Category: Music

Music history is rife with siblings who perform together, even if at some point they have a falling out of two along the way. Fortunately, most of the family acts have avoided publicized inner turmoil, such as the brother-sister tandem of the Carpenters, the brothers in Van Halen, and the Taylor brethren of Duran Duran.

There are also a trio of brothers, the Finns, in the Eighties New Wave Band Split Enz, who has hits like “One Step Ahead” and “I Got You.” Making hits around that same time were the sisters of Heart, Ann and Nancy Wilson.

Still in all, any musicians who aspire to form a band with Sis or Bub might want to take cautilon, for there are a number of family groups that have nearly torn each other apart physically or in litigation. The Beach Boys with the Wilson brothers could be the most famous example, along with the highly publicized fights between the Davies siblings in the Kinks or the long standing rivalry of Liam and Noah Gallagher of Oasis.

If such familial spats scare you from taking the stage with someone who shares your parents, you can a!ways opt for a separate career from him. Here are seven examples of musical siblings who have not performed in a band together.

Jim Seals and Dan Seals
Each one has a singing partner, the younger (nicknamed England) with John Ford Coley and the older with Dash Croft.

Andy Gibb and the Bee Gees
Barry, Robin and Maurice had been around for a decade before peaking with Saturday Night Fever, and their little brother hit number one around the same time with “Thicker Than Water.”

Crystal Gale and Loretta Lynn
Coal Miner’s Daughter made big sis a big star, but Crystal topped the charts with “Half the Way.”

Julian Lennon and Sean Lennon
They shared a father who was the genius behind The Beatles, so it is no surprise that the two sons have had diverse recording careers.

Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright
Loudon, their folk-singing father, wrote tunes about both of these offspring before each pursued careers in a variety of musical genre.

Shaun Cassidy and David Cassidy
In his role as Keith in The Partridge Family David sang many hits before little brother made his enduring cover version of “Da Do Ron Ron.”

Johnny Van Zandt and Ronny Van Zandt
Lynyrd Sknyrd lost Ronny in a plane crash, only several years later to employ Johnny in the role of lead singer.

Who would have ever thought that an independent artist could take a ole school song and make it popular again? What was once lost is now found with a new sound and has emerged on the musical scene with a sultry feel.

Within a half years’ time span R & B, soul singer and musician PleasureMore has accomplished this task. As of today 2021, “Break Up to Make Up” is creating plenty of buzz streaming online through digital internet and mainstream radio formats across major US cities including: Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, PA, Atlanta, GA, London, England, Canada and a host of others cities and countries around the world.

This soul classic has new life to a new generation of listeners’ hearing his version for the very first time. Music lovers around the world are embracing and appreciating PleasureMore re-make of this classic song, which was originally released in October 1972; the single became a hit in 1973 by the Stylistics’. He’s been featured in Indie publications including but not limited to: Airplay Magazine, ArtistRack, Indie Network Radio, Magic Music Magazine, Radio Indie International Network, and Bring Back Soul Music to name a few.
PleasureMore version is being heard in 100 different countries worldwide; don’t sleep on this passionate soulful version. As of the date of this writing the single has over 100K streams on the Spotify platform alone, not including other platforms such as: Pandora, ITunes and other music apps.

With the additional jewel of Varges Thomas, this dynamic duo and their latest collaboration “Lost For Words” this duet is sure to captured their fans who may be in serious relationships; when being lost for words. Gems are to be treasured; songs written with true meaning and purpose touches people hearts, these are the songs that last for a lifetime. The Thomas Brothers aren’t newcomers to this rodeo. They appeared on the scenes a little over 40 years ago with their musical journey in the music business.

The late Roger Troutman produced their first two albums on Columbia Records- “Something New” in 1983 & “Gonna Have Big Fun” in 1984. The single “Your Thing Is Your Thing” from their debut LP; reached the R&B top 40 charts. More is to come from Varges Thomas & PleasureMore; whether it’s a cover song or original material. If you are ready to get your groove on; then get ready to party and enjoy music at its best. This is only the beginning from TBEG. Keep your eyes and ears open as more new music and videos are to come!

