A die (plural dice, from Old French ''dé'', from Latin ''datum'' "something which is given or played") is a small throwable object with multiple resting positions, used for generating random numbers. This makes dice suitable as gambling devices for games like craps, or for use in non-gambling tabletop games.

A traditional die is an often rounded cube, with each of its six faces showing a different number. The design as a whole is aimed at the die providing a randomly determined integer from one to six, each of those values being equally likely. A variety of similar devices are also described as dice; such specialized dice may have polyhedral or irregular shapes and may have faces marked with symbols instead of numbers. They may be used to produce results other than one through six. Loaded and crooked dice are designed to favor some results over others for purposes of cheating or amusement.

History

Dice have been used throughout Asia since before recorded history; the oldest known dice were excavated as part of a 5000-year-old backgammon set at the Burnt City, an archeological site in south-eastern Iran. Other excavations from ancient tombs in the Indus Valley civilization indicate a South Asian origin. Dicing is mentioned as an Indian game in the ''Rigveda'', ''Atharvaveda'' and Buddha games list; it also plays a critical role in the great Hindu epic ''Mahabharata'', where Yudhisthira plays a game of dice against the Kauravas for the northern kingdom of Hastinapura, which becomes the trigger for a war. There are several biblical references to "casting lots", as in Psalm 22, indicating that dicing was commonplace in the region during King David's reign. Knucklebones was a skill game played by women and children; a derivative form had the four sides of the bone receive different values and count as modern dice. Gambling with two or three dice was a very popular form of amusement in Greece, especially with the upper classes, and an invariable accompaniment to symposia.

Dice were originally made from the talus of hoofed animals, colloquially known as "knucklebones". These are approximately tetrahedral, giving the term "bones" used for dice. Modern Mongolians still use such bones as shagai, for games and fortunetelling. Besides bone, materials like ivory, wood and recently plastics like cellulose acetate have been used. Dice are hard to differentiate from knucklebones because ancient writers confused the two, but both were used in prehistoric times.

The Romans were passionate gamblers, especially at the peak of the Roman Empire, and dicing was common though forbidden except during the Saturnalia. Horace derided what he thought as a typical youth of the period, who wasted time on dicing instead of horse-chasing. Throwing dice for money was the cause of many special laws in Rome; one of these stated that no lawsuit could be filed by a person who allowed gambling in his house, even if he had been cheated or assaulted. Professional gamblers were common; some of their loaded dice are preserved in museums. The public houses were the resorts of gamblers, and frescos exist showing two quarrelling dicers being ejected by the host. Twenty-sided dice date back to the 2nd century AD.

Tacitus stated that the Germans were passionately fond of dicing, so much that they would stake their personal liberty when bankrupt. During the Middle Ages, dicing became the favorite pastime of the knights, with dicing schools and guilds. After the downfall of feudalism, the landsknechts established a reputation as the most notorious dicing gamblers of their time; many of the dice then were curiously carved in the images of men and beasts. In France, dicing was played by both knights and ladies through repeated legislation, including interdictions on the part of St. Louis in 1254 and 1256. The markings on Chinese dominoes evolved from the markings on dice.

Construction

Common dice are small cubes most commonly 1.6 cm across, whose faces are numbered from one to six, usually by patterns of round dots called pips. Traditionally, opposite sides of a die add up to seven, implying that the 1, 2 and 3 faces share a vertex; these faces may be placed clockwise or counterclockwise about this vertex. If the 1, 2 and 3 faces run counterclockwise, the die is called right-handed and vice versa. Western dice are normally right-handed and Chinese dice are normally left-handed.

The pips on dice are arranged in specific patterns as shown in the picture to the left. Asian style dice bear similar patterns to Western ones, but the pips are closer to the centre of the face; the one's pip is larger than the others, with that and the four's pips coloured red. In some older sets, the "one" pip is a colorless depression. It is suggested that an entirely black and white color combination on the one's and four's sides would be unlucky; red, a lucky color in Chinese culture, would counteract this. The word for four in Chinese is a homophone of the word for death and is considered unlucky; it is probable that red fours are of Indian origin.

The result of a die roll is determined by the way it is thrown, according to the laws of classical mechanics; they are made random by uncertainty due to factors like movements in the thrower's hand. Thus, they are a type of hardware random number generator. Some people claim that the pips on the faces of certain styles of dice cause a small bias, but there is no research to support this claim; this is reduced somewhat in the Asian die with its oversized single pip. Casino dice have flush markings, offering the assurance that this brings them very close to providing true uniformly distributed random numbers.

Dice are thrown, singly or in groups, from the hand or from a container designed for this, onto a flat surface; the face of the die that is uppermost when it comes to rest provides the value of the throw. A typical dice game today is craps, where two dice are thrown at a time and wagers are made on the total value of the two dice. Dice are frequently used to randomize moves in board games, usually by deciding the distance through which a piece will move along the board; examples of this are backgammon and ''Monopoly''.

Clones of board games must use computer generated dice; the values are usually determined by a pseudorandom number generator, then displayed as a visual representation of a die. The reverse is also possible, with bar coded dice shuffling as a source of true random data for computers.

Precision dice

Precision casino dice may have a polished or sand finish, making them transparent or translucent respectively. Casino dice have their pips drilled, then filled flush with a paint of the same density as the material used for the dice, such that the dice are as close to perfectly cubical as possible. All such dice are stamped with a serial number to prevent potential cheaters from substituting a die. Precision backgammon dice are made the same way; they tend to be slightly smaller and have rounded corners and edges, to allow better movement inside the dice cup and stop forceful rolls from damaging the playing surface.

Terms

While the terms ''ace'', ''deuce'', ''trey'', ''cater'', ''cinque'' and ''sice'' have been made obsolete by one to six, they are still used by some professional gamblers to designate different sides of the dice. ''Ace'' is from the Latin ''as'', meaning "a unit"; the others are 2 to 6 in old French.

