The Pretenders are a British-American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde, James Honeyman-Scott, Pete Farndon and Martin Chambers. Following the deaths of Honeyman-Scott in 1982 and Farndon in 1983, the band experienced numerous personnel changes; Hynde has been the band's only consistent member.
Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, widely known for her hit singles "Fast Car" (1988) and "Give Me One Reason" (1995).
Samuel Stephen Forbert is an American pop/folk singer-songwriter. His 1979 song "Romeo's Tune" reached No. 11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and No. 13 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. It also spent two weeks at No. 8 in Canada. Forbert's first four albums all charted on the Billboard 200 chart, with Jackrabbit Slim certified gold in Canada. In 2004, his Any Old Time album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Traditional Folk category. Forbert has released twenty studio and three live albums.
Tracy Chapman is the debut album by the American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman, released on April 5, 1988, by Elektra Records. The album was recorded at the Powertrax studio in Hollywood, California. In 1987, Chapman was discovered by fellow Tufts University student Brian Koppelman. He offered to show her work to his father, who owned a successful publishing company; however, she did not consider the offer to be serious. After multiple performances, however, Koppelman found a demo tape of her singing "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", which he promoted to radio stations, and she was eventually signed to Elektra.
Walls and Bridges is the fifth solo studio album by English musician John Lennon. It was issued by Apple Records on 26 September 1974 in the United States and on 4 October in the United Kingdom. Written, recorded and released during his 18-month separation from Yoko Ono, the album captured Lennon in the midst of his "Lost Weekend". Walls and Bridges was an American number-one album on both the Billboard and Record World charts and included two hit singles, "Whatever Gets You thru the Night" and "#9 Dream". The first of these was Lennon's first number-one hit in the United States as a solo artist, and his only solo chart-topping single in either the US or Britain during his lifetime.
The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1966. The band is led by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles that are staples of classic rock radio, as well as several earlier psychedelic rock albums. Miller left his first band to move to San Francisco and form the Steve Miller Blues Band. Shortly after Harvey Kornspan negotiated the band's contract with Capitol Records in 1967, the band shortened its name to the Steve Miller Band. In February 1968, the band recorded its debut album, Children of the Future. It went on to produce the albums Sailor, Brave New World, Your Saving Grace, Number 5, The Joker, Fly Like an Eagle, and Book of Dreams, among others. The band's album Greatest Hits 1974–78, released in 1978, has sold over 13 million copies. In 2016, Steve Miller was inducted as a solo artist in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Icehouse are an Australian rock band, formed in Sydney in 1977 as Flowers. Initially known in their homeland for their pub rock style, the band later achieved mainstream success playing new wave and synth-pop music and attained Top 10 singles chart success locally and in both Europe and the U.S. The mainstay of both Flowers and Icehouse has been Iva Davies supplying additional musicians as required. The name "Icehouse", adopted in 1981, comes from an old, cold flat Davies lived in and the strange building across the road populated by itinerant people.
The Primitives are an English indie pop band from Coventry, best known for their 1988 international hit single "Crash". Formed in 1984, disbanded in 1992 and reformed in 2009, the band's two constant members throughout their recording career have been vocalist Tracy Tracy and guitarist Paul "PJ" Court. Drummer Tig Williams has been a constant member since 1987. Often described as an indie pop or indie rock band, The Primitives' musical style can also be seen as straddling power pop, new wave and post-punk.
Life thru a Lens is the debut solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams. It was Williams' first solo album following his departure from Take That. Released on 29 September 1997 through Chrysalis Records, it is influenced by Britpop, a departure from the poppier tone of the music Take That employed. The album's working name was The Show-Off Must Go On.
Forever Your Girl is the debut studio album by American singer Paula Abdul. It was released on June 21, 1988, through Virgin Records. The album was Abdul's breakthrough into the music industry after being a choreographer for high-profile clients including Kate Bush, The California Raisins, George Michael, ZZ Top, Duran Duran and most notably Janet Jackson. At the time of the album's release it was the most successful debut album of all time and was the first time an artist scored four US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles from a debut album. It is currently certified 7× platinum by the RIAA.
