 |
Stephen Jacob Rowland (born September 3, 1932, in Los Angeles, California) [1] is an American singer, columnist, record producer and actor. He grew up in Beverly Hills and now lives in Palm Springs, California. [2] His father is film director Roy Rowland, his mother Ruth was a writer, and Louis B. Mayer was his uncle.
In 1950s, Hollywood, he acted in thirty five TV shows such as The Rifleman, Bonanza , Wanted: Dead or Alive and a two-year role in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp . Film appearances included co-starring roles in Gun Glory with Stewart Granger; Crime in the Streets with John Cassavetes and Sal Mineo, the original The Thin Red Line with Keir Dullea and Jack Warden, Gunfighters of Casa Grande with Alex Nicol as well as Battle of the Bulge with Henry Fonda; the latter three films shot in Spain.
During the making of five films in Spain, Rowland enjoyed Spanish chart success with the group, Los Flaps. The lure of the exciting British music scene of the Swinging Sixties brought him to London, where he produced thirteen Top Ten hits for Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich. Among those worldwide hits were "Hold Tight", "Zabadak", "Bend It" and "The Legend of Xanadu" (a million selling UK Number One).
He also discovered Peter Frampton and The Herd, and with "A Way Of Life" had a No. 6 UK Singles Chart hit with his own group, The Family Dogg. He produced hits for P.J. Proby and The Pretty Things, being responsible for two singles and the Emotions album. In 1970, he produced the album Coming From Reality for Rodriguez. Also in 1970, under the name 'Steve & Albert', Rowland joined forces with Albert Hammond for the single "Follow The Bouncing Ball", which they heavily promoted, particularly in the UK, where they appeared on Top of the Pops and The Basil Brush Show , but the single failed to chart. [3] In the 1970s, he was awarded a gold album and ASCAP award for producing Jerry Lee Lewis - The Session...Recorded in London with Great Artists. He was also the producer on the Thunderthighs U.K. hit single "Central Park Arrest", written by Lynsey De Paul [4] and he co-wrote their follow up single "Dracula's Daughter". [5] In the late 1970s, he was creative manager/A&R for Hansa/Ariola, where he discovered and signed The Cure and signed The Thompson Twins, and handled Boney M and Japan.
In 1988, he ran his own dance label Dr. Beat, and later became creative director of Wham Records. Rowland has also written, produced and collated music for the TWI TV series Hi Five broadcast in thirty eight countries. At the end of 1993 Rowland became a director of Pavilion Studios forming a production company working with a number of young DJs, producers, artistes and programmers. During this time he auditioned and tried to sign the then unknown Spice Girl, Geri Halliwell. In 1995 he became managing director of Media Bank UK, a Hong Kong based international production company.
Stephen Anthony James Duffy is an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member, vocalist, bassist, and then drummer of Duran Duran. He went on to record as a solo performer under several different names, and is the singer and songwriter for The Lilac Time with his older brother Nick. He has also co-written with Robbie Williams and Steven Page.
The Easybeats were an Australian rock band which formed in Sydney in late 1964. They are best known for their 1966 hit single "Friday on My Mind", which is regarded as the first Australian rock song to achieve international success; Rolling Stone described it as "the first international victory for Oz rock". One of the most popular and successful bands in the country, they were one of the few Australian bands of their time to foreground their original material; their first album Easy (1965) was one of the earliest Australian rock albums featuring all original songs.
Dead or Alive were an English pop band who released seven studio albums from 1984 to 2000. The band formed in 1980 in Liverpool and found success in the mid-1980s, releasing seven singles that made the UK Top 40 and three albums in the UK Top 30. At the peak of their success, the line-up consisted of Pete Burns (vocals), Steve Coy (drums), Mike Percy (bass), and Tim Lever (keyboards), with the core pair of Burns and Coy writing and producing for the remainder of the band's career due to Percy and Lever exiting the group in 1989. Burns died in 2016; with the death of Coy in 2018, the band ended.
Al Martino was an American traditional pop and jazz singer. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop crooners", and became known as an actor, particularly for his role as singer Johnny Fontane in The Godfather.
Stephen Alan Lillywhite, is a British record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited on over 500 records, and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including new wave acts XTC, Big Country, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Simple Minds, the Psychedelic Furs, Toyah, David Byrne, Talking Heads and Kirsty MacColl, as well as U2, the Rolling Stones, the Pogues, Blue October, Steel Pulse, the La's, Peter Gabriel, Morrissey, the Killers, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Counting Crows and Joan Armatrading. He has won six Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2006. In 2012, he was made a Commander of the Order of The British Empire (CBE) for his contributions to music.
Albert Louis Hammond OBE is a British-Gibraltarian singer, songwriter and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he also collaborated with other songwriters such as Mike Hazlewood, John Bettis, Hal David, Diane Warren, Holly Knight and Carole Bayer Sager. Hammond's son Albert Hammond Jr. is a guitarist in American rock band the Strokes.