Notation

In many gaming contexts, especially tabletop RPGs, the count and number of sides of dice to be rolled at any given time is reduced to a common set of notations; typically these involve the letter "d" for dice. Hence, 6d8 means six eight-sided dice and 2d6 two common dice. Various arithmetic operations are often added at the end; 3d6+4 is three six-sided dice plus four to the outcome.

Crooked dice

"Crooked dice" refers to dice altered in some way to change the statistical distribution of their outcomes.

Loaded dice

A loaded, weighted or crooked die is one that has been tampered with to land with a specific side facing upwards more often than it normally would. There are several methods for creating loaded dice; some of these include round and off-square faces and (if not transparent) weights. Tappers have a mercury drop in a reservoir at the center, with a capillary tube leading to another reservoir at a side; the load is activated by tapping the die so that the mercury travels to the side.

Another type of loaded die is hollow with a small weight and a semi-solid substance inside whose melting point is just lower than the temperature of the human body, allowing the cheater to change the loading of the die by applying body heat, causing the semi-solid to melt and the weight to drift down, making the chosen opposite face more likely to land up. A less common type of loaded die can be made by inserting a magnet into the die and embedding a coil of wire in the game table; running current through the coil increases the likelihood of a certain side landing on the bottom, depending on the direction of the current. Transparent acetate dice, used in all reputable casinos, are harder to tamper with than other dice.

Shaved dice

A die may be shaved on one side, making it slightly shorter in one dimension, thus affecting its outcome. One countermeasure employed by casinos against shaved dice is to measure the dice with a micrometer before playing.

Variants

Dice with faces other than digit sequences

The faces of most dice are labelled using sequences of whole numbers, usually starting at one, expressed with either pips or digits. However, there are some applications that require results other than numbers. Some of these include letters for Boggle, directions for ''Warhammer Fantasy Battle'', and instructions for sexual acts using sex dice.

Non-cubical dice

Seven- and eight-sided dice are stated in the 13th century Libro de los juegos to have been invented by Alfonso X in order to speed up play in chess variants. Around the early 1950s, such non-cubical dice became popular among players of wargames, and since have been employed extensively in RPGs and TCGs. Although these are relative novelties now, ancient cultures appear to have used them in games, as evidenced by the discovery of two icosahedral dice dating from ancient Rome, currently on display in the British Museum. Reciprocally symmetric numerals are distinguished with a dot or by being underlined. The Platonic solids are the most common non-cubical dice; these can make for 4, 8, 12, and 20 faces. The only other common non-cubical die is the 10-sided die. Some more uncommon dice include 3, 5, 7, 14, 16, 18, 30, 50, and the 100 sided Zocchihedron. Using these dice in various ways, like 10-sided dice in pairs to produce a uniform distribution of random percentages and summing multiple dice to produce approximations to normal distributions, games can closely approximate the real probability distributions of the events they simulate. The tetrahedral die is marked with three numbers such that when it settles, the numbers at the vertex pointing up are the same and the one counted.

The zocchihedron, invented by Lou Zocchi, is a 100-sided die that can be found in hobby and game stores, and is used in narrative role-playing games like ''Dungeons & Dragons''. This, unlike other dice, is not a true polyhedron; it is made by flattening 100 facets on a sphere and is typically filled with small plastic objects to dampen the die's momentum when rolled. Since it is equivalent to a pair of ten-sided dice, it is rarely seen and is generally more of a novelty item.

==== Standard variations ==== Dice are often sold in sets, matching in color, of five or six different shapes: the five Platonic solids, whose faces are regular polygons, and optionally the pentagonal trapezohedron, whose faces are ten kites, each with two different edge lengths and three different angles; the die's vertices also are of two different kinds.

Normally, the faces on a die will be numbered sequentially beginning with 1, and opposite faces will thus add up to one more than the number of faces (but in the case of the d4 and dice with an odd-number of faces, this is simply not possible). Some dice, such as d10, are usually numbered sequentially beginning with 0, in which case the opposite faces will add to one less than the number of faces.

Cube (geometry)octahedronpentagonal trapezohedrondodecahedronicosahedron

!Sides	colspan="2"	Shape	!Notes
Four-sided dice	4	tetrahedron			Each face has three numbers: they are arranged such that the upright number (which counts) is the same on all three visible faces. Alternatively, all of the sides have the same number in the lowest edge and no number on the top. This die does not roll well and thus it is usually thrown into the air instead.
6	cube||30px|Cube||A common die. The sum of the numbers on opposite faces is seven.
8	|30px|Octahedron||Each face is triangular; looks like two square pyramids attached base-to-base. Usually, the sum of the opposite faces is 9.
Ten-sided die	10	|30px|Pentagonal trapezohedron||Each face is a kite. The die has two sharp corners, where five kites meet, and ten blunter corners, where three kites meet. The ten faces usually bear numbers from zero to nine, rather than one to ten (zero being read as "ten" in many applications). Often all odd numbered faces converge at one sharp corner, and the even ones at the other. The sum of the numbers on opposite faces is usually 9 (numbered 0-9) or 11 (number 1-10).
12	|30px|Dodecahedron||Each face is a regular pentagon. The sum of the numbers on opposite faces is usually 13.
20	|30px|Icosahedron||Faces are equilateral triangles. A 2nd century AD Roman icosahedron die is in the collection of the British Museum, though the game for which it was used is not known. These are sometimes numbered 0-9 twice as an alternative to 10-sided dice. The sum of the numbers on opposite faces is 21 if numbered 1-20.

