2008 – GUNS N’ ROSES: ‘Chinese Democracy’ Track Listing Slightly Revised – Oct. 17, 2008
A slightly revised track listing for the new GUNS N’ ROSES album, “Chinese Democracy”, has now been posted at BestBuy.com, which will exclusively carry the album in the U.S. starting on November 23. A pre-order page for the long-delayed release was posted at the site on Wednesday (October 15), although the pre-order option was later taken off. The page lists 14 song titles for the record, 11 of which have either been played live or leaked online over the past few years. The Pulse of Radio reports that one of those, “Street of Dreams”, was previously known as “The Blues”, while three titles, “Scraped”, “Sorry” and “Prostitute”, have not been heard anywhere.
According to Billboard.com, sources who have heard the album say that it opens with a “blood-curdling Axl Rose scream.”
Two different covers will apparently be available, along with CD and vinyl versions. What appears to be one of the covers has been posted at the Best Buy site, showing what seems to be a bicycle with a basket perched on it.
There has still not been an official announcement regarding the November 23 arrival date for the record.
“Chinese Democracy” has been in the works since the mid-’90s, with speculation and mystery surrounding the album’s 13-year journey, ever-changing roster of players and spiraling recording costs.
Revised “Chinese Democracy” track listing:
01. Chinese Democracy
02. Shackler’s Revenge
03. Better
04. Street Of Dreams
05. If The World
06. There Was A Time
07. Catcher N’ The Rye
08. Scraped
09. Riad N’ The Bedouins
10. Sorry
11. I.R.S.
12. Madagascar
13. This I Love
14. Prostitute
1960 – Steve Vai: Widdlywiddlywiddlywiddlywiddlywiddlywiddly-SCREECH! Yes, it’s happy birthday to Steve Vai, born today in Long Island, N.Y. this day in rock Guitar God History!
Steven “Steve” Siro Vai (born June 6, 1960 in Carle Place, New York) is an American instrumental rock guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and producer.
After starting his professional career as a music transcriptionist for Frank Zappa, Vai would also record and tour in Zappa’s backing band starting in 1980. The guitarist began a solo career starting in 1984 and has released 13 solo albums as of 2008. Apart from his work with Frank Zappa, Vai has also recorded and toured with numerous musical artists including Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth and Whitesnake. Vai has been a regular touring member of the G3 Concert Tour which began in 1996. In 1999 Vai started his own record label Favored Nations with the intent to showcase, as Vai describes: “…artists that have attained the highest performance level on their chosen instruments.”.
Career
1970s and 1980s
In 1974, Vai took guitar lessons from guitarist Joe Satriani, and played in numerous local bands. He has acknowledged the influence of many guitarists including Jeff Beck and fusion guitarist Allan Holdsworth. Vai then attended the Berklee College of Music.
Vai mailed Frank Zappa a transcription of Zappa’s “The Black Page”, an instrumental song written for drums, along with a tape with some of Vai’s guitar playing. Zappa was so impressed with the abilities of the young musician that he hired him in 1979 to do work transcribing several of his guitar solos, including many of those appearing on the Joe’s Garage album and the Shut Up ‘n’ Play Yer Guitar series. These transcriptions were published in 1982 in The Frank Zappa Guitar Book.
Subsequent to being hired as a transcriber, Vai did overdubs on many of the guitar parts for Zappa’s album You Are What You Is. Thereafter he became a full-fledged band member, going on his first tour with Zappa in the Autumn of 1980. One of those early shows with Vai on guitar, recorded in Buffalo was released in 2007. While touring with Zappa’s band, Vai would sometimes ask audience members to bring musical scores and see if he could sight-read them on the spot. Zappa referred to Vai as his “little Italian virtuoso” and was listed in liner notes as “stunt guitar” or “impossible guitar parts”. He would later be a featured artist on the 1993 recording, Zappa’s Universe. In 2006 he returned to playing Zappa music as a special guest on Dweezil Zappa’s ‘Zappa Plays Zappa’ tour.
After leaving Zappa in 1982 he moved to California where he recorded his first album Flex-Able and performed in a couple of bands. In 1985 he replaced Yngwie Malmsteen as lead guitarist in Graham Bonnet’s Alcatrazz with whom he recorded the album Disturbing the Peace. Later in 1985 he joined former Van Halen front man David Lee Roth’s group to record the albums Eat ‘Em and Smile and Skyscraper. This significantly increased Vai’s visibility to general rock audiences, since Roth was in a highly public battle with the Van Halen members and Vai was favorably compared by many commentators to Eddie Van Halen.
In 1986 Vai also surprised everyone by playing with ex-Sex Pistols John Lydon’s Public Image Ltd on their album Album (also known as Compact Disc or Cassette). Then in 1989 Vai stepped into guitarist Adrian Vandenberg’s shoes to record with British rock-group Whitesnake after Vandenberg injured his wrist shortly before recording was due to begin for the album Slip of the Tongue. Vai also played on the Alice Cooper album Hey Stoopid along with Joe Satriani on the song Feed my Frankenstein.
1990s and 2000s
Vai continues to tour regularly, both with his own group and with his one-time teacher and fellow guitar instrumentalist friend Joe Satriani on the G3 series of tours. Former David Lee Roth and Mr. Big bassist Billy Sheehan also joined him for a world tour. In 1990 Vai released his critically acclaimed solo album Passion and Warfare. The song For the Love of God was voted #29 in a readers’ poll of the 100 greatest guitar solos of all time for the magazine Guitar World.
In 1994 Vai began writing and recording with Ozzy Osbourne. Only one track from these sessions—”My Little Man”—was released on the Ozzmosis album. Despite Vai penning the track he does not appear on the album. His guitar parts were replaced by Zakk Wylde. Vai’s band members throughout the 1990s included drummer Mike Mangini, guitarist Mike Keneally and bassist Philip Bynoe. In 1994 Vai received a Grammy Award for his performance on the Frank Zappa song Sofa from the album Zappa’s Universe.
