The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music history in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records.
UFO are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They became a transitional group between early hard rock and heavy metal and the new wave of British heavy metal. The band's current lineup includes vocalist Phil Mogg, lead guitarist Vinnie Moore, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Neil Carter, bass guitarist Rob De Luca, and drummer Andy Parker. They have gone through several line-up changes, leaving Mogg as the only constant member, and had two breaks. The band also featured former Scorpions guitarist and Michael Schenker Group (MSG) founder Michael Schenker, who was a member of UFO from 1973 to 1978 and rejoined the band sporadically between 1993 and 2003, when Moore replaced him. In May 2018, Mogg announced that he would retire from UFO after one last tour as a member of the band in 2019; however, their farewell tour was set to conclude in 2022 before it was cancelled, due to Mogg's health issues.
The Average White Band are a Scottish funk and R&B band that had a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980. They are best known for their million-selling instrumental track "Pick Up the Pieces", and their albums AWB and Cut the Cake. The band name was initially proposed by Bonnie Bramlett. They have influenced others, such as the Brand New Heavies, and been sampled by various musicians, including the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, TLC, The Beatnuts, Too Short, Ice Cube, Eric B. & Rakim, Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, Christina Milian, and Arrested Development, making them the 15th most sampled act in history. As of 2022, 50 years after their formation, they continue to perform.
A piranha or piraña is any of a number of freshwater fish species in the family Serrasalmidae, or the subfamily Serrasalminae within the tetra family, Characidae in order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, floodplains, lakes and reservoirs. Although often described as extremely predatory and mainly feeding on fish, their dietary habits vary extensively, and they will also take plant material, leading to their classification as omnivorous.
"Piranha Brothers" is a Monty Python sketch that was first seen in the first episode of the second series of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Originally broadcast on television on 15 September 1970, the premise is a BBC current affairs documentary programme, inexplicably titled Ethel the Frog, retrospectively covering the exploits of the brothers Doug and Dinsdale Piranha. The sociopathic criminals employed a combination of "violence and sarcasm" to intimidate the London underworld and bring the city to its knees. Dinsdale is also described as being afraid of "Spiny Norman", a gigantic imaginary hedgehog whose reported size varied based on Dinsdale's mood. The threat of Norman affected Dinsdale so severely that it led him to launch a nuclear weapon attack on an airplane hangar at Luton International Airport on 22 February 1966. During the end of the sketch, which also ends the episode, the creature is apparently revealed as real and appearing beside various English landmarks as the credits roll.
Snow Patrol are a rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland. The band currently consists of Gary Lightbody, Nathan Connolly, and Johnny McDaid ; Lightbody is the band's sole remaining original member.
Pavel Nicholas "Paul" Baloff was an American singer, best known as the original lead vocalist of the thrash metal band Exodus. He was fired from Exodus shortly after the release of the band's 1985 debut album Bonded by Blood, and sang with various other bands before rejoining Exodus in 1997. Baloff died of a stroke in 2002.
Be Your Own Pet is a punk/garage rock band from Nashville, Tennessee, formed in 2003. For most of their career, the band's line-up has consisted of lead vocalist Jemina Pearl, guitarist Jonas Stein, bassist Nathan Vasquez and drummer John Eatherly. After originally releasing early singles and EPs with Nashville-based Infinity Cat Records, the band signed to XL Recordings and Thurston Moore's label, Ecstatic Peace/Universal Records in the UK & North America respectively.
Darko Rundek is a Croatian rock singer, songwriter, poet, and actor. His music career started in the early 1980s, as the frontman of the world music influenced rock band Haustor. He emigrated to France after the Yugoslav wars started in 1991, and has recorded eight albums with various musicians from different parts of the world: Apokalipso, U širokom svijetu, Ruke, MHM A-HA OH YEAH DA-DA, Balade Petrice Kerempuha, Plavi avion, Mostovi and Brisani prostor.
Fanfare Ciocărlia is a twelve-piece Romani Balkan brass band from the northeastern Romanian village of Zece Prăjini. They are known for their fast, high-energy music with complex rhythms and high-speed staccato clarinet, saxophone, and trumpet solos.
The Klezmatics are an American klezmer music group based in New York City, who have achieved fame singing in several languages, most notably mixing older Yiddish tunes with other types of more contemporary music of differing origins. They have also recorded pieces in Aramaic and Bavarian.
"40", also known as "40 (How Long)", is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the tenth and final track on their 1983 album, War. The song is noted for its live performances; guitarist the Edge and bassist Adam Clayton trade instruments during performances of it, and as it was commonly played to end their concerts, the band would leave the stage one-by-one as the audience continued to sing the refrain "How long to sing this song?". The lyrics are a modification of the Bible's Psalm 40.
Pacu is a common name used to refer to several species of omnivorous South American freshwater serrasalmid fish related to piranhas. Pacu and piranha do not have similar teeth, the main difference being jaw alignment; piranha have pointed, razor-sharp teeth in a pronounced underbite, whereas pacu have squarer, straighter teeth and a less severe underbite, or a slight overbite. Pacu, unlike piranha, mainly feed on plant material and not flesh or scales. Additionally, the pacu can reach much larger sizes than piranha, at up to 1.08 m in total length and 40 kg (88 lb) in weight.
Boban Marković is a Serbian trumpet player and brass ensemble leader from Vladičin Han. He is of Romani background.
The View are a Scottish indie rock band that formed in Dundee, Angus in 2005. They incorporate various styles such as punk, pop, alternative rock, and folk in their music. They are best known for their 2007 single "Same Jeans" which reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart.
Tom Simpson is a Scottish DJ and musician, best known as the former keyboardist of the alternative rock band Snow Patrol. Having been with Snow Patrol as a touring member since 1996, he became a permanent member in 2005, before leaving in August 2013.
The Hazey Janes are an indie pop band from Dundee, Scotland.
"Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. The song is a medley of U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", a 1967 song by Frankie Valli, though in an arrangement informed by the 1982 disco version of the song by the Boys Town Gang rather than the original. The song accompanied "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?", the third single from their fourth studio album, Behaviour (1990), as a double A-side in the United Kingdom (both singles were released separately in the United States). Released in March 1991, the song became the duo's 15th consecutive top-20 entry in the UK, peaking at number four on the UK Singles Chart.
Dead or American is a Scottish alternative rock band from Stirling, Scotland, formed in January 2000. They are also frequently referred to as "DorA".
Into It. Over It. is a band that started as the indie rock solo project of the Chicago, Illinois-based musician Evan Thomas Weiss. It is considered one of the top acts in the emo revival scene of the 2010s.
