Look up Simone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Simone may refer to:

• S1m0ne, a 2002 science fiction drama film
• Simone (actress), the stage name of Lisa Celeste Stroud, daughter of Nina Simone
• Simone (character), a fictional character in the ABC Family show The Nine Lives of Chloe King
• Simone (given name), a feminine (or masculine, in Italian) given name of Hebrew origin
• Simone (surname), a surname
• Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira, a Brazilian singer and performer
• Tropical Storm Simone (disambiguation), two tropical cyclones in the Eastern Pacific Ocean

See also[link]

• Simon (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Nina Simone
Simone at a concert in Morlaix, France May 1982
Background information
Birth name	Eunice Kathleen Waymon
Born	(1933-02-21)February 21, 1933 Tryon, North Carolina, United States
Died	April 21, 2003(2003-04-21) (aged 70) Carry-le-Rouet, Bouches-du-Rhône, France
Genres	Jazz, blues, R&B, folk, gospel
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, activist
Years active	1954–2003
Labels	Bethlehem, Colpix, Philips, RCA Victor, CTI, Legacy Recordings
Website	http://www.ninasimone.com/

Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), better known by her stage name Nina Simone /ˈniːnə sɨˈmoʊn/, was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music. Simone aspired to become a classical pianist while working in a broad range of styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop.

Born the sixth child of a preacher's family in North Carolina, Simone aspired to be a concert pianist as a child.^[1] Her musical path changed direction after she was denied a scholarship to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, despite a well-received audition. Simone was later told by someone working at Curtis that she was rejected because she was black.^[2] She then began playing in a small club in Philadelphia to fund her continuing musical education to become a classical pianist and was required to sing as well. She was approached for a recording by Bethlehem Records, and her rendition of "I Loves You Porgy" became a smash hit in the United States in 1958.^[1] Over the length of her career, Simone recorded more than 40 albums, mostly between 1958 — when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue — and 1974.

Her musical style arose from a fusion of gospel and pop songs with classical music, in particular with influences from her first inspiration, Johann Sebastian Bach,^[3] and accompanied with her expressive jazz-like singing in her characteristic low tenor. She injected as much of her classical background into her music as possible to give it more depth and quality, as she felt that pop music was inferior to classical.^[4] Her intuitive grasp on the audience-performer relationship was gained from a unique background of playing piano accompaniment for church revivals and sermons regularly from the early age of six years.^[5]

After 20 years of performing, she became involved in the civil rights movement and the direction of her life shifted once again.^[4] Simone's music was highly influential in the fight for equal rights in the US.^[6]

Biography[link]

Youth (1933–1954)[link]

Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina. The sixth of eight children in a poor family, she began playing piano at age three; the first song she learned was "God Be With You, Till We Meet Again". Demonstrating a talent with the instrument, she performed at her local church, but her concert debut, a classical recital, was given when she was twelve. Simone later said that during this performance her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people. Simone said she refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front,^[7][8] and that the incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement.

Simone's mother, Mary Kate Waymon, was a strict Methodist minister and a housemaid. Simone's father, John Divine Waymon, was a handyman who at one time owned a dry cleaning business, but who also suffered bouts of ill health. Mary Kate's employer, hearing of her daughter's talent, provided funds for piano lessons.^[9] Subsequently, a local fund was set up to assist in Simone's continued education. With the assistance of this scholarship money she attended high school.

After finishing high school, she had studied for an interview with the help of a private tutor to study piano further at the Curtis Institute, but she was rejected. Simone believed that this rejection was related directly to her race.^[10] Simone then moved to New York City, where she studied at the Juilliard School of Music.

