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WetWetWet
Here are the top three musical influences for Neil Mitchell. Select one of the links below to fnd out a little more about them:
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Formed Liverpool, England, 1957
Disbanded 1970
A lad called Paul McCartney went to see a local band at a fete on July 6, 1957. The band were The Quarrymen and rocker Paul found they had a lot in common (musically) with the bands rhythm guitarist - John Lennon. McCartney was asked to join the band and he and Lennon began writing songs together. By 1960, they were called The Beatles, they had a manager and George Harrison on lead guitar, Stu Sutcliffe on bass and Pete Best on drums. In the same year they secured a slot in Hamburg which opened their eyes to sex, drugs and gave them an opportunity, thanks to the painfully exhausting schedule, to become seasoned professionals over a period of a few months. Returning to Hamburg for yet another punishing stint Stu Sutcliffe left the band and Paul McCartney took over bass.
Back in Liverpool in June 1961 The Beatles had a good reputation and secured a spot at The Cavern in Liverpool. With a new manager (Brian Epstein) the band headed for London in the hope of securing a contract with one of the big record companies. One shock change was made to the line up when Ringo Starr replace Pete Best as the drummer. The Beatles recorded their first single, a Lennon and McCartney song called "Love Me Do''.
The new fresh sound stood out from the UK sounds of the time and reached number 17 in the UK charts. In search of better results The Beatles slogged it out on their next single release "Please, Please Me". The single entered the charts at number 1 after an appearance on the TV show Thank Your Lucky Stars. Beatlemania had begun.
Following a string of hits and their second album With The Beatles released in November 1963, The Beatles were considered the UK’s favourite pop band, the next step was obvious, it was time to go to the States. In the states on the Ed Sullivan show on February 9th 1964 the American public took The Beatles to their hearts ensuring that they held the top five position in the singles chart and no less than fourteen entries in the US top 100.
There then followed an intense period of film and record production which were all delighted the public. It began to also become apparent that the band were moving away from the beat group image and growing as song writers. One event that helped this growing process along was the introduction of The Beatles to their hero Bob Dylan who then introduced The Beatles to dope. Their second album Beatles For Sale was released in 1964 and proved to be far more soulful and emotional than their previous record. In 1965 The Beatles had their first taste of LSD and the experience was reflected in future releases including the album Help which was the soundtrack to their second film.
Following a sell out world tour where they became the first band to play stadiums came the mature and complex album Rubber Soul which showed that the band were working near the peak of their abilities. The band followed Rubber Soul with the mind blowing Revolver which was released in August 1966. The album paved the way for the psychedelic 60’s.
Yet another world tour was ready but the band could not of foresaw the assaults in the Philippines (for allegedly insulting Imelda Marcos) and demonstrations in the USA for Lennon’s remark about The Beatles being "bigger than Jesus". Their last concert performance was at Candlestick Park, San Francisco and on their return to the UK the band announced that they would not tour again.
With a Lennon spaced out on LSD McCartney took over as band leader and their next single offerings "Strawberry" and "Penny Lane" (a double A side) failed to get to the number 1 slot.
Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band was their next album release and was a perfect accompaniment to the Summer Of Love. The album was the peak of 5 years of frenzied writing and recording. After the dizzying heights things began to go wrong. Their manager Brian Epstein committed suicide leaving the band to fend for themselves which resulted in financial difficulties and demoralisation.
Their next project following Epstein’s death was the film Magical Mystery Tour which was ripped to shreds by the critics. The Beatles decided to head for cover and in early 1968 went to Rishikesh to visit the Maharishi’s meditation centre to recharge their batteries. Despite the realisation that the Maharishi liked to show particular attention to the female members at the centre, the band came away not disillusioned but with enough material for a double album.
When the band returned home they set up Apple Records in order to help get to grips with the lack of management. The new pressures of having to deal with the business end of things in addition to the presence of Yoko Ono soon began to tear the band apart. Their next album was The White Album which proved a long haul ad left them exhausted and near to breaking point.
In January 1969 the band decided to film themselves rehearsing and recording a live album. During the course of the film McCartney and Harrison almost came to blows and John and Yoko seemed not to care at all. Harrison walked out and it was obvious that thing were now broken beyond repair. In 1970 Let It Be was released and was followed by their famous rooftop - last live performance at Abbey Road.
The Beatles story ended with the band getting back to basics and recording Abbey Road. The album was a fine swan song and on April 10th 1970 Paul McCartney announced the demise of The Beatles.
David Jones was born in London in 1947. Following some awful music recorded for Decca/Deram where he did a mean impression of Anthony Newley, David Jones changed his name to David Bowie to avoid confusion with the Monkees Davey Jones.
