an advantage. Other performers will include illusionist Morgan Strebler, the 2011 Merlin Award winner. The economic crisis has been one of the reasons for delays, but on May 25, 2011, the theater received the first of several needed permits from the city. The $1 million project is now set to be complete in August 2011. At a news conference on June 2, which included a performance by Strebler, theater officials said Boone would attend the opening and perform 14 times each year. Other entertainment will include gospel music concerts and Christmas shows. The theater will have a Boone museum with the singer’s memorabilia. AND NOW….. PAT BOONE……
************** ##### ***************
CELIA CRUZ..
Celia Cruz (born Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso on October 21, 1925 – July 16, 2003) was a Cuban-American salsa singer, and was one of the most successful Salsa performers of the 20th century, with twenty-three gold albums to her name. She was renowned internationally as the “Queen of Salsa” as well as “La Guarachera de Cuba.”
She spent most of her career living in New Jersey, and working in the United States and several Latin American countries.
Celia Cobo of Billboard Magazine once said “Cruz is indisputably the best known and most influential female figure in the history of Cuban music.” Cruz once said in an interview “If I had a chance I wouldn’t have been singing and dancing, I would be a teacher just like my dad wanted me to be”.
Cruz was born October 21, 1925 in the diverse, working-class neighborhood of Santos Suárez neighborhood in Havana, Cuba. She is the second child of fourteen children born to Catalina Alfonso and Simón Cruz. Simón worked in the railroads as a stoker, and Catalina took care of the extended family.
While growing up in Cuba’s diverse 1930s musical climate, Cruz listened to many musicians that later influenced her adult career, such as Paulina Alvarez, Fernando Collazo, Abelardo Barroso, Pablo Quevedo,Arsenio Rodríguez, and Arcaño y sus Maravillas. Celia Cruz also studied the words to Yoruba songs with colleague Mercedita Valdes (an Akpwon santeria singer) from Cuba and Celia made various recordings of this religious genre singing even back up for other female akpwons like Candita Batista.
When she was a teenager, her aunt took her and her cousin to cabarets to sing, but her father encouraged her to keep attending school, in hopes that she would become a Spanish language teacher. However, one of her teachers told her that as an entertainer she could earn in one day what most Cuban teachers earned in a month. Cruz began singing in Havana’s radio station Radio Garcia-Serra’s popular “Hora del Té” daily broadcast, she sang the tango “Nostalgias”, (and won a cake as first place) often winning cakes and also opportunities to participate in more contests. Her first recordings were made in 1948 in Venezuela. Before that, Cruz had recorded for radio stations.
In February 2004, Cruz’s latest album, Regalo del Alma, won a posthumous award at the Premios Lo Nuestro for best Salsa release of the year. It was announced in December 2005 that a musical called “Assuca” would open in Tenerife before touring the world. The name comes from Cruz’s well-known catch phrase of “¡Azúcar!”
On June 4, 2004, the heavily-Cuban-American community of Union City, New Jersey heralded its annual Cuban Day Parade by dedicating its new Celia Cruz Park (also known as Celia Cruz Plaza), which features a sidewalk star in her honor, at 31st Street and Bergenline Avenue, with Cruz’s widower, Pedro Knight, present. There are four other similar dedications to Cruz around the world. Cruz’s star has expanded into Union City’s “Walk of Fame”, as new marble stars are added each spring to honor Latin entertainment and media personalities, such as merengue singer Joseíto Mateo, salsa singer La India, Cuban musician Israel “Cachao” Lopez, Cuban tenorBeny Moré, Tito Puente, Spanish language television news anchor Rafael Pineda, salsa pioneer Johnny Pacheco, singer/bandleader Gilberto Santa Rosa and music promoter Ralph Mercado.
On May 18, 2005, the National Museum of American History, administered by the Smithsonian Institution and located in Washington, D.C., opened “¡Azúcar!”, an exhibit celebrating the life and music of Celia Cruz. The exhibit highlights important moments in Cruz’s life and career through photographs, personal documents, costumes, videos, and music.
On September 26, 2007, through May 25, 2008, Celia, a musical based on the life of Celia Cruz, played at the off-Broadway venue, New World Stages. Some performances were in Spanish and some in English. The show won four 2008 HOLA awards from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors.
