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UPI
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- UPI
Famous birthdays for July 6: 50 Cent, Dalai Lama
1 of 4 | 50 Cent performs during the Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on February 13, 2022. The musician turns July 6. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo July 6 (UPI) -- Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include: -- John Paul Jones, founder of the U.S. Navy, in 1747 -- Artist Frida Kahlo in 1907 -- Musician LaVerne Andrews (Andrews Sisters) in 1911 -- U.S. first lady Nancy Reagan in 1921 -- TV entertainer/producer Merv Griffin in 1925 -- Actor Janet Leigh in 1927 -- Musician/actor Della Reese in 1931 -- The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader/Nobel Peace Prize laureate, in 1935 (age 90) File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI -- Actor Ned Beatty in 1937 -- Actor Burt Ward in 1945 (age 80) -- Actor Sylvester Stallone in 1946 (age 79) -- Former U.S. President George W. Bush in 1946 (age 79) -- Actor Shelley Hack in 1947 (age 78) -- Actor Geoffrey Rush in 1951 (age 73) -- Actor Allyce Beasley in 1954 (age 71) -- Musician Nanci Griffith in 1953 -- Actor Jennifer Saunders in 1958 (age 67) -- Musician John Keeble (Spandau Ballet) in 1959 (age 66) -- Actor Pip Torrens in 1960 (age 65) -- Actor/comedian Brian Posehn in 1966 (age 59) File Photo by Chris Chew/UPI -- Musician Inspectah Deck (Wu-Tang Clan) in 1970 (age 55) -- Musician 50 Cent in 1975 (age 50) -- Actor Tamera Mowry-Housley in 1978 (age 47) File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI -- Actor Tia Mowry in 1978 (age 47) -- Comedian/actor Kevin Hart in 1979 (age 46) -- Actor Eva Green in 1980 (age 45) -- Musician Chris Wood (Bastille) in 1985 (age 40) -- Actor Cody Fern in 1988 (age 37)
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
On the right note: Preserving Minnesota's musical legacy
The Brief The Diverse Emerging Music Organization is creating a digital repository of all recorded music with Minnesota roots. So far, the nonprofit has digitized work from about 1,000 artists, but they need about 100,000 for their website. Visitors will be able to search the Minnesota Music Archive by name, genre and era by the end of the year. MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Our state is home to a vibrant music scene. Now there's a push to ensure every note created by Minnesota artists is preserved for posterity. Music to our ears In a small office in northeast Minneapolis, a group is taking on a big responsibility. Their mission? To create a digital database of all released music with roots in our state. "I fell into this and I love waking up every day and working on it," said Mitch Thompson, Executive Director of the Diverse Emerging Music Organization, or DEMO for short. A different tune DEMO is building the Minnesota Music Archive to collect, catalog and make the music of everyone from the Andrews Sisters to The Wallets accessible. "We want to make sure that we are representing everybody that released music in Minnesota. From like all corners of the state and from all backgrounds and cultural heritage and so that's a heavy lift," said Thompson. Several days a week, college students from the University of Minnesota, Hamline and St Catherine's digitize music from records, CDs and cassettes. So far they've got about 1,000 artists in their database, but they will need about 100,000 for their website, where visitors will be able to search by name, genre, era and record label for music from the last 100 years. "A lot of music that people put out are on formats like vinyl and cassette and 8-track and those kind of things, if they're not digitized and a lot of it isn't digitized, it will eventually cease to exist and we will no longer have a record that that music existed," said Thompson. Falling through cracks Thompson brings a unique perspective to this music preservation project. He not only played the drums for the two-tone ska band Umbrella Bed in the 90s, his father was a drummer in a polka band named The Blue Banners in the 60s. But both are in danger of being relegated to the dustbin of history. "I understand the perspective as a musician and I understand relative obscurity. And as somebody who is likely to fall into that with my band, I appreciate the fact that my music will be in there with my dad," said Thompson. Calling all artists DEMO is asking artists to submit their work to be included in the archive. Thompson says the project isn't aimed at superstars like Prince and Bob Dylan because their musical legacies are already secure. "I'll tell you there's a lot great music that people have never probably heard that we're finding more and more. And we're trying to make sure that history has the opportunity to judge what was great music or not great music," said Thompson. Music journalist and author Andrea Swensson donated part of her personal record collection to the archive. "I thought what a great way to offload some of these things I've acquired and hoarded in my home, but also to support the sharing of this music that isn't really available anywhere," said Swensson. She believes future generations deserve to be able to discover Minnesota music goes beyond just the "Minneapolis Sound". "A lot of these local releases, especially if it's from 10, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, they're not online, they're not on Spotify. It's really important to me that somehow they're saved and able to be shared and heard and researched and found by people that didn't have this random line of work where people are sending things to them all the time," said Swensson. Signature initiative Thompson says the archive hopes to launch its website by the end of the year, with the promise to Minnesota artists past, present and future that their music will always matter. "When I look at them and I tell them what I'm doing, they all look at me and go like, that's so cool. And my job is to turn cool into something real," said Thompson. If you'd like more information about the Minnesota Music Archive, click here.
