Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
Name	American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
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Abbreviation	ASCAP
Formation
Extinction
Type	Not-for-profit
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Headquarters	New York City, New York, United States
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Website	ascap.com
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The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (commonly known as ASCAP) is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that protects its members' musical copyrights by monitoring public performances of their music, whether via a broadcast or live performance, and compensating them accordingly.

ASCAP collects licensing fees from users of music created by ASCAP members, then distributes them back to its members as royalties. In effect, the arrangement is the product of a compromise: when a song is played, the user does not have to pay the copyright holder directly, nor does the music creator have to bill a radio station for use of a song.

In 2008, ASCAP collected over US$933 million in licensing fees and distributed $817 million in royalties to its members, with an 11.3 percent operating expense ratio. In the United States, ASCAP competes with two other PROs — Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) and the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC).

History

ASCAP was founded by composer Victor Herbert in New York City, New York, on February 13, 1914, to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members, who were mostly writers and publishers associated with New York City’s Tin Pan Alley. ASCAP’s earliest members included the era’s most active songwriters — Irving Berlin, Otto Harbach, James Weldon Johnson, Jerome Kern and John Philip Sousa. Subsequently, many other prominent songwriters became members. As of July 2009, ASCAP membership included over 360,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers.

In 1919, ASCAP and the Performing Rights Society of Great Britain (since 1997 known as PRS for Music), signed the first reciprocal agreement for the representation of each other’s members’ works in their respective territories. Today, ASCAP has global reciprocal agreements and licenses the U.S. performances of hundreds of thousands of international music creators.

The advent of radio in the 1920s brought an important new source of income for ASCAP. Radio stations originally only broadcast performers live, the performers working for free. Later, performers wanted to be paid, and recorded performances became more prevalent. ASCAP started collecting license fees from the broadcasters. Between 1931 and 1939, ASCAP increased roayalty rates charged to broadcasters more than 400%

The jazz, blues, country, and swing music genres soundtracked the 1930s, and ASCAP members Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller, Gene Autry and Jimmie Rodgers entertained the nation.

ASCAP boycott

In 1940, when ASCAP tried to double its license fees again, radio broadcasters formed a boycott of ASCAP and founded a competing royalty agency, Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI). During a ten-month period lasting from January 1 to October 29, 1941, no music licensed by ASCAP (1,250,000 songs) was broadcast on NBC and CBS radio stations. Instead, the stations played regional music and styles (like rhythm and blues or country) that had been traditionally neglected by ASCAP. Eventually, the differences between ASCAP and the broadcasters were settled, and ASCAP agreed to fees much lower than in preceding years.

ASCAP’s membership diversified further in the 1940s, bringing along jazz and swing greats including Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman and Fletcher Henderson. The movies also soared in popularity during the 1930s and 1940s, and with them came classic scores and songs by new ASCAP members like Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, Morton Gould and Jule Styne. Classical-music composers Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky and Leonard Bernstein brought their compositions into the ASCAP repertory in the 1940s.

In the 1950s and 1960s, television was introduced as a new revenue stream for ASCAP, one that maintains its importance today. With the birth of FM radio, new ASCAP members including John Denver, Jimi Hendrix, Quincy Jones, Janis Joplin and Carly Simon scored massive hits. Many Motown hits were written by ASCAP members Ashford & Simpson, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder. Both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones licensed their works through ASCAP, and the very first country Grammy Award went to ASCAP writer Bobby Russell for "Little Green Apples". During this period, ASCAP also initiated a series of lawsuits to recover the position they lost during the boycott of 1941, without success.

During the last three decades of the 20th century, ASCAP’s membership grew to reflect every new development in music , including the funk, punk rock, heavy metal, hip-hop, techno and grunge music genres. Creators ranging from Lauryn Hill and Dr. Dre to the Ramones, Slayer and John Zorn joined. ASCAP launched a Latin membership department to serve ASCAP Latin writers — Marc Anthony, Joan Sebastian and Olga Tañon among them — with the Spanish-speaking world as their audience. In 1981, ASCAP prevailed against CBS in an eleven-year-old court case challenging the ASCAP blanket license.

Today, ASCAP remains one of the world's most far-reaching PROs. ASCAP licenses over 11,500 local commercial radio stations and 2000 non-commercial radio broadcasters, maintains reciprocal relationships with nearly 100 foreign PROs across six continents, and licenses billions of public performances worldwide each year. ASCAP was the first U.S. PRO to distribute royalties for performances on the Internet, and continues to pursue and secure licenses for websites, digital music providers and other new media.

Annual Awards

ASCAP honors its top members in a series of annual awards shows in seven different music categories: pop, rhythm and soul, film and television, Latin, country, Christian and concert music. In addition, ASCAP inducts jazz greats to its Jazz Wall of Fame in an annual ceremony held at ASCAP's New York City offices, and honors PRS members that license their works through ASCAP at an annual awards gala in London, England.

Through its annual ASCAPlus Awards program, ASCAP compensates those writers whose works are substantially performed in venues and media outside of its surveys. An independent panel reviews the applications and makes cash awards to deserving members as well as writers whose works have a unique prestige value. Award amounts begin at $100. ASCAP is the only PRO with a cash awards program of this kind.

"I Create Music" EXPO

In April 2006, ASCAP inaugurated its annual ASCAP "I Create Music" EXPO, the first national conference fully dedicated to songwriting and composing. The first EXPO featured workshops, panels, mentor sessions and performances with notable figures from all music genres and sectors of the music industry. The most recent EXPO took place between April 24 and 26, 2010. Highlights included interviews, panels and performances with Bill Withers, Justin Timberlake, Quincy Jones, Dr. Luke, Linda Perry, John Mayer and Jason Mraz among other notable songwriters and industry insiders.

Member benefits

ASCAP was the first American PRO to offer a package of exclusive benefits to its members. Currently these benefits include:

:*Discount on membership to the Songwriters Hall of Fame :*Membership in the U.S. Alliance Federal Credit Union :*Discounts on health, dental, instrument and life insurance via its MusicPro program :*Discount on ASCAP Web Tools, a set of internet-based marketing and sales tools developed by Nimbit, Inc. for ASCAP members :*Discounts on music-related retail products and services :*Hotel and rental car discounts

''Playback'' magazine

ASCAP distributes to its members ''Playback'', a magazine highlighting the progress and career accomplishments of ASCAP’s writer and publisher members. ''Playback'' content is also available to the general public on ASCAP’s website.

Criticism

ASCAP attracted media attention in 1996 when it threatened Girl Scouts of the USA and Boy Scouts of America camps that sang ASCAP's copyrighted works at camps with lawsuits for not paying licensing fees. These threats were later retracted, however they have drawn negative attention for cracking down on licensing fees on other occasions as well, such as when they demand that open mic events need to pay licensing (even if most or all of the songs are original).

ASCAP has also been criticized for its extremely non-transparent operations, including the refusal to release attendance records for board members, the notes from board meetings, and the reasoning behind their weighting formulas which determine how much money a song or composition earns for use on television or radio.

In 2009, an ASCAP rate court case regarding ringtones generated considerable public attention. Critics claimed that ASCAP may seek to hold consumers responsible for a ringtone public performance. In statements to the press, ASCAP noted the following:

:*It is seeking to ensure that wireless carriers pay ASCAP members a share of the substantial revenue that mobile operators derive from content (like ringtones) that uses ASCAP members’ music. This content includes the delivery of full track songs, music videos, television content, ringtones and ringback tones. :*It has been licensing wireless carriers and ringtone content providers since 2001, and that it is not in any way seeking to charge consumers. :*It is striving to license those that make a business of transmitting its members’ music. This holds true for any medium where businesses have been built by using this music as content or a service – whether terrestrial broadcast, satellite, cable, Internet or wireless carriers providing audio and video content.

On October 14, 2009, a federal court ruled that "when a ringtone plays on a cellular telephone, even when that occurs in public, the user is exempt from copyright liability, and [the cellular carrier] is not liable either secondarily or directly." The ruling made clear that playing music in public, when done without any commercial purpose, does not infringe copyright. (US v. ASCAP, US District Court, Southern District of New York).

Further controversies arose involving ASCAP in 2009 and 2010. The organization requested that some websites pay licensing fees on embedded YouTube videos, even though YouTube already pays licensing fees, and demanded payment from Amazon.com and iTunes for 30-second streaming previews of music tracks, which traditionally does not require a license, being considered a promotional vehicle for song sales. It also sued a Manhattan bar over the unlicensed use of music, naming Bruce Springsteen as a plaintiff without Springsteen informed or consenting.

In June 2010, ASCAP sent letters to its members soliciting donations to fight entities that support weaker copyright restrictions such as Public Knowledge, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Creative Commons, creating notable controversy as many argued that these licences are a form of copyright and offer the artist nothing but an extra choice. Lawrence Lessig, a co-founder of Creative Commons, responded stating that they are not aiming to undermine copyright, and invited ASCAP for a public debate. The offer was turned down by ASCAP's Paul Williams.

See also

BMI

Copyright collective

PRS for Music

References

Further reading

Blume, Jason (2006). ''This Business of Songwriting''. Billboard Books (New York City, New York). ISBN 9780823077595.

Choquette, Frederic, "The Returned Value of PROs", ''Music Business Journal'', Berklee College of Music, May 2011

Passman, Donald S. (2003). ''All You Need to Know about the Music Business''. Free Press (New York City, New York). ISBN 9780743246378.

Shemel, Sidney; Krasilovsky, M. William (1990). ''This Business of Music''. Billboard Books (New York City, New York). ISBN 9780823077069.

External links

ascap.com, official website

ascap.com/about/history, history module of ASCAP at its official website

ascap.com/playback, ''Playback'' magazine module at ASCAP's official website

Category:Copyright collection societies Category:Music industry associations Category:Music organizations based in the United States Category:Non-profit organizations based in New York Category:Organizations based in New York City Category:Organizations established in 1914

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Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	Pharrell Williams
background	solo_singer
alias	Skateboard P, Pharrell (mononym)
born	April 05, 1973
origin	Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States
instrument	Piano, Keyboards, Guitar,Drums
genre	Hip hop, pop, funk, rock, pop rap, R&B;, electro
occupation	Producer, Musician, Songwriter, Singer
years active	1994–present
label	Star Trak, Interscope
associated acts	Missile Command, Robin Thicke, Game, Snoop Dogg, The Neptunes, N.E.R.D, Justin Timberlake, Tyler, The Creator, OFWGKTA
website
notable instruments	Piano, Keyboards }}

Pharrell Williams (born April 5, 1973), commonly known simply by the mononym Pharrell, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, composer, and fashion designer. Williams and Chad Hugo make up the record production duo The Neptunes, producing hip hop and R&B; music. He is also the lead vocalist and drummer of funk/hip-hop band N.E.R.D, which he formed with Hugo and childhood friend Shay Haley. He released his debut single "Frontin'" in 2003 and followed up with his debut album ''In My Mind'' in 2006.

As part of The Neptunes, Williams has produced numerous hit singles for various music artists. The production duo have earned three Grammy Awards amongst ten nominations. He is also the co-founder of the clothing brands Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream Clothing.

