Originally named The Debutones, England’s The Liverbirds (aka The Liver Birds) moved from Liverpool to Hamburg, Germany in 1963 where they became a popular band on the Star-Club circuit. Although they never became big stars their contribution to rock and roll is historically significant in that they were the first serious all-girl rock band to play their own instruments and do it on the same turf as male rock n’ rollers.
“Girls with guitars? That’ll never work”. John Lennon.
Well, it did work for The Liverbirds who managed to record two albums, achieve a Top 10 hit in Germany with their single, “Diddley Daddy,” and last four years before splitting up in 1967.
Spinal Tap (stylized as Spın̈al Tap, with a dotless letter i and a metal umlaut over the n) is a fictional English heavy metal band created by American comedians and musicians Michael McKean (as lead singer and co-lead guitarist David St. Hubbins), Christopher Guest (as lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel) and Harry Shearer (as bassist Derek Smalls). They are characterized as “one of England’s loudest bands”. McKean, Guest and Shearer wrote and performed original songs for the band.
The band first appeared on a 1979 ABC television sketch comedy pilot called The T.V. Show, starring Rob Reiner. The sketch, actually a mock promotional video for the song “Rock and Roll Nightmare”, was written by Reiner and the band, and included songwriter-performer Loudon Wainwright III on keyboards. Later the band became the fictional subject of the 1984 rockumentary / mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap.
Big Bottom is one of the funniest songs the band wrote. Musically it’s horrendous trash.
The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin’ That’s what I said The looser the waistband, the deeper the quicksand Or, so I’ve read. My baby fits me like a flesh tuxedo I love to sink her with my pink torpedo.
Big bottom Big bottom Talk about bum cakes My gal’s got ’em. Big bottom Drive me out of my mind. How can I leave this behind?
I saw her on Monday, twas my lucky bun day You know what I mean. I love her each weekday, each velvety cheek day You know what I mean. My love gun’s loaded and she’s in my sights Big game’s waiting there inside her tights.
Big bottom Big bottom Talk about mud flaps My gal’s got ’em. Big bottom Drive me out of my mind. How can I leave this behind?
Three blind mice. Three blind mice. See how they run. See how they run. They all ran after the farmer’s wife, Who cut off their tails with a carving knife, Did you ever see such a sight in your life, As three blind mice?
Ukrainians are celebrating winning this year’s Eurovision amid the Russian invasion
“When they said that we had won, I shouted at the whole apartment,” said Ivanna Khvalyboga, who was forced to flee Ukraine following the invasion.
Speaking from Poland, she told the BBC the win meant “incredible happiness for Ukraine and Ukrainian people”.
Kalush Orchestra won the competition, beating the UK and Spain to clinch to the top spot.
The group had been predicted to take the title as support rose following Russia’s invasion.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Kalush Orchestra and said Ukraine’s courage “impresses the world”.
In a post on Instagram, he vowed one day to host Eurovision in a “free, peaceful and rebuilt” Mariupol, referencing the port city that is mostly under Russian control.
Kalush Orchestra talked about Mariupol and the Azovstal steelworks at the end of their performance, a move praised by people online.
“I’m sure many people will search the internet for information about Mariupol and Azovstal and it’s great,” one person wrote on the messaging service Telegram. “We need attention, a lot of attention.”
Ukrainians had been on tenterhooks throughout the ceremony
Yura Solodzhuk, the administrator of a Ukrainian Eurovision fan page, who was forced to flee his country, told the BBC he was shocked at the win but said it would “help attract the world’s attention again”.
“It’s important to remind the world about us again and again, that Ukrainian music and culture exists,” he said.
The group’s song Stefania was written as a tribute to lead singer Oleh Psiuk’s mother, but its emotive lyrics have been interpreted as a rallying cry and tribute to the nation.
“Stepfania is heard every day on the front line of our fighters as a call for freedom,” Ann Fedirko told the BBC from Ukraine. “Every soldier remembers his mother, who prays for him at night and he has to win a free life for her.”
“This song is like our blood, which is now on the lips of every Ukrainian,” she added.
Celebrations are mainly muted with people unable to celebrate in public places due to curfews in place across the country. Many people watched the contest from home.
Not long after Ukraine’s win was announced, a number of locations across the country were under an air raid warning.
Now Ukraine have won, there will need to be a discussion about where next year’s Eurovision event could be hosted.
The winner usually hosts the show the following year, but depending on the situation in Ukraine, the European Broadcasting Union will have to come to a decision as to where it could be held.
But for now, Ukrainians are focused on what it feels like to be victorious and what it could symbolise in the future.
“We have won Eurovision, we will win the war with Russia!,” Ms Khvalyboga said.
Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was best known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. He was born and spent much of his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee, before relocating to Daytona Beach, Florida. He and his brother, Duane Allman, developed an interest in music in their teens, and began performing in the Allman Joys in the mid-1960s. In 1967, they relocated to Los Angeles and were renamed the Hour Glass, releasing two albums for Liberty Records. In 1969, he and Duane regrouped to form the Allman Brothers Band, which settled in Macon, Georgia.
Alestorm is a Scottish heavy metal band formed in Perth, Scotland. Their music is characterised by a pirate theme, and as a result, they have been dubbed a “pirate metal” band by many critics and their fanbase. The group currently consists of lead vocalist/keytarist Christopher Bowes, bassist Gareth Murdock, drummer Peter Alcorn, keyboardist/harsh vocalist Elliot Vernon and guitarist Máté “Bobo” Bodor.
After signing to Napalm Records in 2007, their debut album Captain Morgan’s Revenge, was released on 25 January 2008. Black Sails at Midnight, the band’s second album, was released on 27 May 2009. The band’s third album, Back Through Time, was released on 3 June 2011. The fourth album from the band, Sunset on the Golden Age, was released in August 2014. Their fifth album No Grave But the Sea was released on 26 May 2017. Their sixth and latest album, Curse of the Crystal Coconut, was released on 29 May 2020. The band has also released one live album and five EPs. The lead vocalist Christopher Bowes provides the announcer voice for the Pirate team in the video game Pirates, Vikings and Knights II.
On 16 January 2022 the band announced they were in the studio recording a new album entitled Seventh Rum of a Seventh Rum. The album will be released on 24 June 2022.
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