My favorite bands
Only bands, no solo artists.
Stoned Jesus, Porno Wolves, Dead Pirates, The Samsara Blues Experiment and Pissed Jeans would be on this list, but I did not find them on IMDb.
Some of my favorite solo artists are Tom Waits, David Bowie, Roky Erickson, Chuck Berry, Thelonius Monk etc.
Stoned Jesus, Porno Wolves, Dead Pirates, The Samsara Blues Experiment and Pissed Jeans would be on this list, but I did not find them on IMDb.
Some of my favorite solo artists are Tom Waits, David Bowie, Roky Erickson, Chuck Berry, Thelonius Monk etc.
List activity
403 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
61 people
- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
Nirvana was an American rock band formed by lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1987. Nirvana went through a succession of drummers, the longest-lasting and best-known being Dave Grohl, who joined in 1990. Despite releasing only three full-length studio albums in their seven-year career, Nirvana has come to be regarded as one of the most influential and important alternative bands in history. Though the band dissolved in 1994 after the death of Cobain, their music maintains a popular following and continues to influence modern rock and roll culture.- Music Artist
- Composer
- Actor
Queens of the Stone Age is an American alternative rock band formed in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. The band has released seven studio albums and has won several awards for their live performances. Their best selling album "Songs for the Deaf" was a critical hit and was certified gold in 2003, with sales of over 900,000.- Music Artist
- Composer
- Actor
Syd Barrett: vocals, guitar (born: Roger Keith Barrett; 6 January, 1946; Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK). In 1968, Syd Barrett left the band. Syd died in July, 2006 at aged 60 from pancreatic cancer.
David Gilmour: vocals, guitar (born: David John Gilmour; 6 March, 1946; Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK). In 1968, Gilmour replaced Syd Barrett.
Roger Waters: vocals, bass guitar (born: George Roger Waters; 6 September, 1943; Great Bookham, Surrey, England, UK). In 1983, he left the band.
Richard Wright: keyboards, back-up vocals (born: 28 July, 1943; Hatch End, England, UK). Was fired from the band in 1979, rejoined in 1986 as a session player and was officially reinstated in 1992. The second member who did every tour. Richard died on 15 September, 2008 at age 65 from cancer.
Nick Mason: drums, percussion (born: Nicholas Berkeley Mason; 27 January, 1944; Birmingham, England, UK). The only member to have appeared on every album. One of two members who did every tour.- Music Artist
- Music Department
- Actor
Led Zeppelin are a popular British band best known for their iconic "Stairway to Heaven" as well as for co-creating the music genre of heavy metal. Since their nine albums were recorded between 1968 and 1979, Led Zeppelin has been one of the most popular bands of all time, having sold more than 300 million records and millions of concert tickets worldwide.
The quartet was conceived at the end of the Hippie love era, in a group marriage of blues, rock and roll, soul, rockabilly, folk ballad, jazz, classical and Eastern music, and something else scattered over some woozy sounds of their songs. It was their mutual artistic stimulation, their group interplay and imagination that incorporated mythology and mysticism, and concocted their inimitable style, and established the concept of album-oriented rock career.
Jimmy Page was already an experienced lead guitarist who worked with multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones in 1967, and they agreed to work on the next project. In August 1968 Page invited Robert Plant and John Bonham to join his band, the New Yardbirds, for a September tour in Scandinavia. In October 1968 they took the name Led Zeppelin, which stemmed from a humorous conversation among several musicians about their chances of going down like a lead balloon. However, British bands were highly anticipated in the USA, and the Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun signed the new band without even seeing them.
Their debut album, 'Led Zeppelin', recorded and mixed in just about 36 hours in October 1968, at Olympic Studios in London, kicked open the door for all extremes and experiments. The phallic image of the blown up Hindenburg airship on the cover, designed by George Hardie, announced the hardening of rock and coming of the new super-group. While ascending to musical success as a powerhouse band, Led Zeppelin explored a variety of styles, from English folk ballads to blues and rock, and created their own inimitable style.
Prior to the release of their first album, Led Zeppelin made live appearances at the University of Surrey and in London in October 1968, then went on their first American tour in December 1968. In their first year, Led Zeppelin made four concert tours in the USA, and another four tours in the UK. Their second album was recorded entirely on the road at several American recording studios, and was an even greater success than the first one. "Whole Lotta Love", "Heartbreaker", "Living, Loving Maid", and "Ramble On" became big international hits.
Each member of the quartet contributed to their compositions, thus setting a fine example of group creativity. Their songs and albums rambled on with the highly versatile voice-guitar interplay. Plant's incredible vocal range and Page's enchanting guitar solos were as responsible for the band's singularity as its musical wanderlust. Plant's and Page's musicianship was supported by the tight playing by John Paul Jones on bass, and John Bonham on drums. The intense interaction of all four players on stage gave their live performances a visual counterpoint to well intertwined harmonic and rhythmic structures of their compositions.
Their third album, Led Zeppelin III, influenced by folk and Celtic music, offered more inventiveness with acoustic/electric sound-work, and revealed more of the band's versatility with such compositions as the "Immigrant Song" and "Since I've Been Loving You". With the release of their fourth, and most popular album, Led Zeppelin achieved a reputation of the biggest band in the world. 'Stairway to Heaven' became the most played radio hit, several other songs became rock classics, and nobody knows how many more times their lines would help other musicians (like the opening riff from "How Many More Times" was later used by Pink Floyd in their hit "Money").
Capitalizing on the success of their first four albums, the band toured extensively in the 1970s. At that time they chartered a private jet, nicknamed the Starship, that carried the band's name and later added the famous 'Swan Song' winged Apollo image on the tail. Going to California turned into a ritual of wildness and excess, most notably at the Hyatt House hotel on the Sunset strip in Los Angeles, known colloquially as the "Riot House" for a series of some most exciting off-stage events, such as riding a motorcycle inside the hotel and throwing TV set out of the window. One of their concerts under a heavy thunderstorm in Florida ended with police using tear gas, and led to a temporary pause in their concert tours.
During the 70s their career was interrupted several times by accidents, deaths and other unfortunate events. In September 198O on the eve of an American tour, John Bonham accidentally died from pulmonary edema after a day of drinking. In December 1980, Led Zeppelin disbanded, albeit the public could still feel their presence. In 1982 a collection of out-takes from various sessions from the 70s was released as their last album, Coda. During the 80s the remaining three members experienced a serious communication breakdown, until they briefly united for a short set in 1985, and once again, in 1988, with Bonham's son, Jason, for the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary show.
In 1994 Page and Plant showed their softer side when they performed live together on 'MTV Unplugged', which was released the same year as album titled 'No quarter'. Then they made an international tour with an orchestra. In 1995 Page and Plant were joined by Jones when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, albeit the three former band-mates did not perform together. By that time Jimmy Page as well as Robert Plant had pursued individual careers touring and recording with their own bands.
Another ten years gone. Page's and Plant's call-and-response interplay took them through good times and bad times. Their sonic originality had sparked imagination and creativity in millions of open minds. Singers, songwriters, armies of music fans and a rainbow of dedicated 'led heads', as well as guitarists and guitar collectors worldwide remained united through the acquired experience and conditioning to the Led Zep sounds.
Hats off to Led Zeppelin, who opened the new extremes of musical expression, and are now back in the light confirming their presence. Their long anticipated reunion in December 2007 was a true celebration day. Their live performance was as tight as a rock band can be, and their living, loving song remains the same since we've been loving them. That's the way!
Thank you, Friends.- Music Artist
- Music Department
- Composer
The Jimi Hendrix Experience is known for Forrest Gump (1994), Hit and Run (2012) and Apollo 13 (1995).- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Queen were one of the longest-lasting and most commercially successful bands to emerge from the British heavy rock scene of the early 1970s, but unlike their contemporaries such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, they soon became just as popular with pop fans as fans of hard rock and heavy metal, beginning with "Killer Queen" from their third album "Sheer Heart Attack" in 1974.
Formed in London in 1970 following the demise of the band Smile, Queen originally consisted of vocalist Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor before being joined by bassist John Deacon. The band became popular with audiences via their hit singles, live performances, originality and showmanship, being voted the greatest British band of all time in a national BBC poll. Their Live Aid (1985) performance was voted the best live rock performance of all time in an industry poll. According to the BBC, Queen have sold more than 300 million albums as of 2009.