Early life

Pharrell Williams was born on April 5, 1973, on Virginia Beach, Virginia. He was born eldest of three sons of Carolyn, a teacher, and Williams, a handyman. He met Chad Hugo in a seventh grade summer band camp where Williams played the keyboards and drums and Hugo played tenor saxophone. They were also both members of a marching band; Williams played the snare drum while Chad took the role of student conductor. Along with Hugo, Williams attended Princess Anne High School where they played in the school band; that is where he got the name Skateboard P.

In the 1990s, Hugo and Williams formed a 4-piece "R&B; type" group along with friends Shay Haley and Mike Etheridge, which they named ''The Neptunes''. They later entered a high school talent show where they were discovered by Teddy Riley, whose studio was next to Princess Anne High School. After graduating from high school, they signed with Riley as a group.

Career

1992–2001: Career beginnings

Through working with Teddy Riley, Williams went on to write a verse for Wreckx-N-Effect's 1992 hit "Rump Shaker". That same year, he also performed a small rap solo on SWV's second hit, "Right Here (UK Remix)". In 1994, Hugo and Williams had established themselves formally as a production duo under the previously used name "The Neptunes", and produced "Tonight's The Night" from Blackstreet's self-titled debut. Over the next three years they continued to produce occasionally. Some of the production had little resemblance to the trademark Neptunes sound present today. However, some like Mase's 1997 song "Lookin' At Me" from his album ''Harlem World'', and the most definite beginning of the so-called distinctive "Neptunes sound", came with N.O.R.E.'s "Superthug" in 1998, reaching number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100, and gaining them widespread attention for the first time. In 1999, the duo then worked heavily with Kelis, producing her first album ''Kaleidoscope''

2001–2004: ''In Search Of...'', Clipse and ''Fly or Die''

In 2001, The Neptunes produced Britney Spears' single, "I'm a Slave 4 U" gaining their first worldwide number one. The same year, N.E.R.D, consisting of Williams, Hugo and Haley, released their first album, ''In Search Of...'', in Europe, where the first Kelis album was better received. The album sounded very much like their previous production work; the group decided that they should make their work as N.E.R.D sound different, and re-recorded the album, with the rock band Spymob. Williams and Hugo met rap duo Clipse in Virginia Beach in 1993, where they were signed to Arista Records through Williams' Star Trak Entertainment imprint.

Then in 2002 their re-produced album was released worldwide, and The Neptunes reached number one in the U.S. with Nelly's single, "Hot in Herre". In August of the same year, The Neptunes were named "Producers of the Year" at both The Source Awards and the Billboard Music Awards. Clipse released their commercial debut album, ''Lord Willin''' in August 2002. The album opened at number one on the ''Billboard'' Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number four on the ''Billboard'' 200, fueled by the strength of its first two singles, "Grindin'" and "When the Last Time", which peaked at number 34 and number 19 respectively on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

The Neptunes released a self-credited album called ''The Neptunes Present... Clones'' in 2003, featuring songs and remixes from various artists. This album topped the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 Albums Chart. The Neptunes and Williams specifically were also kept in public eye largely due to ties with Jay-Z, producing several hit singles for him and landing two tracks on his album ''The Black Album''. The track "Frontin'" was a big hit (the 34th biggest single of 2003 according to ''Billboard'' magazine). A survey in August 2003 found the Neptunes produced almost 20 percent of songs played on British radio at the time, a survey in the US had them at 43 percent. The same year, The Neptunes remixed the Daft Punk song ''Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger'' for the duo's poorly-received remix album ''Daft Club''. The track also featured a brief rap section performed by Williams.

N.E.R.D's second funk rock-oriented album, ''Fly or Die'', released in March 2004. Williams' rock credentials were further bolstered by his appearance at the 2004 Grammy Awards, performing The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" on drums along with Sting, Dave Matthews, and Vince Gill. Williams went home with two Grammy Awards that night, one for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, and another for Best Pop Vocal Album for his work on Justin Timberlake's hit album ''Justified''. They also gained their first UK number one, again with Nelly, and ''Flap Your Wings''.

2005–present: Debut album and collaborations

On September 9, 2005, Williams performed the opening single from his debut solo album ''In My Mind'', "Can I Have It Like That", featuring Gwen Stefani. The single did poorly in the US, reaching only number 48. It fared better in the UK, reaching number three. Between then and the July 25, 2006 release of "In My Mind", he released "Angel" (in Europe only), and later "Number One" with Kanye West. Several songs leaked to the internet before the album release, most notably "Mamacita" featuring Daddy Yankee, which was subsequently cut from the final version. "That Girl" featuring Snoop Dogg was the final single.

In 2006, Williams, along with Chad Hugo, produced Clipse's second album ''Hell Hath No Fury''. Most critics labeled the album to be Williams's best production in years, and put the Virginia rap duo back in the charts.

On May 16, 2007, for seven days only, the first of two expected collaborations with Madonna, entitled "Hey You", was made available for free download from the MSN website. MSN, in conjunction with Madonna, donated 25 cents for each of the first one million downloads to the Alliance for Climate Protection, in support of Live Earth. Later that year, Williams performed songs at the Concert for Diana on July 1, 2007. Then, on July 7, 2007, he performed at the Brazilian leg of Live Earth in Rio de Janeiro.

A second album, entitled ''Out of My Mind'', was recorded with his newly formed band "The Yessirs" featuring Questlove of The Roots. However, Williams' record label did not think that a companion album to the first would sell well. He also produced Beyoncé's rendition of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend". He then wrote and produced "Why Should I Be Sad" on Britney Spears' fifth studio album, ''Blackout''. He also produced two songs from The Hives album, ''The Black and White Album'', titled "Well All Right!" and "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.".

In April 2008, Madonna released her eleventh album, ''Hard Candy'', which featured vocals from Williams and production from The Neptunes on several tracks. Later in June, an article in NME revealed that Williams is very interested in producing The Strokes' fourth album. Williams, along with other musicians, is to work on a remix album for Maroon 5's ''Call & Response''.

Pharrell worked with Colombian artist Shakira on the songs 'Did It Again', 'Why Wait', 'Good Stuff' and 'Long Time' for her sixth studio album, ''She Wolf''. The album was released in October 2009.

It has been revealed that Williams will collaborate with Lindsay Lohan on her upcoming third studio album ''Spirit in the Dark''. He will also provide guest vocals on the album's first single, "Playground".

In September 2009, it was announced that Williams co-wrote and produced a song titled "Fresh Out the Oven" for Jennifer Lopez. The song was released as a buzz single from Lopez's upcoming seventh studio album ''Love?'', which is due for release in the Summer of 2010.

In October 2009, it was announced that he would make a guest appearance on French indie/electronic rapper Uffie's debut album, due out in early 2010.

He has also worked with rapper Snoop Dogg and singer Brandy on the song "Special" in Snoop Dogg's album Malice 'n' Wonderland.

Pharrell has been featured on an unofficial remix/mash-up of "Arab Money" featuring Busta Rhymes.

Pharrell and Kid Cudi collaborated on an untitled song for Kid Cudi's second studio album ''Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr.Rager''. Cudi described the song as a "club hit".

In late 2009, Pharrell also started working with the multi-Platinum recording artist Game (previously known as The Game) for his fourth studio album known as The R.E.D. Album, Pharrell returned to work with US singer Justin Timberlake, whom he hadn't worked with for nearly 8 years after he was a producer on Timberlake's debut solo album Justified.

In July 2010, Pharrell Williams composed one of the soundtracks in the movie Despicable Me at the Hollywood Studio Symphony.

Pharrell collaborated with Swedish house music group the Swedish House Mafia, on the song "One" from their debut album Until One. The released song featuring Pharrell's vocals was renamed "One (Your Name)."

Pharrell & his group N.E.R.D supported Gorillaz on their Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour. On the tour, Damon Albarn used his iPad to record and compose the Gorillaz album ''The Fall''. Pharrell recorded a track with Albarn, but this track did not appear on ''The Fall''; it may appear on a future album.

He will be featured on Gucci Mane's second album "The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted* on a track called Haterade alongside "Nicki Minaj".

He will also be featured on Swizz Beatz upcoming album "Haute Living".

On August 1st 2011, Pharrell announced his new label, i am Other.

Musical style

Williams often sings in a falsetto, which he utilizes during the hook of a song. Critics often say that Williams has the inability to rap or sing well, but point out that his singing is better than his rapping. Alasdair Lees of ''The Independent'' felt that Williams "strives for the Prince effect", but sounds like Bobby Valentino "on work experience". Anthony Henriques of PopMatters noted that Williams is not a "technically gifted rapper", "does not have a beautiful voice" and his lyrics are "typically inconsequential in a "saying shit just to sound cool' sort of way", but found strengths in his choruses, which he pointed out "typically use a catchy phrase or recognizable melody as an anchor for his nonsensical verses".

Pharrell also did music for the Dreamworks film Despicable Me. The film makers liked his genre of music for the movie. Williams has encompassed a broad range of genres, including hip hop, R&B;, pop, rock, and funk. His lyrics often pertain to his childhood, family, religious faith and sexuality. In the album review for ''Seeing Sounds'' by N.E.R.D, Christian Hoard of ''Rolling Stone'' felt he learned nothing from his lyrics except that Williams was sexually aroused.

Williams has stated that he does not have any direct influences, but has expressed his admiration of several recording artists, including Michael Jackson, J Dilla, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Rakim and Q-Tip. Williams described A Tribe Called Quest's 1990 album, ''People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm'', as a "turning point" in his life, which "made me see that music was art".

Ventures

Williams met Nigo, a Japanese record producer and creator of the clothing line A Bathing Ape, in Japan and bonded through similar interests, where they began working together on their fashion lines. Williams later co-founded the clothing brands Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream Footwear. He has a store in New York City. In 2008, Williams co-designed a series of glasses and jewelry for Louis Vuitton. The jewelry line is called Blason. He has also worked on furniture with Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin and a French manufacturer, Domeau & Pérès. One of his works, a molded plastic seat with human legs, was created because he "wanted to know what it was like to be in love." The chair depicts a sexual scene with a pair of female legs and male legs.

Pharrell recorded four songs for the computer animated film ''Despicable Me''. Some of the songs are used in the trailers, and are also in the movie.

In 2011 Pharrell designed and released a cream liqueur named QREAM. The "Q" stands for "Queen" and the liqueur comes in two different flavors; strawberry and peach. An opportunity comes when Pharrell was approached by Diageo to collaborate, in which Pharrell proceeded to make his own research and found that the female audience were being neglected, thus substantiate his idea to make a cream liqueur for women. He mentioned the taste being an ambient of an ice cream, but the liqueur itself contains less calories compared to a wine.

Personal life

In 2005 Williams was voted "Best Dressed Man in the World" by ''Esquire'' magazine. He is a fan of the science fiction series ''Star Trek'', as indicated by his consistent use of the Vulcan salute to signify his label name, Star Trak. He also enjoys the works of the late astronomer and science lecturer Carl Sagan, whom he calls "a genius". Williams is a skateboarder and has a half-pipe inside his home. In April 2009, Williams underwent a skin procedure to have most of his tattoos removed.