Early success (1954–1959)[link]

To fund her private lessons, Simone performed at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, whose owner insisted that she sing as well as play the piano. In 1954 she adopted the stage name Nina Simone. "Nina" (from niña, meaning 'little girl' in Spanish) was a nickname a boyfriend had given to her, and "Simone" was taken from the French actress Simone Signoret, whom she had seen in the movie Casque d'or.^[11] Simone's mixture of jazz, blues, and classical music in her performances at the bar earned her a small, but loyal, fan base.^[12]

In 1958, she befriended and married Don Ross, a beatnik who worked as a fairground barker, but quickly regretted their marriage.^[13] After playing in small clubs, in 1958 she recorded a rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You Porgy" (from Porgy and Bess), which she learned from a Billie Holiday album and performed as a favor to a friend. It became her only Billboard top 40 success in the United States, and her debut album Little Girl Blue soon followed on Bethlehem Records. Simone missed out on more than $1 million in royalties (mainly because of the successful re-release of My Baby Just Cares for Me during the 1980s) and never benefited financially from the album, because she had sold her rights to it for $3,000.^[14]

Becoming popular (1959–1964)[link]

After the success of Little Girl Blue, Simone signed a contract with Colpix Records, and recorded a string of studio and live albums. Colpix relinquished all creative control to her, including the choice of material that would be recorded, in exchange for her signing the contract with them. At this point, Simone only performed pop music to make money to continue her classical music studies, and was indifferent about having a recording contract. She kept this attitude toward the record industry for most of her career.^[15]

Simone married a New York police detective, Andrew Stroud, in 1961; Stroud later became her manager.^[16]

Civil rights era (1964–1974)[link]

In 1964, she changed record distributors, from the American Colpix to the Dutch Philips, which also meant a change in the contents of her recordings. Simone had always included songs in her repertoire that drew upon her African-American origins (such as "Brown Baby" and "Zungo" on Nina at the Village Gate in 1962). On her debut album for Philips, Nina Simone In Concert (live recording, 1964), however, Simone for the first time openly addressed the racial inequality that was prevalent in the United States with the song "Mississippi Goddam", her response to the murder of Medgar Evers and the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four black children. The song was released as a single, and it was boycotted in certain southern states.^[17][18] "Old Jim Crow", on the same album, addressed the Jim Crow Laws.

From then on, a civil rights message was standard in Simone's recording repertoire, becoming a part of her live performances. Simone performed and spoke at many civil rights meetings, such as at the Selma to Montgomery marches.^[19] Simone advocated violent revolution during the civil rights period, rather than Martin Luther King's non-violent approach,^[20] and she hoped that African Americans could, by armed combat, form a separate state. Nevertheless, she wrote in her autobiography that she and her family regarded all races as equal.^[21]

She covered Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit", a song about the lynching of black men in the South, on Pastel Blues (1965). She also sang the W. Cuney poem "Images" on Let It All Out (1966), about the absence of pride she saw among African-American women. Simone wrote "Four Women", a song about four different stereotypes of African-American women,^[17] and included the recording on her 1966 album Wild Is the Wind.

Simone moved from Philips to RCA Victor during 1967. She sang "Backlash Blues", written by her friend Langston Hughes on her first RCA album, Nina Simone Sings The Blues (1967). On Silk & Soul (1967), she recorded Billy Taylor's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Turning Point". The album Nuff Said (1968) contains live recordings from the Westbury Music Fair, April 7, 1968, three days after the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. She dedicated the whole performance to him and sang "Why? (The King Of Love Is Dead)", a song written by her bass player, Gene Taylor, directly after the news of King's death had reached them.^[22] In the summer of 1969 she performed at the Harlem Cultural Festival in Harlem's Mount Morris Park.

Together with Weldon Irvine, Simone turned the late Lorraine Hansberry's unfinished play To Be Young, Gifted, and Black into a civil rights song. Hansberry had been a personal friend whom Simone credited with cultivating her social and political consciousness. She performed the song live on the album Black Gold (1970). A studio recording was released as a single, and renditions of the song have been recorded by Aretha Franklin (on her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black) and by Donny Hathaway.^[17][21]

Later life (1974–2003)[link]

Simone left the United States in September 1970, flying to Barbados and expecting Stroud to communicate with her when she had to perform again. However, Stroud interpreted Simone's sudden disappearance, and the fact that she had left behind her wedding ring, as an indication of a desire for a divorce. As her manager, Stroud was in charge of Simone's income.

When Simone returned to the United States she learned that a warrant had been issued for her arrest for unpaid taxes (as a protest against her country's involvement with the Vietnam War), causing her to return to Barbados again to evade the authorities and prosecution.^[23] Simone stayed in Barbados for quite some time and she had a lengthy affair with the Prime Minister, Errol Barrow.^[24][25] A close friend, singer Miriam Makeba, then persuaded her to go to Liberia. Later, she lived in Switzerland and the Netherlands, before settling in France during 1992.

