Brand New Heavies(abreviado BNH) es un grupo británico deacid jazzy hip hop alternativo, fundado en 1985 enEaling, enLondres. Originalmente un grupo instrumental de rare groove, BNH adquirió gran reputación en la escena de los clubes londinienses y muy pronto firmó con Cooltempo en el momento en que el acid house comenzaba a sustituir al rare groove en las salas demúsica.
Los miembros principales del grupo son Jan Kincaid, N´Dea Davenport, Simon Bartholomew y Andrew Levy. The Brand New Heavies escogió su nombre después de la firma de su primer contrato de registro, inspirándose en la carátula de un sencillo de James Brown, donde estaba escrito: "Minister of New Super Heavy Funk".
Erja Lyytinen(born July 7, 1976 in Kuopio, Finland) is a Finnish vocalist, guitarist and songwriter.
Erja Lyytinen began playing the guitar when she was 15 years old. Around the same time, she started writing her own songs. In high school, she performed with various projects, one of them being a soul-influenced Brothers & Sisters band, in which she was the singer. At the time she was influenced heavily by artists like Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. Later on, she found the music of Koko Taylor, and she mentions one of her favourite songs from Taylor was the piece "I'm A Woman" from The Earthshaker album. She also mentions Bonnie Raitt as a great influence.
Throughout 1997 Lyytinen spent a year in Sweden studying in Malmö Musikhögskolan as an exchange student. After that, she moved back to Finland to study music education at Sibelius Academy. At the time she was the first woman to study electric guitar as a major at that institution.
Lyytinen took part in Finland's MTV3 channel's series called Kulkuri ja Kaunottaret (The Rover and The Beauties) in 1999. There she worked as a bandleader and as a lead guitarist. The music on the program was mainly based around the style of Finnish schlager music. Many famous Finnish artists of that genre performed on the series.
Attention!, Lyytinen's first album was published with "Dave's Special" band in 2002. The songs on the album were mostly danceable jump and swing blues numbers and were for the most part written by Lyytinen herself.
Albert Joseph Brown III (born June 4, 1968), known professionally asAl B. Sure!, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, radio host and former record executive. He was born in Boston and raised in Mount Vernon, New York. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Brown was one of new jack swing's most popular romantic singers, songwriters and record producers.
Brown is the son of Albert Joseph Brown II, a nuclear medical technician, and Cassandra Brown, an accountant. Brown was a star football quarterback at Mount Vernon High School in New York, who rejected an athletic scholarship to the University of Iowa to pursue a music career. In 1987, Quincy Jones selected Brown as the first winner of the Sony Innovators Talent Search. He went on to work with Jones on several projects, most notably the platinum 1990 single "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)" from Jones' double-platinum-certified album Back on the Block. On this recording, Brown was one of a quartet with Barry White, El DeBarge, and James Ingram.
Brown's 1988 debut album In Effect Mode sold more than three million copies, topping the BillboardR&Bchart for seven straight weeks. It included the single "Nite and Day," which topped the R&B chart and reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Off on Your Own (Girl)", which also topped the R&B chart. He received numerous Grammy and American Music Award (AMA) nominations, and won an AMA for Best New R&B Artist. He also received several Soul Train Award nominations, and won the award for Best New Artist. Brown also won several New York Music Awards. In addition, his 1–900 phone line was third in generating revenue, following those for New Kids on the Block and Run-D.M.C.
As a writer and producer, Brown introduced to the music industry such multi-platinum acts as Jodeci and teen R&B performer Tevin Campbell (who was also one of Prince's and Quincy Jones' former protégés), as well as Faith Evans, Dave Hollister, Case and Usher.
In 2009, Brown signed with Hidden Beach Recordings. His first single for the label, "I Love It (Papi Aye, Aye, Aye)," entered the Radio & Records Urban AC chart at No. 33. The album Honey, I'm Home was released on June 23, 2009.
In 1991, Brown co-starred with Martin Lawrence in a television pilot titled Private Times.
In 2000, Brown's ABS Entertainment launched a television development division, and he served as co-executive producer of an HBO Comedy Special starring Jamie Foxx, filmed at the Paramount Theater in Oakland, California. Then, Brown teamed with the ABC Radio Network to produce and host a romantically themed nighttime music program, The Secret Garden, featuring a blend of music and celebrity guests.