Vai playing a twin-necked IbanezIn July 2002, Steve Vai performed with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan, in the world premiere of composer Ichiro Nodaira’s Fire Strings, a concerto for electric guitar and 100-piece orchestra. In 2004, a number of his compositions for orchestra, as well as orchestra arrangements of previously recorded pieces, were performed in The Netherlands by the Metropole Orchestra in a concert series entitled The Aching Hunger. In 2003, drummer Jeremy Colson joined Vai’s group replacing previous drummer Virgil Donati. Vai’s latest album, Sound Theories, was released in 2007.
Steve Vai released a DVD of his performance at The Astoria in London in December 2001, featuring the lineup of bassist Billy Sheehan, guitarist/pianist Tony MacAlpine, guitarist Dave Weiner and drummer Virgil Donati.
In 2004, Steve Vai was featured on Xbox’s Halo 2 Volume 1 soundtrack, performing a heavy rock-guitar rendition of the Halo theme, known as Halo Theme (Mjolnir Mix). He also performed on the track Never Surrender. He later featured in the second volume of the soundtrack, where he performed on the track Reclaimer.
In February 2005, Vai premiered a dual-guitar (electric and classical) piece that he wrote called The Blossom Suite with classical guitarist Sharon Isbin at the Châtelet Theatre in Paris. In 2006, Vai played as a “special guest” guitarist alongside additional guest Zappa band members, drummer Terry Bozzio and saxophonist-singer Napoleon Murphy Brock in the Zappa Plays Zappa tour led by Frank’s son Dweezil Zappa in Europe and the U.S. in the Spring as well as a short U.S. tour in October.
On September 21 2006, Vai made a special appearance at the Video Games Live concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, California. He played two songs with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. One song being the Halo Theme, the second was for the world premier trailer for Halo 3.
Steve Vai made an appearance at the London Guitar Show 2007 on the 28th April 2007 at the ExCeL Center by doing a masterclass. In late April 2007, Vai confirmed the release of his next record, called Sound Theories, on June 26. The release will be a 2-CD set consisting mostly of previously released material that Vai rearranged and played in front of a full orchestra. Vai says that the project was a great joy because he considers himself to be a composer more than a guitarist, and he is happy to see music he has composed played by an orchestra that can play it well. A DVD will eventually accompany the record but will be released in August. He makes a guest appearance on the most recent Dream Theater album, Systematic Chaos, on the song “Repentance”. However, this appearance is vocal rather than instrumental, as Vai is one of many musical guests recorded apologizing to important people in their lives for wrongdoings committed in their pasts.
Vai is set to release a DVD of his show dated 19 September 2007 at the Minneapolis State Theater from his 2007 Tour.
Movies
Steve Vai’s music has been featured in a number of feature films, including Dudes and Ghosts of Mars. He appeared onscreen in the 1986 Ralph Macchio movie Crossroads, playing the demonically-inspired Jack Butler. At the film’s climax, Vai engages in a guitar duel with Macchio, whose guitar parts were dubbed by Vai and also Ry Cooder, who played the initial slide work in the duel and Macchio’s earlier performances in the film. The fast-paced neo-classical track entitled Eugene’s Trick Bag with which Macchio wins the competition was also composed by Vai. The body of the piece was heavily based on Paganini’s Caprice #5. He later borrowed the opening riff from the track Head Cuttin’ Duel for a song called Bad Horsie from his 1995 EP Alien Love Secrets. Later the Crossroads duel reappeared on the 2002 album The Elusive Light and Sound, volume 1.
In 1991′s Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey the introductory riff to KISS’ God Gave Rock ‘N Roll To You II, as performed by the Wyld Stallyns in the Battle of the Bands was performed by Vai. He also composed and performed the soundtrack to PCU (1994), and made contributions in 2001 to the score for John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars, performing on the tracks Ghosts of Mars and Ghost Poppin. His track Drive the Hell Out Of Here can be heard during 1992′s Encino Man in the scene where Brendan Fraser is taking a driving lesson.
Musical style
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Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (March 2008)
Vai performing in 2001Vai is widely recognized as a technically highly advanced rock guitarist and has been described as a virtuoso in the world of guitar music . He has mastered many performance techniques on the instrument including legato, pinch harmonics and volume swells, and is noted for his whammy bar effects and sporadic outbursts on the instrument often contrasting sweep-picking or finger tapping with slower sections to his compositions. His 1990 album Passion and Warfare and the ballad For the Love of God in particular received a significant amount of press and are often cited by critics and fans alike as amongst his best work to date .
Vai’s playing style has been characterized as quirky and angular, owing to his technical facility with the instrument and deep knowledge of music theory. Vai was the first to use the 7-string guitar in a rock context – having designed the 7-string electric guitar, and has used double and triple neck guitars on many occasions.
Equipment
Vai is an accomplished studio producer (he owns two: “The Mothership” and “The Harmony Hut” ) and his own recordings combine his signature guitar prowess with novel compositions and considerable use of studio and recording effects, such as the Eventide H3000 ultra harmonizer and Digidesign’s Pro Tools HD recording system and plug-in effects architecture.
Vai also helped design his signature Ibanez JEM series of guitars. They feature a hand grip (fondly referred to as a “monkey grip”) cut into the top of the body of the guitar, a humbucker-single coil-humbucker DiMarzio pickup configuration with several different types of pickup including Evolution, Breed and EVO 2. He also uses Floyd Rose locking tremolo system, as well as an elaborate and extensive “Vine of Life” inlay down the neck. Vai also equips many of his guitars with an Ibanez Backstop, a tremolo stabilizer that has been discontinued. Vai also has a 7-string model designed by him named Ibanez Universe. The Universe later influenced the 7-string guitars used by Korn and other bands to create nu metal sounds in the late 1990s. He also has a signature Ibanez acoustic, the Euphoria. Before he used Ibanez, he briefly endorsed Jackson guitars, but this relationship would only last for two years.
Steve Vai has also worked with Carvin Guitars and Pro Audio to develop the Carvin Legacy line of guitar amplifiers. Vai wanted to create an amp that was unique and equal in sound, versatility, and affordability to any guitar amp he had previously used. Over his long musical career, Steve Vai has used and designed an array of guitars. He even had his DNA put into the swirl paint job on one of his signature JEM guitars, the JEM2KDNA, in the form of his blood. Only 300 of these were ever made. Nowadays he mainly uses his white “Evo”, a JEM7V, and his “Flo”, which is a customized Floral Jem 777FP painted white. They are both inscribed with their names in two places, mainly in order to allow him to distinguish between the guitars he uses onstage. “Flo” is equipped with a Fernandes sustainer system.
