Duncan Sheik leads into the career of Rupert Hine, Sheik's producer. Today, Mr. Hine is an established and in-demand producer, but he started out as folk singer in the mid-sixties. His career began as a member of the duo Rupert & David which culminated in coffee house performances and a failed cover single of Paul Simon's "The Sound of Silence"in 1965. It was not until 1971 that Rupert Hine released his first solo album Pick Up a Bone.
The album is made up of David MacIver's lyrics, Paul Buckmaster's strings, and Rupert Hine's compositions and vocals. Hine's voice, in particular, has a large range of texture which enables him to tackle different sound styles. The songs range from soft, pastoral, folk ballads to strange, rough, funk jams. Judging by the album's cover, Rupert Hine wants his music to be taken seriously, but instead the album quickly faded into obscurity.
Here is the discography surrounding Rupert Hine's debut album:
The Sound of Silence (1965 single as Rupert & David) Pick Up a Bone
If you have any recommendations for where the Tour should go next, give a shout.
Daft Music's single "Da Funk" was featured in Phillip Noyce's The Saint along with songs by David Bowie, Duran Duran, Moby, and others. Also featured on the soundtrack is "In the Absence of the Sun" from Duncan Sheik's debut album Duncan Sheik.
Duncan Sheik got started as a singer-songwriter after moving to San Fransisco in 1993 with a degree from Brown University. After performing on the scene for three years including work as a backing musician, Duncan Sheik released his eponymous debut for Atlantic in 1996. The album's first single "Barely Breathing" reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the list for 55 weeks. The single's success propelled the album to Gold status.
Duncan Sheik is an album filled with love songs, unrequited love songs, and reflections rooted in Sheik's Buddhist beliefs and experiences. Sheik's acoustic guitar playing and soft voice lay the groundwork for the album's sound and is supplemented with the occasional electric guitar, backing strings, and constantly changing percussion. Duncan Sheik takes the role as the sensitive poet who tries to understand failed relationships, the world, and his role in them.
Here is the discography surrounding Duncan Sheik's debut album:
Duncan Sheik
Barely Breathing (1996 single)
She Runs Away (1997 single)
Reasons for Living (1997 single)
At the Reservoir (1997 Live EP)
Wishful Thinking (1998 non-album single for Alfonso Cuarón's Great Expectations
Feel free to recommend possible next artists. Just remember that the connection's supposed to be directly related to Duncan Sheik's debut album era and the next artist's next chronological album.
Weezer's Blue Album popularity is partially attributed to the wild success of their first two music videos featured on MTV. Spike Jonze directed both and has directed a fair number of others for artists such as R.E.M., Björk, and Kanye West. One of his other classic music videos starred an anthropomorphic dog walking around New York City with a radio blasting Daft Punk's "Da Funk", the first single off of their debut album Homework.
Daft Punk is a French electronic duo made up of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. The two met in secondary school and eventually formed an indie rock band with Laurent Brancowitz called Darlin'. The average effort lasted six months and broke during the latter half of 1992. Laurent joined his brother in a young band called Phoenix, while Thomas and Guy-Manuel began experimenting with drum machines and synthesizers and soon established themselves a new identity.
Daft Punk's early singles were quickly picked up by small record labels, but when it came time to make it big, they signed a deal with Virgin Records to whom they leased tracks for distribution, allowing the duo complete ownership and control over the master recordings. Daft Punk compiled enough singles and other songs by 1997 to release their first album.
It is important to note that electronic dance music is a DJ-centric class of music. It has a complex history and is divided into an innumerable quantity of genres and styles. Daft Punk comes from the French House scene (with its roots in the Chicago House scene of the early eighties) which makes use of a hard base drum on every beat ("four-on-the-floor"), a mid-range to fast tempo, cut-off and phaser synthetic effects, and obscure soul and funk tracks from the seventies. (To be frank, I'm largely ignorant of electronic music history, its numerous styles, and how Daft Punk fits into it, but I expect this murkiness to clear up the more I learn.)
