The Rutles were a rock band that performed visual and aural pastiches and parodies of the Beatles. This originally fictional band, created by Eric Idle and Neil Innes for a sketch in Idle's mid-1970s BBC television comedy series Rutland Weekend Television, later toured and recorded, releasing two albums that included two UK chart hits. The band toured again from 2002 until Innes' death in 2019.
Roland Stephen "Steve" Taylor is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, music executive, film maker, assistant professor, and actor. A figure in what has come to be known as Christian alternative rock, Taylor enjoyed a successful solo career during the 1980s, and also served in the short-lived group Chagall Guevara. In contrast to many Christian musical artists, his songs have often taken aim at other Christians with the use of satirical, sardonic lyrics. In 1997, he founded the record label Squint Entertainment, which fueled the careers of artists such as Sixpence None the Richer, Chevelle, and Burlap to Cashmere. Despite this success, Taylor was ousted from the label by its parent, Word Entertainment, in 2001. He has produced and written for numerous musical acts, one of the most consistent being Newsboys. As a film-maker, Taylor co-wrote, directed, and produced the feature films Down Under the Big Top, The Second Chance, and Blue Like Jazz. After a decade and a half of hiatus, Taylor returned to performing music in 2010 as the front-man for Steve Taylor & The Perfect Foil, a supergroup he founded with Peter Furler, Jimmy Abegg, and John Mark Painter. Along with a university residency and continued filmmaking, Taylor would resume work on unfinished Chagall Guevara material into the 2020s.
The Circus is a 1928 silent film written, produced, and directed by Charlie Chaplin. The film stars Chaplin, Al Ernest Garcia, Merna Kennedy, Harry Crocker, George Davis and Henry Bergman. The ringmaster of an impoverished circus hires Chaplin's Little Tramp as a clown, but discovers that he can only be funny unintentionally.
Oingo Boingo was an American new wave band formed by songwriter Danny Elfman in 1979. The band emerged from a surrealist musical theatre troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, that Elfman had led and written material for in the years previous. Their highest charting song, "Weird Science", reached No. 45 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
A Bug's Life is a 1998 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It was the second film produced by Pixar. Directed by John Lasseter and co-directed by Andrew Stanton, the film involves a misfit ant, Flik, who is looking for "tough warriors" to save his colony from a protection racket run by Hopper's gang of grasshoppers. Unfortunately, the "warriors" he brings back turn out to be an inept troupe of Circus Bugs.
Trevor Charles Rabin is a South African musician, singer-songwriter, producer, and film composer. Born into a musical family and raised in Johannesburg, Rabin took up the piano and guitar at an early age and became a session musician, playing and producing with a variety of artists. In 1972, he joined the rock band Rabbitt who enjoyed considerable success in South Africa, and released his first solo album, Beginnings. In 1978, Rabin moved to London to further his career, working as a solo artist and a producer for various artists including Manfred Mann's Earth Band.
Jackass is an American reality comedy television series created by Jeff Tremaine, Spike Jonze, and Johnny Knoxville. It originally aired for three short seasons on MTV between October 2000 and August 2001, with reruns extending into 2002. The show featured a cast of nine carrying out stunts and pranks on each other or the public. The cast included Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Ryan Dunn, Steve-O, Jason "Wee Man" Acuña, Ehren McGhehey and Preston Lacy.
Newsboys are a Christian rock band founded in 1985 in Mooloolaba, Australia, by Peter Furler and George Perdikis. Now based in Nashville, United States, the band has released 17 studio albums, 6 of which have been certified gold. As of 2019, the band consists of lead vocalist Michael Tait, drummer and percussionist Duncan Phillips, keyboardist and bassist Jeff Frankenstein, and guitarist Jody Davis. In addition to performing music, the band has appeared in the films God's Not Dead, God's Not Dead 2, and God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness.
Big Top Pee-wee is a 1988 American comedy film directed by Randal Kleiser. A stand-alone sequel to Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), the film stars Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman with supporting roles done by Susan Tyrrell, Kris Kristofferson, Penelope Ann Miller, and introducing Valeria Golino. The original music score is composed by Danny Elfman. It was released on July 22, 1988, and grossed $15 million against a $20 million dollar budget.
The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus was a concert show organised by the Rolling Stones on 11–12 December 1968. The show was filmed on a makeshift circus stage with Jethro Tull, The Who, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and The Rolling Stones. John Lennon and his fiancee Yoko Ono also performed as part of a one-shot supergroup called The Dirty Mac, featuring Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell, and Keith Richards.