Discography

''In My Mind'' (2006)

'' Back to the Future'' (2011)

Awards and nominations

{|class="wikitable" |- | colspan="5" style="text-align:center;"|Grammy Awards |- !Year !Category !Genre !Title !Result |- |rowspan=6|2004 |Producer of the Year (with Chad Hugo) |N/A |— | |- |Best Pop Vocal Album |Pop |''Justified'' | |- |Best Rap/Sung Collaboration |Rap |"Frontin'" (with Jay-Z) | |- |Best Rap/Sung Collaboration |Rap |"Beautiful" (with Snoop Dogg) featuring Terrence Campbell | |- |Best Rap Song |Rap |"Beautiful" (with Snoop Dogg) | |- |Best Rap Song |Rap |"Excuse Me Miss" (with Jay-Z) | |- |rowspan="2"|2005 |Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group |Rap |"Drop It Like It's Hot" (with Snoop Dogg) | |- |Best Rap Song |Rap |"Drop It Like It's Hot" (with Snoop Dogg) | |- |rowspan=2|2007 |Best Rap Song |Rap |"Money Maker" (with Ludacris) | |- |Best Rap Album |Rap |''In My Mind'' | |}

References

External links

Official website

Category:1973 births Category:African American rappers Category:African American rock musicians Category:American alternative rock musicians Category:American fashion designers Category:American funk musicians Category:American hip hop musicians Category:American record producers Category:American rhythm and blues musicians Category:American rock musicians Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:N.E.R.D members Category:People from Virginia Beach, Virginia Category:Rappers from Virginia Category:The Neptunes members

cs:Pharrell Williams da:Pharrell Williams de:Pharrell Williams es:Pharrell Williams fa:فارل ویلیامز fr:Pharrell Williams ko:퍼렐 윌리엄스 hr:Pharrell Williams it:Pharrell Williams he:פארל ויליאמס lt:Pharrell Williams nl:Pharrell Williams ja:ファレル・ウィリアムス no:Pharrell Williams pl:Pharrell Williams pt:Pharrell Williams ro:Pharrell Williams ru:Уильямс, Фаррелл fi:Pharrell Williams sv:Pharrell Williams th:ฟาร์เรลล์ วิลเลียมส์ tr:Pharrell Williams bat-smg:Pharrell Williams

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	Tom Waits
background	solo_singer
birth name	Thomas Alan Waits
born	December 07, 1949Pomona, California, United States
instrument	Vocals, piano, guitar
genre	rock, experimental music
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, actor, composer
years active	1972–present
label	Asylum Records, Island Records, ANTI-
website	tomwaits.com }}

Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car." With this trademark growl, his incorporation of pre-rock music styles such as blues, jazz, and vaudeville, and experimental tendencies verging on industrial music, Waits has built up a distinctive musical persona. He has worked as a composer for movies and musical plays and as a supporting actor in films, including ''Down By Law'' and ''Bram Stoker's Dracula''. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his soundtrack work on ''One from the Heart''.

Lyrically, Waits' songs frequently present atmospheric portrayals of grotesque, often seedy characters and places – although he has also shown a penchant for more conventional ballads. He has a cult following and has influenced subsequent songwriters despite having little radio or music video support. His songs are best-known to the general public in the form of cover versions by more visible artists: "Jersey Girl", performed by Bruce Springsteen, "Ol' '55", performed by the Eagles, and "Downtown Train", performed by Rod Stewart. Although Waits' albums have met with mixed commercial success in his native United States, they have occasionally achieved gold album sales status in other countries. He has been nominated for a number of major music awards and has won Grammy Awards for two albums, ''Bone Machine'' and ''Mule Variations''. In 2011, Waits was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Waits currently lives in Sonoma County, California with his wife, Kathleen Brennan, and three children.

Origins and musical beginnings

Waits was born at Park Avenue Hospital in Pomona, California to Jesse Frank Waits and Alma Johnson McMurray, both schoolteachers. His father was of Scots-Irish descent and his mother was Norwegian American. After Waits' parents divorced in 1960, he lived with his mother in Whittier, and then moved to National City, in San Diego County, near the Mexico–United States border. Waits, who taught himself how to play the piano on a neighbor's instrument, often took trips to Mexico with his father, who taught Spanish; he would later say that he found his love of music during these trips through a Mexican ballad that was "probably a Ranchera, you know, on the car radio with my dad."

By 1965, while attending Hilltop High School within the Sweetwater Union High School District, Chula Vista, Waits was playing in an R&B;/soul band called The Systems and had begun his first job at Napoleone Pizza House in National City (about which he would later sing on "I Can't Wait to Get Off Work (And See My Baby on Montgomery Avenue)" from ''Small Change'' and "The Ghosts of Saturday Night (After Hours at Napoleone's Pizza House)" on ''The Heart of Saturday Night''). He later admitted that he was not a fan of the 1960s music scene, stating, "I wasn't thrilled by Blue Cheer, so I found an alternative, even if it was Bing Crosby." Five years later, he was working as a doorman at the Heritage nightclub in San Diego—where artists of every genre performed—when he did his first paid gig for $25. A fan of Bob Dylan, Lord Buckley, Jack Kerouac, Louis Armstrong, Howlin' Wolf, and Charles Bukowski, Waits began developing his own idiosyncratic musical style.

After serving with the United States Coast Guard, he took his newly formed act to Monday nights at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, where musicians would line up all day for the opportunity to perform on stage that night. In 1971, Waits moved to the Echo Park neighborhood of L.A. (at the time, also home to musicians Glenn Frey of the Eagles, J. D. Souther, Jackson Browne, and Frank Zappa) and signed with Herb Cohen at the age of 21. From August to December 1971, Waits made a series of demo recordings for Cohen's Bizarre/Straight label, including many songs for which he would later become known. These early tracks were eventually to be released twenty years later on ''The Early Years, Volume One'' and ''Volume Two''.

1970s

Waits signed to Asylum Records in 1972, and after numerous abortive recording sessions, his first record — the jazzy, folk-tinged ''Closing Time'' — was released in 1973. The album, which was produced and arranged by former Lovin' Spoonful member Jerry Yester, received positive reviews, but Waits did not gain widespread attention until a number of the album's tracks were covered by more prominent artists. Later in 1973, Tim Buckley released the album ''Sefronia'', which contained a cover version of Waits' song "Martha" from ''Closing Time'', the first-ever cover of a Tom Waits song by a known artist. This cover later appeared in the 1995 compilation ''Step Right Up: The Songs of Tom Waits''. The album's opening track, "Ol' '55", was recorded by the Eagles in 1974 for their ''On the Border'' album.

He began touring and opening for such artists as Charlie Rich, Martha and the Vandellas, and Frank Zappa. Waits received increasing critical acclaim and gathered a loyal cult following with his subsequent albums. ''The Heart of Saturday Night'' (1974), featuring the song "(Looking for) The Heart of Saturday Night", revealed Waits's roots as a nightclub performer, with half-spoken and half-crooned ballads often accompanied by a jazz backup band. Waits described the album as:

...a comprehensive study of a number of aspects of this search for the center of Saturday night, which Jack Kerouac relentlessly chased from one end of this country to the other, and I've attempted to scoop up a few diamonds of this magic that I see.

In 1975, Waits moved to the Tropicana Motel on Santa Monica Boulevard and released the double album ''Nighthawks at the Diner'', recorded in a studio with a small audience in order to capture the ambience of a live show. The record exemplifies this phase of his career, including the lengthy spoken interludes between songs that punctuated his live act. That year, he also contributed backing vocals to Bonnie Raitt's "Your Sweet and Shiny Eyes", from her album ''Home Plate''.

By this time, Waits was drinking heavily, and life on the road was starting to take its toll. Waits, looking back at the period, has said,

I was sick through that whole period [...] It was starting to wear on me, all the touring. I'd been traveling quite a bit, living in hotels, eating bad food, drinking a lot — too much. There's a lifestyle that's there before you arrive and you're introduced to it. It's unavoidable.

In reaction to these hardships, Waits recorded ''Small Change'' (1976), which finds him in a much more cynical and pessimistic mood, lyrically, with many songs such as "The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) (An Evening With Pete King)" and "Bad Liver and a Broken Heart (In Lowell)". With the album, Waits asserted that he "tried to resolve a few things as far as this cocktail lounge, maudlin, crying-in-your-beer image that I have. There ain't nothin' funny about a drunk [...] I was really starting to believe that there was something amusing and wonderfully American about being a drunk. I ended up telling myself to cut that shit out." The album, which also included long-time fan favorite "Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen)", featured famed drummer Shelly Manne and was, like his previous albums, heavily influenced by jazz.

''Small Change'', which was accompanied by the double A-side single "Step Right Up"/"The Piano Has Been Drinking", was a critical and commercial success and far outsold any of Waits's previous albums. With it, Waits broke onto ''Billboard'''s Top 100 Albums chart for the first time in his career (a feat Waits would not repeat until 1999 with the release of ''Mule Variations''). This resulted in a much higher public profile, which brought with it interviews and articles in ''Time'', ''Newsweek'', and ''Vogue''. Waits put together a regular touring band, The Nocturnal Emissions, which featured Frank Vicari on tenor saxophone, Fitzgerald Jenkins on bass guitar, and Chip White on drums and vibraphone. Tom Waits and the Nocturnal Emissions toured the United States and Europe extensively from October 1976 until May 1977, including a performance of "The Piano Has Been Drinking" on cult BBC2 television music show the ''Old Grey Whistle Test'' in May 1976.

''Foreign Affairs'' (1977) was musically in a similar vein to ''Small Change'', but showed further artistic refinement and exploration into jazz and blues styles. Particularly noteworthy is the long cinematic spoken-word piece, "Potter's Field", set to an orchestral score. The album also features Bette Midler singing a duet with Waits on "I Never Talk to Strangers." The album ''Blue Valentine'' (1978) displayed Waits's biggest musical departure to date, with much more focus on electric guitar and keyboards than on previous albums and hardly any strings (with the exception of album-opener "Somewhere" — a cover of Leonard Bernstein's song from ''West Side Story'' — and "Kentucky Avenue") for a darker, more blues-oriented sound. The song "Blue Valentines" was also unique for Waits in that it featured a desolate arrangement of solo electric guitar played by Ray Crawford, accompanied by Waits' vocal. Around this time, Waits had a relationship with Rickie Lee Jones (who appears on the sleeve art of the ''Blue Valentine'' album). In 1978, Waits also appeared in his first film role, in ''Paradise Alley'' as Mumbles the pianist, and contributed the original compositions "(Meet Me in) Paradise Alley" and "Annie's Back in Town" to the film's soundtrack.

''Heartattack and Vine'', Waits's last studio album for Asylum, was released in 1980, featuring a developing sound that included both ballads ("Jersey Girl") and rougher-edged rhythm and blues. The same year, he began a long working relationship with Francis Ford Coppola, who asked Waits to provide music for his film ''One from the Heart''. For Coppola's film, Waits originally wanted to work with Bette Midler; she was unavailable due to prior engagements, however. Waits ended up working with singer/songwriter Crystal Gayle as his vocal foil for the album.