Los Angeles Times
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
This rare, hands-on recording museum highlights the sonic legacy of guitar god Les Paul
About 80 years ago, guitarist and inventor Les Paul built a home recording studio in his Hollywood garage on North Curson Avenue and began developing his 'new sound,' which incorporated cutting-edge recording techniques such as overdubbing, close miking, echo and delay. Dissatisfied with the quality of the day's commercial recordings, Paul, who'd worked with pop stars including Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, and was a guitar virtuoso and bandleader, endeavored to push the practice forward — to make recording a kind of erudite art form. His instrumental single 'Lover' became the first commercial pop record to incorporate multiple layers of music, all of which were performed by Paul's dexterous fingers. 'Sextuplet guitar-ing,' Billboard magazine declared in its Feb. 21, 1948, review, '... technique so good it's ridiculous.' Today, a new studio in Hollywood celebrates the former Angeleno's legacy as a recording pioneer. Over the last three years, the Les Paul Foundation and a team of engineers have gone to extraordinary lengths to build the Les Paul Recording Studio, housed in United Recording on Sunset Boulevard. The facility includes Paul's original equipment, such as the first-ever multitrack Ampex tape machine and multitrack recording console, as well as a selection of Paul's customized guitars, including his namesake model for Gibson. Paul's recording equipment is monumental for its historical value but also because it still works. 'We have the Wright Brothers' plane in there and it actually flies,' said Michael Braunstein, executive director of the Les Paul Foundation, by way of comparison. The new studio is essentially a rare hands-on museum where students and commercial artists may study and perform the same techniques Paul employed, using his tools. Los Angeles-based musician Dweezil Zappa interviewed Paul on MTV in 1987, which created a fondness between the pair. During a phone call from the road — Zappa was on a tour celebrating his father's album 'Apostrophe' — he explained the importance of Paul's innovations. 'He was so far ahead of the game in so many ways, not only as a great guitar player, but also how he figured out ways to record music live,' he said. 'The foundation of the sound capture is still better than anything else that you would find today. The products that were put into use and the way that it was machined … it's unmatched.' Zappa says he's visited the new studio and intends to use it to record some of his own music after his tour concludes. The studio also has an educational mission. 'This is also a real opportunity for students to learn about analog recording from the master,' said Steve Rosenthal, a Grammy-winning producer who serves as the head archivist and music producer for the Les Paul Foundation. Rosenthal's also known for his Manhattan recording studio the Magic Shop, which closed in 2016, where he worked with David Bowie, Lou Reed, Sonic Youth, Ramones and many others. Groups from Carnegie Mellon University and Syracuse University have already participated in seminars at the studio led by Rosenthal and Tom Camuso, a Grammy-winning engineer who's also the Les Paul Foundation's director of audio engineering. 'The console looks like it's from a battleship, and we let students record on it and see how hard it is compared to today's digital audio workstations,' Camuso explained. 'The connection they make is that this is where it started, this is the first of all of it.' The idea for the studio began in 2022 amid Rosenthal's quest to source, organize, curate and restore Paul's vast catalog of music from the Library of Congress archives. 'It became clear to me that the best solution would be to mix the music on Les' original gear,' he said. He brought in Camuso, a longtime associate who'd worked at the Magic Shop, and the pair endeavored to repair the eight-track recording console nicknamed 'The Monster' that Paul built with engineer Rein Narma, which featured leading-edge in-line equalization and vibrato effects. They also retrieved Paul's Ampex 5258 Sel-Sync multitrack tape machine, familiarly known as the Octopus, which sits alongside the console, and was the first-ever eight-track. The studio also has a three-track machine that was in Paul's home in Mahwah, N.J., which he used to play tapes recorded at other studios. At the time, Paul was the only person with eight-track capabilities. 