Queen's first album "Queen" was a commercial flop in 1973, failing to chart and producing no hit single, but their second album "Queen II" produced a top ten hit, "Seven Seas of Rhye". It was with the release of "Sheer Heart Attack" in 1974 and "A Night at the Opera" the following year that the band gained international success. They have released fifteen studio albums, five live albums and numerous compilation albums. Since Mercury's death and Deacon's retirement, May and Taylor have performed infrequently together at special events and programs as members of other ensembles. Between 2004 to 2009 the duo collaborated with Paul Rodgers under the moniker Queen + Paul Rodgers, and between 2011 to 2015 with Adam Lambert under the moniker Queen + Adam Lambert.- Music Artist
- Music Department
- Actor
Roger Daltrey formed the Detours in 1962, with several member changes and role swaps abound, John Entwistle joined. Sometime later, on John's recommendation, Pete Townshend was added to the line up. In the meantime, The Detours had become a four-piece band; the drummer was changed with Keith Moon during early 1964.
The High Numbers, as the four musicians were now calling themselves, had become a Mod band, with the help of new manager Pete Meaden. The name fluctuated between The High Numbers and The Who; the High Numbers was quickly abandoned and The Who was born.
As their popularity gained momentum, by being one of the better live acts on the circuit and with Pete destroying his guitars, and Keith with his drums too, on stage, this gave them maximum publicity with the predominantly working class audience that had come to see them.
As the sixties drew to a close, the Hippy movement had swamped the World, with its ideology of Tune In, Turn On and Drop Out. This was to climax in one of the World's most famous of music festivals, Woodstock the Music and Arts Fair, in August 1969. The Who played here, in front of an average crowd of 300,000 plus. This performance catapulted them into the American market and World domination, mainly because the whole festival was filmed and released in major cinemas within the year. This was also done with the help of their highly controversial double concept album from 1969, Tommy.
What followed was a live album, Live at Leeds, from Leeds University, England, and recorded on Valentines Day night, 1970.
Quadrophenia, the concept album about a 1960s Mod, came out in 1973. This double album came with its own problems, such as playing with backing tapes at the live concerts. It was soon abandoned. Other albums followed as well as concerts, during the earlier 1970s.
But as the money came pouring in, the four members took individual lives and sometimes concerts and albums were far between, the most noticeable difference was with Keith Moon, his over indulgence in drugs and drink were taking their toll. He put on too much weight and his lifestyle showed his drumming was becoming unpredictable.
Keith made his only solo album, Two Sides of The Moon, in 1975 while living in California, for MCA Records. At the age of just 32 years, he died; it was an accidental overdose of prescribed medicine, which was to help him cut down on his alcohol addiction. An irony if there ever was one.
After a short reprise, with Kenney Jones on the drums, The Who officially split up in 1982. Reforming for the 1985 Live Aid Concert at Wembley Stadium, then with a World tour of Tommy during the late eighties. There was also a tour of an an updated Quadrophenia during the mid nineties.
With the three remaining players, they toured under the name of The Who, a fine idea, until the death of John Entwistle in a Las Vegas hotel room on June 27th, 2002.
"Ladies and Gentlemen: A nice Rock n' Roll band from Shepherd's Bush London, The OO, thank you very much."- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm and blues and Merseybeat, and were briefly part of the British Invasion of the United States until their touring ban in 1965. Their third single, the Ray Davies-penned "You Really Got Me", became an international hit, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and reaching the Top 10 in the United States.
The Kinks' music drew from a wide range of influences, including American R&B and rock and roll initially, and later adopting British music hall, folk, and country. The band gained a reputation for reflecting English culture and lifestyle, fueled by Ray Davies' wittily observational writing style, and made apparent in albums such as Face to Face (1966), Something Else (1967), The Village Green Preservation Society (1968), Arthur (1969), Lola Versus Powerman (1970), and Muswell Hillbillies (1971), along with their accompanying singles including the transatlantic hit "Lola" (1970). After a fallow period in the mid-1970s, the band experienced a revival during the late 1970s and early 1980s with their albums Sleepwalker (1977), Misfits (1978), Low Budget (1979), Give the People What They Want (1981) and State of Confusion (1983), the last of which produced one of the band's most successful US hits, "Come Dancing". In addition, groups such as Van Halen, the Jam, the Knack, the Pretenders and the Romantics covered their songs, helping to boost the Kinks' record sales. In the 1990s, Britpop acts such as Blur and Oasis cited the band as a major influence.
Ray Davies (rhythm guitar, lead vocals, keyboards) and Dave Davies (lead guitar, vocals) remained members throughout the band's 33-year run. Longest-serving member Mick Avory (drums and percussion) was replaced by Bob Henrit, formerly of Argent, in 1984. Original bass guitarist Pete Quaife was replaced by John Dalton in 1969. After Dalton's 1976 departure, Andy Pyle briefly served as the band's bassist before being replaced by Argent bassist Jim Rodford in 1978. Session keyboardist Nicky Hopkins accompanied the band in the studio for many of their recordings in the mid-to-late 1960s. The band became an official five-piece in 1970, when keyboardist John Gosling joined them. Gosling quit in 1978; he was first replaced by ex-Pretty Things member Gordon Edwards, then more permanently by Ian Gibbons in 1979. The band gave its last public performance in 1996 and broke up in 1997 as a result of creative tension between the Davies brothers.
The Kinks have had five Top 10 singles on the US Billboard chart. Nine of their albums charted in the Top 40. In the UK, they have had seventeen Top 20 singles and five Top 10 albums. Four Kinks albums have been certified gold by the RIAA and the band have sold 50 million records worldwide. Among numerous honors, they received the Ivor Novello Award for "Outstanding Service to British Music". In 1990, the original four members of the Kinks were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2005. In 2018, after years of ruling out a reunion due to the brothers' animosity and the difficult relationship between longtime drummer Mick Avory and Dave, Ray and Dave Davies finally announced they were working to reform the Kinks, with Avory also on board. However, comments made by each of the Davies brothers in 2020 and 2021 would indicate that in the years since the initial announcement, little (if any) progress has been made towards an actual Kinks reunion for a new studio band album.- Music Artist
- Composer
- Actor
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and John Densmore on drums. The band got its name, at Morrison's suggestion from the title of Aldous Huxley's book The Doors of Perception. They were unique and among the most controversial and influential rock acts of the 1960s, mostly because of Morrison's lyrics and charismatic but unpredictable stage persona. After Morrison's death in 1971, the remaining members continued as a trio until disbanding in 1973. The Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
Creedence Clearwater Revival, also referred to as Creedence and CCR, was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band initially consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother, rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty; bassist Stu Cook; and drummer Doug Clifford. These members had played together since 1959, first as the Blue Velvets and later as the Golliwogs, before settling on the Creedence Clearwater Revival name in 1967.
CCR's musical style encompassed roots rock, swamp rock, blues rock, Southern rock, country rock, and blue-eyed soul. Belying their origins in the East Bay sub-region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the band often played in a Southern rock style, with lyrics about bayous, catfish, the Mississippi River and other elements of Southern United States iconography. The band's songs rarely dealt with romantic love, concentrating instead on political and socially conscious lyrics about topics such as the Vietnam War. The band performed at the 1969 Woodstock festival in Upstate New York, and was the first major act signed to appear there.
CCR disbanded acrimoniously in late 1972 after four years of chart-topping success. Tom Fogerty had officially left the previous year, and John was at odds with the remaining members over matters of business and artistic control, all of which resulted in subsequent lawsuits among the former band-mates. Fogerty's ongoing disagreements with Fantasy Records owner Saul Zaentz created further protracted court battles, and John Fogerty refused to perform with the two other surviving members at Creedence's 1993 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Though the band has never officially reunited, John Fogerty continues to perform CCR songs as part of his solo act, while Cook and Clifford have performed as Creedence Clearwater Revisited since the 1990s.
