Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel, better known by his stage name Seal, is a British musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has sold over 20 million records worldwide. These include hit songs "Crazy" and "Killer", the latter of which went to number one in the UK, and his most celebrated song, "Kiss from a Rose", which was released in 1994. Seal is renowned for his distinctive soulful singing voice.
The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Jerry Dammers on keyboards, Lynval Golding and Roddy Radiation on guitars, Horace Panter on bass, John Bradbury on drums, and Dick Cuthell and Rico Rodriguez on horns. The band wore mod-style "1960s period rude boy outfits ". Their music combines the danceable rhythms of ska and rocksteady with the energy and attitude of punk. Lyrically, their work presented overt political and social commentary.
Terence Edward Hall was a British musician who came to prominence as the lead singer of the 2-tone band the Specials, and later recorded with groups such as Fun Boy Three, the Colourfield, Terry, Blair & Anouchka, and Vegas.
Neville Eugenton Staple, sometimes credited as Neville Staples, is a Jamaican-born English singer, known for his work with the 2 Tone ska band the Specials, the pop group Fun Boy Three, as well as with his own group, the Neville Staple Band. He also performed with Ranking Roger in the supergroup Special Beat.
Fun Boy Three were an English new wave pop band, active from 1981 to 1983 and formed by singers Terry Hall, Neville Staple and Lynval Golding after they left the Specials. They released two albums and had seven UK top 20 hits.
Jane Marie Genevieve Wiedlin is an American musician and singer, best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist of the new wave band The Go-Go's. She is also the drummer and backup vocalist of the rock band The Hex Girls. She also had a successful solo career.
"Our Lips Are Sealed" is a song co-written by Jane Wiedlin, guitarist of the Go-Go's, and Terry Hall, singer of the Specials and Fun Boy Three.
Lynval Golding is a Jamaican-born British musician. His family moved from Jamaica to Gloucester, before moving to Coventry when he was eighteen. He is currently living in Gig Harbor, Washington. He is best known as a rhythm guitarist and vocalist with the British 2 Tone Records band, The Specials.
The Very Best of Bananarama is a greatest hits album by English group Bananarama, released on 15 October 2001 by Warner Strategic Marketing and London Records. It was released to celebrate the group's 20th anniversary, including their singles released from 1981 to 1993. The album reached number 43 on the UK Albums Chart.
"'Tain't What You Do " is a song written by jazz musicians Melvin "Sy" Oliver and James "Trummy" Young. It was first recorded in 1939 by Jimmie Lunceford, Harry James, and Ella Fitzgerald, and again the same year by Nat Gonella and His Georgians. The "shim sham" is often danced to the Lunceford recording of this song.
"He Was Really Sayin' Somethin' is a soul song written by Motown songwriters Norman Whitfield, William "Mickey" Stevenson, and Edward Holland, Jr. in 1964. The song is notable in both a 1964 version by American Motown girl group the Velvelettes, and a 1982 hit version by British girl group Bananarama.
Dick Cuthell is a British musician and record producer. He plays flugelhorn, cornet, and trumpet, amongst a range of other brass instruments, including tenor horn and valve trombone. Cuthell is best known for his work with The Specials and Rico Rodriguez. He also collaborated with bands such as Madness, Eurythmics, Fun Boy Three, XTC, Level 42 and The Pogues. In addition to a range of horns, Cuthell also plays bass, keyboards and percussion and is a composer and arranger.
Waiting is the second and final studio album by English new wave pop band Fun Boy Three, released in 1983 by Chrysalis Records. It featured the hit single "Our Lips Are Sealed", co-written by Terry Hall and previously recorded by the Go-Go's. It was produced by David Byrne.
The Fun Boy Three is the debut album by English new wave pop band the Fun Boy Three, a band consisting of three ex-members of the UK ska band the Specials: Terry Hall, Neville Staples and Lynval Golding. It was released in 1982 by Chrysalis Records and was re-released in 1999 by EMI as Fame. Several songs on the album feature backing vocals by the female pop trio Bananarama. Three singles were released from the album: "The Lunatics ", "T'aint What You Do ", and a remix of "The Telephone Always Rings".
A Ton of Hits : The Very Best of Stock Aitken Waterman is a compilation album released in the UK in November 1990 bringing together the hits of Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) in a continuously sequenced mix. It was released by Chrysalis Records on their subsidiary label Dover Records and followed the previous "Best of Stock Aitken Waterman" collections; The Hit Factory: The Best of Stock Aitken Waterman, The Hit Factory Volume 2 and The Hit Factory Volume 3. The album reached #7 in the compilation Top 20. Notably absent from this release are Bananarama and Dead or Alive, presumably due to licensing issues, whilst including nine songs by Jason Donovan, and ten by Kylie Minogue.
The Vegas Years is a compilation of cover songs by American rock band Everclear. It was released on April 15, 2008, via Capitol Records.
The Very Best of The Specials and Fun Boy Three is an unofficial greatest hits album featuring songs rerecorded by Neville Staple, a former member of both bands. The album comprises new recordings by Neville and his band at the time, The Hitmen; no other members of The Specials or Fun Boy Three were involved. Originally released by Anagram in 2000 with the title Ghost Town - 13 Hits of The Specials and Fun Boy Three, the album was re-released by Cleopatra Records under the title "The Very Best of The Specials and Fun Boy Three" and again by Pegaus Records in 2006 as The Best of The Specials & Fun Boy Three. Each release featured a different cover, although the contents are the same.
June Miles-Kingston is a British singer and drummer, best known for her work with various successful bands and singers in the 1980s. She was a founding member of the post-punk group the Mo-dettes, which lasted from 1979 to 1982, and later became a session drummer and backing vocalist for a variety of British post-punk, new wave, and pop artists. She is the cousin of Paul Miles-Kingston, who reached number 3 in the UK charts with Pie Jesu in 1985.
75 at 75 is a three-CD compilation album by British singer Cliff Richard, released in 2015. The album contains 75 tracks spanning Richard's career of more than 55 years and was released to coincide with his 75th birthday.
The Hit List, released with the subtitle The Best of 35 Years, is a compilation album by English singer Cliff Richard. Released in October 1994, the album reached number 3 in the UK Albums Chart and was certified platinum in the UK. The album celebrates Richard's 35th anniversary in the music industry and compiled all of Richard's top 5 UK hit singles, which coincidentally totalled 35 at the time. Two bonus tracks were also chosen by Richard for the album – "Miss You Nights", at the request of fans for a re-release, and "Green Light" a favourite of Richard's.