1980s

In August 1980, Waits married Kathleen Brennan, a screenwriter, whom he had met while working on the set of the Francis Ford Coppola movie ''One from the Heart''. Brennan is regularly credited as co-author of many songs in his later albums, and Waits often cites her as a major influence on his work. She introduced him to the music of Captain Beefheart. Despite having shared a manager with Beefheart in the 1970s, Waits says, "I became more acquainted with him when I got married." Waits would later describe his relationship with Brennan as a paradigm shift in his musical development. After leaving Asylum, the label released the first Tom Waits "Best of" album in 1981, a collection called ''Bounced Checks'', notable for including an alternate, stripped down version of "Jersey Girl" and the otherwise unreleased "Mr. Henry", as well as an alternate master of "Whistlin' Past the Graveyard" and a live performance of "The Piano Has Been Drinking". During this period, Waits appeared in a series of minor movie roles, including a cameo role in ''Wolfen'' (1981) as an inebriated piano player, and his song "Jitterbug Boy" also appeared on the movie's soundtrack. ''One from the Heart'' received its official theatrical release in 1982, with Waits appearing in a cameo as a trumpet player as well as receiving an Oscar nomination for Original Song Score (eventually losing out to ''Victor Victoria'', by Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse). This marked the first in a series of collaborations between Waits and Coppola, with Waits appearing in cameos in Coppola's movies ''The Outsiders'' (1983), ''Rumble Fish'' (1983), and ''The Cotton Club'' (1984), and a major role in ''Bram Stoker's Dracula''. Waits also contributed two songs to the documentary ''Streetwise'' (1984), "Rat's Theme" and "Take Care of All My Children".

After leaving Asylum for Island Records, Waits released ''Swordfishtrombones'' in 1983, a record that marked a sharp turn in his musical direction. While Waits had before played either piano or guitar, he now gravitated towards less common instruments, saying, "Your hands are like dogs, going to the same places they've been. You have to be careful when playing is no longer in the mind but in the fingers, going to happy places. You have to break them of their habits or you don't explore; you only play what is confident and pleasing. I'm learning to break those habits by playing instruments I know absolutely nothing about, like a bassoon or a waterphone." ''Swordfishtrombones'' also introduced instruments such as bagpipes ("Town with No Cheer") and marimba ("Shore Leave") to Waits' repertoire, as well as pump organs, percussion (sometimes reminiscent of the music of Harry Partch), horn sections (often featuring Ralph Carney playing in the style of brass bands or soul music), experimental guitar, and obsolete instruments (many of Waits' albums have featured a damaged, unpredictable Chamberlin, and more recent albums have included the little-used Stroh violin).

His songwriting shifted as well, moving away from the traditional piano-and-strings ballad sound of his 1970s output towards a number of styles largely ignored in pop music, including primal blues, cabaret stylings, rumbas, theatrical approaches in the style of Kurt Weill, tango music, early country music and European folk music as well as the Tin Pan Alley-era songs that influenced his early output. He also recorded a spoken word piece, "Frank's Wild Years", influenced by Ken Nordine's "word jazz" records of the 1950s. Apart from Captain Beefheart and some of Dr. John's early output, there was little precedent in popular music.

Waits's new emphasis on experimenting with various styles and instrumentation continued on 1985's ''Rain Dogs'', a sprawling, 19-song collection which received glowing reviews (the album was ranked #21 on ''Rolling Stone'''s list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s. In 2003, the album was ranked number 397 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.) Contributions from guitarists Marc Ribot, Robert Quine, and Keith Richards accompanied Waits' move away from piano-based songs, in juxtaposition with an increased emphasis on instruments such as marimba, accordion, double bass, trombone, and banjo. The album also spawned the 12" single "Downtown Train/Tango Till They're Sore/Jockey Full of Bourbon", with Jean Baptiste Mondino filming a promotional music video for "Downtown Train" (which would later become a hit for Rod Stewart), featuring a cameo from boxing legend Jake LaMotta. The album peaked at #188 on Billboard's Top 200 albums chart; however, its reputation has come to far outshine low initial sales.

''Franks Wild Years'', a musical play by Waits and Brennan, was staged as an Off-Broadway musical in 1986, directed by Gary Sinise, in a successful run at Chicago's famed Steppenwolf Theater. Waits himself played the lead role. Waits developed his acting career with several supporting roles and a lead role in Jim Jarmusch's ''Down by Law'' in 1986, which also featured two of Waits's songs from ''Rain Dogs'' in the soundtrack. In the same year, Waits also contributed vocals to the song "Harlem Shuffle" on The Rolling Stones' album ''Dirty Work''.

In 1987, he released ''Franks Wild Years'' (subtitled "Un Operachi Romantico in Two Acts"), which included studio versions from Waits' play of the same name. ''Rolling Stone'' summed up the album's myriad styles this way: "Everything from sleazy strip-show blues to cheesy waltzes to supercilious lounge lizardry is given spare, jarring arrangements using various combinations of squawking horns, bashed drums, plucked banjo, snaky double bass, carnival organ and jaunty accordion." Waits also continued to further his acting career with a supporting role as Rudy the Kraut in ''Ironweed'' (an adaptation of William Kennedy's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel) alongside Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, in which Waits performed the song "Big Rock Candy Mountain", as well as a part in Robert Frank's ''Candy Mountain'', in which Waits also performed "Once More Before I Go." In 1988, Waits performed in ''Big Time'', a surreal concert movie and soundtrack which he cowrote with his wife.

In 1989, Waits appeared in his final theatrical stage role to date, appearing as Curly in Thomas Babe's ''Demon Wine'', alongside Bill Pullman, Philip Baker Hall, Carol Kane, and Bud Cort. The play opened at the Los Angeles Theater Center in February 1989 to mixed reviews, although Waits' performance was singled out by a number of critics, including John C. Mahoney, who described it as "mesmerizing." Waits finished the decade with appearances in three movies: as the voice of a radio DJ in Jim Jarmusch's ''Mystery Train''; as Kenny the Hitman in Robert Dornhelm's ''Cold Feet''; and the lead role of Punch & Judy man Silva in ''Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale''. His only musical output of the year consisted of contributing his cover of Phil Phillips' "Sea of Love" to the soundtrack of the Al Pacino movie of the same name and contributing vocals to The Replacements song "Date to Church", which appeared as a B-side to their single "I'll Be You".

1990s

''The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets'' — a theatrical collaboration of Waits, director Robert Wilson, and writer William S. Burroughs — premiered at Hamburg's Thalia Theatre on March 31, 1990. The project was based on a German folktale called ''Der Freischütz'', with Wilson responsible for the design and direction, Burroughs for writing the book, and Waits for music and lyrics, which were heavily influenced by the works of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. In the same year, Waits contributed a cover of Cole Porter's "It's All Right with Me" to ''Red Hot + Blue'', the first in the series of compilation albums from the Red Hot Organization — one of the first major AIDS benefits in the music business — which sold over a million copies worldwide. Jim Jarmusch directed a promotional music video for the song. Waits also collaborated with photographer Sylvia Plachy in the same year; her book ''Sylvia Plachy's Unguided Tour'' includes a short Waits record to accompany the photographs and text.

The following year, Waits was extremely busy working on movie soundtracks, acting, and contributing to a number of music projects by other artists. First, Waits appeared on the Primus album ''Sailing the Seas of Cheese'' as the voice of "Tommy the Cat", which exposed him to a new audience in alternative rock. This was the first of several collaborations between Waits and the group; Frontman Les Claypool would appear on several subsequent Waits releases. The same year saw Waits provide spoken word contributions to ''Devout Catalyst'', an album by one of Waits' greatest influences, Ken Nordine, on the songs "A Thousand Bing Bangs" and "The Movie." Waits also contributed vocals to a duet with singer Bob Forrest on the song "Adios Lounge" on the Thelonious Monster album ''Beautiful Mess''. He also contributed vocals to two songs ("Little Man" and "I'm Not Your Fool Anymore") on jazz tenor saxophonist Teddy Edwards' album ''Mississippi Lad''. Edwards was extremely complimentary of Waits' contributions, saying:

Tom Waits is the one who got me my contract with PolyGram. He's wonderful, he's America's best lyricist since Johnny Mercer. He came down to the studio on the ''Mississippi Lad'' album, that's the first one I did for PolyGram, and he sang two of my songs, wouldn't accept any money, just trying to give me the best boost that he could.

The only collection of exclusively Waits-performed material of 1991 appeared when Waits composed and conducted the almost exclusively instrumental music for Jim Jarmusch's 1991 film ''Night on Earth'', which was released as an album the following year. In July 1991, Screamin' Jay Hawkins released the album ''Black Music for White People'', which features covers of two Waits compositions: "Heartattack & Vine" (which later that year was used in a European Levi's advertisement without Waits' permission, resulting in a lawsuit) and "Ice Cream Man". Waits continued to appear in movie acting roles, the most significant of which was his uncredited cameo as a disabled veteran in Terry Gilliam's ''The Fisher King''. He also appeared alongside Kevin Bacon, John Malkovich, and Jamie Lee Curtis in Steve Rash's ''Queens Logic'', and opposite Tom Berenger and Kathy Bates in Hector Babenco's film ''At Play in the Fields of the Lord'', adapted from Peter Matthiessen's 1965 novel.

''Bone Machine'', Waits's first studio album in five years, was released in 1992. The stark record featured a great deal of percussion and guitar (with little piano or sax), marking another change in Waits' sound. Critic Steve Huey calls it "perhaps Tom Waits's most cohesive album... a morbid, sinister nightmare, one that applied the quirks of his experimental '80s classics to stunningly evocative — and often harrowing — effect... Waits' most affecting and powerful recording, even if it isn't his most accessible." ''Bone Machine'' was awarded a Grammy in the Best Alternative Album category. On December 19, 1992 ''Alice'', Waits's second theatrical project with Robert Wilson, premiered at the Thalia Theatre in Hamburg. Paul Schmidt adapted the text from the works of Lewis Carroll (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and ''Through the Looking-Glass'', in particular), with songs by Waits and Kathleen Brennan presented as intersections with the text rather than as expansions of the story, as would be the case in conventional musical theater. These songs would be recorded by Waits as a studio album 10 years later on ''Alice''. 1992 also saw Waits featuring in Francis Ford Coppola's film ''Bram Stoker's Dracula'', as the possessed lunatic Renfield.

In 1993, he released ''The Black Rider'', which contained studio versions of the songs that Waits had written for the musical of the same name three years previously, with the exceptions of "Chase the Clouds Away" and "In the Morning", which appeared in the theatrical production but not on the studio album. William S. Burroughs also guests on vocals on "'Tain't No Sin". In the same year, Waits lent his vocals to Gavin Bryars' 75-minute reworking of his 1971 classical music piece ''Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet''; appeared in Robert Altman's film version of Raymond Carver's stories ''Short Cuts'' and Jim Jarmusch's ''Coffee and Cigarettes: Somewhere in California'', a short black-and-white movie with Iggy Pop; and his third child, Sullivan, was born. In 1997, Waits and Brennan wrote and performed the music for ''Bunny'' the animated short film by 20th Century Fox's Blue Sky Studios, which was awarded Best Animated Short Film by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

In 1995, Holly Cole released ''Temptation'', a tribute album consisting entirely of Waits covers.

Another Waits cover was released in 1996, as Meat Loaf covered ''Martha'' for his concept album ''Welcome to the Neighborhood''.