She recorded her last album for RCA, It Is Finished, during 1974. Simone did not make another record until 1978, when she was persuaded to go into the recording studio by CTI Records owner Creed Taylor. The result was the album Baltimore, which, while not a commercial success, did get good reviews and marked a quiet artistic renaissance in Simone's recording output.^[26] Her choice of material retained its eclecticism, ranging from spiritual songs to Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl". Four years later Simone recorded Fodder On My Wings on a French label. During the 1980s Simone performed regularly at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London, where she recorded the album Live at Ronnie Scott's in 1984. Although her early on-stage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof, in later years, Simone particularly seemed to enjoy engaging her audiences sometimes by recounting humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and by soliciting requests. In 1987, the original 1958 recording of "My Baby Just Cares For Me" was used in a commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume in the United Kingdom. This led to a re-release of the recording, which stormed to number 4 on the UK's NME singles chart, giving her a brief surge in popularity in the UK. Her autobiography, I Put a Spell on You, was published in 1992. She recorded her last album, A Single Woman, in 1993.

In 1993, Simone settled near Aix-en-Provence in Southern France. She had suffered from breast cancer for several years before she died in her sleep at her home in Carry-le-Rouet, Bouches-du-Rhône on April 21, 2003. (In addition, Simone received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in the late 1980s).^[27] Her funeral service was attended by singers Miriam Makeba and Patti Labelle, poet Sonia Sanchez, actor Ossie Davis, and hundreds of others. Elton John sent a floral tribute with the message "You were the greatest and I love you".^[28] Simone's ashes were scattered in several African countries. She left behind a daughter, Lisa Celeste Stroud, an actress and singer, who took the stage name Simone, and has appeared on Broadway in Aida.^[29]

Musical style[link]

Simone standards[link]

Throughout her career, Simone assembled a collection of songs that would become standards in her repertoire. These songs were self-written tunes, tributes to works by others with a new arrangement by Simone, or songs written especially for Simone. Her first hit song in America was her rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (1958). It peaked at number 18 in the pop singles chart and number 2 on the black singles chart.^[30] During that same period Simone recorded "My Baby Just Cares for Me", which would become her biggest success years later, in 1987, when it was featured in a Chanel No. 5 perfume commercial. A music video was created by Aardman Studios for the commercial.^[31]

Well known songs from her Philips albums include "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" on Broadway-Blues-Ballads (1964), "I Put a Spell on You", "Ne Me Quitte Pas" (a rendition of a Jacques Brel song) and "Feeling Good" on I Put A Spell On You (1965), "Lilac Wine" and "Wild Is the Wind" on Wild is the Wind (1966).^[32] Especially the songs "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "Feeling Good", and "Sinnerman" (Pastel Blues, 1965) have great popularity today in terms of cover versions (most notably a version of the former song by The Animals), sample usage, and its use on soundtracks for various movies, TV-series, and video games. "Sinnerman", in particular, has been featured in the TV series Scrubs, Person of Interest, and Sherlock, and on movies such as The Thomas Crown Affair, Miami Vice, and Inland Empire, and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli and Timbaland. The song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was sampled by Devo Springsteen on "Misunderstood" from Common's 2007 album Finding Forever, and by little-known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song "Don't Get It" on Lil Wayne's 2008 album Tha Carter III. The song "See-Line Woman" was sampled by Kanye West for "Bad News" on his album 808s and Heartbreak.

Simone's years at RCA-Victor spawned a number of singles and album tracks that were popular, particularly in Europe. In 1968, it was "Ain't Got No, I Got Life", a medley from the musical Hair from the album 'Nuff Said! (1968) that became a surprise hit for Simone, reaching number 4 on the UK pop charts and introducing her to a younger audience.^[33] In 2006, it returned to the UK Top 30 in a remixed version by Groovefinder. The following single, the Bee Gees' rendition of "To Love Somebody" also reached the UK top 10 in 1969. "House of the Rising Sun" was featured on Nina Simone Sings The Blues in 1967, but Simone had recorded the song in 1961 and it was featured on Nina At The Village Gate (1962), predating the versions by Dave Van Ronk and Bob Dylan.^[34][35] It was later covered by The Animals, for whom it became a signature hit.

