Deer Tick (2) 395 views 0 favorites Deer Tick is an American alternative rock band from Providence, Rhode Island composed of singer-songwriter John McCauley, guitarist Ian O'Neil, bassist Chris Ryan, drummer Dennis Ryan and keyboard player Rob Crowell.
The band's music has been described as rock with folk, blues, and country influences, although the band actively rebel against the country tag, stating "We're proud not to sing with a twang". The band regularly perform cover versions in their live sets, including songs by the likes of The Replacements, Nirvana, John Prine, Hank Williams, Warren Zevon and Sonny West. They have also performed entire sets as Deervana, a Nirvana tribute band including a show in September 2013 to mark the 20th anniversary of the band's third album In Utero.
McCauley explained that inspiration for the name Deer Tick came whilst hiking in the Morgan-Monroe State Forest near Bloomington, Indiana in Summer 2005, where he found a deer tick on his scalp one evening having never come into contact with one before, despite having frequently gone camping and fishing as a child. He claimed he was unaware of the bands Deerhoof and Deerhunter until after he had named his band.
History:
Deer Tick began in December 2004 as a duo called My Other Face, a vehicle for John McCauley's songwriting. Having previously played in high school bands Kadaver (his first band in which he played bass and exposed himself during their first gig), El Toro and Metro Savages, McCauley changed direction from the heavier rock music he had grown up with after discovering Hank Williams.
Playing their first gig at The Growroom in Providence, the duo regularly gigged across Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York with the likes of Chris Paddock, Jana Hunter and Diego Perez. Having parted ways with drummer Paul Marandola, McCauley dropped the My Other Face name and toured across the US in May 2005 with Viking Moses. Whilst holding down menial jobs including as a movie projectionist and a waiter at a Chinese restaurant, McCauley continued touring the country with Miranda Stokes, Mandarin Dynasty and Nat Baldwin.
After a year of touring and selling his music on CD-Rs, he returned to Providence with a newfound confidence and songs including "Dirty Dishes", "Art Isn't Real (City Of Sin)" and "Ashamed". Up until mid 2007 McCauley was the only official member of the band, instead opting to play with a revolving cast of musicians including keyboard player James Falzone and drummer Paul Marandola. With the desire to make Deer Tick a real band, in April 2007 he asked GRSHN Lifestyle and 14 Foot 1 drummer Dennis Ryan from neighbouring Pawtucket, Rhode Island to join, who instantly agreed. McCauley had previously tried to get Dennis' half brother Chris Ryan, an old high school friend and local bass player who had played with Stefan Couture And The Campfire Orchestra, to join the band full-time, but he had been unable to join due to finishing off a music degree at Providence College. Following a nationwide tour and having finished his degree, Chris Ryan finally joined.
The band released their debut album War Elephant on September 4, 2007 via Jana Hunter's Houston based Feow! Records. Recorded prior to the arrival of Dennis and Chris Ryan, neither appear on the album, with McCauley playing most of the instruments with help from Brian McOmber from Dirty Projectors, Nat Baldwin and James Falzone. The album featured These Old Shoes, a cover of a song by Chris Paddock. After the initial CD run sold out by January 2008 and a dispute over royalty payments arose, the album was left out of print, leaving the band touring with no proper copies of the album to sell. McCauley would sometimes burn copies of the album on CD-R to sell at gigs.
In August 2008, the three piece expanded their lineup with lead guitarist Andrew Tobiassen, from Florida. In September 2008, the band recorded their second album Born on Flag Day at Yellow House Studios in Baltimore, Maryland and signed to Partisan Records after the label's owner Tim Putnam saw the band play at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn and offered them a record deal a few weeks later at a gig in Providence.
Partisan first re-released War Elephant on November 11, 2008, with Born on Flag Day released on June 23, 2009. The album received wide critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone proclaiming it the "Country-Rock break-through of the Year". The band continued to tour the US extensively, and eventually toured Europe. McCauley felt that whilst listeners didn't have to listen to his "hack drumming and bass playing" as on War Elephant, the band were underrehearsed and that the album was rushed.