One of my old work colleagues (Graig M) got me into The Waterboys because we used to travel around the UK repairing PC’s and spent a lot of time driving and The Waterboys was one of his favourite CD’s to play and then because I liked it we used to listen to it more often. When I got paid one month I went out to HMV and bought four The Waterboys CD’s (I often spend most of my wages on CD’s and music) and listen to them a lot. Craig is also responsible for some of the other music I am into.

The Waterboys were formed by Mike Scott in 1983 and Mike is the only member to have remained from then til now. There have been many members over the years, some being: Anthony Thistlethwaite, Roddy Lorimer, Martyn Swain, Kevin Wilkinson, Eddi Reader, Karl Wallinger and Chris Whitten. Their musical style is a mix of Celtic, Folk and Rock N’ Roll. Some people have dubbed The Waterboys sound “The Big Music” which is named after a song off the A Pagan Place album. The same term has been used to describe some other bands such as World Party, The Alarm, Simple Minds, The Hothouse Flyers and Big Country, and a lot of their songs are centered around spirituality. The name The Waterboys is taken from Lou Reed’s song The Kids.

The self titled debut album The Waterboys was released in 1983 and has one of their most famous songs on it, A Girl Called Johnny. The song is a tribute to Patti Smith who was a great inspiration to Mike Scott alongside the likes of Bob Dylan and David Bowie. The original track listing only had eight songs but the album was re-released in 2002 and has an additional seven songs on it.

When A Pagan Place was released in 1984 it is known that the recording for it started even before The Waterboys album was released. The recording was done in two separate sessions, one in 1982 and the second in 1983 with new band members joining for the second session. This album too was re-released in 2002 with additional songs from the first recording session. Following the release The Waterboys toured the UK, with them also supporting U2 and The Pretenders at Glastonbury Festival.

1985 saw the release of This Is The Sea and was much more successful than the previous two albums and boasts their biggest hit The Whole Of The Moon which reached #26 in the UK. The song could have had more promotion, but Mike Scott refused to perform on Top Of The Pops due to them insisting they must lip sync.

The second phase of The Waterboys style started just before the release of Fisherman’s Blues in 1988 and saw them move from The Big Music into the Raggle Taggle Band style which was influenced by Mike Scott moving to Ireland and the folk music there. The album is their most successful album to date containing songs like Strange Boat, And A Bang On The Ear and Fisherman’s Blues.

Room To Roam was released in 1990 and followed in the folk style of the previous album. The album is apparently named after a passage in a George MacDonald book, Phantastes. Some of the hits from the album are A Man Is In Love, The Raggle Taggle Gypsy, Further Up – Further In and Something That Is Gone.

My favourite of The Waterboys albums, Dream Harder was released in 1993 and is a return to the more Rock style of their earlier albums. The song The Return of Pan is about the Greek God also the song The Return Of Jimi Hendrix is one of my favourite tracks on the album. Some of the other hits from the album are Corn Circles, Glastonbury Song and Preparing to Fly.

A Rock In The Weary Land was released in 2000 and was the first for seven years due to Mike Scott pursuing his solo career. The album saw another shift in style inspired by Radiohead and Beck, and Mike Scott described the style as “Sonic Rock”, another change happened in 2003 when they released Universal Hall which is mostly an acoustic album and a return to some of their earlier Celtic music.

In 2007 The Waterboys released a new album Book Of Lightning and contains some new hits like Love Will Shoot You Down, You In The Sky and The Man With The Wind At His Heels. The Waterboys played at the Return To Peace And Love Festival in Sweden on March 11th 2008.

My Top 10 The Waterboys Songs are:

01. Glastonbury Song

02. The Return Of Jimi Hendrix

03. The Whole Of The Moon

04. A Pagan Place

05. All The Things She Gave Me

06. We Are Jonah

07. Strange Boat

08. The Big Music

09. Winter Winter

10. Spiritual City

These days the sight of a land line phone seems like a relic from the distant past, so imagine how difficult it is for young folks now to conceive of a hand cranked phone. Actually, it has not been all that long ago that such communication devices were still in use.

According to the web site of a national TV network, it was on October 11 of 1983 that the last hand-cranked phone service went dead. On that day the antiquated phone system, operating at the Bryant Pond, Maine company, was the last to switch to dial service.