Performing style[link]

Simone's bearing and stage presence earned her the title "High Priestess of Soul".^{[citation needed]} She was a piano player, singer, and performer, "separately and simultaneously".^[16] On stage, Simone moved from gospel to blues, jazz, and folk, to numbers with European classical styling, and Bach-style fugal counterpoint. She incorporated monologues and dialogues with the audience into the program, and often used silence as a musical element.^[36] Simone compared it to "mass hypnosis. I use it all the time".^[21] Throughout most of her life and recording career she was accompanied by percussionist Leopoldo Fleming and guitarist and musical director Al Schackman.^[37]

Simone had a reputation in the music industry for her volatility. In 1995, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with a pneumatic pistol after his laughter disturbed her concentration.^[38] She also fired a gun at a record company executive whom she accused of stealing royalties.^[39] According to a biographer, Simone took medication for a condition from the mid-1960s on.^[40] All this was only known to a small group of intimates, and kept out of public view for many years, until the biography Break Down And Let It All Out written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan revealed this in 2004 after her death.

Legacy and influence[link]

Music[link]

Musicians who have cited Simone as important for their own musical upbringing include Antony and the Johnsons, Nick Cave, Van Morrison, Christina Aguilera, Elkie Brooks, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Kanye West, Lena Horne, Bono, John Legend, Elizabeth Fraser, Cat Stevens, Anna Calvi, Peter Gabriel, Maynard James Keenan, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Mary J. Blige, Michael Gira, Angela McCluskey, Lauryn Hill, Patrice Babatunde, Alicia Keys, Ian MacKaye, Kerry Brothers, Jr. "Krucial", Amanda Palmer, Steve Adey and Jeff Buckley.^{[17][41][42][43][44]} John Lennon cited Simone's version of "I Put a Spell on You" as a source of inspiration for the Beatles song "Michelle".^[44] Musicians who have covered her work (or her specific renditions of songs) include Black Rock Coalition Orchestra, J.Viewz, Carola, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, Marilyn Manson, Donny Hathaway, David Bowie, Elkie Brooks, Roberta Flack, Jeff Buckley, Kimbra, The Animals, Nick Cave, Shivaree (band), Ambrosia Parsley, Muse, Cat Power, Katie Melua, Timbaland, Feist, Shara Worden, Common, Lil Wayne, and Michael Bublé. Simone's music has been featured in soundtracks of various motion pictures and video games, including but not limited to, The Big Lebowski (1998), Point of No Return (AKA The Assassin, 1993), Notting Hill (1999), Any Given Sunday (1999), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Six Feet Under (2001), The Dancer Upstairs (film) (2002), Before Sunset (2004), Cellular (2004), Inland Empire (2006), Miami Vice (2006), Sex and the City (2008), The World Unseen (2008), Revolutionary Road (2008), Watchmen (2009), The Saboteur (2009), Repo Men (2010). Frequently her music is used in remixes, commercials, and TV series including Feelin' Good featured prominently in the Season Four Promo of Six Feet Under, 2004.

Film[link]

The documentary Nina Simone: La Legende (The Legend) was made in the 1990s by French filmmakers,^[21] based on her autobiography I Put A Spell On You. It features live footage from different periods of her career, interviews with friends and family, various interviews with Simone then living in the Netherlands, and while on a trip to her birthplace. A portion of footage from The Legend was taken from an earlier 26-minute biographical documentary by Peter Rodis, released in 1969 and entitled simply, Nina.^[45]

Her filmed 1976 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival is available on video courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment, and it is screened annually in New York City at an event called, "The Rise and Fall of Nina Simone: Montreux, 1976,", which is curated by Tom Blunt.^[46]

Plans for a Nina Simone biographical film were released at the end of 2005, to be based on Simone's autobiography I Put A Spell On You (1992) and to focus on her relationship in later life with her assistant, Clifton Henderson, who died in 2006. TV writer Cynthia Mort (Will & Grace, Roseanne) is working on the script, and singer Mary J. Blige will play the lead role. Release of the movie is scheduled for 2012.^[47]

Her song "Sinnerman" was used in the 1999 film "The Thomas Crown Affair" as well as the award winning documentary "Sharkwater" by Rob Stewart in 2007.

