http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Easy-Listening_Summary.html Easy listening is a musical style within popular music that, since it is not very common today, is sometimes confused with smooth jazz, new age or soft pop. However, easy listening has its own features and responds to a specific period of time during which it was the most popular musical style. Easy listening was mainly but not only instrumental music with catchy and simple melodies that rarely presented rhythms appropriate for dancing. Nevertheless, some performers had a more frenetic style. Abba, Billie Holiday, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles are only a few artists who belong to this genre. en-us http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8534.html Fri, 21 Apr 2006 09:12:02 CST
Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi to Vernon and Gladys Presley. By 1948 the family had to move to Memphis, Tennessee where he graduated from Humes High School in 1953. Elvis’ musical influences were the pop and country music of the time, the gospel music he heard in church and the black Randamp;B he absorbed on historic Beale Street as a Memphis teenager. In 1953 and 1954 Elvis recorded some demos for his own pleasure. Elvis captured the attention of the emerging Sun label’s owner, Sam Phillips. In 1954, Phillips teamed Presley with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black. Eventually, the trio came up with a sped-up version of Arthur Crudup blues tune, "That's All Right Mama," that became Elvis' first single.

In 1955 Elvis signed his first contract with RCA Records which included his five Sun singles and unreleased material. Elvis' five Sun singles pioneered the blend of Randamp;B and Candamp;W that would characterize rockabilly music. RCA re-released the five singles on their label. "That's All Right Mama," "Blue Moon of Kentucky," "Good Rockin' Tonight," "Baby Let's Play House," and "Mystery Train" remain core early rock classics.

In 1956, Elvis entered RCA’s studio in Nashville. His first single, “Heartbreak Hotel,” went to number one and aided with some television appearances Elvis became a superstar. Following single "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" reached number one too. Albums and EPs were also chart-toppers, not just in the U.S., but throughout the world. Even though Elvis had to put on hold for two years his recording and movie careers when he entered the army, his popularity didn’t seem to suffer for his absence.

Though it was not the same case for his music quality which seemed to be declining. Elvis concentrated himself on his movie career to the point that he gave up performing live for almost a decade. In 1968, the album Elvis in Memphis along with his 1969 hits "Suspicious Minds" and "In the Ghetto," returned him to the top of the charts. Presley’s 70’s recordings spawned diverse opinions just like the previous decade’s records.

In his final years Elvis’ behavior became instable and he became dependant on a variety of drugs. He remained isolated except for professional purposes (showing himself in his tours). On August 16, 1977, Elvis Presley was found dead in Graceland. The cause of death remains a subject of widespread speculation. The news of Elvis’ death spreads around the world in a matter of hours. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8531.html Fri, 21 Apr 2006 09:04:46 CST
Jim Brickman was born on November 20, 1961 in Cleveland, Ohio. This Jewish-American composer and pianist is known for his original solo piano compositions classified as new age music. He is also well known for his original love songs and performing them with the likes of Martina McBride, Michael W. Smith, and others. Jim Brickman enrolled in the Cleveland Institute of Music taking courses in composition and performance, while taking business classes at Case Western Reserve University. When he was 19, he was hired by Jim Henson to write tunes for Sesame Street. While still in college he was hired to write commercial jingles. This led him to compose music for such major outfits as the Gap, Isuzu, Sprint and Kellogg’s.

Jim Brickman signed with Windham Hill Records releasing his first album, No Words, in 1994. The single “Rocket To The Moon,” taken from his debut album, became the first solo instrumental song ever to be ranked on Billboard's charts. The following year he released By Heart. In 1997 he released Picture This and a collection of seasonal favorites titled The Gift. 1999 brought Jim Brickman’s Destiny. All those records became gold albums.