In January 2009, the band entered Black Dirt Studios in upstate New York with producer Jason Meagher to record every song they had left that was unrecorded for the band "see what we could make out of it". The first release from the sessions was the More Fuel for the Fire EP and included the Andrew Tobiassen written and sung song Dance Of Love. The second release from the sessions was the band's third album The Black Dirt Sessions, released on June 8, 2010. Springfield, Massachusetts native and former Titus Andronicus and La Guillotine guitarist Ian O'Neil joined the band in June 2009, expanding the lineup to five, and added rhythm guitar to several songs during the later recording sessions. Lead guitarist Andrew Tobiassen amicably left the band to pursue his own music prior to the end of the sessions. Chris Ryan revealed that he believed the album "gels more than Born on Flag Day. I think we all mean it more. We're all a lot more comfortable with what we're doing". McCauley added that he had "kind of grown to hate War Elephant and Flag Day knowing how much ass this new one kicks".
On June 16, 2010, Deer Tick made their network television debut on the Late Show with David Letterman. Although the appearance came only a week after the new album was released, Deer Tick didn't perform anything from The Black Dirt Sessions, and instead chose to play a song from their debut album: "Baltimore Blues No. 1". Renowned British music journalist and editor Allan Jones wrote in UNCUT Magazine that "Deer Tick noisily essayed the kind of rock 'n' roll you don't hear these days as often as you'd maybe like, the sort that lights up everything around it like a burning house, and feel inclined therefore to cheer until you're hoarse when you do". The band signed a deal with French label Fargo Records to distribute all three albums throughout the United Kingdom and Europe. In July 2010, keyboard player Rob Crowell joined the band after becoming a fan of the band and supporting the band on tour whilst playing in Arkansas-born singer-songwriter Christopher Denny's backing band. A multi-instrumentalist from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, Crowell had previously worked with musicians from various genres including the likes of Willie Nile, Matt Mays and Doug Riley and produced an album by Gloryhound. McCauley commented when Crowell joined "he was talented in a schooled kind of way".
Having previously debuted the project at the previous years South By Southwest festival, McCauley released his collaboration with Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit and Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes in the form of the self-titled Middle Brother album in March 2011.
On October 24, 2011 the band released their fourth album Divine Providence. Produced by Cosmic Thug production duo Adam Landry and Justin Collins, the album was the first to feature the current and definitive lineup of the band and displayed a louder and rawer sound than previous releases, with the band aiming to capture "the raw and spontaneous kerosene blaze" of their live show admitting that they "just kind of got sick of hearing the words indie-folk and shit like that". The album saw the band compared to The Kinks, The Rolling Stones and The Replacements. A secret track was included in the form of Mr Cigarette written by The Replacements' Paul Westerberg. Although the band were told by his manager that Westerberg had written the song especially for the band, it had previously been released as part of a 30 minute download "Grandpaboy's Last Stand" the previous year. The album was also the first to feature songs written and sung by other members, Walkin Out the Door and Now It's Your Turn by O'Neil and Clownin Around by Dennis Ryan, a song written about and from the perspective of the serial child murderer John Wayne Gacy. The change in direction resulted in a mixed reception from some critics and fans, with McCauley simply stating that it was just the natural evolution of the band and that the previous confusion caused by the gulf between their albums and live shows was "getting kind of old". The band expected some fans to hate it, but McCauley stated that "first and foremost, it's music and the record I wanted to make. Our live shows are really different than our records. So we wanted to get in a room and hit record, just go there". Commenting on the production, McCauley revealed that he actually liked "listening to it. I haven't really gotten there with any previous recordings. It's a lot more accurate as to what we enjoy listening to". The album was named after a "very blasphemous anti-Christian metal song" written by Dennis Ryan which they were going to release later as a split single with a metal band, with McCauley stating that he didn't "want to be stuck just doing one thing ever", but remains unreleased. The album was released in the UK and Europe via Loose Music, who issued the album with the band's US vinyl/digital only EP Tim as a bonus CD. Tim was culled from the same sessions as the album and featured live staple Born At Zero, commenting on the fact that the sessions produced a lot of material O'Neil stated that the band "had two really good producers that got a lot of good stuff out of us without letting us go. We focused a lot on performance".
