Robert Sylvester Kelly, known as R. Kelly, is an American former singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is credited with prolific commercial success in R&B, hip hop, and pop music recordings, earning nicknames such as "the King of R&B", "the King of Pop-Soul", and "the Pied Piper of R&B". Kelly's career ended in 2019 following his arrest and subsequent convictions on federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges involving sexual abuse of minors.
Elizabeth Clark Phair is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Phair was raised primarily in the Chicago area. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1990, she attempted to start a musical career in San Francisco, but returned to her home in Chicago, where she began self-releasing audio cassettes under the name Girly-Sound. The tapes led to a recording contract with the independent record label Matador Records.
Freak Show is a studio album by American art rock band The Residents, released in 1990. It marked the beginning of The Residents' obsession with emerging computer technology in the 1990s, and much of the music was made with various MIDI devices.
The Smithereens are an American rock band from Carteret, New Jersey. The group formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio, Jim Babjak, Mike Mesaros, and Dennis Diken. This original lineup continued until 2006, when Mesaros left the band and Severo Jornacion took over on bass guitar until Mesaros' return in 2016. After DiNizio died in 2017, the band continued performing live shows as a trio with various guest vocalists.
Material Issue was an American power pop trio from Chicago, Illinois. The band's trademark is pop songs with themes of love and heartbreak. A number of their song titles used women's first names.
"My Sharona" is the debut single by the Knack. The song was written by Berton Averre and Doug Fieger, and it was released in 1979 from their debut album, Get the Knack. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, where it remained for six weeks, and was number one on Billboard's 1979 Top Pop Singles year-end chart.
Ted Ansani is an American musician who is most known as the bassist/vocalist of 1990s power pop group Material Issue.
Make Them Die Slowly is the second studio album by American rock band White Zombie, released on March 22, 1989, by Caroline Records. It is named after the 1981 horror film Cannibal Ferox, which was originally released in the US as Make Them Die Slowly. There is a printing error on the CD's side saying "Let Them Die Slowly" instead of the album's correct title. Produced by composer Bill Laswell and featuring John Ricci on guitar, the album represented a transition from the noise rock influenced sound of White Zombie's previous releases to heavy metal, which informed much of their later work.
The American Breed was an American rock band from Chicago in the 1960s. The band was originally called Gary & The Knight Lites before adopting the name The American Breed in 1967. The band had a number of charting songs in 1967–68, the best-known of which was "Bend Me, Shape Me". The band broke up in 1970, and members went on to form Rufus after the split.
The Parable of Arable Land is the first studio album by the Red Crayola. The album was considered psychedelic music when it was introduced, but later assessments describe it as a forerunner to avant/noise rock. With this album as introduction, Ritchie Unterberger assessed the band as a precursor to industrial rock. The album features free improvised pieces involving industrial power tools and a revving motorcycle dubbed "Free Form Freak-Out" played by a group of over 50 people known as "the Familiar Ugly" as well as notable instrumental cameos by label mate and 13th Floor Elevators frontman Roky Erickson.
And the Weathermen Shrug Their Shoulders is the second of two albums by Dutch punk band The Ex in collaboration with avant-garde cellist Tom Cora. Cora was acknowledged in the credits of earlier album Joggers and Smoggers but didn't actually appear on an Ex album until a recording session in 1990 which led to Scrabbling at the Lock as well as And the Weathermen Shrug Their Shoulders.
Enemy of the System is a studio album by the ska band the Toasters, released in 2002. The album was the first Toasters release on Asian Man Records; their long standing label Moon Ska Records became defunct in 2000. It was released 5 years after Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down, due to the demise of ska label Moon Ska and, also, the decrease of third wave ska's mainstream popularity that saw the disappearance of a lot of ska bands some years before. The band supported the album with a North American tour. "Dog Eat Dog" is about the music business and the band's label struggles.
Beautiful Freak is the debut album by American rock band Eels. It was released on 13 August 1996 and is the second album released by record label DreamWorks.
International Pop Overthrow is the debut studio album by Material Issue, released on Mercury Records on February 5, 1991. The album was recorded in multiple recording sessions between 1988 and 1991, with the total recording costs reaching only $5,000. Mercury Records only expected the record to sell about 70,000 copies. However, it initially sold about 180,000 copies, with final sales exceeding 300,000. It reached number 86 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The album was produced by Jeff Murphy, guitarist/vocalist for the band Shoes, at the Shoes' Short Order Recorder studio, in Zion, Illinois.
Dumptruck is an American rock musical group formed in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1983 by composers, guitarists and singers Seth Tiven and Kirk Swan.
Destination Universe is the second studio album by the American band Material Issue, released on Mercury Records in 1992. "What Girls Want" made the top ten on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart. The band promoted the album with a "Pop Against Recession Tour".
"Valerie Loves Me" is a song by American power pop trio Material Issue, released in 1991 as a single from their debut album International Pop Overthrow. The song, written by the band's singer-guitarist Jim Ellison, peaked at number three on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Bummer Road is a compilation album by the American blues musician Sonny Boy Williamson II, released in 1969. It achieved notoriety due to the inclusion of 11 minutes of studio outtakes related to the track "Little Village", where Williamson and producer Leonard Chess argue about the song. The album was issued with a label advising that the track was not suitable for airplay, due to profanity—allegedly, it is the first blues album to carry any kind of "explicit lyrics" sticker. "Little Village" inspired the name of Little Village, a band that included Ry Cooder, Jim Keltner, Nick Lowe, and John Hiatt.
Cakewalk is an album by the American musical duo House of Freaks, released in 1991. It was the duo's first album for a major label.
Telecommando Americano is an album by the American band Material Issue, released in 1997, one year after frontman Jim Ellison's suicide. It was the band's fourth album. The band's debut six-song EP, released on vinyl in 1987, was included with the album.
