A ball is a round object with several uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used for simpler activities, such as catch or juggling. Balls made from hard-wearing materials are used in engineering applications to provide very low friction bearings, known as ball bearings. Black-powder weapons use stone and metal balls as projectiles.
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric piano, synthesizers, and electric rhythm guitars.
Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man who spends his weekends dancing and drinking at a local discothèque while dealing with social tensions and disillusionment in his working class ethnic neighborhood in Brooklyn. The story is based on "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night", a mostly fictional 1976 New York article by music writer Nik Cohn.
Dance-pop is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a combination of dance and pop with influences of disco, post-disco and synth-pop, it is generally characterised by strong beats with easy, uncomplicated song structures which are generally more similar to pop music than the more free-form dance genre, with an emphasis on melody as well as catchy tunes. The genre, on the whole, tends to be producer-driven, despite some notable exceptions.
"Ray of Light" is a song by American singer Madonna. It is the title track from her seventh studio album, Ray of Light (1998), and was released as the album's second single on April 27, 1998, by Maverick Records. The song was also included on the compilation albums GHV2 (2001), Celebration (2009) and Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones (2022). Written by Madonna, William Orbit, Clive Maldoon, Dave Curtiss, Christine Leach, and produced by Madonna and Orbit, "Ray of Light" is based on Curtiss Maldoon's "Sepheryn" and is an electronic dance song with techno, trance, Eurodance, and disco influences. "Ray of Light" consists of a main synth sound oscillating on the primary musical note and an electric guitar riff. Lyrically, the song has a theme of freedom.
The PopMart Tour was a worldwide concert tour by rock band U2. Staged in support of the group's 1997 album Pop, the tour's concerts were performed in stadiums and parks in 1997 and 1998. Much like the band's previous Zoo TV Tour, PopMart was an elaborate production. Its lavish stage design had a 165-foot-wide (50 m) LED screen, a 100-foot-high (30 m) golden arch, and a large mirror-ball lemon. As with the Zoo TV Tour, the band delivered an image and performance that were ironic and self-mocking on PopMart, deviating from their earnest performances of the 1980s; the band performed in costumes that, along with the stage design, poked fun at the themes of consumerism and pop culture.
The Grateful Dead Movie, released in 1977 and directed by Jerry Garcia, is a film that captures live performances from rock band the Grateful Dead during an October 1974 five-night run at Winterland in San Francisco. These concerts marked the beginning of a hiatus, with the October 20, 1974, show billed as "The Last One". The band would return to touring in 1976. The film features the "Wall of Sound" concert sound system that the Dead used for all of 1974. The movie also portrays the burgeoning Deadhead scene. Two albums have been released in conjunction with the film and the concert run: Steal Your Face and The Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack.
"Lemon" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the fourth track on their eighth album, Zooropa (1993), and was released as its second single on 8 November 1993 by Island Records. Inspired by old video footage of lead vocalist Bono's late mother, the lyrics describe an attempt to preserve memory through film. More than any previous U2 song, "Lemon" showcases Bono's falsetto vocal range, aided by atmospheric backing vocals from the Edge and Brian Eno. Mark Neale directed the accompanying music video. At almost seven minutes, it is among the band's longest songs.
Paramore is an American rock band formed in Franklin, Tennessee, in 2004. Since 2017, the band's lineup includes lead vocalist Hayley Williams, lead guitarist Taylor York, and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, while York, a high school friend of the original lineup, joined in 2007. Williams is the only member to appear on all six of Paramore's studio albums.
Bestival was a four-day music festival held in the south of England. The name Bestival is a portmanteau of the words best and festival. It had been held annually in the late summer since 2004 at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight. In 2017 the festival relocated to the Lulworth Estate in Dorset. The event was organised by DJ and record producer Rob da Bank along with his wife Josie and was an offshoot of his Sunday Best record label and club nights. The initial Bestival attracted 10,000 people, growing to 50,000 in its final year, 2018. Bestival won 'Best Major Festival' at the 2015 UK Festival Awards, having won 'Best Medium-Sized Festival' in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009, 'Best Major Festival' in 2010, 2012 and in 2015, 'Fan's Favourite' in 2011 and 'Best Innovation' in 2005.
Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre is an outdoor music venue located in Tinley Park, Illinois, that opened in 1990 and was built by Gierczyk Development. It is one of the largest music venues in the Chicago area, with a capacity of up to 28,000 spectators: 11,000 reserved seats and 17,000 lawn seats.
The Confessions Tour was the seventh concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna, launched in support of her tenth studio album, Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005). The tour began on May 21, 2006, at The Forum in Inglewood, United States, and ended on September 21 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, visiting North America and Eurasia. Additionally, it marked Madonna's first concerts in Russia, Czech Republic and Denmark. Like past tours of the singer, it was divided into different thematic acts: Equestrian, Bedouin, Never Mind the Bollocks, and Disco. It received generally positive reviews, although Madonna's performance of her 1986 single "Live to Tell", which found her hanging on a giant mirrored cross wearing a crown of thorns, was met with strong negative reaction from religious groups; the performance at Rome's Stadio Olimpico was condemned as an act of hostility toward the Roman Catholic Church by religious leaders. Madonna responded saying that her main intention with the performance was to bring attention to the millions of children dying in Africa.
Since it earliest days, the economy of Louisville, Kentucky, has been underpinned by the shipping and cargo industries. Today, Louisville is home to dozens of companies and organizations across several industrial classifications.
The Wall of Sound was an enormous sound reinforcement system designed in 1973 specifically for the Grateful Dead's live performances. The largest concert sound system built at that time, the Wall of Sound fulfilled lead designer Owsley "Bear" Stanley's desire for a distortion-free sound system that could also serve as its own monitoring system. Due to its size, weight and resulting expense, the full WoS was only used from March to October of 1974.
Chic, currently called Nile Rodgers & Chic, is an American disco band founded in 1972 mainly by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards. It recorded many commercially successful disco songs, including "Dance, Dance, Dance " (1977), "Everybody Dance" (1977), "Le Freak" (1978), "I Want Your Love" (1978), "Good Times" (1979), and "My Forbidden Lover" (1979). The group regarded themselves as a rock band for the disco movement "that made good on hippie peace, love and freedom". In 2017, Chic was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the eleventh time.
"That's What You Get" is a song by American rock band Paramore from their second studio album, Riot! (2007). It is the second Australian single, third American single and the fourth UK single. The song was released to modern rock radio on March 25 and to contemporary hit radio on April 22 in the US. It is notable for being the only song on the album co-written by touring guitarist Taylor York, who would become an official member of the band following its release.
Paramore is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Paramore. It was released on April 5, 2013, through Fueled by Ramen as a follow-up to Brand New Eyes (2009). Recorded between April and November 2012, the album was described by the band as being a "statement" and a reintroduction of the band to the world and to themselves. It is the first album without guitarist Josh Farro, the only album without drummer Zac Farro and the final album with bassist Jeremy Davis before his departure in 2015.
"Ain't It Fun" is a song by American rock band Paramore, released as the fourth and final single from their self-titled fourth studio album Paramore (2013). Produced by musician Justin Meldal-Johnsen, the song was recorded in Los Angeles. Development for it began with a keyboard loop recorded by its guitarist, Taylor York. Instruments including marimba and bass guitar were later brought, along with a six-member gospel choir. York and the band's vocalist, Hayley Williams, wrote the song based on her experience of relocating and the latter's subsequent attitude.
Jose Gutierez Xtravaganza is a dancer, choreographer, and recording artist. He is one of the most widely recognized personalities to emerge from the NYC ballroom scene of the 1980s. He is best known for his work with Madonna.
The American Beauty/American Psycho Tour was a concert tour by American rock band Fall Out Boy. Supporting the band's sixth studio album American Beauty/American Psycho (2015), the tour visited North America and Europe in 2015. The North American leg was co-headlined with American rapper Wiz Khalifa under the name The Boys of Zummer. The Boys of Zummer leg with Wiz Khalifa ranked fifty-ninth for Pollstar's Year End Top 200 North American Tours of 2015, grossing $18.2 million.