Brown participated in Bless the Children Foundation's celebrity auction along with NFL stars Charles Woodson and Anthony Dorsett. He was presented with the key to the city of Oakland by city council member Laurence E. Reid in recognition of the participation of Brown's ABS Ken-Struk-Shen in refurbishing parts of the city. Reid proclaimed October 19 Al B. Sure! Day. Brown was a DJ on the Los Angeles radio station KHHT, and played old-school hip hop and R&B. He currently hosts a daily morning-radio show on iHeart Radio.
In July 2019, Brown became the new host of Urban One's nationally syndicated evening quiet storm/slow jams program Love and R&B, replacing the previous host, John Monds. The show, syndicated through Urban One subsidiary Reach Media and based in Dallas, Texas, is heard on urban adult contemporary format radio stations such as WZAK in Cleveland, WMMJ in Washington, KZMJ in Dallas, and WDMK in Detroit among others.
Rod Thomas (stage name Bright Light Bright Light) is a Welshindependent singer-songwriter, based in New York. Bright Light Bright Light incorporates many elements of nu-disco into his music, also branching into synthpop, dance and house music. Two of his albums have reached the top 20 on the UK Independent Albums Chart.
Thomas grew up in a small village near Neath, Wales, and learned several instruments as a child, including piano. His first forays into music were more folk-based, led by acoustic guitar with, due to a lack of equipment, minimal beats around it. Thomas later stated his dalliance with folk was due to his lack of knowledge with production techniques, and that he was always drawn to house and synthpop. He left Wales to take a place reading English literature and creative writing at Warwick University, then made the move to London. In London he set up a studio at home, and spent rush hours busking busy London tube stations. In 2009, he sent demo tracks to American producer Boom Bip, resulting in Thomas being invited to Los Angeles for two weeks to collaborate on tracks. Thomas stated Boom Bip's production on the song "A New Word to Say" helped him find "my sound".
Thomas released "Love Part II", his first single under the name Bright Light Bright Light, in 2010 on the Popjustice Hi-Fi label. Thomas chose the name Bright Light Bright Light from a quote spoken by the character Gizmo in the 1984 movie Gremlins. 2010 also saw him tour as the support act for Ellie Goulding. The singles "Disco Moment" and "Feel It" followed in 2011 and 2012, and, after appearances at Bestival in the UK and South by South West in the US, he released his debut album Make Me Believe in Hope in 2012.
The album tracks on Make Me Believe in Hope were co-written and produced by Thomas, The Invisible Men and Andy Chatterley. The album features several collaborations, including vocals from Scissor Sisters' guitarist Del Marquis on the track "Cry at Films". Make Me Believe in Hope was released in the UK on 4 June 2012 through independent label Aztec Records, and the album received generally positive reviews from music critics and bloggers, with The Fly magazine noting the album among releases that just missed its annual top 50. The album was voted at number 4 in The Guardian's Reader Choice: Best Albums of 2012. The single "Disco Moment", from the album, was placed on the BBC Radio 1 play list. In June 2012, the album made the final shortlist for the annual Welsh Music Prize, but lost to Future of the Left. 2012 also saw Bright Light Bright Light support Scissor Sisters on four venues of their UK tour.
In 2013, the EP In Your Care was released; followed by "I Wish We Were Leaving", a second single from Thomas' second album, featuring Elton John. Following the latter's release, Thomas toured with Elton John during summer 2014. Bright Light Bright Light's second album Life is Easy was released in the UK on 7 July 2014, charting at No. 139, and was preceded by the single "I Believe" on 29 June. Thomas spent most of 2014 and 2015 touring as the opening act for Elton John in the US, Canada, UK, Europe and Russia, playing 55 shows. He ended 2015 with a short US tour opening for John Grant.
In 2016, Choreography was released, entering the UK Album Chart at No. 72, the Independent Album Breakers chart at No. 1, and the US Billboard Dance / Electronic Album Chart at No. 12. The album features guest appearances by Elton John, Alan Cumming, all Scissor Sisters members and Mykal Kilgore. All guests feature on the album's lead single "All in the Name", which was unveiled in a live performance on Graham Norton's BBC TV show with Elton John on stage with him. The song was added to the Radio 2 B-list playlist and scored Thomas his widest-reaching single to date.
Aside from creating his own music, Thomas runs a daytime dance party in New York (which transfers to London when he is touring) called Romy & Michele's Saturday Afternoon Tea Dance, named after Romy & Michele's High School Reunion, one of his favourite films. The party takes place both in Brooklyn and at Club Cumming, a bar in Manhattan's East Village run by Alan Cumming, who stars in the film that inspired the event.