He also has a guitar named “Mojo” in which the dot inlays are blue LED lights. Additionally, he has a custom-made triple-neck guitar that has the same basic features as his JEM7V guitars. The top neck is a 12-string guitar, the middle is a 6-string, and the bottom is a 6-string fretless guitar with a Fernandes Sustainer pickup. This guitar was featured on the G3 2003 tour on the piece I Know You’re Here. Vai’s effects pedals include a modified Boss DS-1, Ibanez Tube Screamer, Morley Bad Horsie, TC Electronics G-System, Morley Little Alligator Volume pedal, Digitech Whammy, and an MXR Phase 90. His flight cases are labeled “Mr. Vai”, or latterly, “Dr. Vai”. He used a number of rack effects units controlled via MIDI, but used a floor-based TC electronics G system instead for the Zappa Plays Zappa tour. Vai also has a signature pedal in the works with Ibanez called the “Jemini” pedal (see external links for a picture). This pedal is expected to be released at Winter NAMM 2008.
Philanthropy
In 2005, Vai signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the U.S.A. He sits on its board of directors as an honorary member.
Favored Nations
Vai owns Favored Nations, a recording and publishing company that specializes in internationally procuring and maintaining recording artists. Favored Nations is separated into three sections, ‘Favored Nations’, ‘Favored Nations Acoustic’ and ‘Favored Nations Cool (Jazz style)’
Artists who the Favored Nations label works or has worked with include Eric Johnson, Steve Lukather, Neal Schon, Yngwie Malmsteen, Mattias IA Eklundh, Tommy Emmanuel, Vernon Reid, The Yardbirds, Larry Coryell, Mimi Fox, Eric Sardinas, Dweezil Zappa, Dave Weiner and Johnny A.
Personal life
Vai is married to Pia Maiocco, former bass player of Vixen, who can be seen in Hardbodies. Vai and Maiocco have two children, Julian Angel and Fire. In his spare time Vai enjoys keeping bees, which regularly produce a crop of honey that Vai sells for his Make a Noise Foundation.
Band History – not including guest appearances
Frank Zappa (1980-1982)
Steve Vai (1982-1984)
Alcatrazz (1985)
David Lee Roth (1985-1986)
Public Image Ltd. (1985-1986)
Frank Zappa (1986)
David Lee Roth (1987-1988)
Whitesnake (1988-1990)
Solo (1989-present)
Ozzy Osbourne (1995)
Current band members
Steve Vai – vocals, lead guitar
Dave Weiner – rhythm guitar
Ann Marie Calhoun – Fiddle, keyboard
Brian Beller – bass guitar
Jeremy Colson – drums, percussion
Alex Depue- Violin
Discography
Solo albums
Flex-Able (1984)
Flex-Able Leftovers (1984)
Passion and Warfare (1990)
Sex & Religion (1993)
Alien Love Secrets (1995)
Fire Garden (1996)
The Ultra Zone (1999)
The 7th Song (2000)
Alive in an Ultra World (2001)
The Elusive Light and Sound, volume 1 (2002)
The Infinite Steve Vai: An Anthology (2003)
Real Illusions: Reflections (2005)
Sound Theories (2007)
Appearances on Zappa albums
Year Album Credit
1981 Tinseltown Rebellion Rhythm guitar, vocals
1981 Shut Up ‘n Play Yer Guitar Rhythm guitar
1981 You Are What You Is Strat abuse
1982 Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch Guitar parts
1983 The Man from Utopia Guitar parts
1984 Them or Us Guitar
1984 Thing-Fish Guitar, vocals
1985 Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention Guitar
1987 Jazz from Hell Guitar
1988 Guitar Stunt guitar
1988 You Can’t Do That on Stage Anymore Sampler Stunt guitar
1988 You Can’t Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1 Stunt guitar
1989 You Can’t Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3 Stunt guitar
1991 You Can’t Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 4 Stunt guitar, vocals
1991 Beat the Boots I: As An Am Stunt guitar
1992 You Can’t Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 5 Stunt guitar
1992 You Can’t Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6 Stunt guitar
1995 Strictly Commercial Guitar
1997 Have I Offended Someone? Guitar
1998 Cheap Thrills Guitar
1999 Son of Cheep Thrills Guitar, vocals
With other artists
Year Artist Album
1983 Lisa Popeil Lisa Popeil
1985 Heresy At The Door
1985 Alcatrazz Disturbing the Peace
1985 Public Image Ltd. Album
1986 Bob Harris The Great Nostalgia
1986 Shankar & Caroline The Epidemics
1986 David Lee Roth Eat ‘Em and Smile / Sonrisa Salvaje
1986 Randy Coven Funk Me Tender
1986 Western Vacation Western Vacation
1988 David Lee Roth Skyscraper
1989 Whitesnake Slip of the Tongue
1990 Rebecca The Best of Dreams
1991 Alice Cooper Hey Stoopid
1994 Whitesnake Whitesnake’s Greatest Hits
1995 Ozzy Osbourne Ozzmosis (cowriter on one song)
1996 Wild Style Cryin’
1997 Munetaka Higuchi with Dream Castle Free World
1997 Joe Satriani / Eric Johnson / Steve Vai G3: Live in Concert
1997 David Lee Roth The Best
1998 Gregg Bissonette Gregg Bissonette
1998 Al Di Meola The Infinite Desire
1999 Joe Jackson Symphony No. 1
2000 Whitesnake The Back to Black Collection
2000 Gregg Bissonette Submarine
2000 Thana Harris Thanatopsis
2000 Andrew Dice Clay Face Down, Ass Up
2001 Robin DiMaggio Blue Planet
2001 Billy Sheehan Compression
2002 Tak Matsumoto Hana
2003 Surinder Sandhu Saurang Orchestra
2002 Girls Together Outrageously (G.T.O) Solo in their cover version of “I’ll Be Around”
2003 Eric Sardinas Black Pearls
2003 Steve Lukather & Friends SantaMental
2003 Hughes Turner Project HTP 2
2003 Shankar & Gingger One in a Million
2003 Yardbirds Birdland
2004 Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen G3: Live – Rockin’ In The Free World
2004 Motörhead Inferno
2004 Bob Carpenter The Sun, The Moon, The Stars