Rarer variations

!Sides!!Shape!!Notes
1	sphere	Most commonly a practical joke
2		This is nothing more than a coin shape with 1 marked on one side and 2 on the other. While some tasks in roleplaying require flipping a coin, the game rules usually simply call for the use of a coin rather than requiring the use of a two-sided die. It is possible, however, to find dice of this sort for purchase, but they are rare, and can typically be found among other joke dice.
3	Rounded-off [[triangular prism	This is a rounded-off triangular prism, intended to be rolled like a rolling-pin style die. The die is rounded-off at the edges to make it impossible for it to somehow land on the triangular sides, which makes it look a bit like a jewel. When the die is rolled, one edge (rather than a side) appears facing upwards. On either side of each edge the same number is printed (from 1 to 3). The numbers on either side of the up-facing edge are read as the result of the die roll. Another possible shape is the "American Football" or "Rugby ball" shape, where the ends are pointed (with rounded points) rather than just rounded. A third variety features faces that resemble warped squares.
5	Triangular prism	This is a prism that is thin enough to land either on its "edge" or "face". When landing on an edge, the result is displayed by digits (2–4) close to the prism's top edge. The triangular faces are labeled with the digits 1 and 5.
7	Pentagonal prism
12	rhombic dodecahedron	Each face is a rhombus.
14	heptagonal trapezohedron
16		Each face is an isosceles triangle.
24	tetrakis hexahedron	Each face is an isosceles triangle.
24	deltoidal icositetrahedron	Each face is a kite.
30	rhombic triacontahedron	Each face is a rhombus. Although not included in most dice kits, it can be found in most hobby and game stores.
34		Each face is a kite.
50	icosakaipentagonal trapezohedron	The faces of the 50-sided die are kites, although very narrow.
100	Zocchihedron	100-sided dice can be found in hobby and game stores, and such a die is used in some narrative role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons. They are not, however, a true polyhedron. A 100-sided die is made by flattening 100 facets on a sphere. The name Zocchihedron was taken from its creator, Lou Zocchi. A typical d100 will be hollow and filled with small plastic objects to dampen the die's momentum when rolled (lest it take off like a golf ball). A 100-sided die is equivalent to a pair of ten-sided dice, and so, even in role-playing games, the Zocchihedron is rarely seen and is generally more of a novelty item.

The full geometric set of "uniform fair dice" (face-transitive) are:

Platonic solids, the five regular polyhedra: 4, 6, 8, 12, 20 sides

Catalan solids, the duals of the 13 Archimedean solids: 12, 24, 30, 48, 60, 120 sides

Bipyramids, the duals of the infinite set of prism, with triangle faces: any even number above 4

Trapezohedrons, the duals of the infinite set of antiprisms, with kite faces: any even number above 4

Disphenoids, an infinite set of tetrahedra made from congruent non-regular triangles: 4 sides

"Rolling-pin style dice" (also called "rolling logs") are the only way to make dice with an odd number of ''flat'' faces. They are based on an infinite set of prisms. All the (rectangular) faces they may actually land on are congruent, so they are equally fair. (The other 2 sides of the prism are rounded or capped with a pyramid, designed so that the die never actually rests on those faces.)

Probability

For a single roll of a fair ''s''-sided die, the probability of rolling each value is exactly ¹/_''s''; this is an example of a discrete uniform distribution. For n multiple rolls, with a ''s''-sided die the possibility space is equal to s^n. So, for n rolls of an ''s''-sided die the probability of any result is ¹/_''s''^n.

However, if we are rolling two dice and adding the result together, as in the game craps, the total is distributed in a triangular curve (approaching the normal distribution); the case for common dice follows:

{| style="margin:auto;" class="toccolors" cellpadding="4" |- !style="background:#ccf;"|Sum||

2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9 || 10 || 11 || 12 |- !style="background:#ccf;"| Probability || ¹⁄₃₆ || ²⁄₃₆ || ³⁄₃₆ || ⁴⁄₃₆ || ⁵⁄₃₆ || ⁶⁄₃₆ || ⁵⁄₃₆ || ⁴⁄₃₆ || ³⁄₃₆ || ²⁄₃₆ || ¹⁄₃₆ |}

As the number of dice increases, the distribution tends to normal distribution by the central limit theorem; the exact value $F\_\{s,n\}(k)$ of a sum of ''n'' ''s''-sided dice, ''k'', is

$F\_\{s,n\}(k)\; =\; \backslash sum\_\{i=1\}^\{k-n+1\}\; \{F\_\{s,1\}(i)\; F\_\{s,n-1\}(k\; -\; i)\}\; \backslash ,$

where ''F''_''s'',1(''k'') = 1/''s'' for 1 ≤ ''k'' ≤ ''s'' and 0 otherwise.

A faster algorithm would adapt the exponentiation by squaring algorithm:

$F\_\{s,x+y\}(k)\; =\; \backslash sum\_i\; \{F\_\{s,x\}(i)\; F\_\{s,y\}(k\; -\; i)\}\; \backslash ,$.

In the triangular curve described above,

Equivalently, the probability can be calculated using combinations:

$F\_\{s,n\}(k)=\backslash frac\{1\}\{s^n\}\backslash sum\_\{i=0\}^\{\backslash left\; \backslash lfloor\; \backslash frac\{k-n\}\{s\}\; \backslash right\; \backslash rfloor\}\; (-1)^i\; \{n\; \backslash choose\; i\}\; \{k-si-1\; \backslash choose\; n-1\}$

The probability of rolling an exact sequence of numbers is 1/''s''^''n''.

Application in role-playing games

The fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (D&D;) is largely credited with popularizing dice in such games. Some games use only one type, like ''Exalted'' which uses only ten-sided dice. Others use numerous types for different game purposes, such as D&D;, which makes use of all common polyhedral dice.

Dice are used to determine the outcome of events; such usage is called a ''check''. Games typically determine results either as a total on one or more dice above or below a fixed number, or a certain number of rolls above a certain number on one or more dice. Due to circumstances or character skill, the initial roll may have a number added to or subtracted from the final result, or have the player roll extra or fewer dice. To keep track of rolls easily, dice notation is frequently used.