"Killing Me Softly with His Song" is a song composed by Charles Fox with lyrics by Norman Gimbel. The lyrics were written in collaboration with Lori Lieberman after she was inspired by a Don McLean performance in late 1971. Denied writing credit by Fox and Gimbel, Lieberman released her version of the song in 1972, but it did not chart. The song has been covered by many other artists.
"Long Tall Sally", also known as "Long Tall Sally (The Thing)", is a rock and roll song written by Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Enotris Johnson, and Little Richard. Richard recorded it for Specialty Records, which released it as a single in March 1956, backed with "Slippin' and Slidin'".
Through the Past, Darkly is the second compilation album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in September 1969 by Decca Records in the UK and London Records/ABKCO Records in the US.
Warm Thoughts is an album by the American musician Smokey Robinson, released in 1980. It features the top 40 hit, "Let Me Be the Clock". The album was arranged by Reginald "Sonny" Burke. This album also featured the semi-autobiographical tune "Wine, Women and Song", which proved to be the closest thing to a Miracles reunion that occurred in the 1980s, with Smokey doing a duet with his then-wife, former Miracle Claudette Robinson, and Miracle Marv Tarplin, with whom he shared songwriting credits, on guitar. The song "Travelin' Thru'" was written by Smokey's real-life sister, Rose Ella Jones, and two songs written by Robinson with fellow Motown artist, Stevie Wonder, and singer, songwriter, and former Starsky and Hutch star, David Soul. This album was a success, reaching the Top 20 of The Billboard 200 Pop Album chart, peaking at No. 14, and the Top 10 of Billboard's R&B Album Chart, peaking at No. 4.
If My Heart Had Windows is the second studio album by American country music artist Patty Loveless, and was released in 1988. The title track — a cover of a George Jones song from 1967 — became Loveless' first top ten hit, peaking on the Billboard Country Music charts at number 10. It was then followed by her biggest chart position at the time with "A Little Bit In Love," a song written by country artist Steve Earle. It also features a recording of the song "Baby's Gone Blues", which would be recorded by Shelby Lynne for her 1990 album Tough All Over and by Reba McEntire for her 1992 album It's Your Call.
"Crash" is a song by British indie pop band the Primitives, written by band members Paul Court, Steve Dullaghan, and Tracy Cattell. The song was first recorded for the band's 1988 debut album, Lovely. "Crash" was released as a single in February 1988, peaking at number five on UK Singles Chart, number three on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart, and number two on the Swedish Singles Chart.
"Dandelion" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and first released as a B-side to "We Love You" in August 1967. As recently as October 2023 Keith Richards confirmed that John Lennon and Paul McCartney sing backing vocals. Billboard described the single as "an easy beat rocker with good story line."
"Baby Can I Hold You" is the third single released by American contemporary folk artist Tracy Chapman, released in October 1988. The song reached the top 50 in the United States, unlike its predecessor, "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", but it failed to become Chapman's second top 40 hit, peaking at number 48. It did, however, give her a second chart entry on the US Adult Contemporary charts, peaking at number 19 in early 1989. Given the commercial decline Chapman suffered following the release of her second album Crossroads, "Baby Can I Hold You" also became her last top 50 hit until 1996's "Give Me One Reason". In July 1990, the song reached number one in Portugal. Chapman re-released the song in 2001, in support of her first greatest hits album Collection.
Pure is the second studio album by the British band The Primitives, released in 1989 as the follow-up to their debut, Lovely. The line-up changed slightly over the course of the previous year: Steve Dullaghan was replaced on the bass guitar by Paul Sampson, who also shared the production duties with Wayne Morris.
"Crossroads" is a song by American singer Tracy Chapman. It was released in 1989 as the lead single from her second studio album Crossroads. The song was written by Chapman, and produced by David Kershenbaum and Chapman. "Crossroads" reached No. 90 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song's music video was directed by Matt Mahurin.