Clowns have always been an integral part of the circus, offering a source of amusement for patrons and providing relief from the array of animal acts and performances by acrobats and novelty artistes.
Stop Making Sense is a 1984 American concert film featuring a live performance by the American rock band Talking Heads. Directed by Jonathan Demme, it was shot over the course of three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theater in December 1983, as the group was touring to promote their new album Speaking in Tongues. The concert serves as a comprehensive retrospective of the band's history to that time, featuring many of their popular songs from their first hit single "Psycho Killer", through to their most recent album. In addition, the group performs one song, "Genius of Love", by the Tom Tom Club, a side project for two members of the band. The film is the first made entirely using digital audio techniques. The band raised the budget of $1.2 million themselves.
The Big Apple Circus is a circus based in New York City. Opened in 1977, later becoming a nonprofit organization, it became a tourist attraction. The circus has been known for its community outreach programs, including Clown Care, as well as its humane treatment of animals. Big Apple Circus filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2016 and exited bankruptcy in February 2017 after its assets were bought by Compass Partners. The Circus was renewed in October 2017 for its 40th anniversary season and returned to start a new season in October 2018 at Lincoln Center, receiving generally positive reviews.
Tommy Sims is an American bassist, songwriter, record producer and bandleader.
Peter Andrew Furler is an Australian musician, songwriter, producer and record executive, best known as the co-founder and former lead vocalist of the Christian rock band Newsboys.
Take Me to Your Leader is the sixth studio album by Christian pop rock band Newsboys, released in 1996. It was both the last Newsboys album to feature lead vocalist John James and the first to feature bassist/vocalist Phil Joel. The album won a Dove Award in 1997 for its packaging, and was also nominated for "Rock Album of the Year", "Rock Recorded Song of the Year" and "Short Form Music Video of the Year". The album was also recognized with a Grammy nomination for "Best Rock Gospel Album". It is also the band's the first album as a sextet.
George Bruno "Zoot" Money is an English vocalist, keyboardist and bandleader. He is best known for his playing of the Hammond organ and association with his Big Roll Band. Inspired by Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles, he was drawn to rock and roll music and became a leading light in the vibrant music scene of Bournemouth and Soho during the 1960s. He took his stage name 'Zoot' from Zoot Sims after seeing him in concert.
Circus World is a 1964 drama film starring John Wayne, Claudia Cardinale and Rita Hayworth. It was directed by Henry Hathaway and produced by Samuel Bronston, with a screenplay by Ben Hecht, Julian Zimet, and James Edward Grant, from a story by Bernard Gordon and Nicholas Ray.
Not Ashamed is the fourth studio album by Australian CCM band Newsboys, released in 1992. The album was the Newsboys' first commercially successful album, with "I'm Not Ashamed" becoming a hit on Christian radio. With this album, producer Steve Taylor started co-writing many of the band's songs with Peter Furler, who also began sharing lead vocals duties with then-primary vocalist John James.
Steve Taylor & The Perfect Foil is an American alternative rock supergroup formed in 2010 by singer Steve Taylor with drummer Peter Furler, guitarist Jimmy Abegg, and bassist John Mark Painter. Taylor formerly saw success as a new wave singer during the 1980s and early 1990s, and also fronted the short-lived band Chagall Guevara. However, by the mid-1990s he abandoned performing music and transitioned into work as a record producer, songwriter, and film-maker. In 2010 Taylor, who was frustrated at the slow pace of his fundraiser for his feature film Blue Like Jazz, collaborated with Furler, Abegg, and Painter to record the song "A Life Preserved" for the film's soundtrack, and began recording other material. Taylor, Abegg, and Painter then featured on the Peter Furler song "Closer", under the name "Steve Taylor & Some Other Band", on Furler's album On Fire. With those collaborations as a starting point, Taylor relaunched his career as a performing musician, and the lineup was branded as Steve Taylor & The Perfect Foil. The group released a studio album entitled Goliath on November 18, 2014 to critical acclaim and modest commercial success. In 2015, Daniel Smith of Danielson, with whom the band had been touring, joined on in a collaboration touted as Steve Taylor & The Danielson Foil. Under this incarnation, the group released the EP Wow to the Deadness on February 5, 2016, and toured until February 12. A live album under this incarnation of the band was also released, and the band also contributed to the soundtrack for the 2020 film Electric Jesus.