A common special case is percentile rolls, referred to as 1d100 or 1d%. Since actual hundred-sided dice are large, almost spherical, and difficult to read, percentile rolls are instead handled by rolling two ten-sided dice together, using one as the "tens" and the other as the "units". A roll of ten or zero on either die is taken as a zero, unless both are zeros or tens, in which case this is 100. Some sets of percentile dice explicitly mark one die in tens and the other in units to avoid ambiguity.

Dice for role-playing games are usually plastic; early polyhedral dice from the 1970s and 1980s were made of a soft plastic that would easily wear as the die was used, and wear would gradually render the die unusable. Many early dice were unmarked, and players took great care in painting them. Some twenty-sided dice then were numbered zero through nine twice; half of the numbers had to be painted a contrasting color to differentiate faces. These could double as a ten-sided die by ignoring the distinguishing coloring.

Application in divination

Dice can be used for divination; using dice for such a purpose is called cleromancy. A pair of common dice is usual, though other forms of polyhedra can be used. Tibetan Buddhists sometimes use this method of divination. It is highly likely that the Pythagoreans used the Platonic solids as dice; they referred to such dice as "the dice of the gods" and they sought to understand the universe through an understanding of geometry in polyhedra.

Astrological dice are a specialized set of three 12-sided dice for divination; the first die represents planets, the Sun, the Moon, and the nodes of the Moon; the second die represents the 12 zodiac signs; and the third represents the 12 houses. An icosahedron provides the answers of the Magic 8-Ball, conventionally used to provide advice on yes-or-no questions.

See also

Barrel die

Crown and Anchor

Dreidel

Fuzzy dice

Nontransitive dice

Teetotum

d20 system

Notes

References

Persi Diaconis and Joseph B. Keller. "Fair Dice". ''The American Mathematical Monthly'', 96(4):337–339, 1989. ''(Discussion of dice that are fair "by symmetry" and "by continuity".)''

Bias and Runs in Dice Throwing and Recording: A Few Million Throws. G. R. Iverson. W. H. Longcour, and others. Psychometrika, Vol. 36, No. 1, March 1971

Knizia, Reiner (1999). Dice Games Properly Explained. Elliot Right Way Books. ISBN 0-7160-2112-9.

External links

Analysis of dice probabilities, also features Uspenski's work on rolling multiple dice.

mathematically "Fair Dice"

* Fair Dice is an illustrated Math Games column about all the possible fair dice, and the mathematical reasons why other shapes are not fair.

* a complete list of all possible Fair Dice which has nice illustrations

Animation clearly demonstrating the probability space of dice

World's Largest Dice Collection Links, Photos, Information about dice

Computer Simulation of Irregular Dice

A Pair Of Dice Which Never Roll 7

The oldest backgammon set found in Iran

A Brief History of Dice (in Dungeons & Dragons games)

How do you make loaded dice?, The Straight Dope, July 14, 2009

a discussion linking dice and Tarot cards

Why Dice Behave The Way They Do, ''Popular Science'' July 1945

Dice size chart shows common dice dimensions

Dice - A Dicey Love Affair A list of board games with special dice

Category:Dice games Category:Gaming devices Category:Randomness

ar:نرد an:Daus ast:Daos br:Diñs bg:Зар ca:Dau cs:Hrací kostka cy:Dis de:Spielwürfel et:Täring el:Ζάρι es:Dado eo:Ĵetpluredro eu:Dado fa:تاس (وسیله بازی) fr:Dé ko:주사위 hr:Kocka (igra) id:Dadu (permainan) it:Dado (gioco) he:קוביית משחק jv:Dadu la:Alea lv:Metamais kauliņš lt:Lošimo kauliukas hu:Dobókocka ms:Dadu nl:Dobbelsteen ja:サイコロ no:Spillterning nds:Wörpel (Speel) pl:Kość do gry pt:Dado ro:Zar qu:Wayrukuna ru:Игральная кость sco:Sice stq:Doobel scn:Dadu (jocu) simple:Dice sk:Hracia kocka sl:Igralna kocka sh:Kocka (igra) fi:Noppa sv:Tärning tl:Betu-beto ta:தாயக் கட்டை th:ลูกเต๋า tr:Zar (eğlence) uk:Кістки гральні ur:طاس vi:Xúc xắc fiu-vro:Vürhvli zh-classical:骰子 zh-yue:骰仔 zh:骰子

Coordinates	30°19′10″N81°39′36″N
background	solo_singer
born	March 25, 1974Edinburgh, Scotland
years active	1993–present
website	http://www.finleyquaye.com/
notable instruments	}}

Finley Quaye (born 25 March 1974, Edinburgh, Scotland) is a British musician. He won the 1997 Mobo Award for best reggae act, and the 1998 BRIT Award for Best British Male Solo Artist.

Life

Quaye is the youngest son of jazz musician, Cab Kaye, the half-brother of guitarist, Caleb Quaye, and brother of jazz musician, Terri Quaye. Finley's mother, Sharon McGowan, died when he was 10 years old in London of a heroin overdose.

Born in Edinburgh, Quaye went to school in London, Manchester and Edinburgh. However, he left school with no qualifications. Before making records he took employment spraying cars, smoking fish, making futons, and as a stage-rigger and scaffolder.

His father was born in London, but considered himself as African. Although known as Cab Kaye his full name was Nii Lante Augustus Kwamlah Quaye and was a Chief of the GA tribe centralized in Jamestown, Accra. Kaye was the son of the pianist Caleb Jonas Quaye a.k.a Mope Desmond, who was born in Accra, Ghana. Kaye did not grow up with his father and only found out, in his twenties, about his father's history as a musician. Mope Desmond, Cab Kaye and Finley Quaye have all played Glasgow's Barrowlands, Wolverhampton's Wulfrun Hall and London's Cafe d'Paris. Finley was on tour with his band when he met his father for the first time in Amsterdam.