Her song "I Got It Bad & That Ain't Good" was used in the 1998 film "The Big Lebowski"

Her music was used in the S4C show, "Alys", in 2010.

A song sung by Nina Simone on her 1970 live album, Black Gold, is used in the film The Dancer Upstairs.

In the film Point of No Return, the protagonist choses "Nina" as her codename in honor of Simone, her mother's favorite musical artist as well as her own. Simone's music features prominently in the film.

The final scene of the film Before Sunset involves the protagonists discussing and playing a Nina Simone CD, with one of them singing along with "Just in Time" while imitating the performer's stage moves.

Honors[link]

On Human Kindness Day 1974 in Washington, D.C., more than 10,000 people paid tribute to Nina Simone.^[48][49] Simone received two honorary degrees in music and humanities, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Malcolm X College.^[50] She preferred to be called "Dr. Nina Simone" after these honors were bestowed upon her.^[51] Only two days before her death, Simone was awarded an honorary degree by the Curtis Institute, the music school that had refused to admit her as a student at the beginning of her career.^[52] In 2010, Tryon, NC erected a statue in her honor along Trade street.

Discography[link]

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Brun-Lambert, David (October 2006) [2006] (in Dutch, translated from French original). Nina Simone, het tragische lot van een uitzonderlijke zangeres. Introduction by Lisa Celeste Stroud, afterword by Gerrit de Bruin. Zwolle: Sirene. ISBN 90-5831-425-1. 
• Feldstein, Ruth (March 2005). ""I Don't Trust You Anymore": Nina Simone, Culture, and Black Activism in the 1960s". Journal of American History 91 (4). 
• Hampton, Sylvia (2004) [2004]. Break Down and Let It All Out. David Nathan, introduction by Lisa Celeste Stroud. London: Sanctuary. ISBN 1-86074-552-0. 
• Simone, Nina; Stephen Cleary (2003) [1992]. I Put a Spell on You. introduction by Dave Marsh (2nd ed.). New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80525-1. 

External links[link]

	Book: Nina Simone
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nina Simone

Music portal

Main sites[link]

• Official website
• Nina Simone discography at Discogs
• Nina Simone discography at iMusic.am
• Nina Simone in the Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians
• Nina Simone at Legacy Recordings
• The Nina Simone Database – comprehensive Nina Simone website
• L'hommage: Nina Simone – tribute and archival site

Reviews and other sites[link]

• Nina Simone at The Music Box – a collection of reviews
• Eunice Waymon-Nina Simone Memorial Project North Carolina-based scholarship, statue & music festival
• Nina Simone Biography at About.com
• Obituary from The Daily Telegraph
• Nina Simone: The "Princess Noire" - audio report by NPR