CCR's music is still a staple of U.S. classic rock radio airplay; 28 million CCR records have been sold in the U.S. alone. The compilation album Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits, originally released in 1976, is still on the Billboard 200 album chart and reached the 500-weeks mark in December 2020. It has been awarded 10× platinum.- Music Artist
- Composer
- Actor
Radiohead is an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. After signing to EMI in 1991, Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992. It became a worldwide hit after the release of their debut album, Pablo Honey (1993). Their popularity and critical standing rose in the United Kingdom with the release of their second album, The Bends (1995). Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), propelled them to international fame.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
The Stooges is known for Predestination (2014), Smokin' Aces (2006) and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004).- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. The lineup, when first signed to Geffen Records in 1986, consisted of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. Guns N' Roses has released six studio albums, accumulating sales of more than 100 million records worldwide, including 45 million in the United States, making them the 41st best-selling artist of all time.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Soundgarden are an internationally successful American alternative rock band, who first appeared from amidst the damp and misty city of Seattle, Washington. Along with Alice in Chains, Mudhoney, Nirvana and the Screaming Trees, they formed what was referred to as the 'Grunge' movement of the early 1990s. The band members are lead vocalist Chris Cornell, guitarist Kim Thayil, bassist Hiro Yamamoto, and drummer Matt Cameron.
They produced five studio albums between 1988 and 1996, 'Superunknown' (1994) and 'Down on the Upside' (1995) being the most successful and charting at No.1 and No.2 respectively. The band split in 1997 and Chris Cornell went on to form Audioslave with Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine. Cornell also concentrated on a number of solo projects. Matt Cameron joined Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam where he has remained ever since.
Soundgarden supported Guns N' Roses on their 1991 tour and played the 1992 Lollapalooza tour with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam and Ministry. They starred in - and contributed to the soundtrack of the Matt Dillon film Singles (1992) along with a host of alternative bands including The Smashing Pumpkins. Other notable film soundtracks include Pacific Heights (1990), Wayne's World (1992) and True Romance (1993).
In 2010, Soundgarden reformed, although Matt Cameron has also remained with Pearl Jam.- Composer
- Actor
- Music Department
The Velvet Underground had its origins, oddly enough, in the world of manufactured pop music, around 1965. Long Island native songwriter/singer/guitarist Lou Reed had gone from college at Syracuse University to a day job as a staff composer and musician for Pickwick Records, whose specialities (besides budget reissues and compilations) were 'sound-alikes' and knockoffs of the latest musical trends. Reed could turn out songs to order in any number, and with days spent writing in an office, and evenings making quickie singles and albums in Pickwick's small studio, he learned his way around the record-making process.
When Reed's dance-craze parody The Ostrich became a surprise hit in New York (for the non-existent Primitives; Reed played guitar and sang with Pickwick studio musicians), a band was quickly assembled to perform the song at local dances and shows. The bassist for the new Primitives was Welsh-born John Cale, classically trained and already experienced in avant-garde and performance art (including playing piano in a relay with John Cage). Reed and Cale hit it off, and as The Ostrich lost its plume and the Primitives disbanded, they started to consider more serious musical work, beginning when Reed played Cale a selection of songs they'll never publish, including the unapologetic Heroin. (Reed had never tried the drug; he'd drawn from others' experiences and descriptions.) As Reed and Cale began to write together, one afternoon they bumped into a college friend of Reed's; fellow guitarist and anti-authoritarian Sterling Morrison, in Manhattan. Morrison soon joined in, and somewhere along the line they began referring to their group, which had no regular name as yet. With the addition of 'Angus MacLean' as drummer, the Falling Spikes, Warlocks, etc., began making song demos, and playing locally.
One day another college friend, Jim Tucker, came to visit the group at their loft, carrying a paperback book he'd found in the street en route; a sexual exposé by Michael Leigh titled The Velvet Underground. The name was ideal and was adopted right away. Not long after, work picked up for the Velvet Underground, and the prospect of actually getting paid to perform proved too much for Angus MacLean, who soon quit the band. With a show pending, someone luckily remembered Jim's sister Maureen Tucker played drums, had her own set, and didn't already belong to a band. Mo immediately accepted the chance to play, and within days had become a permanent member... even when her no-frills drum set was stolen. (She carried on with a set of trash cans, hauled in from outside.)
By Christmas 1965 the Velvet Underground had a residency at a New York café, and thoroughly hated it, being roped into playing during the holidays for next to nothing. One evening their audience included artist Andy Warhol, who'd come to meet the band Gerard Malanga had been telling him about. Warhol had been looking for an underground rock group to use in his multimedia shows, was intrigued by their name and persona (though he soon re-christened them the Velvets), and was impressed enough to want them to start right away, although they were booked to play through to the end of the year at the same locale. The band got out of this easily enough; having been told if they played their The Black Angel's Death Song one more time, they'd be fired, they opened their very next set with it, to Warhol's amusement. The Velvet Underground was instantly let go, and soon after showed up at Warhol's Factory. They were put to work not only as musicians, but sometime subjects and helpers for Warhol's film and art projects. Cale and Reed also developed close personal relationships with Warhol, and Tucker sometimes joined him when he attended Mass.
Warhol soon brought another great talent to meet the Velvets; European beauty 'Nico', who'd been a model and actress (appearing in _Dolce Vita, La (1960)_), and more recently a chanteuse, singing at the Blue Angel Lounge in New York. Warhol wanted Nico to sing with the band, play along if she could (harmonium and percussion), and otherwise just stand around looking beautiful. Reed began writing songs for Nico, like I'll Be Your Mirror and Femme Fatale, and Nico attached herself to Reed, Cale and others, as and when the occasion demanded. The overall band situation looked promising, but there was already noticeable friction between the band members and the Warhol circle, which included Gerard Malanga, Edie Sedgwick, Ondine, Mary Woronov, and Betsey Johnson (who later married John Cale, with photos appearing in a fashion magazine). The Velvets and Nico hit the road in 1966, as part of Warhol's pop-art roadshow, the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, and by the end of the year Warhol's name had finally procured a record deal with MGM's Verve label, and with Warhol expected to produce their debut album.
Appearing in January 1967 (with a unique peelable-banana cover, which was Warhol's main contribution to the record; his studio involvement was as minimal as much of his art, while producer's duties were mostly filled by Lou Reed and 'Tom Wilson'), the first Velvet Underground album seemed condemned to instant obscurity. Advertising was cancelled or declined in most of the usual places, mostly because of the stark, matter-of-fact content and subject matter of its songs (drugs including speed and heroin, the club scene, unconventional sex and relationships and life on the fringes of the pop-art world). Alongside the usual photos and band information ran both good and bad reviews of their music, reprinted from the press. None of the usual adjectives fit the band, with Reed's overloud, tremolo-crazed guitar, Cale's electric viola, bass and keyboards, Morrison's raw-nerve fuzz guitar and bass, the tomboyish Tucker pounding her drums with mallets, from a standing position... and Nico, alternately beckoning and icing things up with her voice. The Velvets were hard to classify, and harder to understand, for most pop music followers. To add to the downside of things, a lawsuit brought against MGM by a Warhol associate whose image appeared in a back-cover photo stopped distribution of the album, until the cover could be retouched and reprinted, at considerable cost and delay. A ripple on the bottom of Billboard's LP chart was as far as they got, the first time.
The Velvet Underground continued to work with Andy Warhol and Nico into 1967, with diminishing levels of satisfaction; plainly Nico and Warhol were each more concerned with their own careers than the Velvets', and over the next year, they parted ways with both. The Velvets acquired a full-time manager, and while most of the world celebrated the Summer of Love in London and California, they prepared their second album, back in New York: White Light/White Heat, released in early 1968, with a black-on-black cover photo of friend Billy Name's arm tattoo. Most of the album's sound was distorted and noisy, with the band preferring to play at high decibels in the studio as onstage, and often only allowing one take per song. (According to legend, the album was recorded in a single day; Maureen Tucker recalled a series of sessions, years later.) With Warhol out of the picture, the band found it hard to get work in New York, and began appearing more in Boston, where they found acceptance. They also began regular cross-country touring, in the manner of most major-label bands of the time.