'That was his way of communicating with the outside world, so to speak,' Camuso said. The equipment was in varying stages of disrepair, and there was no documentation accompanying it. Many of the recording console's wires had been cut, and some of its modules were missing. Camuso and a group from Thump Recording Studios in Brooklyn spent 10 months replacing and repairing pieces that were missing or had failed, without changing anything about the way the machine was originally made. 'We had to source old stock parts from the '50s,' Camuso said, 'and there were little plastic pieces that had disintegrated. The team would drum scan those and then 3D print them in their original form.' An Ampex expert from Canada broke down the tape machines and then rebuilt them from the ground up, exactly as they were when Paul used them. Before he used the multitrack tape machine and recording console, Paul's early experiments with overdubbing, or what he called 'sound on sound,' involved two recording-cutting lathes, a record player, a mixer and hundreds of blank wax discs, all of which he used to layer tracks manually. In 1948, Bing Crosby gave Paul his first mono Ampex recorder, to which Paul added a second playback head, which enabled him to record multiple tracks on the same reel of tape. He and his second wife, Mary Ford, took this machine on the road, recording their songs in hotel rooms and in apartments. Ford was a skilled singer with perfect pitch who could execute lead vocals and harmonize with herself in very few takes using Paul's early version of multitracking, which was revolutionary but primitive and didn't allow for mistakes. Given the analog nature of Paul's setup, she had to sing everything live and unmanipulated. The pair recorded a string of 28 hit singles between 1950 to 1957, beginning with a cover of the jazz standard 'How High the Moon.' They were so popular that Listerine sponsored a widely syndicated television show, 'Les Paul & Mary Ford at Home,' during which they performed their intricate songs live. 'Their discs sell like dimes going for a nickel,' Florabel Muir reported in the Los Angeles Mirror in January 1952. The pair's 'Vaya Con Dios' spent 11 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Best Sellers in Stores chart (which was discontinued in favor of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1958). Paul and Ford's sultry version of 'Smoke Rings,' released in 1952, features in Todd Haynes' 2015 film 'Carol.' 'The only singer I've encountered in my life who can compare to Mary is Aretha Franklin,' said Gene Paul, Les' son from his first marriage, who became a recording engineer for Atlantic Records. 'Neither one of them ever hit a bad note. You couldn't pay them to.' The younger Paul learned about recording in his father's home studio in Mahwah and played drums in his touring band from 1959 to 1969. 'It took me years after my dad died to realize he was a genius,' he added. 'Yes, he had a studio in his house, and built his own guitar and his own eight-track, but I thought every dad did this.' Rosenthal and Camuso are in the process of restoring Paul's original recordings, including his hits with Ford. The pair is using demixing and speed correction software to create new stereo mixes of the songs, which don't have any of the crunchiness or distortion that were a byproduct of Paul's original experiments in multitracking. It'll be the first time any of Paul's music has been released in stereo. The project has created a library of multitrack stems, which is another singular feature of the new studio. 'Lana Del Rey could come in and sing with Mary Ford, or she could sing 'A Fool to Care' with the original Les Paul guitar parts,' Rosenthal said. Camuso says a number of famous musicians have already expressed interest in using the new studio. 'There's lots of people who would be in your record collection for sure,' he said. Its historical significance and superior sound quality is a major draw, but the Les Paul Recording Studio also provides a chance for musicians to work more intentionally. Though its equipment was once cutting-edge, by today's digital standards — in which there are unlimited tracks and effects and every mistake is erasable — Paul's console and tape machines are limited. To work with them, musicians must think about what they want to record ahead of time. 'The average person may not know what they're hearing, but they will feel it because the performances will be better,' Zappa pointed out. He views the new studio as a welcome counterpart to the too-perfect sonic monotony that can occur from every commercial recording artist using the same software. 'There's just so much music that's disposable today,' Zappa added. 'We've never had as many amazing tools to make stuff, and then have it be used in the lamest way possible.'