In December 2011, O'Neil revealed that he along with Dennis Ryan and Titus Andronicus bassist and old school friend Julian Veronesi were working on a project called Dirt Naps. In April 2012, the self-titled debut album by Diamond Rugs, a band formed and co-fronted by McCauley with Hardy Morris of Dead Confederate and Ian Saint Pé of Black Lips, was released. The album also featured Rob Crowell on bass with drummer Bryan Dufresne from Six Finger Satellite and former Los Lobos member Steve Berlin. A second Diamond Rugs album, potentially titled Diamond Rugs II, was recorded during a 9 day recording session in August 2013.
On September 24, 2013 the band released their fifth album Negativity. The album was produced by Steve Berlin and displayed a slicker polished sound than previous releases, with McCauley revealing that Berlin changed the structure of every song he took to the sessions and "doesn't settle for any of that kind of raggedy, kind of charming, first take kind of sound". Crowell added that "Steve had a really large hand in shaping this album" and that "there is a fair bit of layering on the album, but I like it as the keyboardist, because there is more keyboards". The album was preceded by the Ian O'Neil song The Dream's In The Ditch, which was originally intended for his Dirt Naps project. The band performed the song on Conan on September 25, 2013. Many of McCauley's songs on the album were written on piano instead of guitar and were put together whilst on vacation in Namibia and Johannesburg in 2012. The band demoed close to 30 songs for the album, with Berlin picking 12 to work on including a duet with pop singer Vanessa Carlton on In Our Time. McCauley later married Carlton in December 2013 in a ceremony officiated by former Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks The album was influenced by recent events in McCauley's life including his father, a Democrat who represented Providence, pleading guilty to filing false tax returns and conspiring to defraud the federal government of more than $500,000 resulting in a 27 month prison sentence and a $10,000 fine, the death of his uncle Jerry, his wedding engagement to Nikki Kvarnes of Nashville band Those Darlins collapsing due to his drug use and drinking and subsequently getting clean from drugs. The song Mr. Sticks is about family struggles with the title being his father's childhood nickname and Pot Of Gold is a "stream of consciousness recollection of what went through my head and what kinds of misadventures I got myself into when I was doing crack". Throughout 2013, O'Neil and the Ryan brothers played several shows with Ravi Shavi frontman Rafay Rashid in their new side project Happiness.
Def Leppard (1) 282 views 0 favorites Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitars, backing vocals), and Vivian Campbell (guitars, backing vocals). They established themselves as part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement of the early 1980s.
The band's greatest commercial success came between the early 1980s and the early 1990s. Their first album, 1980's On Through the Night, reached the Top 15 in the UK but received little notice elsewhere. Their second album, 1981's High 'n' Dry, was produced by Mutt Lange, who helped them begin to define their melodic, hard rock style, and the album's most popular track "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" became one of the first rock videos played on MTV in 1982, but the album only reached the Top 30 and 40 in the UK and US. Def Leppard's next studio album, Pyromania, was released in January 1983, with "Photograph" and "Rock of Ages" both topping the US Rock Tracks chart and reaching the Top 20 of the Hot 100. Reaching No. 2 on the US album chart, Pyromania was certified Diamond in the US and 7x platinum in Canada and reached the Top 20 in the UK but did not sell much elsewhere.