In 2017, Thomas appeared as an extra in one of his favourite TV series, The League of Gentlemen, in the first episode of their three-part TV return, "Return to Royston Vasey", as a job-seeker in Pauline's restart class. This marked his second time working with actor, director and writer Mark Gatiss, after composing the theme tune for Mark's BBC4 series Queers, created as part of the BBC's cycle "Gay Britannia", to mark the 50th anniversary of the passing of the Sexual Offences Act 1967. The show features interviews with gay characters at the margins of the community. It was broadcast by BBC America in collaboration with AMC Networks.
In 2019, he was picked as the opening act for Cher's European tour, playing nine shows across Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden.
Thomas provided the vocals for the animated intro to the video game Murder by Numbers, which was released on 5 March 2020. Later that month, he released "This Was My House", featuring Madonna's backing singers Niki Haris and Donna De Lory and produced by Initial Talk, as the first song from his fourth album Fun City. The song was described as "a perfect disco song" by Paper Magazine, written about how the LGBTQ+ community's safe spaces have been under attack in recent times, and how, despite the upsurge in anti-LGBTQ+ and xenophobic rhetoric, everybody deserves to feel safe in the place they call home.
Fun City was a number 1 UK Dance Album hit on its release in September 2020 receiving widespread critical acclaim, featuring a slew of LGBTQ+ talent adding their vocals: Brendan Maclean, Jake Shears, Andy Bell of Erasure, Sam Sparro, Caveboy, Niki & Donna, KAYE, The Illustrious Blacks, Big Dipper, Mark Gatiss adding a spoken word piece, and Justin Vivian Bond.
In November 2020, Bright Light Bright Light released a duet with alt-cabaret star Justin Vivian Bond, "Saying Goodbye Is Exhausting". The haunting ballad captures grief in the LGBTQ+ community. It was "released to raise some hope, money and awareness for Trans Awareness Week and World AIDS Day 2020, the official day of release of the EP."
In March 2023, Bright Light Bright Light unveiled "Sweet Release" as the lead single from his upcoming fifth studio album.
Pseudo Echoare an Australiannew waveband that were formed in 1982 by Brian Canham (vocals, guitar, and keyboards), Pierre Gigliotti (bass keyboards and bass guitar), and Tony Lugton (keyboards). Later members included Anthony Argiro (drums), James Leigh (keyboards), and Vince Leigh (drums). In the 1980s, Pseudo Echo had multiple Australian top 20 hits with "Listening", "A Beat for You", "Don't Go", "Love an Adventure", and "Living in a Dream". Their 1986coverof "Funky Town" (originally byLipps Inc.) was an international success, peaking at No. 1 in Australia and New Zealand and becoming a top ten hit in Sweden, Canada, the United States, and in the United Kingdom.
Their 1984 debut album, Autumnal Park, peaked at No. 11 on the Australian Kent Music Report. Love an Adventure followed in 1985 and reached No. 14. Their third album, Race (1988), peaked at No. 18. In 1990, the group disbanded. They reformed in 1998 and released the albums Ultraviolet (2014), Acoustica, and After Party (both 2020). Australian rock music historian Ian McFarlane described the band as "combin[ing] flash clothes, blow-wave hairstyles, youthful exuberance and accessible synth-pop to arrive at a winning combination."
Su canción más conocida a la fecha y más famosa mundialmente es «Take My Breath Away», de la banda sonora de la película Top Gun (1986), con la que ganó el Oscar a mejor canción además de que el film fue nominado a los premios Óscar en 1987.
La banda Berlin fue formado en el Condado de Orange, California en 1979, por John Crawford (compositor de canciones, bajo y sintetizador), la cantante Terri Nunn y David Diamond (sintetizador y guitarra). Otros miembros de la banda incluyeron a Ric Olsen (guitarra), Matt Reid (sintetizador), Rod Learned (batería, 1979-1982) y Rob Brill (batería, 1982-1987). Su estilo estaba encuadrado dentro del naciente Tecno Pop, pop electrónico (o synth pop en inglés).
El álbum debut fue llamado "Information", grabado en 1980 bajo la etiqueta I.R.S. Records, que contuvo su primer sencillo, "A matter of time", al que le siguió "Fascination", temas que no tuvieron mayor éxito. Para esa época Terri Nunn dejó temporalmente la agrupación para iniciar una carrera actoral, siendo reemplazada en aquella ocasión por Virginia Macolino, por casi un año.
