The word "machine" is derived from the Latin word ''machina'', which in turn derives from the Doric Greek ''μαχανά'' (machana), Ionic Greek ''μηχανή'' (mechane) "contrivance, machine, engine" and that from ''μῆχος'' (mechos), "means, expedient, remedy".
The meaning of machine is traced by the Oxford English Dictionary to an independently functioning structure and by Merriam-Webster Dictionary to something that has been constructed. This includes human design into the meaning of machine.
Historically, a device required moving parts to classify as a machine; however, the advent of electronics technology has led to the development of devices without moving parts that many refer to as machines, such as a computer, radio, and television. right|600px|alt=Bonsack's machine|James Albert Bonsack's cigarette rolling machine, invented in 1880 and patented in 1881.
An automobile engine is called an internal combustion engine because it burns fuel (an exothermic chemical reaction) inside a cylinder and uses the expanding gases to drive a piston. A jet engine uses a turbine to compress air which is burned with fuel so that it expands through a nozzle to provide thrust to an aircraft, and so is also an "internal combustion engine."
Charles Babbage designed various machines to tabulate logarithms and other functions in 1837. His Difference Engine is the first mechanical calculator. This machine is considered to be the forerunner of the modern computer though none of them were built in his lifetime.
Researchers in nano-technology are working to construct molecules that perform movement in response to a specific stimulus. In contrast to molecules such as kinesin and myosin, these nano-machines or molecular machines are constructions like traditional machines that are designed to perform in a task.
The lever is perhaps the first machine to be analysed mathematically; Archimedes provided the first known description of the principle of the lever.
Modern machines include sensors, actuators and computer controllers. The shape, texture and color of covers provide a styling and operational interface between the mechanical components of a machine and its users.
For more details on mechanical machines see Machine (mechanical) and Mechanical systems.
Category:Technology Category:Greek loanwords
af:Masjien ar:آلة an:Maquina ast:Maquinaria az:Maşın be:Машына be-x-old:Машына bo:འཕྲུལ་འཁོར། bg:Машина ca:Màquina ceb:Makina cs:Stroj da:Maskine de:Maschine et:Masin el:Μηχανή es:Máquina eo:Maŝino eu:Makina fa:ماشین hif:Machine fr:Machine ga:Meaisín gv:Jeshaght gl:Máquina ko:기계 hy:Մեքենա hi:यंत्र hr:Strojevi io:Mashino id:Mesin is:Vél it:Macchina he:מכונה ka:მანქანა lo:ກົນຈັກ la:Machina lv:Mašīna hu:Gép ml:യന്ത്രം mr:यंत्र ms:Mesin nl:Machine ja:機械 no:Maskin nn:Maskin oc:Maquina pnb:مشین pl:Maszyna pt:Máquina ru:Машина simple:Machine sk:Stroj sl:Stroj so:Makiinad sr:Машина sh:Mašina fi:Kone sv:Maskin tl:Makina ta:இயந்திரம் te:యంత్రము tg:Мошина tr:Makine uk:Машина ur:آلہ ug:ماشىنىسازلىق vi:Máy móc war:Makiná wo:Wuutuloxo zh-yue:機 zh:机械This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
name | Sheena Easton |
---|---|
birth name | Sheena Shirley Orr |
background | solo_singer |
birth date | April 27, 1959 |
origin | Bellshill, Scotland |
instrument | Vocals |
genre | Adult Contemporary, Pop/Rock, Dance, R&B;, Country |
occupation | Singer, songwriter, producer, actress, voiceover, designer |
years active | 1980–present |
label | EMI UK, EMI US, MCA, Universal |
website | }} |
Easton rose to fame in the early 1980s with the pop hits "9 to 5" — known as "Morning Train" in the United States — and "For Your Eyes Only", "Strut", "Sugar Walls", "U Got the Look" with Prince, and "The Lover in Me". She went on to become successful in the United States and Japan, working with prominent vocalists and producers, such as Prince, Christopher Neil, Kenny Rogers, Luis Miguel, L.A. Reid and Babyface, and Nile Rodgers.
Easton's father died in 1969 and her mother had to support the family. Easton's website states that despite her mother's heavy workload she was always available for her children: "Sheena always speaks very highly of her mum and the wonderful job she did in bringing up her and her siblings, including teaching each of them all to read at home before they were even enrolled in school."
Easton did not consider a singing career until viewing the movie ''The Way We Were'', with Barbra Streisand. Streisand's singing over the opening credits "overtook" the young Scottish girl and convinced her that what she wanted most was to be a singer and to have the same effect on others. Her top grades in school earned her a scholarship to attend the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, and she trained there from 1975 to 1979 as a speech and drama teacher by day, while singing with a band called Something Else by night at local clubs. She chose to study teaching rather than performing, because it was a course of study that would let her perfect her craft as a singer.