In 1969 "Space Oddity" went to number 1 in the singles chart and the LPs Space Oddity (1969) and The Man Who Sold The World (1970) were released and quite rightly put down. Hunky Dory (1971) marked a change in his writing style and performance and became his first real step on the road to success.
With the press fed up with the usual black leather clad pop and rock stars of the day, Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (1972) put the makeup and dress wearing Bowie in their face. Their was little hope of trying to ignore him. Bowie had arrived in style.
For every new album that Bowie released over the next few years he invented a new character. Ziggy was laid to rest in 1973 and was replaced by Aladdin Sane (1973) who showed a more textured and mature Bowie to the world. Diamond Dogs (1974) followed and borrowed heavily from George Orwell’s 1984. Bowie was on top of the world and his new confidence showed. There followed a period where record companies from all over approached Bowie to breath new life into old groups and stars. This he did, making them fortunes in the process, but he began to get restless and released David Live (1974) to fill the gap left before releaseing the soul album Young Americans (1975). The album was a top 10 hit on both sides of the Atlantic despite it being a sould album without much soul.
Bowie retreated to Berlin where he indulged in the sex and drugs that go hand in hand with Rock And Roll. The weight dropped off as did his smile and Station To Station (1976) went on sale.
In 1977 Low was released and was the first collaboration with ex Roxy Music genius Brian Eno and Heroes (1977) was the result. Bowie then joined Iggy Pop to help with The Idiot and Lust For Life and in 1979 released his next album Lodger.
Another live album Stage (1978) was released and covered Bowie’s Ziggy to Low period. By the end of the 70’s Bowie had had enough of the current intelectualised arty music he was now producing. Once agin he changed direction and came up with Scary Monsters (1980). The single "Ashes To Ashes" released from the album was a number 1 hit and gave him an opportunity to kill of his earlier creation Major Tom (from Space Oddity).
Bowie next signed with EMI and brought out the clean and very commercial Let’s Dance in 1983. The album was a huge success as were the singles released from it. Bowie was now middle-of-the-road and had lost the edge he previously had. He kept on the same road for his next two albums Tonight (1984) and Never Let Me Down (1987) were as successful as Let’s Dance but many of his fans felt let down by his courting of the mainstream markets.
Bowie next decided to put a band together and become "one of the lads" a statement he never tired of telling the press. Tin Machine was born, released three albums, Bowie left, the band disappeared.
The old frightening Bowie was back in 1993 with Black Tie, White Noise which he followed up with a recording for a new TV series The Buddha Of Surburbia (1993) which was filled with throw away songs.
In 1995 Bowie was back with Eno to produce the much acclaimed Outside which has the feel of his late 70’s output with a smattering of dance numbers.
Still going strong and with Earthling (1996) recently out. Bowie’s been with for a long time and is still here to stay.
Francis Albert Sinatra was born on December 12th 1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey. He has many labels attached: "Chairman Of The Board", "Ol’ Blue Eyes", "The Voice" none of which sum up a man who has gone from teen idol to one of the top entertainers in world.
Sinatra left high school at fifteen and following a number of various jobs he won first prize on the radio programme Major Bowes Amateur Hour. He followed this up with appearances at night-clubs with the Harry James and Tommy Dorsey orchestras.
Sinatra was in his forties when hit the big time with his singing, but his purely musical career was put on hold when an MGM film contact came his way. Some of the films he appeared in could be considered fine for their genre, however most of them were very forgettable. In 1952 his vocal chords haemorrhaged and it looked like Sinatra was going to be a has been at the age of 37. A year later Sinatra made his comeback in the film From Here To Eternity which he starred alongside the then screen heartthrob Montgomery Clift. Sinatra played Angelo Maggio for a measly $8000, the film however was a huge success and he won the best supporting actor Oscar for his role. He was nominated for yet another Oscar in 1955 for his role in The Manchurian Candidate. At this point his career was back on track and so was his voice, leading him to work flat out on concerts, TV shows hit song recordings etc. He also proved himself as a good businessman by ploughing his profits into many business enterprises, most notably his own record label Reprise.
Sinatra has continued to wow crowds, appearing frequently in Las Vegas. He has been awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1971 for his services to philanthropic organisations, the Kennedy Centre Life Achievement Award in 1983 and in 1985 the Medal Of Freedom. He embarked on a sell out tour with Sammy Davis Junior and Liza Minelli in the 80’s and more recently did a cover of "I’ve Got You Under My Skin" with U2’s Bono.
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