Since 1997, Brickman has hosted Your Weekend with Jim Brickman. Jim Brickman has also starred in PBS specials like “My Romance: An Evening with Jim Brickman” and “The Disney Songbook.” He has explored a wide variety of music like Christian music (with his album Grace in 2005), Christmas-themed (like the Gift in 1997 and Peace in 2003) and a children’s album (with his record Love Song and Lullabies released in 2002). http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8365.html Thu, 20 Apr 2006 10:25:51 CST
Barbra Joan Streisand was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York on April 24, 1942 (later moved to another area in Brooklyn). Barbra’s father, Emanuel Streisand, died when she was only 15 months old so she became very close to her mother during her early childhood. She attended Erasmus Hall High School and graduated fourth in 1959. As a teenager she decided to try her luck in a singing contest, after winning it she received several offers to perform in several clubs in NY and became a nightclub singer. She wanted to be an actress and participated in some Off-Off-Broadway productions.

After making a name for herself, Barbra received several offers finally signing with Columbia Records and released Pins and Needles (which became the nation's top-selling record by a female vocalist). Streisand was able to get a role in the Broadway musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale in 1962. In 1963, The Barbra Streisand Album won two Grammy Awards (at one time her first three albums appeared simultaneously on Billboard's pop albums Top Ten). In 1964 she got a part in Jule Styne's and Bob Merrill's comedy Funny Girl.

Barbra Streisand’s early works in the 1960s are considered classic renditions of theatre and nightclub standards. In 1969 she tried her hand at rock and roll, but found success with the pop and ballad-oriented like in her Stoney End (1971) produced by Richard Perry. During the 70s number-one records like "The Way We Were", "Evergreen", "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" and "Woman In Love" (some of them are soundtracks to her films) occupied important positions on pop charts. By the end of that decade she was considered the most successful female singer in the U.S. and was even described as “The most influential mainstream American pop singer since Frank Sinatra” by music critic Stephen Holden.

With 1985’s The Broadway Album Streisand returned to her roots of musical theater. The album was a commercial success, it remained in the number one position in Billboard for three weeks and was awarded triple Platinum, it was nominated as Album of the Year and landed Streisand her 8th Grammy as Best Female Vocalist. In 1991 Streisand presented her second film as a director, The Prince of Tides, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards. After a hold in her music career, she came back with her album Back to Broadway (1993) which landed number one. The album was followed by a couple of very successful tours. On top of her success in music, theater and film and all the awards she had been granted in those fields, she is also recognized as a spokesperson and fundraiser. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8363.html Thu, 20 Apr 2006 10:22:36 CST
Marie Dionne Warrick was born on December 12, 1940 in East Orange, New Jersey. Her mother managed the Drinkard Singers, a gospel group consisting of her relatives, and her father was a gospel record promoter for Chess Records. By the age of six she sang at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark and was soon accepted as a member of the choir. She also sang with members of her family and after graduating from high school she was granted a scholarship to the Hartt College of Music in Hartford. After graduating from the University she started her solo career. On her first single “Don’t Make Me Over” (1963) her name was misspelled (Warwick) and she soon adopted the misspelling. In 1964 Warwick released her second single “Anyone Who Had a Heart”, it was then followed by “Walk on By” which was a big hit that launched her career. By that time the Beatles were very popular in the US and the British Invasion was all over, nevertheless she was able to continue entering the rankings. She was able to make it in the Top Ten of the pop charts and the Top Five of the Randamp;B charts in 1966 with "Message to Michael".

In 1967 Warwick’s album Here Where There Is Love turned into a big hit reaching the top of Randamp;B charts and becoming gold. Warwick’s next hit, which was not written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, was "(Theme From) Valley of the Dolls". Her single "Do You Know the Way to San José," reached the pop Top Ten and the Randamp;B and easy listening Top Five and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Performance in 1968. Some more hits and Grammy Awards followed in the end of the 60’s. In 1974 she released the hit "Then Came You" with the Spinners. Her Album Dionne in 1979 was awarded Platinum status. She was able to continue scoring some hits during the 80’s. In the 90’s her career took a major downturn with no major singles. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8362.html Thu, 20 Apr 2006 10:20:54 CST
Francis Stephen Castelluccio, best known as Frankie Valli, was born in the Italian First Ward of Newark, New Jersey. Frankie Valli is best known as the lead singer of The Four Seasons. At the age of 7, he decided he wanted to be a singer when he attended one of Frank Sinatra’s performances. In the mid-50s he joined The Variety Trio (consisting of Tommy DeVito, his twin brother Nick and Hank Majewski) which eventually, after going through several names, renamed itself The Four Seasons.