************************* ##### *****************************
ABBA……
was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 which consisted of Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog. They became one of the most commercially successful acts in the history of pop music, topping the charts worldwide from 1972 to 1982. ABBA sold over 375 million records worldwide, which made them the fourth best-selling popular music artists in the history of recorded music. They still sell between two to three million albums a year. ABBA was the first pop group to come from a non-English-speaking country that enjoyed consistent success in the charts of English-speaking countries, including the UK, the U.S., Canada, Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The group also enjoyed significant success in Latin American markets (Particularly Mexico and Argentina), and recorded a collection of their hit songs in Spanish.
During the band’s active years, Fältskog and Ulvaeus were a married couple, as were Lyngstad and Andersson–although both couples later divorced. At the height of their popularity, both relationships were suffering strain which led ultimately to the collapse of the Ulvaeus-Fältskog marriage (in 1979) and the Andersson-Lyngstad marriage (in 1981). In the late 1970s and early 1980s these relationship changes began appearing in the group’s music, as they produced more introspective lyrics with different compositions.
After ABBA broke up early 1983, Andersson and Ulvaeus achieved success writing music for the stage while Lyngstad and Fältskog pursued individual solo careers with varying success. ABBA’s music declined in popularity until several films, notably Muriel’s Wedding and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, revived interest in the group, spawning several tribute bands. In 1999, ABBA’s music was adapted into the successful musical Mamma Mia! that toured worldwide. A film of the same name released in 2008 became the highest grossing film in the UK that year. The group was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 15 March 2010. AND NOW……ABBA…..
******************* ##### *************************
The Platters were a successful vocal group of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre. The act went through several personnel changes, with the most successful incarnation comprising lead tenor Tony Williams, David Lynch, Paul Robi, Herb Reed, and Zola Taylor.
The Platters formed in Los Angeles in 1953 and were initially managed by Ralph Bass. The original group (Alex Hodge, Cornell Gunter, David Lynch, Joe Jefferson, Gaynel Hodge and Herb Reed) managed to land a contract with Federal Records, but found little success before meeting music entrepreneur and songwriter Buck Ram. The band recorded a series of singles backing Linda Hayes before Ram made some changes to the lineup, most notably the addition of lead vocalist Tony Williams (Linda Hayes’ brother) and female vocalist Zola Taylor. Under Ram’s guidance, the Platters recorded seven singles for Federal in the R&B/gospel style, scoring a few minor regional hits on the West Coast. One song recorded during their Federal tenure, “Only You (And You Alone)“, originally written by Ram for the Ink Spots was deemed unreleasable by the label.
Convinced by Jean Bennett and Tony Williams that “Only You” had potential, Ram had the Platters re-record the song during their first session for Mercury. Released in the summer of 1955, it became the group’s first Top Ten hit on the pop charts and topped the R&B charts for seven weeks. The follow-up, “The Great Pretender“, with lyrics written in the washroom of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas by Buck Ram, exceeded the success of their debut and became the Platters’ first national #1 hit. “The Great Pretender” was also the act’s biggest R&B hit, with an 11-week run atop that chart. In 1956, The Platters appeared in the first major motion picture based around rock and roll, Rock Around the Clock, and performed both “Only You” and “The Great Pretender”.
The Platters’ unique vocal style had touched a nerve in the music-buying public, and a string of hit singles followed, including three more national #1 hits and more modest chart successes such as “I’m Sorry” (#11) and “He’s Mine” (#23) in 1957, “Enchanted” (#12) in 1959, and “The Magic Touch” (#4) in 1956. The Platters soon hit upon the successful formula of updating older standards, such as “My Prayer“, “Twilight Time“, “Harbor Lights“, “To Each His Own“, “If I Didn’t Care” and Jerome Kern‘s “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes“. This latter release caused a small controversy after Kern’s widow expressed concern that her late husband’s composition would be turned into a “rock and roll” record. It topped both the American and British charts in a tasteful Platters-style arrangement.
Despite their lack of chart success, the Platters were a profitable touring group, successful enough that The Penguins, coming off their #8 single “Earth Angel“, asked Ram to manage them as well. With the Penguins in hand, Ram was able to parlay Mercury Records‘ interest into a 2-for-1 deal. To sign the Penguins, Ram insisted, Mercury also had to take the Platters. Ironically, the Penguins would never have a hit for the label.