Def Leppard's fourth album, the more pop-oriented Hysteria (1987), topped the UK, US, New Zealand, Canadian, Australian and Norway charts. It also went to No. 2 in Sweden and No. 10 in Germany without any Top 50 singles in those countries. It has been certified 12× platinum for sales in the US and 13x platinum in Canada, selling over 25 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. The album spawned six Top 20 US singles, including the US Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 "Love Bites" (went Top 10 in several other countries including No. 2 in NZ), alongside "Pour Some Sugar on Me" (US No. 2), "Hysteria", "Armageddon It" (No. 2 in NZ), "Animal" (at No. 6, the biggest UK hit), and "Rocket" (a Top 15 hit in many countries). Hysteria had four Top 10 hits in New Zealand.
Their next studio album, Adrenalize (their first following the death of guitarist Steve Clark), reached No. 1 on the UK, US, NZ, Canadian and Australian charts in 1992, while going Top 10 in Sweden and Germany. It contained several hits, including the US Rock Tracks chart-topper, "Let's Get Rocked", which became their biggest hit in several countries, including No. 2 in the UK, No. 3 in Canada and Switzerland, and the Top 20 in Sweden and Germany. The third single, "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad", was a Top 15 song in the US, UK and Canada. Their 1993 album, Retro Active, contained the acoustic Top 5 North American hit "Two Steps Behind". Their greatest hits album Vault, released in 1995, featured the UK No. 2 hit "When Love & Hate Collide" and reached the Top 10 in several countries, going 5x platinum in the US. Beginning with Slang, Def Leppard released five albums between 1996 and 2008, with most usually reaching the Top 15 in several countries, including the UK, US and Canada. Their most recent album, self-titled, was released in 2015 and once again reached the Top 15 in several countries.
As one of the world's best-selling music artists, Def Leppard have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and have two albums with RIAA diamond certification: Pyromania and Hysteria, making them one of only five rock bands with two original studio albums selling more than 10 million copies in the US. The band were ranked No. 31 in VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" and ranked No. 70 in "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Def Leppard were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.
Deftones (2) 287 views 0 favorites Deftones are an American alternative metal band from Sacramento, California, founded in 1988. The band consists of Chino Moreno (lead vocals and guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Chi Cheng (bass), Frank Delgado (keyboards and turntables), and Abe Cunningham (drums and percussion). As of 2009, Sergio Vega is standing in on bass while Cheng recovers from a car accident. They have released six albums to date, with three Platinum (Adrenaline, White Pony, Around the Fur) and one Gold certification (for the self-titled album).
When Carpenter was 15 years old, he was hit by a car while skateboarding. Confined to a wheelchair for several months, he began teaching himself guitar by playing along to bands such as Anthrax, Stormtroopers of Death, and Metallica. Supposedly, the driver paid Carpenter a cash settlement that allowed the band to purchase equipment, but Cunningham commented in an interview that was all just "a myth about how our band was started." Carpenter, Moreno, and Cunningham were friends from their childhood. All three went to McClatchy High School in Sacramento and remained friends through the city's skateboarding scene. When Moreno found out Carpenter played guitar, he set up a jam session with Cunningham, who played drums, and the three began playing regularly in Carpenter's garage circa 1988. After playing with several bassists, the band acquired Chi Cheng and recorded a four track demo soon after. Within two years, the band began playing club shows and later expanded their playing territory to San Francisco and Los Angeles, where they played shows alongside bands such as Korn. While closing for another band in L.A., after the majority of the audience had left, the band impressed a Maverick Records representative.