In 1960 Nick DeVito and Hank Majewski left the group and their spots were filled by Bob Gaudio and Nick Massi. In 1962 the group, with Frankie Valli as lead singer, recorded its first number one hit “Sherry”. The song was followed by their next hit “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” both songs were certified platinum after remaining Number One hits for five weeks. The Four Seasons continued scoring hits like "Walk Like a Man," "Rag Doll", "Ain't That a Shame," "Candy Girl", and "Marlena". The group was even able to resist the British Invasion (while American artists were having a hard time) achieving three Top Five hits in 1964.

In 1996 Frankie Valli tried his luck recording a solo album but without stopping his work with the Four Seasons. He was able to enter some singles into the top 40 with both his work with the group and his work solo. In 1974, Frankie Valli came back to the top of the charts with "My Eyes Adored You" that became platinum. Next year “Swearing to God” became gold. In 1976 The Four Seasons were number one on the charts for three weeks with the fantastic "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)". Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons were included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8240.html Wed, 19 Apr 2006 08:13:06 CST
ABBA was a pop group from Stockholm, Sweden formed by Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (nicknamed "Frida"). In the 1960s Benny Andersson played the keyboards and sung in a pop group called The Hep Stars while Björn Ulvaeus was a member of the Hootenanny Singers, a very popular folk music group. After crossing paths and deciding to compose songs together, Hootenanny Singers’ manager, Stig Anderson, and founder of Polar Music encouraged them to write more songs and create an album which was eventually released on the Polar label. In 1969, Björn and Andersson met the women that will eventually become their fiancées. Agnetha Fältskog was a successful solo singer with a recent number one Swedish hit, "I Was So in Love". She and Björn were married in July 1971. Anni-Frid Lyngstad was a part-time cabaret singer who had recently participated in a talent competition and won. She and Andersson married in 1978.

At first the four members just collaborated musically, but in 1972 they recorded a song called ‘People Need Love’ under the group name Björn andamp; Benny, Agnetha andamp; Anni-Frid, the song was able to reach number 17 in the Swedish charts. Encouraged by the song’s success, next year, they submitted the song “Ring Ring” for the Eurovision Song Contest. The song came in third place but it was very popular with audiences and became a hit in several European Countries.

In 1973, following a suggestion from Stig Anderson, the group renamed to ABBA (an acronym of the members' first names). That year, the quartet submitted “Waterloo” to the Eurovision competition becoming the first Swedish act to win the contest. The record became one of the first of many international hits. Even though it failed to make it into the charts, 18 months later, they achieved another major worldwide hit with “SOS” taken from their album named ABBA. Following singles where very successful: “Mamma Mia” was able to reach top position in the UK, “Fernando” became one of ABBA’s best know tracks, and “Dancing Queen” was able to reach number one in the U.S.

In 1976 ABBA released their fourth album Arrival which featured hits like “Money, Money, Money” and “Knowing Me, Knowing You”. In 1977 the group released The Album in conjunction with ABBA: The Movie. The album was not as well received but was able to spawn some hits nevertheless; "The Name of the Game" and "Take A Chance On Me", both of which topped the UK charts. 1979 the album Voulez-Vous came to life, even if there was a decline in ABBA’s popularity in the UK and Europe it gained more attention in the U.S. The singles "Chiquitita", "Does Your Mother Know", "Voulez-Vous" and "I Have A Dream" all charted. That same year Björn and Agnetha announced their divorce. That did not mean the end of ABBA, and in 1980 they released their next album Super Trouper. Shortly after this release Andersson and Lyngstad divorced as well. At the end of the year, ABBA’s eighth album, The Visitors, was released. "One Of Us" was the biggest hit of the album. Some time after that, the group started to separate, while Benny and Björn collaborated with Tim Rice to write the musical Chess, Agnetha and Frida worked on solo albums. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8239.html Wed, 19 Apr 2006 08:10:26 CST
Barry Alan Pincus, best known as Barry Manilow, was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 17, 1943. He began playing piano and accordion at age seven. He began singing shortly before his Bar Mitzvah, when he legally changed his surname to his mother’s maiden name. After high school he was accepted in the prestigious Juilliard School of Music. He became musical director of the CBS show Callback and became a commercial jingle writer and singer. Then in 1971, he was hired by Bette Midler as her pianist, producer and arranger. Thanks to his work with Midler, Manilow was able to get a record deal and in 1973 he released his debut album Barry Manilow I. On 1974 Barry released Barry Manilow II with the song “Mandy” becoming a number one hit. “It’s a Miracle” was able to enter the top twenty while “Could It Be Magic” entered the Top Ten.