Growing tensions between Reed and Cale ultimately drove Reed to force Morrison and Tucker to decide: either Cale was out, or the group was over. Cale departed, and was replaced by guitarist/bassist/singer 'Doug Yule', whose presence and softer vocal style altered the Velvets' sound considerably. The third Velvet Underground album, eponymously titled and appearing in 1969 (this time not on Verve, but the MGM label itself), was largely acoustic, with Reed and Yule sharing lead vocals, and for the American market, mixed by Reed with almost no echo or reverb. (For the worldwide market, an alternate mix was prepared by 'Val Valentin', with standard reverb and echo.)
Between 1969 and early 1970, the Velvets continued to tour, and prepare material for a fourth album, recording both in the studio and live on the road. With their next album nearly ready to go, the band was abruptly dropped by MGM, who nonetheless insisted on keeping the studio tapes. (On the one hand, the band didn't mind leaving MGM/Verve, who offered little in the way of promotion or distribution; nobody knew what to say to fans who asked why they couldn't get copies of the Velvets' records, while the music press and radio mostly ignored them, even with faked track timings for lengthy singles. On the other hand, they'd continued to record expecting the tapes to be sold to their next label.) Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records came to the rescue, and the band was signed to their subsidiary label Cotillion (fresh from its success with the Woodstock (1970) film soundtrack), remaking many of the last year's songs. Tucker became pregnant, and had to gradually back away from performing and recording until the baby (her daughter Kerri) was born; Yule's brother 'Billy Yule', who was still in high-school, filled in on drums.
The strain of being in the spotlight, of having to put on a show at the insistence of their manager, of trying to make a more commercial than original album this time, and of having nothing but notoriety for years of hard work, was becoming too much for Lou Reed, who found his singing voice failing more and more often as the months went on, coupled with a mounting sense of exhaustion. As Yule pressed for more of a leading role in the band, Reed let him take it, and as the Velvets wound up the recording of Loaded in 1970, and their summer residency back in New York at Max's Kansas City, Reed decided he'd had enough. One night after the last set at Max's, Reed's parents picked him up; he briefly introduced them to his band-mates, and headed home, leaving it to the next day to tell anyone he was out.
With Reed gone, and Morrison not interested, Doug Yule became front man for the Velvets, who were still under contract to tour and record. Willie Alexander took Doug Yule's place, while Yule became something of an imitation Lou Reed, writing and singing in Reed's style; before long the new line-up was being derided as the Velveteen Underground. When Morrison and Tucker saw opportunities to leave, they took them, with Morrison ditching the band on the road when he learned he'd been offered a position teaching English at Texas A&M, and Tucker deciding to go when changing the band's name became a topic of discussion. Yule ended up being the only member to arrive in England during 1971, to record the album Squeeze (not released in the US), which he completed with help from Deep Purple's Ian Paice. The band was able to fulfil their Atlantic contract with the first bootleg recording ever accepted by a major record label; Velvets fan 'Brigid Polk' had brought her new cassette recorder to Max's Kansas City on the last night Lou Reed had appeared, and the (mono) tape turned out surprisingly well. Another live album, compiled from 1969 tour dates, followed on the Mercury label a couple years later.
As the Velvet Underground appeared to settle into the dust of the 1960s, Lou Reed emerged at last as a real pop star, making the music he wanted to make; after more than a year of self-imposed retirement doing simple office work for his parents' company, he began venturing out again, in time landing a solo contract with RCA Records. Long-time Velvets fan David Bowie encouraged RCA (which he also recorded for) to support Reed, and threw himself into the production of Reed's breakout album Transformer, which included Reed's signature hit, A Walk On The Wild Side. John Cale, Nico, and later Maureen Tucker also recorded successful solo albums, while Sterling Morrison occasionally jammed on guitar with his students, and sometimes allowed access to his personal Velvets archives. (Doug Yule traded his guitars for carpentry tools at the end of the 1970s, becoming a cabinetmaker until he resumed his musical career in the 1990s, this time also playing violin.)
It wasn't until the late Seventies, with Lou Reed's career firmly established and the beginnings of punk rock, that the Velvet Underground finally began to get the recognition they deserved, for their originality and their dedication to the spirit of rock-n-roll. New artist after new artist, when asked to name their influences, would include the Velvet Underground, while the first Velvets album eventually earned (but didn't receive) a Gold Record award, with half a million sales. Reed was interested enough to go to court, confirming that he'd written the lion's share of the band's songs (even those credited to the whole band originally), and that he would be so listed on every new release of the old material. The other band members, in turn, sued for back payments for their touring days, and along with a settlement came the formation of an all-group partnership.
With the advent of digital remastering and improved studio technology in the early 1980s, the three Velvet Underground albums from the 1960s were prepared for reissue by PolyGram, which had bought out the MGM label. The search for master tapes turned up the lost recordings from the never-completed fourth Velvets album, and a selection of these and other unreleased masters (some bootlegged to death over the years, from acetate test-discs) was compiled as a new release. As an experiment, the tapes were mixed not to 60s, but to 80s standards; the results demonstrated that the Velvet Underground had been considerably ahead of their time, musically at least. Both the collection VU and its follow-up, Another View, sold well, and interest in the band was regenerated.
After Andy Warhol's death in 1987, Lou Reed found himself stumped in trying to write a tribute to his old friend and mentor, and contacted the one person he knew understood Warhol the way he did; his old bandmate John Cale. Cale, as it turned out, hadn't been getting far in his own Warhol tribute, and when the two met again to match ideas, things dovetailed as well as they ever had. Songs for Drella, their joint Warhol tribute released in 1989, was a triumph, and Reed and Cale began performing the album live on tour, with selections on television.
By 1992, continued interest in the Velvet Underground prompted the best line-up (Reed, Cale, Morrison and Tucker) to re-form for a possible tour, with Tucker and Morrison moving back to New York to join Reed and Cale. Beginning with an afternoon's rehearsal in a rented space, and with the forces that had pulled them apart long since gone, the Velvets were able to rediscover what they'd enjoyed most about making music together; the sheer fun they'd had doing it. A highly successful tour was followed by an equally successful live album and video release, while their reissued earlier catalog continued to sell, better than the first time around. New generations of fans (and budding musicians) discovered their music, now considered classic, and proto-punk; finally, an apt description.
In 1996, the Velvet Underground was given some long-awaited official acclaim, with their entrance into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Unfortunately Sterling Morrison wasn't able to see this happen, having died of lymph cancer only months earlier (and just a month after its diagnosis), but his widow appeared with the band members, to accept on his behalf.- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
- Writer
- Music Artist
- Soundtrack
British rock band Cream formed in 1966. Its members had come from other bands and had backgrounds in blues. Drummer Ginger Baker and bass guitarist Jack Bruce had both played with The Graham Bond Organization, an early British blues band, while lead guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton had come from The Yardbirds and John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers. The band quickly made a name for itself with its blues/rock blend, and turned out such classics as "Sunshine of Your Love", "Free", "Crossroads" and "Born Under a Bad Sign", with Clapton particularly being hailed as one of the finest guitarists in rock history. Their first album, "Fresh Cream" in 1966, introduced them to the music scene but it was their second and, by far, biggest album, 1967's "Disraeli Gears", that made them superstars. A third album, "Wheels of Fire", had both live and recorded songs on it.
Unfortunately, internal tensions came to a head and the band broke up in late 1968. Baker and Clapton formed their own group, Blind Faith, with Steve Winwood and had some success. Bruce went on to a solo career. After the break-up of Blind Faith, Baker formed his own group, Ginger Baker's Air Force. Clapton went on to an extremely successful solo career, with one of his biggest hits being (as Derek and the Dominos) "Layla".- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
- Music Artist
- Composer
- Music Department
The Rolling Stones are the legendary British rock band known for many popular hits, such as Paint it Black, Lady Jane, Ruby Tuesday, and (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction. Almost everyone who attended their shows is quick to comment on their ability to start you up and shake your hips. Their song "Satisfaction" (1965) was composed by Keith Richards in his sleep, and with the addition of provocative lyrics by Mick Jagger it became the greatest hit and their calling card on each and every show.