In 1998, after Island Records released the compilation ''Beautiful Maladies: The Island Years'', Waits left the label for Epitaph, whose president, Andy Kaulkin, said the label was "...blown away that Tom would even consider us. We are huge fans." Waits himself was full of praise for the label, saying "Epitaph is rare for being owned and operated by musicians. They have good taste and a load of enthusiasm, plus they're nice people. And they gave me a brand-new Cadillac, of course."

Waits's first album on his new label, ''Mule Variations'', was issued in 1999. ''Billboard'' described the album as musically melding "backwoods blues, skewed gospel, and unruly art stomp into a sublime piece of junkyard sound sculpture." The album was Waits' first release to feature a turntablist. The album won a Grammy in 2000; as an indicator of how difficult it is to classify Waits's music, he was nominated simultaneously for Best Contemporary Folk Album (which he won) and Best Male Rock Vocal Performance (for the song "Hold On"), both different from the genre for which he won his previous Grammy. The album was also his highest-charting album in the U.S. to date, reaching #30.

The same year, Waits made a foray into producing music for other artists, teaming up with his old friend Chuck E. Weiss to coproduce (with his wife, Kathleen Brennan) ''Extremely Cool'', as well as appearing on the record as a guest vocalist and guitarist. He also contributed a cover of Skip Spence's "Books of Moses" to ''More Oar: A Tribute to the Skip Spence Album'', a collection of covers of the singer's songs on Birdman Records. The same year, Waits appeared in the comedy ''Mystery Men''.

2000s

John Hammond's ''Wicked Grin'', a collection of Waits cover songs, was released in 2001. Waits appears on most songs, playing guitar, piano, and/or offering backing vocals. The album also includes the traditional hymn "I Know I've Been Changed", performed as a duet by Hammond and Waits.

Tori Amos included a cover of the song "Time", from ''Rain Dogs'' on her 2001 album ''Strange Little Girls''. In 2002, Waits simultaneously released two albums, ''Alice'' and ''Blood Money''. Both collections had been written almost 10 years previously and were based on theatrical collaborations with Robert Wilson; the former a musical play about Lewis Carroll, and the latter an interpretation of Georg Büchner's play fragment ''Woyzeck''. Both albums revisit the tango, Tin Pan Alley, and spoken-word influences of ''Swordfishtrombones'', while the lyrics are both profoundly cynical and melancholic, exemplified by "Misery is the River of the World" and "Everything Goes to Hell." "Diamond in Your Mind", which Waits wrote for Wilson's ''Woyzeck'', did not appear on ''Blood Money''; however, it did emerge on Solomon Burke's album ''Don't Give Up on Me'' of the same year. While Waits has played the song live a number of times, an official version would not be released until 2007. The same year, Waits contributed a version of "The Return of Jackie and Judy" by The Ramones to the compilation album ''We're a Happy Family - A Tribute to Ramones'', which was released in 2003 on Columbia Records. That same year, Waits was also a judge for the 2nd annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers. Waits was also a judge for the 10th annual Independent Music Awards.

Waits released ''Real Gone'', his first nontheatrical studio album since ''Mule Variations'', in 2004. It is Waits's only album to date to feature absolutely no piano on any of its tracks. Waits beatboxes on the opening track, "Top of the Hill", and most of the album's songs begin with Waits's "vocal percussion" improvisations. It is also more rock-oriented, with less blues influence than he has previously demonstrated. The same year, Waits contributed backing vocals to the track "Go Tell It on the Mountain" on the Grammy Award (Best Traditional Gospel Album)-winning album of the same name by The Blind Boys of Alabama. He also contributed a version of Daniel Johnston's "King Kong" to the tribute album ''The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered'', released on Gammon Records.

At this time, Waits made a return to acting after a five-year break, marked at first by the re-release of his 1993 Jim Jarmusch-directed short ''Coffee and Cigarettes: Somewhere in California'', costarring Iggy Pop, compiled in ''Coffee and Cigarettes''. In 2005, Waits appeared in the Tony Scott film ''Domino'' as a soothsayer. In the same year, Waits appeared as himself in Roberto Benigni's romantic comedy ''La Tigre e la Neve'', set in occupied Baghdad during the Iraq War. In the movie, Waits appears in a dream scene as himself, singing the ballad "You Can Never Hold Back Spring" and accompanying himself at the piano.

A 54-song three-disc box set of rarities, unreleased tracks, and brand-new compositions called ''Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards'' was released in November 2006. The three discs are subdivided relating to their content: "Brawlers" features Waits's more upbeat rock and blues songs; "Bawlers", his ballads and love songs; and "Bastards", songs that fit in neither category, including a number of spoken-word tracks. A video for the song "Lie to Me" was produced as a promotion for the collection. ''Orphans'' also continues Waits's newfound interest in politics with "Road to Peace", a song about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The album is also notable for containing a number of covers of songs by other artists, including The Ramones ("The Return of Jackie and Judy" and "Danny Says"), Daniel Johnston ("King Kong"), Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht ("What Keeps Mankind Alive"), and Leadbelly ("Ain't Goin' Down to the Well" and "Goodnight Irene"), as well as renditions of works by poets and authors admired by Waits, such as Charles Bukowski and Jack Kerouac and a previously released duet with Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse entitled "Dog Door". Waits' albums ''Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards'' and ''Alice'' are both included in metacritic.com's list of the "Top 200: Best-Reviewed Albums" since 2000 at #10 and #20, respectively (as of November 2009). The same years, Waits appeared on Sparklehorse's album ''Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain'', playing piano on the track "Morning Hollow."

Five different versions of Waits's song "Way Down in the Hole" have been used as the opening theme songs for the HBO television show ''The Wire''. Waits's own version, from ''Frank's Wild Years'', was used for season two. The other versions used for the series were performed by, in season order, The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Neville Brothers, "DoMaJe" and Steve Earle.

Waits made a number of high-profile television and concert appearances between 2006 and 2010. In November 2006, Waits appeared on ''The Daily Show'' and performed "The Day After Tomorrow." This was significant for his having been only the third performing guest on the show, the first being Tenacious D and the second The White Stripes. On May 4, 2007, Waits performed "Lucinda" and "Ain't Goin' Down to the Well" from ''Orphans'' on the last show of a week ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' spent in San Francisco. There was a short interview after the last performance. Waits also played in the Bridge School Benefit on October 27–28, 2007 with Kronos Quartet.

On July 10, 2007, Waits released the download-only digital single "Diamond In Your Mind". The version of the song was recorded with Kronos Quartet, with Greg Cohen, Philip Glass, and The Dalai Lama at the benefit concert "Healing The Divide: A Concert for Peace and Reconciliation" at Avery Fisher Hall, recorded on September 21, 2003.

Waits's song "Trampled Rose" (from ''Real Gone'') appeared on the critically acclaimed album ''Raising Sand'', a collaboration between Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Waits also provided guest vocals on the song "Pray" by fellow ANTI- artists The Book of Knots on their album ''Traineater''.

He played the role of Kneller in the film ''Wristcutters: A Love Story'', which opened in November 2007.

On January 22, 2008, Waits made a rare live appearance in Los Angeles, performing at a benefit for Bet Tzedek Legal Services—The House of Justice, a nonprofit poverty law center.

On May 7, 2008, Waits announced the Glitter and Doom Tour starting in June 2008, touring cities in the southern United States and subsequently announced a series of dates in the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe. Waits was awarded the key to the city of El Paso, Texas during a concert on June 20, 2008. In his generally positive review of the opening show of the tour, ''The Wall Street Journal'' critic Jim Fusilli described Waits' music thus: }}

On May 20, 2008 Scarlett Johansson's debut album, entitled ''Anywhere I Lay My Head'', featured covers of ten Tom Waits songs. Waits made an appearance on the album ''The Spirit of Apollo'' by alternative hip hop project N.A.S.A., on the track "Spacious Thoughts."

Waits wrote the following introduction for the Tompkins Square compilation ''People Take Warning – Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs, 1913–1938'':

In late 2009, Terry Gilliam's film ''The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'' was released, with Waits in the role of Mr. Nick. Production began in December 2007 in London. Star Heath Ledger's death in January 2008 cast doubt on the film's future, but the production was salvaged with the addition of new actors playing his character in scenes he did not complete.

2010s

Waits played the role of "The Engineer" in the film ''The Book of Eli'', opposite Denzel Washington, which opened in January 2010.

He is currently working on a new stage musical with director and long-time collaborator Robert Wilson and playwright Martin McDonagh.

In early 2011, Tom Waits completed a set of 23 poems entitled ''Seeds on Hard Ground'', which were inspired by Michael O'Brien's portraits of the homeless in his upcoming book, ''Hard Ground'', which will include the poems alongside the portraits. In anticipation of the book release, Waits and Anti- printed limited edition chapbooks of the poems to raise money for Redwood Empire Food Bank, a homeless referral and family support service in Sonoma County, California. As of January 26, 2011, four editions, each limited to a thousand copies costing $24.99US each, sold out, raising $90,000 for the food bank.

It was announced on February 9, 2011, that Waits was to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Neil Young. The ceremony was held at the Waldorf-Astoria on Monday, March 14, 2011, at 8:30pm EST. Waits accepted the award with his customary humor, stating, "They say I have no hits and that I'm difficult to work with... like it's a bad thing."

On February 24, 2011, it was announced via Waits' official website that he has begun work on his next studio album.

Waits said through his website that on August 23 he would "set the record straight" in regards to rumors of a new release. On August 23, the title of the new album was revealed to be ''Bad as Me'', and a new single, also titled "Bad as Me," started being offered via Amazon.com and other sites.

Record companies

Waits has often switched to smaller independent record companies over the years; he signed to Asylum Records before they were bought out by Elektra Records and Warner Bros. During his time with Island Records, that label expanded from a small company to a music industry giant. He then signed to Anti Records, a division of Epitaph Records.

Lawsuits

Waits has steadfastly refused to allow the use of his songs in commercials and has joked about other artists who do (commenting "If Michael Jackson wants to work for Pepsi, why doesn't he just get himself a suit and an office in their headquarters and be done with it?"). He has filed several lawsuits against advertisers who used his material without permission. He has been quoted as saying, "Apparently, the highest compliment our culture grants artists nowadays is to be in an ad — ideally, naked and purring on the hood of a new car", he said in a statement, referring to the Mercury Cougar. "I have adamantly and repeatedly refused this dubious honor."

Waits filed his first lawsuit in 1988 against Frito-Lay. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed an award of $2.375-million in his favor (''Waits v. Frito-Lay'', 978 F. 2d 1093 (9th Cir. 1992)). Frito-Lay had approached Waits to use one of his songs in an advertisement. Waits declined the offer, and Frito-Lay hired a Waits soundalike to sing a jingle similar to ''Small Change'''s "Step Right Up", which is, ironically, a song Waits has called "an indictment of advertising". Waits won the lawsuit, becoming one of the first artists to successfully sue a company for using an impersonator without permission.

In 1993, Levi's used Screamin' Jay Hawkins' version of Waits' "Heartattack and Vine" in a commercial. Waits sued, and Levi's agreed to cease all use of the song and offered a full page apology in ''Billboard''. Waits found himself in a situation similar to his earlier one with Frito Lay in 2000 when Audi approached him, asking to use "Innocent When You Dream" (from ''Franks Wild Years'') for a commercial broadcast in Spain. Waits declined, but the commercial ultimately featured music very similar to that song. Waits undertook legal action, and a Spanish court recognized that there had been a violation of Waits's moral rights in addition to the infringement of copyright. The production company, Tandem Campany Guasch, was ordered to pay compensation to Waits through his Spanish publisher. Waits was later quoted as jokingly saying the company got the name of the song wrong, thinking it was called "Innocent When You Scheme".

