Mark
-
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by Mark
-
-
Buzzjack Last.FM Top 40 Albums
Top Albums for weekending 30th November 2008
1 Britney Spears - Circus 35
2 Lady GaGa - The Fame 26
3 Girls Aloud - Out Of Control 23
4 The Saturdays - Chasing Lights 22
5 P!nk - Funhouse 22
6 Pussycat Dolls - Doll Domination 21
7 Katy Perry - One Of The Boys 20
8 Rihanna - Good To Be Bad 20
9 Britney Spears - Blackout 19
10 Sugababes - Catfights and Spotlights 19
11 Sugababes - Change 18
12 Leona Lewis - Spirit 16 10
13 Alesha Dixon - The Alesha Show 10
14 Anastacia - Heavy Rotation 10
15 Girls Aloud - Tangled Up 10
16 Beyonce - I Am Sasha Fierce 12
17 Jordin Sparks - Jordin Sparks 12
18 Jennifer Hudson - Jennifer Hudson 12
19 Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway 11
20 Brandy - Human 11
21 Miley Cyrus - Breakout 11
22 Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night 10
23 Britney Spears - In The Zone 10
24 MGMT - Oracular Spectacular 10
25 Duffy - Rockferry 10
26 Robyn - Robyn 10
27 Gabriella Cilmi - Lessons To Be Learned 10
28 Kylie Minogue - X 10
29 Girls Aloud - Sound Of The Underground 9
30 The Killers - Day & Age 9
31 Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape 9
32 Nelly Furtado - Loose 9
33 Sugababes - Taller In More Ways 9
34 Christina Aguilera - Keeps Gettin' Better (A Decade Of Hits) 9
35 Ne-Yo - Year Of The Gentlemen 8
36 Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Trip The Light Fantastic 8
37 Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn Thing 8
38 Britney Spears - Greatest Hits: My Prerogative 8
39 Madonna - Hard Candy 8
40 Snow Patrol - Eyes Open 8
-
http://www.last.fm/group/buzzjack
Top Albums for weekending 30th November 2008
1 Britney Spears - Circus 35
2 Lady GaGa - The Fame 26
3 Girls Aloud - Out Of Control 23
4 The Saturdays - Chasing Lights 22
5 P!nk - Funhouse 22
6 Pussycat Dolls - Doll Domination 21
7 Katy Perry - One Of The Boys 20
8 Rihanna - Good To Be Bad 20
9 Britney Spears - Blackout 19
10 Sugababes - Catfights and Spotlights 19
11 Sugababes - Change 18
12 Leona Lewis - Spirit 16 10
13 Alesha Dixon - The Alesha Show 10
14 Anastacia - Heavy Rotation 10
15 Girls Aloud - Tangled Up 10
16 Beyonce - I Am Sasha Fierce 12
17 Jordin Sparks - Jordin Sparks 12
18 Jennifer Hudson - Jennifer Hudson 12
19 Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway 11
20 Brandy - Human 11
21 Miley Cyrus - Breakout 11
22 Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night 10
23 Britney Spears - In The Zone 10
24 MGMT - Oracular Spectacular 10
25 Duffy - Rockferry 10
26 Robyn - Robyn 10
27 Gabriella Cilmi - Lessons To Be Learned 10
28 Kylie Minogue - X 10
29 Girls Aloud - Sound Of The Underground 9
30 The Killers - Day & Age 9
31 Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape 9
32 Nelly Furtado - Loose 9
33 Sugababes - Taller In More Ways 9
34 Christina Aguilera - Keeps Gettin' Better (A Decade Of Hits) 9
35 Ne-Yo - Year Of The Gentlemen 8
36 Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Trip The Light Fantastic 8
37 Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn Thing 8
38 Britney Spears - Greatest Hits: My Prerogative 8
39 Madonna - Hard Candy 8
40 Snow Patrol - Eyes Open 8
41 Same Difference - Pop 8
42 T.I. - Paper Trail 8
43 Beyonce - I Am Sasha Fierce 7
44 Amy MacDonald - This Is The Life 7
45 Sugababes - Angels With Dirty Faces 7
46 Rachel Stevens - Come And Get It 7
47 Mika - Life In Cartoon Motion 7
48 Christina Aguilera - Back To Basics 7
49 Girls Aloud - Chemistry 7
50 Britney Spears - Britney 7
-
http://www.last.fm/group/buzzjack
Top Tracks for weekending 30th November 2008
1 Britney Spears - Womanizer 35
2 Britney Spears - Circus 29
3 Britney Spears - Out From Under 28
4 Britney Spears - Kill The Lights 27
5 Britney Spears - If U Seek Amy 26
6 Britney Spears - Shattered Glass 25
7 Pussycat Dolls - I Hate This Part 24
8 Britney Spears - Mmm Papi 23
9 Girls Aloud - The Loving Kind 22
10 Leona Lewis - Run 22
11 Britney Spears - Phonography 22
12 Britney Spears - Blur 22
13 Britney Spears - Unusual You 22
14 Alesha Dixon - The Boy Does Nothing 21
15 Britney Spears - Amnesia 21
16 Britney Spears - Mannequin 21
17 Britney Spears - Lace and Leather 21
18 P!nk - So What 20
19 Girls Aloud - The Promise 19
20 Britney Spears - My Baby 19
21 Britney Spears - Rock Me In 19
22 P!nk - Sober 19
23 Britney Spears - Radar 18
24 The Saturdays - Up 18
25 Beyonce - If I Were A Boy 17
26 Lady GaGa - Just Dance 17
27 Girls Aloud - Miss You Bow Wow 17
28 Girls Aloud - Love Is Pain 17
29 Katy Perry - Hot N Cold 16
30 Same Difference - We R One 16
31 Lady GaGa - Poker Face 15
32 Sugababes - No Can Do 15
33 Beyonce - Halo 15
34 Kanye West - Love Lockdown 15
35 Duffy - Rain On Your Parade 15
36 Britney Spears - Gimme More 14
37 The Saturdays - Issues 14
38 Girls Aloud - Rolling Back The Rivers Of Time 14