Delerium (1) 188 views 0 favoritesAdded via contribution Delerium is a Canadian musical group that formed in 1987, originally as a side project of the influential industrial music act, Front Line Assembly. Throughout the band’s history, their musical style has encompassed a broad range, including dark ethereal ambient trance, voiceless industrial soundscapes, and electronic pop music. They are best known for their worldwide hit, "Silence" which featured vocals from Sarah McLachlan. The song been hailed as one of the greatest trance songs of all time, over a decade after its initial release,
Delerium has traditionally been a two-person project, but the only constant member throughout its history has been Bill Leeb. Leeb was a guest musician and early supporter of industrial dance pioneers Skinny Puppy, but after he left in 1986 he went on to create his own project, Front Line Assembly with collaborator Michael Balch. Later, the two worked on the side project Delerium and released their first album, Faces, Forms & Illusions. After Balch left both Front Line Assembly and Delerium, Leeb worked with Rhys Fulber, and the two released several albums under the Delerium moniker; these years saw a gradual stylistic change from darker ambient to a more danceable sound. After the release of Karma, Fulber left to pursue other interests, and Leeb teamed up with producer Chris Peterson to release Poem. 2003, however, saw the reunion of Leeb and Fulber for the release of Chimera, followed by Nuages du Monde in 2006.
In contrast to Leeb and collaborators' other projects, Delerium has included several guest vocalists since the release of Semantic Spaces. These have included mostly women, such as Kristy Thirsk, Sarah McLachlan, Leigh Nash (of Sixpence None the Richer), Elsieanne Caplette (of Elsiane), Lisa Gerrard (sampled only), Jaël (of Swiss band Lunik), Camille Henderson, Nerina Pallot, Emily Haines (of Metric), Jacqui Hunt (of Single Gun Theory), Isabel Bayrakdarian and Shelley Harland. Other than Leeb, only three males have contributed vocals to a Delerium album: Matthew Sweet ("Daylight", on Poem), Greg Froese ("Apparition", on Nuages du Monde), and Michael Logen ("Days Turn Into Nights", on the newest release Music Box Opera); in addition, the noted griot Baaba Maal was sampled ("Awakenings, on "Spiritual Archives").
The Mediæval Bæbes provided the vocal track for, and starred in the video of, Aria; the vocals are an adapted version of the vocals from "All Turns to Yesterday" on the Bæbes' Worldes Blysse album. They are also featured on two tracks from Delerium's 2006 album, Nuages du Monde.
Although it may be argued that Front Line Assembly has the largest cult following of all Leeb and associates projects, Delerium is undoubtedly the most financially successful. In addition to these two mainstays, related projects of the Leeb, Fulber, Peterson, Balch family include Equinox, Intermix, Noise Unit, Pro-Tech, and Synæsthesia, among others. In addition, in 2007 Leeb and Fulber collaborated with Leigh Nash under the name Fauxliage, also Rhys Fulber maintains his solo project Conjure One since his temporary exit from Delerium.
Delilah (1) 292 views 0 favorites "Delilah" is an urban singer-songwriter from London, UK. "Delilah" Paloma Ayana Stoecker (born 23 September 1990), who records under the mononym Delilah, is a British singer-songwriter. Born in Paris, France, Delilah moved to Hackney, London, England at an early age where she later attended City and Islington College. After sending demos to Island Records she caught the attention of industry executives at major record labels and signed to Atlantic Records at the age of seventeen.
Demi (0) 117 views 0 favorites
Demi Lovato (2) 384 views 0 favorites Demetria Devonne "Demi" Lovato (born August 20, 1992) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, actress, and anti-bullying spokesperson. She is also involved in philanthropic activities through charity work and various social and environmental causes. Lovato's earliest roles included Angela on Barney & Friends before rising to prominence as a starring cast member in the 2008 film Camp Rock. In 2009, Lovato received her own television sitcom, Sonny with a Chance, and was a starring cast member in the film Princess Protection Program.
Lovato's debut studio album, Don't Forget, was released on September 23, 2008. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 selling 89,000 copies in the first week. It has since shipped over 500,000 copies, earning a Gold certification in the United States. Her second album, Here We Go Again, was released on July 21, 2009. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 108,000 copies in the first week. Lovato's third studio album, Unbroken, was released on September 20, 2011 and debuted at number four on the Billboard 200. She is working on her fourth studio album.
