http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Soft-Rock_Summary.html en-us http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8231.html Wed, 19 Apr 2006 07:57:45 CST The Counting Crows is a rock band that became very famous in 1993 after the releasing their debut record entitled “August and Everything After” which contains one of their hit singles “Mr. Jones”. The group was created by the singer Adam Duritz (who sung with another band called “The Himalayans”) and David Bryson (guitarist) in 1991 in San Francisco. The original idea of Duritz was to create a duo that started to play in Berkeley and the San Francisco Bay Area. However, after the addition of new members the new group was signed to Geffen Records.
The band rapidly got a big fan base among the Generation X alternative rock fans that had been looking for something different from the music scene. The group launched their second disc in 1996; this was called “Recovering the Satellites”. However, it was not more successful than their first record. This record contains some known singles like “A Long December” and “Miller Angels” among others. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8223.html Tue, 18 Apr 2006 05:11:40 CST Barry Manilow is an American singer and also songwriter; he is widely recognized especially for his hit records “I Write The Songs”, “Copacabana” and “Mandy”. His real name is Barry Alan Pincus and he was born in Brooklyn, NY on June 17th, 1943. The extasis of his career was during the 70’s when he dominated the scenes of the soft rock and won multi platinum records. He is considered as the showman of that generation, according to the Rolling Stone. Even when Manilow was strongly critiqued he had a large fan base especially during the baby boom in the US.
The record label of Barry (Arista) said that he was 29 years old when he was really 32. This was made to focus his discs to the teens. Very fast in his career he was a commercial singer and songwriter. He wrote the theme for State Farm Insurance (Like a Good neighbor, State Farm is There) and the “Stuck on Band Aid”. After that he worked as pianist, producer and arranger with Bette Midler among others at the Continental Bathhouse in NY. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8210.html Tue, 18 Apr 2006 04:57:53 CST America is a soft rock and roll band which is widely recognized for their number one hits “A Horse With No Name” and “Sister Golden Hair”. The band is composed by Dewey Bunnell who is the lead vocalist and guitarist also, Gerry Beckley who plays the guitar, bass, keyboards and is also backing vocalist and Dan Peek (who left the band in 1977) who played bass, guitar, harmonica and keyboards. They were really successful commercially but they were also much critiqued. During the 70’s they were the largest selling group of Warner Brothers Records.
The band was formed in the mid 60’s when the guys met each other while they were stationed in England with the army. They formed the group and produced their first LP (produced by Ian Samwell). This self titled LP was released in Europe but it was not very successful. Samwell helped the band to get a contract with Warner Brothers Records and launch their first single “Horse With No Name” which became very popular. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_8199.html Tue, 18 Apr 2006 04:51:24 CST Air Supply is a duo of pop musicians. Graham Russell who is guitarist and vocalist also and Russell Hitchcock who is the main vocalist. Graham is from England and Hitchcock is from Australia. They met each other in 1975 in Australia when they both were performing the music for the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. By 1976 these guys along with Chrissie Hammond formed the band (composed of five members). Hammond left the band and was substituted with Jeremy Paul and in that year they released their first hit single entitled “Love and Other Bruises”.
It was also the title of their debut album which reached Gold status in Australia and several top 40 hits in other countries. They also opened a tour of Rod Stewart and during that tour Jeremy left the band. The band was reformed in 1978 and for those times it was composed by Russell and Graham, Frank Esler Smith (keyboardist), David Green the bassist, David Moyse and Rex Goh both guitarists and Ralph Cooper in the drums. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7180.html Mon, 10 Apr 2006 10:26:11 CST
Like a star in the heaven, Celine Dion has been blessed with an extraordinary voice and a great talent that only she knows how to exploit it, in front of thousands of people seeing her artistic and professional performances. She is not only a superstar in pop and soft rock music but also a woman willing to achieve her personal dreams and goals. Perhaps, the question is how Celine is so brilliant in her career. Actually, the love, dedication and passion with which she works are the perfect ingredients to stand out the way she does.