In 2005, Waits sued Adam Opel AG, claiming that, after having failed to sign him to sing in their Scandinavian commercials, they had hired a sound-alike singer. In 2007, the suit was settled, and Waits gave the sum to charity.

Waits has also filed a lawsuit unrelated to his music. He was arrested in 1977 outside Duke's Tropicana Coffee Shop in Los Angeles. Waits and a friend were trying to stop some men from bullying other patrons. The men were plainclothes police, and Waits and his friend were taken into custody and charged with disturbing the peace. The jury found Waits not guilty; he took the police department to court and was awarded $7,500 compensation.

Discography and filmography

Tours

1973: ''Closing Time'' touring

1974–1975: ''The Heart of Saturday Night'' touring

1975–1976: ''Small Change'' touring

1977: ''Foreign Affairs'' touring

1978–1979: ''Blue Valentine'' touring

1980–1982: ''Heartattack and Vine'' touring

1985: ''Rain Dogs'' touring

1987: ''Big Time'' touring

1999: ''Get Behind the Mule Tour''

2004: ''Real Gone Tour''

2006: ''The Orphans Tour''

2008: ''Glitter and Doom Tour''

Further reading

References

External links

Discography at the Tom Waits Library

Interview with Amanda Petrusich, Pitchfork Media, November 27, 2006

Interview with Jon Stewart, ''The Daily Show'', November 28, 2006

Tom Waits at NPR Music, contains interviews

Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:American people of Norwegian descent Category:American composers Category:American film actors Category:American male singers Category:American multi-instrumentalists Category:American musicians of Norwegian descent Category:American people of Scotch-Irish descent Category:American rock singers Category:American blues singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Eels (band) members Category:English-language singers Category:Epitaph Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:People from Chula Vista, California Category:People from Pomona, California Category:People from the San Fernando Valley Category:People from Sonoma County, California Category:Singers from California Category:Songwriters from California Category:Writers from California Category:Sebastopol, California Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:People from Echo Park, Los Angeles

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Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	Justin Hayward
background	solo_singer
birth name	David Justin Hayward
born	October 14, 1946Swindon, Wiltshire, England
instrument	Guitar, Piano Vocals, Mandolin, Sitar
genre	Rock
occupation	Musician, songwriter
years active	1965–present
label	Pye RecordsParlophoneThreshold RecordsDeram RecordsPolydorCMC InternationalTrax RecordsTowerbell RecordsArmou Records
associated acts	The Moody Blues
notable instruments	Gibson ES-335 }}

'' Justin Hayward'' (born 14 October 1946 in, Swindon, Wiltshire, England) is an English musician, best known as singer, songwriter and guitarist in the rock band The Moody Blues.

Hayward was born in Dean Street, Swindon, Wiltshire, England. He attended The Commonweal School, in Swindon, Wiltshire.

Career

When Hayward was 15 he was able to afford a Gibson guitar and a Vox amplifier through performing with local Swindon groups in clubs and dance halls playing mostly Buddy Holly songs. One of Hayward's early groups was All Things Bright, which opened for The Hollies and Brian Poole and the Tremeloes. In 1965 he answered an advertisement in ''Melody Maker'' and auditioned as guitarist for Marty Wilde and he went on to work with Wilde and his wife in The Wilde Three. At age 17, he signed a publishing contract as a songwriter with the skiffle artist and record producer Lonnie Donegan, a move Hayward later regretted as it meant the rights to all his songs written before 1974 would always be owned by Donegan's Tyler Music. Justin was recently involved in the remastering of The Moody Blues back catalogue for Universal Music.

The Moody Blues

In 1966, after answering another ad in ''Melody Maker'', this time placed by Eric Burdon of The Animals, Hayward was contacted by Mike Pinder of The Moody Blues after Burdon had passed on Hayward's letter and demo discs to Pinder. Within a few days Hayward had replaced departing Moody Blues vocalist and guitarist Denny Laine. Bassist John Lodge replaced temporary deputy Rod Clarke who had stood in for departed Bassist Clint Warwick at the same time.

After beginning by singing the old Blues inspired repertoire of The Moodies 1964-1965 era, Hayward's initial artistic contributon to The Moody Blues was his song 'Fly Me High' which was a Decca single early in 1967, this failed to chart but gave the revised band a new sound and direction, being more of an original contemporary track than the 'R & B' sound they had been largely producing up to that point.

Hayward's driving rocker 'Leave This Man Alone' was then used as 'B' side to the next Moodies single on Decca, backing Mike Pinder's 'Love And Beauty' (1967) the first Moodies record to feature the mellotron.

Hayward's and Lodge's integration into the Moody Blues along with Pinder's use of the Mellotron sparked greater commercial success and recognition for the band, transforming them into one of pop music's biggest-selling acts. Hayward says of Pinder: "Mike and the Mellotron made my songs work."

The 1967 album ''Days of Future Passed'', one of the first and most influential symphonic rock albums, spawned the Hayward-penned singles "Tuesday Afternoon" and "Nights in White Satin". The latter record went on to sell over two million copies, charting three times in the UK (1967, 1972, and in 1978) and has been recorded by many other recording artists. Hayward's 'B' side song 'Cities' being an early ecology themed item.

Hayward became the group's main onstage figurehead over the 1967-1974 period, the most prolific songwriter and composer of several big singles hits for the band. During this time he wrote memorable album tracks such as: "'Forever Afternoon (Tuesday ?)" (which became known as 'Tuesday Afternoon' thereafter when issued as an overseas single later), "The Actor", "Lovely To See You", "Never Comes The Day","Gypsy", "It's Up To You", "Dawning is The Day","You Can Never Go Home", "The Story in Your Eyes" (a USA chart hit), "New Horizons", "The Land of Make Believe", and "Island"

Hayward wrote the band's UK #2 hit, "Question" as well as "Voices in the Sky", "Driftwood", "The Voice", "Blue World", "Your Wildest Dreams", "I Know You're Out There Somewhere", "English Sunset" and "December Snow"; in all, writing 20 of the group's 27 post-1967 singles.

In addition to handling the Lead vocals on his own compositions, Hayward also took a featured lead or co-lead vocal on other band members songs such as; 'Dawn is A Feeling' (Pinder), 'Gimmie A Little Something', 'Isn't Life Strange ?', 'Candle of Life' (Lodge), 'After You Came', 'I'll Be Level With You', 'The Spirit'. 'Nothing Changes' (Edge) etc....

The Moodies attempts to come up with another specific 'hit single' during the 1967-68 period saw them record three other Hayward compositions; 'Long Summer Days', 'King and Queen' and 'What Am I Doing Here ?' all of which were then left unissued, but together with unissued songs by Mike Pinder and John Lodge later formed the 'studio side four' of Decca's 1977 release; 'Caught Live Plus Five' which largely comprised a December 1969 Live Recording of a concert at The Royal Albert Hall (issued against the group's wishes).

Hayward also co-wrote album tracks with Ray Thomas - '"Visions of Paradise", "Are You Sitting Comfortably","Watching And Waiting", and much later "Never Blame The Rainbows For The Rain", plus later co-wrote many songs with John Lodge for The Moodies, notably "Gemini Dream" (a USA Chart hit), "Meet Me Halfway","Talkin' Talkin'", "Want To Be With You","Once is Enough","Strange Times","Sooner or Later(Walking on Air)" among others.

Hayward's songs have opened each of The Moodies albums in their 'post Mike Pinder era' since 'Long Distance Voyager' in 1981, and his songs, both solo compositions and co-written with John Lodge, plus his lead vocals, harmony voice, and guitar playing have been a major overriding factor in the bands work and continued success since 1981.

Their album sales from 1978 to the present are more than 60 million. This is the regularly quoted total of their album sales, since the total sales of their albums before 1978 is disputed due to lack of official record company data, However the period 1967 to 1974 was when their albums (and singles) were charting highest in the UK and USA plus worldwide (album track 'Melancholy Man' made number one in France as a single in 1970) - 'Days of Future Passed' topped the USA album charts on re-issue in 1972, then was followed into the album charts by the new studio album 'Seventh Sojourn'

1974 onwards

In 1974, the Moody Blues decided to take what ended up being a four-year break from performing and recording. Hayward continued working with Lodge and producer Tony Clarke, using musicians from the Moody Blues' label, Threshold, and sounding very much like the mother group. Together, they had a hit in 1975 with "Blue Guitar" (a Hayward recording with the band 10cc), and released an album titled ''Blue Jays''.

In 1977 Justin recorded his first solo album ''Songwriter''. He enjoyed international solo success in 1978 when he appeared on ''Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds'' concept album, which yielded his hits "Forever Autumn" and "The Eve of the War". Wayne later contributed to Hayward's 1980 album ''Night Flight''.

Hayward issued a rare non album single 'Marie' c/w "Heart of Steel' (Decca F13834) in April 1979, both sides composed by him, the 'A' side dedicated to his wife. These tracks were later included among the 'Bonus' tracks on a CD re-issue of his 'Songwriter' solo album in 2004.

During the 1980s, Hayward composed and performed for film and television, including the theme song "It Won't Be Easy" for the 1987 BBC2 science fiction series ''Star Cops'', "Something Evil, Something Dangerous" for the film ''Howling IV: The Original Nightmare'', "Eternal Woman" for the film ''She'' and music for the animated television series ''The Shoe People''.

In 1989, with producer-arranger Mike Batt, Hayward released ''Classic Blue'', an album of pop standards written by other composers, set to orchestration arranged by Batt. ''Classic Blue'' included a cover version of Led Zeppelin's hit "Stairway to Heaven." Hayward's most recent solo album, ''The View from the Hill'', was released in 1996, and a live recording, ''Live in San Juan Capistrano'', followed in 1998.

Hayward contributed vocals to a song on Rick Wakeman's 1999 album ''Return to the Centre of the Earth''.

In 2003 he sang along with other rock singers on another orchestral album, consisting of Moody Blues songs with the Frankfurt Rock Orchestra, titled ''Justin Hayward and Friends Perform the Hits of the Moody Blues'' (alternatively called ''Justin Hayward and Friends Sing the Moody Blues Classic Hits''). Hayward was later involved in a legal dispute, now resolved, arguing he was not paid for his participation on the album.

In April 2006, Hayward took part in the stage tour of ''Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds'', reprising his role in Autumn 2007 in Australia and in the UK in December 2007. He did so again in the UK in June 2009, and appeared on the tour in November and December 2010.

The Moody Blues, with Hayward, Lodge and original drummer Graeme Edge, continue to tour extensively and in a recent BBC World Service interview, Hayward and Lodge made it clear they have no plans to stop working, regarding it as "a privilege" to still be working in the music industry. In an interview, in 2005, Edge said if he remained in good health, he could go on for 10 more years.