In 1966, after The Beatles stopped giving live performances, The Rolling Stones took over as the unofficial "biggest touring band in the world" for the next few years. During 1966-1969 they toured the world, and constantly updated their song-list with many great hits like "Lets Spend the night together" (1967), "Sympathy for the Devil" (1968) and "Honky tonk woman" (1969). The incredible international success of the Stones came with a sad side, caused by Brian's drug and alcohol abuse that impaired his speech and appearance, so the band-mates had to replace him. In July 1969, Brian Jones died of drowning in his swimming pool while having signs of drug overdose. Upon Richards's and Jagger's approval, guitarist Mick Taylor took Brian's place. Brian's death at age 27 made him one of the first members of the infamous "27 Club" of rock stars who died at that age. Although Brian's estrangement from his band-mates, and his numerous arrests were caused by his personal problems with drugs, both Richards and Jagger were blamed at the time for Brian's death. The loss of one of their founding members was a painful moment for the Stones. However, at the end of the 1960s their creativity reached the new highs. Their albums "Beggars Banquet" (1968) and "Sticky Fingers" (1971) were among the most popular albums they ever made, having such hits as "Wild Horses" and "Brown Sugar."
During the 1970s The Rolling Stones remained the biggest band in the world, albeit they were rivaled by the Led Zeppelin. The Stones made thousands of live performances and multi-million record sales with hits like "Angie" (1973), "It's Only Rock and Roll" (1974), "Hot Stuff" (1976) and "Respectable" (1978). At that time both Keith Richards and Mick Jagger had individual ambitions, and applied their untamed creativity in various projects outside the Stones. Keith released his own single. In 1974 Ron Wood had replaced Mick Taylor on guitar and Keith and Ron both played lead guitars. During the decade Keith Richards had a family crisis on his hands, and suffered through emotional pain and drug abuse, albeit it didn't stop him from being himself. In 1980 the group released "Emotional Rescue" which Keith Richards didn't care for, and the group didn't even tour to promote the album. In 1981 with the release of 'Tattoo You', the group went on a major world tour filling stadiums in the US and in Europe. In 1983 the Stones recorded the album "Undercover" at the Compass Point in Nassau and during this time Mick and Keith were having arguments over rights of the group. After having created tens of albums and over a hundred popular songs together, their legendary song-writing partnership was undergoing the most painful test: the bitter rivalry between two enormously talented and equally ambitious superstars.
Mick Jagger is the heart of "The Stones" and Keith Richards - the soul. The two had carried on their early image of unkempt youth, had survived ups and downs in their careers and personal lives, and remained the core of the band since they shared a flat with the late Brian Jones in London in 1962. Two other remaining members are drummer Charlie Watts and guitarist Ron Wood. "The Stones" were part of the "British Invasion" in international culture during the 1960s, and has been extremely popular and famous for their 60s craze, hot stuff and sex drive. Since the 1970s they remained one of the biggest entertainment acts touring the world with a retinue of jet-set hangers-on. Their inimitable shows, no matter the best, or the worst, has been played with fire and emotion, giving their audiences the kind of music they do best - it's only rock'n roll.
Mick Jagger dropped out of college and his every move on-stage and off-stage seemed to signal a challenge to "respectable" standards. He never received a formal musical education, and even could not read music. However, he worked hard and emerged as the lead singer and songwriter in partnership with Richards, following the example of John Lennon and Paul McCartney's songwriting for The Beatles. Outside of the Rolling Stones, Jagger released solo albums with his original songs, as well as his versions of such hits as 'Use Me' by songwriter Bill Withers. Jagger also starred in several films, such as Freejack (1992), Bent (1997), and The Man from Elysian Fields (2001). Mick Jagger fathered seven children from four women, donated to numerous school and charities, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at the Buckingham Palace in 2003.
Keith Richards, was a schoolmate of Mick Jagger since the primary school. In 1960 they contemplated starting up a band together. Since the formation of the Rolling Stones in 1962, Richards has been the principal songwriting partner with Jagger, and most of the songs on all Rolling Stones albums are credited to Jagger/Richards. Outside of the Rolling Stones, Richards toured with The New Barbarians, and also was the front-man of the X-pensive Winos in the 1980s. Besides his music career, Richards made a cameo appearance as the father of Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) filmed by his friend, director Gore Verbinski.
Other members of The Rolling Stones has been also enjoying their individual careers outside of the band. Multi-instrumentalist Ronnie Wood collaborated with such performers as Prince, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, and Aretha Franklin, among others. His collaboration with Rod Stewart resulted in a hit album. Wood is also an accomplished artist who sold about $10 million worth of his artworks. Drummer Charlie Watts, who has been ever faithful to his one and only wife, Shirley, is known for his consistency in refusing sexual favors from groupies. He is also a jazz band-leader, and commercial artist, who had solo shows and successfully auctioned his artworks.
The Rolling Stones have released 55 albums of original work and compilations, and sold over 200 million records word-wide during their career spanning over 45 years. "The Stones" played in all kinds of spaces from small clubs to big stadium arenas. In 2007 they even rocked the Tsar's Winter Palace with fifty thousand fans in St. Petersburg, Russia, where the communist revolution took place. They gave more large-scale shows internationally than any other existing band in the world, culminating in their 2005-2007 "A Bigger Band" tour with 147 concerts, the highest grossing tour of all time with $559 million earned.
Come on, Stones, give us more of your respectable shows, get us rocking, we can make it if we try.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Black Sabbath were an English rock band, formed in Birmingham in 1968, by guitarist and main songwriter Tony Iommi, bassist and main lyricist Geezer Butler, drummer Bill Ward and singer Ozzy Osbourne. Black Sabbath are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped define the genre with releases such as Black Sabbath (1970), Paranoid (1970) and Master of Reality (1971). The band had multiple line-up changes, with Iommi being the only constant member throughout its history. On 7 March 2017, Black Sabbath announced they had disbanded.- Composer
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Mastodon formed in Atlanta, Georgia in the late 90's by the fusion of two errant duos. Guitarist\vocalist Brent Hinds and bassist\vocalist Troy Sanders one one side, and drummer [Brann Dailor] and guitarist Bill Kelliher (former members of Lethargy and Today Is The Day) on the other. Mastodon recorded one demo only (know as Mastodon 7") before enlisting with metal label Relapse records. They recorded three full length albums for Relapse: "Remission" (2002), which features on its cover artist Paul Romano's interpretation of a dream Brann once had, a burning horse); "Leviathan" (2004), a concept album with central theme Melville's "Moby Dick" (Brann Dailor read the book during a flight and had the idea of using that theme for a concept album); "Blood Mountain" (2006), which features the song "Colony of Birchmen", recently nominated for a Grammy Award as "Best Metal Performance of the year" (2006). Both "Leviathan" and "Blood Mountain" have been elected "Album Of The Year" by Metal Magazine "Metal Hammer". Mastodon also recorded an EP by the title "Lifesblood" (2001, re-edited including their first demo as "Call of the Mastodon" in 2005) featuring songs that would later become some of their best assets on live performances.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Started performing in the New York club, CBGBs. They released their first album, "Talking Heads: 77," in 1977. They recorded the film, Stop Making Sense (1984), in 1984, with director Jonathan Demme. After releasing their 1988 album, "Naked," the group broke up. In 1992, they released "Popular Favorites: Sand in the Vaseline," a 2-disc set of greatest hits with rarities and never-before-released hits. After 1992, the group never got together again until 1999, to record the commentary for the special edition "Stop Making Sense" DVD. They played for the first time in a decade in 2002, when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They played four early hits there: "Psycho Killer," "Life During Wartime," "Burning Down the House" and "Take Me to the River." Now, in 2005, they will be re-releasing all their albums remastered to perfection in a box-set complete with unreleased songs, included. Thus far, no reunion date has been set for them to play.- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the first American hardcore bands to make a significant impact in the United Kingdom. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, satirizing establishment political figures (both liberal and conservative) and authority in general, as well as popular culture and even the punk movement itself. During their initial incarnation between 1978 and 1986, they attracted considerable controversy for their provocative lyrics and artwork.- Soundtrack
- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Wolfmother is known for Tomorrow, When the War Began (2010), Spider-Man 3 (2007) and Zoolander 2 (2016).- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970, by songwriters/multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. During ELO's original 14-year period of active recording and touring, they sold over 50 million records worldwide. From 1972 to 1986, ELO accumulated twenty Top 20 songs on the UK Singles Chart, and fifteen Top 20 songs on the US Billboard Hot 100.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
The Beatles were an English rock band that became arguably the most successful act of the 20th century. They contributed to music, film, literature, art, and fashion, made a continuous impact on popular culture and the lifestyle of several generations. Their songs and images carrying powerful ideas of love, peace, help, and imagination evoked creativity and liberation that outperformed the rusty Soviet propaganda and contributed to breaking walls in the minds of millions, thus making impact on human history.