Una vez con Nunn de regreso y en busca de mejores condiciones para darse a conocer, fueron fichados por la disquera independiente Enigma Records donde ellos tendrían su primer hit, la polémica canción “Sex (I'm A...)" (1982), que fue prohibida por algunas emisoras de radio debido a su letra demasiado explícita.
Para el inicio del verano de 1983 (30/05/83), Berlin apareció en uno de los tres días de conciertos del sur de California conocido como el “U.S. Festival”, junto con Missing Persons, David Bowie, The Pretenders, U2, Quarterflash, Stevie Nicks y varios otros artistas reconocidos.
En ese mismo año, dos nuevos singles los catapultan a la fama "The Metro" y "Masquerade" que juntos con el anterior hit formaron parte del LP “Pleasure Victim” (1982), con mucho su trabajo más exitoso. Esto motivó a que el sello Geffen Records adquiriera los derechos de la grabación y relanzara en 1983 el mismo álbum, concediéndole una mayor distribución.
En 1984 publican el LP “Love Life” que tuvo menos ventas que su anterior trabajo, pero de donde salieron dos temas importantes “No more words” (N° 23 en Billboard, su segunda mejor posición) y “Dancing in Berlin”. Curiosamente, en 1985 Geffen Records lanzó en Estados Unidos de nuevo "No more words" como lado B del hit de Madonna, "Crazy for You", tema del film "Vision Quest". A pesar de que fue parte de la película no se incluyó en el álbum respectivo.
En 1986, fueron llamados de nuevo para formar parte de una banda sonora, con lo que pasaron al ámbito más comercial con su éxito "Take My Breath Away", (número 1 en decenas de países), tema más importante de la taquillera película “Top Gun”. En general, es una canción de amor que difiere mucho del estilo desenfadado de sus trabajos anteriores. Fue compuesta por el productor y escritor Giorgio Moroder, sin que participaran en su creación los miembros del grupo.
Berlin oficialmente se disolvió en 1987, en parte debido a la carencia de éxito de su álbum “Count three and pray” a pesar de incluir la referida balada, eclipsado en gran medida por el éxito de ventas del soundtrack de "Top Gun".
Circunstancialmente, coincidió con el marcado declive en la popularidad del estilo new wave, que afectó significativamente a todas las bandas y artistas ligados al género para esa época.
Nunn retuvo los derechos legales al uso del nombre del grupo después de discusiones judiciales con el miembro fundador de Berlin, John Crawford, recreándolo con una nueva alineación de músicos en 1999. La agrupación se conformó con Terri Nunn, Mitchell Sigman (teclista, anteriormente Dave Schulz), Carlton Bost (guitarrista) y Chris Olivas (baterista), bajo un concepto musical más contemporáneo de rock industrial y música electrónica.
En ese mismo lapso, retornaron a giras de conciertos y lanzaron dos EP: "Fall Into Heaven", "Fall Into Heaven 2" y el primer álbum en vivo de Berlin, "Sacred and Profane", en 2000. En el período 2000-2001 Berlin contribuyó a varios álbumes de tributo de artista, entre ellos Marilyn Manson, Madonna y Blondie.
En 2002, con la nueva alineación del grupo se lanzó al mercado su disco llamado "Voyeur" (el quinto en su discografía y el primero en más de quince años), que contiene los sencillos "Blink of an Eye" y "With a Touch" lanzado al año siguiente, los cuales no ingresaron en listas.
En 2004, la versión clásica de Berlín apareció en el show de VH1, llamado "Bands Reunited" ("Bandas Reunidas") donde todos los miembros (con excepción de Rob Brill, debido a que participó el baterista original Rod Learned) acordaron reunirse no solo como amigos, sino como una banda. Ellos tocaron en un show en The Roxy, en California, ante una multitud con entradas agotadas. Sin embargo, la reunión posteriormente no llenó todas las expectativas.
A este hecho le siguió el álbum de estudio "4Play" (octubre de 2005) que contiene la versión interpretada en "Bands Reunited" de "No More Words" y luego la gira "Terri Nunn featuring Berlin at the House of Blues Live" (2009), espectáculo con el cual se han presentado en varias ciudades de Estados Unidos.
El último material disponible es el concierto "Terri Nunn & Berlin: All The Way In", que fue publicado para diciembre de 2009 en formato de DVD y CD, y contiene dos canciones nuevas que se anuncian formarán parte de un nuevo álbum.