Norman William Paramor, known professionally as Norrie Paramor, was a British record producer, composer, arranger, pianist, bandleader, and orchestral conductor. He is best known for his work with Cliff Richard and the Shadows, both together and separately, steering their early careers and producing and arranging most of their material from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. Paramor was an orchestra conductor and composer of music for studio albums, theatrical productions, and film scores.
Smokie are an English rock band from Bradford, Yorkshire. The band found success at home and abroad after teaming up with Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn. They have had a number of lineup changes and were still actively touring in 2024. Their most popular hit single, "Living Next Door to Alice", peaked at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart and, in March 1977, reached No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as going to No. 1 on the Australian singles chart. Other hit singles include "If You Think You Know How to Love Me", "Oh Carol", "Lay Back in the Arms of Someone", and "I'll Meet You at Midnight".
Barry Blue is an English singer, producer, and songwriter. As an artist, he is best known for his hit songs "Dancin' " and "Do You Wanna Dance".
The Family Dogg were a British vocal group, noted for their harmony vocals. They are best known for their debut album, A Way of Life, and the subsequent single of the same name.
"The Phantom of the Opera" is a song from the 1986 stage musical of the same name. It was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics written by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe, and additional lyrics by Mike Batt. The song was originally recorded by Sarah Brightman and Steve Harley, which became a UK hit single in 1986, prior to the musical. In its theatrical debut, it was sung by Brightman and Michael Crawford in their roles as Christine Daaé and the Phantom.
Ms. Kelly is the second solo studio album by American recording artist Kelly Rowland. It was released on June 20, 2007, through Columbia Records in collaboration with Music World Entertainment. Originally titled My Story and expected for a mid-2006 release, the album marked Rowland's first solo studio album in four years. Retitled and delayed numerous times prior to its official release, the album's release date was eventually moved to 2007 in favor of a multi-tiered marketing strategy and additional recording sessions. Willed to produce a more personal effort after her debut studio album Simply Deep (2002), Rowland contributed nine tracks to the reworked Ms. Kelly, which took her solo work further into urban music markets, involving production by Scott Storch, Polow da Don, Soulshock & Karlin and singer Tank, among others.
Thunderthighs were a British backing vocal group, who released records in their own right.
John Cameron is a British composer, arranger, conductor and musician. He is well known for his many film, TV and stage credits, and for his contributions to pop recordings, notably those by Donovan, Cilla Black and the group Hot Chocolate. Cameron's instrumental version of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love", became a hit for his group CCS and, for many years, a version of Cameron's arrangement was used as the theme music for the BBC TV show Top of the Pops.
"Solid Gold Easy Action" is a song by T. Rex, written by Marc Bolan. It was released as a single on 1 December 1972 and reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart. The song did not feature on an original studio album but was included on the 1972 Great Hits compilation album issued by EMI Records, as well as most CD reissues of Tanx. It was beaten to No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart by "Long Haired Lover from Liverpool" by Little Jimmy Osmond.
"Freedom's Prisoner" is a song by British singer-songwriter Steve Harley, which was released in 1979 as the only single from his second solo album The Candidate. The song, which was written and produced by Harley and Jimmy Horowitz, reached number 58 in the UK Singles Chart.
"Roll the Dice" is a song by English singer-songwriter Steve Harley, which was released in 1978 as the lead single from his debut solo album Hobo with a Grin. The song was written by Harley and Jo Partridge, and produced by Michael J. Jackson.
Omar Grant is an American Music executive who originally worked as the Road manager for Destiny's Child and now the Co-President of Roc Nation Records. Following his role as a tour manager, Omar has worked as an A&R for EMI Group Limited, Epic Records and Roc Nation. In A&R, Omar has worked with and/or introduced many notable artists, with famed artists as varied as Kelly Rowland, Rihanna, DJ Mustard, Kylie Minogue and others. Artists, to whose efforts Grant has contributed, have sold recorded music in vinyl, CD and digital form in excess of 100 million copies/digital sales.
"Central Park Arrest" is a song composed by Lynsey de Paul for the vocal trio Thunderthighs, and told the story of a policewoman apprehending a flasher in New York's Central Park. This song in the style of TV cop theme tunes of the day featured police sirens wailing, shots being fired and megaphone radio. The recording was produced by Steve Rowland with a musical score by British composer, arranger and conductor, John Cameron. According to "Beat Instrumental", de Paul also played the piano on the recording.
Eighth Wonder were an English pop band, formed in 1983 in London, initially composed of singer/model/actress Patsy Kensit, her brother Jamie Kensit, Steve Grantley, Geoff Beauchamp, Nigel Davis, Jake Walters and Lawrence Lewis. The band first enjoyed major success in Japan and Italy in 1985–87, before finally breaking through in the UK and across Europe in 1988, thanks to their hit single "I'm Not Scared".
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