Instruments

For the most part, Hayward has used a red Gibson ES-335 ("main axe"), though he also uses other guitars in both performing and recording, including a 1955 Martin D-28 "Dreadnought", a James Olson six-string acoustic, a black Guild acoustic, a Squier Stratocaster (essentially an inexpensive Fender Stratocaster, as Squier is a subsidiary of Fender), a Fender Telecaster, a blonde Guild 12-string acoustic (tuned to "open C"), a 12-string Gibson acoustic (for "Question"), and in 1967 a black Gibson Les Paul. Between 1965 and 1968 he was without his Gibson 335 and relied on other instruments, most notably a 1964 Fender Telecaster and a hand-built 12-string guitar he had renovated for Donegan (he eventually bought this guitar from Donegan's widow). However, in an interview included on the ''Lovely to See You'' concert DVD (2005), Hayward says the 1963 Gibson 335 has been with him since 1967. Recently he has played a Collings D3 on stage and on recordings. Among other instruments, Hayward also played mandolin on ''A Question of Balance'' and sitar on "In Search of the Lost Chord".

Personal life

Hayward married former model Ann Marie Guirron on December 19, 1970. Their daughter Doremi was born on December 3, 1972.

Awards

Hayward was awarded the first of numerous awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) for songwriting in 1974. In 1985, the Moody Blues picked up the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, and in 1988 Hayward received the Novello, among other honours, for Composer of the Year (for "I Know You're Out There Somewhere"). In 2000, he was one of a handful of British artists to receive the "Golden Note" award for lifetime achievement by ASCAP. In 2004, Hayward was awarded the "Gold Badge" for lifetime achievement by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA).

Compositions

1965 ~ "London Is Behind Me" (45 RPM Debut Single)

1966 ~ "Day Must Come" (45 RPM Single)

1966 ~ "I Can't Face the World Without You" (45 RPM Single)

1966 ~ "I'll Be Here Tomorrow" (45 RPM Single)

1967 ~ "Tuesday Afternoon" on ''Days of Future Passed''

1967 ~ "Nights in White Satin" on ''Days of Future Passed''

1967 ~ "Fly Me High" (45 RPM Single)

1967 ~ "Leave This Man Alone" (45 RPM Single)

1967 ~ "Cities" (45 RPM Single)

1967 ~ "Long Summer Days" (Released 1977)

1967 ~ "King and Queen" (Released 1977)

1967 ~ "What Am I Doing Here?" (Released 1977)

1968 ~ "Voices in the Sky" on ''In Search of the Lost Chord''

1968 ~ "Visions of Paradise" (with Ray Thomas) on ''In Search of the Lost Chord''

1968 ~ "The Actor" on ''In Search of the Lost Chord''

1969 ~ "Lovely to See You" on ''On the Threshold of a Dream''

1969 ~ "Never Comes the Day" on ''On the Threshold of a Dream''

1969 ~ "Are You Sitting Comfortably?" (with Ray Thomas) on ''On the Threshold of a Dream''

1969 ~ "Gypsy (Of a Strange and Distant Time)" on ''To Our Children's Children's Children''

1969 ~ "Watching and Waiting" (with Ray Thomas) on ''To Our Children's Children's Children''

1969 ~ "I Never Thought I'd Live to be a Hundred" on ''To Our Children's Children's Children''

1970 ~ "Question" on ''A Question of Balance''

1970 ~ "It's Up to You" on ''A Question of Balance''

1970 ~ "Dawning Is The Day" on ''A Question of Balance''

1971 ~ "Procession" (with Thomas, Lodge, Edge and Pinder) on ''Every Good Boy Deserves Favour''

1971 ~ "The Story in Your Eyes" on ''Every Good Boy Deserves Favour''

1971 ~ "You Can Never Go Home" on ''Every Good Boy Deserves Favour''

1972 ~ "You and Me" (with Graeme Edge) on ''Seventh Sojourn''

1972 ~ "New Horizons" on ''Seventh Sojourn''

1972 ~ "The Land of Make Believe" on ''Seventh Sojourn''

1973 ~ "Island" on ''Seventh Sojourn'' (Digitally Remastered 5.1 Edition)

1973 ~ "The Dreamer" (with Ray Thomas) on ''Seventh Sojourn'' (Digitally Remastered 5.1 edition)

1975 ~ "This Morning" on ''Blue Jays''

1975 ~ "Remember Me My Friend" (with John Lodge) on ''Blue Jays''

1975 ~ "My Brother" (with John Lodge) on ''Blue Jays''

1975 ~ "Nights Winters Years" on ''Blue Jays''

1975 ~ "I Dreamed Last Night" on ''Blue Jays''

1975 ~ "Who Are You Now" on ''Blue Jays''

1975 ~ "When You Wake Up" (with John Lodge) on ''Blue Jays''

1975 ~ "Blue Guitar" on ''Blue Jays'' (CD Reissue)

1977 ~ "Tightrope" on ''Songwriter''

1977 ~ "Songwriter" on ''Songwriter''

1977 ~ "Country Girl" on ''Songwriter''

1977 ~ "One Lonely Room" on ''Songwriter''

1977 ~ "Lay It on Me" on ''Songwriter''

1977 ~ "Stage Door" on ''Songwriter''

1977 ~ "Raised on Love" on ''Songwriter''

1977 ~ "Doin' Time" on ''Songwriter''

1977 ~ "Nostradamus" on ''Songwriter''

1977 ~ "Marie" on ''Songwriter'' (CD Reissue)

1977 ~ "Heart of Steel" on ''Songwriter'' (2nd CD Reissue)

1977 ~ "Wrong Time Right Place" on ''Songwriter'' (2nd CD Reissue)

1978 ~ "Had to Fall in Love" on ''Octave''

1978 ~ "The Day We Meet Again" on ''Octave''

1978 ~ "Driftwood" on ''Octave''

1978 ~ "Top Rank Suite" on ''Octave''

1980 ~ "Crazy Lovers" on ''Night Flight''

1980 ~ "Nearer to You" on ''Night Flight''

1980 ~ "A Face in the Crowd" on 'Night Flight''

1980 ~ "Suitcase" on ''Night Flight''

1981 ~ "The Voice" on ''Long Distance Voyager''

1981 ~ "Gemini Dream" (with John Lodge) on ''Long Distance Voyager''

1981 ~ "In My World" on ''Long Distance Voyager''

1981 ~ "Meanwhile" on ''Long Distance Voyager''

1983 ~ "Blue World" on ''The Present''

1983 ~ "Meet Me Halfway" (with John Lodge) on ''The Present''

1983 ~ "It's Cold Outside of Your Heart" on ''The Present''

1983 ~ "Running Water" on ''The Present''

1983 ~ "Eternal Woman" (from the film ''She'')

1985 ~ "One Again" on ''Moving Mountains''

1985 ~ "Take Your Chances" on ''Moving Mountains''

1985 ~ "Is it Just a Game?" on ''Moving Mountains''

1985 ~ "Moving Mountains" on ''Moving Mountains''

1985 ~ "Silverbird" (with Jeff Wayne) on ''Moving Mountains''

1985 ~ "Who Knows?" on ''Moving Mountains''

1985 ~ "Goodbye" on ''Moving Mountains''

1985 ~ "Lost and Found" on ''Moving Mountains''

1985 ~ "The Lights are Low" on ''Moving Mountains'' (CD Reissue)

1985 ~ "The Angels Cry", performed by Agnetha Fältskog and Annie Haslam, separately

1986 ~ "Your Wildest Dreams" on ''The Other Side of Life''

1986 ~ "Talkin' Talkin'" (with John Lodge) on ''The Other Side of Life''

1986 ~ "I Just Don't Care" on ''The Other Side of Life''

1986 ~ "Running Out of Love" (with John Lodge) on ''The Other Side of Life''

1986 ~ "The Other Side of Life" on ''The Other Side of Life''

1986 ~ "Slings and Arrows" (with John Lodge) on ''The Other Side of Life''

1987 ~ "It Won't Be Easy" (with Tony Visconti) (Theme from the show ''Star Cops'')

1988 ~ "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" on ''Sur La Mer''

1988 ~ "Want to Be With You" (with John Lodge) on ''Sur La Mer''

1988 ~ "River of Endless Love" (with John Lodge) on ''Sur La Mer''

1988 ~ "No More Lies" on ''Sur La Mer''

1988 ~ "Vintage Wine" on ''Sur La Mer''

1988 ~ "Breaking Point" (with John Lodge) on ''Sur La Mer''

1988 ~ "Miracle" (with John Lodge) on ''Sur La Mer''

1988 ~ "Deep" on ''Sur La Mer''

1989 ~ "Shoe People" (from the children's television show of the same name)

1989 ~ "Something Evil, Something Dangerous" (from the film ''The Howling IV'')

1991 ~ "Say It With Love" on ''Keys of the Kingdom''

1991 ~ "Bless the Wings (That Bring You Back)" on ''Keys of the Kingdom''

1991 ~ "Is This Heaven?" (with John Lodge) on ''Keys of the Kingdom''

1991 ~ "Say What You Mean" (Parts I & II) on ''Keys of the Kingdom''

1991 ~ "Hope and Pray" on ''Keys of the Kingdom''

1991 ~ "Once Is Enough" (with John Lodge) on ''Keys of the Kingdom''

1991 ~ "Never Blame the Rainbows for the Rain" (with Ray Thomas) on ''Keys of the Kingdom''

1996 ~ "I Heard It" on ''The View from the Hill''

1996 ~ "Broken Dream" on ''The View from the Hill''

1996 ~ "It's Not Too Late" on ''The View from the Hill''

1996 ~ "The Way of the World" on ''The View from the Hill''

1996 ~ "Sometimes Less is More" (with Dennis Lambert) on ''The View from the Hill''

1996 ~ "Troubadour" on ''The View from the Hill''

1996 ~ "Shame" on ''The View from the Hill''

1996 ~ "Billy" on ''The View from the Hill''

1996 ~ "Children of Paradise" on ''The View from the Hill''

1999 ~ "English Sunset" on ''Strange Times''

1999 ~ "Haunted" on ''Strange Times''

1999 ~ "Sooner or Later" (with John Lodge) on ''Strange Times''

1999 ~ "Foolish Love" on ''Strange Times''

1999 ~ "All That is Real is You" on ''Strange Times''

1999 ~ "Strange Times" (with John Lodge) on ''Strange Times''

1999 ~ "The One" (with John Lodge) on ''Strange Times''

1999 ~ "The Swallow" on ''Strange Times''

2001 ~ "Water" (with John Lodge) on ''Journey Into Amazing Caves''

2001 ~ "We Can Fly" (with John Lodge) on ''Journey Into Amazing Caves''

2003 ~ "Don't Need a Reindeer" on ''December''

2003 ~ "December Snow" on ''December''

2003 ~ "In The Quiet of Christmas Morning (Bach 147)" (lyrics only, with John Lodge) on ''December''

2003 ~ "Yes, I Believe" on ''December''

Solo discography

''Blue Jays'' (1975) with John Lodge

''Songwriter'' (1977)

''Night Flight'' (1980)

''Moving Mountains'' (1985)

''Classic Blue'' (1989) with Mike Batt

''The View from the Hill'' (1996)

''Live in San Juan Capistrano'' (1998)

''Justin Hayward and Friends Sing the Moody Blues Classic Hits'' (2003)

References

External links

Justin Hayward official site

2005 Justin Hayward Interview

Tony Brown's Moody Blues Gallery

Troubadour~A Justin Hayward Message Board

Moody Blues Attitude Collectibles Galleries

[ Justin Hayward biography at the AMG website]

Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:People from Swindon Category:English male singers Category:English songwriters Category:English guitarists Category:Sitar players Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:The Moody Blues members Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians

cs:Justin Hayward de:Justin Hayward fr:Justin Hayward it:Justin Hayward nl:Justin Hayward pl:Justin Hayward sv:Justin Hayward

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	Hey Girl
tradchinesename	黑Girl
simpchinesename	黑Girl
pinyinchinesename	HēiGirl
origin	Taiwan
othername	Hei Se Hui Mei Mei
occupation	singers, actors, commercial models
genre	Mandarin pop
label	Linfair Records 2006-2007.6 Warner Music Taiwan 2008.5-
yearsactive	2005–2010| currentmembers Xiao Xun, Ya Tou, and Ting Ting
pastmembers	Tong Tong, Gui Gui, Da Ya, Mei Mei, Apple, Xiao Jie, Xiao Man, Yong Tu, and Tang Guo
website	www.woo.com.tw
awards	}}

Hey Girl is a group of Taiwanese singers. Channel [V] held an audition for the show Wo Ai Hei Se Hui (我愛黑澀會), a variety show that aims to create new female entertainers in Taiwan. At the end of 2005, Channel [V] picked nine members to represent the other girls. These nine members were Gui Gui, Xiao Jie, Mei Mei, Apple, Xiao Xun, Ya Tou, Xiao Man, Tong Tong, and Da Ya. Together, they are affectionately known as the Jiu Niu Niu () for short.