In July of 1957, in Liverpool, Paul McCartney met John Lennon. Both were teenagers. Paul impressed John with his mastery of acoustic guitar, and was invited to join Lennon's group, The Quarrymen. George Harrison joined them in February of 1958. In 1959 they played regular gigs at a club called The Casbah. They were joined by vocalist Stuart Sutcliffe, and by drummer Peter Best, whose mother owned The Casbah club. Early incarnations of the band included The Quarrymen, Johnny & the Moon Dogs, and The Silver Beetles. John Lennon dreamed up the band's final name, The Beatles, a mix of beat with beetle. In 1960 The Beatles toured in Hamburg, Germany. There they were joined by Ringo Starr, who previously played with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. In Hamburg, The Beatles made their first studio work as a backing band for singer Tony Sheridan's recordings for the German Polydor label, however, in the credits the band's name was changed to The Beat Brothers. From February 1961 to August 1963, The Beatles played a regular gig at the Cavern. They were paid five pounds for their first show, rising to three hundred pounds per show in 1963. In two and a half years The Beatles gave 262 shows at the Cavern in Liverpool.
Brian Epstein was invited to be the manager of the Beatles in November 1961. His diplomatic way of dealing with the Beatles and with their previous manager resulted in a December 10, 1961, meeting, where it was decided that Epstein would manage the band. A 5-year management contract was signed by four members at then-drummer Pete Best's home on January 24, 1962. Epstein did not put his signature on it, giving the musicians the freedom of choice. At that time McCartney and Harrison were under 21, so the paper wasn't technically legal. None of them realized this and it did not matter to them. What mattered was their genuine trust in Epstein. He changed their early image for the good. Brian Epstein made them wear suits and ties, classic shoes, and newer haircuts. They were advised to update their manners on stage and quit eating and drinking in public. Brian Epstein worked hard on both the Beatles' image and public relations. He improved their image enough to make them accepted by the conservative media. Most if not all of their communication off-stage was managed by Brian Epstein.
On January 1, 1962, The Beatles came to London and recorded fifteen songs at the Decca Records. They were not hired, but the material helped them later. During the year 1962, they made several trips to London and auditioned for various labels. In May of 1962 Epstein canceled the group's contract with Tony Sheridan and the German label. Brian Epstein was persistent in trying to sign a record deal for the Beatles, even after being rejected by every major record label in UK, like Columbia, Philips, Oriole, Decca, and Pye. Epstein transferred a demo tape to disc with HMV technician Jim Foy, who liked their song and referred it to Parlophone's George Martin. On June 6, 1962, at the Abbey Road studios, they passed Martin's audition with the exception of Pete Best. George Martin liked them, but recommended the change of a drummer. Being asked by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison; Epstein fired Pete Best. After a mutual decision the band was completed with Ringo Starr, who duly became the fourth Beatle. In September of 1962 The Beatles recorded their first hit Love Me Do, which charted in UK, and reached the top of the US singles chart.
London became their new home since 1963. On February 11, 1963, The Beatles recorded the entire album 'Please, Please me' in one day, working non-stop during ten-hour studio session. In May and June, 1963, the band made a tour with Roy Orbison. In August of 1963, their single She Loves You became a super hit. Their October 1963 performance at the London Palladium made them famous in Great Britain and initiated the Beatlemania in the UK. The show at the London Palladium was broadcast live and seen by twelve million viewers. Then, in November 1962, The Beatles gave a charity concert at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London. There, performing for the rich and famous, John Lennon made his famous announcement: Would the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry.
In early performances the Beatles included popular songs from the 40s and 50s. They played rock-n-roll and R&B-based pop songs while they gradually worked on developing a style of their own. Their mixture of rock-n-roll, skiffle, blues, country, soul, and a simplified version of 1930s jazz resulted in several multi-genre and cross-style sounding songs. They admitted their interest in the music of Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Little Richard and other entertainers of the 40s, 50s and early 60s. Beatles' distinctive vocals were sometimes reminiscent of the Everly Brothers' tight harmonies. By 1965 their style absorbed ethnic music influences from India and other Oriental cultures, and later expanded into psychedelic experiments and classical-sounding compositions. Their creative search covered a range of styles from jazz and rock to a cosmopolitan cross-cultural and cross-genre compositions.
Initially the Beatles were a guitars and drums band. In the course of their career every member became a multi-instrumentalist. George Harrison played the lead guitar and also introduced such exotic instruments as ukulele, Indian sitars, flutes, tabla, darbouka, and tampur drums. John Lennon played a variety of guitars, keyboards, harmonicas and horns. Paul McCartney played bass guitar, acoustic and electric guitars, piano and keyboards, as well as over 40 other musical instruments. The Beatles were the first popular band that used a classical touch of strings and keyboard instruments; their producer George Martin scored Baroque orchestrations in several songs, such as Yesterday, Eleanor Rigby, In My Life, and a full orchestra in Sgt. Pepper. John Lennon and Paul McCartney played piano in many of their songs. Their jamming on a piano together led to creation of their best-selling hit I Want to Hold Your Hand in 1963.
At first the Beatles were rejected by Dick Clark after testing a recording of their song on his show. Then Brian Epstein approached Ed Sullivan, who discussed them with Walter Cronkite after seeing them on his CBS Evening News in 1963. Brian Epstein also managed to get their music played by influential radio stations in Washington and New York. The US consumer reaction was peaking, a single 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' was released in December 1963 by the Capitol Records. Their sensational tour in the USA began with three TV shows at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York, in February of 1964. After that The Beatles endured several years of extremely intensive recording, filming, and touring. They stopped public performances after 1966, but continued their recording contracts. By 1985 The Beatles had sold over one billion records. Music became their ticket to ride around the world. Beatlemania never really ended since its initiation. It still lives as a movable feast in many hearts and minds, as a sweet memory of youth, when all you need is love and a little help from a friend to be happy.
The Beatles' first two feature films, A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Help (1965), were made in collaboration with an American director, Richard Lester. Their humorous, ironic, and farcical film performances are reminiscent of the Marx Brothers' comedies. Later The Beatles moved into the area of psychedelic innovations with the animated film Yellow Submarine (1966). Their surrealistic TV movie The Magical Mystery Tour (1967) became the cause for the first major criticism of their work in the British press. Their film music was also released as studio albums. Original music by The Beatles as well as re-makes of their songs has been also used, often uncredited, in music scores of feature films and documentaries. Some of The Beatles concert and studio performances were filmed on several occasions and were later edited and released after the band's dissolution. In 1999 the remastered and remixed film The Beatles Yellow Submarine Adventure (2000) delighted a younger audience with incredible animation and songs.
All four members were charismatic and individually talented artists, they sparked each other from the beginning. Eventually they made a much better group effort under the thorough management by Brian Epstein. His coaching helped consolidate their talents and mutual stimulation into beautiful teamwork. Paul McCartney had the privilege of a better musical education, having studied classical piano and guitar in his childhood. He progressed as a lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, as well as a singer-songwriter. McCartney wrote more songs for the Beatles than other members of the band. His songs Yesterday, Eleanor Rigby, Blackbird, When I'm 64, Let It Be are among the Beatles' best hits. Yesterday is considered the most-covered song in history with over three thousand versions of it recorded by various artists. McCartney accepted the agreement that was offered by John Lennon in 1957, about the 50/50 authorship of every song written by either one of them. Most of The Beatles' songs are formally credited to both names, regardless of the fact that many of the songs were written individually.
On June 25, 1967, The Beatles made history becoming the first band globally transmitted on TV to an estimated 400 million people worldwide. The Beatles were a segment in the first-ever worldwide satellite hook-up and their new song "All You Need Is Love" was broadcast live during the show. Two months later The Beatles lost their creative manager Brian Epstein, whose talent for problem-solving was unmatched. "That was it, the beginning of the end", said Lennon. Evolution of each member's creativity and musicianship also led to individual career ambitions.