Finley Quaye was inspired early on in his childhood by jazz musicians, Pete King and Ronnie Scott who started off his musical career making tea and running errands in Finley's father's band, and Lionel Hampton. Additionally, Duke Ellington was Finley Quaye's godfather. Quaye heard jazz as a child living in London with his mother, who would take him with her to Ronnie Scott's jazz club, to catch performances of American jazz musicians touring Europe such as Buddy Rich, who recorded his live album there in 1980. His mother introduced him to Lionel Hampton in Edinburgh.

He has two children; Theo and Caleb.

Career

He made a solo recording contract with Polydor Records, and moved to New York. He began working with Epic/Sony when Polydor let him out of contract, and in late 1997 he reached the UK Top 20 twice with "Sunday Shining", and "Even After All". His reputation was established by ''Maverick A Strike'', released in September 1997. It went gold less than three weeks later, and led directly to the BRIT Award victory. ''Maverick A Strike'' is now multi platinum. In 1998, he performed George Gershwin's "It Ain't Necessarily So" for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album ''Red Hot + Rhapsody'', a tribute to George Gershwin, which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease.Two more albums were released on Epic, ''Vanguard'' (2000) and ''Much More Than Much Love'' (2004). "Spiritualized" became his last single to score a top 40 landing in the UK charts when it was released in September of the year 2000, reaching number 26. In 2004 the single "Dice" was released in collaboration with William Orbit, and featuring Beth Orton. Quaye has been living and working in Berlin since 2005.

He is currently working on a new album with A Guy Called Gerald and The Stereo MCs. Finley recorded "Pound For Pound" in 2007 with Norman Grant of the Twinkle Brothers featuring Sly Dunbar and Lloyd Parks. In the past he has worked with Osibisa, both on stage and in the recording studio, plus Iggy Pop, Tricky, Primal Scream, Lee Scratch Perry and Buju Banton.

He has supported James Brown, Luciano, Weller, The Verve, Ben Harper, Fun Loving Criminals, Robbie Williams and The Stereo MCs, and he has been supported by Amy Winehouse, Natty, Ken Boothe and Cath Coffey of the Stereo MCs.

Discography

Singles and other contributions

"Finley's Rainbow" - White Label (1993)

"Finley's Rainbow" on A Guy Called Gerald's ''Black Secret Technology'' (1995)

"Sunday Shining" (1997)

"Even After All" (1997)

"It's Great When We're Together" (1997)

"Your Love Gets Sweeter" (1998)

"Ultra Stimulation" (1998)

"It Ain't Necessarily So" album ''Red Hot + Rhapsody'' (1998)

"Spiritualized" (2000)

"Caravan" on Timo Mass' album ''Loud'' (2002)

"Stranges Changes" on A Guy Called Gerald's ''To All Things What They Need'' (2005)

"For My Children's Love" (2006)

"We Are Dreamers" on Cathy Claret's album ''Gypsy Flower'' (2007)

"After Tonight" on Ava Leigh's ''La La La'' (2007)

Albums and EPs

''Maverick A Strike'' - LP (1997)

''It Ain't Necessarily So'' - LP (1998)

''Vanguard'' - LP (2000)

''Much More Than Much Love'' - LP (2004)

''Dice'' - EP (2004)

''Oranges and Lemons'' - EP (2005)

''The Best Of The Epic Years 1995-2003'' - LP (2008)

''Pound For Pound'' - LP (2008)

''Sound For Sound'' - LP (2008)

References

External links

Finley Quaye – official US website

Finlay Quaye Facebook – official facebook

Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:Scottish pop musicians Category:Scottish people of Black African descent Category:Black British people Category:BRIT Award winners

ca:Finley Quaye de:Finley Quaye es:Finley Quaye fr:Finley Quaye pt:Finley Quaye

Coordinates	30°19′10″N81°39′36″N
name	William Orbit
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
birth name	William Mark Wainwright
alias	William Ørbit
birth date	December 15, 1956
origin	Shoreditch, Hackney, East London
instrument	Keyboards, guitar
genre	Electronic music, house music, ambient music, downtempo
occupation	Composer, record producer
years active	circa 1982–present
label	IRS, EMI, Virgin, N-GRAM, Maverick, Sanctuary, Kobalt, Decca
associated acts	Torch Song, Bassomatic
website	http://www.williamorbit.com }}

William Orbit (born William Mark Wainwright, 15 December 1956) is an English musician, composer and record producer, perhaps best known to most for his work on Madonna's album ''Ray of Light''. He has also co-produced several unreleased Madonna songs originally recorded for other albums. He produced ''13'' by Blur and remixed some of the songs on the album.

Biography

Orbit was born in Shoreditch, London. In addition to being a producer, Orbit is also a composer and multi-instrumentalist who has specialised in keyboard electronica. Much of his work also features accomplished guitar and bass guitar playing. He has also recorded several largely instrumental solo albums on I.R.S. No Speak under the name Strange Cargo which features vocals by Beth Orton, Laurie Mayer and Joe Frank, among others. "Water from a Vine Leaf" was a popular track from the album ''Strange Cargo 3''.

Prior to that he formed the group Torch Song with Laurie Mayer in the 1980s. At that time the band developed Guerilla Studios in an abandoned school on the Harrow Road. They shared the premises with a group of Spanish anarchists and it became known as El Centro Iberico. They were later joined by a third member, Rico Conning.

Orbit was the musical force behind Bassomatic in the early 1990s; "Fascinating Rhythm" hit in 1990.

He has also produced and remixed songs by other artists, such as French pop star Étienne Daho. With Rico Conning he produced the Pop Satori album, Scottish act One Dove and Seal. He remixed Prince's song "Batdance", from ''Batman'' in 1989. Orbit's remixes carry his signature electronic sounds and techniques, making them sought after by fans of his solo work.