In 2012, Lovato was hired as a judge on the second season of the American version of The X Factor.
Denki Groove (1) 304 views 0 favorites Denki Groove (Japanese: 電気グルーヴ, denki gurūvu, lit. "electric groove") is a Japanese electronic music group influenced by western breakbeat, disco, hardcore, hip hop, hip house, rave and techno. Current members are Fumitoshi Ishino (Takkyu Ishino) and Masanori Taki (Pierre Taki). Former members are Yoshinori Sunahara and Jun Kitagawa.
Their works are particularly famous in Germany, where a handful of singles as well as solo releases from Ishino have been published, and Denki Groove are regularly booked for live performances and DJ sets for the Mayday festival.
Their early works have a focus more on pop sensibilities, and with later releases their style evolved through several types of electronic dance music, though often with many asides in unrelated genres. Recent work has largely been German-style techno. Their lyrics are often tongue-in-cheek and sometimes quite bizarre.
Dennis De Laat (1) 274 views 0 favorites Dennis De Laat (real name DennisChristopher) started his journey in the world of house began in 1992. He fell in love with the energy of the first tracks that rocked his stereo. He knew this was his thing, right there and then... Dennis started playing at a lot of parties and clubs and learnt the tricks of the trade.
Nowadays Dennis travels a lot around the globe to perform in countries like: South Africa, Monaco, France, Germany, Russia, Philippines, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Turkey and more.
Dennis Christopher has been producing since 2000. In 2005 he hooked up with Mark Simmons and signed a new record deal with Spinnin' Records. It turned out to be one of his best moves yet. His tracks have been released on Onestar Records (Erick E), Ministry Of Sound (UK), Boss (UK), Data (UK), Spinnin' (NL), Tiger (DE) and Net's Work.
His remixing skills have also been in high demand. Dennis Christopher has done remixes for Sugababes, Rihanna, Michael Gray, Supermode, Sharam, Scarlett Fantastic, MIKA, Antoine Clamaran, Rachel Starr and Stonebridge.
Deorro (1) 321 views 0 favorites DEORRO (Formally known as TONIC), a Los Angeles native who grew up in West Covina, is one of the top young upcoming producer/DJ's in the music industry. At the age of 14, DEORRO began his DJ career by playing at local gigs and house party's. By the age of 17, DEORRO was already producing his own tracks. After a few years, DEORRO was considered a Soundcloud sensation and sold out international events in Australia twice under the name TONIC. With the help of his unique style of fusing progressive and electro dutch music together, his music has spread rapidly across the globe, and has over 1 million downloads on the web overall. In 2011, DEORRO reached over 20,000 followers & had over 1.5 million plays on Soundcloud. DEORRO has also been on the Top daily charts for Soundcloud numerous times. In late 2011, DEORRO signed one of his most popular tracks "Big Fat" to BIP Records which expanded his fan base world wide. One of DEORRO biggest accomplishments was making Beatport Top 20 in Electro House. DEORRO has gained support from big names such as Laidback Luke, Tiesto, Kaskade, Porter Robinson, Bingo Players, Knife Party, Afrojack, Chuckie, Sidney Samson, Steve Aoki, Dillon Francis, Alvin Risk,Cazzette, Peace Treaty and many more. In 2012, DEORRO was added as a supporting act on a US Tour selling out shows in different states and rapidly gaining fans. DEORRO also went on a Australia Tour, selling out shows in Melbourne & Sydney. DEORRO was given the opportunity to close out the main stage at Good Life Festival 2012 in Melbourne Australia right after Skrillex & Steve Angello which held over 30,000 people, it was the outstanding and unforgettable performance that people still talk about till this day. One thing is certain, DEORRO is a one of a kind act that comes around once every generation. His unique sounds, and style definitely make him a Must-See Act. Keep an eye out for this talented individual that will soon make headlines and the biggest impact in the EDM industry.