v t e Nina Simone Studio albums Little Girl Blue Nina Simone and Her Friends The Amazing Nina Simone Forbidden Fruit Nina Simone Sings Ellington Broadway-Blues-Ballads I Put a Spell on You Pastel Blues Nina Simone with Strings Wild Is the Wind High Priestess of Soul Nina Simone Sings the Blues Silk & Soul Nina Simone and Piano To Love Somebody Here Comes the Sun Baltimore Fodder on My Wings Nina's Back A Single Woman Compilation albums Nina's Choice The Rising Sun Collection Released Gold Anthology Nina Simone's Finest Hour The Soul of Nina Simone The Very Best of Nina Simone Songs to Sing: the Best of Nina Simone To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story Live albums Nina Simone at Newport Nina at the Village Gate Nina Simone at Carnegie Hall Folksy Nina Nina Simone in Concert Black Gold Backlash Live & Kickin Let It Be Me Live at Ronnie Scott's A Very Rare Evening The Great Show Live In Paris Live and studio Nina Simone at Town Hall Let It All Out 'Nuff Said! Emergency Ward It Is Finished Remix albums Remixed and Reimagined Forever Young, Gifted & Black: Songs of Freedom and Spirit Songs and singles "Ain't Got No, I Got Life" "Alone Again (Naturally)" "Angel of the Morning" "Ballad of Hollis Brown" "Baubles, Bangles, & Beads" "Black Is the Colour (Of My True Love's Hair)" "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" "Cherish" "Cotton-Eyed Joe" "Do Nothing till You Hear from Me" "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" "Exactly Like You" "Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It)" "Feeling Good" "Fine and Mellow" "For All We Know" "Four Women" "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" "Here Comes the Sun" "The House of the Rising Sun" "I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes)" "I Loves You, Porgy" "I Put a Spell on You" "I Shall Be Released" "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" "If I Should Lose You" "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" "It Might as Well Be Spring" "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" "Just Like a Woman" "Lilac Wine" "Little Girl Blue" "The Look of Love" "Love Me or Leave Me" "Mississippi Goddam" "Mood Indigo" "The More I See You" "Mr. Bojangles" "My Baby Just Cares for Me" "My Sweet Lord" "My Way" "Ne me quitte pas" "Nobody" "Nobody's Fault but Mine" "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" "The Pusher" "Rich Girl" "(In My) Solitude" "Satin Doll" "Sea Lion Woman" "Sign o' the Times" "Since I Fell for You" "Sinner Man" "Someone to Watch Over Me" "Something Wonderful" "Spring Is Here" "Strange Fruit" "Summertime" "Suzanne" "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" "That's All" "That's All I Want from You" "The Times They Are a-Changin'" "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" "To Love Somebody" "Trouble in Mind" "Turn! Turn! Turn!" "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" "Wild is the Wind" "Willow Weep for Me" "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" Book:Nina Simone

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2010)

Felix da Housecat
Felix da Housecat performing in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Felix Stallings, Jr.
Also known as	Aphrohead Thee Maddkatt Courtship Thee Maddkatt Chronicles Sharkimaxx Virgo Blaktro Electrikboy Thee Jamie Starr Scenario
Born	(1971-08-27) August 27, 1971 (age 40) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres	Electroclash House Minimal techno Techno Electronic Alternative dance Electronic rock (early)
Occupations	DJ Producer
Labels	Emperor Norton Rykodisc
Associated acts	Kris Menace, Miss Kittin, P. Diddy, Tommie Sunshine

Felix da Housecat (born Felix Stallings Jr., August 27, 1971, Chicago, Illinois) is an American DJ and record producer, mostly known for house music and electroclash. His name was inspired by Felix the Cat.^[1]

Felix is regarded as a member of the second wave of Chicago house.^[2] He gained fame not only via his recordings (under a number of aliases, including Thee Maddkatt Courtship, Aphrohead and Sharkimaxx), but also for his ownership of Radikal Fear Records.

Life[link]

Beginnings[link]

Stallings developed an interest in the emergent Chicago house music scene at a young age. While a student at Rich East High School in Park Forest, Illinois in the mid-1980s, a chance introduction to acid house pioneer DJ Pierre gave the then 15-year-old Stallings his break, and under the patronage and guidance of Pierre, he released his first single, "Phantasy Girl," in 1987.^{[citation needed]}

Also in 1987, Felix went to Alabama State University to study media and communication. There he studied different musicians of the era, including Prince, A Tribe Called Quest, and Gang Starr, as well as developing an interest in hip hop and R&B tracks.

1990s[link]

After graduating, he released "Thee Dawn" on Guerilla Records. He became popular in Europe, and in the following year, "By Dawn's Early Light" and "Thee Industry Made Me Do It" followed. A further single, "In The Dark We Live (Thee Lite)", appeared under his pseudonym, Aphrohead. Originally released on the UK label, Bush, "In The DaAlbum", followed in 1998. In 1999, he released with "In The Dark We Live".

Shortly afterwards, Stallings formed Radikal Fear Records. It released material from Mike Dunn, DJ Sneak, and Armando as well as Felix himself. During 1995, he released his debut album Alone in the Dark (as Thee Maddkatt Courtship) on Deep Distraxion, followed by the Radikal Fear compilation album, The Chicago All Stars and a remix album entitled Clashbackk Compilation Mix. The album I Know Electrikboy was never officially released in either the US or UK, although promotional copies are in circulation.