Manilow’s follow-up album, Tryin’ to Get the Feeling, was released in 1975. The single "I Write the Songs" (ironically, written by Beach Boys sideman Bruce Johnston) became his second number one pop hit and the title track was able to enter the Top Ten. The album was awarded triple platinum. By the end of 1976 Barry released This One’s for You that spawned the Top Ten “Weekend in New England” and number one “Looks Like We Made It”. The following year he released the concert double-LP Live, which became his first and only number one album, as well as his biggest hit with sales of over four million copies. He also won an Emmy for The Barry Manilow Special. In 1978 he released Even Now, which achieved triple platinum, with the singles "Can't Smile Without You," "Copacabana," and "Somewhere in the Night" all hitting Top Ten.

In 1979 Manilow’s One Voice sold well and placed a cover of former Mott the Hoople front man Ian Hunter's "Ships" in the Top Ten. And in 1980 he released Barry from which he generated his last Top Ten hit, “I Made It Through the Rain”. In 1984 Barry released 2:00 AM Paradise Café which presented a jazz-driven style. Subsequent ventures like 1987's Swing Street, 1991's Showstoppers, 1994's Singin' with the Big Bands, and 1998's Manilow Sings Sinatra all explored various facets of swing, vocal jazz and traditional pop. In 2001 he released the concept album Here at the Mayflower and in 2002 he released Ultimate Manilow re-gaining popularity and entering the album charts at number three.
http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8238.html Wed, 19 Apr 2006 08:08:28 CST
Cassandra Wilson was born in Jackson Mississippi on December 4, 1955. She started singing and performing by the age of five when she sang at her brother’s kindergarten graduation. By the age of nine she began playing the piano and the guitar. In eleventh grade she got the leading role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. During her last years of high school, Wilson formed a musical group with a couple of young white men, even though there was racial tension, she saw music as a way for people to come together. By the mid-70s she was working as a vocalist singing diverse kinds of material. After getting her degree in mass communication from Jackson State University, Cassandra moved from Mississippi to New Orleans and worked as an assistant in Public Affairs at a local television station.

In 1982 Wilson moved to New York, where she met with Steve Coleman and became M-Base Collective’s main vocalist. Then she worked with New Air and recorded her first album fronting the band in 1985. By 1993 she had sung on ten albums produced by  JMT records with a wide variety of New York musicians, including Mulgrew Miller and Greg Osby. By her third album she was often compared to artists like Betty Carter, Nina Simone, and Shirley Horn, whom she also considers to be some of her musical influences.

Cassandra in addition of being considered the finest jazz vocalist of her generation by many critics, she has been given several awards during the course of her musical career. She was selected for the 1997 Governor’s Award for excellence in the Arts of Jackson Mississippi. Her tour Blood on the Fields was nominated for a Grammy for best vocal performance. Her album New Moon Daughter granted her a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocalist. Cassandra also won the Downbeat’s  “Singer of the Year” title in 1994 and in 1995 and the same title in the Critic poll in 1996 for her album Blue Light Til’Dawn. Her albums, Blue Skies and New Moon Daughter, have topped the US jazz charts.