The Associates were a Scottish post-punk and pop band, formed in Dundee in 1979 by lead vocalist Billy Mackenzie and guitarist Alan Rankine. The band released an unauthorized cover version of David Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging" as their debut single in 1979, which landed them a recording contract with Fiction Records. They followed with their debut studio album The Affectionate Punch in 1980 and the compilation album Fourth Drawer Down in 1981, both to critical praise.
Tusk is the twelfth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released as a double album on 12 October 1979 in the United States and on 19 October 1979 in the United Kingdom by Warner Bros. Records. It is considered more experimental than their previous albums, partly as a consequence of Lindsey Buckingham's sparser songwriting arrangements and the influence of post-punk. The production costs were initially estimated to be about $1 million but many years later were revealed to be about $1.4 million, making it the most expensive rock album recorded to that date.
The Dissociatives were an Australian alternative rock band consisting of Daniel Johns of Silverchair and dance producer and DJ Paul Mac, which formed in mid-2003. They were supported by touring members, Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes, and James Haselwood. Their first single "Somewhere Down the Barrel" peaked at No. 25 on the ARIA Singles Chart. The duo's debut album The Dissociatives reached No. 12 on the ARIA Albums Chart. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2004 they won two trophies; Best Cover Art for James Hackett's work on The Dissociatives and Best Video for Hackett's direction of "Somewhere Down the Barrel".
The Hampster Dance is one of the earliest Internet memes. Created in 1998 by Canadian art student Deidre LaCarte as a GeoCities page, the dance features rows of animated GIFs of hamsters and other rodents dancing in various ways to a sped-up sample from the song "Whistle-Stop", written and performed by Roger Miller for the 1973 Walt Disney Productions film Robin Hood. In 2005, CNET named the Hampster Dance the number-one Web fad.
"Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia", also known as "C vs. I", is a song by English electronic music group the Cuban Boys. The song consists almost in its entirety of an unofficial soundalike sampled loop from "Whistle Stop" by Roger Miller which was featured in the Disney movie Robin Hood, played at high speed in a manner similar to the classic "Chipmunks" records. The original sample, also sped up, was first featured on the Internet as part of "The Hampster Dance" song on the website of the same name.
"Popcorn" is an instrumental composed by Gershon Kingsley in 1969 for the album Music to Moog By on the Audio Fidelity label. The name is a combination of pop for pop music and corn for kitsch. The Moog synthesizer instrumental became a worldwide hit in 1972, when a version by Hot Butter was released. Since then, multiple versions of the piece have been produced and released, including those by Vyacheslav Mescherin, Anarchic System, Popcorn Makers, the Boomtang Boys, M & H Band, Crazy Frog, and the Muppets.
Wilson Phillips is an American pop vocal group formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The group consists of sisters Carnie and Wendy Wilson, the daughters of Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, and Chynna Phillips, the daughter of John and Michelle Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas.
"Thank God I'm a Country Boy", also known as "Country Boy", is a song written by John Martin Sommers and recorded by American singer/songwriter John Denver. The song was originally included on Denver's 1974 album Back Home Again. A version recorded live on August 26, 1974, at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles was included on his 1975 album An Evening with John Denver. The live version was released as a single and went to No. 1 on both the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles and Billboard Hot 100 charts. The song topped both charts for one week each, first the country chart, and the Hot 100 chart a week later. Thank God I'm a Country Boy also became the name of a variety special show hosted by Denver in 1977.
The Dance is a live album by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 19 August 1997. It hailed the return of the band's most successful lineup of Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Stevie Nicks, who had not released an album together since 1987's Tango in the Night, a decade earlier. It was the first Fleetwood Mac release to top the U.S. album charts since 1982's Mirage.
Brushfire Fairytales is the debut album by singer-songwriter Jack Johnson. It was released in 2001 through Enjoy Records, a label that was later renamed Everloving Recordings.
Ross Andrew Wilson is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician and producer. He is the co-founder and frontman of the long-standing rock groups Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock, as well as a number of other former bands, in addition to performing solo. He has produced records for bands such as Skyhooks and Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons, as well as for those of his own bands. He appeared as a judge on celebrity singing TV series It Takes Two from 2005. Wilson was individually inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 1989 and again as a member of Daddy Cool in 2006. Ross currently resides in the Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne.