A few decades later, pay phones have suffered the same demise, even though the image of them will last much longer because of music. The image of people inserting coins to reach someone they love can be found in some of the most treasured recordings in rock and country music history.

On most of them the price is ten cents, and it stayed that way long after the rates had increased to a quarter to thirty five cents late in the last century. In fact, indie power pop band Fountains of Wayne struck with the old rate of ten cents when they recorded “Hung Up On You” for the album Welcome Interstate Managers in 2002.

Most songwriters avoid listing the cost of items in their songs, for it usually dates the record. Here are ten songs that, thankfully, ignore that omission by mentioning the price of a certain product or service.

Saturday Night Special by Lynyrd Skynyrd

In an unlikely call for gun control, the Southern rockers bemoan that for twenty dollars can buy you a handgun.

Haywire by the Jayhawks

The song from the Sound of Lies album mentions a restaurant in Pittsburgh, where you can get a sandwich for fifteen and a dime.

So Long It’s Been Good To Know You by Woody Guthrie

At the local grocery store, the folk singer despises the fact that it costs two pounds of gold for a pound of butter.

Ten Cents a Coup by Phil Ochs

Of course the protest singer aims this song at the White House, referring to Nixon and Agnew as a comic duo like Laurel and Hardy.

Ten Cents a Dance by Ella Fitzgerald

This standard has been covered by major artists across various genres, but it is mostly associated with Ella.

Go Tell Roger by the Kingston Trio

According to the man in this track from the folk group, two cents and a penny can you buy you a set of big wax lips.

Back When Gas Was Thirty Cents a Gallon by Tom T. Hall

The country legend fondly recalls when it took just over a few bucks to fill your tank, and nowadays drivers are tickled to find it under three dollars a gallon.

What the Price by Migos

Eighty for a show is the price listed in this hit, although the type of entertainment is never specified.

Blowin’ Down This Old Dusty Road by Woody Guthrie

Guthrie complains about the two dollar shoes hurting his feet, wishing that he could upgrade to a pair that cost ten bucks. It is obviously an old, old song.

I Love Rock And Roll by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

When she commands that someone put another dime in the jukebox, Jett is remembering the past. When this hit the charts in the Eighties, each song cost a quarter in those musical vending machines.

Lil Wayne is one of the most popular musical artists of the 21st Century and his songs are known and loved around the world. Lil Wayne Ringtones are some of the hottest ringtones in North America because of the popularity of his music. Lil Wayne Ringtones have reached the top of the Billboard RingMasters Chart and the songs have become #1 singles in many countries including the United States.

Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr., better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper who was born on September 27, 1982. Formerly a member of the rap group the Hot Boys, Dwayne joined the Cash Money Records collective as a teenager. After his hit debut album Tha Block Is Hot and two more albums were released with little promotion, Lil Wayne reached mainstream popularity in 2004 with Tha Carter and its two subsequent albums Tha Carter II (released in 2005) and Tha Carter III (2008). He also appears on several popular mixtapes and singles by other artists.

Tha Carter III was released on June 10th 2008, selling more than one million copies in its first week of release. It spawned the number one single Lollipop, which also became the best selling ringtone of the year. In July, Tha Carter III was certified two times platinum by the RIAA.

If you’re looking for a great new ringtone for your cell phone, Wayne Ringtones are the perfect choice. He has released several #1 singles which have become some of the most downloaded ringtones of all time in the United States. Dwayne Carter is one of the hottest entertainers in the world today and his songs make awesome ringtones.

Music has always fascinated people in every era – irrespective of their gender, age and ethnicity. Since it does not have any language, speakers of every language can listen to it. If we take a closer look at the growth of the music industry, we will learn that while every industry sees a stead growth, music industry has changed drastically over time. There is a lot of difference between what we used to hear before and what we hear today.

The major reason for this difference is influx of new talent in this industry. Every music composer who enters the music industry is talented in their own way and they feel no hesitation in experimenting with different music types. As a result, we get to hear unique compositions every time a song or an album is released.