John Lennon was experimenting with psychedelic poetry and art. His creativity was very unique and innovative. Lennon wrote Come Together, Girl, Revolution, Strawberry Fields and many other Beatles' hits. An out-of-context reprinting of Lennon's remarks on the Beatlemania phenomenon caused problems in the media. His comparison of Beatles' popularity to that of Jesus Christ was used to attack them publicly, causing cancellations of their performances and even burning of their records. Lennon had to apologize several times in press and on TV, including at a Chicago press conference. In 1967 John Lennon met Japanese artist Yoko Ono, whom he later married. George Harrison was the lead guitar player and also took sitar lessons from Ravi Shankar. Harrison had his own inner light of creativity and spirituality, he wrote Something, Taxman, I me mine, and other hits. Ringo Starr sang 'Yellow Submarine' and a few other songs. He has made a film career and also toured with his All Stars Band and released several solo albums. His 1973 release "Ringo" was the last album to feature all four living Beatles, although not on the same song.
The Beatles created over 240 songs, they recorded many singles and albums, made films and TV shows. Thousands of memorable pictures popularized their image. In their evolution from beginners to the leaders of entertainment, they learned from many world cultures, absorbed from various styles, and created their own. Their cross-style compositions covered a range of influences from English folk ballads to Indian raga; absorbing from Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Elvis Presley, Everly Brothers, Little Richard, and others. The songwriting and performing talents of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, fused in the Beatles' music. Lennon and McCartney initiated changes in music publishing industry by breaking the Tin Pan Alley monopoly of songwriting. Their legacy became possible due to highly professional work by Brian Epstein and George Martin. In 1994 three surviving members reunited and produced Lennon's previously unknown song 'Free as a Bird'. It was preserved by Yoko Ono on a tape recording made by Lennon in 1977. The song was re-arranged and re-mixed with the voices of three surviving members. The Beatles Anthology TV documentary was watched by 420 million people in 1995.
The Beatles represent the collective consciousness of several generations. Millions of viewers and listeners across the universe became conditioned to the sounds and images of The Beatles. Their influence on the modern world never stopped. Numbers may only show the tip of the iceberg (record sales, shows admissions, top hits, etc.). As image-makers and role models they pushed boundaries in lifestyle and business, affecting customers behavior and consumption beyond the entertainment industry by turning all life into entertainment. A brilliant blend of music and lyrics in their songs made influence on many minds by carrying messages like: give peace a chance and people working it out. A message more powerful than political control, it broke through second and third world censorship and regulations and set many millions free.
Steve Jobs, being a big fan of Paul McCartney and The Beatles, referred to them on many occasions and also was interviewed on a showing of a Paul McCartney concert. When asked about his business model, Steve Jobs replied: My model for business is The Beatles: They were four guys that kept each other's negative tendencies in check; they balanced each other. And the total was greater than the sum of the parts. Great things in business are never done by one person, they are done by a team of people.
The Beatles made impact on human history, because their influence has been liberating for generations of nowhere men living in misery beyond the Iron Curtain. Something in their songs and images appealed to everybody who wanted to become free as a bird. Their songs carrying powerful ideas of real love, peace, help, and imagination evoked creativity that outperformed the rusty Soviet propaganda and contributed to breaking chains and walls in the minds of millions. The Beatles expressed themselves in beautiful and liberating words of love, happiness, freedom, and revolution, and carried those messages to people across the universe. Their songs and images helped many freedom-loving people to come together for revolutions in Prague and Warsaw, Beijing and Bucharest, Berlin and Moscow. The Beatles has been an inspiration for those who take the long and winding road to freedom.
Even after The Beatles had gone, the individual members continued to spread their message; from the concert for Bangladesh by George Harrison and Ringo Starr in 1971, to 2003 "Back in USSR" concert by Paul McCartney on the Red Square in Moscow, and his 2004 show near the Tsar's Winter Palace in St. Petersburg where the Communist Revolution took place, just imagine.
In 2005 the Entertainment magazine poll named The Beatles the most iconic entertainers of the 20th Century. In July of 2006, the guitar on which Paul McCartney played his first chords and impressed John Lennon, was sold at an auction for over $600,000.
In July 2012, Paul McCartney rocked the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He delivered a live performance of The Beatles's timeless hit "Hey Jude" and engaged the crowd of people from all over the world to join his band in a sing along finale. The show was seen by a live audience of 80000 people at the Olympic Park Stadium in addition to an estimated TV audience of two billion people worldwide.- Composer
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
- Soundtrack
Masters of Reality is an American rock band formed in 1981 by frontman Chris Goss and guitarist Tim Harrington in Syracuse, New York. The band is sometimes associated with the "Palm Desert Scene", after the first lineup which includes bands like Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age and many other stoner rock and "desert rock" bands. The band is named after the album Master of Reality by Black Sabbath.- Music Department
- Soundtrack
BadBadNotGood is known for Project Power (2020), Birds of Prey (2020) and Everything, Everything (2017).- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. The band has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling bands. In 1998, select members of Fleetwood Mac were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has consisted of Eddie Vedder (lead vocals), Mike McCready (lead guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar) and Jeff Ament (bass). The band's fifth member is drummer Matt Cameron (also of Soundgarden), who has been with the band since 1998. To date, the band has sold nearly 32 million records in the United States and an estimated 60 million worldwide.Pearl Jam has outlasted and outsold many of its contemporaries from the alternative rock breakthrough of the early 1990s, and is considered one of the most influential bands of that decade. Pearl Jam was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 7, 2017.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
- Music Artist
- Composer
- Actor
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles, California by drummer Lars Ulrich and vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield, and has been based in San Francisco, California for most of its career. The group's fast tempos, instrumentals and aggressive musicianship made them one of the founding "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer.- Composer
- Soundtrack
Dave Brubeck Quartet is known for Baby Driver (2017), Inland Empire (2006) and Silver Linings Playbook (2012).- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Electronic metal band formed in Germany in 1993. Initiated by former 'Orgasm Death Gimmick' guitarist Richard Kruspe along with guitarist Paul Landers, keyboardist Christian Flake Lorenz [the two both ex-Feeling B], drummer Christoph Schneider, bassist Oliver Riedel and ex-champion swimmer Till Lindemann at vocals. Their first song, "Rammstein", was about a crash incident during a airshow. They keep the name and were signed by label Motor in Germany. After a couple of hit singles in their home country, they released a first album, "Herzeleid", in 1995. The next year, David Lynch licensed two "Rammstein" songs for the soundtrack of his movie Lost Highway (1997). Before that, the band never released a track in America. In 1997, the second album "Sehnsucht" went on to surprisingly sell over half a million copies in the United States. The hit "Du Hast" played in German on the radio even if "Rammstein" recorded an English version of the song. They released live video and album "Live Aus Berlin" in 1999 and hit back in 2001 with the long-awaited album "Mutter".- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist Mike Dirnt. For much of the band's career, they have been a trio with drummer Tré Cool, who replaced John Kiffmeyer in 1990 prior to the recording of the band's second studio album, Kerplunk (1991). Green Day has sold more than 85 million records worldwide. The group has won five Grammy Awards: Best Alternative Album for Dookie, Best Rock Album for American Idiot, Record of the Year for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", Best Rock Album for the second time for 21st Century Breakdown and Best Musical Show Album for American Idiot: The Original Broadway Cast Recording.- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a Canadian Post-Rock collective which originated in Montreal, Quebec in 1994. After releasing their first album (F* A**) in 1997, they went on tour every year from 1998 to 2002. In 2003, they announced that band members' interest in music was uncertain as a result of shifting to different genres. The group reunited for a tour in 2010, although rumors spread that the group would break up. In 2012, they performed at the Coachella Valley festival.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor discography:
F* A** Released: 14 August 1997 (vinyl), June 1998 (Compact Disc)
Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven Released: 9 October 2000
Yanqui U.X.O. Released: 4 November 2002
'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! Released: 1 October 2012
Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress Released: 31 March 2015
Luciferian Towers Released: 22 September 2017- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