39 Kanye West - Heartless 14
40 The Killers - Human 14
41 Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) 13
42 Jennifer Hudson - Spotlight 13
43 Kings Of Leon - Sex On Fire 13
44 Girls Aloud - Untouchable 12
45 Beyonce - Radio 12
46 Girls Aloud - Love Is The Key 12
47 Alesha Dixon - Breathe Slow 12
48 The Saturdays - If This Is Love 12
49 Girls Aloud - Turn To Stone 12
50 The Saturdays - Work 12
51 Girls Aloud - Revolution In The Head 12
52 Leona Lewis - Forgive Me 12
53 The Saturdays - Lies 11
54 Britney Spears - Piece Of Me 11
55 Britney Spears - Everytime 11
56 Britney Spears - Toxic 11
57 Beyonce - Diva 11
58 Lady GaGa - Boys Boys Boys 11
59 Sugababes - About You Now 11
60 Lady GaGa - Paparazzi 11
61 Alesha Dixon - Let's Get Started 11
62 Katy Perry - I Kissed A Girl 11
63 Take That - Greatest Day 11
64 Rihanna - Disturbia 11
65 Anastacia - Heavy Rotation 11
66 Sugababes - Girls 11
67 Britney Spears - Rock Boy 10
68 Sugababes - Denial 10
69 Brandy - Long Distance 10
70 Britney Spears - Outrageous 10
71 Britney Spears - Quicksand 10
72 The Saturdays - Chasing Lights 10
73 Miley Cyrus - 7 Things 10
74 Beyonce - Sweet Dreams 10
75 Christina Aguilera - Keeps Gettin' Better 10
76 Girls Aloud - We Wanna Party 10
77 Rihanna - Rehab 10
78 Britney Spears - Stronger 10
79 Alesha Dixon - Don't Ever Let Me Go 9
80 Girls Aloud - Live In The Country 9
81 Alesha Dixon - Hand It Over 9
82 The Saturdays - Fall 9
83 Alesha Dixon - Italians Do It Better 9
84 Craig David - Insomnia 9
85 Britney Spears - Break The Ice 9
86 Lady GaGa - Again Again 9
87 Alesha Dixon - Play Me 9
88 Alesha Dixon - Chasing Ghosts 9
89 Frankmusik - 3 Little Words 9
90 Lady GaGa - Money Honey 9
91 Sugababes - Every Heart Broken 9
92 Brandy - Right Here (Departed) 9
93 Kanye West - Coldest Winter 9
94 Madonna - Miles Away 9
95 Britney Spears - Get Naked (I Got A Plan) 9
96 Lady GaGa - The Fame 9
97 Britney Spears - Trouble 9
98 Beyonce - Video Phone 9
99 Girls Aloud - Call The Shots 8
100 Sugababes - You On A Good Day 8
-
-
-
-
7pm Saturday Radio 2
Number One: the Rise and Fall of the charts
1st of 2 parts.
Paul Gambaccini assesses the current state and relevance of the music charts. From Al Martino in 1952 to The Ting Tings in 2008, this two-parter traces the birth and rise of the charts both here and in the States, with a look at the cultural explosion of the 1960s and 70s, the mythology and power of the Christmas number one, and the future of the charts. Featuring input from those who have presented Radio 1’s weekly countdown show and a selection of chart-topping obscurities.
-
-
-
-
-
-
The Upfront Club Top 40 weekending 6th December 2008
1 (4) The Killers - Human
2 (2) Loverush UK! feat. Molly Bancroft - Fountains Of Youth
3 (12) Madonna - Miles Away
4 (7) Sander Van Doorn Vs Robbie Williams - Close My Eyes
5 (14) Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil Wayne - Let It Rock
6 (3) Outsiders Feat. Amanda Wilson - Keep This Fire Burning
7 (1) The Wideboys - Sambuca 2008
8 (27) Sugababes - No Can Do
9 (9) Various Mofohifi Records - Autumn '08 (Sampler): Mash Up/The Lock Shot/Learn To Recycle
10 (6) Pimp + Jam Feat. Norma Lewis - Feel U Feelin' Me
11 (21) Eden Rox - Crazy
12 (22) Lol - Love Leaves No Scar
13 (5) Robin S - Luv 4 Luv/Show Me Love
14 (34) Will Young - Grace
15 (8) Ladyhawke - My Delirium
16 (11) Avatar One feat. Alexandra Greene - Open Up
17 (New) Tinchy Stryder - Take Me Back
18 (10) Christian Falk feat. Robyn - Dream On
19 (New) E Type - True Believer
20 (New) Michael Woods - Natural High
21 (18) The Guru Josh Project - Infinity 2008
22 (New) Haji & Emanuel - The Pressure
23 (13) Alphabeat - What Is Happening
24 (23) Kid Cudi - Day N Nite
25 (17) Brian Anthony - Worked Up
26 (36) Basshunter - I Miss You
27 (15) Rosie And The Goldbug - You've Changed
28 (20) Wawa - Traxx1: Forever/Time/Star Track
29 (19) Consoul Trainin feat. Joan Kolova - Stop
30 (16) Tokyoblu - Groove Tonight/Set Your Soul On Fire
31 (New) David Guetta & Chris Willis - Everytime We Touch
32 (25) Tony Di Bart - The Real Thing 2008
33 (New) Timmy Vegas & Bad Lay-Dee - Another Dimension
34 (29) Gabriella Cilmi - Sanctuary
35 (Re) Christina Aguilera - Keeps Gettin' Better
36 (31) Milk & Sugar Presents Ms2 - Stay Around
37 (28) Micky Modelle - Take Me Away
38 (38) Britney Spears - Womanizer
39 (40) Sneaky Sound System - UFO
40 (24) VV Brown - Crying Blood
Thanks to Mart!n
-
A day late though, but it was 7 years ago yesterday that George Harrison died.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
December 1, 2001
George Harrison, 'Quiet Beatle' And Lead Guitarist, Dies at 58
By ALLAN KOZINN
George Harrison, the Beatles' lead guitarist and the youngster of the group,
who composed some of their most venerated songs, ranging from the
intentionally prosaic to the hauntingly serene, died on Thursday at a
friend's home in Los Angeles. He was 58.