2000s[link]

In 2001, Kittenz and Thee Glitz, written and produced alongside Tommie Sunshine, Miss Kittin, Dave The Hustler, Harrison Crump, Junior Sanchez, Junior Jack and Melistar was released which gained Felix mainstream exposure. At the end of that year, Felix won Best Album at the now-defunct Muzik Awards. The ensuing fame brought Felix remix work for Madonna, Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue. The proper follow-up, Devin Dazzle & the Neon Fever, was released in 2004, though Felix released a pair of mix albums, 2002's Excursions and 2003's A Bugged Out Mix, in between.

Felix also collaborated with P Diddy on the pair's "Jack U" single. The pair remain friends, with Diddy performing alongside Felix at Space in Ibiza in 2005, and Felix performing at Diddy's after-party for The Main Event at the Winter Music Conference.

Various remixes of "Silver Screen (Shower Scene)" were used in video games such as Midnight Club 2, and SSX 3, and films including Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. The Soulwax Remix of His song "Rocket Ride" was featured in the game Need for Speed: Underground 2. "Everyone Is Someone in LA" was featured in Tony Hawk's American Wasteland. His songs have also featured in television programs such as The Sopranos and "Silver Screen" featured in the party scene in Robert Downey, Jr's 2005 film, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Felix's album, Virgo Blaktro and the Movie Disco, was released on October 2, 2007 in the US on Nettwerk Records. Production was overseen by Dallas Austin. l "Future Calls The Dawn" was released on July 9, 2007 on Wall of Sound/PIAS with "Sweet Frosti" featured as the B-side. "Sweetfrosti" contained a sample of Devo's "Snowball", originally released in 1981.

"Like Something 4 Porno!" is released as the album's lead single on September 24, 2007 with remixes from Kris Menace, Teenage Bad Girl and Armand Van Helden, while a third single, "Radio", was released digitally in April 2008. Since then, Felix has released his first Global Underground compilation, for the Newcastle-upon-Tyne compilation and club label. Felix also teamed up with Kris Menace to release "Artificial" in June 2008.

In 2009, Felix released He Was King, via Nettwerk Records.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Mix albums[link]

Singles[link]

Remixes[link]

• Passion Pit- "Little Secrets (Felix Da Housecat Pink Enemy Remix)" (2009)
• Britney Spears- "Toxic (Felix Da Housecat's Club Mix)" (2004)
• Buy Now! - "For Sale (Felix Da Housecat Remix)" (2007)
• The Chemical Brothers - "Get Yourself High (Felix Da Housecat's Chemical Meltdown Mix)" (2003)
• The Disco Boys - "Born to Be Alive"
• Garbage - "Androgyny (Thee Glitz mix)" & "Androgyny (Thee Drum Drum mix)" (2001)
• Gwen Stefani - "What You Waiting For? (The Rude Ho Mix by Felix Da Housecat)" (2005)
• Holly Valance - "State of Mind (Felix Da Housecat's Dub)" (2003)
• Madonna - "American Life (Felix Da Housecat's Devin Dazzle Club Mix)" (2003)
• Madonna - "Die Another Day (Thee RetroLectro Mix)" (2003)
• Miike Snow - "Silvia (Felix Da Housecat Remix)" (2010)
• Mylène Farmer - "Je t'aime mélancolie (Felix Da Housecat Remix)" (2003)
• Mylo - "Drop the Pressure"
• Nina Simone - "Sinnerman (Felix Da Housecat's Heavenly House Mix)" (2003)
• Pet Shop Boys - "London (Thee Radikal Blaklight Edit)" (2003)
• Pet Shop Boys - "I don't know what you want but I can't give it anymore (Thee 2 black ninja mix) (1999)
• New Order - "Here To Stay (Felix Da Housecat Extended Glitz mix)" (2002)
• Paola & Chiara - "Vanity & Pride (Felix Da Housecat Club Mix)" (2008)
• Uffie - "Pop the Glock (Felix Da Housecat's Pink Enemy Remix)" (2009)
• Kylie Minogue - Where Is The Feeling? (Da Klub Feelin Mix)" (1995)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Felix da Housecat on Myspace
• Official Blog
• Felix da Housecat discography at Discogs