Orbit produced a version of Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings" (the original version of which gained fame as the main theme of the soundtrack to ''Platoon''). "Adagio" was lifted from the album ''Pieces in a Modern Style'' a compilation of classical re-workings, released under the alternatively-spelled artist name William Ørbit. Orbit's version of the track was remixed in 1999 by Ferry Corsten and became a big club music hit.

He has worked with girl groups All Saints ("Pure Shores", "Black Coffee", "Dreams", "Surrender") and Sugababes ("Spiral") and Pink ("Feel Good Time" from ''Charlie's Angels 2''). He produced "Dice" for Finley Quaye in collaboration with Beth Orton; Quaye also played guitar and sang on other Orbit tracks including the unreleased 'Arioso' featuring Madonna. He produced and played keyboards with U2 in the song "Electrical Storm" of their album ''The Best of 1990-2000''.

He founded Guerilla Records in 1989.

Orbit has also created several radio shows. In the late 1990s, he had a series on Los Angeles KCRW called ''Stereo Odyssey''. Orbit's song "Time To Get Wise" was used as a tag line in the 2004 film ''What the Bleep Do We Know!?''. Orbit worked with Madonna on her 1998 album, ''Ray of Light''.

In 2006 Orbit's album ''Hello Waveforms'' was released on the Sanctuary label. Subsequently he produced two tracks — "Louise" and "Summertime" — for Robbie Williams' 2006 album, ''Rudebox''. He also mixed several tracks on Laurie Mayer's most recent album, ''Black Lining''.

In autumn 2006 "Purdy", a track Orbit co-composed with Laurie Mayer and Rico Conning was used as the soundtrack in a television ad campaign for H&M; which starred Madonna and was directed by her and Dan Cadan.

Orchestral Suite

In 2007 Orbit composed his first orchestral suite for a full orchestra. The composition debuted on 8 July 2007 by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in the Bridgewater Hall at the Manchester International Festival.

2009 - present days

The 4 May 2009 saw Orbit's return with a new album, ''My Oracle Lives Uptown''.

Orbit lives in North London and Los Angeles and has his office and studio in Hoxton Square, London.

Live performances

He often DJs at various locations. Additional information concerning the dates and places of his live performances appears on his webpage.

A remix of his track "Purdy" done by Chicane can be found on ''Ministry of Sound: Inferno'' (2009).

William Orbit Odyssey by Ministry of Sound ‘Odyssey’ is a compilation of 42 tracks, including some of William Orbit’s own exclusives. The album was released in January 2010 and is divided into 3 discs; Discs 1 and 2 are unmixed, with many tracks reinterpreted to a greater or lesser extent, while Disc 3 is a continuous DJ mix by William Orbit.

Orbit Streamcast

Orbit has recently enabled an internet radio (streamcast) which allow listeners to hear more than 10 hours of his music, completely for free. In the playlist are variations of his well-known tracks, as well as released material. In addition, and what's more appreciated by fans, unreleased and rare material can also be found in this streamcast.

Latest productions

He produced Katie Melua's fourth album, called ''The House''. It was released on 24 May 2010 and had a remarkable chart performance (Gold in Germany and United Kingdom, as well as Platinum in Poland).

He also produced a track on Nadine Coyle's debut solo album "Insatiable" released on 8 November 2010.

Solo career

In August 2010 Orbit released ''Pieces in a Modern Style 2'', on Decca, which is follow-up a to the successful ''Pieces in a Modern Style''. The two CD version containing some notable remixes of interpretations of Vaughan Williams Violin Concerto - Lark Ascending.

Orbit is working as part of the art collective Luxor, with former English National Ballet dancer Anna-Mi Fredriksson and the artist Pauline Amos.

Discography

Artist	William Orbit
Studio	15
Compilation	3
Singles	9
Miscellaneous	8
References	}}

''More details and information about his discography can be found when exploring external links''

Torch Song

Year	Album
1984	''Wish Thing''	*Labels: I.R.S. Records
1986	''Ecstasy''	*Labels: Y II Records
1987	''Exhibit A''	*Labels: I.R.S.
1995	''Toward the Unknown Region''	*Labels: N-GRAM Recordings

Bassomatic

Year	Album
1990	''Set the Controls for the Heart of the Bass''	*Labels: Virgin Records
1991	''Science & Melody''	*Labels: Virgin

Solo

;Studio albums

Year	Album	Chart positions
		! style="width:3em;font-size:75%;"	! style="width:3em;font-size:75%;"	! style="width:3em;font-size:75%;"
	align="left"	*Labels: I.R.S. Records	–	–	–
align="left"	*Labels: I.R.S.	–	–	–
1990		*Labels: I.R.S.	–	–	–
1993		*Labels: Virgin Records	–	–	–
		*Labels: N-GRAM Recordings	–	–	–
	, Warner Music Group>WEA (2000 release)	2	33	198
2006		*Labels: Sanctuary Records	136	–	–
2009		*Labels: Kobalt	–	–	–
2010		*Labels: Decca Records	–	–	–

;Compilation albums

''The Best of Strange Cargos'' (1996, I.R.S.) — A compilation from Orbit's first three ''Strange Cargo'' albums, highlighted by two versions of "Water From A Vine Leaf", another collaboration with Beth Orton

''Strange Cargo Vol.1-3'' (2000, EMI Records) — 3 CD Box Set

''William / Orbit'' (2002, Universal) — U.S. two-disc publishing CD set to support William Orbit's publishing catalogue

;Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions			Album
		! style="width:3em;font-size:75%;"	! style="width:3em;font-size:75%;"	! style="width:3em;font-size:75%;"
		–	–	–
	–	–	–
1993		59	–	–
1999	align="left"	4	23	13
2000	align="left"	31	–	–
	align="left"	3	7	8
	–	–	–	''Much More Than Much Love'' (Finley Quaye album)
		–	–	–
	–	–	–

Miscellaneous

''Stereo Odyssey'' — 4-CDR set of KCRW radio show William produced circa 1996

''Rare Orbit Vol.1'' — A 3-CDR collection of rare & unreleased material & productions. 2008, source unknown. Contained unreleased sessions with Madonna, and some new material.