The cause was cancer, which he had been fighting since 1998.
News of his death saddened fans, who turned out by the hundreds in places of
special significance, like Abbey Road in London, the site of the EMI
recording studio, and Strawberry Fields in Central Park, planted in memory
of John Lennon.
With a look and a wardrobe that seemed to zigzag along with the vicissitudes
of the 1960's, 70's and 80's, Mr. Harrison often took a back seat to the
more flamboyant Lennon and Paul McCartney. He was known as the reclusive
one, ''the quiet Beatle,'' during the group's manic touring years.
Yet he served as an anchor for the quartet, leading the others on a
spiritual quest toward Eastern philosophy that influenced their music in the
latter part of the 1960's, epitomized for millions of fans by the sitar he
played on ''Norwegian Wood.''
Some of his best compositions, like ''While My Guitar Gently Weeps,'' and
''Something,'' stand alone in the Beatles' canon for their introspective
beauty. Others, like ''Taxman'' and ''Piggies,'' were brutally mundane.
Before the group broke up, he helped steer it to exclusively studio
recording, a compatible environment for experimentation. And afterward, he
continued composing and singing, with hits like ''My Sweet Lord'' that
resonated with faith.
His quiet nature hid a dark sense of humor, even about his own mortality.
When ''Horse to Water,'' a new song that he wrote with his son, Dhani,
appeared last month on ''Small World Big Band,'' a new album by the British
keyboardist Jools Holland, it carried the publishing credit ''Rip Ltd.,
2001,'' apparently implying ''Rest in Peace.''
In the 31 years since the Beatles broke up, Mr. Harrison made a series of
variably successful albums, including two with the Traveling Wilburys, a
tongue-in-cheek supergroup that included Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne
and Roy Orbison.
His 1971 concert to aid refugees in Bangladesh -- for which he enlisted Mr.
Dylan and the musicians Eric Clapton, Leon Russell and Billy Preston and
another former Beatle, Ringo Starr -- created the concept of the all-star
charity rock concert. Live Aid, Farm Aid and the recent Concert for New York
followed its pattern. He also produced a small but varied catalog of
recordings by other performers for his own Dark Horse record label in the
1970's.
Beyond his musical career, he was the executive producer of Handmade Films,
an independent production company that had several hits between the late
1970's and the early 1990's. He prepared several collections of memoirs and
lyrics for Genesis Editions, a British publisher of expensive
limited-edition books, and provided copious commentary for the books the
company published by Derek Taylor, the Beatles' former press aide, and Ravi
Shankar, the sitar master with whom he studied in the mid-1960's.
In the 1990's Mr. Harrison participated with his former colleagues in the
Beatles' ''Anthology,'' a retrospective that included a 10-hour video
history, six discs of previously unreleased recordings and a book.
''I am devastated and very, very sad,'' Sir Paul told reporters yesterday
outside his home in London. ''He was a lovely guy, and a very brave man and
had a wonderful sense of humor. He is really just my baby brother.''
Mr. Starr, the other surviving Beatle, issued a statement saying: ''George
was a best friend of mine. I loved him very much and I will miss him very
greatly.''
Mr. Harrison's recent projects included the production of an expanded
reissue of his 1970 album, ''All Things Must Pass.'' He was also planning to
oversee the remastering of his other recordings, and an album of new
material was in the works.
Serious From the Start
But Mr. Harrison will unquestionably be best remembered for his work with
the Beatles. He was 19 in 1962 when the Beatles made their first recordings
for EMI. Yet from the start he projected an air of intense seriousness.
Onstage, he appeared more concerned with getting the details of a guitar
solo right than with inciting the shrieks of the group's fans, and film
clips show him looking mildly astonished by the ruckus.
Indeed, the Beatles' appearances onstage conveyed a sense of both their
relationships and personalities. Lennon often stood to the right, regarding
the audience with a challenging defiance, with Sir Paul to the left,
charming listeners with winks and nods. Mr. Harrison sometimes joined one or
the other, but more often stood a few paces back. That isn't to say he
looked dour; he had a winning smile, and when a performance clicked, he
sometimes executed deft dance steps on his own.
He was the first Beatle to advocate abandoning the concert stage, arguing
that it was pointless to perform for audiences that were making too much
noise to hear the music.
''I always really enjoyed, in our early days, before we got too famous, we
used to play clubs and that kind of stuff all the time,'' he once told an
interviewer. ''And it was fun. It was fun. It was good, because you get to
play, and you get to get quite good on the instrument. But then we got
famous, and it spoiled all that, because we'd just go round and round the
world singing the same 10 dopey tunes.''
In the summer of 1966, the others came around to his point of view and
confined their work thereafter to the recording studio. At the Beatles'
recording sessions, Mr. Harrison worked diligently on the compact but often
innovative solos that were his moments in the spotlight.
6 Hours for a Brief Solo
His solo for Lennon's ''I'm Only Sleeping,'' recorded in 1966, shows his
fastidiousness. To mirror the dream world quality of the lyrics, Mr.
Harrison devised a solo guitar line, wrote out its notes in reverse order
and overdubbed it onto a recording of the song that was running backward. To
complicate matters even more, he recorded two versions of the solo -- one
clean, one with the guitar distorted -- and combined them. His contribution
to the three-minute song took six hours to record.
Although the Lennon-McCartney composing team always held center stage, Mr.
Harrison had a decisive influence on the Beatles' sound. During the group's
formative years in the late 1950's and early 60's, he shared the others'
passion for American rhythm and blues, Motown soul and the more aggressive
rock of Little Richard and Elvis Presley.