Homework and Spike Jonze's music video are considered classics of the 1990s House scene. Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Roman Coppola, and Seb Janiak also directed music videos for Daft Punk. The album went double platinum in Canada, platinum in France, and Gold in the US and other countries.
Here is the discography surrounding Daft Punk's debut album:
Darlin' (1992 single as Darlin')
The New Wave (1994 single)
Da Funk (1995 single)
Around the World (1997 single) Homework
Burnin' (1997 single)
Revolution 909 (1998 single)
The musical history tour trudges along, but it works best if there is input from others. If you have a good idea for where the tour should go next, give me a shout.
When I ask people if they have heard Buddy Holly, a common reaction is "I love that song." Buddy Holly is a legendary figure in rock and roll, but Weezer's catchy, geeky love anthem challenges him for the first thing to pop into people's heads at the mention of his name. "Buddy Holly" is the second single from Weezer's 1994 debut album Weezer, known more commonly as The Blue Album.
The LA band formed in 1992 around drummer Pat Wilson and lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist Rivers Cuomo. The two were soon joined by bassist Matt Sharp and guitarist Jason Cropper. Although Rivers was convinced of the band's quality, their variety of edgy power pop was not able to gain the band much local popularity during a time when audiences wanted grunge. Still, they persevered, largely self-managed, until Todd Sullivan signed them to Geffen Records in the middle of 1993.
The band immediately set to recording their debut, working from a catalog of songs they had been polishing in LA clubs. Not allowed to self-produce the album, Weezer and Geffen roped in Ric Ocasek (of The Cars) to work with them. During production, Jason Cropper was kicked out of the band (under unrevealed circumstances) and replaced with friend-of-the-band Brian Bell. The album was finished to satisfaction and without other turbulence but released without a single and with worry as to how the band would take with audiences.
The Blue Album saw a steady rise in popularity, helped amass a devoted fan base for the band, and received near-universal critical acclaim. The band's popularity and album sales were helped along by the music videos for their first two singles "Undone - The Sweater Song" and "Buddy Holly". Both are fun and memorable videos directed by Spike Jonze, and they gave the band extensive exposure through MTV.
The Blue Album gradually reached triple platinum, and its critical reception has only grown in grace and stature. It is often cited as one of the best albums of the nineties, and credited for rescuing power pop from the depths, bringing it back to quality and prominence in the midst of a grunge-laden music world. Their album of self-conscious, dissonant pop songs jarrs at first but ingratiates over time until you can't help but sing along or get it out of your head.
Here is the discography surrounding Weezer's debut album:
Weezer
Undone - The Sweater Song (1994 single)
Buddy Holly (1995 single)
Say It Ain't So (1995 single)
A deluxe version of Weezer was released in 2004 with a second disc (Dusty Gems and Raw Nuggets) of b-sides and studio outtakes.
Remember to shout out any recommendations for where the Musical History Tour should go next. The more diverse the input, the more interesting the journey. Many thanks to Tyson Badders, Weezer super fan (but not so much as of late), for his help and input on this update.
With the release of the song "Bo Diddley", Bo Diddley popularized a particular beat with which he would forever be associated. Several early rock songs that followed used the "Bo Diddley Beat" as a starting point in song composition including Buddy Holly's classic "Not Fade Away" released in 1957 with his band The Crickets.
Buddy Holly began playing music at a young age with a strong background in bluegrass music. As the young Holly began performing in 1955, he picked up influences from rising acts he'd tour with like Elvis Presley and Bill Haley & His Comets shifting his act to rock and roll. He eventually formed his own band The Crickets which consisted of himself as lead guitarist and vocalist, drummer Jerry Allison, bassist Joe B. Mauldin, and rhythm guitarist Niki Sullivan. This lineup for the rock and roll band would eventually hold as the basic blueprint for all rock and roll bands to follow.
