Band Aid were a charity supergroup featuring mainly British and Irish musicians and recording artists. It was founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for anti-famine efforts in Ethiopia by releasing the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" for the Christmas market that year. On 25 November 1984, the song was recorded at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London, and was released in the UK on Monday 3 December. The single surpassed the hopes of the producers to become the Christmas number one on that release. Three re-recordings of the song to raise further money for charity also topped the charts, first the Band Aid II version in 1989 and the Band Aid 20 version in 2004 and finally the Band Aid 30 version in 2014. The original was produced by Ure. The 12" version was mixed by Trevor Horn.
John Symon Asher Bruce was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the co-lead vocalist and bassist of British rock band Cream. After the group disbanded in 1968, he pursued a solo career and also played with several bands.
Rocks is the fourth studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released in 3 May 1976. AllMusic described Rocks as having "captured Aerosmith at their most raw and rocking." Rocks was ranked number 366 on the updated Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2020. It has greatly influenced many hard rock and heavy metal artists, including Guns N' Roses, Metallica, and Nirvana. The album was a commercial success, charting three singles on the Billboard Hot 100, two of which reached the Top 40. The album was one of the first to ship platinum when it was released, and has since gone quadruple platinum.
Subhumans are an English punk rock band formed in the Warminster and Melksham areas of Wiltshire in 1980. Singer Dick Lucas had formerly been in another local band, the Mental, and other members had been in The Stupid Humans. The band's musical style is typically classified as hardcore punk or anarcho-punk.
Sap is the second studio EP by the American rock band Alice in Chains, released on February 4, 1992, through Columbia Records. Sap is mostly acoustic and marks the first time that guitarist Jerry Cantrell sings lead vocals in an Alice in Chains release, with the song "Brother". The EP was produced by Alice in Chains and Rick Parashar and features guest vocals by Ann Wilson of the band Heart, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Mark Arm of Mudhoney. The track "Got Me Wrong" became a hit two years later after being featured on the soundtrack to the 1994 film Clerks. On January 14, 1994, Sap was certified gold by the RIAA for the sale of more than 500,000 copies.
The Boomtown Rats are an Irish rock band originally formed in Dublin in 1975. Between 1977 and 1985, they had a series of Irish and UK hits including "Like Clockwork", "Rat Trap", "I Don't Like Mondays" and "Banana Republic". The group is led by vocalist Bob Geldof. The original line-up comprised Geldof, Garry Roberts, Johnnie Fingers (keyboards), Pete Briquette (bass), Gerry Cott and Simon Crowe (drums). The Boomtown Rats broke up in 1986, but reformed in 2013, without Fingers or Cott.
Citizen Fish is an English punk rock band that has been active since 1990 and shares members with Subhumans. Citizen Fish does not emphasize the raw political statements and nihilistic viewpoint of the former, instead focusing on issues of social alienation and human interaction, viewed through a more optimistic lens. Both bands deal with themes such as anti-consumerism and vegetarianism.
Keane are an English alternative rock band from East Sussex, formed in 1995. They met whilst at Tonbridge School together. The band currently comprises Tom Chaplin, Tim Rice-Oxley, Richard Hughes, and Jesse Quin. Their original line-up included founder and guitarist Dominic Scott, who left in 2001.
Michael Owen Bruce is an American musician. He is the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, keyboardist and co-lead vocalist for the rock band Alice Cooper.
Hot Rats is the second solo album by Frank Zappa, released in October 1969. It was Zappa's first recording project after the dissolution of the original version of the Mothers of Invention. Five of the six songs are instrumental; while "Willie the Pimp", features vocals by Captain Beefheart. In his original sleeve notes, Zappa described the album as "a movie for your ears".
Chunga's Revenge is the third solo album by Frank Zappa, released on October 23, 1970. Zappa's first effort of the 1970s marks the first appearance of former Turtles members Flo & Eddie on a Zappa record, and signals the dawn of a controversial epoch in Zappa's history. Chunga's Revenge represents a shift from both the satirical political commentary of his 1960s work with The Mothers of Invention, and the jazz fusion of Hot Rats.
Subhumans were a Canadian punk rock band formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1978.
Culture Shock is an English ska punk band formed in Warminster, Wiltshire in 1986 by Dick Lucas, previously of the Subhumans. Over their four-year history the band played hundreds of gigs, including frequent appearances at free festivals, and released three studio albums on the Bluurg record label. Lucas’ lyrics were mostly concerned with social and political issues, from cruelty to animals, Northern Ireland, war, and social alienation, but were far from angry rants, often finding a positive and empowering perspective.
Lace and Whiskey is the third solo and tenth overall studio album by American singer Alice Cooper, released on April 29, 1977 by Warner Bros. Records.
The Day the Country Died is the debut studio album by English anarcho-punk band Subhumans. It was recorded in five days in June 1982 and was released in January 1983 through Spiderleg Records. The album was later re-released via Bluurg, the band's own record label.
"My Sharona" is the debut single by the Knack. The song was written by Berton Averre and Doug Fieger, and released in 1979 from their album Get the Knack. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart where it remained for six weeks, and was number one on Billboard's 1979 Top Pop Singles year-end chart.
Richard Allen Wagner was an American rock music guitarist, songwriter and author best known for his work with Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, and Kiss. He also fronted his own Michigan-based bands, The Frost and The Bossmen.
Let Them Eat Jellybeans!, subtitled "17 Extracts From America's Darker Side", is a compilation album released by Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles in 1981. It was one of the earliest compilations of underground music in the United States and its original release included an insert of all of the punk bands known to be playing in the U.S. and Canada at that time. The first side of the LP features songs by a number of bands that formed the canon of American hardcore punk in the 1980s, while the second side features more of an art rock sound.
"Flight of Icarus" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was their eighth single, the first from their fourth studio album, Piece of Mind (1983), and their first in the United States, where it was one of their few with substantial airplay, peaking at a personal best No. 8 on the Billboard Top Album Tracks chart. It was a lesser success in the UK, peaking at No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart.
Bruce Turgon is an American bass guitarist, guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and producer. Bruce has played in several bands throughout his career including: Foreigner, The Lou Gramm Band, Shadow King, Steve Stevens, Warrior, Black Sheep and Showcase.