Each year a number of music composers venture into the world of music. While some of them are really passionate about making their career as a professional composer, many are only attracted to the instant success many good composers see right after their first launch. However, the irony is that not every composer is well-received by this industry. You have to have some key qualities to become a successful music composer. Some of these qualities are:

Creativity and Artistic Mind

Since people do not listen to music they think they have heard already, it is imperative that you bring some creativity in your work. It will make your work stand out from others. Also, it will give people a reason to buy your composition when they have thousands other choices to select an album from.

Then you must also have some knowledge about different types of music so that you can amalgamate them to create something unique. If you posses all these qualities and are willing to take up the challenge, no one can stop you from becoming a popular composer.

Career Choices

Once you decide to become a composer, there are several opportunities you can avail to earn a good fortune. One of the best opportunities is to work for movies. There are big chances of success in this line. Furthermore, if you are unable to work as a full-time employee, you can offer your services as a freelancer.

Those who think that successful composers are just lucky and have no talent are wrong. They need to realize that in order to keep the graph of your success you need to have an amazing flair of music. Your album might become a mega hit the first time due to luck, however, it might not help you the second time. What helps you always is your passion and the ability to be creative.

It all began in 1977 when Syndrum released the first playable electronic pad, which attracted a number of big names of the time with endorsers including Keith Moon, Jeff Porcaro, Carmine Appice and Terry Bozio.

In the early 80’s the perception of the electronic drum changed as pop and disco music created a demand for electronic sounds. Until this time drummers were very apprehensive of an electronic ‘replacement’ to their beloved acoustic kits. 1981 brought the first real electronic kit – the SDS-5 made by Simmons. 1983 made electronic drums even more attractive with the advent of MIDI. In 1985 Roland took its first serious steps into the electronic market & during this year and 1986 ddrum and Yamaha also arrived on the scene. However during the late 80’s and early 90’s the popularity fell due to difficult user interfaces on the kits.

These drum companies needed a more friendly user interface – each kit sold also came with a video or dvd of how everything worked, which helped the end user greatly understand the intricacies of the electronic drum brain and how it could be altered in many ways to produce various drum and cymbal sounds on the pads. Roland continued to develop e-kits during the 90’s with the release of the TD-7, TD-5 and TD-10 – the first set to feature mesh heads. Yamaha continued their interest with the DTX range. By 1999 Yamaha had made a much more affordable kit with the release of the DTXpress along with Roland’s TD-8 and by this time these 2 companies ruled the electronic drum market.

Further developments came in 2004/05 when Roland introduced the first real electronic hi-hat the VH-12. Over recent years as technology improved, electronic kits became more affordable with instruction books and user friendly with a number of new manufacturers appearing and Roland and Yamaha continue to develop new kits. Only time will tell what the next development will be in electronic kits but one thing is for sure – they are here to stay.

Endorsers like Omar Hakim and Thomas Lang are constantly on tour showing off the electronic drum kits to the huge drummer audiences out there. Electronic drum kits can also be used as add on pads to expand acoustic drum kits so can trigger audio loops to play over in shows. The main electronic drum kit brands out there are Yamaha and Roland but lots of other companies manufacture similar kits.

Ditto Music was created by Matt and Lee Parsons as a way to help musicians avoid their struggles in distributing their own music. Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby, was motivated similarly. However, Matt and Lee are hungry to prove they can play with the big-time distributors. It’s an attitude I like and it may work for you. Let’s dig a little deeper with this Ditto Music Review.

At first, I was uncertain about Ditto Music’s biz model. But after a little digging, I discovered that their foundation is based upon distributing your music to as many digital retailers as possible. This is what TuneCore and CD Baby do as well, their biggest competitors. The digital retailers they’re partnered with include iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Rdio, etc. The Basic Service is free – which means you can place up to 10 tracks on iTunes. If you want more stores, you pay $9 for a single, $20 for an EP, and $35 for an album. These are yearly rates – so as long as you want to sell your music through Ditto, you pay that rate. However, keep in mind Ditto gives you 100% of all sales from your music.

At this time, you may be asking how Ditto Music is able to make any mullah. The reason they’re able to offer such low rates is, as they say, they’re more than a “monster truck for distributing music.” Distributing your music is actually the way they develop a relationship with you. If you are happy with their service, you’ll probably be inclined to pursue their myriad of other services such as creating your own record label, a chart breaker package designed to give you a mad-house release for hopefully charging into the UK Top 40, Pre-release selling, video distribution, mixed-media release package for combining multiple medias in your iTunes release, registration for both UK and US charts, as well as royalty registration to make sure you’re getting paid what you’re owed.