But his passion for rockabilly artists like Carl Perkins -- a taste he
shared with Mr. Starr, the Beatles' drummer -- infused the group's repertory
with the twangy coloration of country music. He also had an interest in jazz
chords, which colored the harmonies in some of the band's early
arrangements.
Mr. Harrison's fascination with Indian music, which began in 1965 -- after
he became curious about exotic instruments on the set of ''Help!,'' the
group's second film -- pushed the Beatles' sound world in yet another
direction. And as with everything the Beatles did, imitators were plentiful:
after Mr. Harrison played his sitar solo on ''Norwegian Wood'' and began
writing his own songs based on Indian motifs, dozens of rock bands adopted
the instrument, and so-called raga-rock flourished briefly.
Mr. Harrison also introduced the Beatles to electronic gadgets, ranging from
a simple volume pedal, used on ''Yes It Is'' and one of his own songs, ''I
Need You,'' to the Moog synthesizer, which he played on the group's final
album, ''Abbey Road.'' Still, he drew the line at devices like drum
machines, which in his view led to the mechanization of rock. On releasing
his ''Cloud Nine'' album in 1987, he described it as ''real music, made by
real musicians who play real instruments.''
'An Excuse to Go Mad'
Of the Beatles, Mr. Harrison was the most aloof from the music business and
the most troubled by fame. ''They gave their money and they gave their
screams,'' Mr. Harrison said of the Beatles' fans during an interview for
the ''Beatles Anthology'' in 1995. ''But the Beatles kind of gave their
nervous systems. They used us as an excuse to go mad, the world did, and
then blamed it on us.''
But if he was the most reticent of the Beatles, he sometimes delivered
barbed quips. Asked during a 1965 news conference in Minneapolis how the
Beatles were able to sleep with such long hair, Mr. Harrison shot back,
''How do you sleep with your arms and legs still attached?''
Mr. Harrison rarely gave interviews. Multilingual signs posted outside Friar
Park, his Victorian mansion in England, brusquely warned sightseers away.
And he was often impatient with autograph-seekers, his responses ranging
from tearing up the item he was asked to sign to creating perfect replicas
of all four Beatles' signatures.
But he had a generous side as well. In addition to organizing the Concert
for Bangladesh and the recording and film it yielded, he established the
Romanian Angel Appeal in 1990 to provide support for Romanian orphans. To
raise money, he assembled ''Nobody's Child,'' an album of rare recordings by
American and British colleagues. He also performed in Heartbeat '86, a
concert to raise money for a British hospital charity, and in the Prince's
Trust charity concert in 1987.
The Boys on the Bus
George Harrison was born in Liverpool on Feb. 25, 1943, the youngest of
Harold and Louise French Harrison's four children. His father drove the bus
that took him and Paul, who was a year older, to the Liverpool Institute, a
secondary school. He showed little interest in academic work, devoting
himself to the guitar. By the time he was 14 and met Paul, he had formed a
band, the Rebels, and began bringing his guitar to dances, hoping to be
asked to play.
Paul had only recently joined John's group, the Quarry Men, as a guitarist
(he later switched to bass), and early in 1958 he invited George to a Quarry
Men performance. After the show, George auditioned for John, reportedly on
the upper deck of a bus. He could do something that John could not: imitate
the solos on American rock records.
John, three years older, at first considered George talented but sullen, and
still a child. But George tagged along, and within a few months he was in
the band. He continued to work with other Liverpool bands, but by October
1959, he threw in his lot with the Quarry Men, which John renamed the
Beatles in 1960.
Mr. Harrison's songwriting interests were limited in the group's early
years. He had collaborated with Sir Paul on ''In Spite of All the Danger''
in 1958, and with Lennon on ''Cry for a Shadow,'' a Duane Eddy-influenced
instrumental recorded in Germany in 1961 during the band's backup sessions
for the British singer Tony Sheridan. But as the Lennon-McCartney
songwriting partnership flourished, Mr. Harrison was content at first to
play his solos and occasionally step up to the microphone to sing rock
classics like Carl Perkins's ''Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby'' and Chuck
Berry's ''Roll Over Beethoven.''
In time, there were Lennon-McCartney songs written with Mr. Harrison's voice
in mind, like ''Do You Want to Know a Secret'' and ''I'm Happy Just to Dance
With You.''
A Songwriting Success
In the summer of 1963, he decided to try his hand at songwriting and
produced ''Don't Bother Me,'' a song the group included on ''With the
Beatles,'' its second album.
''I don't think it's a particularly good song,'' Mr. Harrison wrote in ''I
Me Mine,'' his 1980 autobiography. ''It mightn't even be a song at all, but
at least it showed me that all I needed to do was keep on writing and then
maybe, eventually, I would write something good.''
Another year and a half elapsed before Mr. Harrison was able to interest the
band in another of his songs, but two of his compositions, ''I Need You''
and ''You Like Me Too Much,'' made it onto the ''Help!'' album in 1965.
Neither had the ingenuity or dimension that the Lennon-McCartney team were
giving their songs of the time, yet traces of Harrison's later style -- most
notably, the slightly mournful quality of his melodies -- were beginning to
emerge. Thereafter, Mr. Harrison had at least one and as many as four songs
on each of the group's albums.
Sitars and Spirituality
At the end of 1965, Mr. Harrison used a sitar on a Beatles album for the
first time, and soon he was studying the instrument formally with Mr.
Shankar. To put his studies to practical use, Mr. Harrison began writing
songs in an Indian style and inviting Indian musicians to Beatles' sessions
to help record them. The first of these was ''Love You to,'' on the 1966
''Revolver'' album. ''Within You Without You,'' Mr. Harrison's lushly
orchestrated contribution to ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,'' took
this influence farther.