Although Buddy Holly started releasing singles as a solo artist in 1956, 1957 was the breakout year for Holly. He rose to prominence with a chart-topping hit "That'll Be the Day" and two other top ten hits "Peggy Sue" and "Oh, Boy!" (the latter with The Crickets). Oddly enough during this rush of releases, Holly released singles through three different record labels: Decca, Coral, and Brunswick. At the end of the year, it is with Brunswick that Buddy Holly and the Crickets would release their debut album The "Chirping" Crickets.
The album is a great collection of original songs and covers of Roy Orbison, Chuck Willis, and others. Buddy Holly was the principal songwriter for The Crickets, but the album features songs from Allison and Mauldin as well, giving it the feel of a work by the group rather than by just Holly.
Here is the discography surrounding Buddy Holly and the Crickets's debut album:
Blue Days, Black Nights (1956 single by Buddy Holly)
Modern Don Juan (1956 single by Buddy Holly)
That'll Be the Day (1957 single by Buddy Holly)
Words of Love (1957 single by Buddy Holly)
Rocking Around With Ollie Vee (1957 single by Buddy Holly)
Peggy Sue (1957 single by Buddy Holly)
Oh, Boy! (1957 single) The "Chirping" Crickets
The Musical History Tour keeps on plugging along (albeit slowly) but feel free to suggest possible next courses of action. A great recommendation can easily sway the project into a new direction. Just remember, it has to be related to Buddy Holly and the Crickets (and their debut album) in some/any way.
We've seen our fair share of imitators; time to sound off with The Originator. Getting his hit start and stage name from his debut single, Bo Diddley was one of the performers responsible for the transition from blues to rock and roll. He held a huge influence on British blues/rock bands like The Rollings Stones and The Pretty Things (whose name is taken from Bo Diddley's 1955 single "Pretty Thing").
His 1957 debut album Bo Diddley is a collection of his earliest singles. Bo Diddley starts with the blues format and sound, gives it more kick, drive, and guitar, and kicks off rock and roll with that blues foundation remaining.
Here is the discography surrounding Bo Diddley's debut album:
Bo Diddley (1955 single)
Diddley Daddy (1955 single)
Pretty Thing (1955 single)
Diddy Wah Diddy (1956 single)
Who Do You Love? (1956 single)
Cops & Robbers (1956 single)
Hey! Bo Diddley (1957 single)
Say Boss Man (1957 single) Bo Diddley
Hush Your Mouth (1958 single)
Bo Diddley (1958 EP)
Try comparing Bo Diddley's compositions to covers of his compositions (which there are plenty) and get an idea for rock and roll's historic progression. Also, feel free to suggest some bands for the Musical History Tour's next step.
Dick Taylor, Keith Richards, and Mick Jagger, before the formation of The Stones, performed in a group together called Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys. After Brian Jones joined the band, its name changed to The Rolling Stones. The young Mr. Taylor left The Stones very early on to attend the London Central School of Art where he met Phil May. Mr. Taylor's guitar and Phil May's vocals and harmonica would end up forming the core of The Pretty Things. They had some early success in the UK with three charting singles ("Rosalyn", "Don't Bring Me Down", "Honey, I Need") and a top-ten charting album in their 1965 debut The Pretty Things, a series of Rhythm & Blues covers with a couple original songs.
The Pretty Things had everything it needed to be a solid blues-rock band: a fierce vocal gnarl, a vibrant beat, and creative musicianship. They, however, did not have enough of any quality to separate itself from the pack of other blues-rock inspired bands to come out of England. They had early success in England, but they were unable to "invade" America, the international bar of success and popularity, like early contemporaries The Rolling Stones or Them.
Here is the discography surrounding The Pretty Things's debut album:
Rosalyn (1964 single)
Don't Bring Me Down (1964 single)
The Pretty Things (1964 EP)
Honey, I Need (1965 single) The Pretty Things
Roadrunner (1965 single)
Big City (1965 EP)
Remember to speak up if you have a good idea for where the Musical History Tour should go next.