2004 Mike Keneally Vai: Piano Reductions, Vol. 1
2005 John 5 Songs for Sanity
2005 Dave Weiner Live at Astoria DVD
2005 Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, John Petrucci G3: Live in Tokyo
2006 The Devin Townsend Band Synchestra
2006 Marty Friedman Loudspeaker
2006 Meat Loaf Bat out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose
2007 Aki Rahimovski U vremenu izgubljenih
2007 Dream Theater (spoken voice only) Systematic Chaos
2007 Eros Ramazzotti e²
Soundtracks
Year Soundtrack Type
1986 Crossroads Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
1987 Dudes Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
1991 Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
1992 Encino Man Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
1994 PCU Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
1997 Formula 1 Original Video Game Soundtrack
2001 Ghosts of Mars Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
2004 Halo 2 Soundtrack Volume 1 Original Video Game Soundtrack
2006 Halo 2 Soundtrack Volume 2 Original Video Game Soundtrack
Compilations
Year Artists Compilation
1989 Various Guitar’s Practicing Musicians
1993 Various Zappa’s Universe
1995 Various In From The Storm
1996 Various Songs of West Side Story
1997 Various A Guitar Christmas
1997 Various Angelica
1999 Various Radio Disney Kid Jams
2001 Various Roland Guitar Masters
2002 Various Guitars For Freedom
2002 Various Warmth In The Wilderness Vol. II – A Tribute to Jason Becker
2004 Various Halo 2 Original Soundtrack
2006 Various Monsters of Rock
Awards and Nominations
Grammy Winner
1994 Best Rock Instrumental Performance “Sofa” from Zappa’s Universe
2001 Best Pop Instrumental No Substitutions [Steve Vai Producer/Engineer]
Grammy Nomination
1990 Best Rock Instrumental Album Passion & Warfare
1995 Best Rock Instrumental Performance “Tender Surrender” – from Alien Love Secrets
1997 Best Rock Instrumental Performance “For the Love of God” – from G3 Live in Concert
1999 Best Rock Instrumental Performance “Windows to the Soul” – from The Ultra Zone
2001 Best Rock Instrumental Performance “Whispering a Prayer” – from Alive in an Ultra World
2006 Best Rock Instrumental Performance “Lotus Feet” — lost to Les Paul & Friends’s “69 Freedom Special”
2008 Best Rock Instrumental Performance “The Attitude Song” — lost to Bruce Springsteen’s “Once Upon a Time in the West”
Guitar Player Magazine
1995 Gallery of Greats
1995 Best Rock Guitarist (Tie with Jimmy Page)
1995 Best Overall Guitarist 3rd Place
1995 Best Experimental Guitarist (Tie with Buckethead)
1995 Best Metal Recording 3rd Place
1995 Best Overall Guitar Recording 2nd Place
1995 Best Metal Guitarist 3rd Place
1990 Best Rock Guitarist
1990 Best Overall Guitarist
1990 Best Guitar Album
1990 Best Metal Guitarist
1989 Best Rock Guitarist
1988 Best Rock Guitarist
1987 Best Rock Guitarist
1987 Best Overall Guitarist
1986 Best Rock Guitarist
Guitar World
1990 Most Valued Player (tie with Stevie Ray Vaughan)
1990 Best Album
1990 Best Rock Guitarist
1990 Best Guitar Solo (For the Love of God)
1989 Best Rock Guitarist
International Music Awared Nomination
1990 Best Guitarist
Select Magazine (UK)
1990 Best Album (Passion and Warfare)
1990 Best Musician
1990 Sexiest Male
Guitar for the Practicing Musician
1993 Editor’s Choice Award
1990 Reader’s Choice – Guitar Album of the Year
1990 Best Instrumental Guitarist of the Year
1988 Rock Guitarist of the Year
1987 Hall of Fame
1986 Guitar in the 90’s Award
Kerrang (UK)
1993 Best Hard Rock Performance
1990 Guitarist of the Year
1989 Best Rock Guitarist
Young Guitar (Japan)
1997 Best Rock Guitarist
1991 Best Rock Guitarist
Rock Brigade
1996 Best Guitarist
1997 Best Guitarist
RAW
990 Best Selling Album (No. 10)
1990 Best Selling LP Sleeve (No. 1)
1990 Best Selling Promo Video (No. 5, I Would Love To)
1990 Best Selling Promo Video (No. 7, The Audience is Listening)
1990 Best Sex Object (No. 6)
1990 Best RAW Cover (No. 3)
Player
1995 Best Hard Rock Guitarist – 2nd Place
Making Music
1990 Best Album
1990 Best Guitarist
1990 Best Musician
Metal Hammer
1990 Best Guitarist (Reader’s Poll)
California Music Awards
2001 Outstanding Guitarist (nominee)
2006 – American Idol contestant Derrell Brittenum surrenders to the Georgia police. Along with his twin brother Terrell, Brittenum performed on the hit show while being wanted on theft and forgery charges.
Terrell and Derrell Brittenum caught in new ‘American Idol’ controversy
By Christopher Rocchio, 01/17/2008
One American Idol mini-controversy apparently wasn’t enough for Terrell and Derrell Brittenum, the Memphis twins that were disqualified from the show’s fifth-season Hollywood Round after identity theft charges surfaced.
On Wednesday morning, the brothers’ newly-signed independent record label boldly announced that although American Idol had advanced them to the show’s Hollywood Round after they’d attended Idol’s seventh-season Atlanta auditions this summer, the twins had decided to “decline” the offer and instead release a debut album. The only problem is it wasn’t true.
“We thought long and hard about joining American Idol for season seven. Although it’s a great opportunity, we feel The Brittenum Twins are a group and only one of us can win and if I can’t do it without my brother I don’t think it would be a true win,” Terrell stated in the release. “Also, we have done it before, we know some of the techniques the judges use and don’t want anyone think we have an unfair advantage over the other contestants.”