In 1967 he wrote the score for the film ''Wonderwall,'' in which Eastern and
Western musical influences mingled freely. In 1968 the soundtrack was the
first release on the Beatles' own record label, Apple. While in Bombay
recording the Indian sections of the soundtrack, he taped an ensemble
playing a traditional raga and set words to it adapted from Lao-tzu's Tao Te
Ching. None of the other Beatles performed on the song, ''The Inner Light,''
but it became the first of Mr. Harrison's compositions to be released on a
Beatles' single (albeit on the B side, with ''Lady Madonna'').
Mr. Harrison's interest in Indian philosophy and spiritualism addressed the
other Beatles' concerns as well, and when he became interested in the
transcendental meditation techniques of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, his bandmates
followed him to India to study.
''Everybody dreams of being famous, rich and famous,'' Mr. Harrison later
said about the start of his spiritual quest. ''Once you get rich and famous,
you think, 'this wasn't it.' And that made me go on to find out what it is.
In the end, you're trying to find God. That's the result of not being
satisfied. And it doesn't matter how much money or property or whatever
you've got, unless you're happy in your heart, then that's it. And
unfortunately, you can never gain perfect happiness unless you've got that
state of consciousness that enables that.''
Leaving the Beatles
The others soon gave up on Eastern spirituality, but Mr. Harrison remained a
devotee of Hinduism, or Krishna Consciousness, as he preferred to describe
his beliefs. In his music, he returned to a more conventional Western style.
His contributions to ''The Beatles'' (known as the ''White Album'') and the
soundtrack of the animated film ''Yellow Submarine'' (both released in
1968), ranged from the proto-heavy metal of ''All Too Much'' to the
sublimely poetic beauty of ''While My Guitar Gently Weeps,'' and showed a
new compositional maturity.
By the time of the ''White Album'' sessions, Mr. Harrison was writing so
prolifically that the Beatles could not accommodate all his work. He also
undertook private musical experiments, including the synthesizer pieces
released on his ''Electronic Sound'' album. And he forged musical
relationships outside the Beatles, notably with Mr. Clapton, who had played
the solo on Mr. Harrison's ''While My Guitar Gently Weeps.''
By early 1969, a few weeks into the sessions for the ''Let It Be'' album, he
quit the band, returning only after the others agreed to give up a plan to
perform live again and to give his songs greater consideration. As it turned
out, the sessions yielded only one finished Harrison song, ''For You Blue.''
A second, ''I Me Mine,'' was recorded in January 1970 for the ''Let It Be''
album. It was the last song the group recorded before its breakup three
months later.
During the summer of 1969 -- with the ''Let It Be'' album shelved, pending
the completion of the accompanying film -- the Beatles recorded ''Abbey
Road.'' Two of Mr. Harrison's finest Beatles compositions, ''Something'' and
''Here Comes the Sun,'' were included. ''Something'' became the first of his
songs to be released as the A side of a single, and was widely recorded by
others. Frank Sinatra once called it his favorite Beatles song.
Soon after the Beatles split, Mr. Harrison assembled Mr. Starr, Mr. Clapton,
the guitarist Dave Mason, the keyboardists Gary Brooker and Mr. Preston and
the pedal steel guitarist Pete Drake and began recording the songs that the
Beatles hadn't had time for. The sessions were so fruitful that the
resulting album, ''All Things Must Pass,'' included two discs of new songs
and a third with jam sessions. The search for a path to God and the Hindu
notions of the transitory nature of the physical world were Mr. Harrison's
principal subjects here, explored in songs like ''What Is Life,'' ''My Sweet
Lord,'' ''The Art of Dying'' and the title song. But the album included
lighter, secular songs as well, and reached the top of the Billboard charts.
A Not So Sweet Hit
The album's success was gratifying for Mr. Harrison, but it caused him
problems. One of his songs, ''My Sweet Lord,'' bore a striking similarity to
that of the 1963 Chiffons hit, ''He's So Fine,'' and Mr. Harrison was sued
for copyright infringement. The suit dragged on for 20 years, and Mr.
Harrison was found guilty of ''unconscious plagiarism.''
He ultimately bought his antagonist's company and ended up owning both
songs. He wrote ''This Song'' (1975) as a satirical look at the lawsuit, and
when he reissued ''All Things Must Pass'' last year, he added ''My Sweet
Lord (2000),'' a new version that avoids the melodic similarities to ''He's
So Fine.''
Mr. Harrison's ''Living in the Material World'' (1973) followed the
spiritual agenda set by ''All Things Must Pass,'' although mundane venality
was not ignored. ''Sue Me Sue You Blues,'' for example, touched on the
squabbles between the former Beatles. But the public was tiring of Mr.
Harrison's religious fascinations. His next album, ''Dark Horse'' (1974),
was criticized as preachy and whiny, and an American tour made matters
worse: Mr. Harrison, not used to singing a complete concert set, lost his
voice during rehearsals and was hoarse for the entire tour.
He reconsidered his approach on ''Extra Texture'' (1975) and ''33 1/3''
(1976), albums that touched on traditional blues and continued to refine a
quirky, humorous personal style, best heard in ''Crackerbox Palace'' and
''This Song.'' Satire replaced sermonizing as his signature style, and it
was better received.
Nevertheless, Mr. Harrison took a three-year break from recording after ''33
1/3'' and devoted himself to ending one entrepreneurial enterprise and
starting another. The business he wound down was Dark Horse, the record
label he started in the early 1970's and that released albums by Mr. Shankar
and a handful of rock and soul bands, among them Splinter, Stairsteps,
Attitudes and Jiva. None of the recordings sold well, and after 1977 Dark
Horse became Mr. Harrison's imprint for his own work.
A sideline career as a film producer was more successful. When the Monty
Python comedy troupe needed financial backing for ''The Life of Brian'' in
1978, Mr. Harrison underwrote the film, laying the groundwork for his own
production company, Handmade Films. Handmade quickly became a respected
independent. Among its 27 films were ''The Long Good Friday,'' ''Mona
Lisa,'' ''Time Bandits,'' ''Withnail and I'' and ''Shanghai Surprise.'' Mr.