In January 2006, Bennett sold her corporate Platters-related assets and intellectual property rights to the Las Vegas-based company G.E.M. Group, Inc. But there was an immediate disagreement between Bennett and G.E.M., which filed a lawsuit to attain certain corporate assets, Bennett’s personal property and the assets of the 1950s Platters. In June 2006, G.E.M. entered into an agreement with Sonny Turner, who’d been the lead singer of The Platters from 1960 to 1970. Turner had not been able to bill himself as “The Platters” since 1972 due to a legal injunction. However, Turner later sued G.E.M.
Currently, there are four acts using variations of the name: “The Buck Ram Platters”, Herb Reed and His Platters, Monroe Powell and The Platters, and Sonny Turner (former lead singer of The Platters). In 2007, Herb Reed discussed the abundance of touring Platters groups: “I have to laugh because when you ask me how I feel about it, I’m irate, I’m infuriated… I’ve lost 25 weeks of work a year. AND NOW THE “ORIGINAL” ….THE PLATTERS…
********************** ##### *************************
CYNDI LAUPER…..
Cynthia Ann Stephanie ”Cyndi” Lauper (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She’s So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album. Lauper has released 11 albums and over 40 singles, and as of 2008 had sold more than 30 million records worldwide.
The daughter of Fred and Catrine Lauper, Cyndi Lauper was born and raised in Ozone Park in a Catholic family, in the borough of Queens in New York City. Her mother uses the stage name “Catrine Dominique” for the music videos in which she has appeared. Her father was of German and Swiss descent and her mother is Italian American (from Sicily). She has an older sister, Ellen, and a younger brother, Fred (nicknamed Butch).
After Lauper’s parents divorced, her mother remarried, divorced again, and went to work as a waitress. It was during this time that Lauper began listening to artists like Judy Garland, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and the Beatles. Her mother encouraged her independence and creativity. At the age of twelve, Lauper learned how to play an acoustic guitar, which her sister had given to her, and she started to write her own lyrics. She had a great love of art and music and tried to find ways to express herself. Even at this early age, Lauper started dyeing her hair different colors and wearing radical fashions. Lauper was accepted in a special public high school for students with talent in the visual arts, but she was held back and eventually dropped out, earning herGED sometime later. At the age of seventeen, she left home, planning to study art. Her journey would take her to Canada, where she spent two weeks in the woods with her dog, Sparkle, trying to find herself. She eventually wound up in Vermont, where she took art classes at Johnson State College. She supported herself by working at various odd jobs.
In the mid 1970s, Lauper performed as a vocalist with various cover bands (such as Doc West and Flyer, who still perform under the names Gap Wilson Band and Red, White and Blues Band), in the New York metropolitan area, singing hits by bands such as Jefferson Airplane, Led Zeppelin, and Bad Company. Even though Lauper was now performing on stage, she was not happy singing cover songs. In 1977, Lauper damaged her vocal cords and took a year off. She was told by three doctors that she would never sing again. Vocal coach Katie Agresta helped Lauper regain her voice by teaching her proper vocal exercises.
In January 2010, American toy company Mattel released a Cyndi Lauper Barbie doll as part of their “Ladies of the 80s” series.
On March 2010, NBC began airing, the ninth season of The Celebrity Apprentice featuring Lauper and other celebrities such as Sharon Osbourne and Bret Michaels. The show had been filmed from October 19, 2009 to November 12th, 2009. Donald Trumpfired her on the May 9, 2010 episode, leaving her in sixth place. Lauper donated her winnings to her own True Colors Fund.
On April 1, 2010, Lauper launched the Give a Damn campaign to bring a wider awareness of discrimination of the GLBT community as part of her True Colors Fund. The campaign is to bring straight people to stand up with the gay, lesbian, bisexual,transgendered community and stop the discrimination. Other names included in the campaign are Whoopi Goldberg, Jason Mraz, Elton John, Judith Light, Cynthia Nixon, Kim Kardashian, Clay Aiken, Ricky Martin, Sharon Osbourne and Kelly Osbourne.Anna Paquin is also part of the campaign and came out as bisexual. This news clogged the Give A Damn website.