However during a subsequent Wednesday afternoon interview with Reality TV World, Derrell and Terrell admitted that, despite the boastful announcement, it wasn’t their decision to not participate. Instead, the fact that they had already been 29-years-old at the time of their August audition meant that they were technically ineligible to compete in American Idol’s seventh season. (Idol 7 hopefuls were required to be between 16 and 28 years old as of July 28, 2007 — meaning that all applicants must be born on or between July 29, 1978 and July 28, 1991 in order to be eligible.)
“We auditioned with flying colors… They passed us through to [executive producer Ken Warwick]. Ken Warwick was like, ‘What do you guys think you’re doing? You’re 29-years-old. You know the limit is 28,’” said Terrell. “We were like, ‘We just want a second chance to show the world we’ve been through a lot…’ We just really viewed it as a second chance, and when we sang for Ken, he agreed.”
What did you think about American Idol’s premiere?
Talk about it on Reality TV World’s American Idol message boards.
Following their meeting with Warwick, Derrell and Terrell claim they were sent to audition for Idol judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, who all agreed the twins “do possess the talent to come back to the show” and thus awarded them a ticket to the season’s Hollywood Round.
“But before we could go to Hollywood Week — one week before we leave for Hollywood Week — they tell us there’s a possibility that we might not be on the show because our age is posing a problem for the legal department,” said Derrell. “So we fly out for Hollywood Week, and they tell us that we cannot do the show.”
When pressed, the brothers also acknowledged that despite their press release comments, they wouldn’t have declined the chance to participate if producers had waived the age requirement.
Terrell and Derrell Brittenum
“We would have been on… It’s a wonderful vehicle,” Terrell admitted.
“I think I would have taken it,” added Derrell. “You just can’t beat the Idol machine.”
When contacted by Reality TV World, a Fox publicist could not immediately confirm or deny any of the twins claims. In addition, the publicist couldn’t state whether Terrell and Derrell will be featured in American Idol’s seventh-season Atlanta auditions broadcast, which is scheduled to air Tuesday, February 5 at 8PM ET/PT.
“I really wonder if they’re going to air the footage… It was funny, it’s hilarious, it’s a story, it’s a message,” said Terrell. “It’s all of that in one. I really think even though [executive producer Nigel Lythgoe] said they’re not going to use it — I believe that that’s not [going to be] the case. I really believe that they’re going to use it this year, even if we’re not going to be on the show for Hollywood… We make good TV. They know that.”
The Brittenum brothers are no strangers to being uninvited from Idol’s Hollywood Round. They attended Idol 5′s Chicago audition in September 2005 and both immediately impressed the judges with their smooth, soulful voices, earning them a ticket to the season’s Hollywood Round.
However shortly after Fox aired their Idol 5 audition in January 2006, it was revealed the twins were being charged with forgery, theft by deception and financial identity fraud for allegedly buying a 2005 Dodge Magnum using another man’s identity.
While they were released from police custody shortly thereafter, their invite to Idol 5′s Hollywood Round was rescinded by the show’s producers, ending their Idol journey before it ever really began.
They then had a tentative deal with rapper Jermaine Dupri’s SoSo Def Records soon after the controversy, but they claim a lawyer representing them “messed the deal up.”
“We’re sort of trying to U-turn the bad decision we made about stealing the car, just trying to get our lives right,” said Terrell before adding they unfortunately found trouble again. “So we get locked up [in jail] again for an address change in July, and Idol was coming back to Atlanta on the fourteenth. We already planned to audition again for Idol at [age] 29.”
“We just thought let’s just give it another go,” added Derrell. “Maybe we can overturn the bad press and sort of make it good. let people know we made stupid decisions in life — but we still are talented… Just because we made bad decision doesn’t mean we have to stay down in the mess that we’re in. We can always pick ourselves back up and start over again.”
Terrell and Derrell’s first single off their “The Come Up” debut album is scheduled to be released in February via TSG Records, an Atlanta-based company that is home to several R&B singers and rappers. In addition, Terrell and Derrell have launched a foundation called U-Turn where they visit high schools to mentor youth.
Regardless of whether they appear in next month’s Atlanta auditions broadcast, the twins say American Idol viewers may still not have seen the last of them.
“They did give us an opportunity to come back to the show as far as guest appearances,” said Derrell. “So we’re thinking if the single does climb the charts, we’ll call American Idol and I’m sure they would love to put us back on the show.”
2005 – Bob Moog, inventor of his namesake range of synthesizers and one of the most significant figures in the evolution of electronic music, dies at his home in Asheville, N.C. He is 71. A native of N.Y., Moog was diagnosed with brain cancer in late April and had since undergone radiation treatment and chemotherapy.
Dr. Robert Arthur Moog (pronounced /ˈmoʊɡ/ to rhyme with “rogue”) (May 23, 1934 – August 21, 2005) was an American pioneer of electronic music, best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer.
Life
A native of New York City, Robert Moog attended the Bronx High School of Science, graduating in 1952. Moog earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Queens College, New York in 1957, another in electrical engineering from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in engineering physics from Cornell University. Moog’s awards include honorary doctorates from Polytechnic University (New York City) and Lycoming College (Williamsport, Pennsylvania)
During his lifetime, Moog founded two companies for manufacturing electronic musical instruments. Moog also worked as a consultant and vice president for new product research at Kurzweil Music Systems from 1984 to 1988, helping to develop the Kurzweil K2000. He spent the early 1990s as a research professor of music at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.
Moog received a Grammy Trustees Award for lifetime achievement in 1970. In 2002, Moog was honored with a Grammy Tech Award, and an honorary doctorate degree from Berklee College of Music.
He gave an enthusiastically-received lecture at the 2004 New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME-04), held in Hamamatsu, Japan’s “City of Musical Instruments”, in June, 2004. Moog was the inspiration behind the 2004 film Moog.
Moog’s first wife was Shirleigh Moog (née Shirley May Leigh) a grammar school teacher whom he married in 1958. The couple had 3 daughters (Laura Moog Lanier, Michelle Moog-Koussa, Renee Moog) and one son (Matthew Moog) before their divorce. Moog was married to his second wife Ileana Grams, a philosophy professor, for nine years until his death. Moog’s stepdaughter, Miranda Richmond, is Grams’ daughter from a previous marriage. Moog also had five grandchildren.