Harrison sold his interest in Handmade in 1994.
Vacationing From Music
Mr. Harrison also used his three years away from music to sort out his
personal life. He had met his first wife, Pattie Boyd, on the set of the
Beatles' first film, ''A Hard Day's Night,'' and married her in 1966. Their
marriage broke up in 1974, when Ms. Boyd began living with Mr. Clapton,
whose hit ''Layla'' was written for her.
The romance did not ruin the friendship between Mr. Harrison and Mr.
Clapton: they and Ms. Boyd performed a version of the Everly Brothers' ''Bye
Bye, Love'' together on Mr. Harrison's ''Dark Horse'' album, and Mr.
Harrison and Mr. Clapton toured Japan together in 1991.
Mr. Harrison married Olivia Arias in 1978. She and their son survive him, as
do two brothers, Peter and Harry, and a sister, Louise Harrison Caldwell.
Mr. Harrison's return to recording in 1979 yielded ''George Harrison,'' an
album notably lighter in spirit and broader in subject than his previous
few, with songs about several of his new passions, among them automobile
racing (''Faster''), hallucinogenic mushrooms (''Soft-Hearted Hana'') and
his wife (''Dark Sweet Lady''). But sales were disappointing, and when he
delivered his next album, ''Somewhere in England,'' in 1980, his label,
Warner, demanded that he rework the set to make it more commercially
appealing.
Mr. Harrison responded by recording a new track, ''Blood From a Clone,''
that skewered the label's complaints, and another, ''Unconsciousness
Rules,'' that took a swipe at disco. But another of the remakes was a
reunion with Mr. Starr and Sir Paul on ''All Those Years Ago,'' a tribute to
John Lennon, who was shot to death while Mr. Harrison was reworking the
album. ''All Those Years Ago'' became a hit, but Mr. Harrison was dispirited
by his experiences in the music business, and after another album, ''Gone
Troppo'' (1982), he stepped away from music for another five years.
A Man of Many Identities
His 1987 return, ''Cloud Nine,'' was a resounding success, his biggest since
''All Things Must Pass.'' Not least among its charms was a gentle parody of
the Beatles in ''When We Was Fab.'' Still, neither the success of his two
albums with the Traveling Wilburys, in 1988 and 1990, nor his 1991 tour of
Japan with Mr. Clapton's highly polished band were able to rekindle an
interest in leading a public musical life.
In addition to battling cancer, Mr. Harrison survived a stabbing attack by a
deranged intruder at Friar Park in December 1999, which resulted in a
punctured lung. More recently, he was treated for lung cancer and a brain
tumor and had therapy last month at the Staten Island University Hospital
and the University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center.
''Although I have guitars all around and I pick them up occasionally and
write a tune and make a record, I don't really see myself as a musician,''
Mr. Harrison once said, explaining his ambivalence about the life of a rock
star. ''It may seem a funny thing to say. It's just like, I write lyrics and
I make up songs, but I'm not a great lyricist or songwriter or producer.
It's when you put all these things together -- that makes me.''
Copyright 2008 The New York Times
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Harrison
-
-
ARIA Top 50 Albums weekending 1st December 2008
1 (1) Funhouse – P!nk
2 (2) Only By The Night – Kings Of Leon
3 (New) Chinese Democracy – Guns N’ Roses
4 (New) Day & Age – The Killers
5 (3) Dark Horse - Nickelback
6 (4) Black Ice – AC/DC
7 (7) High School Musical 3: Senior Year – Original Soundtrack
8 (5) The Promise – Girls Aloud
9 (9) And Winter Came - Enya
10 (8) I Am…Sasha Fierce - Beyonce
11 (10) The Fame – Lady GaGa
12 (New) 808s & Heartbreak – Kanye West
13 (6) Safe Trip Home - Dido
14 (14) Good Lovin’ – David Campbell
15 (11) Apocalypso – The Presets
16 (New) Been Waiting – Jessica Mauboy
17 (12) Songs Of Love & Loss II – Tina Arena
18 (40) Viva La Vida - Coldplay
19 (19) Breakout – Miley Cyrus
20 (21) Gurrumul – Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu
21 (23) Twilight – Original Soundtrack
22 (16) Mamma Mia! – Original Soundtrack
23 (32) A Collection – Josh Groban
24 (17) Soul - Seal
25 (18) We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things – Jason Mraz
26 (13) Keeps Gettin’ Better: A Decade Of Hits – Christina Aguilera
27 (Re) Rattlin’ Bones – Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson
28 (24) A Symphony Of Hits – Human Nature
29 (20) Exclusive – Chris Brown
30 (22) Songs From The South Vol. 1 & 2 – Paul Kelly
31 (26) One For The Boys – Katy Perry
32 (15) A Hundred Million Suns – Snow Patrol
33 (38) Incanto – Andrea Bocelli
34 (25) Oracular Spectacular - MGMT
35 (27) Good Girl Gone Bad - Rihanna
36 (33) Because Of The Times – Kings Of Leon
37 (29) Paper Trail – T.I.