The Animals was a British rock band that started out as The Alan Price Combo and aimed for a hard blues/R&B sound. They changed their name when Eric Burdon joined the band in 1962. Their second single, "House of the Rising Sun", hit #1 on both the British and American charts in 1964. They had a string of solid hits over the next few years, but started to drift away from their original blues roots, and the band broke up in 1966. Burdon reformed it some time later, re-naming it Eric Burdon & The Animals. The band went further away from its blues roots and got into the "flower power" and acid-rock scene, and scored a hit in that genre in 1967 with "San Francisco Nights" and followed that in 1968 with two more hits, "Monterey" and "Sky Pilot", but broke up for the last time late in 1968. Burdon went on to form the group War.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Kyuss was an American rock band, formed in Palm Desert, California, in 1987 by Josh Homme (guitar), John Garcia (vocals), Brant Bjork (drums) and Chris Cockrell (bass). After releasing an EP under the name Sons of Kyuss in 1990, the band shortened its name to Kyuss and recruited Nick Oliveri, replacing Cockrell as bassist. Over the next five years the band released four full-length albums, and one last split EP in 1997 as Kyuss and the newly formed Queens of the Stone Age.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Producer
Alice in Chains is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney. Since its formation, Alice in Chains has released five studio albums. Their debut album, Facelift, featuring the hit single "Man In The Box", was released in 1990 and has been certified double-platinum by the RIAA, selling over two million copies. In 1992, the band's second album, Dirt, was released to critical acclaim and was certified quadruple platinum.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Foo Fighters is an American rock band, formed in Seattle, Washington in 1994. It was founded by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of Nirvana after the death of Kurt Cobain. The group got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War II, which were known collectively as "foo fighters". Over the course of the band's career, four of its albums have won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album. As of 2015, the band have sold 12 million copies in the United States alone.- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Funkadelic is known for Friday Night Lights (2004), Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) and Slender Man (2018).- Music Artist
- Composer
- Music Department
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock band founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. The band released two influential albums during the 1990s-The Downward Spiral (1994) and The Fragile (1999)-and has record sales exceeding 20 million copies worldwide, with 10 million sales certified in the United States alone. They have released a total of nine studio albums and has received two Grammy Awards in 1992 and 1995.- Composer
- Actor
- Music Department
Garbage is a Scottish-American alternative rock band formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1993. It consists of Scottish musician Shirley Manson (vocals, guitar) and American musicians Duke Erikson (guitar, keyboards), Steve Marker (guitar) and Butch Vig (percussion). All four members are involved in songwriting and production. Garbage have sold over 17 million albums worldwide.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
System of a Down is an Armenian-American alternative heavy metal band from Glendale, California, formed in 1994. They have released five studio albums and has sold over 40 million records worldwide. System of a Down's music style is highly unorthodox, where they use a wide range of instruments, and their lyrics are often political.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, that was formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist/backing vocalist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe. R.E.M. was pivotal in the creation and development of the alternative rock genre. In 2007, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. R.E.M. disbanded in September 2011.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Writer
Cage the Elephant is known for The Bounty Hunter (2010), The Edge of Seventeen (2016) and Hubie Halloween (2020).- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Studio Albums: Iron Maiden (1980) Killers (1981) The Number of the Beast (1982) Piece of Mind (1983) Powerslave (1984) Somewhere in Time (1986) Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988) No Prayer for the Dying (1990) Fear of the Dark (1992) The X Factor (1995) Virtual XI (1998) Brave New World (2000) Dance of Death (2003) A Matter of Life and Death (2006) The Final Frontier (2010) The Book Of Souls (2015)
Current lineup: Bruce Dickinson- lead vocals (1981-1993, 1999-present)
- Music Artist
- Music Department
- Actor
Royal Blood is known for Hellboy (2019), The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015) and Who Am I (2014).- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 as a key player in the original wave of British punk rock. The Clash achieved commercial success in the United Kingdom with the release of their self-titled debut album, The Clash, in 1977. Their third album, London Calling, released in the UK in December 1979, earned them popularity in the United States when it was released there the following month. It was declared the best album of the 1980s a decade later by Rolling Stone.- Composer
- Actor
- Music Department
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are an Australian rock band formed in 2010 in Melbourne, Victoria.The band's current lineup consists of Stu Mackenzie, Ambrose Kenny-Smith, Cook Craig, Joey Walker, Lucas Harwood and Michael Cavanagh. They are known for exploring multiple genres, staging energetic live shows and building a prolific discography, having released 24 studio albums, 15 live albums, 5 compilations, 3 EPs and a remix album.
You see that's what Wikipedia will tell you, but they're honest to god one of the best bands on the planet right now, I don't why you're on IMDb looking up king gizzard, there's a great community of gizz heads out there, but just go and listen to them already!- Producer
- Director
- Actor
- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Punk Rock band formed in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, USA, in 1974. They are known as one of the pioneers of the punk rock sound. All the band members have adopted the fake surname "Ramone" alongside their stage name. School friends John Cummings (Johnny Ramone ) and Thomas Erdelyi (Tommy Ramone ) were together in a band called "Tangerine Puppets" between 1966-1967. They befriended Douglas Colvin (Dee Dee Ramone ) and former glam rock band "Sniper" lead singer, Jeffrey Hyman (Joey Ramone ). In 1974, John (lead guitar) and Douglas (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) invited Jeffrey to join them to form a band as a drummer. Douglas soon change to bass guitar and adopted the stage name of Dee Dee Ramone inspired by a 50's gangsters film, with brothers who shared the same last name. He convinced his band mates to adopt the same surname. They became Johnny Ramone, Joey Ramone and the band Ramones. Dee Dee realized he couldn't sing and play the bass so Joey took the lead singing. But he also realized he couldn't sing and play the drums, so he quit the drums and became the lead singer, as Dee Dee continued to count each song's tempo, originating the Ramones trademark "1, 2, 3, 4!" shout between songs. Thomas Erdelyi was working as the band's manager, and while the band was auditioning drummers, he often demonstrate to the candidates how to play the drums. It was natural he became the new drummer, as Tommy Ramone. Ramones first gig was on March 30, 1974, at Performance Studios. They debuted on renowned club CBGB on August 16, 1974. Their fast sound and lanky look cause a great impact on the audience, and soon they became regular performers at CBGB. In 1975 they signed a record contract with Sire Records, and their debut album, "Ramones", was released on April, 1976. The longest song lasted 2 1/2 minutes, another characteristic from Ramones, fast and short songs, full of energy. The album wasn't a commercial success, but after a brief tour in England (where they meet members of Sex Pistols and The Clash ), their live performances outside New York began to be very successful. In 1977 they released two more albums: "Leave Home" and "Rocket to Russia". In early 1978, Tommy Ramone quit his drummer position, exhausted of touring. He didn't leave the band, though, staying as their record producer under his real name, Erdelyi. Former Richard Hell & The Voidoids drummer, Mark Bell, enters as Marky Ramone on drums. With the new line up, they recorded their fourth album, "Road to Ruin", which includes one of their most popular songs, "I Wanna Be Sedated". Ramones debuted on the screen with Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979), from producer Roger Corman. Record producer Phil Spector got interested in the band and produced their 1980 album "End of the Century". The band had serious disagreements with Spector, though the album was the most successful on charts. They keep recording and playing live. In 1983, drummer Marky Ramone leaves the band, because of alcohol abuse. He was replaced by Richard Reinhardt (Richie Ramone ), who contributed with songwriting and lead vocals. After 4 years, he quit the band because he never receive money for merchandising selling. He was briefly replaced by Blondie drummer Clem Burke. It didn't work, and Marky Ramone, who was sober, returned to his position. With Marky's return the Ramones started to record their 11th studio album, "Brain Dead", but soon Dee Dee Ramone quit the band. The bass parts were recorded by other musicians and the album released in 1989. Christopher Ward enters as the new bass player under the stage name "C.J. Ramone". In 1992 the band released "Mondo Bizarro" and embarked in a world tour. They released the covers album "Acid Eaters" in 1993. Ramones released their last studio album, "¡Adios Amigos!" in 1995, followed by a world tour and a farewell tour in USA as part of the Lollapalooza Festival. Their final gig was on August 6, 1996 at The Palace, in Hollywood, CA.