Robert Moog was diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor on April 28, 2005. Nearly four months later, Moog died at the age of 71 in Asheville, North Carolina on August 21, 2005. His end of life journey was captured using CaringBridge. The Bob Moog Foundation was created as a memorial, with the aim of continuing his life’s work of developing electronic music.
Development of the Moog synthesizer
Main article: Moog synthesizer
The Moog synthesizer was one of the first widely used electronic musical instruments. Early developmental work on the components of the synthesizer occurred at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, now the Computer Music Center. While there, Moog developed the voltage controlled oscillators, ADSR envelope generators, and other synthesizer modules with composer Herbert Deutsch.
Moog created the first subtractive synthesizer to utilize a keyboard as a controller and demonstrated it at the AES convention in 1964. In 1966, Moog filed a patent application for his unique low-pass filter U.S. Patent 3,475,623 , which issued in October 1969. He holds several dozen patents.
Robert Moog employed his theremin company (R. A. Moog Co., which would later become Moog Music) to manufacture and market his synthesizers. Unlike the few other 1960s synthesizer manufacturers, Moog shipped a piano-style keyboard as the standard user interface to his synthesizers. Moog also established standards for analog synthesizer control interfacing, with a logarithmic one volt-per-octave pitch control and a separate pulse triggering signal.
The first Moog instruments were modular synthesizers. In 1971 Moog Music began production of the Minimoog Model D which was among the first widely available, portable and relatively affordable synthesizers.
One of Moog’s earliest musical customers was Wendy Carlos whom he credits with providing feedback that was valuable to the further development of Moog synthesizers. Through his involvement in electronic music, Moog developed close professional relationships with artists such as Don Buchla, Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, John Cage, Gershon Kingsley, Clara Rockmore, and Pamelia Kurstin. In a 2000 interview, Moog said “I’m an engineer. I see myself as a toolmaker and the musicians are my customers. They use my tools.”
R.A. Moog Co. and Moog Music
The Moog Music logo
The Moog Music logo
Main article: Moog Music
In 1953 at age 19, Robert Moog founded his first company, R.A. Moog Co., to manufacture theremin kits. During the 1960s, the company was employed to build modular synthesizers based on Moog’s designs.
In 1972 Moog changed the company’s name to Moog Music. Throughout the 1970s, Moog Music went through various changes of ownership, eventually being bought out by musical instrument manufacturer Norlin. Poor management and marketing led to Moog’s departure from his own company in 1977.
In 1978 after leaving his namesake firm, Moog started making electronic musical instruments again with a new company, Big Briar. Their first specialty was theremins, but by 1999 the company expanded to produce a line of analog effects pedals called moogerfoogers. In 1999, Moog partnered with Bomb Factory to co-develop the first digital effects based on Moog technology in the form of plugins for Pro Tools software.
Despite Moog Music’s closing in 1993, Robert Moog did not have the rights to market products using his own name throughout the 1990s. Big Briar acquired the rights to use the Moog Music name in 2002 after a legal battle with Don Martin who had previously bought the rights to the name Moog Music. At the same time, Moog designed a new version of the Minimoog called the Minimoog Voyager. The Voyager includes nearly all of the features of the original Model D in addition to numerous modern features.
Theremin
Robert Moog constructed his own theremin as early as 1949. Later he described a theremin in the hobbyist magazine Electronics World and offered a kit of parts for the construction of the Electronic World’s Theremin, which became very successful. In the late 1980s Moog repaired the original theremin of Clara Rockmore, an accomplishment which he considered a high point of his professional career. He also produced, in collaboration with first wife Shirleigh Moog, Mrs. Rockmore’s album, The Art of the Theremin. Dr. Moog was a principal interview subject in the award-winning documentary film, THEREMIN- An Electronic Odyssey, the success of which led to a revival of interest in the theremin. Moog Music went back to its roots and once again began manufacturing theremins. Thousands have been sold to date and are used by both professional and amateur musicians around the globe. In 1996 he published another do-it-yourself theremin guide. Today, Moog Music is the leading manufacturer of performance-quality theremins.
Pronunciation
The surname Moog is one of the most divergently pronounced names in popular culture. The following interview excerpt reveals Robert Moog’s preferred pronunciation:
— Reviewer: First off: Does your name rhyme with “vogue” or is like a cow’s “moo” plus a “G” at the end?
— Dr. Robert Moog: It rhymes with vogue. That is the usual German pronunciation. My father’s grandfather came from Marburg, Germany. I like the way that pronunciation sounds better than the way the cow’s “moo-g” sounds.
(Note that the English , which has a monophthong and devoiced final consonant.)
In a deleted scene from the DVD version of the documentary Moog, Moog describes the three pronunciations of the name Moog: the original, Dutch pronunciation . Moog reveals that some of his family members prefer the English pronunciation, while others, including himself (and his wife) prefer the Anglo-German pronunciation.
1998 – Journey played its first live show with new lead singer, Steve Augeri, in Kentucky, in 1998. They had also just recently released the single, “Remember Me,” which can be found on the Armageddonsoundtrack. The group now fronted by Augeri, Steve Perry’s replacement, has released several Journey projects since then.
1997 – Michael Jackson film ‘Captain EO’ shows for the last time at Disneyland. The scandal and molestation charges Michael faced prompted Disney to remove the attraction. Nice family ride… way to go Disney! After Michael’s death, Disney reinstated the attraction replacing ‘Honey I shrunk the Audience’.
Michael Jackson Starred what Disney hoped would be the biggest attraction at Disneyland in 1985. It was hoped that Michael’s star Power would create the attaction of the decade.
George Lucas, Star Wars, created the storboard that Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola would direct. On September 12, 1986 at the Florida Walt Disney World Resort, the 30 million dollar project previewed for the first time wowing Disney and Jackson fans.
Songs: “Another Part Of Me” and “We Are Here To Change The World”.
1991 – Enigma went to No.1 for one week on the UK singles chart with ‘Sadness Part One’.