''Essential Mix'' — 2-CDR set of UK BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix, 6 February 2000

''XFM 2003'' — 30 minute CDR of UK XFM Radio 'Superchunk', a mix/mashup collection of special rare and unreleased material, 17 August 2003

''XFM 2006'' — 30 minute CDR of UK XFM Radio 'Superchunk', another mix/mashup collection, 12 March 2006

''World Odyssey Mix'' — 25 minute CDR of UK BBC Asia Network Radio 'Pathaans Musical Rickshaw', a diversified mix/mashup collection, 17 May 2009

''KCRW 2009'' — 40 minute CDR of Los Angeles KCRW Radio Station show 'Morning Becomes Eclectic', a two piece live session with Laurie Mayer and interviews with Jason Bentley - 2 July 2009

In 2010, some of the rare tracks were made public on www.orbitstreamcast.com.

References

External links

Official website

Category:1956 births Category:Maverick Records artists Category:Living people Category:Ableton Live users Category:English electronic musicians Category:English record producers Category:Grammy Award winners

bg:Уилям Орбит de:William Orbit el:Ουίλιαμ Όρμπιτ es:William Orbit fr:William Orbit it:William Orbit ka:უილიამ ორბიტი nl:William Orbit pl:William Ørbit pt:William Orbit ru:Орбит, Уильям sq:William Orbit fi:William Orbit sv:William Orbit tr:William Orbit

Coordinates	30°19′10″N81°39′36″N
name	Andrew Dice Clay
pseudonym	"Dice," "Diceman"
birth name	Andrew Clay Silverstein
birth date	September 29, 1957
birth place	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
religious beliefs	Jewish
medium	Stand-up, television, film
nationality	United States
active	1978 – present
genre	Character comedy, black comedy, satire, insult comedy
subjects	human sexuality, sexism, Racism|
spouse	Kathleen Swanson (1984–1986) (divorced)Kathleen Monica (1992–2002) (divorced) 2 childrenValerie Vasquez (2010–present)
notable work	''The Day the Laughter Died''Ford Fairlane in ''The Adventures of Ford Fairlane''
website	andrewdiceclay.com
{{infobox comedian awards |child	yes | awardtitle1 Razzie Award | award1 Worst Actor1991 "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane" }}

}} Andrew Dice Clay (born Andrew Clay Silverstein; September 29, 1957) is an American comedian and actor.

Clay is known for playing the lead role in the film ''The Adventures of Ford Fairlane''.

Clay has been in several movies and has put out many stand-up albums, including the triple-album ''Filth''. He is the only comedian in history to sell out Madison Square Garden two nights in a row, a feat he accomplished in 1990. The performance was later released on the album and concert film ''Dice Rules''.

Clay is currently guest-starring on the HBO comedy-drama series Entourage as himself.

Early life

Clay was born in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, the son of Doris and Fred Silverstein, who worked in real estate sales. Clay was doing impressions and entertaining his family in the living room by the time he was 5. He was a fairly proficient drummer at James Madison High School, and played bar mitzvahs and casual dates as "Clay Silvers."

Career

In 1978, he auditioned at Pips, a local comedy club in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, doing comedic impressions, then headlined there the following week as "Andrew Clay." His act at the time included an impression of John Travolta in ''Grease'' and Jerry Lewis as ''The Nutty Professor''. Clay graduated to the major Manhattan comedy clubs, including Budd Friedman's The Improv, Catch a Rising Star and Dangerfield's. His move to Los Angeles came in 1980. He was "adopted" there by Mitzi Shore, owner of the famed Comedy Store. His work at the Store led to sitcom appearances on ''M*A*S*H'' and ''Diff'rent Strokes''. He later landed roles in movies such as ''Making the Grade'' (1984) and ''Pretty in Pink'' (1986).

He had a regular role on ''Crime Story'' from 1986 – 1988. He eventually turned from acting to pursue a career in stand-up comedy, focusing on the character "Dice" from ''Making the Grade''. His big break came in 1988 when he did a seven-minute set at Dangerfield's during the Rodney Dangerfield special "Nothing Goes Right." It was there that he met his agent Dennis Arfa and later got his first HBO special.

Later works

Clay retreated from the media spotlight for several years. 1995 saw him try to reclaim his fame with the broadcast of the HBO special ''Assume the Position.'' Although a great success for Clay and the network, the special failed to reignite Clay's career.

In 1998, Clay released the triple-live album "Filth" via the Internet. Soon afterward, Clay aligned himself with New York City-based talk program ''The Opie and Anthony Show''.

To coincide with the release of 2000's "Face Down, Ass Up," Opie and Anthony teamed up with Clay to allow him to perform at Madison Square Garden.

In 2005, Clay signed a deal with Sirius to produce and broadcast his own show, ''Out of the Cage''.

In 2007, he attempted a comeback with the reality TV series ''Dice: Undisputed'' on VH1, which lasted seven episodes.

He appeared as a part of NBC's ''The Celebrity Apprentice 2'' and was the first celebrity to be fired, after he openly entertained the idea of quitting while in Donald Trump's presence. On ''The Howard Stern Show'', Clay stated that the show was edited to exclude situations where Trump treated Clay poorly based on his comic treatment of women rather than his accomplishments. Throughout the season, each celebrity was raising money for a charity of their choice; Clay had selected StandUp For Kids.

In July 2011, Clay was featured in the eighth and final season of Entourage as Johnny Drama's co-star in the fictional program "Johnny's Bananas".

