Today: The late Big Joe Turner was born in 1911 – 103 years ago (read More)

Big Joe Turner (born Joseph Vernon Turner Jr., May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American “blues shouter” (a blues-music singer capable of singing unamplified with a band) from Kansas City, Missouri. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, “Rock and roll would have never happened without him.” Although he had his greatest fame during the 1950s with his rock and roll recordings, particularly “Shake, Rattle and Roll”, Turner’s career as a performer endured from the 1920s into the 1980s. Turner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

The last of the ‘Berlin Trilogy‘ recorded in collaboration with Brian Eno, it was produced in Switzerland and New York City, and was more accessible than its immediate predecessors Lowand “Heroes”, having no instrumentals and being somewhat lighter and more pop-oriented. It was still an experimental record in many ways and was not, by Bowie’s standards, a major commercial success. Indifferently received by critics on its initial release, it is now widely considered, along with Diamond Dogs, to be one of Bowie’s most underrated albums

A remastered version of the album with special bonus tracks was released in 2008 by

Rhino Records.I am suspicious of singer-songwriters who draw attention to phrases like “hasten down the wind,” and I would suggest a moratorium on songs about the James Brothers that don’t also rhyme “pollution” and “solution.” But I like the way Zevon resists pigeonholes like “country-rock” while avoiding both the banal and the mystagogical, and I like quatrains like: “And if California slides into the ocean/Like the mystics and statistics say it will/I predict this motel will be standing/Until I pay my bill.”
– Robert Christgau

Unknown Pleasures, in 1979 and recorded their follow-up, Closer, in 1980. Curtis, who suffered from epilepsy and depression, committed suicide on 18 May 1980, on the eve of Joy Division’s first North American tour, resulting in the band’s dissolution and the subsequent formation of New Order.

English keyboard player and composer best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes. He is also known for his solo albums, contributing to the BBC comedy series Grumpy Old Menand for Rick’s Place, his former radio show on Planet Rock that aired until December 2010.

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