Depeche Mode (17) 1818 views 0 favorites Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan (lead vocals, occasional songwriter since 2005), Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, vocals, chief songwriter after 1981), Andy Fletcher (keyboards) and Vince Clarke (keyboards, chief songwriter 1980-81). Vince Clarke left the band after the release of their 1981 debut album, Speak & Spell, and was replaced by Alan Wilder (keyboards, drums, occasional songwriter) with Gore taking over songwriting. Wilder left the band in 1995; Gahan, Gore, and Fletcher have since continued as a trio.
Depeche Mode's origins date back to 1977, when schoolmates Vince Clarke and Andy Fletcher formed a The Cure-influenced band called No Romance in China, with Clarke on vocals and guitar and Fletcher on bass. Fletcher would later recall, "Why am I in the band? It was accidental right from the beginning. I was actually forced to be in the band. I played the guitar and I had a bass; it was a question of them roping me in." In 1979, Clarke played guitar in an "Ultravox rip-off band", The Plan, with friends Robert Marlow and Paul Langwith. In 1978–79, Martin Gore played guitar in an acoustic duo, Norman and The Worms, with school friend Phil Burdett on vocals. In 1979, Marlow, Gore, and friend Paul Redmond formed a band called The French Look, with Marlow on vocals/keyboards, Gore on guitar and Redmond on keyboards. In March 1980, Clarke, Gore and Fletcher formed a band called Composition of Sound, with Clarke on vocals/guitar, Gore on keyboards and Fletcher on bass.
Soon after the formation of Composition of Sound, Clarke and Fletcher switched to synthesisers, working odd jobs in order to buy or borrow the instruments from friends. Dave Gahan joined the band in 1980 after Clarke heard him perform at a local scout hut jam session, singing to a rendition of David Bowie's "Heroes", and Depeche Mode were born. When explaining the choice for the new name taken from a French fashion magazine, Dépêche mode (from French dépêche that means here "dispatch" - from Old French despesche/despeche - or "news report" and mode that means "fashion"), Martin Gore said, "It means hurried fashion or fashion dispatch. I like the sound of that." Gore recollects that the first time the band played as Depeche Mode was a school gig in May 1980. The band made their recording debut in 1980 on the Some Bizzare Album with the song "Photographic", which was later re-recorded for their debut album Speak & Spell.
The band made a demo tape but, instead of mailing the tape to record companies, they would go in and personally deliver it. They would demand the companies play it; according to Dave Gahan, "most of them would tell us to **** off. They'd say 'leave the tape with us' and we'd say 'it's our only one'. Then we'd say goodbye and go somewhere else."
According to Gahan, prior to securing their record contract, they were receiving offers from all the major labels. Phonogram offered them "money you could never have imagined and all sorts of crazy things like clothes allowances".
While playing a live gig at the Bridge House in Canning Town, the band were approached by Daniel Miller, an electronic musician and founder of Mute Records, who was interested in their recording a single for his burgeoning label. The result of this verbal contract was their first single, "Dreaming of Me", recorded in December 1980 and released in February 1981. It reached number 57 in the UK charts. Encouraged by this, the band recorded their second single, "New Life", which climbed to number 11 in the UK charts. The next single was "Just Can't Get Enough". This relentlessly upbeat piece of synthpop became the band's first UK top ten hit and it remains one of their best known songs. It was also the first Depeche Mode song to get a music video and is the only one of the band's videos to feature Vince Clarke. Depeche Mode's debut album, Speak & Spell, was released in November 1981 and peaked at number ten on the UK album charts. Critical reviews were mixed – Melody Maker described it as a "great album... one they had to make to conquer fresh audiences and please the fans who just can’t get enough", while Rolling Stone was more critical, calling the album "PG-rated fluff".