The journey to fame and success implies hard-working, time-consuming, and a true compromise to overcome difficult situations and fulfill a great deal of responsibilities at the same time. In this regard, Celine has always demonstrated that she is internationally known by her records and awards due to her lots of efforts and because she really loves singing and being at the scenery. Without any doubts, she was born to make music and entertain the public with her lovely voice and charming lyrics of countless themes.

Some of Celine’s most famous and outstanding songs include the soundtrack to the animated Disney movie ‘Beauty and the Beast’ winning an Academy Award and a Grammy Award and the song “My Heart Will Go On,” the soundtrack of the motion picture ‘Titanic,’ was the wedding song for many Celine’s fans. This song, in particular, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Second Oscar for being sung by Celine Dion. Before announcing a temporary break, Celine released a collection of her greatest hits called ‘All The Way…A Decade of Song’. Two years later, returning to the music scene, she recorded a new album: ‘A New Day Has Come’ which was No.1 in different countries around the world.

Currently, she performs nightly shows at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas as part of a three-year commitment. This is a different way of performing shows with technology and artistic and theatrical innovation. It is important to know that Celine started releasing music in French, and then she continued singing in English and some songs in Spanish. Thus, language barrier has not existed for this singer because her amazing success in every single production crosses many countries around the world. Celine Dion, a powerful voice in a beautiful feminine body, has the artistic skills to perform alive and the challenge of taking care of her husband and baby while triumphing in the music industry.
http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7296.html Fri, 07 Apr 2006 03:55:08 CST
If you really admire Elton John, you will find here some important details about this singer and composer. Born in 1947, he is one of the greatest survivors of pop music, and at the age of four years old, he started playing the piano. Besides, when he was 11, he got a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music. Unfortunately, he had no success in an audition as lead singer for rock bands.

He then joined with a duo that changed his name to Elton John. After recording the album Tumbleweed Connection, he became a very successful pop artist of the 1970s. Indeed, he had to overcome a stream of different pop fads as punk and the New Romantics to be the Britain’s most internationally known musician.

An unexpected piece of news for many people was the fact that he announced publicly that he was bisexual, and actually, he discovered that he was homosexual. In the 1970s and 1980s, he underwent a difficult situation because of drug and alcohol addiction as well as bulimia, but he was able to go through it. He is not only known for his music but for being a campaigner for AIDS research, and he is always working on modern music. For this reason, he enjoys himself from artists like Coldplay, Eminem, Robbie Williams, and Radiohead.
http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7292.html Fri, 07 Apr 2006 03:36:07 CST
Chicago is one of the first rock bands that incorporated the use of horns. The main focus of this band at the beginning is simply rock; nevertheless, it then changes it for a softer sound, thus becoming famous for its hit ballads. It is important to highlight the fact that they had a steady stream of hits during the 70’s and the 80’s.

Before being named Chicago, this group was called Chicago Transit Authority, which is the same title to their first album, including elements such as jazzy instruments, extended jams featuring Latin percussion, and feedback-laden guitar abstraction. Their road to fame starts with the release of their second album titled Chicago, which had various top-40 hits. After this success, the band recorded more than two LP discs every year. However, the ambition plan of producing a quadruple album with live performances, especially with music from their first three albums did not have the expected acceptance by the public.

During the 70’s, Chicago had good and bad moments because on one side they had successful hits, but ironically, not all of them could top the charts. For the decade of the 1980s and 1990s, the band keeps working on; although their low popularity and one member of the band had been fired. In spite of these two hard situations, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1992 is given to Chicago, as recognition for its career. Throughout years, Chicago is still active after three and a half decades of its foundation and entertains with its songs thousands of people around the world.
http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7288.html Fri, 07 Apr 2006 02:21:06 CST
Born in 1945, Eric Patrick Clapton is considered one of the most influential and respected English guitarists of the popular rock-era. The most peculiar feature of his career is that in spite of his varied musical style, he has kept rooted in the Blues. In addition, he has been an innovator in various phases of his career, including Hard Rock and Blues-Rock. In the same way, he has also worked in genres like Delta Blues, Pop, Reggae, and Rock, achieving lots of success and recognition.

