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Coalescing around all-night dance parties in Sacramento, California, USA,!!! was spawned in 1996 from the remnants of three bands, California art-punks Yah-Mos, the Popesmashers, and disco terrorists Black Liquorice, apparently because they wanted to play music in the vein of the tracks they were dancing to. Comprising John Pugh (drums), Nic Offer (vocals), Allan Wilson (percussion/horns), Mario Andreoni (guitar), Tyler Pope (guitar/keyboards), Justin Vandervolgen (bass), Dan Gorman (percussion/horns) and Jason Racine (percussion), the band say that their unusual name was chosen to reflect the excitement shared by the band members and should be pronounced ‘chk chk chk or any three repetitive sounds’. Uh! Uh! Uh! is also apparently a common interpretation of the name. The band draw on disco, the ...

This US pop punk supergroup were formed in 2005 by former Blink-182 members Travis Barker (b. 14 November 1975, Fontana, California, USA; drums) and Mark Hoppus (b. Markus Allan Hoppus, 15 March 1972, Ridgecrest, California, USA; bass/vocals), Shane Gallagher (b. 12 May 1976, Los Angeles, California, USA; guitar, ex-Nervous Return), and former ...

The first R&B vocal group to be promoted by Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs ’ Bad Boy stable, 112 was formed in the mid-90s by Quinnes ‘Q’ Parker (b. 24 March 1976, Atlanta, Georgia, USA), Marvin ‘Slim’ Scandrick (b. 25 September 1974, Atlanta, Georgia, USA), Daron Jones (b. 27 December 1976, Atlanta, Georgia, USA) and Michael Keith (b. 18 December 1976, Atlanta, Georgia, USA). To media-watchers, it quickly became obvious that the members of this Atlanta, Georgia, USA-based quartet were being marketed as individual talents who could also perform collectively, based upon the model of ...

15-16-17 was a female vocal trio formed in 1974 in the UK, although they came from Jamaica. The line-up consisted of Sonia Williams, Christine McNabb and her sister Wraydette McNabb. They entered a talent contest at the Georgian club in Croydon, Surrey, England, performing as the Gorgon Sisters, but changed to 15-16-17 (the name reflecting the girls’ ages) on the advice of the owner of the club, Castro Brown. They won the contest for two weeks in a row with a cover version of ...

This one-off project was conceived in 2001 by violinist Mark Emerson (b. 15 August 1958, Ruislip, Middlesex, England) to mark the 350th anniversary of John Playford’s ...

America’s obsession with its own history had already resulted in at least two Broadway musicals based on momentous national events before this show opened at the 46th Street Theatre on 16 March 1969. Exactly 20 years before that, ...

(46th Street Theatre 1969). An unlikely musical hit and the surprise of its season, the historical piece boasted one of the most literate of all Broadway librettos. ...

Concert overture, op. 49 (1880), by Tchaikovsky; written for the Moscow Exhibition, it commemorates Napoleon's retreat from Moscow in ...

This US melodic rock quartet was formed in 1977 by ex-L.A. Jets duo Karen Lawrence (vocals) and John Desautels (drums). With the addition of Steve Schiff (guitar) and Bill Rhodes (bass), they signed to ...

This US group was formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1978 by Steve Allen (guitar, vocals) and Ron Flynt (bass, vocals), two expatriate musicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Drummer Mike Gallo completed the line-up featured on the group’s early work for Bomp!, a leading independent label, which in turn inspired a major contract with ...

The origins of this US rap supergroup can be traced back to the early 90s, although it was not until 2004 that the trio actually got round to recording an album. Vocalist ...

Formed at high school in Omaha, Nebraska, USA in 1990, hip-hop/rock crossover band 311 recorded three independent albums before relocating to Los Angeles in 1992. Named after the local police code for indecent exposure, the band comprises Nick Hexum (b. 12 April 1970, Madison, Wisconsin, USA; vocals/guitar), Tim Mahoney (b. 17 February 1970, Omaha, Nebraska, USA; guitar), P-Nut (b. Aaron Wills, 5 June 1974, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; bass), S.A. Martinez (b. Douglas Martinez, 29 November 1970, Omaha, Nebraska, USA; vocals/turntables) and Chad Sexton (b. 7 September 1970, Lexington, Kentucky, USA; drums). With the ...

Piece (1952) by Cage consisting of four minutes and 33 seconds of silence for any instrument or instruments....

This UK R&B quartet comprises vocalists Carolyn Owlett (b. England), Suzie Furlonger (b. Dumfries, Scotland), Tisha Martin (b. Jamaica), and Tanya Boniface (b. Surrey, England). The 411 can trace its formation back to when Martin and Boniface met while singing backing vocals for UK soul vocalist ...

A vocal R&B trio named after its Las Vegas, Nevada, USA home area code, 702 made their long-playing debut for Michael Bivins’ Biv 10 Records label in 1996. Bivins first became acquainted with the group in 1991 after they improvised an audition piece for him at the music industry’s Jack The Rapper convention. The original line-up comprised twin sisters Irish Grinstead (b. 2 June 1980, USA) and Orish Grinstead (b. 2 June 1980, USA, d. 20 April 2008, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA), their older sister LeMisha Grinstead (b. 10 June 1978), and cousin Amelia Grinstead. The members were only aged between 11 and 13 when they took this momentous step. However, by the time they released their 1996 debut ...

US melodic pomp-rock band formed at the end of the 70s by Kevin Russell (guitar/vocals), Jim McClarty (drums), Duke McFadden (b. John McFadden, USA, d. 5 April 2005; keyboards/vocals), and Phil Bryant (bass/vocals). 707 debuted in 1980 with a radio-friendly self-titled album, characterized by strong musicianship and instantly contagious hooklines and choruses, most notably on the minor US hit ‘I Could Be Good For You’. McFadden left following the release of the debut album and the band’s next two albums adopted a more metallic approach, with ...

Four New York ‘new jill swingers’ (they prefer the term ‘new ghetto revolutionary music’) with the hardcore attitude of rap, 7669 arrived on the scene in 1994 amid a swirl of deliberately provocative press shots, notably topless poses astride large motorcycles, which also graced the album cover. Less readily apparent was the fact that the backdrop of shrubbery was in fact a ‘field of pot’. Their name was taken from the year of US independence (1776) crossed with the ‘date’ of the sexual revolution (1969). The members, Shorti-1-Forti (b. Marcy Roberts), Big Ange (b. Angela Hunte), El Boog-E (b. El-Melek A. Moore) and Thicknezz (b. Mallore Irvine), proffered songs with dubious titles such as ‘69 Ways To Love A Black Man’ and ‘Cloud 69’, the duplicity of lascivious titles being an obvious clue to the lack of imagination inherent in the project. However, the production, helmed by Kangol, Ali Dee and Forceful, was enough to make proceedings listenable....

Formed by Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera (b. Philip Targett-Adams, 31 January 1951, London, England) in 1976, 801 also featured Manzanera’s former colleague ...

Almost immediately after four hijacked planes crashed on 11 September 2011 conversations started about how the tragedy should be understood

One of the most popular of the post- Take That boy bands, this UK trio comprises Jimmy Constable (b. 21 September 1973, Liverpool, England), Simon ‘Spike’ Dawbarn (b. 15 August 1974, Manchester, England) and Lee Brennan (b. 27 September 1975, Carlisle, England). Constable and Dawbarn first met as dancers on the late-night television show ...