Lauper appears on the 22-track, 2-disc collaboration, Here Lies Love, by Talking Heads‘ David Byrne and Fatboy Slim. On the album, she sings the song Eleven Days, as well as the duet Why Don’t You Love Me with Tori Amos.
On June 22, 2010, Memphis Blues was released. It debuted on the Billboard Blues Album Chart at #1, and it debuted on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums Chart at #26. The album remained #1 on the Billboard Blues Album Chart for 14 consecutive weeks;Memphis Blues fell to #2 on October 16, 2010 and then to #3 on October 23, 2010. Memphis Blues is Lauper’s eleventh album.
In August 2010, she licensed her song and performance of It’s Hard to Be Me, from her album Shine, to be used as the theme song for the new TV Pilot, and potentially the series, Hard to Be Me.
In July 2010, she signed a deal with Mark Burnett to produce a reality show that will focus on her career and her everyday life with her husband David Thornton and their son Declyn.
In December 2010, Memphis Blues was ranked Billboard’s #1 Blues Album of The Year, and was nominated for the Best Traditional Blues Album Grammy Award.
Lauper made international news in March 2011 while waiting for a delayed flight at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery in Buenos Aires. There, she gave an impromptu performance of Girls Just Want to Have Fun, as other passengers joined in and sang along with her. A video of the performance was later posted on YouTube.
***************************** ##### **********************************
TOM JONES ..
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE (born 7 June 1940), known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer, particularly noted for his powerful voice. Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records.
Tom Jones was born at 57 Kingsland Terrace, Treforest, Pontypridd in South Wales. His parents were Thomas Woodward (died 5 October 1981), a coal miner, and Freda Jones (died 7 February 2003). His family was mainly of English descent, with both of his paternal grandparents being born in England and his maternal grandmother born in Wales to English parents. Most of his ancestral roots appear to lie in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Somerset.
Jones began singing at an early age: he would regularly sing at family gatherings, weddings, and in his school choir. Jones is dyslexic and he did not like school or sports; however, he was able to gain confidence through his singing talent. At age 12, Jones was struck down by tuberculosis. Many years later he said, “I spent two years in bed recovering. It was the worst time of my life.” During convalescence, he could do little else but listen to music and draw.
Jones’ bluesy singing style developed out of the sound of American soul music. His early influences included blues and R & B greats like Little Richard, Solomon Burke, Jackie Wilson, and Brook Benton. Jerry Lee Lewis’s music also influenced him from a rock and roll perspective.
In March 1957, Jones married his high school girlfriend, Melinda Trenchard. The couple had a son named Mark, who was born the month following their wedding. To support his young family, Jones took a job working in a glove factory and was later employed in construction.
Jones has remained married to Melinda since 1957, despite his many well publicised infidelities. His philandering once led her to beat him black and blue. She snapped after reading about one infidelity in a newspaper. She punched and kicked him, but Jones did not fight back: “I took it,” Jones said.
Jones has had affairs with such well-known women as Mary Wilson of The Supremes, former Miss World Marjorie Wallace and Cassandra Peterson, better known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Peterson claims that she lost her virginity to Jones.
One affair resulted in the birth of a son. In October 1987, while on tour in America, Jones had a brief relationship with model Katherine Berkery. Three months later, Berkery discovered that she was pregnant. After a lengthy fight and DNA testing, an American court ruled in 1989 that Jones is the boy’s father. He flatly denied paternity for 20 years, but finally admitted it in 2008. However, he made no suggestion that he wanted to meet his son, Jonathan Berkery.
Jones moved to the United States in 1974 on the advice of his accountant in order to avoid Britain’s newly introduced 83% top rate of tax, buying Dean Martin‘s former mansion in the East Gate Old Bel Air in Los Angeles. In 2009, after 35 years in America, he revealed that he and Linda were planning to move back to the United Kingdom. “I’ve had a great time living in Los Angeles,” Jones said, “but after all these years, we think now is the time to move home.” However, on The Chris Moyles Show on 27 July 2009, he said he still lives in Los Angeles and will remain there for the foreseeable future as he still frequently stays at his home in London.
********************** ##### ********************************