In 1979, she married Sandi Easton, the first of four husbands. They divorced after eight months, and Sheena decided to keep the surname Easton. That year, one of her Academy tutors coaxed her into auditioning for Esther Rantzen, producer of the BBC programme ''The Big Time''. Rantzen was planning a documentary film to chronicle a relative unknown's rise to pop-music stardom. Easton was selected as the subject for the programme, where she met Lulu (another Scottish singer), who told her that she was unlikely to make the big time. Within a year of the programme airing, Sheena Easton proved Lulu wrong as EMI executives awarded her a contract, and Christopher Neil was assigned as her recording producer. Deke Arlon became her first manager, and Easton spent much of 1980 being followed by camera crews, who filmed her throughout the process of making her first EMI single, "Modern Girl".
"9 to 5" was Easton's first single release in the United States, although it was renamed "Morning Train (Nine To Five)" for its release in the U.S. and Canada to avoid confusion with Dolly Parton's hit movie title song "9 to 5". "Morning Train" became Easton's first and only #1 hit in the U.S. and topped both the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts in Billboard magazine. "Modern Girl" was released as the follow-up and peaked at #18, and before 1981 was over Sheena had a top 10 hit in both the U.S. and UK with the Academy Award-nominated James Bond movie theme ''For Your Eyes Only''. The song was nominated for the "Best Female Vocal Performance" in 1981 and Best Original Song at the Academy Awards in 1982. Easton's U.S. success culminated in her winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist of 1981.
Easton's first three U.S. albums, ''Sheena Easton'' (a.k.a. ''Take My Time''), ''You Could Have Been With Me'', and ''Madness, Money and Music'', were all in the same Soft Rock/Adult Contemporary pop vein (although she made a grab for the new wave audience with "Machinery", from the latter album). The title track from ''You Could Have Been With Me'' went Top 15 U.S., however, by the end of 1982, she saw her sales slumping.
In 1983, Easton recorded a Spanish-language single, "Me Gustas Tal Como Eres" ("I Like You Just the Way You Are"), a duet with Mexican star Luis Miguel. The single earned her a second Grammy, this time for Best Mexican-American Performance. The track was taken from the album ''Todo Me Recuerda a Ti'', which featured Spanish-language covers of seven previous Easton recordings and three new tracks. The disc went gold in many Spanish-speaking countries.
In 1984, she made a transformation into a sexy dance-pop siren. She was rewarded with the biggest-selling U.S. album of her career, RIAA certified platinum ''A Private Heaven'', and her fifth top 10 single, "Strut". Easton was again Grammy nominated for "Best Female Pop/Rock Vocal Performance" 1984. She was also one of the first artists to have a music video banned because of its lyrics rather than its imagery; some broadcasters refused to air the sexually risqué "Sugar Walls", which had been written for her by Prince (using the pseudonym ''Alexander Nevermind''). "Sugar Walls" was also named by Tipper Gore of the Parents' Music Resource Council as one of the Filthy Fifteen, a list of songs deemed indecent because of their lyrics, alongside Prince's own "Darling Nikki". The song eventually hit #3 on the R&B; singles chart and #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Easton's follow-up to ''A Private Heaven'', entitled ''Do You'', was produced by Nile Rodgers and achieved gold status. In late 1985, Easton contributed "It's Christmas (All Over the World)" to the holiday release ''Santa Claus The Movie''. Release of a follow-up album, 1987's ''No Sound But a Heart'', was hampered in the United States after an initial single release, ''Eternity,'' (another Prince composition) failed to reach the pop, R&B; or adult contemporary charts. The album's release moved from February to June; then in August the release was further held up as Easton's attorneys asked that the album be delayed after EMI Records was absorbed into EMI/Manhattan. Songs from the album were covered by other artists: Crystal Gayle and Gary Morris featured "Wanna Give My Love" and "What If We Fall In Love" on a 1987 duet album named for the latter song; Celine Dion recorded "The Last to Know" on 1990's ''Unison'' while Mexican singer Yuri featured the tune on her album ''Espejos De Alma'' (1995); Patti LaBelle covered "Still In Love" on 1989's ''Be Yourself;'' and Pia Zadora recorded "Floating Hearts" on 1989's ''Pia Z''. ''No Sound But a Heart'' eventually did get released in the United States in 1999, with four bonus tracks, including Easton's contributions to the soundtrack of the 1986 film ''About Last Night...'', "Natural Love" and the Top 50 single "So Far, So Good".
