King Diamond is the stage name of Kim Bendix Petersen, a Danish rock singer and songwriter born on June 14, 1956. In 1985 he formed, with guitarist Michael Denner and bassist Timi Hansen, a heavy metal band also called King Diamond. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Gene Maltais is an American musician, singer and songwriter, born in Concord, New Hampshire, on May 21, 1933. Prior to 1958, he met Tony Hilder who introduced him to Aladdin Records. Maltais wrote songs for recording artists, including John & Jackie. The latter recorded two songs written by him, “The Raging Sea” and “Little Girl,” which were released as a single in July 1958 on the Aladdin label. The two sides of the record are not numbered or labelled A and B, so either one or the other of the two songs is considered as the A-side. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Carl Everett Glasscock McVoy was an American singer and pianist, cousin to Jerry Lee Lewis (their mothers were sisters), born on January 3, 1931 in Epps, Louisiana. Due to financial reason, most of his musical recordings were distributed in small numbers or even not issued. He combined his unsuccessful musical career with a day job in the construction business, and indeed around 1965 he quit the music business and opted for a more secure future in the construction industry, in which he worked until his death on January 3, 1992 in Jackson, Mississippi. Several of his records have been reissued posthumously. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
The lyricist Gerry Goffin and the composer Carole King, husband and wife, formed a prolific songwriting team throughout the 1960s. Their love song “When My Little Girl Is Smiling” was first recorded in October 1961 by The Drifters, an American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group. Released as a single on the Atlantic label in February 1962, it reached number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, while in Britain it reached number 31 on the UK Singles Chart in May 1962. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Jim Morrison, the singer of the rock group The Doors, was foremost a poet. He wrote most lyrics of the group’s songs, and he filled notebooks with poems. In his lifetime he self-published three volumes of his poetry, and more poems were published posthumously. His collected works were edited by Frank Lisciandro and published as a single volume by Harper Design in 2021. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
America’s Got Talent is a televised American talent show competition on the NBC television network. It runs a season each year during the network’s summer schedule. The 4th episode of Season 8, devoted to auditions, aired on June 25, 2013 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. It featured a sensational performance by 6 years old Aaralyn O’Neil singing her black metal song “Zombie Skin,” accompanied by her 9 years old brother Isaiah (“Izzy”) on drums. Some members of the Jury were shocked by her raucous shrieking voice, while the public got enthusiastic. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Twain’s Letters From The Earth, written probably between 1904 and 1909, takes the form of a series of reports written for the archangels Gabriel and Michael by Satan, who has been exiled to Earth. This work, mocking the Bible and the cruelty of its teachings, was published only in 1962. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
The two brothers Ira Lonnie Loudermilk and Charles Elzer Loudermilk, known professionally as Ira and Charlie Louvin, formed a musical duo between 1940 and 1963, first playing gospel, then country music. Both sang, with Ira on mandolin and Charlie on guitar. They split in 1963 because of Ira’s drinking and abusive behaviour. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
The Moldovan-Romanian singer Cleopatra Stratan was born on October 6, 2002 in Chişinău, Moldova. Her father Pavel Stratan is a singer and musician. In 2006 she released her first album La vârsta de 3 ani (“At the age of 3”), which sold more than 150,000 in Romania. It included the hit “Ghiţă,” which reached number 1 in the Romanian Singles Chart. Then in 2008 she released her second album La vârsta de 5 ani (“At the age of 5”). CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
The Scruffy Group was a band formed in 1965 by Jack Van Pelt (guitar) and Max Freeland (drums), two students at Ohio State University, who joined with two friends from their hometown Lima, Ohio: Jim Buehl (rhythm guitar) and Alan Ulrich (bass). The band moved to Strongsville, Ohio, where they played night concerts at the Skyline Inn. After being suggested to make a single, Jack Van Pelt composed the two songs “Little Girl” and “Do” in four hours. The band recorded them in a few hours at Audio Recording in Cleveland. The record was released in the summer of 1965 by Jimmy Testa’s Tema label, with “Little Girl” on the A side. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
