Bananarama are an English pop group formed in London in 1980. The group, originally a trio, consisted of friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. Their success on both pop and dance charts saw them listed in the Guinness World Records for achieving the world's highest number of chart entries by an all-female group. Between 1982 and 2009, they had 32 singles reach the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart.
New Kids on the Block is an American boy band from Dorchester, Massachusetts. The band consists of brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood. New Kids on the Block enjoyed success in the late 1980s and early 1990s and have sold more than 80 million records worldwide, and are often credited for paving the way for future boy bands such as Take That, Backstreet Boys and NSYNC. They won two American Music Awards in 1990 for Favorite Pop/Rock Band, Duo, or Group and Favorite Pop/Rock Album. In 1991, they performed the halftime show at Super Bowl XXV, a first for a popular music group.
Screaming Trees were an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington, in 1984 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bassist Van Conner, and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel was replaced by Barrett Martin in 1991. Screaming Trees became known as one of the pioneers of grunge along with Melvins, Mudhoney, U-Men, Skin Yard, Soundgarden, Green River, and Malfunkshun, among others. Although widely associated with grunge, the band's sound incorporated hard rock and psychedelic elements.
Visage were a British synth-pop band formed in London in 1978. The band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their hit "Fade to Grey" which was released in late 1980. In the UK, the band achieved two Top 20 albums and five Top 30 singles before the commercial failure of their third album led to their breakup in 1985.
Nicholas David Kershaw is an English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He came to prominence in 1984 as a solo artist. He released eight singles that entered the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart during the decade, including "Wouldn't It Be Good", "Dancing Girls", "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", "Human Racing", "The Riddle", "Wide Boy", "Don Quixote", and "When a Heart Beats". His 62 weeks on the UK Singles Chart through 1984 and 1985 beat all other solo artists. Kershaw appeared at the multi-venue benefit concert Live Aid in 1985 and has also penned a number of hits for other artists, including a UK No. 1 single in 1991 for Chesney Hawkes, "The One and Only".
Martha and the Muffins are a Canadian rock band, active from 1977 to the present. Although they only had one major international hit single "Echo Beach" under their original band name, they had a number of hits in their native Canada, and the core members of the band also charted in Canada and internationally as M + M.
Chris Barbosa is an American record producer and Freestyle pioneer from New York.
Daniel Earl Hartman was an American pop rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer, and songwriter and original frontman for several bands, including The Soploids, Mak and the Turnarounds, Our Wringer, Last Wing, and Orion. Among songs he wrote and recorded were "Free Ride" as a member of the Edgar Winter Group, and the solo hits "Relight My Fire", "Instant Replay", "I Can Dream About You", "We Are the Young" and "Second Nature". "I Can Dream About You", his most successful song, reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984 and No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart in 1985. The James Brown song "Living in America", which Hartman co-wrote and produced, reached No. 4 on March 1, 1986.
Floyd Elliot Wray, known professionally as Collin Raye and previously as Bubba Wray, is an American country music singer. He initially recorded as a member of the band The Wrays between 1983 and 1987. He made his solo debut in 1991 as Collin Raye with the album All I Can Be, which produced his first Number One hit in "Love, Me". All I Can Be was the first of four consecutive albums released by Raye to achieve platinum certification in the United States for sales of one million copies each. Raye maintained several Top Ten hits throughout the rest of the decade and into 2000. 2001's Can't Back Down was his first album that did not produce a Top 40 country hit, and he was dropped by his record label soon afterward. He did not record another studio album until 2005's Twenty Years and Change, released on an independent label.
William Haislip Squier is an American musician, singer, and songwriter who had a string of arena rock and crossover hits in the early 1980s. His best-known songs include "The Stroke", "Lonely Is the Night", "My Kinda Lover", "In the Dark", "Rock Me Tonite", "Everybody Wants You", "Emotions in Motion", "Love Is the Hero", and "Don't Say You Love Me". Squier's best-selling album, 1981's Don't Say No, is considered a landmark release of arena rock, bridging the gap between power pop and hard rock.