Do you live for performing? You’re in luck with Ditto Music because they’ll try and hook you up with festivals. This means live performance venues at SXSW in Austin and Liverpool Sound City. Ditto Music goes to bat for you in seeking out sponsorship, licensing and synching opportunities as well.

I mentioned in both my CD Baby and TuneCore reviews the importance of excellent customer service because stuff will hit the fan sometimes. Both of the aforementioned rank well in this category and so does Ditto Music, winning the 2011 RECS award for best on-line customer support.

That’s a quick rundown on Ditto Music for you. Truthfully, a lot of the services offered by CD Baby, TuneCore and Ditto Music are very similar if not downright the same. Your job is to link up with the company that strikes a chord with what you’re about and what you want to accomplish through music. My suggestion – don’t rush it (don’t take a year either, but ya dig what I mean) and feel out several distributors. After doing so, go with your gut – it’s usually right.

Paul McCartney wasn’t (and isn’t) just a balladeer. He’s written all kinds of different types of songs (“Helter Skelter” for an obvious example) and he’s a brilliant bassist and song arranger. But there’s a reason he’s so well known for his ballads. He was (and still is) an incredibly gifted composer of ballads. These are his seven greatest ballads with The Beatles in alphabetical order.

“And I Love Her” – This song from 1964’s A Hard Day’s Night foreshadowed the rest of the songs on this list.

“Blackbird” – Ah, The White Album. The best album ever. I still remember the first time I ever heard this song. I was listening to The White Album for the first time and when I got to “Blackbird” I actually stopped the album and played this song again. I just had to hear it again, right away. I was that blown away by it. Today I still think it’s just as great.

“Here, There, & Everywhere” – I’ve heard McCartney say this is his favorite of all of the songs he has written. If you haven’t heard this yet then you must buy Revolver right now and check it out. It’s a stunning song.

“Hey Jude” – Possibly my favorite song ever. It’s a beautiful and moving song that still resonates just as much today as it did in 1968.

“I Will” – Another White Album treasure. Beautiful melody. Just a perfect song and it’s not even two minutes long. That’s one of the things I love about The Beatles songs, they didn’t stretch them out to make them artificially “epic.” If a song was best suited to be less than 2 minutes then that’s how they left it.

“Let It Be” – One of The Beatles most enduring songs. Also due credit must go to George Harrison for his great guitar solo.

“Yesterday” – Sure it’s overplayed. But there’s a reason for that. It’s an absolutely timeless song. And many people forget that at the time of it’s release it was actually not as “safe” as it sounds today. This was the first time a rock group used strings in a song in this way. As always The Beatles were innovators.

Bundy clarinets are, along with Selmer (its ancestor company in France) clarinets, among the most popular student clarinets of all time. The Bundy Resonite 1400 came out in 1948, and by 1978, one million of them had been sold. They’re still being sold today, 60 years after their debut. It was patterned after the French Selmer’s BT clarinet, but made from a different material – one that revolutionized clarinet production.

The name Bundy is from a Selmer employee named George Bundy who helped the Selmer brand in the U.S. grow into the major supplier of high quality band instruments that it has been for over half a century. Bundy clarinets are very popular in school band rental programs. They have good responsiveness, and the student who practices faithfully is rapidly rewarded with a great clarinet sound.

There are today a number of brands of less expensive student clarinets, but often these are not recommended by music teachers and band directors. While some of these models may be inexpensive, getting service for them can be problematic. Music store woodwind experts know their way around Bundy clarinets and know how to find replacement parts for them easily.

But that need doesn’t come up too often because Bundy clarinets are tough. A clarinet designed for a student in the middle grades has to be tough, and Bundy has been getting the job done well for a long time. A used Bundy clarinet in good condition should only cost about $200. The Bundy clarinet that belongs to an aunt or cousin but isn’t played anymore can be a great starting instrument for a band student. A tune-up and any repairs can be done by most music stores that sell woodwinds, and getting an old Bundy into ship-shape for the beginning band student has been done thousands of times.