In November 1987, Easton made her first dramatic acting appearance on the television program ''Miami Vice''. She played a singer named Caitlin Davies whom Sonny Crockett was assigned to protect until her court appearance to render crucial testimony against certain corrupt music industry mavens. Sonny and Caitlin ended up married by the end of the episode, the first of five for Easton until her character was killed off. Easton garnered good reviews and the episodes she was featured on earned the show higher ratings. By the spring of 1988, the latest installment of the ''Miami Vice'' soundtrack was released and featured "Follow My Rainbow", which Easton had finished singing on her last appearance just moments before her character was eliminated.
The song also appeared on her next album ''The Lover in Me'', a gold-selling disc debut released the following autumn on her new label MCA Records that put Easton back on the charts. This album features Urban R&B; and Dance-pop, and a sexier image. The title song from "The Lover in Me" reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 (UK#15) and became her biggest pop hit since "Morning Train". It also became a (#5) hit on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks chart. It was followed on the R&B; chart by "Days Like This" (#35) (UK #43), which missed the Billboard Hot 100. A third single was released "101" (UK #54) and missed the Billboard top 100 but did make it to #2 on the Billboard Dance chart. The album received positive reviews and featured collaborations with LA and Babyface, Prince, Angela Winbush, and Jellybean Benitez.
In 1990, Easton revisited her home country of Scotland to perform at a festival (The Big Day) in Glasgow. After announcing that it was "good to be back home" in an American accent, she had bottles (some containing urine) thrown at her and, visibly shaken, she was forced to cut her set short. She vowed never to perform in Scotland again.
Easton followed this with the critically acclaimed, but non-charting ''No Strings'', an album of Jazz standards and ''My Cherie'' her last album to date stateside.
In the late 1990s, Easton retained an album contract with MCA Japan and released 2 discs of new material. ''Freedom'' in 1997, a return to her trademark pop including a remake of her debut single "Modern Girl" and in 1999 Universal/Victor released the self-produced acoustic set, ''Home''. Also around this time, a greatest hits collection featuring 12 MCA singles recorded from 1988-1995 charted in Japan at #98.
Easton adopted a boy (Jake) and girl (Skylar) between 1995 and 1996. Motherhood led her to curtail her appearances and focus on casino gigs, corporate shows and theatrical work. "Because I adopted my children, I could plan my timing," she told ''The Arizona Republic''. "I knew exactly when they were coming along, so I knew when I had to change my life so it would be a stable life."
Easton continued acting in America, starring in Broadway revivals of ''Man Of La Mancha'' opposite Raul Julia in his last stage role, (1992) and ''Grease'' (1996). Between 1994 and 1996, she played several characters in ''Gargoyles'' the animated series, including Lady Finella, the Banshee, Molly and Robyn Canmore. In 1999, she voice-acted a part-demon character, Annah-of-the-Shadows, in the computer game ''Planescape: Torment''. She lives in Las Vegas with her two children and often performs in various casinos' entertainment venues. She voiced the character of Fiona Canmore for a scripted but unfinished episode of the cancelled animated feature, ''Team Atlantis''.
She also signed an album contract with Universal International UK and attempted a comeback of sorts with ''Fabulous'', an album of classic disco covers produced by Ian Masterson of Trouser Enthusiasts fame and Terry Ronald. The first single, "Giving Up, Giving In", reached UK #54, and the album failed to chart in the UK and was not released in the US. A second single, a cover of Donna Summer's hit "Love is in Control", was withdrawn. In Japan, the first single was "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" and the album included a cover of Teena Marie's "I Need Your Lovin" as a bonus track. Remixes of the singles were produced by Joey Negro, Sleaze Sisters, Sharp Boys, Rob Searle, DJ Soma Grow and Almighty. This was to be Easton's last album release to date. Released in 2000, it was Easton's 16th studio album. The album was only released throughout Europe, Japan, Australia, and Argentina.
The album contains mostly cover versions of hit songs from the 1970s and 80s, and most of them disco classics. There are also two original compositions. The first single released from the album was a remake of "Giving Up Giving In", which had originally been a hit for The Three Degrees in 1978. Easton's version was less successful, peaking at #54 on the UK singles chart. A second single was released in 2001, a cover of Donna Summer's 1982 hit "Love Is In Control" with an accompanying video that was taken from footage of Easton's album launch concert at G-A-Y nightclub in London. However, this too was unsuccessful and shelved indefinitely.