As Enigma is primarily an electronic music production, I assume you had a long standing interest in this area, so what artists influenced you to explore this direction right from the start? Influences, I’d have to say that I’ve always loved synthesisers, these are my toys. I have always been interested in electronic music and I started with the Minimoog and the legendary ones through to the generations of electronic equipment.
Did any artist/s in particular inspire you to pick up those instruments? Not really because I studied concert piano, so I’m a keyboarder all of my life.
So where did the original concept for Enigma derive? It was very simple, because I wanted to listen to a kind of special instrumental music but I couldn’t buy it so I did it by myself.
And incorporating Gregorian chants and eastern instruments? Yeah, it was more a question of ideology because the first record was based on this conflict between sexuality and the church, so it was very simple to use this as a sound logo of the Catholic Church. But I tell you what, sound philosophy yes? The sound is combined with the ideology of the records, but it’s nothing fixed, it’s coming along during the work, becoming clearer and clearer how I can transport my sound vision.
It’s never been contrived? No, I’m doing it very instinctively. Ok, in the back of my mind I am thinking about many things and I have a certain target of where I want to go and where I want to arrive, but how it will be at the end? As I always say, all the roads are going to Rome, which way I choose at the end is a question that is decided during the journey.
Is it true to say that Enigma is a one-man band, and that you’re involved in every aspect of the creation and production yourself? Yeah, it was from the very first day a one-man band; there were only some guest musicians for vocals or for guitars. On the new record I didn’t have the impression that I need some other vocalists, so I sing by myself and there are artificial voices, synthetic voices.
And the artwork on the new album looks quite interesting. It’s beautiful; it’s beautiful.
Yes, this big machine covered in leaves entwining it. The machine is from the British Museum of Marine… or something like that, it’s an old measurement instrument used from the past centuries.
Did you have a hand in designing the artwork? No, no, no, I have an excellent art director, which I’m very happy with.
And regarding lyrical content, there seems to be a lot less than on previous albums? I don’t know – it came how it came, so there’s no concrete messages. I don’t know; it was how it was, but I didn’t have the need to speak more. There’s not too much message behind the lyrical content this time, it’s more like a modern alchemist dream, who is dreaming about other galaxies – between science fiction and a visionary attitude.
How would you say A Posteriori differs from other Enigma albums then? I think the Enigma feeling, the emotion, the bloodline is still here, but transported in a completely different way. The sound and the structure of the songs are different to the albums before and I try to reduce the sound, not to be so bombastic as before. I wanted to go back a little bit to the simplicity of Enigma one.
It sounds quite different to me, perhaps more like a film soundtrack? Yes, but I always said I am doing soundtracks without pictures, the pictures are coming into your mind.
Has it been a struggle breaking away from the loops and samples of the previous Enigma style? It depends on the record you see because I always wanted to have a kind of lead sound, in brackets, lead sound for each album. So for the first one it was Gregorian charts, the second one the ethnic chants, the third was a mixture between both of them. Four was the classic stuff – the Carmina Burana from Carl Orff, fifth had nothing special as a sound leader, but in the new one I think the complete sound is a unit you know? And I think it’s the most compact Enigma album concerning the sound.
So it’s just a natural progression. I have to, because if not I get bored and music is my passion and I do it with all my love and all my energy, and it’s boring to copy myself so I will never do it.
Living in Ibiza, has the club scene there ever had an impact on you? Not at all, since I moved here to Ibiza in 1989 I may have been in a club for 1 hour every 3 years or something.
When Enigma was first successful you were in your early thirties? Yes.
So is there a difference between writing an album before you’ve sold 30 million album and then after? No, not at all. Because I’m doing it like if it’s my first album ever, and also with the same energy and with the same enthusiasm. And I’m happy like a little kid if it sounds how I like it and how I wanted to have it.
And you feel no external pressure to move the project in a particular direction? No pressure at all. And this rhythm of say every two and a half to three years, the albums are reflecting what I want to do in a certain period of my life, but life is not changing so dramatically in one year so that I could have something new. It has to be first born the idea, the basic idea, and then I transform it into music.
When you make music do you ever get excited about fulfilling what you perceive to be the desires of the audience? No, I have no idea what are the desires of my audience. I want to have an influence over everything even the single choices. Even if people say I’m nuts, I don’t care a bit because success is on my side.
When you’re creating a track, what’s the starting point? It’s each time different, one song can be testing a new keyboard; I like a sound and I start to play around and then woof, suddenly I have the base for a song. Other times I have a melody in my mind, other times I have maybe some lyrics, so it’s completely different, there’s no basic formula. There are songs maybe where the drum loop is important for me, and other ones where the drum loop is only like a rhythm machine and nothing important.
“I think the Enigma feeling, the emotion, the bloodline is still here, but transported in a completely different way.”
What are using the studio – are you working increasingly with computer software? Yes, because I reduced completely my huge studio and now I don’t have (laughs), so I made a little transportable studio with a monitoring system with everything included. So it’s reduced basically on the level of a quad processor with all the plug-ins that you have inside and that’s maybe 90% of the record. For the rest, I probably have only two auxiliary synthesisers, the Korg Oasis and the Roland V-Synth XT, but they were used only a little bit. But there are no effect machines or nothing; everything is plug-ins.
Has it been a challenge to switch over, having previously been reliant on hardware? No, basically the decision was very easy for me because I realised I’m using less and less everyday the huge equipment that I had. So I said why the hell have 55 kilometres of cables and they always have a bug somewhere? And it’s reduced now so I can do everything including mastering with my transportable machine. But I tell you, the amount of failures and bugs was reduced by 90%, so I could really make music and not moan with the software (laughs).
So you find that the technology is enhancing the whole experience and allowing your creativity to come to the fore? Exactly, exactly, exactly, so I didn’t have to squeeze my mind in such little ways about technical problems this time – so the decision to reduce the equipment was absolutely correct. But I’m missing nothing, so it’s not that I castrated myself, not at all.
You can tell by listening to A Posteriori that you’re not led by the technology. Without this technology I wouldn’t be able to have this equipment that I always dreamed of having, but I’m not a slave to the technology. The machines have to do what I want!