38 (28) Death Magnetic – Metallica
39 (31) Nostalgica – The Ten Tenors
40 (39) I’m Not Dead – P!nk
41 (49) The Potbelleez – The Potbelleez
42 (30) Lessons To Be Learned – Gabriella Cilmi
43 (36) Waltzing Matilda – Andre Rieu & Mirusia
44 (41) Aha Shake Heartbreak – Kings Of Leon
45 (35) Intimacy – Bloc Party
46 (34) Doll Domination – Pussycat Dolls
47 (37) Walking On A Dream – Empire Of The Sun
48 (New) Sleepless Nights & City Lights – I Killed The Prom Queen
49 (Re) ABBA Gold - ABBA
50 (New) Prospekt’s March - Coldplay
-
ARIA Top 50 Singles weekending 1st December 2008
1 (1) Poker Face – Lady GaGa
2 (2) Sex On Fire – Kings Of Leon
3 (New) You – Wes Carr
4 (4) Use Somebody – Kings Of Leon
5 (5) Live Your Life – T.I. ft Rihanna
6 (3) If I Were A Boy - Beyonce
7 (6) Running Back – Jessica Mauboy
8 (7) Womanizer – Britney Spears
9 (10) Sober – P!nk
10 (8) So What – P!nk
11 (9) Hot N Cold – Katy Perry
12 (11) Alive – Natalie Bassingthwaighte
13 (15) Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) - Beyonce
14 (13) I Hate This Part – Pussycat Dolls
15 (12) I’m Yours – Jason Mraz
16 (14) Gotta Be Somebody – Nickelback
17 (16) Just Dance – Lady GaGa
18 (17) Whatever You Like – T.I.
19 (30) Love Lockdown – Kanye West
20 (19) Fall For You – Secondhand Serenade
21 (21) Walking On A Dream – Empire Of The Sun
22 (18) Electric Feel - MGMT
23 (20) I Don’t Care – Fall Out Boy
24 (29) Get Shaky – Ian Carey Project
25 (32) Let It Rock – Kevin Ruldolf ft Lil’ Wayne
26 (24) Talk Like That – The Presets
27 (23) Disturbia – Rihanna
28 (45) Human – The Killers
29 (New) Another Way To Die – Jack White & Alicia Keys
30 (New) Burn – Jessica Mauboy
31 (22) That’s Not My Name – The Ting Tings
32 (25) All Summer Long – Kid Rock
33 (28) Dance Wiv Me – Dizzee Rascal
34 (34) Superhuman – Chris Brown
35 (35) Kids - MGMT
36 (26) Shake It – Metro Station
37 (47) Viva La Vida - Coldplay
38 (31) Take Back The City – Snow Patrol
39 (36) Decode - Paramore
40 (33) Closer – Ne-Yo
41 (New) Right Now (Na Na Na) - Akon
42 (40) Miss Independent – Ne-Yo
43 (27) Keeps Gettin’ Better – Christina Aguilera
44 (37) Forever – Chris Brown
45 (38) Black And Gold – Sam Sparro
46 (39) Cry For You - September
47 (Re) Don’t Hold Back The Potbelleez
48 (41) I Kissed A Girl – Katy Perry
49 (43) White Noise – The Living End
50 (44) In The Ayer – Flo Rida ft will.i.am
-
From Digitalspy
Christmas Eve
6am Sarah Kennedy
7.30am Johnnie Walker
9.30am Ken Bruce
12pm Alan Carr's Office Party
2pm Aled Jones and Mel Sykes
5.05pm Richard Allinson
7pm Radio 2 Presents Neil Diamond
8.30pm The Phil Spector Christmas
9.30pm Dame Kiri's Classical Christmas
11pm Carols by Candlelight
Midnight Norman Jay's Christmas Chillout
4am Reverend Roger Royle
Christmas Day
7am Aled Jones with Good Morning Christmas
9am Christmas Wogan
11am Junior Choice with Ed Stewart
1pm The Paul O'Grady Christmas Show
3pm The Best Bette: The Bette Midler Christmas Show
5pm Mark Lamarr
7pm Radio 2 Live: Best of the Ken Bruce Sessions
8pm Growing up with the Goons
9pm Elaine Paige Meets Johnny Mathis
10pm Liza with a Z
11pm Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour
Midnight Janice Long
Boxing Day
3am Alex Lester
6am Sarah Kennedy
7.30am Wogan
9.30am Ken Bruce
12pm Noel Gallagher's Line of Enquiry
2pm Liza Tarbuck
5pm Johnnie Walker with Rod Stewart
7pm Bobby Darin: A Man in a Hurry
7.30pm Friday Night Is Disney Night
9.15pm Bond Stories
9.30pm Listen To The Band
10pm Claudia Winkleman
Midnight Mark Lamarr
New Year's Eve
7.30am Wake Up To Wogan
9.30am Ken Bruce
12pm Jeremy Vine
2pm Trevor Nelson's Prince Special
5.05pm Chris Evans
7pm A Tribute to Bill Cotton
8pm Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie
10pm Trevor Nelson's New Year's Eve
Midnight Janice Long
3am Alex Lester
New Year's Day
6am Sarah Kennedy
7.30am Wake Up To Wogan
9.30am Ken Bruce
12pm Best of Adam & Joe
2pm Motown: 30 at 50
5.05pm Chris Evans
7pm A Tribute to Bill Cotton
8.00pm Huey Morgan
10pm Mark Lamarr
11pm Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour
Midnight Janice Long
-
-
Saturday 20th December
7am Nick Grimshaw
10am Vernon Kay
1pm Nihal
4pm Fearne and Reggie's Request Show
Sunday 21st December
7am Nick Grimshaw
10am Chapers and Dave's Lie In
1pm Nihal
4pm Fearne and Reggie's Christmas Chart Show
7pm Switch with Nick Grimshaw - Christmas Party with McFly & Kaiser Chiefs
10pm The Surgery with Aled from The Chris Moyles Show
Monday 22nd December
4am Ronnie Herel
7am The Chris Moyles Show with Scott Mills
10am Sara Cox - Getting you in a festive mood
1pm Edith Bowman - Christmas classic, tinsel, mince pies and more!
4pm Greg James
7pm In New Music We Trust Christmas Party - Live from Maida Vale
Tuesday 23rd December
4am Ronnie Herel
7am The Chris Moyles Show with Scott Mills
10am Sara Cox - Getting you in a festive mood
1pm Edith Bowman - Christmas classic, tinsel, mince pies and more!
4pm Greg James
7pm Radio 1 Presents... The Killers
Wednesday 24th December
4am Ronnie Herel
7am The Chris Moyles Show with Scott Mills
10am Sara Cox - Getting you in a festive mood
1pm Edith Bowman - Christmas classic, tinsel, mince pies and more!