The nine members were separated into two groups for their third EP release: Da Ya, Xiao Man, Ya Tou, Gui Gui, and Apple comprised Fen Hong Gao Ya Dian (), and Mei Mei, Xiao Xun, Xiao Jie, and Tong Tong (since departed) comprised Sweet Heart Bomber ().

Issues and Scandals

Departure of Tong Tong

On October 5, 2007 Tong Tong left Hei Se Hui Mei Mei (including the Wo Ai Hei Se Hui show). It is rumoured that she left because of a rift with band leader Da Ya over an alleged affair with Tong Tong's boyfriend at the time, Hakka-Pac; other sources suggest that Tong Tong was forced to depart due to violations of her contract. Tong Tong reports that she began cutting herself during this stressful period.

Moving forward, Tong Tong has stated that she plans to concentrate on her singing and dancing. She is currently working for Momo Kids, a Taiwanese television company featuring children's programming.

Departure of Gui Gui

Gui Gui has currently left the management of Channel V, where all the band members originate from. Andy Ge has admitted to the press that she is unlikely to renew her contract, with an ambiguous post on her own blog, Gui Gui had admitted to the news.

While Andy Ge also clarifies, Hey Girl is not under Channel V management so Gui Gui is still with Hey Girl and will be attending promotions per usual.

However, the Hey Girl promotion following his statement did not include Gui Gui who was said to be busy with MIT promotion before and during their promotion. On the 6th Of May 2009, Andy Ge announced to the press that Gui Gui will not be renewing her contract with Channel V, he also states that her involvement with Hey Girl will have to be clarified with Warner Music, as Hey Girl do not belong to Channel V.

Departure of Xiao Man

Xiao Man has currently left the management of Channel V. She has signed to Eelin Model Agency. She has decided to leave Hey Girl to become a model.

Departure of other members

Da Ya, Xiao Jie, Mei Mei & Apple had also decided to leave Hey Girl as they are now signed to Andy Ge's new agency company, named A Legend Star Ltd. Ya tou and Xiao Xun are still in Hey Girl, but with 2 new members, Tang Guo and Yong Tu. Although it has been rumoured that Ya Tou and Xiao Xun will also leave after they have fulfilled their contracts to join A Legend Star.

Departure of Yong Tu

On September 16, 2010, members of Hey Girl performed at an event in Nanchang which did not include Yong Tu. Instead, it was a new member who was emerged from the event's promotional poster and the Hey Girl members' blogs. Ya Tou later confirmed in her Sina blog that Yong Tu is no long a member of Hey Girl, but will continue to appear on the "Black Lollipop" show. The newest member, Ting Ting (庭庭), has not yet appeared on any of the Channel V related shows and many fans seemed baffled and upset about the departure of Yong Tu. Further speculations have suggested that the switch maybe due to Yong Tu's high profile relationship with one of the Didi "EDD", which the management frowns upon.

Departure of Tang Guo

As of April 2011, Tang Guo's personal "weibo" has listed herself as "without a management agent/agency". Subsequently, she did not appear in any of Hey Girl's promotional activities in China. She did, however, appeared in number of variety shows such as 麻辣天后宫 and 鑽石夜總會 as one of the special guests. On May 5th, 2011, the Hong Kong promotion company has unveiled the "new" Hey Girl member which included only Ya Tou, Xiao Xun, and Ting Ting.

Name Change

Originally, the group's name, Hei Se Hui Mei Mei, is a pun on the words "Mei Mei" () and "Hei Se Hui" (). Later, after the group's move to Warner Music Taiwan, its name was changed to 黑Girl, and the English name officially became Hey Girl. The change in name resulted from the record company's concerns that scandalous rumors of other members of the show Wo Ai Hei Se Hui would be associated with Hei Se Hui Mei Mei (Hey Girl).

Member Profiles

Current members

Ya Tou

Birth Name: Chan Ya-Wen (Chinese:詹雅文)

Birthdate: April 11, 1988

Nickname: Ya Tou (Chinese:丫頭)

English Name: Yako

Languages: Mandarin

Profession: Actress and Singer

Education: Hsing Wu College (English Program) Taipei, Taiwan

Xiao Xun

Birth Name: Huang Ching-Yi (Chinese:黃瀞怡)

Birthdate: February 27, 1989

Nickname: Xiao Xun (Hsiao Hsun)(Chinese:小薰)

English Name: Albee Adoabella Huang

Languages: Mandarin

Profession: Actress and singer

Education: Hsin Sheng College of Medical Care and Management

Ting Ting

Birth Name: Zhang Zi-ting (Chinese:張子庭)

Birthdate: September 23, 1985

Nickname: Ting Ting (Chinese:庭庭)

English Name: Ting Ting , Alicia Chang

Languages: Mandarin

Profession: Dancer and Model

Education: Chinese Culture University

Former members

Tong Tong

Birth Name: Tsai Di-Tong (Chinese:蔡玓彤)

Birthdate: December 10, 1986

Nickname: Tong Tong (Chinese:彤彤) and Xiao Niu (Chinese:小妞)

English Name: Julie Tsai

Languages: Mandarin

Profession: Actress, singer, and Host

Eduction: National Chung Hsing Senior High School

Gui Gui

Birth Name: Wu Ying-Chieh (Chinese:吳映潔)

Birthdate: August 11, 1989

Nickname: Gui Gui (Chinese:鬼鬼) (ghost)

English Name: Even Joliene Wu

Languages: Mandarin

Profession: Actress, host and singer

Education: Jhuang Jing Vocational School

Da Ya (Leader)

Birth Name: Chou Yi-Chun (Chinese: 周宜珺)

Birthdate: October 21, 1984

Nickname: Da Ya (Chinese:大牙) (Big Tooth)

English Name: Regina Tina Chou

Language: Mandarin

Profession: Actress, singer, and host

Education: Hwa Kang Arts School (Taipei, Taiwan)

Apple

Birth Name: Huang Wei-Ting (Chinese:黃暐婷)

Birthdate: March 28, 1984

Nickname: Apple

English Name : Kelly Melody Huang

Language: Mandarin

Profession: Actress, Singer, and Host

Education: Hwa Kang Arts School (Taipei, Taiwan)

Mei Mei

Birth Name: Guo Jie Qi(Chinese:郭婕祈)

Birthdate: August 16, 1985 (age 25)

Nickname: Mei Mei, Aira shin

Languages: Mandarin,English

Profession: Actress, singer, and dancer

Education: George Vocational High School of Taipei

Xiao Jie

Birth Name: Chang Hsiao-Chieh (Chinese:張筱婕)

Birthdate:

Nickname: Xiao Jie (Chinese:筱婕)

English Name: Mini Melanie Chang

Languages: Mandarin

Profession: Actress, Singer, Dancer, and Host

Education: Jhuang Jing Vocational School

Xiao Man

Birth Name: Wong Shu-Hsuan (Chinese:王淑萱)

Name: Wong Ching Chiao

Birthdate: November 07, 1989

Nickname: Xiao Man (Chinese:小蠻)

English Name: Chanel

Language: Mandarin

Profession: Actress, singer, and model

Education: National Chung Hsing Senior High School

Yong Tu

Name: Chen Ting Yu (Chinese:陳筳諭)

Birth Name: Chen Rong-Ying (Chinese:陳融瑩)

Birthdate: August 05, 1990

Nickname: Yong Tu (Chinese:勇兔)

English Name: Ruby Chen

Languages: Mandarin, Min Nan (Taiwanese)

Profession: Dancer, singer, and host

Education: Jhuang Jing Vocational School

Tang Guo

Birth Name: Zheng Yu-ting (Chinese:鄭羽婷)

Birthdate: January 03, 1993

Nickname: Tang Guo(Chinese:糖果)

English Name: Nina, Emily or Candy

Languages: Mandarin

Profession: Dancer and singer

Education: Jhuang Jing Vocational School/Nan Chiang Industrial and Commercial Senior High School (Graduated)

Filmography

2006

''Angel Lover'' () (2006) - Xiao Xun 小薰, Da Ya 大牙 ''Zhu Zuo Bian Zhu You Bian series'' () (2006–2007) - Ya Tou 丫頭

2007

''Brown Sugar Macchiato'' (黑糖瑪奇朵) (2007) - all members

''Wayward Kenting'' () - Da Ya 大牙 ''Hei Tang Lai Le'' () (2007) - Da Ya 大牙, Mei Mei, Apple, and Xiao Man 小蠻 (online drama) ''18 Jin Bu Jin'' () (2007) - Xiao Xun 小薰

2008

''Rolling Love'' - () - Xiao Xun 小薰 ''The Legend of Brown Sugar Chivalries'' - () - Xiao Xun , Ya Tou, Xiao Man,(Main Cast) Mei Mei, Gui Gui, Da Ya, Apple, Xiao Jie (Minor Characters) ''Mysterious Incredible Terminator'' - () - Gui Gui 鬼鬼

2009

''K.O.3anguo'' -(]- Gui Gui 鬼鬼

Discography

Albums

2008 - Hey Girl (首張同名專輯)

Ep

2006 - Wo Ai Hei Se Hui mei mei(我愛黑澀會)

2006 - Mei Mei Si Mi De Yi Tian - Fen Hong Gao Ya Dian / Tian Xin Hong Jia Ji (美眉私密的一天 - 粉紅高壓電 / 甜心轟炸機)

2007 - Mei Mei Si Mi Party (美眉私密Party)

Soundtrack

2007 - Brown Sugar Macchiato OST (黑糖瑪奇朵原聲帶)

References

Category:Mandopop musical groups Category:Taiwanese pop music groups Category:Girl groups

id:Hey Girl it:Hey Girl ja:黒Girl zh:黑Girl