N°47 ADAM FAITH - WHAT DO YOU WANT

The same first name and the almost the same title is enough to link it to this blog and to the previous song. Not that I ever heared of the man but he's a singer so hey ....

Adam faith started out as a singer but then, as most of 'em do nowadays, switched to acting. Unlike most singer-actors nowadays who stick to both jobs, Adam educated himself to be a financial advisor in his later career. A teen idol in the sixties Faith began his career in 1957 with a skiffle group called The Worried Men. Adam got noticed by a producer who arranged him a solo contract under the name of Adam Faith. Both his first two singles failed to make the charts.

He returned to his old job but then got the opportunity to play in a BBC televised rock show called Drumbeat. This performance made him a very popular televeision performer on different shows. This despite he never scored a single hit in his early career. His Drumbeat performances gave him the opportunity to release some more singles and the one I posted gave him his first number one hit. At the same time the first number one hit for his current lable.  More songs would follow and in Great Britain he'd become Cliff Richards biggest rival in the UK charts.

In 1960 his first album was released called Adam which made the uk number 6. In between 1960 and 1965 six more albums would follow. A 1975 release of  I Survived, another album never was a succes although he scored over 20 chart entries back in the sixties.

In the seventies he'd become Leo Sayers manager and an actor in different series such as Budgie untill in 1986 he'd got hired as a financial journalist by The Daily Mail. ever since he'd work as a financial advisor. Adam Faith died of a heart attack back in 2003.

N°46 ADAM LAMBERT - WHATAYA WANT FROM ME

Same last name but a different kind of music. Adam takes his songs to a poppy level and Whattaya Want From Me is the perfect example.

His perfomrmances at American Idol 2009 skyrocketted him to popularity and not just because of his voice. Adam ended up second in the song contest but as with most runners up they get equally or even more famous than the actual winners. He found out at a very early age he was a born entertainer when he played in school plays at the age of ten. More local plays and musicals would follow. He moves from San Diego to Los Angeles and gets round with little jobs in different musicals.

As said he gets american fame with his performances at American Idol 2009. He ends second but voices go up he would have won it it he wouldn't have opened up for his sexuality. Adam is gay and not afraid to tell so. A year after his Idol experience he gets the opportunity to create a first album called For You Entertainment of which this song is his first hit.

Enjoy.

N°45 MIRANDA LAMBERT - GUNPOWDER AND LEAD

A real country and western Nashville star who was discovered by the Nashville Star program in which she finished third. She sang already from a very young age but it took her untill her 22nd year to release her first album in 2005 called Kerosine. It made platinum in the USA. She scored fout top-40 songs in the billboard Country top 100. Her second album was called Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and scored more top 20-hits and the single I posted made it to her first top 10. Her Single White Liar from het last album Revolution scored her for the very first time a number 1 hit.

Although nominated multiple times for different music awards she could only win two of them so far. In 2007 she took home the prize of Best New Female Vocalist at the Academy of Country Awards. A year later she'd score the Best Album of the Year awerd with her Crazy Ex-Girlfriend album at the same show. 

She's a rising star at the country skies. Have fun listening.

N°44 NIELS VAN GOGH - PULVERTURM

From Rembrandt to Van Gogh is only a very small step actually. Both grandmasters in the art of painting is the link I used. I find it well found actually.

Niels van Gogh, a German, deejay, is kind off an old icon of mine. Pulverturm is a classic in the dance scène and also this Doppelgänger is pretty well known. That was before my music style switched over to the more alternative style. Anyway, he still is a great DJ although I haven't followed it up the last ten years or so. This also is a bit like traveling back in time for me.

Niels Van Goghs career started back in 1994 as a small deejay on different major shows such as The Berlin Love Parade but his first album would only follow ten years later in 2004. Even that's six years after scoring a monster hit with Pulverturm. In 2006 a new album was released called Frequenzklang followed by some remix albums and a series of We Love Techno albums.

I was 22 when Pulverturm became a huge hit in 1998 and I must say I danced my guts out back then. Anyway my next link will have to be sought in the translation of the word Pulverturm, which is a ancient medeievel word for gunpowder. I hope I find the next link soon.

P.S. Apologies if updates appear at irregular times at the moment. Holidays and this weekends Pukkelpop have put this blog a little bit behind but that should be solved starting from next week on.

Greetings and enjoy

N°43 THE REMBRANDTS - I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU

Bruce Willis popped up in 3 episodes of Friends; the most popular series since 1989 and almost the whole world knows the very famous openingtune of the Rembrandts.

A band founded by Phil Solem and Danny Wilde would remain a duo from their first cooperation untill their split in 1997. Their first album The Rembrandts scored a little hit called 'Just The Way It Is Baby' but even that wouldn't mean a great breakthrough.

The second, untitled,  album didn't even bring them any big further success but on their 1995 LP record they'd hidden a track which later would become one of the most known featuring series songs ever. The one of the sitcom Friends.

As siad they'd split in 1997 re-uniting back in 2000 for the release of a fourth album Lost Together, followed by Choise Picks in 2005 and a greatest hits in 2006. After that no new albums have been made but both together work on songs for many different other bands like The Plain White T's.

N°42 BRUCE WILLIS - UNDER THE BOARDWALK

From Sin City to Bruce Willis is only a footstep away. And everyone knows him as the cop in Die Hard or the dead guy in The Sixth Sense but what most people don't know is that he also sang back in the eighties. I'm posting his biggest hit ever which is a The Driferts cover but still a good song.

What amazes me is that Bruce has in fact a great voice for singing song like these. He also covered 'Save The Last Dance For Me' and scored another small hit with 'Devil Woman', originally from Cliff Richard.

I've chosen this Under The Boardwalk since I like it best and it's a youtube version where he's singing it with The Drifters themselves which makes the performance a little bit more original.

Ah and the next link will be the title song from a series in which he appeared two or three times in a guest role. A guess anyone?