Corey Mitchell Hart is a Canadian singer, musician and songwriter known for his hit singles "Sunglasses at Night", "Never Surrender" and "It Ain't Enough". He has sold over 16 million records worldwide and recorded nine US Billboard Top 40 hits. In Canada, 30 of Hart's recordings have been Top 40 hits, including 11 in the Top 10, over the course of over 35 years in the music industry. Nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1984, Hart is an inductee of both Canadian Music Hall of Fame and Canada's Walk of Fame, and is also a multiple Juno award nominee and winner, including the Diamond Award for his best-selling album Boy in the Box. He has also been honoured by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN).
Michael H. McDonald is an American singer, keyboardist and songwriter known for his distinctive, soulful voice and as a member of Steely Dan (1973–1974), and the Doobie Brothers. McDonald wrote and sang several hit singles with the Doobie Brothers, including "What a Fool Believes", "Minute by Minute", and "Takin' It to the Streets." McDonald has also performed as a prominent backing vocalist on numerous recordings by artists including Steely Dan, Toto, Christopher Cross, and Kenny Loggins.
"Borderline" is a song by American singer Madonna from her debut self-titled studio album (1983), written and produced by Reggie Lucas. In 1982, Madonna was signed on by Sire Records for the release of two 12-inch singles; after the success of first single "Everybody", the label approved the recording of an album, and the singer decided to work with Lucas. "Borderline" is a pop song with post-disco elements whose sounds recall the music of the 1970s, while the lyrics find a woman complaining of her lover's chauvinism.
Timothy Alan Friese-Greene is an English musician and producer. He worked with the band Talk Talk from 1983 to their breakup in 1991. He currently releases solo albums under the name Heligoland. He is the grandson of filmmaker Claude Friese-Greene and great-grandson of photographer and inventor William Friese-Greene.
"I Wanna Be Down" is the debut single of American recording artist Brandy from her self-titled debut album (1994). It was written by musicians Keith Crouch and Kipper Jones, with production helmed by the former, it was released on September 5, 1994, by the Atlantic Recording Corporation. The song is a mid-tempo track that features a thunderous beat and light synth riffs. Lyrically, "I Wanna Be Down" describes a flirt with a boy, who Norwood tries to convince of her loveliness.
Year of the Gentleman is the third studio album by American singer and songwriter Ne-Yo. It was released by Compound Entertainment and Def Jam Recordings on September 16, 2008 in the United States. As with his previous albums In My Own Words (2006) and Because of You (2007), Ne-Yo worked with Stargate, Reggie "Syience" Perry, and Shea Taylor on much of the album, but also consulted new collaborators, including Chuck Harmony, Polow da Don, The Stereotypes, Butter Beats, and Shomari "Sho" Wilson.
Nigö is a Japanese fashion designer, disc jockey (DJ), record producer and entrepreneur. He is best known as the creator of the streetwear brand, A Bathing Ape (Bape), and currently serves as artistic director for Kenzo. Additionally he is a member of the Japanese group Teriyaki Boyz, serving as their official in-house DJ since the group's 2005 debut.
Gary Clark is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. As a performer he was the frontman of 1980s pop band Danny Wilson, mid-1990s rock band King L and member of Transister. Since the mid-1990s he has concentrated on songwriting and production.
Dani Stevenson is an American contemporary R&B singer. She is best known for her background vocals on Nelly's single "Hot in Herre" and her own singles "Honk Your Horn" and "Yo, Yo, Yo", which was featured in the film XXX starring Vin Diesel.
Total Xanarchy is the first studio album by American rapper Lil Xan. It was released on April 6, 2018, by Columbia Records. The album features guest appearances from Charli XCX, YG, Rae Sremmurd, 2 Chainz, Diplo, Yo Gotti, Rich the Kid, and Steven Cannon.