Unfortunately, with a lot of electronic music nowadays the reverse is often true. Absolutely, that’s the reason why I wanted to make a pure synthesiser album but in a way that does not sound at all like synthesiser music that was done in the past or present. And I think it’s correct to pretend that it sounds different, it’s not sounding so synthetic and so cold, like maybe people are used to if they hear the term electronic music – so the clichι goes completely the other way.
Is there still considerable motivation there for you to continue making many more Enigma albums? I always said, if I have an idea and I have the feeling that I can fulfil my targets – and I can keep the quality level high and have the feeling I’m still good enough for my own baby, then I will do some other records. But I never know. It’s always from one record to the other because I have first of all to be happy with myself and if I can’t do it so there will be no Enigma albums anymore, but I think that number seven will be for sure.
Do you feel the massive success of Enigma has made it difficult to match people’s expectations? No, not at all because it was extremely risky from the very first moment. It was never fulfilling the needs of the market and of the marketing machinery, so it was against a lot from the very first moment. I know, because I’m realist enough to know that the goal is at a very high level to fulfil each time, first of all for myself. It’s difficult to find a new way, not to have the impression that the project is standing still, that something is moving – there has to be an evolution in the project. But now if I hear all the six albums in a row, I must say that the way is fine because each one has its own identity without losing… say, the basic spirit.
Have you ever written an Enigma album that you weren’t entirely happy with, in retrospect? No, all of them are exactly… I couldn’t put them better. And that’s very important for me because then I can’t argue with myself, y’know “oh I miss this or miss that”. For my taste and for what I wanted to reach it was excellent for the period of time when I did it.
And of course many artists have attempted to imitate the Enigma sound? Yes.
I’m sure you’re aware of artists such as Enya and Deep Forest maybe. Do you think they achieved their goals? Phew (laughs). I don’t know if they achieved their goals or not.
I’m sure you’ve heard of Delerium? No.
Never? Never. I listen to music but I tell you, I’m also fixed on what I what I can get on my satellite dish if it’s on MTV or, I don’t know what music radio programmes, and so on. I don’t have the chance to listen to a lot of other music.
You’re so busy writing and recording that you don’t have the patience to listen to anything else? Oh, I have the patience but when I go into the final phase of record production I avoid listening to other things because I don’t want to be inspired – inspired subconsciously that is. I have to do exactly the opposite of what other people are doing. I have to go my own way, at least concerning Enigma.
“I’m not a slave to the technology. The machines have to do what I want!”
1979 – Rolling Stone reports that Journey have entered into a sponsorship deal with Budweiser in one of the first instances of what will soon become standard music industry practice.
1978 – Player started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Baby Come Back’, a No.32 hit in the UK, the groups only UK hit.
Peter Beckett grew up in Liverpool, England, where he spent four years playing in a band called Palladin. He quit to come to America and join another group, Friends, which recorded for MGM. After a short time, they evolved into Skyband, which released one album on the RCA label. Skyband lasted long enough to play one concert in L.A. and tour abroad before breaking up.
In 1976, Peter slipped on his jeans and attended a classy Hollywood party. To his surprise, everyone there was wearing white except for one other guest, who had also come in Levi’s. Peter figured the other guy had to be a musician, so they sat down together and began to talk. As it turned out, he was John Charles Crowley, a singer/songwriter from Galveston Bay, Texas. The two hit it off, and made a date to listen to each other’s material.
THE TOP FIVE
Week of January 14, 1978
1. Baby Come Back
Player
2. How Deep is Your Love
Bee Gees
3. Here You Come Again
Dolly Parton
4. You’re in my Heart
Rod Stewart
5. Back in Love Again
LTD
A few days later, Peter and J.C. held a jam session, and afterward decided to form a band. They added Ron Moss, a bass player from L.A., and veteran of two bands: Punk Rock and Count Zeppelin and his Fabled Airship. Ron brought along a high school friend, John Friesden, who, at one time, had toured the world as the assistant producer and drummer with the Ice Follies. Keyboard man Wayne Cook came abroad just a little too late; he missed being included in the photo used on their first album cover.
The boys were spotted by the production team of Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, and signed to their company, Haven. Lambert and Potter then negotiated a deal with RSO. A debut album was planned, which one critic was to call “a ten-song exercise in straightforward, romantic pop.” One of those tunes was “Baby Come Back.”
We wrote that pretty quickly,” recalled Peter. “It took about three hours one night, and then we spent about an hour the next night polishing it up. J.C. and I had just broken up with our girlfriends, and we were still feeling the sting. When we sat down to write, our moods just blended, and it came out as ‘Baby Come Back.’
“I remember rehearsing the song in J.C.’s garage studio. It was the middle of summer, hotter than hell, and there we sat with our acoustic guitars, working it up amid the spiders and cockroaches. We knew it sounded like a hit, though. There was so much personal feeling in the song that we knew we had something special.”
“Baby Come Back” broke on the radio in October 1977 and reached number one early in January. It spent three weeks at the top — more than seven months on the charts. During that time, over two million copies were sold.
This infuriated some critics, who felt that the boys’ style was a “blatant carbon” of several other groups. However, reviewers couldn’t seem to agree as to the source of their familiar sound. Various writers claimed that “Baby Come Back” was an imitation of Hall and Oates’ “She’s Gone,” while others insisted the band copied Foreigner, the Bee Gees, Steely Dan, the Eagles, Journey, and even Andy Gibb.
“Just call it rock ‘n’ soul,” said Ron Moss. “We pull from the best of both worlds.”
Player didn’t perform live until November 1977, when they appeared as the opening act for Gino Vanelli. Later, they toured with Heart, Boz Scaggs, Kenny Loggins, and Eric Clapton. Their second single, “This Time I’m in it for Love,” was a Top 10 hit in the spring of 1978. “Prisoner Of Your Love” was a Top 40 hit in November of that year. Their last charting singles were for Casablanca in 1980 and RCA in 1982.
And their name? “We saw the word on television when the players from the show were listed,” Peter explained. “We knocked off the ‘s’ and went with it. I think the word holds a certain ambiguity.”
“And also, people can hold up our album, point to it, and say, ‘That’s a great record, Player’.”
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