At the age of 17 years old, he joined his first band, wherein he played in London clubs with whom someday would be members of the Rolling Stones. In 1963, he joined The Yardbirds, a blues-influenced rock and roll band, which attracted a large amount of people when they began playing all strict blues covers of Chess. By 1965, they had their first great hit: For Your Love, on which Clapton played the guitar. After having quit the band, he joined another one but a short period of time, and, finally, he began to develop as a guitarist, singer and songwriter.

Unfortunately, Clapton’s personal life was not as successful as his career because he started consuming drugs. This situation provoked that much of his output did not receive the acceptance of his earlier work. Certainly, he continued releasing albums and making tours, he had some bad experiences because of his addiction to drugs and alcohol. Clapton emerged again with acclaimed critics about his new album in 1994 and the recording of the soundtrack of the movie Phenomenon in 1996. That same year, he also recorded an album with electronic music, Retail Therapy. In 2002, Clapton planned The Concert for George, which is a tribute to George Harrison at the Royal Albert Hall. Besides, Clapton started playing at London’s Royal Albert Hall and New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2005 to initiate the revival of Cream. In spite of his numerous personal problems, Clapton had the strength to recover his life and continue singing.
http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7280.html Fri, 07 Apr 2006 10:49:09 CST
Born in Ireland, Van Morrison, has been a true music innovator producing over 20 studio albums. He started his artistic career being a jazz saxophonist with the Randamp;B band the Monarchs. Although he formed the band Them, he was soon dissatisfied with the combination of aspects of the music world. For this reason, he came back to his studio in order to record singles. As a result, he released the song “Brown-Eyed Girl,” which was a Top 10 hit, and it was possible to make a collection of his best hits. Subsequently, his next albums revealed a stylistic evolution.

The best time of Morrison’s career is the 70’s since his records showed the prosperous and significant moment of his life by his marriage. In the 80’s, Morrrison’s music style was influenced by mysticism. Some of his best songs for this period include A Sense of Wonder—tribute to poet William Blake—and Poetic Champions Compose. In addition, the release of a greatest hits album in 1990 gave Morrison a career breakthrough, which indeed serves to prepare a double album acclaimed by his fans. It is important to mention the fact that Morrison teamed with, the famed Chieftains, one of his homeland’s musical institutions, to create a collection of traditional folk songs. In the years to follow, Morrison continued making a balance between the past and the future, to interchange between new studio albums and collections of life and weird material.

Surely, Morrison has produced the most spiritual and transcendent pieces of work in the rock and roll field. His rejection toward industry fashions and commercial trends indeed affected his career in the sense that his songs were not part of pop charts for decades. However, he also enjoyed a lot of popularity along the course of his successful and lengthened career.
http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7274.html Fri, 07 Apr 2006 10:38:38 CST
Before starting a successful career as a musician, Rod Steward wanted to become a soccer player; nevertheless, he was disappointed because he did not get any offer to play professionally. Before this situation, Rod Steward decided to explore within the music industry his talent and abilities. Beyond just being a simple hobby or a business, the music of Rod has become a complete-blown cultural phenomenon.

Traveling around Europe, getting a lot of awards, and recording great albums are part of his achievements. His fame, as a vocalist, began when he belonged to the group The Faces, with which he released five albums. Thanks to his performance, the group obtained a remarkable success. His first album is called “An old raincoat will never let you down,” which receives good comments and critics on the behalf of the public and experts.

As solo singer, he launches his first hit “Maggie May,” which was No. 1 in the United Kingdom and the United States. With his new album, “Every picture tells a story,” he returned to the hits lists. After that, he moved to the United States to focus on his work as solo singer, but his songs were not as good as before, even though he later appears with a better album to recover the origin of his songs. Along the globe, he has sold more than 130 million albums, which in principle is a lot, shows that people really like his songs and that he was born to sing. For almost 2 years, Rod’s first album remained on the Billboard Top 200 chart. He has also won two Grammy Nominations and two multi-platinum sales successes.

His main skill is to capture amazing classic standards, thus making him feel comfortable in this genre of music. Besides this, Rod loves performing spontaneously onstage rather than confining in a recording studio for hours. Making music is his passion and his life, but most importantly, his romantic compositions remain in many people’s memory and heart as part of true love stories.