In Japan, "Fabulous" was released in February 2001 and the first single was "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" which had originally been recorded by Frankie Valli in the 1960s, though a disco version had been a hit for The Boys Town Gang in the early 1980s. The album was packaged differently from the UK version and included two bonus tracks; "I Need Your Lovin'" (a cover of the 1980 Teena Marie song) and a remix of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You". In Australia, "Fabulous" was released 24 February 2001 and Easton was asked to perform songs from the album to close out 2001 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras ceremonies. The album was a commercial failure in the UK, though the album did enjoy mild success in dance clubs in London, Japan, and Australia. However, the album was not released in the United States.
Easton also went back to Australia in 2001 for the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras and closed the celebration with songs from ''Fabulous''. She also performed in (The Concert: Celebrating Women in Music,) Centennial Park, Australia, on 24 February 2001. In 2001, Easton began a successful run headlining at the Las Vegas Hilton.
On 31 October 2004, she was inducted into the Casino Legends Hall of Fame at the Tropicana Resort & Casino along with fellow Las Vegas icons Debbie Reynolds, Ben Vereen, Patti Page, Jack Jones and Tempest Storm.
In January 2005, Easton appeared in the television series ''Young Blades''.
In July 2005, she performed as the Narrator in ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' at North Carolina Theatre in Raleigh, NC. The show co-starred Ray Walker as Joseph, Merwin Foard as the Pharaoh, David F.M. Vaughn as Reuben, Demond Green as Judah, and Darryl Winslow as Simeon.
Easton worked with composer Nobuo Uematsu for two songs on the video game Lost Odyssey, released for the Xbox 360 video game system in February 2008.
In 2008 and 2009, Easton performed ''Perry the Teenage Girl'' and ''Happy Evil Love Song'' for the Phineas and Ferb television series.
Easton appeared in a celebration with Kenny Rogers at the MGM Grand in Foxwood, Connecticut, on 10 April 2010. The show was in honor of his 50-year music career. This special is set debut on 8 March 2011 on Great American Country.
Easton is the only artist in the history of the Billboard charts to have a Top 5 hit on each of Billboard's key charts: Adult Contemporary, Dance, Pop, Country and R&B;. Sheena Easton achieve her five-way Billboard record were, in order of release: 1981 Pop and Adult Contemporary hit "Morning Train (9 to 5)"; the 1983 Dance hit "Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)"; the 1983 Country hit "We've Got Tonight" (a duet with Kenny Rogers); and the infamous 1985 R&B; hit "Sugar Walls."
In the United Kingdom, Easton has three UK Top 40 albums and eight UK Top 40 singles, and one gold single for "9-5" and one silver single for "Modern Girl" on the UK singles and album charts to date. She is one of the few artists to have 2 singles in the UK top 10 simultaneously. Sheena was voted Best British Female Singer by the Daily Mirror Pop & Rock Awards in 1980, "Best Newcomer" 1980 by Capital Radio, and "Best Female Singer" 1980 by the TV Times Readers Awards.
Easton remains the only Bond singer to be seen on screen singing the theme for the movie "For Your Eyes Only" to this day.
''Grammy Nominations''
''Academy Award Nomination''
Her second marriage in 1984 to Rob Light, a talent agent, ended after 18 months. Easton was granted U.S. citizenship in 1992 and adopted her first child, Jake Rion Cousins Easton, in 1994. Two years later, she adopted again, this time a baby girl named Skylar. In the summer of 1997, she met producer Tim Delarm while filming an episode of ESPN Canon Photo Safari in Yellowstone National Park and later married Delarm in Las Vegas in July 1997. The marriage lasted one year. In 2001, she became engaged to John Minoli, a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, and married him on 9 November 2002. They divorced in 2003.
Easton is a single mother to her two children, and currently resides in Henderson, Nevada. She reportedly made shrewd investments in Florida property that led to her appearance on the Sunday Times Rich List, but she denies such claims.
Category:1959 births Category:Scottish emigrants to the United States Category:Dance musicians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:People from Bellshill Category:Alumni of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama Category:Scottish female singers Category:Scottish film actors Category:Scottish musical theatre actors Category:Miami Vice Category:Grammy Awards for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album
da:Sheena Easton de:Sheena Easton es:Sheena Easton fr:Sheena Easton io:Sheena Easton ilo:Sheena Easton id:Sheena Easton it:Sheena Easton nl:Sheena Easton ja:シーナ・イーストン no:Sheena Easton oc:Sheena Easton pl:Sheena Easton ru:Истон, Шина simple:Sheena Easton sv:Sheena Easton th:ชีนา อีสตันThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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