4pm Greg James
7pm Radio 1 Presents... Metallica
Christmas Day
4am Wake Up To: Rob Da Bank vs Gilles Peterson (Electric Music)
7am Scott Mills - Entertains the nation on Xmas Day
10am Greg James - Festive treats and records
1pm Vernon Kay meets Gavin and Stacey
4pm Radio 1's Big Weekend Highlights with Fearne n Reggie
7pm Zane Lowe meets Eminem
8pm Westwood's Christmas Show - a different Sound of Music
Midnight David Hooper's Disgusting Electronica
2am Radio 1's Classic Essential - Kleinenberg's 2001 Mix show
4am Rob Da Bank and Friends - Alphabeat present their A to Z mix
Boxing Day
6am Wake Up To - Eclectic Music
7am Nihal
10am Best of the Live Lounge
1pm Radio 1 At The Movies with James King
4pm Greg James
Saturday 27th December
7am Max from 1Xtra
10am Vernon Kay - Best of guests 2008
1pm Radio 1 At The Movies with James King
4pm Radio 1's Big Weekend Highlights with Fearne n Reggie (Repeat)
Sunday 28th December
7am Max from 1Xtra
10am Chappers and Dave's Lie In
1pm Radio 1 At The Movies with James King
4pm Radio 1's Chart Show with Fearne n Reggie
7pm Switch with Nick Grimshaw - Looking back at Switch Live 2008
10pm The Surgery with Aled from The Chris Moyles Show
Midnight Rob Da Bank's Cold Turkey Special - Choir of Young Believes in session
2am Rob Da Bank's Radiers of the Lost Archives - With an hour of Live Mars Volta never broadcast before.
4am Rob Da Bank and Friends - Justice present their A to Z mix
Monday 29th December
6am Wake Up To - Eclectic Music
7am Nihal
10am Annie Mac
1pm Colin Murray
4pm Greg James
7pm Steve Lamacq's In New Music We Trust - Highlights of 2008
10pm Radio 1 Presents Kings of Leon
Midnight - Classic Essential Mix - Danny Howell's 2002 mix
2am - Classic Essential Mix - High Contrasts' 2002 mix
4am - Rob Da Bank and Friends - David Holmes presents his A to Z mix
Tuesday 30th December
6am Wake Up To - Eclectic Music
7am Nihal
10am Annie Mac
1pm Colin Murray
4pm Greg James
7pm Westwood's In New Music We Trust - Highlights of 2008
10pm Radio 1's Drum and Bass Special - Plus the story of Pendulum
Midnight - Classic Essential Mix - Above and Beyond 2004 Mix
2am - Classic Essential Mix - Sasha's 2005 Mix
4am - Rob Da Bank and Friends - Primal Scream's A to Z mix
New Year's Eve 2008
6am Wake Up To - Eclectic Music
7am Nihal
10am Annie Mac
1pm Colin Murray
4pm Greg James
7pm Zane Lowe - Kicking off the New Year's Eve Party
9pm Radio 1's New Year's Eve Hits Mix
1am Paul Van Dyk - Special exclusive two hour show
3am Zane Lowe and Justice in Ibiza
5am Wake Up To Pete Tong - Eclectic Music
New Year's Day 2009
7am Chris Moyles' All Day Breakfast - Highlights from the past 5 years.
7pm New For 2009 - New music, films and music in 2009
Midnight Radio 1's Classic Essential Mix - Trentemoller's 2006 Mix
2am Radio 1's Classic Essential Mix - The session you've voted for
4am Rob Da Bank and Friends - High Contrasts' A to Z mix.
6am Wake Up To - Eclectic Music
Friday 2nd January
7am Ten Hour Takeover with Nihal
10am Ten Hour Takeover with Annie Mac
1pm Ten Hour Takeover with Colin Murray
4pm Ten Hour Takeover with Greg James
7pm Annie Mac's Mash Up
11pm Judge Jules (rest of the night continues as normal)
-
-
-
-
BuzzJack Multichart #140
in Personal Charts
Buzzjack Last.FM Top 40 Tracks
Top Tracks for weekending 30th November 2008
1 Britney Spears - Womanizer 35
2 Britney Spears - Circus 29
3 Britney Spears - Out From Under 28
4 Britney Spears - Kill The Lights 27
5 Britney Spears - If U Seek Amy 26
6 Britney Spears - Shattered Glass 25
7 Pussycat Dolls - I Hate This Part 24
8 Britney Spears - Mmm Papi 23
9 Girls Aloud - The Loving Kind 22
10 Leona Lewis - Run 22
11 Britney Spears - Phonography 22
12 Britney Spears - Blur 22
13 Britney Spears - Unusual You 22
14 Alesha Dixon - The Boy Does Nothing 21
15 Britney Spears - Amnesia 21
16 Britney Spears - Mannequin 21
17 Britney Spears - Lace and Leather 21
18 P!nk - So What 20
19 Girls Aloud - The Promise 19
20 Britney Spears - My Baby 19
21 Britney Spears - Rock Me In 19
22 P!nk - Sober 19
23 Britney Spears - Radar 18
24 The Saturdays - Up 18
25 Beyonce - If I Were A Boy 17
26 Lady GaGa - Just Dance 17
27 Girls Aloud - Miss You Bow Wow 17
28 Girls Aloud - Love Is Pain 17
29 Katy Perry - Hot N Cold 16
30 Same Difference - We R One 16
31 Lady GaGa - Poker Face 15
32 Sugababes - No Can Do 15
33 Beyonce - Halo 15
34 Kanye West - Love Lockdown 15
35 Duffy - Rain On Your Parade 15
36 Britney Spears - Gimme More 14
37 The Saturdays - Issues 14
38 Girls Aloud - Rolling Back The Rivers Of Time 14
39 Kanye West - Heartless 14
40 The Killers - Human 14