"Dreams" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, written by singer Stevie Nicks for the band's eleventh studio album, Rumours (1977). In the United States, "Dreams" was released as the second single from Rumours in March 1977, while in the United Kingdom, the song was released as the third single in June 1977. A stage performance of "Dreams" was used as the promotional music video.
English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys have released 14 studio albums, five live albums, nine compilation albums, four remix albums, five soundtrack albums, four extended plays and over seventy singles. The duo's debut single, "West End Girls", was first released in 1984 but failed to chart in most regions. However, the song was entirely re-recorded in late 1985, and this newly recorded version became their first number-one single, topping the UK Singles Chart, Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Singles Chart. Parlophone released the duo's debut album, Please, in the United Kingdom in March 1986. The album peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). It also peaked at number seven on the Billboard 200 in the United States and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The following summer they released "It's a Sin", the lead single from their second album, Actually. The single became another UK number one and also reached number nine in the US. This was followed by "What Have I Done to Deserve This?", with Dusty Springfield, which peaked at number two in both the UK and US. In the summer of 1987, the Pet Shop Boys recorded a cover of Brenda Lee's song "Always on My Mind", which became their third UK number-one single over Christmas 1987. This was followed by another UK number one, "Heart", in spring 1988. The album Actually was released in September 1987, peaked at number two in the UK and was certified three-times platinum by the BPI.
Once Upon a Time is the seventh studio album by Scottish rock band Simple Minds, released on 21 October 1985 by record label Virgin, Once Upon a Time topped the UK charts, and peaked at No. 10 on the US charts, spending five consecutive weeks in the Top 10 of Billboard and 16 weeks in the Top 20.
Richard Clapton is an Australian singer-songwriter-guitarist and producer. His solo top 20 hits on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart are "Girls on the Avenue" (1975) and "I Am an Island" (1982). He reached the top 20 on the related albums chart with Goodbye Tiger (1977), Hearts on the Nightline (1979), The Great Escape (1982) and The Very Best of Richard Clapton (1982). Clapton's highest-charting album, Music Is Love (1966–1970), peaked at number 3 on the ARIA Chart.
The Boomtang Boys are Canadian dance-remix musicians and music producers. They are known for both their remix work and pop-dance music, in particular their singles "Squeeze Toy" and "Movin' On", which both topped the Canadian Singles Chart.
Sneaky Sound System is the self-titled debut album by Australian music collective, Sneaky Sound System, released on 12 August 2006. It peaked at No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart and remained in the top 50 for 61 weeks. The album was certified 3× platinum in 2011 for shipment of 210,000 copies. Six singles were released from the album, with four of them reaching the ARIA Singles Chart top 50: "I Love It", "Pictures" (December), "UFO" and "Goodbye" (October). At the ARIA Music Awards of 2007 they won ARIA Award for Best Dance Release and ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist – Album for Sneaky Sound System.
Josh Abrahams is an Australian musician who emerged from the underground dance music scene in the early 1990s. He has performed and recorded under the stage name Puretone, and is also known as The Pagan and Bassliners.
"The Hampsterdance Song" is a novelty song by Hampton the Hampster. The song's hook is based on a sped-up sample of "Whistle-Stop", a song from the 1973 Disney film Robin Hood. This sample was originally used for a 1998 web page called the Hampster Dance, created by Canadian art student Deidre LaCarte. Using the web page's popularity as a springboard, she and a Toronto native, Jeffery Lane, worked together with Canadian remix duo the Boomtang Boys to create a full song out of the sample. Due to licensing issues with Disney, Rob DeBoer and Tony Grace of the Boomtang Boys re-recorded the sample and added new lyrics.
"Squeeze Toy" is a song by Canadian music production team the Boomtang Boys featuring vocals from Canadian Eurodance singer Kim Esty. Written by group members Rob DeBoer, Tony Grace, and Paul Grace, it was released in March 1999 as the second single from their first studio album, Greatest Hits Volume One. The song topped the Canadian Singles Chart for four weeks and became a top-10 radio hit, peaking at number 10 on Canada's RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart. A French-language version of the song titled "Mon joujou" was also recorded, featuring vocals from Diane DiVito.