Edinburgh Live
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Live
BBC viewers say same thing as soap stars make cameo appearance at VE Day 80 concert
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info BBC viewers were all saying the same thing as they found themselves distracted just minutes into the VE Day 80 concert on Thursday (May 8). Eighty years ago today, celebrations erupted around the world to mark the end of World War II in Europe. Ever since, the UK has celebrated the historical moment up and down the country. After a series of special events throughout the week, the pinnacle of the celebrations took place tonight with a live concert at Horse Guards Parade in London. Hosted by Zoe Ball on BBC One and iPlayer, the evening's entertainment boasted performances from the likes of Fleur East, The Darkness, Freya Ridings, and Samantha Barks. The line-up also included a number of Strictly Come Dancing favourites, John Newman, Tom Walker and Keala Settle, reports the Express. However, a number of BBC viewers were left distracted as soap stars Emma Barton, Claire Sweeney, and Michelle Hardwick brought the sounds of the 1940s to life with a tribute to the Andrews Sisters. Their medley featured a number of classics, including In the Mood, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, and Sing, Sing, Sing. As the performance unfolded, numerous viewers swiftly expressed their bewilderment on X (formerly Twitter), with one viewer posting: "Is that Emma Barton (Honey Mitchell from #EastEnders) singing at the #VEDay80 concert?" "The Darkness and Tyrone Dobbs' Mum; who booked this concert?" questioned another, while someone else remarked: "Watching @EmmaBarton as the Andrews Sisters #VEDay80." A fourth fan concurred with the warm reception, tweeting: "Emma Barton actress in EastEnders singing in the #VEDay80 concert." While reactions poured in, others couldn't help but laud the trio's dazzling performance, as one fan gushed: "Claire, Emma and Michelle were amazing," and yet another chimed in: "How wonderful do the ladies sound." Appearing in a pre-recorded segment on tonight's The One Show, the trio couldn't contain their excitement and nerves about taking part in the upcoming event. Michelle said: "My lovely grandma, Mary, she's still with us and she's 90 this year. So, for me, knowing that she's going to be at home watching this, is just fabulous. "It's a real honour. I just hope I'm going to get through it without tearing up." Emma added: "I've watched so much footage on the BBC and it's very, very emotional." The VE Day 80 concert is available to stream on BBC iPlayer
Daily Mirror
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
BBC viewers left confused just minutes into VE Day 80 concert
A special concert took place at Horse Guards Parade on Thursday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day BBC viewers were all saying the same thing as they found themselves distracted just minutes into the VE Day 80 concert on Thursday (May 8). Today marks eighty years since jubilant celebrations broke out across the globe to commemorate the end of World War II in Europe. The UK has since been honouring this historic event with various celebrations nationwide. The week's special events reached their peak tonight with a live concert at Horse Guards Parade in London. Hosted by Zoe Ball on BBC One and iPlayer, the evening's festivities included performances from Fleur East, The Darkness, Freya Ridings, and Samantha Barks. The audience also enjoyed appearances from several Strictly Come Dancing favourites, John Newman, Tom Walker, The Darkness, and Keala Settle, reports the Express. However, a number of BBC viewers were left distracted as soap stars Emma Barton, Claire Sweeney and Michelle Hardwick brought the sounds of the 1940s to life with a tribute to the Andrews Sisters. Their medley featured a number of classics, including In the Mood, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, and Sing, Sing, Sing. As the performance unfolded, numerous viewers flocked to X (formerly Twitter) to express their surprise, with one viewer posting: "Is that Emma Barton (Honey Mitchell from # EastEnders) singing at the #VEDay80 concert?" Another quipped: "The Darkness and Tyrone Dobbs' Mum; who booked this concert?" while a third shared: "Watching @EmmaBarton as the Andrews Sisters #VEDay80." A fourth viewer echoed the sentiment, saying: "Emma Barton actress in EastEnders singing in the #VEDay80 concert." Meanwhile, other viewers praised the trio's performance, with one person writing: "Claire, Emma and Michelle were amazing," while another shared: "How wonderful do the ladies sound." During a pre-recorded conversation on tonight's The One Show, the three performers expressed their enthusiasm about the upcoming concert. Michelle said: "My lovely grandma, Mary, she's still with us and she's 90 this year. So, for me, knowing that she's going to be at home watching this, is just fabulous. "It's a real honour. I just hope I'm going to get through it without tearing up."