Des'ree (1) 50 views 0 favorites Des'ree (born Desirée Annette Weeks, 30 November 1968) is a British R&B recording artist who rose to popularity during the 1990s. She is well known for her hits: "Feel So High", "You Gotta Be", "Life", and "Kissing You" (from the soundtrack of the film William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet). Des'ree has not released any new material since 2003's Dream Soldier. She currently resides in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Des'ree was born in South London, England in 1968. Her mother is from British Guiana (now Guyana), and her father is from Barbados. She was introduced to reggae, calypso and jazz music by her parents, and Des'ree's interest in pursuing a musical career followed a two year trip to Barbados with her family at the age of 11.
Des'ree has released five albums through Sony Music Worldwide; Mind Adventures, I Ain't Movin', Supernatural, Endangered Species and Dream Soldier.
Her first single, "Feel So High', (Mind Adventures) went top 10 in the UK and several other European countries, along with Japan.
In 1994, her single "You Gotta Be" hit the Billboard Hot 100 Top 5, peaking at #5, and was a hit in the UK three times. "You Gotta Be" became the most played music video on VH1 and remained on the Billboard recurrent airplay chart for 80 weeks.
Following the single's success, Des'ree's second album, I Ain't Movin' , sold in excess of 2.5 million copies worldwide. Her success led to an American tour with Seal in 1995. The following year, she contributed the song "Kissing You" to the soundtrack of the film William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet.
In 1997, her single "Crazy Maze" was featured on the soundtrack of the movie Nothing to Lose with Tim Robbins and Martin Lawrence.
In 1998, her single "Life" became a hit in Europe, reaching no1 in many countries, along with Japan. In 1999, she won a BRIT Award for the British Female Solo Artist category. The album from which the single was taken, "Supernatural", was also released in 1998 to mostly positive reviews. It was somewhat successful in the UK, But was a commercial flop in the United States. In 2007, the song "Life" also notably won a BBC poll for "Worst Pop Lyrics Ever".
Sony released Dream Soldier in 2003. The album released one single, "It's Okay", Which peaked in the UK at number 69. The single did not chart in the U.S. The video was shot in London's Notting Hill. "Dream Soldier" was not a critical or commercial success. Des'ree was subsequently dropped by her label, Sony/550 Music, following the release of the album in late 2003.
Des'ree has also performed various duets, including "Fire" with Babyface (part of the soundtrack for the independent film, Hav Plenty), "Plenty Lovin" with Steve Winwood and "Delicate" with Terence Trent D'Arby.
Desiigner (1) 255 views 0 favorites "Desiigner" . Sidney Royel Selby III (born May 3, 1997), better known by his stage name Desiigner, is an American hip hop recording artist from Brooklyn, New York. He rose to prominence after the release of his debut single "Panda", which later reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. In February 2016, rapper and producer Kanye West (who sampled "Panda" for his seventh album The Life of Pablo), announced Desiigner's signing to his GOOD Music imprint, under the aegis of Def Jam Recordings.
Desiigner's musical style is influenced by southern hip hop, namely trap music which originated in Atlanta, Georgia. His rapping technique and vocals have been compared to that of Atlanta-based rapper Future.
Detach (1) 275 views 0 favorites
Dev (1) 238 views 0 favorites Devin Star Tailes (born July 2, 1989), better known as Dev, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. She was discovered by the record label, Indie-Pop, and The Cataracs via Myspace after her friend Shane Crislip, posted her singing to some beats. Dev's song "Booty Bounce" was sampled in Far East Movement's hit single "Like a G6" which reached number 1 in the US, and sold over three million downloads in the country. Dev was signed to Universal Republic in October 2010, and released her debut single "Bass Down Low" in November 16, 2010. Dev was scheduled to release her debut album The Night the Sun Came Up on September 5, 2011. The album was pushed back and was released in the United States on March 27, 2012. The second single, "In the Dark", peaked at number 11 in the US chart, making it her most successful solo single to date. Dev is currently working on her second studio album and is scheduled for release in 2013.