Controversy

Clay is known for a style of comedy that has sparked controversy and much media coverage. He is loved by some and reviled by others, who feel that his act is crude, misogynistic, racist, homophobic and degrading. Clay has been widely opposed by women's rights groups and he has been banned from many radio and television shows for his explicit language and socially and politically charged humor. MTV banned him for life in 1989 for reciting what he called "adult nursery rhymes" during the annual Video Music Awards ceremony (September 6, 1989). The next year, when he was invited to guest host the weekly comedy TV show, Saturday Night Live, cast member Nora Dunn declared her refusal to ever appear on the same broadcast as Clay and did not participate in the episode of his guest appearance (May 12). Invited musical guest Sinéad O'Connor also boycotted Clay's appearance.

Personal life

In 2002, he divorced his wife and focused in part on raising his two sons. One of his sons, Max, has since followed his father into stand-up comedy.

Discography

''ADC: The Mixtape That Hates You'', 1988

''Dice'', 1990

''The Day the Laughter Died'', 1990

''Dice Rules'', 1991

''40 Too Long'', 1992

''The Day the Laughter Died, Part II'', 1993

No Apologies (Video), 1993

''Filth'', 1999

''Face Down, Ass Up'', 2000

Filmography

''M*A*S*H'', Cpl. Hrabosky in "Trick or Treatment" Episode (1982)

''Diff'rent Strokes'', recurring character, named Larry, in Willis and Kimberly's high school (1982–83)

''Wacko'' (1982)

''Night Patrol'' (1984)

''Making the Grade'' (1984)

''Private Resort'' (1985) Starring Johnny Depp

''Pretty in Pink'' (1986)

''Amazon Women on the Moon'' (1987)

''Casual Sex?'' (1988)

''Crime Story'' (1986–1988)

''The Adventures of Ford Fairlane'' (1990)

''Dice Rules'' (1991)

''Brainsmasher... A Love Story'' (1993)

''No Contest'' (1994)

''Bless This House'' (1995)

''National Lampoon's Favorite Deadly Sins'' (1995)

''Hitz'' (1997)

''Foolish'' (1999)

''My 5 Wives'' (2000)

''One Night at McCool's'' (2001)

''Dice Undisputed'' (2007)

''''Entourage'''' (2011)

References

External links

Rotten.com: Andrew Dice Clay biography

Category:1957 births Category:American film actors Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:Living people Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People from Brooklyn Category:The Apprentice (U.S. TV series) contestants

de:Andrew Dice Clay es:Andrew Dice Clay it:Andrew Dice Clay no:Andrew Dice Clay pt:Andrew Dice Clay

Coordinates	30°19′10″N81°39′36″N
background	solo_singer
born	12 April 1979
instrument	Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Percussion, Harmonica, Hammond, Mandolin, Banjo, Piano, Harp
notable instruments	}}

Thomas Dybdahl (born 12 April 1979 in Sandnes, Norway) is a Norwegian musician in the singer/songwriter tradition.

Biography

Thomas Dybdahl went out to become somewhat of a shooting-star in Norway. As a solo artist, the former guitarist of the band Quadraphonics released his first single EP ''Bird'' in 2000. His first release did not have much success, and his second EP from 2001, ''John Wayne'', was also unsuccessful.

Beginning with the release of his first album titled ''... That Great October Sound'' in 2002, the first part of his gold and platinum selling ''October'' series, he received national and even international appreciation for his unique work. Since then, and especially after the European release in 2004, Thomas Dybdahl's notability has increased significantly. The mostly positive reviews tout Dybdahl as a new pop wonder comparable to Nick Cave, Jeff Buckley and other important solo artists. He received the Spellemannprisen and the Alarm Award for his outstanding work.

The release of his next two albums ''Stray Dogs'' (European release in 2005) and ''One Day You'll Dance for Me, New York City'' further increased his standing as a respected artist.

The album ''One Day You'll Dance for Me, New York City'' features the famous Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss speaking of quality of life, as a sort of interlude.

In 2004, he teamed up with artists from the bands Jaga Jazzist and BigBang on the project ''The National Bank'', which immediately entered the Norwegian charts with the project's self-titled debut album. It was released outside Norway in 2009.

His single ''Damn Heart'', written for the Danish movie ''En Soap'', was released in 2006 on Copenhagen Records.

In 2007, he performed as an opening act in the USA for fellow Norwegian artist Sondre Lerche.

He features as the vocalist on several songs from Morcheeba's album Dive Deep.

Discography

Albums

''...that great October sound'' (2002)

''Stray Dogs'' (2003)

''One day you'll dance for me, New York City'' (2004), (Danish version 2005)

''Science'' (2006)

''Waiting for That One Clear Moment'' (2010)

Compilation Albums

''October Trilogy'' (2006) (box set featuring all three albums, the remastered DVD and a bonus CD)

''Thomas Dybdahl'' (2009)

''Songs'' (2011)

EPs/Singles

''Bird'' EP (2000)

''John Wayne'' EP (2001)

''Rain down on Me'' (2003)

''A Lovestory'' (2004)

''Damn Heart'' (2006)

''Cecilia'' (2010)

Other releases

Quadrophonics - ''Q'' (1998)

The National Bank - ''The National Bank'' (2004)

The National Bank - ''Come On Over To The Other Side'' (2008)

DVDs

''That Great October'' DVD (2003)

''That Great October'' DVD Digitally Remastered (2005)

External links

Thomas Dybdahl – the official homepage with a lot of music and video downloads

Thomas Dybdahl Official MySpace

Fanpage – unofficial Thomas Dybdahl Fanpage, includes a complete discography, tour news, a huge link collection, downloads, reviews and photographs

Interview with Thomas Dybdahl for www.4ortherecord.com

Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:Norwegian singer-songwriters Category:Norwegian guitarists Category:Spellemannprisen winners Category:Norwegian multi-instrumentalists

da:Thomas Dybdahl de:Thomas Dybdahl es:Thomas Dybdahl fr:Thomas Dybdahl it:Thomas Dybdahl nl:Thomas Dybdahl no:Thomas Dybdahl nn:Thomas Dybdahl