Urban Hymns is the third studio album by English alternative rock band the Verve, released on 29 September 1997 on Hut Records. It earned nearly unanimous critical praise upon its release, and went on to become the band's best-selling release and one of the biggest selling albums of the year. As of 2019, Urban Hymns is ranked the 18th best-selling album in UK chart history and has sold over ten million copies worldwide. This is the only Verve album to feature guitarist and keyboardist Simon Tong, who initially joined the band to replace their original guitarist Nick McCabe. McCabe rejoined the band soon after, however, and Tong was considered the fifth member of the band; this makes the album the only one that the band recorded as a five-piece.
Verve Records, also known as Verve Label Group, founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue and includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Stan Getz, Bill Evans, Billie Holiday and Oscar Peterson, among others. It absorbed the catalogues of Granz's earlier labels, Clef Records, founded in 1946, Norgran Records, founded in 1953, and material previously licensed to Mercury Records.
Talking Book is the fifteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter and musician Stevie Wonder, released on October 28, 1972, on the Tamla label for Motown Records. This album and Music of My Mind are widely noted as being the signal recordings of Wonder's "classic period". The sound of the album is sharply defined by Wonder's keyboard work, especially with synthesizers. His use of the Hohner clavinet model C on "Superstition" is widely regarded as one of the definitive tracks featuring the instrument.
Foreign Affairs is the fifth studio album by singer and songwriter Tom Waits, released on September 13, 1977 on Asylum Records. It was produced by Bones Howe, and featured Bette Midler singing a duet with Waits on "I Never Talk to Strangers".
"Maybe" is a song with words and music originally credited to End Records owner George Goldner and "Casey". The co-writing credit was later transferred to Richard Barrett. Arlene Smith, lead singer of the Chantels, is believed to be an uncredited co-writer. It was first recorded by the Chantels on October 16, 1957, in a doo-wop style with Barrett playing piano, and released in December 1957. It climbed the charts in January 1958, reaching No. 15 in the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 in the Billboard R&B chart. It was subsequently described as "arguably, the first true glimmering of the girl group sound". Rolling Stone ranked it No. 199 on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was also included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).
Criminal Minded is the debut studio album by hip hop music group Boogie Down Productions, released on March 3, 1987 by B-Boy Records. It is considered a highly influential hip hop album and one of the first in the gangsta rap genre.
Music of My Mind is the fourteenth studio album by American soul musician Stevie Wonder. It was released on March 3, 1972, by Tamla Records, and was Wonder's first to be recorded under his new contract with Motown, which allowed him full artistic control. For the album, Wonder recruited electronic music pioneers Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff as co-producers, employing their custom TONTO synthesizer on several tracks. It was a modest commercial success, but critics found the record representative of Wonder's artistic growth, and is generally considered by contemporary critics to be the first album of his classic period.
Anna Marie Wooldridge, known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career not only out of delivering deeply felt presentations of standards but writing and singing her own material.
Brazilian Girls is a band from New York, United States, known for their eclectic blend of electronic dance music with musical styles as diverse as tango, chanson, house, reggae and lounge. None of the members are actually from Brazil and the only female in the band is the Italian singer Sabina Sciubba. Other members include Argentine keyboardist Didi Gutman, drummer Aaron Johnston and bassist Jesse Murphy.
Time Capsule: Songs for a Future Generation is a greatest hits album by American new wave band the B-52's, released in 1998. The album presents sixteen of their single releases and fan-favorite album tracks in chronological order, with the addition of two new songs recorded exclusively for this collection.
Brazilian Girls is the first album by the American music group Brazilian Girls. It was released on February 1, 2005 by Verve Records. The album mixes a number of different musical styles, from reggae to samba and house to acid jazz, as well as many different languages, as lead singer Sabina Sciubba goes from English to French, Italian, German and Spanish.
Lipstick Killers – The Mercer Street Sessions 1972 is a 1981 album of demos by the New York Dolls. The album's songs were later re-recorded for New York Dolls, except for "Don't Start Me Talking" and "Human Being" which were later re-recorded for Too Much Too Soon and "Don't Mess with Cupid", which was never re-recorded.
Elizabeth LaCharla Wright is an American jazz and gospel singer.
Good Times is the twentieth studio album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released on March 20, 1974. The album was constructed by the first pick of a session held at Stax Studios in Memphis in December 1973 and two songs, "I've Got a Thing About You Baby" and "Take Good Care of Her", which were left over from the session at Stax in July 1973. The album includes a collection of songs that vary in style and genre. Released the same day as the recording of Elvis: Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis was being made, the title was taken from the song "Talk About the Good Times". Many of the songs are covers of hits at the time, like "Spanish Eyes" and "She Wears My Ring". Charting low at the time of its release, it was considered typical 1970s Elvis material and was his first album to hit the "cut-out bins". The album did have some success though upon its original release, becoming a Cashbox #1 hit and charting in the Top 50 in the UK.
He Got Game is a soundtrack and sixth studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on April 28, 1998 under Def Jam Recordings. It was released as the soundtrack to Spike Lee's 1998 film of the same name and was the group's last album for Def Jam until 2020's What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down. He Got Game was produced by members of the Bomb Squad, along with producers Abnes Dubose, Danny Saber, D. R. Period, and Jack Dangers.
The Best of OMD is a compilation album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, released in 1988; marking a decade since the band's beginnings.
The Hombres were an American garage rock band from Memphis, Tennessee, known primarily for the 1967 single "Let It Out ".
One Dozen Roses is a 1971 album by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, issued on Motown Records' Tamla label. The penultimate album before lead singer Smokey Robinson departed the group for a solo career, One Dozen Roses features the Top 20 Billboard Hot 100 hit single "I Don't Blame You at All". Also included is the group's number-one smash hit "The Tears of a Clown", which was also made available through the reissue of the 1967 Miracles LP Make It Happen as The Tears of a Clown. Both of these songs were also huge hits in England, reaching #11 and #1 respectively. The album's cover depicts Smokey,, picking a solitary rose for his wife, Miracles member Claudette Robinson, who is pictured on the cover holding the rose given her by her husband.
Astrud Gilberto is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She became popular in the 1960s after her performance of the song "The Girl from Ipanema".
Sabina Margrit Sciubba or Sabina is a singer, composer, and actress. She is best known as the lead singer for the Grammy-nominated electronica band Brazilian Girls. She is also a visual artist. She has a solo career, and also worked as an actress, appearing in a recurring role on the FX series Baskets, beginning in 2016. Sciubba has composed the scores for feature films and commercials.
